Daniel considered the Union folk for a few hearbeats, then returned his attention to his uncle and nodded at his response. He patted the man on the back and then followed him. Gabby's stories were not to be missed, even if you knew the outcome.

The conductor nodded at Randolph, and then got up and dusted his hands off to get back to checking on the progress of the train. As Gabby walked up to greet them, the assembled folk all greeted him warmly, and complimented him on Clementine, who had stayed with them while the others had gone down to the mine.

From the crowd of Union Blue guards that were talking amongst themselves a few feet away, one of them wandered up to the fire. There seemed to be a permanent scowl etched upon his face, and a pained look layered on top of it. He was well groomed and his uniform well appointed with marks of rank and didn't have the look of a drunkard, but the smell of whiskey clung to him like a second skin. "Goddamn fuckin' coward rebels. I can't believe they can do this shit," he said to nobody in particular.

"You know what they did this time?" he asked, though he didn't wait for anybody to answer. "Went down over to Hays, and killed damn near everybody. Man, women and children too. Just cause it leaned Union."

Morgan's instinct was to saddle up as quickly as possible. Badly wounded or not, he knew he would feel far less edgy once Radcliffe was locked up. Just as he'd started to check on his own horse, he overheard the Union Blue guard speak up, the hair on the back of his neck standing up when the man spoke about rebels.

Approaching the fire, Morgan kept his voice calm and level as he asked, "I hadn't heard about what happened in Hays. A lot of people murdered there, you say?"

Coraline joined the group along with the others, greeting the passengers in a friendly manner, though her thoughts were still on her magic and what the others had witnessed.  Near the fire, she pulled on her gloves against the cold and started buttoning up her coat.  The swearing caught her attention.  "When was this?" she asked the soldiers, gravitating to them naturally.

The guard blinked as he saw Coraline, and tipped his hat, saying "Ma'am," before answering them.

"If you ever heard 'bout what happened in Lawrence back in 63, it was like that but worse. Back then they just killed the menfolk, but this time they got women and children too. Some stragglers made it into Dodge - a woman and a couple kids. They think that was all as was left, though maybe more'll turn up," he said.

He lowered his voice a bit, so that only those that were standing near the fire would hear. "It happened maybe a week ago, and it was just like what happened in Colby three weeks before that with the hangin' and the scalpin' and some o' the bastards tyin' the scalps to their saddlehorns. Ain't that some sick shit? We've been callin' them the Night Riders though don't nobody know who they really are, 'sides a buncha coward ass Rebs."

"Supposedly Bob's Boys are comin' down to Kinsley to keep it good for a while, and the Unionizers are supposed to be pullin' into Dodge soon enough," he said reassuringly.

When the guard spoke of Lawrence, Morgan's mind flooded with memories, images of that terrible day when Quantrill and his men descended on the town, of himself, only a teen, carrying his wounded brother out of the burning ruins, the rest of his family lost to him.

Whoever these Night Riders were, it was his duty to hunt them.

Morgan extended his hand to Phelps. "Marshal, it's been an honor riding with you. The good people of Kinsley are fortunate to have you serving them. If I can ever be of help to you, just send word to me."

He quickly addressed the rest of the group. "Ms. Hawthorne, Mr. Darling, Daniel, Gabby. I can't thank you enough. Marshal Phelps and I could never have captured Radcliffe on our own. I'lll always be obliged to each of you for your help."

He addressed the guard again. "Sir, I need to get my prisoner to Dodge this evening. It's vital that I get with the law there and assist them in insuring that town is well defended. If you could find a few volunteers to ride with me, I'd be appreciative."

Morgan made his way to the car where his mount was to check the horse and his gear before riding. The fact that the Unionizers were headed to Dodge gave him a bit of comfort. Someone in their ranks would remember him. Perhaps there would be some there that he had fought alongside. They would know of these Night Riders and could help him find their trail.

After Phelps took Wilder's statement and saw the scientist on his way, he meandered over to the fire to join the others. Returning Caleb's firm handshake, he nodded and said simply, "The same to you, Marshal Morgan."

"And who might you be?" asked the guard curiously. There wasn't any rudeness in his voice, but not yet having made the acquaintance of the lawman he was curious about who might be escorting prisoners and asking for riders.

"He's a U.S. Marshal, that's who he is," added Phelps.

The railway guard's eyebrows lifted a bit at that, and he seemed to involuntarily straighten his posture a bit. "Pleasure to meet you, Marshal. Unfortunately I can't spare any men to ride escort with you, as we've gotta keep ridin' the line here. We already missed this attack over here - something we coulda stopped if we'd been here for it. Don't want to miss any others."

"I don't think you have to worry about Dodge gettin' hit. They're only goin' for the really small pro-Union towns, and Dodge is split down the middle and bleedin' like a busted lip. Who's the prisoner you got?"

Gabby, who'd been nearby and bristling a little at the bluebellies badmouthing Confederate forces, spoke up before Caleb could answer.

"This here prisoner is a mad scientist. The one who was actually behind the attack here, not no phantom Confederates." He says. "Damn Yanks. Always so quick to blame any damn thing on the brave men o' the CSA...Why, I reckon if you'd been here, you'd be as dead as them other folks. That or hidin' in the bushes cryin' and soilin' yerselves."

Here we go again, thought Daniel to himself before jumping into the conversation.

"My uncle brings up a couple o' interstin' points, fellas.  Yah said nobody knows who it be, these Night Riders. How d'ya know they's from the CSA?" Daniel wasn't asking his question with scorn in his voice, but rather natural curiosity.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:41, Wed 05 Dec 2012.

Neither Jenny nor Darrel had much to say on the subject, and not many of the railroad employees were still around but a couple but those that were there weren't keen on commenting to the topic. Bill and Joe took right to it, though - especially after Gabby and Daniel had already voiced their thoughts.

"Yeah, how y'all know it was Confederates as did it?" one of them asked, right on top of the other whose words got lost in the mix.

The grizzled old railroad guard looked consideringly at the old man and his nephew for a moment. The man looked a little younger than Gabby did, but was probably somewhere around the same age. He looked as tough as aged leather, and nothing of him had gone to fat even in his older years, maintaining the tough carriage of a soldier. He briefly considered launching into a long history lecture, which he was fond of, but thought better of it. "We fought pretty bitter since the mid fifties 'bout whether we'd be free, or keep slaves here in Kansas. I don't mean arguments, I mean bloodshed. We ended up joinin' as a free state in '61, and then the war broke out so now I guess we're just here. The bad blood didn't go away, though. But that's all neither here nor there."

He spat, and continued talking. "These days, Kansas is pretty split up. Some towns is an even split, like Dodge. Then there's some town that lean Union, some that lean Reb. In the last two months, there's been three towns butchered almost to the last man, woman and child - all Union towns. There's Rebel leanin' towns within thirty miles of each of 'em, but they ain't seen so much as a drop o' that bloodshed. And I wish 'em well for it. I don't mean anybody should go get them some payback. That shit just ain't right."

"Anyway, I ain't sayin' its your brave confederate soldiers as is doin' these things. Truth to tell, I used to wear the blue, but since I left I've met some folks that mighta faced me down on the field wearin' grey that were good, honorable folks, 'cept for being rebels. But I don't know how else you wanna explain it. Maybe you got some fancy tale - vampires that're only hungry for the blood o' folks as never owned slaves?"

Daniel listened patiently to the response. The end confused him a tad, so he furrowed his brow, "Ya jest said that its Rebs been doin it without no proof. Not even a shady eyewitness or nuthin. Yer flappin' yer gums in a way gonna get someone killed. You may not think payback is right but it comes into yer head anyhow. Folk with a lesser conscience might decide to go do somethin' uncalled fer. I unnerstand yer upset, but don't go makin such accusation without no sorta investigation. If frontier folk are bein' harmed, I'd be the first to stand by yer side ta help it not happen no more. But the way yer goin on about it jest ain't right."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:10, Thu 06 Dec 2012.

"Ain't more than five in a hundred Southerners ever owned a slave, sir." Gabby says, not completely mollified. "And that ain't what the war's about anyhow, except to you Yanks, or have ya'll forgotten we done freed them back in '65? I reckon you all think Jesse James waves the Stars n' Bars, too. Whoever these Night Riders are, they ain't nothin' more than low-down snake cunts usin' the war to justify their bloody business. I surely hope you find 'em, but they's aberrations."

Unlike many Southerners, Jesse James and his gang weren't heroes to Gabby, and he'd heard all about Quantrill's raids since he'd started living in Kansas. He couldn't being himself to approve of either species of varmint. But he wasn't about to let this Yankee lay blame on all the brave boys in grey just on account of a few bad apples.

He bristled at the tone taken to him by the young man, as did the other Union Blue guards at his back. A quiet murmur rose among the group, and they moved their group ever so slightly closer to the gathering around the campfire as if they were expecting trouble, but nothing more came of it.

The officer stared at Daniel for a long moment, his fists clenched and looking on the edge of an explosion, but he didn't yell. He listened to Gabby talking, and it seemed to take some of the edge off. When he had words, they came out quietly, full of vitriol and bitterness and despondency. "Don't take a tone with me, boy or tell me what to say. You don't know shit, and you don't understand shit. My wife and mother both lived in Colby where the same thing happened, and I'm not gonna see either o' them ever again. My brother died in Lawrence, and both my sons died in the war. So before you talk about gums flappin' you better watch your own or find somebody to watch them for you. You think it's all just a big coincidence, you might wanna go talk to the woman and the kids as made it back to Dodge. Go on, ask 'em if maybe everybody in Hays dropped dead of their own accord, or maybe you can ask the three o' them if they did it. But really what you need to do is wait till you're old enough to have a wife and kids of your own. I hope to God that you're all spared what's happened to me. For now leave the talkin' to your elders and go play with your toys. This feller here has ten times the sense you do," he said, pointing to Gabby, and turned his back on the young barber.

He gave the old man a nod. "It's not all about the war, and you're right about them bein' abberations. Morgan's Marauders and Henley's Hellions jack up Union Blue trains, and shoot it out with the Unionizers and Bob's Boys who'd do the same if Dixie Rails rolled through here no doubt, but that's just fightin'. Pointless fightin' maybe, but plain fightin' nonetheless. I went to Colby to bury my wife and my mother. If you were in my place - if it'd been three Rebel towns slaughtered one after the next, and you'd had to do the same, I doubt you'd be comin' over here in defense of the boys in blue."

"I believe you." Gabby says. "At least, I believe you seen some horrible things done to folk you care about, and I can see how you'd jump to blamin' the CSA. For what it's worth, I might be a bit quick to judge, too, were I in your shoes. People do horrible things in war, and I hope to god that's all it is, but we just got done puttin' down a mad scientist and his abominations against all that's decent and holy in the world, and I done seen all manner o' strange shit out in California after the Quake. There are monsters out there, and they don't always wear blue an' grey. What exactly did the folk who got away say they saw? Tell me everythin', even the stuff you might not believe."

"There's only one thing I haven't told you yet, cause it's ridiculous. Everything else is just what I said. Everyone that's made it out so far said it's real cold when it attacks. Like the temperature drops or somethin'. I figure cause it's only at night they attack, and that's when it get a little chilly. That's how they tell it though. Gets cold, then they ride down on their horses with a blood curdlin' yell. That's when the killin' would start," he said.

Daniel thought he had been fairly even-handed, just tellin' the fellow not to make unsubstantiated claims. But Daniel wasn't the most tactful person, and he had a pretty substantial temper. Two things that didn't mix terribly well. In truth, he ought to let his elders do the talking. Only he couldn't always do that.

Just about now he started to get a bit hot under the collar. "Listen, old-timer, I unnerstan' plenty. I unnerstan' that men on both sides've lost folk they care 'bout. Buryin' yer family ain't somethin' any man should have to do. But I'll take whatsoever tone I like with ya' if yer gonna haul off an start makin' claims like that 'gainst anyone. It's shit like that riles folk up to go doin' wrong stuff. Yer damn right if it been confederate towns I'd say the same thing. Too many people jump ta conclusions an' then decide they gonna do somethin' 'bout it. Usually somethin' stupid. I will be talkin' ta those folk when we get ta Dodge. An if I ever get my hands on whoever thought killin' a bunch o' innocent folk is a good idea, I'll pop his head off with my bare hands if I gotta. I don't care if he, she, or it is wearing gray, blue, pink, or orange. You got me?"

Gabby rests a hand on Danial's shoulder. "Danny...calm down." He says. "Ain't no cause to get riled here." He considers the man's words. "Get's cold...hmmm. Did they describe what the killers looked like?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:52, Thu 06 Dec 2012.

Having already turned his back on the youth, he didn't so much as turn around at the diatribe. With his belt knife, he cut the cigar he had and leaned down to get it lit in the fire. Standing up, he spat and took a puff on the cigar.

"It was all at night, and the only survivors were children and womenfolk, and you know how hysterical they can get - especially somethin' as truly frightenin' as a massacre like this. I mean, to be fair it was dark. There's a young girl named Grace - Grace Ackerman I think - who was pretty lucid about the whole thing though. You should talk to her when you get to Dodge - she'll prolly give you the best account of it all. Father Iglesias is seein' to her. You can prolly find him at the Union church, and if not whoever's there can probably tell you where to find him. Everybody who's anybody in Dodge knows the man."

He gestured toward his horse that was tied up a few feet away. "I've gotta go make sure no more trains get attacked if I can, like I was sayin' earlier. I've been standin' here jawin' too long." After looking like he was thinking about something for a minute, he extended a hand to Gabby.

"Have a safe trip over there."

"Ackerman." Morgan said the name slowly, committing it to memory. He knew where the church was. He'd ridden past it many times during his visits to Dodge.

As they were his friends, Morgan felt obliged to address Gabby and Daniel in the wake of the guard's comments. "I know you two understand how high emotions can run when it comes to the War. Mine do sometimes as well. But the fact is, I've known a lot of honorable men who fought on both sides. Decent men that were fighting for their families and their homes. Truth is, both sides have produced their share of monsters, too."

He looked at the ground. "I lived in Lawrence when Quantrill's men came. I was young. Not quite a man. Lost everyone but my younger brother. I don't hold any grudge against the men that fought for the Confederacy. But Quantrill, Bill Anderson, those men. They were a different kind. They thrived on blood and destruction. And I've worked hard to see those that survived the war brought to justice."

"The way those people were killed in Hays. Scalped. That was Quantrill's way. Dodge may be plenty safe, but I still mean to get there fast. I want to talk to this girl. Find out what she knows, and get on the trail of these killers."

Daniel nodded at Morgan as he came by in the wake of the Union man's departure. "Sure do understand, Caleb. And you know I don't stand with anyone that acts like that sorta monster. An' I'm sorry to hear about yer folks, Caleb. Startin' ta feel lucky that muh own family ain't seen nothing like that yet."

He paused briefly and his eyes hardened, "I aim ta help folk out here who ain't got no way to protect themselves, or need a hand doin' it. Paw got in scrapes with men from both sides o' the war. Don't matter what color a man wears, if he done wrong, he should hang. If he done right, we should 'preciate him. Jock is champin' at the bit ta get outta that railcar, so he'll be up fer some hard ridin' when we're ready ta go."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:42, Thu 06 Dec 2012.

During the sometimes heated exchange about Kansas and war politics, most of the folks around the campfire had quietly peeled away gradually and made their way back to the baggage train to retrieve their belongings and had gone about loading them onto the wagons. One of the wagon drivers wandered over to the fire.

"Any o' y'all ridin' with us? We're about to head out soon," he said, looking from face to face. "There's space on the wagons for a few more, and a bit more baggage, though the conductor said a couple o' yall got horses. Be good to ride together if yer headin to Dodge. Safety in numbers and all."

"Marshal Morgan, who is going to drive your prisoner to Dodge City? I can sit a horse, if there's one to spare, but I expect Miss Hawthorne would be more comfortable riding on a seat. And, of course, a buckboard would be handy for transporting our trunks, if there's room."

He lowered his voice and took a step closer to the lawman: "When you ride down to Hays, I'd be pleased if you'll consider me for your posse. Quantrill may be dead, but there still seem to be plenty of reivers like him in these parts."

"Well, Radcliffe's already tied up in his buckboard, so you might as well take that. I can't ride over to Dodge with you. I got my people to see too over here - but if any of y'all can drive a team that might work. Or I could show somebody how. It ain't too hard. I guess there ain't that much that could go wrong." He sounded doubtful about giving a crash course, as he pictured these folks with a toppled buckboard with luggage covered in mud and an escaped horse.

"I can drive the buckboard." Gabby says. "Had to learn to drive a team to earn my keep out to California in '49. And I reckon I'd like to be able to keep an eye on Radcliffe. anyone plan to ride with me?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:48, Thu 06 Dec 2012.

Coraline sighed heavily, feeling the fatigue of the day and their recent fight. "I wouldn't mind riding in the wagon, so long as I have a blanket against the cold."  She looked wearily back toward the train. "We'd better collect our things and get them loaded up, else we'll be left behind."