"Yes, ma'am," drawls Elijah with a bit of a grin.  Though, with everything that's been talked about his grin is starting to look a bit forced.  Cane back in hand, the reporter begins making his thumping, limping way to the front door, "Just t' check..  If the Marshal still don't feel up to listenin' t' reason, do I just whack him across the head and drag him back here?  Just wonderin', these bein' Ranger orders an all..."

Wildcat chuckles at the notion of 'Ranger orders'.  "Mr. Fuller, let's not go on any pretense other than I need help and yer offerin' it voluntarily an' I'm abusin' the hell out of it.  You could both walk away right now an' I wouldn't think any less of either of you.  If Evans won't listen, just tell him  he can continue French leave until we leave tomorrow, because at that point we'll have to give him th' keys back.  Sometimes, you just have to believe in a man even though he could let ya down.  He's welcome to come here if'n he wants, but I ain't gonna demand it."

She looks at Deputy McCoy square in the eye.

"That's not a question I can answer, exceptin' I gotta ask ya, do you think that's smart?  He don't say much but from what ah can gather, that feller ain't got no love for anyone acting under title.  If ya think it will help go ahead, ah don't know them like you know them."

Wildcat shrugs yet again.  It's a weak gesture with her narrow shoulders.

"A normal group of people might appreciate someone they know is on the right side, and to be honest Deputy McCoy the fact that all of this town's lawmen have been outsiders so far is a sign something's wrong with the way things are done here.  Ya'll seem to have this mistaken notion I'm against yer independence here, but that ain't how it is at all, ah just think ya'll should go about it differently.  But ah don't know how they'll take it.

"Realize ol' Carl and his posse there are going to make a move to kill me at some point fairly soon.  That's why I advise you stay in town when the rest of us go, I ain't gonna make you choose between being a lawdog and the friends you've always known.  That's a choice you'll probably hafta make, but I ain't gonna make you do it on mah part.  But I'm trustin' th' feller fer the greater good myself even though I know what's comin', so I can't rightly tell you one way or another.

"While we's on that subject, Interim Deputy Fuller, yer job after we get there and Ward gets a chance to hear Deputy Bear will be to make sure he gets back here in town safe from Cantrell.  Ah hope by the time ya get back the Pony Express will get back with something definitive.  It'll be tense, but th' Adders got no beef with you and if'n ya ask nice and call Deputy Bear a savage they might even help ya.  If they turn on us, you just reach for the clouds and remember yer job.

"And on that note, I'd be sure to retrieve Deputy Bear's effects while yer there.  Last I saw, Mr. Mickle-fwate had them."

Wildcat felt another pang of sorrow, but the time for that would have to come later.  Mr. Armstrong had tried to warn her about keeping it together when one of your own fell.  What amazed her is not only how hard this was, but that she was following his advice after all.

In reply to Wildcat Hawkins (msg #196):

"Yeah, but if Carl ever tries to kill you, it won't be in the back or in your sleep." Deputy McCoy says. "He's a Southern man. When he tries to kill you, you'll be awake, you'll be facin' him, you'll be armed, and it'll be between you and him without the rest o' the boys gettin' in the way. It's Dave Baines I'd worry about tryin' to bushwhack you, given that's what he done in Kansas before comin' here. He said he used to run with Quantrill and Bloody Bill Anderson. I don't know if that's true or not, but Dave's kind of a mean snake in the grass and Luke and Charlie were his best friends."

"As for Carl, I think I can talk with him. Might argue a bit, might wind up tradin' blows, but once I explain things I hope he'll understand. I got to walk my conscience in the end, 'cause the preacher told me there ain't no one gonna walk that lonesome valley for me."

"Every tub sits on its own bottom Deputy."  Wildcat agreed with the remarkable recruit.

Elijah nods once to all that, "Will do, Ranger.  Will do."  With that, he reaches up to tug the brim of his hat in a soft salute.  That done, he hobbles his way through the door again and heads off towards the Undertaker's.  You do know how to put yourself right in the shit, Eli.  And here you thought writin'd be easy safe work.

In reply to Elijah Fuller (msg #199):

[[OOC: Elijah, you will begin posting on the 9.3 thread.]]

Bill is still there, waiting for Wildcat to lead him to the cell where his friend is staying. He might not have realized she'd already let him go...

OOC:  Ah, I was wondering what he meant by pinched.

"Oh, guess ah should have been more clear.  Ah let 'im loose.  Limited manpower, and the Marshal proved his point he could be arrested.  Ain't like we have the means at present to actually incarcerate terribly well.  Besides it's more impo'tant we talk ta Ward than he sit in here another few hours and learn nothing."

"Oh." Bill says. "I see. Well, I figger I oughta get busy, then."

He heads out the door, off to see the preacher, leaving Wildcat alone with Charging Bear.

Meanwhile, Carl's sitting out and keeping score for a chaotic game of Cajun Tarot, nursing his glass of liquid warmth and freedom from pain and longing for the rain to return. The world feels strange and wide and empty tonight, and he is dead.


[[in case y'all were wondering what Carl was up to.]]

[[OOC: I have absolutely no idea what to do now with the characters in this thread, since most of them are waiting for stuff. I have Elijah out and about involved in something which will probably take a few days to resolve, and I don't want to leave you all twisting in the wind while that happens. I don't know if I'd feel comfortable just skipping ahead when the events being covered right now will probably change things up quite a bit.

So please, if you would continue having some In-Character conversations to keep occupied, I would greatly appreciate it, unless you think all that has to be say has been said.]]

OOC:  Really unless Charging Bear wants to try to talk her into freeing him, Wildcat is sort of done for the moment.

[[ Thoughts: perhaps if Bill felt he had reason to seek O'Rourke at the church he'd return/stop off via the Red Eye - Carl won't be entirely happy with 'his' ranger left without some male in attendance, given her habit of standing far too close to the bars if that comes up...and anyone going/coming from vaultwards'll probably hear Jesse - hey, Cantrell probably will, coming back Evansless...though Cantrell and CB can't be left in a box together...hmm.]]


Carl rules "Mornington Crescent" a valid call if a two is dropped on any knight on the table and the caller drinks to the health of the Pope.

In reply to Wildcat Hawkins (msg #202):

"So what are you expecting out at the Ward place anyways?" Charging Bear says at last. "I imagine you've not done many property inspections."

"Truth be told, I don't know what to expect, other than a hell of a fight with th' Adders."

"Think the Adders are going to kill a ranger?" Charging Bear ponderings, "You've spoke with Austin, and Carl knows that... if you don't report back they'll most likely send someone else out."

Wildcat ponders it.  "It ain't unlikely, what you done said, but mah reckonin' is that these fellers have been sittin' around here starin' at each other fer so long, the idea that they're responsible fer what they do here to the rest of Texas, much less the Confed'racy, probably still don't register with 'em.

"You heard th' Adder jawin'.  He thinks that it's them against th' world just because there's some bad people out there, like there ain't no one else in the world who's never been mistreated or had a hard time of things.  Ya know what's downright queer about all this?  I feel sorry for 'em.

"They been so cooped up in their own problems fer so long here, they lost their sense of normalcy.  You heard McCoy, he thought th' dead rising weren't nothin' to worry about.  He laughed at me when I done learned him what needed to be did, like I were over-reacting.  For the love of God or what you probably call Th' Great Spirit, ah don't want to live in a place where the dead walk an' most everybody ain't scared out their wits.  The fact such ain't the case means that kind of thing is the norm here.  These poor people are like a frog that done been cooked, an' they don't even realize it."

Wildcat tries to find a seat.

"If'n ah could move heaven an' earth an' just let them lie in their own bed, I might be tempted to, but this will spill out of here."  She makes another of her narrow shrugs.  "Ah can only hope ah'm right and we can put the brakes on this thing.  Ah don't like it at all, but what choice do ah have."

Charging Bear nods mostly to himself, as he thought on Wildkitten's words. "This place has been ill for a while now. I imagine it started even before thing turned unnatural. People here have lost hope for whatever reasons. You'd figure folks would run for the hills when the dead start walking and talking... but no they just stay around." Charging Bear laughs, "Heck I'd have run myself if I hadn't seen it before."

Wildcat felt a little better that someone else saw the same problem.  Maybe she hadn't lost her mind after all.

"It's human nature, we don't want to see things we don't like.  They're so..."  The word Wildcat wanted was insular but it wasn't in her vocabulary.

"...into their own business, and it's understandable they would be with the things we've seen here, they got to tha point where when you or me or anyone else tells them what only an outsider can see, they get mad at ya!"

"When you live with something so long, no matter how strange it started, in time it seems normal." Charging Bear muses. "But regardless, I'll do what I can to help."

Time passes in Blackthorn.

Deputy McCoy goes about securing the services of the preacher, who seems eager to be of assistance and doesn't question the sudden need for large amounts of holy water, crucifixes, and sharpened stakes. Indeed, Bill notices that the man seemed to be half-expecting such a request. He leaves the man to his work, then stalks off to the Red Eye to see if he could catch up with any of the boys.

Carl, Ned, Big Tom, and Jack are about two-and-a-half sheets to the wind when Bill appears in the Saloon.

---

Meanwhile, David Fletcher makes inquiries in the Grand Bull, collecting general information about the area. He ignores the two monopolizing the barkeep, though he might have some questions for the man later. The most interesting thing to him right now is mention of a prospector called "Gabby," who pans silver from a nearby creek and has recently been known to speak about Ghost Rock in a cagey fashion.

---

While Elijah and Robert yell at each other in the streets loudly enough to wake the dead, it seems the help isn't needed, as there's a dead man singing already.

At least he sings until another figure interrupts him by opening the coffin. The figure wears a tattered, muddy sheet over him like a cloak.

"Oh death! Have you come for me at last?" The dead man laments.

The figure slaps him across the face. "Cut that shite out." it snarls. A chunk of bloody meat is dropped on Jesse's face. "Eat that. It'll help that gnawing sensation ye got in your belly. And come on. We need to be gettin' out o' here."

Jesse falls quiet, and probes the meat chunk with his fingers. He wasn't sure just what was going on, as he'd never been dead before, but this wasn't meeting his expectations. Still, there was a gnawing hunger in his stomach, and he began to chew the raw chunk down. Ugh. Unpleasant, but he'd had worse. He couldn't identify the texture...it was kind of like pork, he thought.

He pulled himself up out of the coffin and looked about. The meal, disgusting as it was, had revitalized him a bit, though he could still feel the gunshot wound in his belly aching. Perhaps he wasn't dead? The undertaker wasn't much of a doctor, after all. It would be like Underhill to make a hasty judgment...he would get paid whether his patient lived or died, and a funeral was less work.

"Come on." his shrouded savior whispered, urging Jesse onward. "Ye can marvel at your existence at length all ye like once we've gotten to cover."

Jesse nodded, and followed the cloaked figure out the door, offering a quick prayer to Jesus, thanking him for sparing him his life and offering him a second chance.

In his haste to leave, he failed to notice the other opened coffin, with the bloody smears on the side hinting at the source of his revitalizing meal...

---

Jericho Cantrell might have heard the singing coffin if he'd been anywhere nearby when it started. But he wasn't. Currently he was on the trail, headed for what the locals told him was the Circle W ranch. He intended to meet this "Dr. Ward" person. He wasn't going to get much help from the Ranger chasing his other bounties, not after that little speech she'd made when she thought he couldn't hear. So let her twist. He had bigger fish to fry.

Charging Bear wasn't going anywhere for a while yet, and this "Augustus Spotswood" would make a fine prize. The bounty on the pair would net him about a thousand dollars, and he only needed to bring one of them back alive. He didn't intend to kill Charging Bear...he'd rather make the Indian suffer through the trial and inevitable hanging that would follow it. But neither would he let the man slip his grasp, Ranger or not.

He walked towards the Circle W. Time to get to work.

Carl rules that any rule elaborated, ignored or made up because you're too drunk to remember the complexities of Cajun Tarot counts for the rest of that game, and that game only. Unless it's a really good rule, or he forgets about it.

He pushes a mostly-empty bottle in Bill's general direction when the man walks in, expression vagely enquiring. "..."

Charing Bear sits quietly in his cell, there's nothing for him to do otherwise. He at long last drifts into an exhaustion induced slumber.

Wildcat gets some badly needed harmonica practice in.

This thread is now closed. Please post on the 10.1 thread