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“Now we’ve all heard of the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, right? Okay maybe not, but it is one of the Classics for a reason, one of Greece’s greatest myths. Even if you haven’t heard the original, I’m sure you’ve heard some version of it, man and woman have to follow a rule and if it’s broken, she dies. It may not be exactly that, but you’ve heard something of this genre before, I’m sure of it.
Many ridicule the story, saying that if they were Orpheus, they simply wouldn’t look back. But they are wrong, to look back is to love. We do it every day without even thinking about it, a mother checking that her child is still beside her, checking old photos, old texts, looking over to the person beside you to see if they’re enjoying the movie too. To look back is to love.
I’m not going to tell you the same tired story, that’s been told a hundred times before, of the son of a god and a muse and of the wood nymph. No, that would be too easy, but putting it into a different context, a different light, that might help you to understand.
Now this version my great-great-great-grandfather told my great-great-grandfather, he told my great-grandfather, who told my grandfather, who told my father and my father told me, they claim it was true, and I’m not sure if it is, but I’m going to share it with you today. Now our story isn’t set in Ancient Greece, and it’s not set in 1950s Rio De Janeiro, or any other setting you’ve heard it before. This story is set in 1880s America, also known as the age of the cowboys.
Now there’s a lot of characters to keep track of, so I’ll give you a quick rundown. Our first character, our Orpheus, her name is Annabelle Parker, she was a poet and novelist, or so I’m told. She was chasing the story that she wanted to tell, she was reckless. The next, our Eurydice, is called Josephine Taylor, a wayfarer, she lived a nomadic lifestyle and never really stuck around, until she met Annabelle.
One of the reasons this story isn’t so widespread may be, in fact, that this retelling, or true story, I’ll let you decide, is a Sapphic one. Our two leads, our Orpheus and Eurydice, are two women, Annabelle and Josephine. But do not let that blind you, this story is just as heartbreaking.
Our Persephone, a woman named Maria, wife of our Hades, Bill Hannigan. Now Bill Hannigan is one of those cowboys you’d find if you went searching deep enough, and Maria, well she had her run-in with the law, but she was, supposedly, a prostitute. They had a son named Daniel Hannigan, and he took after his father.
Along with that they had a gang, led by Bill, some called it the Fast Hand’s Gang, after Hanningan’s nickname of Fast Hands, though it was somewhat of a family moniker. They had five other members in the gang, another well-known cowboy with the alias of Snakehips, a well-known con-artist of the time Terrence McAvoy, a pair of Twins more disgusting than dangerous, and some kid they called Ryder.
Everyone in the gang had their own specialties. Snakehips was almost as quick ‘a shot as Hannigan, McAvoy was able to blend into any crowd and any profession, the Twins were a good distraction, as was Ryder. Daniel and Maria were experts in getting intel, and Hannigan? Well, other than his fast hands, he was a mastermind when it came to heists.
You could view this gang as Hades’ dead if you like, though Danny, he’s different, not quite one of the dead, but neither any of our mythological figures, Daniel is like that voice in the back of your head, your fears, your nerves, your doubt.
There’s another two characters, though not quite as important. An officer by the name of Henry, who in a way preys on those same fears that Daniel feeds you. And Arthur, my third great-grandfather, who guides you through the story, maybe he’s a Hermes, one of his domains is Oratory after all. But for now, I will be your Hermes, as I share this story.
And I will warn you, upfront, if you don’t know how the story goes, that it’s an old story, a love story, but also a sad tale... a tragedy.”
And with that, the man began his story: