Padre is certain: Mme. Laffon, or perhaps her underling, is an excellent cleaner. The only evidence indicating someone had slept here recently remains the word of the townsfolk, including the matron herself.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 585):

Earnest looks over the room from where he stands, then turns to the owner.

Madame Laffon, was anything found while cleaning this room... anything at all? Was the mattress turned?

Is there a wardrobe or chest of drawers in the room?

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 585):

The Paiute glances over his shoulder to ensure the men are following. He continues to walk, stopping once the men had moved north and out of site of the second mesa. Tracy figures they've retraced about 1/3 of the route. The Californian is also convinced the human tracks belonged to Red Shirt.

"Foreign Legion camped beyond pass. Horse went that way." He points to south, generally towards the mesa where the three riders had stopped and the pass that Tommy had spied.

"I saw twenty. Probably more beyond."

The Paiute's soliloquy surprises the men. Four sentences might be an all time high for the reticent guide.

In reply to Earnest Nicholas Samuel Ringgenberg (msg # 588):

Earnest's question seems a might odd to the matron, at least judging by her expression. The professor can see with his own eyes that no chest of drawers, footlocker, or wardrobe exists in the spartan room. He and Padre did see one wood chair, a small high table with a wash basin, and several pegs in the wall where coats, hats, and other garments could be hung. They are empty now,

Still Mme. Laffon answers politely, as she glances at the room's meager furnishings. "Non et non," she says, her accent more prominent for a moment. "We turned it not long ago."

In reply to Red Shirt (msg # 589):

"Damnaeshunn, Red Shirt," the Texican said, flashing a smile.

"I don't bee-lieve I've ever heered you be so all-fired windy afore."

"An' see," Jacob continued, "it warn't so bad. Lightnin' din't come down out've the sky an' strike uhs down. We din't see ol' Noah a-wavin' at us from his Arc as he floated by."

Jake fell silent and seemingly pondered over the fact that a French Foreign Legion camp was nearby. Those were tough men, he had no doubt -- men who had seen the elephant various times, and lived to tell about it. He had no wish to tangle with 20 of them.

"I'd a' thunk that them yahoos we whooped might be dee-serters from that bunch. 'Cept they had a feller who I bee-lieve was an officer amongst 'em."

"An' officers don't often-tiemes dee-sert, near as I can tell."

---

Edit: Fixed a coloration issue.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:57, Sat 16 Mar.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 590):

Earnest nods and smiles at the matron.

Well, hiding something under the mattress seems about the only option in this room... So if you do not mind, we'll have a quick look.

He goes to the bed and carefully lifts the mattress to avoid messing up the bedding as he looks underneath.

OOC: He doesn't expect to find anything, but Earnest will look under both sides of the mattress.

In reply to Earnest Nicholas Samuel Ringgenberg (msg # 592):

Mme. Laffon shrugs and nods her assent.

As he expected, Earnest finds nothing of interest when inspecting the mattress.

In reply to Jacob Richardsen (msg # 591):

Tracy was very glad to see Red Shirt again. Until the Paiute showed up and led them away from the mesa, he was very unsure what to do. He wanted to chase after the horse, but he also wanted to keep his pards out of danger. Red Shirt's appearance made the deliberation moot.

The investigator nodded when Jake mused about the invaders potentially having deserted from the Legion. "That would explain why they were so organized for sure. But is it significant that they were speaking Spanish rather than French? I don't know how common that would be in the ranks of the Legion myself." He shrugs.

"Did you see anything else of interest, Red Shirt?"

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 593):

Earnest finishes his look, shakes his head, then turns back to Padre and the Matron.

Nothing at all, as expected... Can you think of anything else Padre? I don't suppose they left anything in your care Madame Laffon?

In reply to Earnest Nicholas Samuel Ringgenberg (msg # 595):

I dont even have an inkling of an idea.

Damn...

Might just serve us better to rest up and be pink when our Pards come a-calling.

Mme. Laffon offers the room to the men, gesturing to the room and the bed.

"For all you have done for us, messieurs, feel free to rest here."

OOC: Sometimes there is nothing in particular to find, no matter how good your die rolls might be. The two men have helped Daniel escort the girls, spoke to the Wainwright, and got a feel for the situation in town. The idea of rest until reunited with the others is most logical.

In reply to Albert (Padre) Juhasz (msg # 596):

Red Shirt, after exerting himself uttering numerous words, had listened silently to Jake's meandering thoughts and then reacts to Tracy's question.

"No," he replies. Then, in what seems a response to the Californian's wondering about language, he adds "Legion has many tongues."

With the Paiute in a talkative mood Tommy asks

"We figured you wanted us to follow you out here..did we get that right?"

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 597):

Earnest nods to the matron.

Merci beaucoup madame.

He will avail himself of the bed, leaving room for Padre to lay down as well if he wishes.

OOC: Fair enough, never hurts to look!

In reply to Thomas Pearce (msg # 599):

Red Shirt continues his rare talkative streak with a reply to Pearce.

"Sort of," he answers, with a shrug.

In reply to Earnest Nicholas Samuel Ringgenberg (msg # 600):

Hopefully our pards have better luck than we did, Professor.

Padre accepts he and his pard are about to get some much needed rest.

Perhaps they should have our luck...

Padre avails himself of the space The Professor left for him.

In reply to Red Shirt (msg # 601):

"That kid we was a-trailin'," Jacob began, still speaking to Red Shirt, "you reckon it made its waey back to the Legion camp over yonder?"

The Texican figured that if the horse had found its way home again, so to speak, that would confirm that the men who had caused such a ruckus in the Three Towns area had come from there, as well.

The particulars regarding how-come the hardcases had done what they had done . . . waal, that was still a mite up in the air . . .

In reply to Jacob Richardsen (msg # 603):

The Paiute nods his assent.

To Jake's eyes, the guide looks quite tired.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:13, Wed 20 Mar.

In reply to Red Shirt (msg # 604):

Tracy also notices the tiredness in Red Shirt's eyes. "Red Shirt, how do you feel about Rockville? Padre and the Professor are already there. We could all get some rest."

The Paiute shrugs. "Rockville is all right." Although he doesn't seem excited about the idea, Red Shirt clearly agrees about the need for rest, as he cannot stifle a yawn.

OOC: At this time, the Judge is going to move ahead a bit. Seems appropriate based on player posts.

--------------------

The three riders return to Rockville as suggested by the Californian. Red Shirt whistles, and his mount Poo Goo appears a few minutes later from the brush around the mesa and the invader's camp. They ride to the middle of the three towns, rejoining Juhasz and Ringgenberg after putting the horses in the care of a rancher and learning the two men were resting at the boarding house.

The Matron Laffon sets them up with one more room, with a single bed and a cot. A couple of the heroes will need to roll out a bedroll and sleep on the floor, but all are able to get some much needed sleep. The Matron awakens all six of the men for supper. As they gather around the boarding house table and partake in Mme's humble supper, Daniel enters. He had returned to Springdale and rested there; they had expected his return before dusk, and the young Knight is punctual.

"I have just now scouted towards Grafton. No road patrols as far as I could tell. I stayed just about as far away as you men had done when we first came to Springdale. No word from Grafton, according to Jensen, and no one but me has ridden west."

In reply to Daniel Knight (msg # 607):

Earnest listens to Daniel before commenting.

Could be that the invaders have cut their losses and left... The folks in Grafton may just be staying low....

He rubs his chin.

...or, the remaining invaders are staying low, perhaps holding the Grafton citizens somewhere... either way, we'll have to ride in to see.

He checks his watch.

In reply to Tracy Windham (msg # 605):

and

In reply to Tracy Windham (msg # 605):

"Waal . . ." the Texican mused, thoughtfully stroking his chin-whiskers, "I gotta saey that gittin' some rest in Rockville ah-peals to me a sight bettr'n just uhs four mayhap buttin' heads with a mess of Lege-uhn folk."

After napping Tommy was quite glad to see the whole group assembled for dinner. A feeling of conviviality filled him as he sat down at the table. He was quite ready to tuck into some decent food and hopefully a bit of good conversation. He knew they would be back out on the trail soon enough

"Jake, you said it. They're hard men who can fight, not the kind who scare easy. We could really use some help...but I guess either way have to go to Grafton and finish this"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:23, Thu 28 Mar.

In reply to Daniel Knight (msg # 607):

and

In reply to Earnest Nicholas Samuel Ringgenberg (msg # 608):

and

In reply to Thomas Pearce (msg # 610):

Jacob couldn't always do two things at once. Sometimes he could, but a lot depended on what the two things were. Listening and eating? No problem, as it turned out.

And so it was that the Texican listened to what his pards had to say as he ate. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he looked over to their hostess. "Mighty fine vittles, Ma'am," he said with a repectful. "I'm grateful for them, an' for you openin' your door to us. We are shore-nuff a triffle rough ah-round the edges, but we ain't like them hardcases that we helped y'all git rid of."

Turning his attention to Daniel Knight, Jake spoke again. "That was some good scoutin' that you did, Dan-yell."

Glancing around the table at his pards, he added "Sounds like we're all ah-greed. We need to taeke us a look-see oh-ver yonder towards Graf-ton."

Turning back to Daniel Knight the Texican asked "Anything ah-bout Graf-ton an' the sir-roundin' area that you think we oughtta hear from you, as ah-posed to learnin' it the hard waey?"