Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter 71, “Prisoners“, Friday, March 17th, 1882, 3:00 P.M.:
Nanuet and Chester hear some raised voices outside of the bedroom. The door and walls block most of it but they do catch the following: "..shot up Billy pretty bad..." then a minute later "...tipped off the Stagecoach" follow by the other voice saying "Damn. Fisk won't be happy, he wanted it..." and then after that "....because we don't know what they were going to tell the Earps."
Chester says to Nanuet, "Things have gone from bad to worse. They think we foiled their stagecoach robbery. Let's check the window. Maybe we can get out that way." Nanuet replies, "Good idea." He walks over to the window to check it out. While he does so, he mentally calls to his companion Maska in hopes of making a connection with her.
The window is boarded up from the outside and won't open. The door then opens and a man walks in. Two of the rustler that escorted him in come in as well and based upon the body language this new one is clearly the leader. The man has intense deep blue eyes, a thick mustache and receding hairline. He has a firm build and is wearing revolvers on each side, a fast draw revolver on his right and a long barreled revolver on his left. Once the three enter the door is shut behind them. Chester takes a hard look at the leader. There was something familiar about the guy. He was the bartender at the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone. How'd he get to be the man in charge?
Nanuet looks the three of them in the eyes ending with the man he perceives to be the boss. "So what do you want to know. I already told your friends we don't know anything." He replies, "They also said that you've been doing all the talking. So I'd like you to keep your mouth shut Indian and let your friend talk for a change." He looks at Chester and says, "I want the truth. I'm not a patient man. What were you two going to tell the Earps in Tombstone?" Chester snaps back to the present. "That is the truth. We're not going to see the Earps. Why would I want to do that? I was in their hoosegow before."
He replies, "Ah, you must be Mr. Martin then. I have friends in your town. We heard that you and Cook were arrested, and then let go without trial. So the Earps gave you freedom in exchange for cooperation. Is that it?" Chester replies, "No. That's not it at all. I had a good lawyer. He convinced the judge that it was all Danby Jones's doing. I just played along."
The rustler leader continues to question Chester to no avail. He finally gets frustrated and says, "Fine, we'll leave you here for a while to think about your future and if you want to have one. Strip down to your skivvies, I'm not leaving you any concealed tools or weapons to try to escape."
Chester shrugs. He strips down to his underclothes. "See? Nothing hidden." Nanuet also strips, although reluctantly. Maska hadn't answered his call earlier, so he tries again to reach his companion. "That too," the leader says, pointing to Nanuet's necklace. "The necklace does not come off. Not while I am still breathing." Nanuet says, his voice remaining steady and calm. Chester thinks, “Uh-oh. Hope that guy doesn't push too far.”
The man reaches into his pocket, then removes it, something in your hand. "If that's the way you want it," he states and waves his hands at Nanuet. A white powdery substance falls over Nanuet's face and chest. He immediately discovers that he can no longer breathe. Before he passes out Nanuet clutches his hand around the necklace and holds tightly. He does his best not to panic as the asphyxiation occurs.
Chester yells out, “"What in Hades did you do? Stop it." The two cowboys keep Chester from interfering. Nanuet eventually collapses onto the floor. The leader steps forwards and removes the necklace. He then casts some type of spell over Nanuet, who remains unconscious but Chester can see his chest moving again. Chester relaxes somewhat when he sees that Nanuet is still breathing. "You satisfied?"
The man replies, "Yes. Don't try anything, that isn't the only magic at my disposal. Think about the situation you are in and maybe you'll be more willing to talk." He has his men gather up Chester and Nanuet's possessions and then they depart, locking the door behind them. Chester rushes over to Nanuet and shakes him lightly. "Nanuet, wake up. Don't you die."
Nanuet finally wakes up three house later. "What happened? My head hurts." He reaches for his necklace. "Chester, where's my necklace?" Chester replies, “"Those damn cowboys took it with our clothes. The leader used some sort of magic to choke the life out of you. Then he took it. I recognize that guy, though. He was the bartender at one of the saloons in Tombstone. Sit still while I try to pry the boards off the window."
Chester gets part of the first board off the window and peers out through a crack between that board and the next. Three armed Cowboy Gang members are outside around twenty feet away and watching that corner of the building. It will therefore be impossible to get out that way unseen, at least until it gets dark.
They look around the room. The floorboards seem solid and from what they saw outside the building was constructed on a low foundation, with not enough of a crawlspace for either to crawl through. The front of the farmhouse was two-story, but this bedroom is along the single-story side section of the building. The ceiling above is flat, although they remember this part of the building as having had a pitched roof.
Chester will look for a way to get above the ceiling. Chester lifts up the lighter Nanuet onto his shoulders. They check the room's ceiling boards, finding all of them are firmly in place but notes also that they are made thinner and made of a lighter wood than the wall and floor boards.
They hear somebody approach quickly get back down. One of the two gunmen who had been with the leader before enters the room carrying two metal buckets. His partner stands outside the door with a rifle pointed into the room. The man only enters the room a few feet then puts down the buckets, saying "Boss said for us to bring you some food and water, you'll be with us for a while. You can use the empty bucket when you need an outhouse."
He backs out the door, closely watching the pair. The doors are then locked from the outside. One bucket is two-thirds full of water. The other bucket has four cooked ears of corn, a loaf of bread and two hard-boiled eggs.
Chester says, "That's a good sign. They must need us for something other than this message we're supposed to have. That means they're not going to kill us outright. So, there's time to figure out an escape." Chester peels an egg. He thinks out loud, "Were we the primary objective or just one of opportunity? Probably bad luck. I guess the stage was the main target."
The room itself was dark, with only a very faint amount of light coming through the boarded up windows. That light began to fade although sunset was still an hour away. Based upon the smell in the air Nanuet concludes that darker storm clouds had rolled in.
The storm the begins, with bright flashes of lightening that provided more light through the cracks, however briefly. The two search the barren room, the furniture having been removed. They find a nail. That provides them with a tool to use to then search between cracks in the floorboard where they locate and dig out four more nails, two ten-cent coins, a rolled up two-foot length of fishing line with a fishhook at the end and sewing needle. Chester asks, "What can we do with this stuff? The fishing line can be a strangling cord, if it comes to that." Nanuet states, “I suppose we could in a pinch but let's hope it doesn't come to that.”
Nanuet estimates that it is approximately 9:00 PM when he senses that his animal companion Maska is nearby. The storm begins to intensify. Nanuet calls to Maska, and tries to sense her well being. He instructs her, if it is safe and she can travel in the storm, to head back to town and go to the Lucky Lady, which she would know the Lucky Lady well as Nanuet stays there sometimes, and try to lead his companions back to where they are being held. After receiving back a message of worry from Maska, Nanuet mentally reassures her, and asks her again to get to the Lucky Lady, trying somehow to alert his friends to where he and Chester are.
Nanuet tells his friend, “I am not sure if Maska got my message or not, but I tried to send her back to Promise City to get the others. Now I wonder if that wouldn't just be leading them to right into trouble." Chester shakes his head. "I still can't get over the fact that you can talk to your wolf without saying anything. If Maska gets to them, they'll know something's up. I hope that's enough."
Nanuet pauses and circles the room a few times. He peers at the buckets, cups his hands and scoops some water out and drinks before continuing. "I agree that they must need us for something or they would have killed us by now. Let me try to contact Maska again. I suppose we could work on that window again now that it is dark. That rain and thunder is pretty loud, should mask the sound. Although I am not sure where I am going dressed like this." Nanuet says with a laugh trying to lighten the mood a bit.
Chester smiles. "I think that's the least of our worries. One of us should listen at the door while the other loosens that window. It's a better bet than going into the ceiling. I hope Maska can get the others soon. The cowboys don't strike me as a patient bunch."
Nanuet states, "I have always had a connection with animals, since I was young. Maska is special though, very smart, and we have a unique bond. I just hope that she heard me and is on her way to get them. I'll listen at the door. You work on that window. Try to keep the noise to a minimum though." Nanuet makes his way over to and then crouches next to the door to the room listens intently. He stays off to the side so that if the door were to be opened he would not be directly in the path.
"Will do. Let's try this." Chester resumes prying the boards off the window. They time the prying of the boards to coincide with the thunder to mask the noise. They manage to get the first board off and then a flash of lightening brightens the sky. They see two guards still outside, wearing yellow slickers and carrying rifles. Both have moved further over, around fifty feet away, towards the edge of the barn where the roof offers them some protection from the rain.
Chester states, "One down, a couple more to go. Think we can sneak by those guards?" Nanuet thinks deeply for a moment. "I doubt it. We will make too much noise trying to get out the window and it will probably take us too long to execute. Also, if we do get away they will easily track us in this mud. I think we should loosen up all the boards so that we can easily get them off, then in the morning when I can pray for new spells we can make a better effort. What do you think?"
Chester replies, "Good point. I just hope whatever they're waiting for isn't 'til tomorrow. We shouldn't sleep at the same time, just in case they come back tonight. Do you need to sleep to get your spells back?" Nanuet answers, "Yes, I actually need about four hours of rest in order to get my spells back. Maybe you should sleep now and then in a few hours I will wake you and you can watch while I rest then after my time you can sleep again?" Nanuet says in a solemn tone. Chester thinks on this for a moment. "OK, Nanuet. Let's get the window boards loosened first. I want to be able to get out of here fast."
He then states, "Chester, I am sorry to have gotten you into this. It was my idea to chase after Chumbley so he didn't print that story about Ruby's death. I appreciate you being a loyal friend and accompanying me. I am not sure how we can get out of this one, but if we ever do, I owe you one." Chester replies, "Considering how you've patched me up before, I think we're even. We'll get out of this fine. It's just how much it'll cost us that I'm worried about. I hope this isn't some sort of trap for the others."
Chester and Nanuet spend the next half hour working the boards loose, timing the loudest work to coincide with thunder. They fix them back in place. Once they are done no more than five minutes pass when they hear the sound of the door to the room unlocking. "Here they come. Hide the nails and fishing line under the bed. Be ready to rush them. I doubt they're here to tuck us in." Chester gives a half-smile. Nanuet stifles a laugh and then attempts to hide the line and nails before they enter. He then prepares for the door to open.
The door opens and the room fills with light from a lantern in the hallway. It is the same two men, one standing further back with a shotgun. Chester's guess that they weren't there to tuck them in proves to be incorrect in a sense, in that the man who enters the room has a pair of wool blankets under his arm. In his other hand is a metal bucket. He puts the bucket down, which is empty, and picks up the other one left for a toilet. He then drops the two blankets onto the floor and saying "Boss says it'll be cold tonight."
Chester states, "Er. Much obliged." Once they leave, Chester looks at Nanuet. "Well what do you know. Looks like I was wrong. They're not stupid. That guy with the shotgun was too far to get to before he fired. Something's going on and I don't know what it is. I guess we'll find out in the morning. Hope your god grants you some good prayers."
Nanuet says nothing to the men but nods when they mention that it will be a cold night. "No, they certainly aren't stupid or at least have not seemed to make any mistakes yet. They need us alive for some reason or another, have to figure out what that is. Well, get some rest now, I'll stay up and keep an eye on things." Chester sleeps until Nanuet estimates it is just after midnight. He then wakes Chester to watch for the remainder of the night while Nanuet sleeps.
Nanuet and Chester hear some raised voices outside of the bedroom. The door and walls block most of it but they do catch the following: "..shot up Billy pretty bad..." then a minute later "...tipped off the Stagecoach" follow by the other voice saying "Damn. Fisk won't be happy, he wanted it..." and then after that "....because we don't know what they were going to tell the Earps."
Chester says to Nanuet, "Things have gone from bad to worse. They think we foiled their stagecoach robbery. Let's check the window. Maybe we can get out that way." Nanuet replies, "Good idea." He walks over to the window to check it out. While he does so, he mentally calls to his companion Maska in hopes of making a connection with her.
The window is boarded up from the outside and won't open. The door then opens and a man walks in. Two of the rustler that escorted him in come in as well and based upon the body language this new one is clearly the leader. The man has intense deep blue eyes, a thick mustache and receding hairline. He has a firm build and is wearing revolvers on each side, a fast draw revolver on his right and a long barreled revolver on his left. Once the three enter the door is shut behind them. Chester takes a hard look at the leader. There was something familiar about the guy. He was the bartender at the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone. How'd he get to be the man in charge?
Nanuet looks the three of them in the eyes ending with the man he perceives to be the boss. "So what do you want to know. I already told your friends we don't know anything." He replies, "They also said that you've been doing all the talking. So I'd like you to keep your mouth shut Indian and let your friend talk for a change." He looks at Chester and says, "I want the truth. I'm not a patient man. What were you two going to tell the Earps in Tombstone?" Chester snaps back to the present. "That is the truth. We're not going to see the Earps. Why would I want to do that? I was in their hoosegow before."
He replies, "Ah, you must be Mr. Martin then. I have friends in your town. We heard that you and Cook were arrested, and then let go without trial. So the Earps gave you freedom in exchange for cooperation. Is that it?" Chester replies, "No. That's not it at all. I had a good lawyer. He convinced the judge that it was all Danby Jones's doing. I just played along."
The rustler leader continues to question Chester to no avail. He finally gets frustrated and says, "Fine, we'll leave you here for a while to think about your future and if you want to have one. Strip down to your skivvies, I'm not leaving you any concealed tools or weapons to try to escape."
Chester shrugs. He strips down to his underclothes. "See? Nothing hidden." Nanuet also strips, although reluctantly. Maska hadn't answered his call earlier, so he tries again to reach his companion. "That too," the leader says, pointing to Nanuet's necklace. "The necklace does not come off. Not while I am still breathing." Nanuet says, his voice remaining steady and calm. Chester thinks, “Uh-oh. Hope that guy doesn't push too far.”
The man reaches into his pocket, then removes it, something in your hand. "If that's the way you want it," he states and waves his hands at Nanuet. A white powdery substance falls over Nanuet's face and chest. He immediately discovers that he can no longer breathe. Before he passes out Nanuet clutches his hand around the necklace and holds tightly. He does his best not to panic as the asphyxiation occurs.
Chester yells out, “"What in Hades did you do? Stop it." The two cowboys keep Chester from interfering. Nanuet eventually collapses onto the floor. The leader steps forwards and removes the necklace. He then casts some type of spell over Nanuet, who remains unconscious but Chester can see his chest moving again. Chester relaxes somewhat when he sees that Nanuet is still breathing. "You satisfied?"
The man replies, "Yes. Don't try anything, that isn't the only magic at my disposal. Think about the situation you are in and maybe you'll be more willing to talk." He has his men gather up Chester and Nanuet's possessions and then they depart, locking the door behind them. Chester rushes over to Nanuet and shakes him lightly. "Nanuet, wake up. Don't you die."
Nanuet finally wakes up three house later. "What happened? My head hurts." He reaches for his necklace. "Chester, where's my necklace?" Chester replies, “"Those damn cowboys took it with our clothes. The leader used some sort of magic to choke the life out of you. Then he took it. I recognize that guy, though. He was the bartender at one of the saloons in Tombstone. Sit still while I try to pry the boards off the window."
Chester gets part of the first board off the window and peers out through a crack between that board and the next. Three armed Cowboy Gang members are outside around twenty feet away and watching that corner of the building. It will therefore be impossible to get out that way unseen, at least until it gets dark.
They look around the room. The floorboards seem solid and from what they saw outside the building was constructed on a low foundation, with not enough of a crawlspace for either to crawl through. The front of the farmhouse was two-story, but this bedroom is along the single-story side section of the building. The ceiling above is flat, although they remember this part of the building as having had a pitched roof.
Chester will look for a way to get above the ceiling. Chester lifts up the lighter Nanuet onto his shoulders. They check the room's ceiling boards, finding all of them are firmly in place but notes also that they are made thinner and made of a lighter wood than the wall and floor boards.
They hear somebody approach quickly get back down. One of the two gunmen who had been with the leader before enters the room carrying two metal buckets. His partner stands outside the door with a rifle pointed into the room. The man only enters the room a few feet then puts down the buckets, saying "Boss said for us to bring you some food and water, you'll be with us for a while. You can use the empty bucket when you need an outhouse."
He backs out the door, closely watching the pair. The doors are then locked from the outside. One bucket is two-thirds full of water. The other bucket has four cooked ears of corn, a loaf of bread and two hard-boiled eggs.
Chester says, "That's a good sign. They must need us for something other than this message we're supposed to have. That means they're not going to kill us outright. So, there's time to figure out an escape." Chester peels an egg. He thinks out loud, "Were we the primary objective or just one of opportunity? Probably bad luck. I guess the stage was the main target."
The room itself was dark, with only a very faint amount of light coming through the boarded up windows. That light began to fade although sunset was still an hour away. Based upon the smell in the air Nanuet concludes that darker storm clouds had rolled in.
The storm the begins, with bright flashes of lightening that provided more light through the cracks, however briefly. The two search the barren room, the furniture having been removed. They find a nail. That provides them with a tool to use to then search between cracks in the floorboard where they locate and dig out four more nails, two ten-cent coins, a rolled up two-foot length of fishing line with a fishhook at the end and sewing needle. Chester asks, "What can we do with this stuff? The fishing line can be a strangling cord, if it comes to that." Nanuet states, “I suppose we could in a pinch but let's hope it doesn't come to that.”
Nanuet estimates that it is approximately 9:00 PM when he senses that his animal companion Maska is nearby. The storm begins to intensify. Nanuet calls to Maska, and tries to sense her well being. He instructs her, if it is safe and she can travel in the storm, to head back to town and go to the Lucky Lady, which she would know the Lucky Lady well as Nanuet stays there sometimes, and try to lead his companions back to where they are being held. After receiving back a message of worry from Maska, Nanuet mentally reassures her, and asks her again to get to the Lucky Lady, trying somehow to alert his friends to where he and Chester are.
Nanuet tells his friend, “I am not sure if Maska got my message or not, but I tried to send her back to Promise City to get the others. Now I wonder if that wouldn't just be leading them to right into trouble." Chester shakes his head. "I still can't get over the fact that you can talk to your wolf without saying anything. If Maska gets to them, they'll know something's up. I hope that's enough."
Nanuet pauses and circles the room a few times. He peers at the buckets, cups his hands and scoops some water out and drinks before continuing. "I agree that they must need us for something or they would have killed us by now. Let me try to contact Maska again. I suppose we could work on that window again now that it is dark. That rain and thunder is pretty loud, should mask the sound. Although I am not sure where I am going dressed like this." Nanuet says with a laugh trying to lighten the mood a bit.
Chester smiles. "I think that's the least of our worries. One of us should listen at the door while the other loosens that window. It's a better bet than going into the ceiling. I hope Maska can get the others soon. The cowboys don't strike me as a patient bunch."
Nanuet states, "I have always had a connection with animals, since I was young. Maska is special though, very smart, and we have a unique bond. I just hope that she heard me and is on her way to get them. I'll listen at the door. You work on that window. Try to keep the noise to a minimum though." Nanuet makes his way over to and then crouches next to the door to the room listens intently. He stays off to the side so that if the door were to be opened he would not be directly in the path.
"Will do. Let's try this." Chester resumes prying the boards off the window. They time the prying of the boards to coincide with the thunder to mask the noise. They manage to get the first board off and then a flash of lightening brightens the sky. They see two guards still outside, wearing yellow slickers and carrying rifles. Both have moved further over, around fifty feet away, towards the edge of the barn where the roof offers them some protection from the rain.
Chester states, "One down, a couple more to go. Think we can sneak by those guards?" Nanuet thinks deeply for a moment. "I doubt it. We will make too much noise trying to get out the window and it will probably take us too long to execute. Also, if we do get away they will easily track us in this mud. I think we should loosen up all the boards so that we can easily get them off, then in the morning when I can pray for new spells we can make a better effort. What do you think?"
Chester replies, "Good point. I just hope whatever they're waiting for isn't 'til tomorrow. We shouldn't sleep at the same time, just in case they come back tonight. Do you need to sleep to get your spells back?" Nanuet answers, "Yes, I actually need about four hours of rest in order to get my spells back. Maybe you should sleep now and then in a few hours I will wake you and you can watch while I rest then after my time you can sleep again?" Nanuet says in a solemn tone. Chester thinks on this for a moment. "OK, Nanuet. Let's get the window boards loosened first. I want to be able to get out of here fast."
He then states, "Chester, I am sorry to have gotten you into this. It was my idea to chase after Chumbley so he didn't print that story about Ruby's death. I appreciate you being a loyal friend and accompanying me. I am not sure how we can get out of this one, but if we ever do, I owe you one." Chester replies, "Considering how you've patched me up before, I think we're even. We'll get out of this fine. It's just how much it'll cost us that I'm worried about. I hope this isn't some sort of trap for the others."
Chester and Nanuet spend the next half hour working the boards loose, timing the loudest work to coincide with thunder. They fix them back in place. Once they are done no more than five minutes pass when they hear the sound of the door to the room unlocking. "Here they come. Hide the nails and fishing line under the bed. Be ready to rush them. I doubt they're here to tuck us in." Chester gives a half-smile. Nanuet stifles a laugh and then attempts to hide the line and nails before they enter. He then prepares for the door to open.
The door opens and the room fills with light from a lantern in the hallway. It is the same two men, one standing further back with a shotgun. Chester's guess that they weren't there to tuck them in proves to be incorrect in a sense, in that the man who enters the room has a pair of wool blankets under his arm. In his other hand is a metal bucket. He puts the bucket down, which is empty, and picks up the other one left for a toilet. He then drops the two blankets onto the floor and saying "Boss says it'll be cold tonight."
Chester states, "Er. Much obliged." Once they leave, Chester looks at Nanuet. "Well what do you know. Looks like I was wrong. They're not stupid. That guy with the shotgun was too far to get to before he fired. Something's going on and I don't know what it is. I guess we'll find out in the morning. Hope your god grants you some good prayers."
Nanuet says nothing to the men but nods when they mention that it will be a cold night. "No, they certainly aren't stupid or at least have not seemed to make any mistakes yet. They need us alive for some reason or another, have to figure out what that is. Well, get some rest now, I'll stay up and keep an eye on things." Chester sleeps until Nanuet estimates it is just after midnight. He then wakes Chester to watch for the remainder of the night while Nanuet sleeps.