Over at the Dog Eye Saloon, it seemed like just a normal day. Dog Eye himself was an early riser, and before the others had made a showing, he had tidied up the place as much as was possible. He'd even found a cheap rug to cover up the blood stains. By the time Gabby and Wyatt Earp came over to have a chat with him, the room looked a damn sight better. After a quiet conversation, the two men were convinced that the saloon keeper would manage to stay quiet about what he'd seen. McNary was too savvy to be played off with some story, but he wanted some peace and quiet in the town as much as Earp did and he knew the value of holding his tongue.

That morning, after taking breakfast alone as Randolph was nowhere to be found, Coraline paid the old priest a visit up at the Union Church as she had promised she would. After listening to what of the tale that she told him, he seemed to accept her story without question and agreed to take what remained of the melted down scalpel into his custody. While he didn't specifically promise that he could without certainty ensure that it didn't fall into the wrong hands again, he agreed that it was unlikely that it should if given into his care. He hinted that he had experience caring for such things, but didn't speak further on the matter.

The remainder of Independence Day passed without incident, at least by Dodge City standards. There were fights and scuffles, but as the crowds were starting to leave the town, so was the tension, and there was a marked reduction in conflict as there were fewer and fewer people to fill the streets. By the end of the day, it seemed like a different place altogether. There was another, smaller fireworks show that night as well, quite reminiscent of the night before, save that it was absent a few grizzly deaths in the streets by a man driven mad by a tainted scalpel.

Sky Dog's attempts to look after Suzy's well being would lead him only to Doc Smith's house. For one reason or another, Doc Smith seemed incredibly reluctant to let anyone into his residence, deputy or no. He said that he would make a house call if needed, but that his own home office would not be open for patients that day. The good doctor assured the shaman that Suzy was well, and being well cared for. Simpkins and the Wilderness Riders, on the other hand, seemed to have skipped town during the night. No one quite knew where they had gone to, or why.

It wasn't till the morning of the fifth that they had all been called back to meet with Earp as scheduled.

"Thirty dollars to each of you as promised. It hasn't been easy for any of us, but with all the shit you've all had to put up with, I'd say it's well earned," said the law man as he handed each of them the payment they'd been promised, giving them their choice of coin or banknote by the issuing nation of their preference.

He asked for all their tin stars back as well. "You want this back?" he asked Sky Dog, in reference to the tin horse the Siberian had given him in exchange for the tin star.

In addition to Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson was sitting behind another table that hadn't been there the night before. He greeted them as they arrived politely, but he was mostly preoccupied with making notations of a map of Kansas that he had on the table in front of him.

Gabby took his pay in coinage, since it would spend better in California than dubious banknotes. He handed the star back. "Well, I'm glad to have been able to work with ya, and I reckon this will be one July 4th I won't forget in a hurry." He says. "Still feelin' a bit jumpy that we ain't seen the Wilderness Riders in a while."

He didn't add that it was Wainwright potentially showing his face around now that the holiday was over and Gabby wasn't wearing a badge anymore, but he kept that to himself.

He looked over at the map of Kansas Bat Masterson was poking at. "Have there been any more attacks like the one in Hays?" He asked.

"You and me both, Gabby. It doesn't sit right with me, the Wilderness Riders being gone like that, all of a sudden. I have a feelin' that Simpkins is up to no good, and that we won't find out about it until whatever he's up to is already well on its way to somewhere bad," he said.

"No, nothing like that, thank God," he said. "I'm just trying to figure on where the Night Riders might strike next. We put out word a couple days ago that we're forming up a posse to hunt them down."

After he accepted his pay from Earp, Morgan shook the man's hand. "It's been an honor, Marshal. Truly."

He remained silent when the talk shifted to Jake Simpkins and the Wilderness Riders. Gabby and Earp were right to be wary about that group's disappearance. Wherever they ended up, trouble was certain to follow.

Stepping over to Masterson, Morgan's eyes narrowed as he studied the map. "Truth be told, Sheriff," he said, "It's been my intention all along to try to hunt down the Night Riders, just as soon as my business here in Dodge was concluded. I certainly don't want to speak for anyone else here, but I know that several had expressed interest in doing the same."

His gaze fixed on the mark signifying Hays. "Have you come by any information that might suggest their next target?"

Randolph handed Earp his tin star and took the banknotes in exchange. Then he offered his hand: "I'm proud to have worked for you, Deputy Earp, and I admire the way you keep peace in this town. I wish you much success."

He ambles over to Masterson's table. "You can count me in on your hunt for those animals, Masterson. I expect this deputying money will get me a decent horse and saddle. Are you supplying provisions, or do we have to bring our own?"

He glances at the map. "I heard someone say you used to hunt buffalo. Sky Dog here has an idea where we might look for the Night Riders. He even drew a picture of the place, but hasn't found anyone who recognizes it. Maybe you know the terrain well enough to give him an idea."

"Well, I reckon you're a United States Marshal, so we could probably use some guidance from you," he said to Caleb.

"We haven't come across any information as such. We're just figuring on where they might strike next. I'd like to hear your thoughts on our discussion. We could go to Hays, but the trail's likely gone cold by now. Maybe not, but we'd be hoping on a slim chance that there's any sign left of where these killers have gone. I thought maybe we'd try to figure on where they were most likely to hit next. They're only attacking towns that lean for the Union so...we should be able to find a pattern."

"We're not really doing much providing on this, Mr. Darling. Every man that wants to ride with us brings what he's got, and we bring those murderers to justice. Bring them to trial if we can. If we can't...." He favored the holster where his Buntline Special was at his waist.

"Then we do things the other way. This isn't really the law in Dodge City doing this. This is just how it's done sometimes. It may not be what you're used to back East, but sometimes out here you just have to do what you have to do. Ain't that right, Marshal?" he asked Caleb.

"Hell, maybe you could deputize us this time around."

A rather grizzled, hungry looking man walked in next. He wasn't nearly as well groomed as Masterson, and there wasn't anything on him to mark him as a law man, but he walked in with a confidence and a swagger that said he belonged there. "Bat. Wyatt." He gave the two men a nod, and nodded a general greeting to the others there. He gave a curious glance at the jailed Mansfield, but nothing else.

"These folks gonna ride with us?" he asked the Dodge City lawmen.

"If you're goin' against the Night Riders, then I am." Gabby says. "We think it's Quantrill, or someone claimin' to be him. That's what we got from the survivors from Hays, anyhow."

Morgan continued to regard the map with a frown. "Honestly, my original instinct was to go to Hays. I know it's been many days since the attack occurred, but I also figured it was the best source of potential clues to be had."

"Other than that..," his voice trailed as he thought, "I'm inclined to think we need to look hard at which towns are most noted for their Union sentiment. Anywhere that's especially noted for backing the United States, or that might have had some notable incidents involving their...patriotism, if you will, would make a strong target in my mind."

Looking to Masterson, he gestured to the reporter. "Mr. Darling might be useful in that regard. It could be one of his acquaintances in the newspaper business has covered a story like that."

When Earp spoke, he nodded in agreement. "That's right," he said. "Sometimes, out here, if you don't have people willing to take the law where it's needed, you don't have any law at all."

He couldn't help grinning at the irony of Earp's suggestion. "I've got a bag full of badges in one of my saddle bags. I can deputize everyone in the room, if that's what we need to do."

"I only want one if it is especially shiny and does not clash with my earrings," Coraline joked, having walked in at Caleb's last sentence.  She took the badge that Earp had given her and placed it on his desk.  Though most of the previous day had seen her patrolling the streets with her arm in a sling, she didn't seem to need it any longer.  Her left arm swung normally and without any apparent pain.  "And just what are you boys discussing this morning?  I do hope it has something to with justice."  Her eyes wandered to the man behind bars, lingering for a moment with just a touch of pity.

"We're plannin' to go after the Night Riders what put Hays and them other towns to the torch." Gabby says. "Caleb here was just suggestin' deputizin' the lot of us."

"Cora," the bird invoked in tones of doom from the top of Morgan's hat. "Cora."

Sky Dog had swapped star for horse and was holding the dollars, trying to follow the planning. "I am coming to think that the oaks are not in the Middle World," he mentioned to Darling, then of the map: "Are there places here that are remembered, with oaks? I cannot read your markings. I know that the demon Quanterill is eastward of where he will next attack, and without horse, but the dead ones with him, they are very quick. They will not understand to be arrested, I think."

Daniel nodded at Sky Dog's sentiment. "If they already dead, no need ta arrest 'em. Jus' gotta put 'em down." He also surrendered his badge in trade for the money. It would come in handy when they finally got out west, but there were a few things to take care of first.

He stood near the map, gazing at the others to see if they might have any suggestions concerning Sky Dog's oaks. Daniel didn't have a lot of hope on that count, but it wouldn't be the first time his instincts were wrong.

"Who's already dead?" asked another man, the next fella to let himself in. Clean shaven, he wore a bow tie and had a light colored coat on. "Why are we arresting dead people, Bat?"

"Nobody's arrestin' any dead people, Charlie," said the other man, in what some might recognize as a distinct Virginia accent. "Don't know what the hell they're goin' on about, to be honest."

"Did somebody say we was gonna arrest us some dead folk? What in the hell for?" asked the next man to step through the door. He spoke in a measured Texas drawl, and seemed to take the measure of everyone in the room as he walked in. He wore a shotgun slung over his back, and had a pistol holstered at his waist like he meant to use it.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:52, Mon 29 July 2013.

"Goddammit, nobody's arresting any dead people," said an irritated looking Earp.

"Best make some introductions here. These jokers are Texas Jack Vermillion, Charlie Bassett, and Shotgun John Collins. They're gonna be riding with us, those of us who're going." He went on to introduce the others individually to the three gunmen that had joined them.

"We suspect whoever's runnin' the Night Riders is usin' some Mad Science to raise corpses as footsoldiers." Gabby says to the assembled new arrivals. "Most o' us here have seen it happen. A fella named Vinton Radcliffe stole some o' this technology from an associate and started raisin' the dead out o' his local cemetery on the sly to uses as miners in a silver mine, or maybe just to see if he could do it. From the description we got from the Hays survivors, the soldiers with Quantrill didn't feel no pain when shot, even when shot repeatedly. The dead men we fought didn't feel no pain neither--we had to shoot 'em in the head to put a stop to 'em. After what we done faced on the 4th, I'm guessin' this sort o' technology ain't as rare as I'd hoped."

Morgan greeted each of the men in turn. He listened quietly as Gabby spoke about Radcliffe's machine and the accounts of the survivors of Hays.

Glancing over at Earp, he said, "I'll go fetch those badges." With a smirk, he added, "I'll try to get one polished up on the walk back."

As he opened the door of the office, he glanced up at his passenger. "You coming along, Korpi?"

Korpi looked to her brother, aware something was being asked of her but unsure what. Partway through the translation the raven suddenly became full of enthusiasm, hopping down to Morgan's shoulder in readiness to navigate the doorway.

"Da! Da!" Korpi leant forward as though Morgan meant to take off at a heroic run while the shaman laughed.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:06, Mon 29 July 2013.

"Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges," he said after Morgan had left.

"I want a badge! And I wanna hear the old guy tell us some more crazy stories," he said, before turning to Gabby.

"So let me get this straight. Bill Quantrill's back from the dead, and he's got a team of mad scientists working for him. They've got a gizmo, whatever it's called, and they're raising zombies from graveyards and using them to work silver mines and I guess as a nighttime occupation, roll around and kill folks as want Kansas to be a Union state?"

"Naw, you don't have that straight at all." Gabby says, chuckling ruefully. He'd kind of expected this. "See, Quantrill, or whoever is usin' his name, wouldn't need a whole team o' scientists...just one to run the process. It's not a gizmo, it's more like an elixir...you know, the sort o' thing Dr. Frankenstein used in that book. Fits right into a black doctor's bag. Radcliffe wasn't in on this. He was just usin' dead folk for the cheap labor...like that rail company down south, the one run out o' New Orleans. The Night Riders, now, they're usin' the corpses as meat shields, sendin' them in first so that folk get scairt when their bullets don't do nothin'. I reckon this fella whose claimin' the name ain't the same man...might be his son, or just some yahoo who liked the name and hated the North enough to use it. His real name is probably somethin' nancyfied like Percival or Jeeves. If you were saddled with that sort o' moniker, wouldn't you want to change it to somethin' more infamous and scary? Especially if you had the notion to rustle up some border ruffians and whack towns full o' Jayhawkers? What we have here is a fella who's damn insecure about his manhood, and thinks that by usin' a scary name and raisn' the dead he's gonna be infamous."

Gabby knew he was embellishing a bit. That was fine. If they DID encounter the Night Riders, this guy would see the truth of things soon enough anyhow.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:22, Mon 29 July 2013.

While Gabby ran off at the mouth, Randolph went along with Morgan.

"I have to admit I don't know much about livestock, Caleb. Would you be willing to help me get a horse and the necessary tack and equipment for the trail? I expect Miss Hawthorne may need some advice as well."

Morgan nodded, realizing as he did that it hadn't occurred to him that Hawthorne and Darling would need mounts. "I'd be glad to," he answered, noting that the reporter had addressed him by his Christian name. He didn't object. He considered Darling his friend.

"I'll confess I'm a bit rusty at buying mounts. I've had my own horse, Whisper, for a little over four years. What we should probably do is speak to Masterson. As the Sheriff, he'll know who raises quality horses around Dodge. I'll also bend his ear about who the best saddlemaker in town is. We'll make certain you both have reliable horses when we head out."

Glancing over at Darling, he asked, "If you don't mind me asking, have you ridden much?"

In reply to Caleb Morgan (msg # 29):

"I'm grateful for whatever assistance you and Masterson can provide. I suppose we'll need bedrolls and such, too.

"Back East I used to go out about once a week for a canter around the park, but I haven't done any hard riding or cross country since I was a kid in New Mexico. I expect it'll come back to me pretty quick, though I'll likely be sore for a few days."

Coraline studied the newcomers with interest, quite pleased to be in the company of so many capable men.  She gave them each a bold smile before returning her attention to Earp.  "Mister Earp, when do you intend for us to leave?  I am certain we could all be packed and ready within the hour, but there are also supplies to buy and mounts to procure.  I do hope no one objects to traveling with a woman."  Her words might have been meant for the strangers, but her eyes fixed for a moment on Gabby as if daring him to protest.

Sky Dog tried to work out what objection a hunting party could possibly have to a woman. Hawthorne did not seem to be pregnant. Perhaps the people of the wilderness troubled her.

"If you fear to be seduced by a bear, if you wish it I will help drive him away," he offered, leaning on the wall beside her as Gabby got on with his civilised lying. Sky Dog's manner towards Cora had noticeably improved, regardless of her treatment of him.

The pale youth flicked a glance towards the armed men, his expression neutral. "Maybe you know of a place near to where buffalo-killers go, an oak-group place?"

Daniel remained quietly off to the side as the slew of men arrived. When his uncle got to talking, it generally didn't make any sense for Daniel to jump in, or so he had learned. Gabby could talk for hours, seemingly without pause. Unfortunately he didn't always pause to think, or so it seemed to Daniel. His two cents were occasionally thrown in. "Don't matter who or what it is if we don' find 'em. And soon, before some other town gets what happened in Hays. Any of ya new fellas, please ta meetcha, by the way. Any of ya folk got any idea 'bout towns what might be pro-union 'round these parts?"

In reply to Coraline Hawthorne (msg # 31):

Gabby raises an eyebrow at Cora's declaration. "I ain't sure why you'd want to come along on this, but I reckon your 'special skills' might come in handy." he declined to elaborate on what those skills were, but the ball was in her court now.

"It'll return to you pretty fast," Morgan agreed. With a smile, he added, "You're right about being sore though. The first few days won't be that comfortable."

When they reached the Dog Eye, Morgan assured Darling he would only be a moment. Greeting McNary, he climbed the stairs and went to his room, retrieiving the cinched, leather bag of badges from one of his saddlebags. He paused as he stepped back out, taking in the sight of the hallway, his eyes lingering on the doors to Goodwin and Mansfield's rooms and the rear exit that led to the extending staircase. A lot of dark memories here. Although part of him earnestly doubted that he would ever see Dodge again, he was certain of one thing: the Dog Eye was not a place he wanted to return to.

Before he left, he let McNary know he expected that he, Gabby, and Daniel would be leaving before the day was out. Morgan promised the saloon owner that he would settle up with him when he returned for his possessions.

Back out in the street he rejoined Darling, heading back to the Town Marshal's office. As they walked, Morgan silently went over the deputy's oath, making sure he could recite it correctly. Quite a bit of time had passed, perhaps a year or more, since he'd last deputized anyone.

Korpi proved something of an antidote to any brooding on dark thoughts, eagerly investigating open rooms for corpses, pulling at interesting furnishings and saddlebag-buckles, and currently (by the sound of it) attempting to polish a stolen badge shiny on the crown of Morgan's hat.

Masterson was as polite and well spoken as he was well groomed. "I have no objection on your account of your gender, ma'am," he said.

"If Wyatt Earp think's you can handle yourself well enough to make you a deputy, and that too on the word of a U.S. Marshal, I think that's good enough for me."

The others seemed to murmur a general agreement, though some seemed more reticent at giving it than others. Still, they did reach the same point that Masterson had made.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:15, Tue 30 July 2013.

As they neared the Town Marshal's office, Morgan couldn't help smiling at the raven's efforts to shine the badge. "Are you trying to make friends, Korpi?" he asked as he pushed the door open.

Trying not to interrupt any conversations that were taking place, Morgan made his way to Earp. "If you want people deputized, I'm ready to do that." He shrugged. "But honestly, I'm good with us riding out of here just as we are."

"Oh, you have no idea just how talented I really am, Mister Clarke."  She smirked impishly at Gabby before giving the gathered men a nod.  Satisfied that none of them would make trouble for her, she turned to the door and Caleb's entrance.  Her eyes flitted briefly to the bird on his hat, but the flash of annoyance only lasted a heartbeat before the smile of self assurance returned in force.  Her fan emerged from her sleeve and she waved it lazily in front of her face to create a slight breeze.

Korpi pinned her shiny badge under her foot, tilting her head this way and that at the company. "Amen, amen," she said in distinctly Russian accents, taking advantage of being the 'tallest' in the room to do priest impressions.

This did not help Sky Dog's fit of corvine laughter at Hawthorne's Mysterious Woman Talents; the shaman braced a hand against the wall, laughing himself pink.

Daniel narrowed his eyes at his uncle's need to make any sort of comment concerning Cora's skills. Daniel had hoped his discussion with his uncle would have kept such unnecessary commentary from escaping his lips. At least he didn't say anything outright, but it still made Daniel shake his head slowly.

"The hell's wrong with him?" he asked, pointing to the strange fit that Sky Dog seemed to be having.

"Everyone has a theory.  No one truly knows," Cora answered the Texan.  She gave Sky Dog a long stare before turning away with a shrug.  "He's foreign."  That seemed the best explanation. It covered a wide range of possibilities.

Earp stared for a moment at Sky Dog's fit, and shook his head, seeming content to ignore it unless it was clear the man was having some sort of medical emergency.

"I don't think we all need to be deputized, though personally, I'd take you up on it after we've wrapped everything up. Miss Hawthorne, I reckon' we can leave within a couple hours. Give everyone time to get their gear together and ready for a ride. Before we get to packin' up and deputizin', I thought we might could figure out where exactly it is that we're going." He gestured to Bat.

He nodded at Coraline, satisfied with the answer, and quietly studied the peculiar foreigner, as if wondering if the man might decide to do something dangerous.

"Best as we can reckon, there aren't a helluva lot of towns that show their colors openly, but some do. Hays was one of them. East of Hays, there's Salina. West, there's Oakley, and further west, Colby. I think that might be it that I can think of," he said.

"I don't know about you fellas, but I'm itchin' to arrest me some dead people," he added, unhelpfully.

"Also, I'm all for bein' deputized. I like badges."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:43, Wed 31 July 2013.

Daniel's eyes widened a bit when Bat listed out the names. "Waitasec. Didya say Oakley? Sky Dog, what sorta trees ya been lookin' fer?"  Given Daniel's metaphor about acorns, he was pretty sure it was oak.

Gabby nodded at Danial's hunch. Still, there were other clues to look at. "Which o' these towns hosts a buffalo hunter camp?"

Hearing his name among the scraps of conversation, Sky Dog pressed the heel of his free hand to his forehead as though pushing the laughter from his thoughts. Still very much pink, he straightened and strove to concentrate. "Trees? Yes, they will go to the oak-place, with the low grass...you say lea?" Something had sounded like 'oak lea' whilst he was laughing. "-to the oak-lea, from the east. It is on the land drawn here?" he indicated the map, alert now.

"If everyone is prepared to leave in a couple of hours, I expect Miss Hawthorne and I better get busy. We need horses and gear. I'd appreciate some advice as to what items are essential.

"How long do you figure we'll be gone?"

"Pipe down, Tinhorn! Funny man's tryin' to talk English," said the Texan, pointing at Sky Dog.

"Yeah, it's right here," he said, pointing to Oakley on the map, though not entirely sure what Sky Dog wanted, or what he might do at any given moment. He looked over at Earp.

"Is he drunk?"

"No, that's just how he acts...kinda like a drunkard. I think it's how folks in Siberia act," he said.

Sky Dog shook his head slightly to being called drunk, but the new scar on his cheek was enough to rein back the impulse to retort. "That is where they will go. Is this settlement drawn also? Ah, yes, I have seen the shape-" Sky Dog set an unerring finger on Dodge, despite being unable to read the text and probably never having seen it on a map before. "So. Quanterill is running crazy around here."

He indicated the map west of Oakley. "It is my thought that time is not long for this hunting...do we go to the town and warn them, or to the wilderness there, the better to catch him as a man and in the daylight? As we are many, maybe we do both, yes?"

Daniel considered for a moment, then nodded. "We do both, but we don't gotta split up. Least not right away. First we ride ta Oakley and get sityated. Then we can go huntin'."

"Is there some reason you think Oakley is the likely target?" he asked, looking at Sky Dog, and then Daniel.

"I asked the thoughts of my blood-cousin, who flies high enough to see many things; he gave me to know how Quanterill was moving, crazy circles and to the west, that he has no longer a horse, and that most likely they would go to this place-" he fished the paper out of an inside pocket. "-but after much asking I find it is probably not in the Middle World, but in the shadows of the world, a place of the thoughts of the people, yes? The town is named for a lea with oaks, it has this image."

The shaman gave a tense sigh, aware his profession alone would not lend much weight to the counsel of a man of a mere score of summers here. "Wyitterp, Uncle, will you speak for me that this is true? You have not known me to speak wrongly of such things, I think."

Everyone seemed to stare at Sky Dog for a moment like he was talking nonsense. Maybe because he was. After a moment, though, one of them piped up.

"Look, we gotta pick one of these places anyway, right? Now, I didn't understand a damn thing of what he said," he pointed to Sky Dog. "But I get the general idea. Injun' hocus pocus. Well, if the only lead we have is this fella's hocus pocus, then we might as well go on that."

"Horcs porcs," Korpi tried, shining up the badge as her brother gained a long line of grin.

"Pardon me, gentlemen," Randolph says politely, "About those horses..."

Clementine, who had been snoozing a bit, had started awake at Sky Dog's laugh. Annoyed, she huffed a bit as things settled down, and she set her head down again to nap.

"Well, if that's settled, next we talk logistics. I'm willing to run any supply wagons you have need of for this, but I ain't so strong a rider my own self." Gabby says.

"Texas Jack, after we're done here why don't you help Mr. Darling and Miss Hawthorne get some horses? They're uh, from back East," he said.

"Mr. Darling, you gotta learn to hold your horses," he said, pausing. "No pun intended. I know you're used to a fast pace of life back east, but things are a little more deliberate down here in Kansas."

"Now, Mr. Clarke, I don't think we'll need to cart too much in the way of supplies with us, but if you wanna ride on a wagon, I suppose you can. You folks left one in my care when you got into town. I had it taken over to a stable over by the church where animals can be cared for. We can get that when we're ready to leave. I reckon that since we're riding for where was it, Oakley? I reckon we could get any supplies we need there. Everything else, well, that'll pretty much fit in saddle bags. The wagon will slow you down, though, so maybe you oughta think about ridin' double with someone?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Wed 07 Aug 2013.

"Well, I wouldn't want to leave Bessie behind. Bessie bein' my mule. She ain't much for bein' rode, but she can pull a wagon just fine."

Daniel looked back and forth at Wyatt and his uncle. "Jock is strong nuff ta carry both of us, uncle. An' bessie could be a pack mule trottin along with th'group. We can put Jock's saddle bags on er so he don't gotta carry em and us both too." Daniel shrugged - he figured he'd offer the solution, but it wasn't something he'd press.

Sky Dog considered the map as well as his poor focus would permit, working out distances. He beckoned Korpi over and quietly discussed the situation with her whilst she perched on his head, familiarising her with the route and the kind of things they were seeking. Oakley looked further away than it was good sense to double one horse, but it was not his buisness.

"I am ready. Mansfield, you have a horse also?" he asked the prisoner.

"We're taking the prisoner with us?" he asked, looking skeptical about the proposition.

"He's not exactly a prisoner. Here for his own safekeepin' is more like it. As for him going with us, I'm not sure what's that about. Sky Dog?" He looked to the Siberian for an explanation.

"What the hell is a Sky Dog anyway? I thought Injuns named themselves after real animals. Like Sitting Bull. Or Running Wolf. Or Charging Bear. You know, stuff like that. I mean, a dog is a real animal sure enough, but I ain't never seen one in the sky. Sounds like a made up animal. A dog with wings or somethin'."

Randolph is disturbed at the idea that Mansfield would be set free. There were a number of people murdered and mutilated in his wake. That the man should be completely excused based on his own claim that he was unable to resist the scalpel's power seems a bit... well, improper.

He keeps his thoughts to himself, though he intends to keep an eye on the man.

"Uncle said the man Mansfield might hunt with us," Sky Dog answered, a little surprised neither Mansfield nor Gabby had mentioned this plan already. He indicated Gabby as the one to look to for information.

A broad canid grin passed over Sky Dog's mouth before he answered Bassett with a shrug. "First, Evenki. For my name...'The He-Shamán With A Dog Nature Who Recieved His Name At The Third Level Of The Shadows Of The Upper World', it is maybe better translation, but a long calling. Too long, yes? So, Sky Dog."

"Korpi," Korpi said, since names seemed to be in fashion. She picked up the badge in her beak again and leant down to tap Sky Dog's cheek with it. Sky Dog obediently breathed on it and Korpi resumed her attempts to shine it on his head.

"The idea bein' that we might need a doctor on this sort o' expedition," Gabby says quickly, "and that he might want a chance to redeem himself after the troubles o' the other night."

Coraline seemed blissfully ambivalent to the current discussion of Mansfield.  Patiently awaiting the guide that would help her and Randolph find suitable mounts, she'd taken to examining all of the available chairs, trying out each one to find the one she deemed most comfortable.  Her fan waved lazily in front of her face, stirring her own personal breeze and causing the ringlets about her ears to flutter.  She tried each of the chairs before settling in one she liked, though she turned it to just the right angle so she could join the conversation if she so desired.

"Fine by me, as long as he wants to go," he said, looking at Mansfield, who responded with a tentative shrug at first, but then a more certain nod."Well, that's settled then. Though I don't think he has a horse either. Never had two nickels to rub together for a drink. I'd have thought that if he had a horse, he'd have pawned it off a while ago to pay for his drinking habit. Well, I won't turn down another able bodied man that wants to come on this particular expedition."

"So that's Texas Jack, Charlie, you, me, and Bat. Then we got the old man and his nephew, the Injun, the lady, the tinhorn and the Marshal. And the doctor," he said. He wasn't impolite, but his tone left some question as to the worth of the latter group, as if they were an afterthought.

"That's about the size of it. These are some of the most able people I've worked with, despite the peculiarties. When all's said and done, I'm confident that you'll see things the same." An observant man or woman would note that Earp didn't specific whether he was talking about the deputies or the other group of men that had joined them that day, or to whom he had been talking.

"Alright. Well, that's done. Texas Jack, why don't you take Miss Hawthorne and Mr. Darling over to get some horses and gear like we discussed earlier. I think Darling might pop a vein if we don't get him to a general store soon."

"He ain't my idea of a darling, that's for sure," he said as he got up and got ready to go.

"Meet back here at noon, and ride for Oakley?"

"You folks think you can be ready by that time?" he asked his erstwhile deputies.

"That'll definitely give me the time I need to acquire my own supplies. I think it's as good a time as any to go ahead and get started on this errand. There's been too much time wasted as it is," he said.

"I'll leave that determination strictly in the hands of Mister Texas Jack," Randolph says with an insipid smile, over-enunciating each word. It's with difficulty that he refrains from lisping. "Will you accompany us, Miss Hawthorne?" he asks, offering her his arm.

"Shouldn't be a problem for me." Gabby says. "Danny, you think we'll be ready to go by noon?"

Coraline sighed softly at having to move after only just getting settled, but she rose to join Randolph and Texas Jack.  Her lips turned downward at the offer of Randolph's arm, but she took it almost out of habit.  "I am certain we will have little trouble being ready by noon.  My things are already packed."

"Korp," Korpi announced around the somewhat shinier badge in her beak.

"We are ready," Sky Dog half-translated, brushing a finger across the map. "It is my thought to leave the settlement soonest and meet you at a place on the road: it is not well for myself to begin such journeying at the hottest part of the day. Or for Igor, if we have need for him to pace, with your horses, yes?" Korpi sidestepped as he looked up.

"Uncle, do you wish I should take Clemya?"

Daniel shrugged. "Purty much ready ta go now. Just gotta fetch Jock an' some feed. Mebbe git 'im ready fer carryin' two." Daniel looked about, then with another shrug left the building to begin making good on his word.

Gabby looks at Sky Dog. "I dunno...do you think your moose would get on well with Clementine?"

"Moose?" Sky Dog took a moment to translate Gabby's question. "Ah! Moose is the heavy forest animal, yes? It is bigger." He grinned.

"Igor is well used to dogs. If I accept them, he will also. He is my steed! Dalix told me Americans do have one word for the riding animal - I had thought your people called them all caribou, as the forest animal, in the way you call all the white falling snow - you say reindeer."

"Uchakh," Korpi clarified.

The shaman looked to the departing hardcases. "Your horses will not fear him, I hope?" Then to Uncle: "It is my thought that it will be easier for Clemya to pace with us, before the most heat, but maybe she will sit in a carrying-basket on the mule, like a little pig, yes?"

Gabby nods at the correction. "I was thinking that she'd pace us for a while myself, though I like the basket idea." He says.