Cowboys vs. Subterrans

By Den Warren

This is a short story set in 1870 in the Dakota Territory. A Western Fantasy story based upon real places. Gustav Thorsson goes to the Dakota Territory to try and find solitude after bad experiences during the Civil War. While hunting, he and his partner are forced to confront a mysterious menace after hunting on forbidden Sioux hunting grounds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Unbelievable Universe
• Release date: Oct 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311528506

Book preview

Cowboys

vs.

Subterrans

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Copyright 2015 Den Warren

All Rights Reserved

Chapter 1

Near Vermillion, Dakota Territory 1870

My name is Gustav Thorsson. My parents came to northern Minnesota, a land of forests and lakes, which looks a lot like their home in Norway. My parents left everything behind, looking for a better life in America. They were very pleased to be here, but the War came, and my brother and I found ourselves obliged to pony up by joining the Union Army, as did half of the men in Minnesota.

The glory ended and the War Between the States took its everlasting toll upon me. The toll was not from a rebel bullet piercing the flesh, and having a limb removed while under the doctor's saw, but of a deep wound of the spirit. My wartime experience left a dark patch smack dab in the middle of my soul. It seemed that my remaining days on this earth, no matter how many or few they may be, were assuredly to be devoted to reconciling some truths that can have no such temporal reconciliation. Why did Johnny Reb decide to pull the trigger while his gun was pointed at the Billy Yank next to me, instead of at me? And why were my worldly remains not left in a decaying heap along with all of the other so-called victorious Yanks who died? Let it suffice to say that God, in His infinite wisdom, had some greater purpose for me, but I was certain I could not explain it nohow, and I was not foolhardy enough to claim that God almighty made a mistake by letting me survive.

After the War, I was compelled to find some peace for my weary soul. My journey into the vast western expanses was a search to find solitude. This Dakota Territory was mostly a wide open area with not much trees, scant brush, and few people. Out there you can see a long way off. The weather looks like it is bringing rain, but the weather is so far away, you can see it move off another direction without getting a drop.

It stands to reason that living in an area with few people, my patience would not be as sorely tried by interactions with those multitudes who cannot comprehend my inner torments. By my own design, my days were aimed to be spent apart from other souls, while I lived by hunting the bison.

However, buffalo hunting is not an endeavor