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"They Rode to Perdition" starring Arcade's Gang (D&D/Boot Hill)
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1110551" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p>Chapter 25, “Arrival of the James Gang”, August 1st, 1881, 2:30 P.M.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, two miles northwest of Promise City, a group of ten riders have now approached a burnt out barn alongside an abandoned farmhouse. Former Promise City resident Cleatus James had brought this group to this location. The group had circumnavigated way around the towns of Tombstone and Dos Cabezas to avoid being seen. The open fields that they then traveled through for the past several miles belonging to the Lazy S Ranch. These fields were deserted, as the Shaw family that owns the ranch, and their hired hands, are all away on a cattle drive. This allows this group to approach close to town without being noticed. The old farmhouse had once belonged to the Shaw family, before they built their larger farmhouse five miles further west, so was deserted. </p><p></p><p>This group was comprised of nine men and a woman, with the group’s leader being the notorious outlaw Jesse James. All but one of this group had participated in the robbery of an Albuquerque, New Mexico bank two weeks earlier. Following the robbery the money was divided up, most of which was then sent “home” to locations in Missouri and Utah with two other gang members no longer with the particular group. </p><p></p><p>Shortly after that the Gang crossed path with the notorious William H. Bonney, otherwise known as Billy the Kid. Billy proved to be quite useful, knowing the New Mexico Territory well, and was able to get the gang safely away from the posse that had been pursuing them. In the time since then the young outlaw had begun to overstay his welcome, making unwanted advances to the Gang’s only female member Mae Clarke. He had also begun to challenge and question Jesse’s decisions and authority. </p><p></p><p>Almost as annoying was Jesse and Frank James’s second cousin Cleatus James, who had used his family connections to discover the James Brothers secret hideout two months ago, and then talked them into making this trip to southeastern Arizona. The current plan was derived based on Cleatus’s knowledge of Promise City, and where large quantities of money would be located. The plan called for the team to later split up into two groups, and neither Jesse nor Frank had any reservations about sending Billy the Kid and Cleatus as part of the group with the more dangerous assignment. Accompanying that pair would be the Ford Brothers, Charlie and Bob*, whom Jesse had begun to sense a bad feeling about </p><p></p><p>*<em>Note: In the real timeline, James Gang member Bob Ford was the person who betrayed and killed Jesse James in 1882 to collect the reward money.</em> </p><p></p><p>It was decided that this building would be the rendezvous point for later this evening. The horses were fed and watered, while the Gang ate a light meal. Frank James walked around the building with his friend Bill Ryan, deciding upon a secret location for Ryan to stash the loot from the first phase of the planned robberies. The Gang then mounted up and rode towards town. Cleatus called for them to stop at a hilly area not far from town, where Ryan then took all of the horses and rode back to the abandoned farmhouse while the other proceeded on foot. </p><p></p><p>From a hill overlooking the town Cleatus pointed out to the others their two initial objectives, a small clapboard house on the outer end of the town’s northeast corner, and a large three-story clapboard home, the westernmost building in town, not far from the hill with the smelting operation. Cleatus led his quartet to the smaller of these two buildings, while Jesse, Frank, Mae, and James Gang members Jim Cummins and Clarence Hite headed around the western end of town, cautiously approaching the building from the rear. </p><p></p><p>The larger building had a locked back door, which locksmith and safecracker Mae Clarke was quickly able to open. The five quietly made their way inside, and caught the live-in housekeeper Hazel Thomas by surprise. Once Jesse James identified himself by name and brandished his weapon Hazel did not hesitate to show them the secret location of the safe belonging to the home’s owner, Elton Hubbard. Mae cross-referenced the safe’s serial number to a list that she carried, and then correctly dialed the combination. The contents of the safe were emptied into a satchel. Mae then left behind a hand-written note, and then relocked the safe. Mrs. Thomas was then gagged and tied into a chair on the third floor, and the group departed. </p><p></p><p>Across town, Cleatus led his group into the 10x20 foot two-room building that was home to Scott and Mona Taylor. Guns were shoved into the faces of the Taylors, who were told to not make a sound. The windows and shutters to the building were the all shut, and the couple were gagged and tied to the center support beam of the building. The group waited for almost an hour, until there was a light rap on the door. The door was opened, and their other group entered. Jesse James then introduced himself to Mona, telling her exactly what she was going to do next, and what the lethal consequences would be to her husband if she failed to do as instructed. </p><p></p><p>Mona was untied, the gag removed. She then left the building, accompanied by Jim Cummins and Mae Clarke. Mona and Mae both carried cleaning supplies, with a pistol hidden inside the pile carried by Mae. Cummins had an armload of firewood, with his sawed-off shotgun concealed inside of it. They passed two other homes, and then crossed Sierra Street, going up to the large two-story wooden home that was the home of bankers Morgan and Frank Condon. Mona was employed as the cook and housekeeper for the bankers and quickly unlocked the door using her own key. A few people passed by on the street during this time, but do not pay any real attention to the trio. </p><p></p><p>Mona then led them directly to the hidden wall safe. Mae Clarke took one look at it and then let out a string of explicative, as it was a Mosler model rather than a Harrisburg. The safecracker calmed down and took out a set of tools, and then spent nearly an hour on it before the safe’s door finally opened. The effort proved to be worth the wait, as the safe is stuffed full with cash. The money was piled into a pair of buckets and covered with rags. She again left a prepared letter in the safe, then shut and locked it. The three returned to the Taylor residence, where Mona was again tied and gagged. </p><p></p><p>A quick count of the money from the Condon safe showed a haul of almost $ 11,000 as well as a ring of keys that is immediately handed to Cleatus. Over $ 4,000 was taken from the Hubbard safe. The rest of the contents from the Hubbard safe are various deeds and other legal documents, which Cleatus tossed into the wood stove and then lit. Frank James puts the money into two satchels, and made his way towards the hills to the north. He returned a half hour later saying, “Bill has it.” Bonney tells the bound Taylors’ “If we hear any sounds coming from this building during the next two hours we will set it on fire.” </p><p></p><p>It is now getting towards evening, and the Gang splits up again into the two separate groups, heading off in different directions. The group with the James Brothers head through back alleyways and wait over half an hour until Sierra Street looks to be deserted before they casually cross it, then make their way behind more buildings over to back door of Cook’s General Store. The store is still open for business and the five outlaws decide to hide in a nearby storage shed and wait until the store closes for the day. </p><p></p><p>The other quartet had made their way around the outskirts of town, and come up from the south, their destination being the home of gambler Conrad Booth. They make their way along the south hill, going around Brown’s Ice House to the back door of Booth’s house. Ice House employee Beecher Lawson notices this quartet at this back door, but since they use a key to get inside, assumes they have permission from Booth to be there. Cleatus James’s back was to Lawson, so he didn’t recognize the former town resident. </p><p></p><p>Lawson does mention this to Ice House owner Hannibal Brown. Brown replies, “Probably just some house guests. I saw that a new bed was delivered there yesterday, which he must have purchased for his friends to sleep on. I’ll be heading over to the Long Branch Saloon in a few minutes with today’s ice delivery, so I’ll ask Booth later if he’ll be needing more ice during their stay.” </p><p></p><p>Back next door, once inside the building, the four outlaws spend a short while looking for the safe. Using the stolen keys they get the upstairs bedroom doors unlocked, and eventually find the safe on the bedroom wall behind a large four-posted bed. Once that is done their only instructions are to wait until Mae Clarke arrives to then open the safe. Cleatus continues to peer out of a second floor window at the El Parador Cantina next door, hoping to get a glimpse of the man who wounded him several months earlier, the mysterious stranger known as Arcade.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 1110551, member: 8530"] Chapter 25, “Arrival of the James Gang”, August 1st, 1881, 2:30 P.M. Meanwhile, two miles northwest of Promise City, a group of ten riders have now approached a burnt out barn alongside an abandoned farmhouse. Former Promise City resident Cleatus James had brought this group to this location. The group had circumnavigated way around the towns of Tombstone and Dos Cabezas to avoid being seen. The open fields that they then traveled through for the past several miles belonging to the Lazy S Ranch. These fields were deserted, as the Shaw family that owns the ranch, and their hired hands, are all away on a cattle drive. This allows this group to approach close to town without being noticed. The old farmhouse had once belonged to the Shaw family, before they built their larger farmhouse five miles further west, so was deserted. This group was comprised of nine men and a woman, with the group’s leader being the notorious outlaw Jesse James. All but one of this group had participated in the robbery of an Albuquerque, New Mexico bank two weeks earlier. Following the robbery the money was divided up, most of which was then sent “home” to locations in Missouri and Utah with two other gang members no longer with the particular group. Shortly after that the Gang crossed path with the notorious William H. Bonney, otherwise known as Billy the Kid. Billy proved to be quite useful, knowing the New Mexico Territory well, and was able to get the gang safely away from the posse that had been pursuing them. In the time since then the young outlaw had begun to overstay his welcome, making unwanted advances to the Gang’s only female member Mae Clarke. He had also begun to challenge and question Jesse’s decisions and authority. Almost as annoying was Jesse and Frank James’s second cousin Cleatus James, who had used his family connections to discover the James Brothers secret hideout two months ago, and then talked them into making this trip to southeastern Arizona. The current plan was derived based on Cleatus’s knowledge of Promise City, and where large quantities of money would be located. The plan called for the team to later split up into two groups, and neither Jesse nor Frank had any reservations about sending Billy the Kid and Cleatus as part of the group with the more dangerous assignment. Accompanying that pair would be the Ford Brothers, Charlie and Bob*, whom Jesse had begun to sense a bad feeling about *[I]Note: In the real timeline, James Gang member Bob Ford was the person who betrayed and killed Jesse James in 1882 to collect the reward money.[/I] It was decided that this building would be the rendezvous point for later this evening. The horses were fed and watered, while the Gang ate a light meal. Frank James walked around the building with his friend Bill Ryan, deciding upon a secret location for Ryan to stash the loot from the first phase of the planned robberies. The Gang then mounted up and rode towards town. Cleatus called for them to stop at a hilly area not far from town, where Ryan then took all of the horses and rode back to the abandoned farmhouse while the other proceeded on foot. From a hill overlooking the town Cleatus pointed out to the others their two initial objectives, a small clapboard house on the outer end of the town’s northeast corner, and a large three-story clapboard home, the westernmost building in town, not far from the hill with the smelting operation. Cleatus led his quartet to the smaller of these two buildings, while Jesse, Frank, Mae, and James Gang members Jim Cummins and Clarence Hite headed around the western end of town, cautiously approaching the building from the rear. The larger building had a locked back door, which locksmith and safecracker Mae Clarke was quickly able to open. The five quietly made their way inside, and caught the live-in housekeeper Hazel Thomas by surprise. Once Jesse James identified himself by name and brandished his weapon Hazel did not hesitate to show them the secret location of the safe belonging to the home’s owner, Elton Hubbard. Mae cross-referenced the safe’s serial number to a list that she carried, and then correctly dialed the combination. The contents of the safe were emptied into a satchel. Mae then left behind a hand-written note, and then relocked the safe. Mrs. Thomas was then gagged and tied into a chair on the third floor, and the group departed. Across town, Cleatus led his group into the 10x20 foot two-room building that was home to Scott and Mona Taylor. Guns were shoved into the faces of the Taylors, who were told to not make a sound. The windows and shutters to the building were the all shut, and the couple were gagged and tied to the center support beam of the building. The group waited for almost an hour, until there was a light rap on the door. The door was opened, and their other group entered. Jesse James then introduced himself to Mona, telling her exactly what she was going to do next, and what the lethal consequences would be to her husband if she failed to do as instructed. Mona was untied, the gag removed. She then left the building, accompanied by Jim Cummins and Mae Clarke. Mona and Mae both carried cleaning supplies, with a pistol hidden inside the pile carried by Mae. Cummins had an armload of firewood, with his sawed-off shotgun concealed inside of it. They passed two other homes, and then crossed Sierra Street, going up to the large two-story wooden home that was the home of bankers Morgan and Frank Condon. Mona was employed as the cook and housekeeper for the bankers and quickly unlocked the door using her own key. A few people passed by on the street during this time, but do not pay any real attention to the trio. Mona then led them directly to the hidden wall safe. Mae Clarke took one look at it and then let out a string of explicative, as it was a Mosler model rather than a Harrisburg. The safecracker calmed down and took out a set of tools, and then spent nearly an hour on it before the safe’s door finally opened. The effort proved to be worth the wait, as the safe is stuffed full with cash. The money was piled into a pair of buckets and covered with rags. She again left a prepared letter in the safe, then shut and locked it. The three returned to the Taylor residence, where Mona was again tied and gagged. A quick count of the money from the Condon safe showed a haul of almost $ 11,000 as well as a ring of keys that is immediately handed to Cleatus. Over $ 4,000 was taken from the Hubbard safe. The rest of the contents from the Hubbard safe are various deeds and other legal documents, which Cleatus tossed into the wood stove and then lit. Frank James puts the money into two satchels, and made his way towards the hills to the north. He returned a half hour later saying, “Bill has it.” Bonney tells the bound Taylors’ “If we hear any sounds coming from this building during the next two hours we will set it on fire.” It is now getting towards evening, and the Gang splits up again into the two separate groups, heading off in different directions. The group with the James Brothers head through back alleyways and wait over half an hour until Sierra Street looks to be deserted before they casually cross it, then make their way behind more buildings over to back door of Cook’s General Store. The store is still open for business and the five outlaws decide to hide in a nearby storage shed and wait until the store closes for the day. The other quartet had made their way around the outskirts of town, and come up from the south, their destination being the home of gambler Conrad Booth. They make their way along the south hill, going around Brown’s Ice House to the back door of Booth’s house. Ice House employee Beecher Lawson notices this quartet at this back door, but since they use a key to get inside, assumes they have permission from Booth to be there. Cleatus James’s back was to Lawson, so he didn’t recognize the former town resident. Lawson does mention this to Ice House owner Hannibal Brown. Brown replies, “Probably just some house guests. I saw that a new bed was delivered there yesterday, which he must have purchased for his friends to sleep on. I’ll be heading over to the Long Branch Saloon in a few minutes with today’s ice delivery, so I’ll ask Booth later if he’ll be needing more ice during their stay.” Back next door, once inside the building, the four outlaws spend a short while looking for the safe. Using the stolen keys they get the upstairs bedroom doors unlocked, and eventually find the safe on the bedroom wall behind a large four-posted bed. Once that is done their only instructions are to wait until Mae Clarke arrives to then open the safe. Cleatus continues to peer out of a second floor window at the El Parador Cantina next door, hoping to get a glimpse of the man who wounded him several months earlier, the mysterious stranger known as Arcade. [/QUOTE]
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