Garrett Rasmin leads a group of riders westward, before dawn on the north central Texas plains.

The riders have covered more than a quarter mile and the horses are all running strong.  Cole Trayne and Senor Rojas had aligned themselves close behind Rasmin up until now, when the bounty hunter eases his horse slightly then matches their pace, to allow all three to form a line some 10 yards abreast of each other.

Meanwhile, Randy Oldman, JEB and Travis Sunday ride slightly behind Cole's line, themselves having aligned into a second rank. While they could push their horses temporarily to catch-up, there has been no reason to do so, at least as of yet.

As the quarter mile turns to a half mile, the riders have not found the source of the battle noises they overheard. The pounding of their horses has muffled any sounds that might have reached their ears from this distance, although the black smoke rising is becoming more evident. If the professor's estimate held they still had a space to ride before they got close enough to learn exactly what it is they are riding towards, but the men would guess that it could be less than another half-mile's ride.

Jake Richardson leads Cruger and Haverty on a looping path northwest-to-west. At first, they were able to keep an eye on the group of riders heading directly westward, but a few rolling hills disrupted the line of sight and now this trio of riders circling to the destination from the north are uncertain of relative distance between them and Rasmin's group. Nevertheless, they remain confident that they are on an approach that is likely a few hundred yards north, although maybe as much as a minute behind the others.

The professor urges Amadeus onward, with the hunters providing an escort. Two of them ride on the wagon's flanks; one of them rides a ways ahead, but still in visual distance under the moonlight. They wagoneers see both groups of riders disappear from sight.

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OOC: Pausing here to allow for PC-to-PC or PC-to-NPC conversation (keep it among the proper line or group, of course) or any further actions while riding.

"You know this area better'n me, Pete," Jake remarked to the liveryman, raising his voice a little so that he could be heard above the noise of the horses' hooves.

"Reckon these fellers as got jumped by them Injuns is another group of hunters who've set off cross-country, or is thaere another trail of some sort off in this die-reckshunn?"

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 2):

Haverty pulls closer to Richardson, to catch the man's question. Jake realizes he will need to raise his voice more than a little to hold a conversation beyond the exchange of a few words.

But it is actually Cruger who answers the question.

"There's a trail west from Dallas/Fort Worth that caravaners are known to follow."

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 1):

ENS urges Amadeus up to a little speed, mindful of the darkened terrain and the animal in tow. He was going to follow Jake, but decides to follow the more direct path Rasmin took in the interest of timeliness.

If he can get to some high ground without going too far off path or overtaxing Amadeus, he will in order to get a better look with his binoculars.

In reply to E.N.S. Ringgenberg (msg # 4):

Randy remains quiet in the saddle. He focuses on the impending altercation.

In reply to Randy Oldman (msg # 5):

Travis maintains the pace, singing  "Ride, Captain ride, upon your mystery horse."

Cole rides along in silence, scanning the horizon for any further signs of trouble.

In reply to Cole Trayne (msg # 7):

Pushing on in silence, the three riders approach the smoke they had been targeting, although it has mostly now dissipated and the men aren't exactly sure how straight of an approach they ended up taking. Having traveled perhaps another quarter-mile into a more hilly terrain, Cole Trayne, Senor Rojas and Garrett Rasmin gallop up a gradual slope until a sight reveals itself on the plain below.

The next line of three riders--Randy, JEB and Travis--also realize that they are close to whatever the action might be. They see the three riders ahead, some 50 yards distant, advancing up a sloping hill.

EDIT: factual error
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:55, Wed 01 Oct 2014.