"Hm. Well, if ya'll can spin it so that fine fella seems ta have turned traitor..."

Albert shrugged. He still didn't particularly like the idea of intentionally burning anything down. Folks didn't take kindly to arson in these parts.

Renata Montaño sips her coffee. Looking to Kate, she says, ”I know that Virgil Dunne is a bad man, given to violence and thievery. But I share Señor Cooper’s concern. Destroying someone’s home...it is a terrible step to take.”

She looks to Kate. “Perhaps you could destroy some things. Frighten him. Make him flee the county, but not burn his home.”

Kearney shrugs. ”Back during the Rail Wars, my family wasn’t shown no kind of mercy. I figured the way The House runs its operation, things here in Lincoln aren’t all that different. Murphy’s people stole a bunch of kids from their parents, for God’s sake.”

”No argument there,” Bauer says with a sigh, ”but I still think we gotta be careful not to become what we despise.”

Kate nodded.  "Ah will have to make it look good, and I can't account fer them others, but ah think ah have a play, and if'n it works he'll cuss me the rest of his days as he rightly should, but shouldn't destroy everythin' he ever had neither.  Can't promise he won't be hurt, but kilt, kilt ah think ah can stop.  The point of this is to teach these boys how to outlaw anyway, an' second rule is don't destroy what you plan to take.  You break a man's hand to teach 'im a lesson, he's gonna have a hard as hell time gettin' ya what he owes.  If'n ya'll have a way ta get any bystanders out of the way, ah'd use it."

”I know his neighbors,” Kearney tells Kate, ”I’ll ride out there right after breakfast. Warn ‘em to keep clear of Virgil’s place. That there’s been rumors of trouble brewing over there.”

Montaño regards Kate solemnly. ”I need not tell you to be careful, Señorita. You understand the people you are dealing with. I will pray for your safety, and your success.”

Her attention drifts back to Tamsin River. ”Señorita River, the man you saw, the one that scattered something in front of the courthouse. I am certain that was Jim McDaniels. My nephew...he has a story about Senor McDaniels, one that has convinced me that it is him who is behind the dead being restless in Lincoln.”

“If you want an end to these monsters, I believe it is he you would need to stop.”

Well, with Kate announcing Tom’s faked death, that’s a welght off Tamsin’s shoulders.

But this Jim McDaniels, that’s another one. “Can you tell us the story? Or should I go talk to your nephew?”

"All right, ah gotta head off.  They's a waitin' fer me, an' I has ta take a long route back.  But one more thing.  If we meet on the wrong side, ah will make it look good unless ya say ah'm yer Huckleberry.  Do what ya can ta set th' trap."  With that, Kansas Kate was on her way out to do the evil only she could.

"Be careful, Dee-Kay. Your path is ripe with peril, and I wanna have a drink with ya when this is all over. We'll do what we can." Albert nodded to Kate as she left, then turned back toward those that had gathered to see if they had any thoughts to share.

Montaño watches Kate depart, taking hold of a small medallion around her neck and breathing a few words after the outlaw leaves.

Returning her attention to River, she says, ”My nephew, Martin, works for Señor Ellis in the mornings, cleaning stables and caring for the horses at the livery. He will share the story and I think it best that you hear it from him. He recalls it like it was yesterday.”

She looks over to Bauer. ”Deputy, isn’t it true that when John Tunstall was still living, that several horses and a few ganado belonging to him were found in a barn in Angus?”
This message was last edited by the player at 11:17, Mon 22 Apr 2019.

”Yes, ma’am, that’s so,” Bauer confirms, ”but it wasn’t anyone in the sheriff’s office that found ‘em. Buckshot Roberts, the bounty hunter. He’s the one that came upon ‘em. Collected a reward for bringin’ em back to Mr. Tunstall. Mrs. McSween told me that there were a couple of prize bulls among what was taken. Mr. Tunstall was real relieved to have ‘em returned.”
This message was last edited by the player at 11:18, Mon 22 Apr 2019.

Albert watched Kate depart with a concerned look on his face. His gaze drifted back over to the others after she had gone. "Seems like somebody, or a couple somebodies, needs ta go check out Angus. I'll volunteer ta be one of those what goes that direction."

"I agree. Angus needs some investigating. I'd be glad to accompany you, though I was hoping to head into the countryside for a bit and get into the whole wagon train business," he said.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:44, Tue 23 Apr 2019.

”Jorge and Araceli Casales. They lived in Angus when it was first founded. They found raising livestock more difficult than they imagined,” Montaño says. ”They, along with the MacCabe family and a man named Edward Parrish, who lived here in Lincoln, conceived the idea of the wagon train, and hired Lawrence Murphy to guide them.”

“Jorge’s sister, Yolanda, stayed in the home in Angus, even after most of the people had left. Jorge supposedly intended to send for her once they made a home in California. I understand that she passed away a little over a year ago. But the house, and many of the family’s possessions, remain there. I doubt that it has been disturbed. Almost no one goes there. Many believe the town to be haunted.”

"I'm game to go explorin' with you, Coop," Jacinta offered.  She'd cleaned her plate while listening and now leaned back to nurse her mug of coffee, throwing Bryan a glance.  "Especially if you want to go elsewhere, Ranger.  Don't mind taggin' along wherever an extra rifle might be needed."

Albert smiled at Jacinta's offer. "I would be happy fer yer company, Jay Lo. Always nice ta have someone handy with a rifle. Say, you still got that bullet I scratched on?"

"Naw.  That one exploded the great pumpkin head of a possessed scarecrow."  If she hadn't seen it, hadn't shot it, she wasn't sure she would have believed such a thing could exist.  She grinned.  "You gonna make me another?  Came in mighty useful last time."

Cooper nodded. "I'd be happy ta make another, ma'am. Jus' need a few samples of yer lead and I'll get one of em fixed up fer ya." Or maybe more than one if luck was on his side.

"Sounds like there's a lot of pieces that link back to Angus. McDaniels, Murphy, the Wagon Train, the Reverend Benton, and the Tunstall Murder. Too many to just ignore it. If myself, Coop, and Señorita Castillo head out that way, we might be able to see if there's anything there we can use to put those pieces together," he said.

“I suppose I’ll be starting my day off over at Mr. Ellis’s, if anyone ends up needing me,” Tamsin says, intent on going to find Martin and listen to whatever story he had for her about Jin McDaniels.

”I’ll go ever there with you, Miss River,” Kearney volunteers, ”I need to settle up with Mr. Ellis on a couple of horses he sold for me in San Patricio. But I’m curious to hear more about McDaniels.”

The mustanger turns her attention to Lee. ”Ranger, you wanna learn more about the mountains, and the wagon train, I can introduce you to a trapper who camps north of town. Name of Aaron Robles. He wasn’t here when the train went missin’, but he’s learned quite a bit about the Capitan Mountains since comin’ here.”

”If ya’ll wouldn’t mind the law following along, I’d like to make that trip to Angus with you. Reverend Benton...I still need to know what became of him. I reckon there might be some clues in that town,” Bauer says.

Albert shook his head. "Don't mind at all, ma'am. Though...ya seem ta be the best choice ta take over fer Sheriff Brady. But if ya don't feel yer needed here, we'd like ta have ya along ta Angus, surely."

Bauer smiles. ”I ‘preciate the vote of confidence, cowboy. But there’s no way Judge Bristol pins that badge on me. There’s several deputies that have got way more service to the county than I do.”

She drains her coffee mug. ”But more important, Bristol will want someone he sees as impartial. Someone who’ll be fair both to The House and those that oppose ‘em. That ain’t me. I’ve made it real plain how I see the lay of things here.”

She shrugs. ”I really can’t begin to guess who he might choose.”