"She fell. She has brought me this package. She did not seem to be well, doctor. She almost said no word, then fell to the ground when she gave the package to me. Will she be fine?"

Leopold seems genuinely worried.

That swine, Sebastian...

The medic examines her eyes. "Mismatched pupils. She fell, you say?" he says. "Hmm...and she was confused? Hardly said anything?" He checks her pulse, then starts pressing his fingers along the woman's head. "Ah. There's trauma here." he says. "Concussion, I would wager. A blow to the skull, rattling the brain around."

The woman groans a bit.

"She needs food and rest, but as long as she gets those she should make a full recovery. Provided she avoids reinjury." The medic says. "Keep her away from spirits -- they retard the healing process. You'll want to wake her every few hours to make sure she isn't slipping into a coma."

"And who would that 'you' be, Herr Doctor?" Von Steinhof raises his eyebrows.
"Do you not have a room and a nurse to watch her?"

In reply to Jackie Wells (msg # 64):

Zek shrugged at Jackie ' s statement. "Did you hear me call myself the paragon of virtue and humanity? In fact, I seem to recall just now how I was saying I was a vengeful, angry piece of shit." He paused and touched the birm of his hat. "Pardon my french."

"But when you say there is only anarchy or civilization...that just ain't so. Your forgot the third way - the Indian way. This is thier land, we live under thier traditions weather we know it or not. It's their anger and vengeance why people like the Whateley's use their power they way do, why inhuman monsters hunt the land for all peoples,  and why Bill and I are talking to you right now. "

He shook his head.  "If you wanted a just society and decent people running it,  you should have been here before the whites showed up. I have seen that place, heard it's stories, and stood in the presence the people such a place produces. Felt the mercy and kindness I did not deserve...and saw it taken by force. " his voice sounded soft and reverent as he spoke of such a time.

Then he catches himself, and the growl returns. "And as long as the scales are not balanced,  and as long as we stand on the corpses of the true children of this land - the things that foul the hunting grounds will remain. And I will be here - going after them...and the people who brought us to this sorry state." He narrowed his eyes.

"And the funny thing is...I think you agree in a way.  You are not wearing your star. I think you know the difference between natural justice and white man's laws."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:43, Sun 05 Feb 2017.

In reply to Freiherr von Steinhof (msg # 68):

The medic shrugs. "I got tents full of wounded men to look after. Men who are in agony. Men who've been filled with arrows, stabbed with spears, caught shrapnel from too-close cannonballs, and a whole host of other injuries from the battle with the Sioux. I don't have the space nor the manpower to look after one concussed woman, but as I understand things you have a room here. She's stable right now, and I have to get back to my other patients. You'll have to put her up until she's well enough to travel on her own, I'm afraid, or you can search this town and see if there's a sawbones who can do so. Either way, this is all I can do for her at the moment."

In reply to Ezekiel Starkweather (msg # 69):

"I ain't wearin' a star 'cause technically I ain't a deputy anymore." Jackie says. "Not 'cause I don't believe in it. And yeah, you're right in that I do believe there's a difference between justice and the law. But I also believe that the ends don't justify the means. For anyone. And that includes the natives as well as the whites. And that includes you." She sighs. "But I need to talk to Coot. He's got to know some things I know. Things that might just save this world from the mess it's in."

Belle kept moving, relieved that the angry Pawnee was leaving, and went to lean on a rail because that's what people did right?

She had to talk to Dandy Don, but she couldn't do it this minute.   That would be highly suspicious.  She had to stand out here a while so the Marshal who had confronted the ornery troublemaker wouldn't connect the dots.  He seemed like a nice man and really didn't need to be drug into this.

"This is... highly unusual."
He looks down at the woman, then sighs in defeat.
"Well, fine. You two," he addresses two soldiers, "go on, pick her up and carry her to my room. But careful, please. You do not want to end up in the good doctor's tents, yourself, yes?"

He picks up the package and leads the way to his room.

"It is what it is." The medic says with a shrug. "I'll look in on her in a few days."

The soldiers nod at Von Steinhof and pick up the woman as gingerly as they can manage. They all head up to the room.

Broaddale watched the Pawnee go, then relaxed. He turned back to the bar, pausing only to give Daisy an affectionate ruffle of the hair. He looked to Maddox, then put another bill on the bar and spoke to Dandy Don.

"Another for Maddox, Daisy and myself, sir," He said as he finished his drink.

"Well, Mr. Maddox. I'm sorry I lost my cool a bit, but a fella can only get called a cocksucker so many times before it starts to eat at him. Have a drink on me. If you're really looking for work, the U.S. government pays better than Iron Dragon, I promise."

In reply to Union Troops (msg # 74):

Leopold directs the soldier to put the woman on the bed, then asks them to get Lieutenant Haverford.
Once they leave, he sits down on a chair, crosses his legs and lights a cigarette to pass the time while he waits.

In reply to Freiherr von Steinhof (msg # 76):

Haverford arrives a couple minutes later, and takes in the room. "Well, I'll be damned." he says when he sees the woman. "Do you know who that is?"

In reply to Jackie Wells (msg # 71):

"That's another lesson I learned a long time ago. What you believe don't matter." He paused and shrugged, spitting to the left of his horse's shoulder as they traveled.

  "What I believe don't matter. Even what Bill believes don't matter. Sure as hell what the lawman back there believes never amounted to a hill of dung beetles." He said dismissevly.

"Only our pride leads us to think the world should spin the way we say, and what should meet our tender feelings. There was only one group who's beliefs held back an ocean of darkness wanting to cover the land...all the lands."

He glanced back at Jackie. "And you know what we did to them...because we are selfish children who can't share. Ever."

"If the Coot knew how to fix human nature, I think he would have said something to a lot of people by now..." He shrugs, and keeps riding.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:22, Sun 05 Feb 2017.

"I am afraid there were no proper introduction." He blows a smoke ring towards the ceiling.
"But I believe you may be able to help?"

Maddox comes up to join Matt at the bar with a sigh. "Thanks. I was hoping he'd take himself off rather quieter when he was paid, see you." He just nods to the generic whiskey bottle held up by the barkeep, settling, and gives the Marshal that tired look.

"The part of the United States that's here presently - where I am firstly needing to be paid to stay in lodging, and secondly have been making some attempt at bringing genuine law and stability to - is not exactly one I'm keen to be working for. As for the girl...it's less that I'm cozying up to Huang Li because I want in with Iron Dragon, more because I'd like to get the Celestials integrated with the rest of the town."

"If Huang Li goes down as it's looking like he might with this series of disgraces, well there is going to be some chaos among the Triads, I can tell you that. It's not a good contract, no, but if I find the whore, I can get back Huang Li's papers, and stabilise the Chinese situation. I don't want her flayed." He rubs his jaw and takes a drink, addressing the bottom of his glass. "Which is why I'm making it very clear she's my case, because if I drop it, see you, then Huang Li would send his own men after her. And they would catch, rape, and kill her, and bring back only the skin."

Matt manages to avoid laying his fingers open on that vicious little razor coiled up with Daisy's off-blonde tresses this time, but she gives him a grin as she re-shoulders her rifle just the same. Kitty wordlessly brings her some beans and hardtack from the back moments after her drink hits the bar, apparently amused.

"Thanks, honey," Daisy responds gleefully, and hauls a fork out of what would be her cleavage if she were wearing push-up corsetry (or had a lot more to push up) to slide along the bar surface to Matt in case he wants some.

In reply to Freiherr von Steinhof (msg # 79):

"We are currently in the presence of Calamity Jane Canary, star of a dozen exaggerated dime novels and person of interest in the attack and burning of the Gem Theater." Haverford says. "I thought you were supposed to be seeking our missing materials. Last I heard, you were following a lead, but now another building's gotten blown up, and you have a wanted felon snoozing on your bed. I need details."

Lonefeather nods. "Possible, but we can hope otherwise. So what's next? You gonna join in the hunt?"

[Language unknown: "Chica ure iltosa ec fo beseol."] The brave grumbles.

[Language unknown: "Wata u thuithountra."] Kills Iron Horse says. [Language unknown: "N setwh o eretravir latwe hotra lingwe Int Ainnotnotder Oulie Werstihat.pe Lo i lafo n en der, int?"]

Moses nods. "Yes. The Woman Who Remembers The Future. We find her, and then Moses will have to keep a promise."

In reply to Lieutenant Haverford (msg # 82):

"Ah, I have heard about her. I doubt that she had anything to do with anything, though. I mean, look at her - the woman is a mess. Concussion, apparently."
He takes another drag from his cigarette and uses it to point toward the brown package.
"She delivered this. I would say not by her own free will or choice. Somebody did something to her."

He gets up and pulls a small pocket knife from his coat. He flips the blade open and carefully cuts through the paper cover.

With his cigarette between his lips, he mumbles: "You might want to take cover. This could easily be a bomb."

Logan listened quietly to the conversation between Zek and Jackie, taking it in.

"I respect that there's a certain nobility about the way of the natives, but I think you might be puttin' too fine a shine on it if you think it was share and share alike before the white man got here. It don't excuse the shit we've done, but they did each other plenty wrong before the Pilgrims got on the Mayflower. Why do you think the Apache and the Tonkawa scouted for the army before the war broke out? It was 'cause the Comanche tortured and raped them whenever they won a battle, and had been doin' that for years. I reckon there's a similar story explainin' why the Pawnee are still scoutin' for the Union up around these parts. We may not've done 'em any favors, but apparently the Sioux did 'em worse. White or native, we're all a little fucked up, but you can try to be a part of the solution or you can be a part of the problem," he said.

"If you think havin' no respect for the law makes you special, think again. There's a million out there like you. You'd be in fine company with the likes of Darius Carter. But that doesn't excuse your ignorance on how it's done properly. We bring people in for trial, and let the courts sort it out. We don't fancy ourselves executioners. If someone makes me pull, I will put 'im down like I woulda done for that cocksucker Darius Carter, but that don't mean I excuse myself from tryin' to take him in proper, and I think Mr. Hickok here will tell you the same. He's been a law man himself," he said, he said, nodding to Wild Bill. 

"So as you see, I can't just shoot a man to death because some asshole pops out of the ground in the middle of a bar fight and start layin' into him with glowin' red hands. I don't know what business passed between y'all, but as far as I saw, after you busted in there out of the ground, and did your thing with Mr. Hickok for which we're all eternally grateful, you came over and started layin' into him unprovoked," he said. 

"As far as Roger Sebastian goes, I don't trust the sonuvabitch as far as I can throw him, but he's a witness in a federal investigation. We need information outta him, and you killin' him in some grudge match in the middle of a saloon woulda jeopardized the whole damn thing," he said.

"All in all though, I think you're better than that, Mr. Starkweather. I've seen what you did for Mr. Hickok here. You're tryin' to do the right thing, and that's good, even if your record is somewhat marred. But make no mistake, if you just start murderin' folks, you'll become no different than Darius Carter, taking the law into your own hands as you please, answerable to no man but yourself, and that makes you a danger to society. You can rage on, and tell yourself whatever stories it takes to justify your behavior, but if you keep goin' the way you are, you'll become the thing you seem to hate," he said.

"Now, after we finish up this thing here with Mr. Hickok and the old man, I'll be going after Roger Sebastian again now that he's managed to abscond. If you can postpone your grudge match with him until my investigation is wrapped up, I'd appreciate it," he said. "In the meantime, if you can come up with some evidence of his wrong doing, you can present it to me if it's a federal matter or Mr. Bullock, and we can proceed with an investigation."

The Marshal chewed on Maddox's words as he sipped his whiskey. The Welshman made sense.

"You're a smart man, Maddox. As I said earlier, a united, uncomplicated Deadwood is a Deadwood that helps both the Sioux and the Union. If keeping Huang Li in charge keeps Celestial Alley running smoothly, I suppose it's important we find this woman and the things she stole," he said, "Assuming she hasn't burnt them for kindling, out there on Bear Butte. Speaking of, this woman seems pretty out of reach if she's sitting up in those mountains. Unless you know something I don't."

"Wasn't plannin' on it. Running around in this mess isn't gonna do me much good tomorrow."

In reply to Logan West (msg # 87):

He rolled his eyes at the Lawman's words, but did not bother to look at him. "If you think I claimed the natives where perfect-you where not listening. I never claimed that-I said their beliefs mattered. Their beliefs kept all this inhuman power chained and held.

Nor did I say my lack of respect for the rich man's laws made me special. Yes, I imagine many have little respect for laws written by and for the rich. They mostly live in your work camps, and your jails, and eventually, mass graveyards. See, its too difficult for your masters to make people work for nothing anymore.

But you know what they do have, Lawman? People like yourself-believing whole hardly that the law serves everybody. That the law is about justice. That the law somehow protects poor and rich alike.

Except its never worked that way-at least for the for the most part. Granted I will admit to the exception like Bill and Jackie-but you? You made sure another Whateley goes free-after he blasted me and the thing in the middle of the room. Let me guess-if he shot me with a gun, and claimed it was an 'accident', you would still defend that no good rattlesnake because you-and your so-called 'justice', comes first. Everybody else second.

And that means-everything the Whateley does, every life he steals, every soul he corrupts-that's on you."

He gestures to the wilderness outside of town as they moved. "You see this out here, Lawman? This is another place that don't give a shit-beg pardon Jackie-about your law. It don't care how many rich men write down bits of paper what they say is theirs, and how anybody should act, and who carries a dumb little metal star. Its been here forever, while you and your stupid, hateful, self centered law is just a short term infection. As for me, I have seen your law fail time and again to ever trust its ways with the people and things I care about."