Jake nods. "Well, we'll certainly be headin' over. Whereabouts is your place? I ain't quite that familiar with the lay o' the land yet."

Micah explains that the Gehrig farm sits southwest of Lincoln, a little east of the Cooper Ranch. He describes the house and barn and the small stand of cottonwood trees that screens them. ”I’ll go back over there now, let my folks know you’ll be along.”

He smiles with a mixture of gratitude and relief. ”Thank you. Thank you both.”

Buttoning his coat and pulling his hat down low, he exits the shop, walking at a fast pace.

Jake watches the young man go, then turns to Jacinta. "I didn't want to speak fer ya, but you sound about as interested in gettin' to the bottom o' this as I am. Somethin' gone wrong here in a way I don't rightly like. First them death wolves, now children goin' missin'." he went over to the wall, where he'd hung his revolving shotgun. he pulled it down, checked it over, then brought it over to his beat-up duffel-bag and put it inside. Then he went over to the tool crate the pair had brought in, took a crowbar, and opened it as well. He fished about for a few minutes, pulling out some scrap metal, some gear assembly, a few wires, and some mechanisms that looked like they'd been stripped from a variety of firearms. These, too, he put in his bag. "Were you wantin' to come with me to the Gehrig place? It sounds like I have my work cut out fer me, and won't have as much time to ask around as I'd like. If not, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, I wasn't going to let you go alone, gringo.  Missin' kids is something I won't abide.  I hate bodysnatchers more than anything."  She scowled at a memory as her gaze turned to the street.  "I say that we get this family on their way, out of danger, and then go stickin' our noses in other people's business.  I don't normally go out of my way to do that, but this here is a special case."

Her easy smile returned as she turned back.  "Tell you what.  You get their wagon fixed, and I'll make sure nobody puts a bullet in your back while you're workin'.  Then you can pay me for lugging that crate in and bein' your bodyguard.  Sound good?"

Jake nods. "Sounds good. I reckon I got everythin' I need here." He lifts the duffelbag for emphasis, then starts heading for the door.

The Gehrig farm proves easy for McGraw and Castillo to locate, even within the thickening mist. Although humble, the house and barn appear to have been built with great care. Looking about, the engineer and the scout have the sense that the family is diligent about maintaining all of their animals and possessions, the mark of hard working people that have become accustomed to forging a life out of very little.

Micah is standing alongside a tall man with iron gray hair and a full beard, who is tending to a work horse. A short distance from the pair, sitting beside the low fence that surrounds the house, is a wagon which leans precariously to one side, one of its front wheels broken free and loaded into the back of the cart. From the window beside the front door of the single story home, Castillo and McGraw catch a glimpse of a young girl’s face, curiously watching the newcomers’ approach.

The bearded man steps away from the horse and approaches. ”Mr. McGraw? Paul Gehrig. I’m obliged to you for coming out here today.”

OOC: Could I have a Notice roll from each of you, please?

Jacinta surveyed the farm with interest.  Catching sight of the girl in the window, she gave her a little wave and a smile.  Her attention shifted to the farmer as he spoke, then to the wagon.  Looked like a major repair job to her.  She hoped McGraw was up to the task.


22:03, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 8,4 using d8+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,2.  Notice.

"Howdy, sir." Jake offers his hand out to Paul to shake. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He looks over at the cart. "What can you tell me about this here problem? Were you loadin' the cart when it broke, or did it happen some time durin' the night?"

((OOC: 17:11, Today: Jake McGraw rolled 3,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3.  Notice.

Ugh.))

The young girl in the window grins and returns Castillo’s wave.

Paul glances over his shoulder at the damaged wagon, then back at McGraw. ”I hadn’t had call to use it in several weeks, but when Micah and I rolled it out of the barn a couple of nights ago, that wheel fell clean off.” He looks down at the ground and shakes his head. ”Looks like it was broken to me. Wasn’t a thing wrong with it last time we took it to town.”

"Yeah, I've been gettin' a lot o' things like that since I set up shop." Jake nods. He heads over to the wagon to take a closer inspection of the damage. He looks back at Paul. "Any notion o' who might be goin' around wrecking things? We had a Ranger come on the stage today who might be interested in hearin' any thoughts you have afore you leave."

The damage isn’t difficult to find. To McGraw’s trained eye, it appears as though someone smashed the braces on the wagon’s left side with a blunt instrument, like a sledgehammer, leaving the wheel and axle on that side without support. The repair might take some time, but should prove relatively straightforward. McGraw guesses that the damage to the vehicle had to have been done while the family was away in town, given that it would’ve almost certainly made a fair amount of noise.

OOC: This kind of fix isn’t a challenge for McGraw. I won’t need a Repair roll for him to accomplish it, unless you want to see if you get a raise and are able to complete it in minimal time.

”At a guess? Jesse Evans and those other boys that work for Jimmy Dolan.” Paul answers, keeping his voice low despite no one else being in the vicinity. ”Dolan and his boss, Mr. Murphy, are the ones that have been trying to run people off their land. No idea why. My brother up in Santa Fe has talked to some people Murphy’s done business with. He’s already got more money than he could spend in a lifetime.”

Jacinta rested her rifle on her shoulder, ambling with an ease that she didn't have to feign.  Her gaze skirted the property again, searching for problem areas.  While Jake surveyed the wagon, she took a tour of the yard, pausing the study the overgrown garden.  She wasn't a gardener, nor an herbalist, but it seemed odd to her that they'd just let their vegetables go to waste.  She rejoined the men, though gave her attention to the boy rather than the father.  "Nice farm.  Sad to be leaving it behind?"

Jake scowled. "I reckon that at some point, it stops bein' about what you can do with yer money, and starts bein' a way o' keepin' score against other rich folk. I saw a lot o' that workin' for the railroads -- things done not to make the line better, but just to get one over on the other lines." he started taking some tools out of his bag. "You ever read a fella named Marx? German guy, writes a lot about about how money and labor work. His theory is that all o' history is a push and pull between the rich and folks like us, just tryin' to get by." he starts stripping the damaged parts off. "Now, I reckon this place took you a long time to build up. I can't fault you for wantin' to protect your kids, but if you're right, if it's Murphy tryin' to seize what he didn't earn just to feather his own nest, well that don't sit right with me. It seems to me we just ended a war where the Yankees thought the same -- that they were gonna tell us all to do what they wanted because they had all the power. I didn't fight the Yanks just so some rich asshole who thinks he's Abe Lincoln could do the same to the hard-workin' folk 'round here." he looked up at Paul. "He ain't gonna stop, you know. Folks like him don't know the meaning of 'enough'. The only thing that's gonna stop him is folk puttin' their foot down. The more folks in his way, the less he'll be able to do as he pleases...all it would take is some organization." he picks up a stick. "See this? This ain't much." He snaps the stick in half, then gathers up half a dozen other sticks. "But when you get 'em all in a bunch..." He bends the collection of sticks, but this time, they don't break. "See what I mean?" He shrugs. "But I guess I'm ramblin'. Let me get back to the job here." he continues working on the wheel.

((OOC: Hee...That's quite a mish-mash of ideas there...))

Micah nods at Castillo’s question. ”It’s the only home I’ve ever known, ma’am,” he answers, kicking idly at a dirt clod. ”I’d kind of expected to stay here in Lincoln a long time. I was thinkin’ about goin’ in the Army for a time, like my Pa had done, but then coming back, starting a farm of my own, or helping out here.” He shrugs. ”Ma says Santa Fe’s real nice. I just don’t know how much I’ll care for living in a big town like that.”

Paul listens to McGraw intently as he works, remaining silent for a moment after the engineer gives his full focus to the wagon. ”I’m not inclined to argue with you, Mr. McGraw. People do need to stand up to the House, to the wrongdoing that’s going on in Lincoln. And it’s going to take a lot of them. Not one or two.”

“But...you’ve got to understand. There’s nothing more important to me than the safety of my family. My daughter...I wouldn’t know what to do if she was taken from us.”

He pauses, looking back at the farmhouse. ”Maybe I am a coward, but I don’t know any other way to make sure Ella isn’t harmed. If...you’d heard what she’d told us about what happened at the school...it might be easier for you to grasp why I think it best to leave. It’s not just Murphy and his gunhands. It’s...”

He sighs. ”I’m sorry, Mr. McGraw. I should leave you to your work. Let me know when you’re done and I’ll get you paid.”

"Well, why don't you tell me what she seen, then?" Jake says as he works. "I worked on the railroads for nigh on to ten years, and let me tell you the Tombstone Epitaph don't sound near half as crazy as some o' the things I've seen with my own eyes. I ain't gonna dismiss somethin' just 'cause it sounds a bit out there. What happened at the school?"

Paul considers McGraw’s response, then nods. ”Well I...I appreciate that consideration, Mr. McGraw.”

He points to the nearby vegetable garden. Glancing at it, McGraw notices that it is overgrown with dark colored vines, studded with thorns and spear shaped leaves. ”After John Tunstall was killed, there were a few of us that gathered at the courthouse, spoke our peace about the matter to Sheriff Brady. There’d been some talk about who might’ve actually pulled the trigger, but for me, and the others there, there wasn’t any doubt about who had ordered it done. It was Lawrence Murphy. And we told Brady as much.”

“A few days after, those weeds sprung up. My whole family’s cut the things back, pulled ‘em up, time and time again. But they just come back, usually overnight. Last couple of times I’ve stopped in at the Assay Office to talk to Mike Kibbee, or had a drink at the Thornton-Curry, I’ve heard that most everyone that spoke up at the courthouse that day has been contending with the same problem. Nobody who’s from around here’s ever seen their like before.”

He looks over his shoulder at the house, where Ella still peers curiously from one of the windows. “The day the children disappeared, Miss Perez was trying to chase several of them back into the schoolhouse for the afternoon lesson. You know how it is. Some of ‘em just didn’t want to stop playin’. Several, Ella included, went on in ahead of the teacher.”

“Ella said that the whole back end of the classroom, where Miss Perez sits, was covered with those weeds. Floor to ceiling. The kids all got frightened, as you could guess and...well, suddenly the door got pulled closed. And then Ella said something came out of that mess of vines after the kids.”

“Reed Baxter’s boy thought quick, broke out one of the windows. Ella followed him out and they both ran like lightning. By the time some folks from the Tunstall Store got the door open, there wasn’t anything in there but the weeds. No sign of the children at all.”

He sighs. ”Lorne Shaw, whose place isn’t too far from here...his son’s one of those that vanished. He told me that yesterday morning, one of Jesse Evans’ boys rode over, let him know that if he saw his way to quiet down about John Tunstall’s killing and The House that he’d get his son back, safe and sound.”

"Hmmm." Jake muses. Leaving the wheel for a moment, he reaches into his duffelbag and produces a mason jar, a pair of sheers, and some work gloves. He heads over to the vegetable patch and looks at the vines, then slips the work gloves on, takes the shears and snips off a sample, catching it in the mason jar. He screws the lid closed and heads back to his work. He wasn't a botanist, didn't really know much about plants, but this didn't strike him as anything nature had intended. "I'll look into this. Did Ella say what that somthin' that came out o' the weeds looked like? Knowin' more might help me."

((OOC: What sort of a roll would I need to make to identify this thing?))

McGraw notices that clipping a sample of the vine with his shears requires a fair amount of pressure, reminding the engineer more of cutting through a length of barbed wire than a plant. As he frees the clipping, McGraws also sees that no moisture of any kind escapes the vine where it was wounded. It is seemingly bone dry.

"All she described was a tall, dark figure," Paul answers, "She couldn't give very much detail. The minute she saw something stirring in all those vines, she ran."

OOC: McGraw could probably identify some of the plant's properties with a Weird Science roll, once he performed some tests on it at his workshop. For a proper identification, he might have to involve an expert. He's heard rumors of an herbalist from nearby San Patricio who patronizes the Montaño store when in Lincoln.

((OOC: Neat. I have more questions/suggestions for Paul, but I fear I might have buried Micah's response to Jacinta, so I'll let her get a word in before I continue.))

Jacinta stared at the sample that Jake took with a raised eyebrow.  "You should get that to Tam.  She's good at that sort of stuff.  Got me running to all sorts of places looking for plants for her concoctions.  If she doesn't know what it is, she might have a book or something."

She turned her gaze back to Paul.  "You ever seen anything come out the weeds in your patch?  Ever seen them move?"    The tracker didn't seem at all bothered by plants that come alive.  She'd seen much stranger things while out on the trail.  "Seems to me they'd be there for some reason, if not just intimidation.  Connected, maybe?"

Jake nods. "Sounds good. I also heard of an herbalist from San Patricio who's in town sometimes." He looks at Paul. "What else you done to these weeds? When you say they come back, is it always the same place? Have you tried saltin' them? Burnin' them? Wrappin' a tarp around them to choke off the sun?"

Paul shakes his head at Castillo’s question. ”No, ma’am. Me, my wife, and Micah have all kept careful watch. But it’s just been the vines. Nothin’ else.”

He nods at McGraw. ”Once we figured the winter vegetables were lost, we salted the ground. Covered ‘em with waxed canvas. Neither one solved the problem, as you can see. Lorne’s tried burning ‘em at his place, but they’ve grown back in a day or so.”

“They’ve only ever grown here, where we raise our food. Nowhere else. They haven’t spread beyond where we cultivated.”

He looks out at the empty field. ”’Course, it’s planting season. I don’t know what might happen once we tried to raise a crop. But I’m not planning to stay to find out.”

"Huh.  So, it is a punishment, then.  They're punishing you for speaking out -- taking away your food source.  Maybe if you can't grow your own, you'll have to buy it from town.  And who benefits from that?  Or maybe they're just trying to run you off."   She looked back at the patch of vines and shook her head.  "I hate bullies." 

Jake nods as his questions are answered, and nods again at Jacinta's comment. "Yup. I can't stand 'em, either. Would you stick around if someone managed to put a stop to all this?"

”The Tunstall Store and Señora Montaño, they do their best to keep goods available at a fair price,” Paul tells Castillo, ”But Mr. Murphy...he’s got steadier suppliers. But if you have to go to his store for something, you end up paying for it. Especially if you’re not on his good side.”

He considers McGraw’s question silently. Nodding finally, he says, ”I love this valley. Have since I first saw it. Before, this was a peaceful place. The kind of spot where you’d want to leave your mark, raise a family.”

“If it could be that way again, I’d stay put.”