Chapter 27: Invaders
In reply to Thomas Pearce (msg # 43):
OOC: The Judge's takeaway from the narrative is:
Jake, Tommy, and Daniel stay back with the horses.
Tracy, Earnest, and Padre go ahead and climb up to scout. Depending on what they might learn, Padre may go forward into town to scout closer.
Assuming these are accurate assessments, and using the die rolls, here where we are now:
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While the professor and the man-who-used-to-be-called Albert keep their eyes on the horizon or up the foothills, and the Irishman and the Texican guard the rear, the Californian shifts his attention to the ground. It means the Wolverine dismounts from time-to-time to investigate sign more closely. It proves worthwhile. Tracy knows from previous experience that some traders travel this road between the threes towns and settlements to the east, such as Hite, where he, Tommy, and Jake had gone to deliver El Presidente to the local magistrate. Tracy wouldn't be surprised to find wagon tracks -- old or recent -- although it's just as likely to find none. He wouldn't expect to find much foot or horse traffic, but he does indeed see fresh human tracks as the men near their destination -- cowboy boots and military style books, and horse tracks that loop southwest away from the road.
Just a few minutes earlier, Padre and Earnest had picked out a bluff above they thought would provide a good view above the town. Far enough away to avoid detection, they reasoned, not too far to observe. As Tracy, stops, Juhasz scans the area with the rifleman's field glasses. He spies a group of men on foot, about one-third mile from town -- that is about halfway between town and the spot where the riders had lingered while Windham examines the tracks. They move like some kind of patrol.
Daniel Knight, who had stayed in the middle and rested as suggested, asks to borrow field glasses after Padre alerts the others. He reckons they are some of the same invaders he saw before.
The men realize they need to act now to avoid detection. A nearby gully spotted by Ringgenberg will have to do as a place to hold the horses while three of the men advance up the foothills to the bluff.
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OOC: We're going to do a quick encounter here. See next message.