Jeffries has retired to the stable to bed down the horses
and inventory our stores and armaments. Lord Kettering is
slumped in the chair beside me, his brandy glass half-fallen
from his fingers. I am not afraid of the wretched journey
before us. I do not fear the evil battle that is surely to
come. I am not frightened of failure or of death beside my
friend. I am only anxious as regards my pocket watch. It
now reads 12:14.
John Kiste is a Massillon Museum board member who was previously the
president of the Stark County Convention & Visitors’ Bureau. He is an
organ donation ambassador, a McKinley Museum planetarian, and an
Edgar Allan Poe impersonator. Previous publications include A Shadow of
Autumn, Modern Grimoire, and Dark Fire Fiction (among others). His
awards include Camden Press’s 2019 winner of the Preditors and Editors
readers’ poll for best anthology and the League of Utah Writers Silver
Quill, Quoth the Raven.
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