Interesting.

She hoped he was a native with the natives.  To her knowledge, she had no beef with them, unless someone had hired an Indian tracker to go after her.

Well, Kansas Kate was not much for stealth, and she who hesitates is lost.  Might as well find out, but right now she was giving him the benefit of the doubt.  Besides, she could draw down on him first if it absolutely came to that. She was probably on his turf, if anything.

"Well mighty neighborly of you to come callin' on little ol' me Ke-mo sah-bee."  Then she affected a southern accent. "Land o' Goshen, I have a gentleman caller and ah'm not even chaperoned.  Oh Lordy, I think I may have the vapors!"

She mimicked the motion of a handheld fan.

As she steps out into the man’s line of vision, Kate can see that his face is deeply lined. He is wearing a buckskin shirt and trousers, the tunic adorned with numerous beads. Dirt on his face and hands tell her that he has likely been living in the wild for some time. Several necklaces hang about his neck, the leather thongs holding feathers, bones, and polished stones. A knife is sheathed at his hip and a bow sits within arm’s reach on the ground beside him, a quiver made from buffalo hide on his back. He makes no move to reach for either weapon as he regards the outlaw steadily.

”Most people out here, unless they’re fools like me, are hunting silver or mustangs. Or they’re running from something. What’s your reason, tuwikáa?” he asks.

OOC: Kate, give me a Common Knowledge roll.

Kate kept with the sarcasm.  "Li'l old me?  Oh I'm just looking for a place to build a new schoolhouse, this town is going to need one."

At least she dropped the fake southern accent.

15:05, Today: Kansas Kate rolled 5,2 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,2.  CK.

OOC: Kate may still be relatively new to this part of New Mexico, but she’s familiar enough with it to recognize that the tribe most associated with this part of the territory is the Mescalero Apache. But based on the stranger’s garb and ornamentation, she is certain that he is not one of them.

”The children. The schoolhouse. Entangled by some of the poison from the mountain.”

He shakes his head, then glances back over his shoulder, in the direction of the cemetery Kate discovered. “Did you come out here looking for bones?”

His question went unanswered, because he'd just dropped a bit of a truth bomb.

"Wait a minnit there feller... you mean ta tell me there's more of this cow dung spread out over yonder?"

The silver haired man studies Kate for a moment, then nods. Pointing to Lincoln’s street, he says, ”This valley it has seen much blood spilled, beginning long ago. The people killing each other in the town, they are just the latest to do so. It is not just about money or land. They are listening to the shadows from the mountain.”

“You did not answer me. Are you here hunting bones? Or are you here for some other reason, tuwikáa?”

"Let's go with other, I hope to not remain here too long all considered.  But to hell with me and my horse patties, ah'm awful curious about these shadows from the mountain."

Kansas Kate felt like something important had been discovered.

"Whaddya they call ya anyhoo?  They call me Kansas Kate, for obvious reasons."

”I am called Shabbakasha. In your language, it means ‘Roving Wolf’.”

OOC: Although she doesn’t speak the language, Kate is well traveled enough to guess that Shabbakasha’s name is Comanche in origin.

He gazes at Lincoln’s now quiet street.”I am one of only a few of my people that keep watch on this valley. Waiting for the time when what haunts the mountain awakens.”

He looks back at her. ”It has been stirring for some time, tuwikáa. If you want to know the root of what is happening in your town, you need to learn about those that are there that have traveled to the mountaintop. There are only two. One was wise, and fled. The other did not.”

"Really now?  Who's the idjit?"  She asked, having the feeling this was important.

”The only one that survived the wagon train that sought to cross the mountain range,” Shabbakasha tells her, ”Lawrence Murphy.”

“It was when he returned from Capitan that he sought to own this valley and all that is in it.”

"Huh.  That's a might peculiar ain't it?"  Kate looked for an improvised seat.  "Ah guess that's made things a might hard around here ain't it?"

Though she didn't understand their ways, Kansas Kate had always felt a kind of ease with natives, mostly because a lot of them weren't real keen on the white man's laws either.  It was only the one point of commonalty but as far as those went, that was a good one.

Roving Wolf nods slowly.  ”Since Murphy returned, since he began his war here...the shadow on the mountain has grown stronger. Should he continue, things will only grow worse.”

He studies her for a moment, then adds, ”The dead. They are meant to rest. They no longer belong here, in this world. They have their own.”

“You found the graves? Those that have been disturbed?”

"Yeah I sure did fella... oh hell... you mean to tell me..."  Kate let it trail as she put it all together.

She wasn't much of an expert on such things (she wasn't an expert at all) but she knew enough about the Rail Wars to know the walking dead were definitely A Thing.

”Understand, tuwikáa, they were awakened for a reason. To spread death. But also fear.”

He shakes his head. ”It is a foolish notion. Those that sought their aid...they believe that they can control them. They are wrong.”

He taps the back of his left hand. ”The one who stirred them from sleep. He bears a mark on his hand. The owl. It is like a deep burn. A brand.”

Kate reflexively covered her own right hand.  Not that the pentagram burned onto it was visible, but that talk of a mark... that hit a little too close.

"Well, sounds like that's who I need to put a bullet in then.  Oh hell, that means these deaders are just a roamin' around here don't it?"

Shabbakasha looks at Kate and sighs. ”For now, the forest tells me that the dead remain under the control of the one who work them.” He shakes his head. ”But they will only remain so for a short time longer. Then all will be in danger.”

“This man, I do not know his name. But the spirits tell me he has no regard for the law. Not man’s law. Not the Earth’s.”

Kate chuckled.  "Well, sounds like I'm here for a reason then, I ain't so good at the laws of man, Earth, heaven or anything to speak of."

Roving Wolf nods in understanding. ”You were running from them. The law. Perhaps you are the one best suited to find this renegade, tuwikáa.”

He reaches to his neck, removing one of the amulets draped around his neck and offering it to her. Kate can see that it is bird skull, yellow with age, suspended on a leather cord. ”Some of the dead, they walk the valley. Hide in the shadows. But the greatest of them, it dwells in the earth, tearing free of the soil when it hunts.”

"Ah hell."  Kate kneeled.  "Now that sounds right awful.  You know like most white people, I don't have much of a solution for things I can't just shoot to death."

For the first time, Shabbakasha chuckles. "You are very honest. tuwikáa. The spirits were right in having us meet." He drapes the amulet around her neck. "The raven's skull...it will grow cold when the dead, or the one that called them, are near."

"If you hold it in your left hand until it grows warm, I will know where you are. I will come to aid you. I have faced war before."

He pints to the north. " I am going to the foothills. To see if anything else has woken that should be asleep."

Kansas Kate was taken aback, and didn't really know how to react properly.  "Well I ain't sayin' I never told a lie, I told a baker's dozen today.  But I guess I at least have a purpose about it, and there's no reason to lie to you Roving Wolf. I guess I better get them idjits settled.  Course I'm an idjit myself.  Be careful out there."

”You as well. Trust only those who have earned it.”

With that, Roving Wolf sets off, moving west, quickly melting into the trees and vanishing from view, leaving Kate alone amongst the pines.

Her view of the town still clear through a gap in the foliage, the outlaw can see that all has grown quiet in Lincoln. For now, the street is calm.

Kate looked up at the sun.  Even if they'd calmed down, it was probably a horrible idea to just go back too soon, and she had some work to do out here.

Kate returns to her hiding spot in the dry creek bed, finding all as she left it. With some additional searching nearby, she locates the other items she requires to create a functional shelter. Remaining alert, the outlaw does not see or hear any further movement nearby. For the time being, she is alone among the tall pines.

OOC: Let me know what Kate plans next. At the moment, she is effectively out of danger.

The plan was pretty simple really.  Maybe too simple.

Kate had worn a bandanna, a hat and a duster when she'd run out of town.  It wouldn't hide the fact they'd seen a woman do it, but it gave her a little to work with.

She'd stash the duster, the bandanna and the hat here in the cave in a little cache.  Then she'd build a little fire pit, try to scavenge for water.  She'd try a trick to change the color of her hair, but she didn't have what she needed for that, so instead she put a braid in it to at least change the style.  It'd just been loose earlier.  Hopefully it'd be enough she wouldn't be recognized the very second she appeared.

By the time all that was done it would probably be close enough to sunset to wander into town just around dark.  She'd go try to collect her "reward".

They'd probably shoot her in the gut, but Kate hoped this would play out like she'd hoped.  If not, well, such was the life of Kansas Kate.