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"Revenge, Renewal and the Promise of a New Year" (Boot Hill/D&D)
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1909970" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter Sixty-two, “Attack of the Cowboy Gang”, Sunday, January 8th, 1882</strong>:</p><p></p><p>Chester had been quiet. During the first part of the ride he sneaks a glance at his fellow passengers. He thinks “The man with the rifle might be a real curly wolf and that he’d better not relax around him. The woman is pretty, though. What happened to the other man's coat? I thought he was wearing one earlier.” After Riley commented about his dreams Chester thought “Wonderful. Another one. What does that make me, then?” Chester shifts his body so that his gun is easier to reach. Just in case. As Riley continues Chester thinks, “This guy is spinning a fine tale. Although, these other two seem to have some idea what he's rambling about. "Sorry, sir. I'm new to the area. I don't know who these people are." He hopes that will stop this nonsense.</p><p></p><p>Ruby looks over to Jake with wide eyes then back to Reilly. "I'm afraid to ask, but you didn't say what happens in these dreams..." The man says "Well, I'm confused about this myself. Hopefully my Apache friend will be able to shed some light on this." He then leans back for a nap, lowering his charcoal gray hat over his eyes. </p><p></p><p>The stage has gone over the foothills of the Dragoon Mountains, leaving the mountains behind as they cross into the eastern half of the Cochise County and the middle section of the trip between the two towns along the relatively flat terrain. Jake looks at Ruby and shrugs his shoulders. He no longer felt like sleeping. He hoped this dreaming thing wasn't contagious. He just stares out the window.</p><p></p><p>Another hour passes. The stage has long since gone over the foothills of the Dragoon Mountains, leaving the mountains behind as they cross into the eastern half of the Cochise County and the middle section of the trip between the two towns along the relatively flat terrain. At approximately 4:15 P.M. they have a hilly area immediately before them, which is the southwestern point in the Dos Cabezas Mountain Range. They reach a point where the road forks, the left going around the nearest mountains and on to the towns of Dos Cabezas and Promise City, and the right trail leading to the Lazy S Ranch. </p><p></p><p>The carriage begins to turn on the main road to the left to the northeast, and then makes a very sharp turn around and onto the southeast trail. The turn was so sharp that Ruby slides into Jake and Chester falls off of the seat. The ex-soldier falls onto the floor with a "whomp." "Hey driver! Be more careful about those turns. You trying to get us killed?" He continues in a low voice, "I would've gotten a lot less jostling' riding through a prairie dog town." He asks Reily, Jake, and Ruby, "Is everyone else alright?" </p><p></p><p>Jake scoops his arm around Ruby before she slides off the bench after bumping into him "Honest, I didn't pay him to do that." He hands her his hat and sticks his head out the window. Looking forward and back while putting is hand on his revolver. Around 500 feet back he sees five men on horseback carrying weapons, who were apparently blocking the northeast roadway. They start to charge. Their faces are covered with bandannas. Chester notices Jake reach for his weapon. "What do you see out there? Trouble?"</p><p></p><p>Jake pulls his head back in and responds, "Five men on horses blocking the road. I suppose since they are wearing bandanas they think they are robbing the stage. Anybody got a rifle and care to join the drivers on top? It is still too far away for a pistol shot to be much good." Chester grimaces, "I do, but it's in the luggage rack." </p><p></p><p>Ruby exclaims, "Jake, you're not thinking of climbing up there are you? It might be Clabourne and they are looking for you and you'd be giving them a perfect target While he is talking he unrolls the leather coat he had been sitting next to and puts it on. He takes a revolver out of the pocket it was in and stuffs it in his belt opposite his holstered gun. "Thanks," he says to Ruby and takes his hat back then throws it under the bench, "Don't want to be losing that.”” Jake can tell Ruby is worried. Then she says with a smile, "Besides, I'm a better shot than you..."</p><p></p><p>They hear the sound of the driver yelling above, following by the sound of a whip cracking. The eight-horse team begin galloping down the road at a speed none of the passengers would have ever thought possible from a stagecoach. As Jake looks back he sees that the bandits were also taken by surprise, as they are now further back, a good 800 feet behind. They then hear the sounds of one of the drivers moving across the roof of the stagecoach followed by the sound of a rifle shot from above.</p><p></p><p>The stage continues onward for another mile, the distance between it and the pursuers amazingly continues to increase. The man on the roof continues to fire a shot from his rifle at the outlaws every few minutes. Ruby manages to get a good look back at the outlaws and recognizes the shirt of one of them as being the same color and pattern as the shirt that Buckskin Frank Leslie had on earlier that day. </p><p></p><p>The carriage then passes a half dozen men on horseback, three standing to each side of the road, who point rifles at the outlaws and fire in unison. The five masked men stop, turn, and then ride off back the way they came. The men with the rifles do not go after them, instead turning and accompanying the stagecoach forward for another half mile and into the Lazy S Ranch. </p><p></p><p>Once the stagecoach comes to a stop Chuck Nevers opens the door and comes inside to speak to the passengers while Newton Gilly talks to the ranch owner. Nevers says, “Sorry about all the commotion back there. That was really bold of them to attempt a stagecoach robbery in broad daylight. You’re safe now. The Shaw family owns the Lazy S Ranch. Thy have had more than their share of clashes with the rustlers, so are willing to help us out.” </p><p></p><p>Chester says, "That's OK. We will all seem to be safe. I'm sorry I yelled at ya for your drivin'. Thanks. Ruby says, "Oh don't worry, Mr. Nevers wouldn't take insult to that. And what is your name sir?" Chester winks, "That's good to know. I guess you need to have a thick skin in his line of work." He holds out his hand, "I'm Chester, miss, Chester Martin. What's your name?" Ruby offers her hand in return. "Ruby West. On your way to Promise City?" He says, "Yes, I am. I'm looking for some honest work. Do you and your friend have business there as well?" Ruby raises an eyebrow at the mention of "honest work." </p><p></p><p>"No, we don't have a business. I sing at the Lone Star Saloon. At least I did before last night. And Jake here plays poker there, at least he tries to," she winks. "They are in need of some workers to help build up the place I think. What happened last night? If you don't mind my asking. I'm not much of a card player myself. About the Lone Star… I've got a strong arm. Could you put in a good word for me? I know you don't know me, but any little bit helps." Jake is smiling and half listening to Ruby & Chester's conversation.</p><p> </p><p>Ruby looks him up and down. "Oh you look honest enough. I'll mention it to the Whipples. Last night... well, it's a long story. Maybe some other time? If you do work at the Lone Star we'll be seeing each other a lot. Plus you'll probably need a place to stay? I know a good place." </p><p></p><p>Ruby finally takes a breath in. She had enough of shooting to last awhile. Couldn’t they even get a coach ride in peace? She knew it wasn’t just a robbery. Now they knew that Ruby and Jake were headed to Promise City. She leans over to Jake and whispers; “Did you happen to notice Buckskin Frank Leslie’s shirt? I think we’re in trouble now Jake.”</p><p></p><p>"Now you think we are in trouble." Jake rubs his eyes and gives a heavy sigh. Ruby says, "Yeah, well, we weren't getting followed then were we?" Jake says, "No, I didn't notice his shirt. So if you are right do the math, Leslie plus four other riders. We saw four riders, two of which were Bill Claibourne and that Dell guy. Billy Claibourne, heh, we let him live once. If he is stupid enough to come after me I won't make that mistake again. Let's just play along with these folks for now and find out what they are thinking and what they are offering."</p><p></p><p>Jake strains to hear what Gilly and the ranch owner are saying. Newton Gilly finishes his conversation with the ranch owner. He then walks over to the passengers and says, "Sorry for the delay. We had to really overwork the team to outrun the outlaws, so the horses need to rest for a while." </p><p></p><p>Ruby takes a look over at the horse team and notices something interesting. In the past whenever she completed a spell she would see a faint aura of residual magic for a few minutes afterwards, something that others couldn't see. She now detects a similar aura radiating from the horseshoes of all eight horses on the team. The aura fades after a few more minutes. </p><p></p><p>Newton continues "The ranch owner, Emery Shaw has offered to cook up an early dinner for you all. His son Humphrey is going to ride into town to go get the Sheriff. I’ll be going along with him and will come back with the other three Wells Fargo employees to ride alongside the stage. We’ll get you all to town safely, albeit a few hours late.” Jake says, "That is mighty generous of Mr. Shaw. And mightily lucky those men were out on the road. I wonder how they knew we needed help?" Gilly replies "I think they heard my rifle shots and rode out to investigate." </p><p></p><p>Emery Shaw, a muscular and healthy looking silver-haired man in his fifties, walks up to Ruby with a swagger to his walk, and says "Fear not little woman, you are perfectly safe here. I've had clashes with that Cowboy Gang before and have always prevailed. They tried rustling some of my cattle last year and I personally managed to get a shot into the leg of their leader, Curly Bill Brocius."</p><p></p><p>Ruby gives a giggle. “You must be mighty brave to go up against a man such as Curly Bill. And very generous to let us stay for dinner. Does this kind of thing happen often?” He replies, "Not anymore, he was killed yesterday by a group of brave men" he replies. He then extends his hand towards her and says "May I escort you to dinner little lady?" Ruby gives Jake the I-have-to-talk-to-you-look.</p><p></p><p>Jake manages to keep a poker face and not laugh in the ranchers’ face. "Mr. Shaw, perhaps you could show Miss West here where she can refresh herself? And afterwards I for one would like to hear more of your stories about you and your men giving the Cowboy Gang what for." She takes Shaw’s arm. "Of course. I would also like to hear some stories of brave men. And I am getting famished!" As she lets Shaw lead her away she throws Jake a dirty look over her shoulder. She should have known he was going to let her suffer.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 1909970, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter Sixty-two, “Attack of the Cowboy Gang”, Sunday, January 8th, 1882[/B]: Chester had been quiet. During the first part of the ride he sneaks a glance at his fellow passengers. He thinks “The man with the rifle might be a real curly wolf and that he’d better not relax around him. The woman is pretty, though. What happened to the other man's coat? I thought he was wearing one earlier.” After Riley commented about his dreams Chester thought “Wonderful. Another one. What does that make me, then?” Chester shifts his body so that his gun is easier to reach. Just in case. As Riley continues Chester thinks, “This guy is spinning a fine tale. Although, these other two seem to have some idea what he's rambling about. "Sorry, sir. I'm new to the area. I don't know who these people are." He hopes that will stop this nonsense. Ruby looks over to Jake with wide eyes then back to Reilly. "I'm afraid to ask, but you didn't say what happens in these dreams..." The man says "Well, I'm confused about this myself. Hopefully my Apache friend will be able to shed some light on this." He then leans back for a nap, lowering his charcoal gray hat over his eyes. The stage has gone over the foothills of the Dragoon Mountains, leaving the mountains behind as they cross into the eastern half of the Cochise County and the middle section of the trip between the two towns along the relatively flat terrain. Jake looks at Ruby and shrugs his shoulders. He no longer felt like sleeping. He hoped this dreaming thing wasn't contagious. He just stares out the window. Another hour passes. The stage has long since gone over the foothills of the Dragoon Mountains, leaving the mountains behind as they cross into the eastern half of the Cochise County and the middle section of the trip between the two towns along the relatively flat terrain. At approximately 4:15 P.M. they have a hilly area immediately before them, which is the southwestern point in the Dos Cabezas Mountain Range. They reach a point where the road forks, the left going around the nearest mountains and on to the towns of Dos Cabezas and Promise City, and the right trail leading to the Lazy S Ranch. The carriage begins to turn on the main road to the left to the northeast, and then makes a very sharp turn around and onto the southeast trail. The turn was so sharp that Ruby slides into Jake and Chester falls off of the seat. The ex-soldier falls onto the floor with a "whomp." "Hey driver! Be more careful about those turns. You trying to get us killed?" He continues in a low voice, "I would've gotten a lot less jostling' riding through a prairie dog town." He asks Reily, Jake, and Ruby, "Is everyone else alright?" Jake scoops his arm around Ruby before she slides off the bench after bumping into him "Honest, I didn't pay him to do that." He hands her his hat and sticks his head out the window. Looking forward and back while putting is hand on his revolver. Around 500 feet back he sees five men on horseback carrying weapons, who were apparently blocking the northeast roadway. They start to charge. Their faces are covered with bandannas. Chester notices Jake reach for his weapon. "What do you see out there? Trouble?" Jake pulls his head back in and responds, "Five men on horses blocking the road. I suppose since they are wearing bandanas they think they are robbing the stage. Anybody got a rifle and care to join the drivers on top? It is still too far away for a pistol shot to be much good." Chester grimaces, "I do, but it's in the luggage rack." Ruby exclaims, "Jake, you're not thinking of climbing up there are you? It might be Clabourne and they are looking for you and you'd be giving them a perfect target While he is talking he unrolls the leather coat he had been sitting next to and puts it on. He takes a revolver out of the pocket it was in and stuffs it in his belt opposite his holstered gun. "Thanks," he says to Ruby and takes his hat back then throws it under the bench, "Don't want to be losing that.”” Jake can tell Ruby is worried. Then she says with a smile, "Besides, I'm a better shot than you..." They hear the sound of the driver yelling above, following by the sound of a whip cracking. The eight-horse team begin galloping down the road at a speed none of the passengers would have ever thought possible from a stagecoach. As Jake looks back he sees that the bandits were also taken by surprise, as they are now further back, a good 800 feet behind. They then hear the sounds of one of the drivers moving across the roof of the stagecoach followed by the sound of a rifle shot from above. The stage continues onward for another mile, the distance between it and the pursuers amazingly continues to increase. The man on the roof continues to fire a shot from his rifle at the outlaws every few minutes. Ruby manages to get a good look back at the outlaws and recognizes the shirt of one of them as being the same color and pattern as the shirt that Buckskin Frank Leslie had on earlier that day. The carriage then passes a half dozen men on horseback, three standing to each side of the road, who point rifles at the outlaws and fire in unison. The five masked men stop, turn, and then ride off back the way they came. The men with the rifles do not go after them, instead turning and accompanying the stagecoach forward for another half mile and into the Lazy S Ranch. Once the stagecoach comes to a stop Chuck Nevers opens the door and comes inside to speak to the passengers while Newton Gilly talks to the ranch owner. Nevers says, “Sorry about all the commotion back there. That was really bold of them to attempt a stagecoach robbery in broad daylight. You’re safe now. The Shaw family owns the Lazy S Ranch. Thy have had more than their share of clashes with the rustlers, so are willing to help us out.” Chester says, "That's OK. We will all seem to be safe. I'm sorry I yelled at ya for your drivin'. Thanks. Ruby says, "Oh don't worry, Mr. Nevers wouldn't take insult to that. And what is your name sir?" Chester winks, "That's good to know. I guess you need to have a thick skin in his line of work." He holds out his hand, "I'm Chester, miss, Chester Martin. What's your name?" Ruby offers her hand in return. "Ruby West. On your way to Promise City?" He says, "Yes, I am. I'm looking for some honest work. Do you and your friend have business there as well?" Ruby raises an eyebrow at the mention of "honest work." "No, we don't have a business. I sing at the Lone Star Saloon. At least I did before last night. And Jake here plays poker there, at least he tries to," she winks. "They are in need of some workers to help build up the place I think. What happened last night? If you don't mind my asking. I'm not much of a card player myself. About the Lone Star… I've got a strong arm. Could you put in a good word for me? I know you don't know me, but any little bit helps." Jake is smiling and half listening to Ruby & Chester's conversation. Ruby looks him up and down. "Oh you look honest enough. I'll mention it to the Whipples. Last night... well, it's a long story. Maybe some other time? If you do work at the Lone Star we'll be seeing each other a lot. Plus you'll probably need a place to stay? I know a good place." Ruby finally takes a breath in. She had enough of shooting to last awhile. Couldn’t they even get a coach ride in peace? She knew it wasn’t just a robbery. Now they knew that Ruby and Jake were headed to Promise City. She leans over to Jake and whispers; “Did you happen to notice Buckskin Frank Leslie’s shirt? I think we’re in trouble now Jake.” "Now you think we are in trouble." Jake rubs his eyes and gives a heavy sigh. Ruby says, "Yeah, well, we weren't getting followed then were we?" Jake says, "No, I didn't notice his shirt. So if you are right do the math, Leslie plus four other riders. We saw four riders, two of which were Bill Claibourne and that Dell guy. Billy Claibourne, heh, we let him live once. If he is stupid enough to come after me I won't make that mistake again. Let's just play along with these folks for now and find out what they are thinking and what they are offering." Jake strains to hear what Gilly and the ranch owner are saying. Newton Gilly finishes his conversation with the ranch owner. He then walks over to the passengers and says, "Sorry for the delay. We had to really overwork the team to outrun the outlaws, so the horses need to rest for a while." Ruby takes a look over at the horse team and notices something interesting. In the past whenever she completed a spell she would see a faint aura of residual magic for a few minutes afterwards, something that others couldn't see. She now detects a similar aura radiating from the horseshoes of all eight horses on the team. The aura fades after a few more minutes. Newton continues "The ranch owner, Emery Shaw has offered to cook up an early dinner for you all. His son Humphrey is going to ride into town to go get the Sheriff. I’ll be going along with him and will come back with the other three Wells Fargo employees to ride alongside the stage. We’ll get you all to town safely, albeit a few hours late.” Jake says, "That is mighty generous of Mr. Shaw. And mightily lucky those men were out on the road. I wonder how they knew we needed help?" Gilly replies "I think they heard my rifle shots and rode out to investigate." Emery Shaw, a muscular and healthy looking silver-haired man in his fifties, walks up to Ruby with a swagger to his walk, and says "Fear not little woman, you are perfectly safe here. I've had clashes with that Cowboy Gang before and have always prevailed. They tried rustling some of my cattle last year and I personally managed to get a shot into the leg of their leader, Curly Bill Brocius." Ruby gives a giggle. “You must be mighty brave to go up against a man such as Curly Bill. And very generous to let us stay for dinner. Does this kind of thing happen often?” He replies, "Not anymore, he was killed yesterday by a group of brave men" he replies. He then extends his hand towards her and says "May I escort you to dinner little lady?" Ruby gives Jake the I-have-to-talk-to-you-look. Jake manages to keep a poker face and not laugh in the ranchers’ face. "Mr. Shaw, perhaps you could show Miss West here where she can refresh herself? And afterwards I for one would like to hear more of your stories about you and your men giving the Cowboy Gang what for." She takes Shaw’s arm. "Of course. I would also like to hear some stories of brave men. And I am getting famished!" As she lets Shaw lead her away she throws Jake a dirty look over her shoulder. She should have known he was going to let her suffer. [/QUOTE]
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