Artemus Carson slows his horse with his knees, following in his sights the man he targeted moments ago. All of the mounted horses are moving amidst the clouds of smoke. Knowing he might lose sight of his target, Carson squeezes the Spencer's trigger. Again, it's too far to tell for sure, but the tribesman sees the man lurch forward in the saddle.
The man with the Spencer pauses as Travis Sunday rides in front of him. JEB, aiming his own carbine for another shot at the man with the Spencer, sees his friend Travis riding between, forcing both the lawman and his opponent to pause. JEB's intended target moves his mount sideways, yelling something inaudible. The rancher's hired gun refocuses and fires another round at the same steer he has hit twice already, while JEB grits his teeth and turns to pursue the strays, firing his Spencer at that same longhorn. The two-Spencer attack takes down the running beeve; it tumbles in a massive heap of hooves and horns.
Travis continues his move west, but not before one of the ranchers fires his Loomis across his path. The report startles the man from the sixth Michigan as he attempts to pursue the closest steer. Still, nothing can deter the gunfighter from taking aim again with his Starr and firing another round, not even the need to ensure, deftly, that his revolver had advanced beyond the jammed chamber. Senor Domingo is sure the ball flies true, as the longhorn's legs buckle and its horns dig into the earth, probably breaking its neck--if indeed the combination of buckshot and bullets had not sent it to its maker first.
Guiding Amatella to the west and slowing down the filly, Major Gray raises his Spencer to his shoulder and aims, but he holds his fire. In fact, he never squeezes the trigger; rather he waits, discerning the movements of the other cowboys and maneuvering Amatella.
Ayasha, seeing other of the Major's cowboys nearby, had turned west and ridden away from the strangers helping with the herd and circling south. She sees Randy and Cole ahead, perhaps 100 yards away, alongside a group of a few dozen of the longhorns.
Slowing Cortez and pushing the mount toward the few dozen trotting strays, Randy Oldman spies a lone cowboy chasing the longhorns from behind. Still holding his lariat, the pugilist realizes he doesn't need to intercept the beeves, because they are moving toward the northeast and away from the conflict and what he now sees to the west--a group of grazing cattle. Pulling close to the lone cowboy, Randy begins to help herd the beeves, while glancing at Cole and wandering if he should stay here or ride on.
Slightly behind the big cowboy at first, Cole Trayne gains ground quickly, passing Randy, while drawing his carbine and continuing his path toward the gun battle. He sees beeves running and a number of horsemen firing weapons. The closest men he thinks are Major Gray and JEB. No clear enemy target, Cole reckons. The top hand continues his ride, noting in his periphery the lone cowboy that Randy has slowed to intercept. Cole begins to wonder if he can trust his eyes as he sees what appears to be the lawman from Missouri firing at one of the Major's beeves.
-------------------
OOC: Please state another round of actions. FYI, the Judge made two errors recently that have been corrected in this narrative (misunderstood Ayasha's intent so adjusted her position; shouldn't have rolled for the Sharps (reloading round), so in the narrative, only the cowboy with the Loomis fired across Travis' path).
http://www.doghouserules.net/d...n/shootinbeeves2.pdf