Episode 17: The Boy Who Could Not Die

## Blurb

The ties that bind us to this world are usually fragile things, gossamer strands spun on the looms of great, great grandmamas that we will never meet until our thread is snipped clean. Cowboy held no such ties. These were no mere threads binding this precious boy together, but heavy chains forged from the stygian soil of death itself and tempered in the cold river of eternity.

## Plot Synopsis

Some places in the mountains are not safe. But there are some that are, and among the safest stands the Walker House. Originally a parlor house called "Pleasant Evenings", until a run-in with a local magistrate and “The Railroad Man,” it is now a refuge for people in need of a place to stay for a few nights, for whatever their reasons may be. It is here that Sarah Avery, also known as Miss Belle, brings Cowboy Absher.

At the Walker House, Cowboy can see the life that surrounds the property, a contrast to the death he has seen everywhere since his night on the Island. He cannot see the deaths of the three women the way he can Melvin Blevins'. He recalls the night he was made the way he is now, when he was known as Caleb, the night The Dead Queen marked him. Cowboy nearly faints, but the ladies bring him inside.

Marcie Walker and Belle prepare supper with Cowboy’s help. Marcie observes him, taking note of the peculiar things about him.

Ellie Walker enters and watches him as well for a moment before making small talk with Belle and the boy. Once again, Cowboy can’t see Ellie’s death and decay. He notices her knife and the power in it before looking away.

After a simple supper, during which Cowboy eats very little, they all clear the table and do dishes together, before the boy hurries outside to throw up his meal. Marcie then summons Cowboy, who begins to sob, telling the woman the whole story of what happened and what life has been like since.

Marcie sends Ellie to fetch an egg, Marcie performs a small rite with it, moving the egg around the boy and rolling it down his arms and legs. Cracking the egg into hot water, the yolk is laced with black and the white is clouded with grey and green. Ellie takes Cowboy’s hand, and reaches out to try and dig deeper into what is wrong. She realizes he has no threads binding him to life, but chains binding him to the Dark Earth and to death. Realizing curing the boy is going to take skills neither she nor her sister possess, Ellie asks Cowboy if he would be willing to come to Virginia with her to see another practitioner.

Cowboy agrees, but asks if he can see his family before he goes. The ladies agree, and decide it’s time for bed.

Cowboy, who now thinks of himself as Caleb, creeps out to the porch, unable to sleep. Beyond the wards, he hears a whistle, the call the boys used to get each others’ attention in the woods. Returning the call, Caleb is surprised to see Sam come out of the woods, the other boys (Archie Stallard, Dallas Shepherd, Shane Shepherd, Curtis Kilgore) aside from Floyd Absher behind him. Sam leads them through the wards and Caleb meets them halfway.

Curt hugs Caleb, thanking him for getting rid of the shadow that took his daddy’s form, which hasn’t been back. Caleb sees his friends’ lives play out as he talks to them. Archie tells him Floyd will be along in the morning with his and Caleb’s parents. They discuss Caleb’s trip to Virginia, and Dallas gives him some of Mamaw Marie’s cornbread before they all say goodbye.

In the morning, Melvin, Ellie, and Caleb set out for Virginia, taking the long way to avoid whatever bound Caleb as they make their way toward Boggs Holler.

## Relevant Characters

* Cowboy Absher
* Marcie Walker
* Ellie Walker
* Sarah Avery
* Melvin Blevins
* Archie Stallard
* Dallas Shepherd
* Shane Shepherd
* Curtis Kilgore