Jacinta ducked under a branch as they passed beneath the trees.  Catching Kearney's eye with the wave of her hand, she pointed at the hoof tracks in the dirt.  Making certain she had a bullet in the chamber of her rifle, she kept her gun handily propped on her knee, ready to use it if needed.  She wasn't certain how old the tracks were or who had made them, but she wasn't going to be caught unawares if the travelers were still about.

Kearney nods at Castillo, easing her revolver out of its holster and quietly pulling back the hammer with her thumb.

A moment passes, and a man emerges from the dense piñons to the west. He is young and deeply tanned, his dark hair somewhat shaggy, his face unshaven. His features suggest someone of Mexican heritage. His shoulders and chest are covered by an earth colored poncho and a carbine is cradled in his hands. A Peacemaker is tied low on his left thigh, a Bowie knife on his right. He regards the two women with curiosity.

”Morning,” he says, ”Hope I didn’t startle you.”

"Buenos dias," Jacinta said with a nod.  Her eyes flitted to the trees.  She'd seen a pair of tracks, so where was the other traveler?  "Not easily startled, myself.  Just doin' a bit of scoutin' of the trail, amigo.  And you?"

The man advances a couple of steps, the barrel of his carbine still pointed toward the ground. ”Well, to tell the truth, ma’am, my friend and I, we’d spent part of the night watchin’ the trail. We were looking for someone. Someone we have some business with.”

“A little while before sunup, there was some commotion in town. A few people came riding out this way. Folks we’re not on friendly terms with. So we tucked ourselves in here. Thought we’d wait a bit ‘til everything quietened down.”

"I see.  You part of this ruckus going on?  Got caught up in something?"  She leaned forward on her saddle horn, rifle laying sideways across her lap. "Why don't you tell us what's goin' on, and we'll see if we can help.  Ain't got no disagreement with no one just now."

Kearney draws her mount alongside Castillo’s. Squinting at the man, she says, ”You’re one of John Tunstall’s hands, aren’t you?”

The man nods. ”Name’s Chavez y Chavez,” he answers. Turning his head, he calls over his shoulder, ”Charlie, it’s alright!”

Movement stirs in the brush and, in a moment, a young man with curly hair the color of sand and a wide mustache emerges from the foliage, leading two horses. He frowns curiously at the sight of Castillo and Kearney.

”Reason we were here, we’d been keepin’ watch for a couple of fellas we thought might come riding this way last night,” Chavez y Chavez continues, ”We have some warrants to serve. Word was, some of those we need to find make use of this trail on occasion.”

"Warrants?"  Jacinta considered them for a moment.  "I heard about those warrants.  Also heard that some of the people you're ridin' down don't deserve it.  Who is it you're looking for?  You plannin' on taking them in or just putting a bullet in their belly?"

Chavez y Chavez’ eyes narrow as he listens to Castillo. The man identified as Charlie slowly approaches the group, leading the horses by their reins.

“Don’t deserve it,” Chavez y Chavez repeats quietly. ”You seem pretty curious about our business. What was it you said that you and your friend were doing out here?”

"I'm curious about your business because it's bleedin' into my business," Jacinta said, glancing from one to the other.  "All of this murderin' got people riled up.  Bandits gettin' bolder.  Creatures coming to attack innocent folk coming and going in town.  Chaos reaps chaos."

"I'm scoutin' for the stage so it don't get hit again.  Was on it the last time it was, and not all passengers go so well armed."  She gave her rifle a pat.  "You boys are out for blood.  I understand that need.  I also know that blood wars get innocents killed.  You care at all 'bout them kids that got taken?  You even look for them?"

Charlie’s expression becomes wide eyed. He opens his mouth to speak, but then shuts it. Chavez y Chavez falls silent, his face flushed, his jaw tightly clenched. Turning to his companion, he says simply, ”Let’s ride.” Both men mount their horses.

Looking to Castillo, he says,”My foreman, Richard Brewer, started asking questions about those kids. Trying to find out where they could have been hidden away. He was bushwhacked for his trouble. Another of our friends, Tom Peterson, thought he’d found a clue about where they were. Went follow up on it. He disappeared. I’ve no doubt at all that he’s dead.”

He wheels his horse toward the stagecoach trail, Charlie falling in behind him. ”Maybe it’s best you keep to scouting. Stay out of fights that aren’t yours.”

"But none of y'all though to posse up and champion them as a group?  Those kids are fine, if you want to know.  Your friends died because of the monster that once was Old Man Blair.  It's dead now, so at least your friends are avenged."  She nudged her horse to turn as they passed.  "I ain't interested in fights that aren't mine.  I've got enough fights of my own already.  Just don't want to see innocent folk harmed, is all.  Keep that in mind when you're huntin' down people in these warrants of yours."

Chavez y Chavez gives no reply to the scout, riding away from the clearing at a slow walk. Charlie follows him, but pauses, turning back to Castillo. Looking at her with an earnest expression, he says, ”Ma’am, don’t you worry. Real soon, before the day’s out I reckon, we’re gonna set a lot of things right. Just wait and see.”

He tips his hat to her and follows his companion.

"Or get themselves shot, more like," Jacinta said to Aileen once the men were back on the trail.  She shook her head in disdain.  "They have no idea the war they've started.  More people are going to end up dead before this is all over."

She threw the mustanger a look and then sighed.  Glancing to the clearing, she shrugged.  "Not a bad place to stash the stage, though still not a lot of room to turn about.  It's hidden from the main path, though.  Set up a bit of brush for cover on the trail and people might pass right by without knowing it was here."

”I think you’re right,” Kearney agrees, ”They’ve got no idea of what they’re stirrin’ up. They think they’re in the right, and maybe they are in some respects, but they’re not considerin’ how the trouble they’re into is going to spill over onto other folks.”

The mustanger looks around, nodding in agreement with Castillo’s assessment of the spot. She points to the slope that curves behind the cluster of piñon trees. ”Worst case, you could crouch down in there. Get off a few shots before the bandits knew where you were hidin’.”

Murdock listens to Castillo’s assessment seriously, peering into the clearing as she discusses its potential advantages and limitations. ”It could damn well work in a pinch,” he says, <green>”I’ll keep it in mind.”

Pulling a worn notebook from one of his saddlebags, he makes a few notes on an empty page with a blunt lead pencil.

”I’m a little more familiar with Roswell, that country, than these foothills.” Horn says, building a smoke from his poke of tobacco, ”but riding in a couple of days back, I noticed that east of here, there’s a spot with a fair bit of deadfall. Looks like a little fire, maybe from a lightning strike, happened a while ago. Trees are just starting to come back in.”

“Not sure there’d be anything usable as a spot for shelter, but it might be worth a look,” he offers with a shrug.

OOC: In advance of any further scouting, would you give me another pair of rolls for Notice and Knowledge: Wilderness Lore?

"If it ain't too far, I say we go have a look," Jacinta said in agreement with Tom's plan.  "Could be a good spot for keeping the wolves at bay, at the least."  She clucked her horse, turning the mare in that direction.



Finally!

Knowledge: 4
Tracking: 5

23:59, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 2,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4.  Knowledge: Wilderness Lore.

23:59, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 5,1 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1.  Tracking.

As the group resumes their progress down the trail, Castillo recalls a fire that took place in the pine forests east of Lincoln perhaps three years ago, following a violent lightning storm. The blaze was short lived, but did damage small portions of the foliage in the foothills. The scout recognizes that Horn might be correct. Usable trails could have been created by the damage, possibly large enough for Murdock to take advantage of.

Informed by her memories, Castillo locates the spot that the stage guard had mentioned after the passage of a few miles, before Horn can point it out. The scout notes that although the pair of paths that curve away from the main trail are wide enough for the stagecoach, riders that were not attentive could easily miss the entrance to them, due to the way the trees screen the gap.

Taking an initial look at the paths, Castillo is able to quickly determine that both are unused. No evidence of human passage, either on foot or on horseback, marks the soil.

Jacinta returned to the stage with favorable news and a nod of thanks to Horn.  "Probably your best bet, Murdock," she reported.  "Rustle up some brush to hide the trail and it'd be even better.  You'd be almost invisible back there and don't look like it's been used by anyone."

Murdock looks past Castillo, studying the scene for a moment. Shaking his head, he smiles. ”You know, if you were going past here at a gallop, it would be easy to miss it altogether.”

He swings out of his saddle. ”Ya’ll don’t mind, I want get a good look at it up close. Make sure I commit it to memory, so I can find it again in a hurry.” He motions for Horn to accompany him. The stage guard dismounts and follows, his rifle propped on one shoulder.

”Damn. Nice work,” Kearney says after the two men depart. ”If you’re ever hard up for cash, you’d be welcome to join me chasin’ wild horses. I reckon you’d have a good eye for finding them. I’d split what we brought in with you, straight down the middle.”

She smiled at the mustanger.  "I might take you up on that.  I'm hard up for cash most days.  One of the reasons I come through here.  There's usually someone that needs something done for a bit of coin."  She leaned on her pommel.  "You have any thoughts on what they said is going to happen tonight in town?  Been around for it before?"

”You’re talkin’ about the wagon train,” Kearney says, ”I’ve been here for it once before.”

“I took what Mr. Ellis said about it serious. Stayed in when it rolled through. But I ain’t gonna lie. I peeked out a window, just to see.”

“The glimpse I got...it looked like somethin’ the dead would be ridin’ about in.”

"Huh, that'd be a thing to see," she said thoughtfully.  Her mouth twitched in amusement.  "Maybe I just might have me a peek, too.  Don't look like your hair turned white or nothin'."