Devil's Peak

By John Arthur Betts

Strange happenings surround Devils Peak, an extinct volcanic crater, the upper caldera is occupied by giant red ants,

As a small town develops, two strangers arrive, follow the events that follow.

Then as strangely as they appeared, they vanish only to re-appear, hundreds of years later.

Why are they here? Where are they from?

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Arthur Betts
• Release date: Jun 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227879394

John Arthur Betts

Enjoyment is writing fantasy fiction, Pleasure is spending time with my long suffering and wonderful wife

Book preview

Devils Peak

John Arthur Betts

Published By John Arthur Betts

Copyright 2023 John Arthur Betts

Acknowledgements

Published by John Arthur Betts

at Draft2Digital

Table of Contents

Chapter 1, 1758

Chapter 2, 1775

Chapter 3, 1790

Chapter 4, 1940

Chapter 5, 1945

Chapter 6, 1958

Chapter 7, 1962

Chapter 8, 1963

Chapter 9, 1964

Chapter 10, 1965

About the Author

Books by John Arthur Betts

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DEVIL PEAK

Chapter 1

1758

Somewhere in the Wild West, three brothers, Chad, Isaac and Dean Bailey, we’re riding west at the gallop, trying to lose the chasing posy.

After two hours of hard riding, they stopped to give the horses a rest beside a mountain, they knew it as Devils Bluff.

It had a thick forest around the base of the sheer cliffs and was a place they had hidden many times after robbing a bank or two.

This time was different, this time they had a Marshall and two Rangers leading the posy.

They went deep into the forest, deeper than they had been before, it was Isaac that noticed the gap in the sheer face of the cliff.

Dense bushes filled the gap but were easily pushed aside by the horses, Chad walked back through and brushed over the surface of the ground with a branch, when he was certain that there was no trace of their passage, he re-joined his brothers.

The chasm was wide enough for the three of them to ride beside each other, the upward slope extended for quite a distance.

After ten minutes it started to open out and the sheer rock walls got lower, almost rounded as if it had melted.

They entered a heavily wooded plateau but there were signs that a single horse had been here before, Dean thought the tracks were only a few days old.

Following the track through the centre of the forest, it wasn’t long before they smelt smoke, they dismounted and walked slowly towards the source of the smoke.

Entering a small clearing they found a horse grazing at the far edge, a fire was burning in the centre with a deer slowly roasting above it, there was no sign of the owner of the horse or who started the fire.

Isaac tied the horses to the rope next to the other horse, as they moved towards the fire an arrow struck the ground in front of them.

Chad raised his hands and said, we come in peace seeking sanctuary and a place to hide, they were somewhat surprised when an Indian wearing cavalry uniform appeared out of the brush with a bow slung over his shoulder, more importantly they noticed the raised rifle in his hands.

Leave your gun belts with your horses, then join me for a meal, the man said, they did as instructed and were soon enjoying a meal of venison and beans and a cup of trail coffee.

Chad introduced his brothers and stated that a posy was following them, the Indian looked at each of them thoughtfully then said, I am White Owl, I was a scout for the seventh but deserted a month ago, so a posy is small fry, I have the whole cavalry chasing me, they all laughed and enjoyed the meal.

Isaac was curious, we found this place by accident, how did you find it?  White Owl thought for a moment and looked sad, this was Blackfoot country, my home but this place was forbidden, a place of demons, I have explored it, this is the large caldera of an ancient volcano, there is a smaller one at the far end, it has a lake and river that vanishes into the rocks, it emerges in this place runs along one side then disappears underground just to the side of where you entered, beware if you go to the lake, it is the home of the demons.

What do you mean by demons, surely they don’t exist? Chad said, White Owl was quite serious when he answered, giant fire ants, the size of a small dog, they move fast, I only just escaped, but that is not all, lightning storms are attracted to this area, many times during the storms there are strange lights and sounds from the upper caldera, my ancestors said it’s cursed.

They talked late into the night but finally slept around the fire, a wild boar woke Chad just before dawn as it grunted its way around the camp.

White Owl was nowhere to be seen, Chad roused his brothers and carved some more venison for breakfast then put a pot of coffee on the embers of the fire.

White Owl returned about an hour later with two skins of water, your friends are camped in the forest near the entrance, he said.

Chad replied, looks like we are here for a while then, Dean had been for a walk to explore the area, I think we should build a cabin; I’ve found a place that’s just right, he said.

It was mid-afternoon before they all reached agreement, they moved their camp to the area that Dean had found near the river.

The following day was spent felling trees and clearing the site,