[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Crooked Stories Theatre, where each week we bring you strange and quirky tales, stories with a small twist and odd setting, a unique character.
[SPEAKER_01]: It could be a drama of light horror, a sitcom, really any kind of story, as long as it's just a bit crooked.
[SPEAKER_01]: Today, we're excited to bring you part two of our eight part supernatural western drama Devils
[SPEAKER_05]: Previously on Devil's Do, money, jewelry, anything valuable.
[SPEAKER_04]: Oh, I didn't say we wouldn't do anything.
[SPEAKER_04]: I said it wasn't our fight.
[SPEAKER_04]: Marvin and I believe we've got something to discuss.
[SPEAKER_04]: Don't believe I'm inclined to give.
[SPEAKER_03]: You can't add, run it, what you've done.
[SPEAKER_01]: You in or you out.
[SPEAKER_01]: And now, we present Devil's Do.
[SPEAKER_01]: Episode 2, The Serpent.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think I'm game for another round.
[SPEAKER_06]: Hit it already, but a long day for Walt, tracking the thieves, baiting the trap.
[SPEAKER_06]: Watching Marvin wiggle free is he and dirt clumsily cheated the old man out of his do nightly earnings.
[SPEAKER_06]: Still, in this business, the gambling game, one had to be nimble enough to adjust to new cards.
[SPEAKER_06]: and the preacher had definitely been a new car.
[SPEAKER_06]: He would play that particular hand soon enough.
[SPEAKER_06]: But first, Walt had an itch to scratch.
[SPEAKER_06]: Something that had been bothering him all day.
[SPEAKER_05]: Oh, what mama's gonna think of me when I come home with a fancy new pocket watch and a new ring.
[SPEAKER_06]: Marvin bubbled with confidence as one would with the advantages before him.
[SPEAKER_06]: Until I think I'm gonna change my luck for this one.
[SPEAKER_04]: Walt switched seats.
[SPEAKER_05]: Well, come on, now that ain't necessary.
[SPEAKER_04]: necessary, you're not.
[SPEAKER_06]: It's done.
[SPEAKER_06]: Deal them out.
[SPEAKER_06]: It was over almost before it started.
[SPEAKER_06]: Marvin, without Dirk's watchful eye, was not a skilled player.
[SPEAKER_05]: Maybe one more?
[SPEAKER_05]: Let me win it back.
[SPEAKER_04]: It seems to me a player of your talent level won't to be satisfied with a pocket full of my money.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt scooped up the ring and his watch.
[SPEAKER_06]: He and Nathan made for the exit, but not before Walt tipped his cap to Dirk.
[SPEAKER_06]: Next time you'll join us.
[SPEAKER_06]: Dirk would never catch the true meaning of the invitation.
[SPEAKER_06]: It didn't diminish Walt's small sense of self satisfaction from the communication.
[SPEAKER_06]: Besides, plenty of time for education.
[SPEAKER_06]: He pushed the saloon doors open, stepped outside.
[SPEAKER_06]: No matter the outcome, and after poker shot of night air was always welcome.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt turned the corner of the saloon, Nathan, anxiously trailing behind.
[SPEAKER_06]: For a minute there, I thought you were going to shoot them.
[SPEAKER_06]: For the preacher showed, Walt pulled a pistol from a holster, held it up to his temple.
[SPEAKER_02]: Whoa, what are you?
[SPEAKER_06]: He pulled the trigger.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was empty?
[SPEAKER_04]: Told you, I don't kill people.
[SPEAKER_04]: Don't mean I can't bluff once in a while.
[SPEAKER_04]: I can't have no bullets.
[SPEAKER_04]: I got bullets.
[SPEAKER_04]: Right here, front pocket.
[SPEAKER_04]: I may be a fool, but I'm not stupid.
[SPEAKER_02]: Where are we sleeping tonight?
[SPEAKER_04]: Nights not done.
[SPEAKER_04]: You know what that coach was going for, got robbed?
[SPEAKER_04]: Yes, sir.
[SPEAKER_04]: Good.
[SPEAKER_04]: You take this ring and give it back to that fella and his wife.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't understand.
[SPEAKER_02]: Why the ring but not the money?
[SPEAKER_02]: It could have easily whipped that guy at the table.
[SPEAKER_04]: If you kept him honest, uh, money flows this way in that way.
[SPEAKER_04]: I don't concern myself with the specifics of it.
[SPEAKER_04]: It's unimportant.
[SPEAKER_04]: I just make sure enough flows to me, so I can keep going.
[SPEAKER_04]: The man that got robbed, though.
[SPEAKER_04]: Uh, that was his mother's ring.
[SPEAKER_04]: Stealing a man's memories?
[SPEAKER_04]: Things like that, half a matter.
[SPEAKER_06]: Now, go, won't watch the young man ride off, then he waited.
[SPEAKER_06]: Several hours past before Dirk and Marvin stumbled out of the saloon.
[SPEAKER_06]: Drunk as the night was dark.
[SPEAKER_05]: Well, God almighty that was fun.
[SPEAKER_05]: You hear what he done said to me?
[SPEAKER_05]: You got an angel on your shoulder.
[SPEAKER_07]: Ha ha ha ha ha!
[SPEAKER_07]: He got me wings of the halo of arms!
[SPEAKER_07]: Oh, suppose we should hit that chuckle head again tomorrow?
[SPEAKER_07]: Maybe wind that ring back?
[SPEAKER_06]: The words were barely out of his crooked mouth, when the gun barrels dug into the back of each man's head.
[SPEAKER_04]: Your boys dragged me as the something for nap and time.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt cocked the pistols.
[SPEAKER_07]: I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I
[SPEAKER_06]: Just the type I'm looking for.
[SPEAKER_06]: While lower the guns, relief washed over Durk and Mark, though it was almost certain.
[SPEAKER_06]: Durk had a little idea what was even going on.
[SPEAKER_04]: At Breachier, converting the towns guilt into money.
[SPEAKER_04]: It's a shake down plane and simple but it's a good one.
[SPEAKER_04]: Very lucrative.
[SPEAKER_04]: I need you boys to help me nip that big bag of shame in carries.
[SPEAKER_04]: Shame?
[SPEAKER_05]: Money, you idiot?
[SPEAKER_05]: It's a bag of money.
[SPEAKER_04]: We split it three ways.
[SPEAKER_04]: Are you up for it?
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, shoot, yeah, we're up for it.
[SPEAKER_04]: Great.
[SPEAKER_04]: He hides the money upstairs.
[SPEAKER_04]: Tomorrow morning, I'll distract him.
[SPEAKER_04]: Well, that's when you hit.
[SPEAKER_04]: Now that?
[SPEAKER_05]: That's a good plan.
[SPEAKER_04]: Simple plan, that's what makes it good.
[SPEAKER_04]: Now, you boys too drunk to remember this conversation.
[SPEAKER_04]: No, sir, we'll be there.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt turned for the saloon, the gambling and scheming had made him tire.
[SPEAKER_06]: Tonight, he would sleep well, at least he hoped.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt's beard shivered with the vibration of his prolific snoring.
[SPEAKER_06]: He was indeed sleeping well.
[SPEAKER_06]: The saloon downstairs was finally quiet.
[SPEAKER_06]: The sinners exhausted from their sinning.
[SPEAKER_06]: The frilly ladies slept, their purse is full.
[SPEAKER_06]: The piano player home to rest his tired fingers.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt didn't care about any of them.
[SPEAKER_06]: He dreamt of teaching the old preacher, a lesson.
[SPEAKER_06]: But he stood
[SPEAKER_06]: He didn't see the young woman lean over him, and whisper in his ear.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm coming for you.
[SPEAKER_06]: He didn't see the door, push open behind her.
[SPEAKER_06]: Nor the snake, several feet long, thick as a cow's leg, inching into his room.
[SPEAKER_06]: He didn't see its slither across the wood floor and up the leg of his bed.
[SPEAKER_06]: He didn't feel its squirmets away under his covers and past his right knee.
[SPEAKER_06]: He felt it though, when it finally sank its fangs into his hand.
[SPEAKER_06]: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt's eyes shot to the young woman.
[SPEAKER_06]: Now sitting across the room.
[SPEAKER_06]: Rachel?
[SPEAKER_06]: Can you see it?
[SPEAKER_00]: What's about to happen?
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt grabbed his head, a desperate attempt to stop the spinning room.
[SPEAKER_06]: The visions came quickly.
[SPEAKER_06]: Marvin and Dirk walking toward the saloon.
[SPEAKER_00]: They'll be here soon.
[SPEAKER_06]: The two men sneaking down the upstairs hallway past Walt's door.
[SPEAKER_06]: dirt grabbing the money from under the bed.
[SPEAKER_03]: They'll take what's yours.
[SPEAKER_06]: The two men kicking at their horses as they rode away, and finally, the two men asleep in a field, the bag of money, between.
[SPEAKER_05]: You'll get what you deserve.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt fought to focus his vision.
[SPEAKER_06]: The woman was gone.
[SPEAKER_06]: All the remain was the coming betrayal.
[SPEAKER_06]: No sons of bitches.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt wrestled his pants over his wobbly legs, and struggled to pull on his boots and half.
[SPEAKER_06]: He lumbled his way toward the door, each step on precarious balancing act.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt collapsed to the floor, his cheeks slamming against the rough blue planks.
[SPEAKER_06]: His eyelids clench clothes as a poison rippled his muscles in a wave of spasms that swept from his temples to his toes.
[SPEAKER_06]: He never saw the shadow as under the door, as two figures snuck past.
[SPEAKER_07]: That room there.
[SPEAKER_07]: Be careful.
[SPEAKER_07]: All you'll just take peek.
[SPEAKER_07]: Keep no one in there.
[SPEAKER_07]: Check under the bed.
[SPEAKER_03]: Oh, just like you said, Bob.
[SPEAKER_06]: The two men rode hard.
[SPEAKER_06]: Every hook, the brought a clash of coins as the bag of money tied to Marvin Sattle, produced a steady rhythm of metallic notes.
[SPEAKER_06]: It would have been pleasant, and Marvin not men so stressed.
[SPEAKER_06]: He wasn't worried about the preacher, but Walt, he was definitely the type to hold a grudge.
[SPEAKER_06]: The men grew tired before the horses.
[SPEAKER_06]: Turns out a night of gambling, drinking and stealing.
[SPEAKER_06]: Not great preparation for a long night's ride.
[SPEAKER_06]: Dirk was the first to wilt.
[SPEAKER_06]: He laid his head against his horses neck.
[SPEAKER_06]: Sensing Dirk's loss of will, the horse.
[SPEAKER_06]: Slowed to withdraw.
[SPEAKER_05]: We can't stop now.
[SPEAKER_05]: Sure as a tick on a hound dog, you'll be out for blood.
[SPEAKER_07]: I ain't got no more in me, Marve.
[SPEAKER_06]: Marvin spun his horse around.
[SPEAKER_06]: He looked for dust, movement, any sign the wall was on their trail.
[SPEAKER_06]: He saw none.
[SPEAKER_05]: All right, we'll grab a quick one.
[SPEAKER_05]: But when I say go, we go.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt pulled himself to his feet.
[SPEAKER_06]: His head still spinning, but an anger, oiled him sign.
[SPEAKER_04]: Pull yourself together old man, you don't get right and soon you might never see those two idiots again.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt examined the dirt outside the saloon.
[SPEAKER_06]: It didn't take a long to find the tracks.
[SPEAKER_06]: Two horses, riding south-west.
[SPEAKER_06]: He checked his saddle and pulled himself up, Walt whipped the reins and kicked his heels.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[SPEAKER_05]: Okay, well, we can't sleep long.
[SPEAKER_06]: Dirk, I had the bag of money.
[SPEAKER_05]: I'll put it right between us.
[SPEAKER_06]: each slap with a hand on the back.
[SPEAKER_06]: Neither man stirred as the burlap rippled with movement.
[SPEAKER_06]: Slowly, the snake, it's head swaying from side to side.
[SPEAKER_06]: It's tongue licking at the cool night air, worked its way free of the weight of the coins in fabric.
[SPEAKER_06]: The snake slithered across the brown Kansas dirt first toward the sleeping Marvin.
[SPEAKER_06]: The creature coiled its tongue, dancing.
[SPEAKER_06]: With an almost gentle touch, it bit Marvin's hand, just a kiss a poison.
[SPEAKER_06]: As a snake turned for Dirk, Marvin began to dream.
[SPEAKER_06]: Marvin could see himself in the field sleeping under the blanket of stars.
[SPEAKER_06]: He watched from above as if he were floating in the cool night air as Dirk sat up looked across the bag of money to his partner.
[SPEAKER_06]: Marvin, getting no response Dirk carefully lifted the bag of money and tied it to his saddle.
[SPEAKER_06]: Marvin continued watching from above.
[SPEAKER_06]: His breath, quickening, has Durk's slowly turned.
[SPEAKER_06]: He held his breath as Durk drew his gun, pointed it at his partner, his sleeping body, and pulled the trigger.
[SPEAKER_06]: Marvin and Durk bolted upright at the shocking finish to their collective dreams.
[SPEAKER_06]: They spun for their guns, both men quickly turning on the other, sweat pour from each man's brow, the fever from the poison, breaking.
[SPEAKER_06]: I saw you.
[SPEAKER_06]: In my dream.
[SPEAKER_06]: No, I saw you.
[SPEAKER_06]: Each dude to confront the other.
[SPEAKER_06]: Their hands shaking with fear.
[SPEAKER_05]: Anger, sickness, you're gonna shoot me and take the money.
[SPEAKER_05]: I saw it with my own eyes.
[SPEAKER_05]: You shot me!
[SPEAKER_06]: Marvin's eyes dance from Dirk to the gun to the money.
[SPEAKER_06]: won't pull his horse to a stop.
[SPEAKER_06]: He had no interest in writing into an active gunfight.
[SPEAKER_06]: He waited, his ear turned toward the rise over which he had heard the shots.
[SPEAKER_06]: All the returned, was silence.
[SPEAKER_06]: He dismounted, led his horse to the ridge.
[SPEAKER_06]: The view across the shallow valley was expansive.
[SPEAKER_06]: The sun, rising behind him, just beginning to light the view of the farthest edge.
[SPEAKER_06]: There wasn't enough light, however, to see the bodies, to with them.
[SPEAKER_06]: Want to top the other, Marvin and Dirk.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt waited him.
[SPEAKER_06]: He looked dead and there was no movement, but he wanted to be sure.
[SPEAKER_06]: He had been bluffed many times, and it could be deadly to be fooled now.
[SPEAKER_06]: The more he pondered the situation though, the more his confidence rose.
[SPEAKER_06]: Marvin was too fidgety to lie still for even a moment.
[SPEAKER_06]: Dirk, he wasn't smart enough to think to try.
[SPEAKER_06]: No, they were most certainly dead.
[SPEAKER_06]: Still, Walt was no fool.
[SPEAKER_06]: He chambered a few bullets and kept his gun drawn as he approached a sigh.
[SPEAKER_06]: Breach in the carnage, he kicked the two men, just to be sure.
[SPEAKER_06]: Convinced, he holstered his weapon and rolled the body off the money.
[SPEAKER_06]: None of it had gone according to plan.
[SPEAKER_06]: But here he was, with three times the money he expected.
[SPEAKER_06]: All the was left was to grab the cash and stay clear of the preacher.
[SPEAKER_06]: Not that he was a threat.
[SPEAKER_06]: As Walt reached for the bag, he didn't see the snake, coil behind you.
[SPEAKER_06]: He felt the first strike on the pack of his leg just above his left, but he yanked the gun from its holster.
[SPEAKER_06]: The second strike caught the side of his white boot as he spun to meet the attack.
[SPEAKER_06]: The third strikes hit his right thigh, as he dropped to his knees.
[SPEAKER_06]: Oh!
[SPEAKER_06]: He didn't feel the fourth strike or the fifth.
[SPEAKER_06]: By that point, he was prone in the turn.
[SPEAKER_06]: Eyes froze an open, as the venom overtook him.
[SPEAKER_06]: The snake hover, watching, waiting, perhaps for walls bluff.
[SPEAKER_06]: Satisfied with his victims' demise, it slithered to the bag of money.
[SPEAKER_06]: slowly, the snake transformed an agonizing journey from reptile to human.
[SPEAKER_06]: It's tail split into legs, arms and crafts from its sides.
[SPEAKER_06]: Its mouth twisted and stretched.
[SPEAKER_06]: The creature's head jerked and its tongue flicked.
[SPEAKER_06]: Finally, the preacher, holding himself up, dusted himself up.
[SPEAKER_06]: Yes, the slits in his eyes narrowened before they rounded.
[SPEAKER_06]: The lanced of the metamorphosis.
[SPEAKER_03]: Oh, yes!
[SPEAKER_03]: The preacher calmly took the bag of money and climbed into Walt's saddle.
[SPEAKER_06]: Guiding the horse to the bodies, he smiled at the sight.
[SPEAKER_06]: Walt had been right.
[SPEAKER_06]: The old man definitely enjoyed his work.
[SPEAKER_06]: He held the bag above the bodies and poured the contents on to the lifeless man.
[SPEAKER_06]: More coins for thee, and more souls for thee.
[SPEAKER_06]: The preacher slung the empty bag over his shoulder.
[SPEAKER_06]: He would need it for the next town.
[SPEAKER_06]: The next dirt, the next Marvin.
[SPEAKER_06]: Whenever that was.
[SPEAKER_06]: For now though, he had other things to concentrate on.
[SPEAKER_06]: The trap had been set and sprung soon.
[SPEAKER_06]: He would collect, he gently kicked at the horse,
[SPEAKER_05]: Next time on Devil's Doer, you are going to leave me.
[SPEAKER_02]: You are going to leave me.
[SPEAKER_03]: A regular Lazarus has come to save your soul, or maybe you're here to return my money.
[SPEAKER_03]: Are you ready to dance with the devil?
[SPEAKER_03]: How was it me?
[SPEAKER_04]: Well, I'm sure it's hell wouldn't me.
[SPEAKER_04]: Why got me son of a bitch?
[SPEAKER_01]: Episode three, a dance with the devil.
[SPEAKER_00]: The FAN