Almost Sundown, April 11th, 1879. The outskirts of Blackthorn. Good Friday.

The whole thing was a damn mystery.

Jake hadn't seen Uncle Kaleb since he was a boy. Uncle Kaleb had gone out west when he was just seven years old, searching for Californian gold. He hadn't been heard from since, and Jake hadn't paid the man much thought in nearly 11 years.

When the solicitor visited his post, Jake was too wrapped up in thoughts of glory and fighting for his country to pay the inheritance any mind. This was before Captain Glick's fateful order to shoot Prisoners of War, of course. After that, well, he had to go on the run, and heading south to Texas didn't seem very bright.

That had been a five years ago. Jake hadn't followed up on the letter or the keys that came with it because that meant crossing the border back into CSA territory. He hadn't expected to ever return to the Confederacy again, and had been hiding out in Denver when the news came about the Armistice.

Even then, he'd forgotten all about the letter until a fortnight ago, when he'd been looking through his old papers wondering what to do with his life now that the war was over. An inheritance from a distant relative, smack dab in the heart of the Confederacy. Were they still looking to hang deserters? Could he move about freely?

Well, it was a chance to start over. He'd packed his few belongings and headed south.

Blackthorn turned out to be harder to find than he'd thought. Almost no-one had heard of the place, and it wasn't on any of the latest maps. He'd found it on an old surveyor's map and made his way from the nearest rail station overland. It was getting dark now, though, and it was wet. A chilly rain had started up an hour ago and he was looking forward to a warm bed and a meal.

But he was still half a mile away when he saw the pair of riders. One was a brawny black man dressed in an officer's army coat, though there weren't any rank patches on it. The other was a young-looking white man in dusty trail gear, a tin star pinned to his vest. The pair seemed to be looking for something.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:49, Thu 08 Dec 2011.

Jake tensed, moving his hand near the but of his Peacemaker he called out
"Ho there! You fellers wouldnt happen to come form Blackthorn would you?"

"Well, she couldn't've gotten far." the large black man says, looking at the mud. "Seems she made it out here, but there's some other tracks. Maybe she met some folk, fell in with them for safety."

"If you say so...looks like all these tracks are headed back to town, though." The man with the tin star replies. He looks up and over at Jake. "Hey! You there!"
This message was last updated by the player at 16:55, Thu 08 Dec 2011.

making sure his hands didnt seem close enough to his gun, but not far enogh that he would need more than a second to dodge he stopped
"Yessir? What do you need?"

The Tin Star rides closer. "We're looking for a very dangerous criminal who escaped town not long ago. We think she might have been headed this direction." He says. "Did anyone pass you by from this way?"

With his left hand he scratched his head
"No, cant say that anyone has beside you two fellers."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:50, Fri 09 Dec 2011.

"Well, shit." the big one says. "Can't see why she'd head back to town, though. Gonna be hell tryin' to follow it in this rain with all the runnin' about folk are doin'."

"She might have suckered some unsuspectin' folk into helping her bust her friends out." The deputy replies. "I don't like leaving Fuller to go through that again. We oughta go back to the jail just to be safe."

"Shit!" The big guy curses. "Didn't think on that."

The two seem to have quite forgotten about Jake, so wrapped up are they discussing their troubles.

Jake takes the moment of distraction to attempt to keep on walking, hell, its none of his buisness
This message was last edited by the player at 14:40, Fri 09 Dec 2011.

The two keep discussing their situation, then start heading to town...walking right behind Jake!

The Deputy rides up. "Hey, just a word of warnin'. Blackthorn's in chaos right now, so you oughta be careful. Rumor is that we're about to be attacked by a band o' Comanche, so folk're at the church discussin' plans. You might want ta join them, since right now everythin' else is closed. I don't know what you're in town for, stranger, but you picked a hell of a time to come by."

Then he and the large fellow ride past, leaving Jake alone at the edge of town.

After hearing this Jake will head to the church, for now just to hear what is being done

OOC Hello?

In reply to Jake 'Rattler' Cuthings (msg #11):

((OOC: Working on the new post. You'll be moving to the new chapter 13.1 thread once it's finished.))

Roger