Red Ryder is a cigar-smoking, beer-drinking, man-ogling smuggler who probably needs a shower. When her Granny falls into the clutches of the sinister Mr. Wolfe, Red enlists her sleazy ex, Mark Woodman, to help save the day. Will they succeed? Or will Wolfe finally get his teeth into Red?
This sci-fi/fairy tale mashup originally appeared in the anthology Circuits & Slippers. It metastasized into a series of related stories that eventually became the novel Red Darkling.