Arkhaven logo

Riders of the Twisted Tree panel 1

Episode 44

Riders of the Twisted Tree

Furious over the Paradise incident and the death of Big Cal, riders from the Twisted Tree ranch pulled a long length of fence from the pens. Using rope flails and shots from their rifles, they encouraged a panic that sent a rush of cattle up the center of Mercury Wells. Two thousand head or more in a blind rush.

The animals, mad with fear, funneled into the main street. Thousands of tons of live, enraged, terrified Texas steers drove straight into the heart of the town. They crowded flank to flank, fighting to find open sky beyond the enclosure of the buildings and tents hemming them in either side. The beeves climbed boardwalks, their weight bringing down uprights. The front façade of the Dollar Store was sent crashing into the street, crushing the bones of two steers and driving the rest to a higher frenzy.

With a shower of shattered glass, the front windows of a sutler’s store imploded. Steers were crowded onto the boardwalk, goring one another to fight their way clear. A half dozen sought the interior of the store as refuge. They trod barrels and shelves to splinters. The wooden staircase to the second floor buckled and fell under their assault. The sutler’s family stood horror-struck at the top of the stairs, clutching one another in fright, to witness their once going enterprise turned to worthless debris.

A thunderous cacophony of beating hooves and cracking timber filled the air as tent after tent and shack after shack were torn down under the surge of senseless beasts. Screams arose above the rumble of their passage. A steer, its horns snagged in a tent line, ran about in ever decreasing circles with a bloodied nightgown tangled under one hoof. Somewhere in the collection of tents, a swatch of canvas was splashed with the oil from a smashed lamp. A blaze rose and swiftly spread, the flames stirring up the fear in the cattle to new heights. The beeves were shrieking now, mad with terror.

They swept down the street for open country where they spread out in all directions as though to race their own shadows to the mountains just turning gold under the rays of the rising sun.

When the bovine tide finally passed the ruin was terrible. A wide swath of Mercury Wells was destroyed, either trampled to wreckage or burning. Bodies, barely recognizable as human lay crushed into the dust of the street. A few wounded beeves thrashed out the last of their lives until put down by men with guns. Wails of despair and cries of anguish echoed off the fronts of the buildings that remained.

And at far edge of town lay the sad remains of the Holy Crusade Committee tent. A few poles still stood, shreds of canvas hanging to flap in the breeze. The rest of the tent, and its contents, had been stamped to rubbish under thousands of hooves.

At the center of the destruction, Adeline Tibbets was on her knees weeping over the trampled bodies of two of her sisters. She was surrounded by a ring of her followers holding hands with heads lowered.

Riders of the Twisted Tree panel 3
Riders of the Twisted Tree panel 4
The Sidewinders series cover
Riders of the Twisted Tree episode cover
35K views2K likes
4 comments

The Sidewinders

The Legend Chuck Dixon explores the Wild West, with epic tales of gunfighters, frontier justice, savage Indian tribes, and even more savage outlaws.
About a Job episode cover
About a JobEpisode #84
Go In Peace episode cover
Go In PeaceEpisode #83
No Marshal, No Jail episode cover
No Marshal, No JailEpisode #82
An Avenging Angel episode cover
An Avenging AngelEpisode #81
New Folks in Town episode cover
New Folks in TownEpisode #80
In Search of Mr. Thaddeus Jones episode cover
In Search of Mr. Thaddeus JonesEpisode #79
Limited Lodgings episode cover
Limited LodgingsEpisode #78
New Arrivals episode cover
New ArrivalsEpisode #77
Making the Rounds episode cover
Making the RoundsEpisode #76
Shocking Behavior episode cover
Shocking BehaviorEpisode #75
The Danger of Tedium episode cover
The Danger of TediumEpisode #74
The Silk Hat episode cover
The Silk HatEpisode #73
Eagle Flat episode cover
Eagle FlatEpisode #72
Balderdash and Codswallop episode cover
Balderdash and CodswallopEpisode #71
The Misplaced Spines episode cover
The Misplaced SpinesEpisode #70
Dress for Dinner episode cover
Dress for DinnerEpisode #69
A Guest of the Manor episode cover
A Guest of the ManorEpisode #68
Gleam of Sunlight episode cover
Gleam of SunlightEpisode #67
Thieves and Squatters episode cover
Thieves and SquattersEpisode #66
A Miserable Excuse episode cover
A Miserable ExcuseEpisode #65
The Terrible Lizard episode cover
The Terrible LizardEpisode #64
The Blackpool Train episode cover
The Blackpool TrainEpisode #63
The Grinning Visage episode cover
The Grinning VisageEpisode #62
A Catalog of Regrets episode cover
A Catalog of RegretsEpisode #61
A Mutual Passion episode cover
A Mutual PassionEpisode #60
The Unvarnished Truth episode cover
The Unvarnished TruthEpisode #59
The Gurkha's Shovel episode cover
The Gurkha's ShovelEpisode #58
Under a Harvest Moon episode cover
Under a Harvest MoonEpisode #57
Too Late to Damn episode cover
Too Late to DamnEpisode #56
The Death of Mercury Wells episode cover
The Death of Mercury WellsEpisode #55
A Figure in Black episode cover
A Figure in BlackEpisode #54
The Riders Strike episode cover
The Riders StrikeEpisode #53
Breaks in the Line episode cover
Breaks in the LineEpisode #52
The Edge of the Fiery Pit episode cover
The Edge of the Fiery PitEpisode #51
All Damnation Riding episode cover
All Damnation RidingEpisode #50
Empty Wagons at Dusk episode cover
Empty Wagons at DuskEpisode #49
The Angry Sky episode cover
The Angry SkyEpisode #48
Breathing His Last episode cover
Breathing His LastEpisode #47
The Price of Madness episode cover
The Price of MadnessEpisode #46
No Backing Down episode cover
No Backing DownEpisode #45
Riders of the Twisted Tree episode cover
Riders of the Twisted TreeEpisode #44
The Ground Trembles episode cover
The Ground TremblesEpisode #43
Rage and Fear episode cover
Rage and FearEpisode #42
News from the Capitol episode cover
News from the CapitolEpisode #41
The Limping Man episode cover
The Limping ManEpisode #40
The Reckoning episode cover
The ReckoningEpisode #39
Say a Prayer, Cowboy episode cover
Say a Prayer, CowboyEpisode #38
The Killing Starts episode cover
The Killing StartsEpisode #37
Worse Than Expected episode cover
Worse Than ExpectedEpisode #36
Cursed for a Fool episode cover
Cursed for a FoolEpisode #35
Answer to a Prayer episode cover
Answer to a PrayerEpisode #34
You'll See Jesus First episode cover
You'll See Jesus FirstEpisode #33
Cowboys and Irishmen episode cover
Cowboys and IrishmenEpisode #32
A Man Without a Gun episode cover
A Man Without a GunEpisode #31
A Storm is Coming episode cover
A Storm is ComingEpisode #30
The Bounty of the Lord episode cover
The Bounty of the LordEpisode #29
More Law Than We Want episode cover
More Law Than We WantEpisode #28
Ten Bucks per Conviction episode cover
Ten Bucks per ConvictionEpisode #27
Kings of the Jungle episode cover
Kings of the JungleEpisode #26
Don't Kick a Dog episode cover
Don't Kick a DogEpisode #25
The Majestic episode cover
The MajesticEpisode #24
Convictions Where Necessary episode cover
Convictions Where NecessaryEpisode #23
Sober as Sunday episode cover
Sober as SundayEpisode #22
Liquored Up episode cover
Liquored UpEpisode #21
Pools of Blood episode cover
Pools of BloodEpisode #20
In God's Hands episode cover
In God's HandsEpisode #19
The Devil Coming With Me episode cover
The Devil Coming With MeEpisode #18
Sudden Fury episode cover
Sudden FuryEpisode #17
The Scotchman Didn't Lie episode cover
The Scotchman Didn't LieEpisode #16
Paradise episode cover
ParadiseEpisode #15
A Man with Sand episode cover
A Man with SandEpisode #14
The Scent of Money episode cover
The Scent of MoneyEpisode #13
The Hand of a Righteous Man episode cover
The Hand of a Righteous ManEpisode #12
Devil's Freight episode cover
Devil's FreightEpisode #11
A Losing Fight episode cover
A Losing FightEpisode #10
Building an Empire episode cover
Building an EmpireEpisode #9
No Holy Man episode cover
No Holy ManEpisode #8
Blood Christening episode cover
Blood ChristeningEpisode #7
Guardian Angel episode cover
Guardian AngelEpisode #6
High Tide episode cover
High TideEpisode #5
Night Raid episode cover
Night RaidEpisode #4
Man and Boy episode cover
Man and BoyEpisode #3
A Gang of Mongrels episode cover
A Gang of MongrelsEpisode #2
The Wagon Train episode cover
The Wagon TrainEpisode #1
,
List icon
Comment icon
Prev icon
Next icon
Fullscreen icon