—HOLT BRECK (Rigg Dexon) in Gallows River (1977) March 19, 2005: Centenary, NV Rigg Dexon stood in the doorway of The Mystery House and watched a plume of dust sail in his direction. Visitors. As the plume fanned out and grew closer he cursed softly, the way a real man does when company’s coming. Perhaps the retired cowboy actor wasn’t suited to a hermit’s lifestyle, but he’d never get a chance to find out, would he? With tourists crawling all over the desert, no place was safe. He blamed it on the flowers. The winter had brought a record rainfall of six and a half inches to Death Valley, and by spring, hipsters were floating kayaks on Lake Manly, a pluvial rift lake that hadn’t seen real water in 10,000 years. The wet winter led to the “Bloom of the Century,” and in March the desert was blanketed with swaying fields of white, yellow, and pink flowers. The plume of dust turned into an old blue Subaru wagon that eventually squared itself with The Mystery House, grinding to a stop.
