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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3251969" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter One-hundred-twenty-three, “The Hooded Riders“, Sunday June 11th, 1882, 8:15 A.M. There is the sound of a loud explosion and the building shakes, Kate and Ginnie hear the sound of small rocks and debris striking against the north wall and windows of the El Parador.  Kate and Ginnie stared at each for a brief moment before both were out of their chairs and moving. "We'll be back, Dorita," Kate called as they ran out the door.From the doorway of the El Parador they see a large cloud of smoke and dust three blocks north in the direction of the Papago Cash Store. The explosion appears to have spooked the horses in the store’s corral, which have broken the fence and are now running loose in a panicAt the church Bishop Costas's speech is interrupted by the sound of the explosion from the opposite side of town. Several of the parishioners who work for the Silverbell Mining Company exclaim "That was dynamite".   "Uncle, what's happening?" Emily asked after the explosion as she watched how the other parishioners reacted.Minerva's head shoots up at the sound of the explosions. She realizes that if she were to rush out into the street to investigate the disturbance that many of the parishioners will follow her, placing themselves in harms way.  She forces herself to smile and leads them in prayer, drawing out the sermon until the explosions can no longer be heard. Emery says, "Stay down Emily, you'll be safe here." He yells across the room "Helen, Chet, Mitch, let's go!" Berg tells Neil Cassidy "You cover us, this could be a distraction to draw us out."   Despite her Uncle's warning, Emily slid up to a window after the adults had run out, trying to see what was going on.  Chester exclaims, "What in Hades was that? I'm going to need to stop by the office for a shotgun. I'm not heeled. Didn't expect to need a gun at church."Jake's plans to sleep late come to an abrupt end as his home is far closer to the source of the explosion than those at the Cantina and Church. He sits up in bed as he then hears gunfire coming from further up Fremont Street.  "Mierda. This had better be important or someone is going to pay for waking me up early. He haphazardly pulls on some trousers, grabs the Swiss rifle Shaw gave him and looks out the window in the direction of the gunfire.Dust and smoke obscure the area. Jake discerns that the gunfire is coming from 100 feet further up the Street and the opposite side, specifically the Palace Saloon. There are three mounted riders near that Saloon each with dark hoods over their heads. The shooter is outside of the main doorway with a revolver in each hand and firing through the swinging double doors into the building. Jake sees the other two each carrying bundles of dynamite and ride west off of Fremont Street in unison towards the Palace's windows on both the north and south walls.He drops to his knees, lays the rifle on the sill and aims at the dynamite bundle the closest man is holding. Maybe if I am lucky the other one will still blow up the Palace, he thinks darkly. He pulls off a single round.  Dynamite is a relatively unstable item but the bundle of wrapped sticks do not ignite as the bullet passes between them. It does manage to break some of the wrappings and the sticks separate, two falling to the ground beneath the horse and two remaining in the man's hands. He tosses the two in hand through the window and quickly turns the horse around to escape the lit dynamite on the ground. The man firing into the Palace finally stops shooting and gives a command behind him. Two riders emerge on Fremont Street heading south towards Jake, one holding a pair of lit dynamite sticks which he lobs through the window of the Morand-Seawell Mining Company. The other also has lit dynamite and continues south on Fremont.  "Enough is enough, I would have let you blow up the Palace," Jake mumbles as he quickly fires off two quick rounds, the first one at the man still holding lit dynamite and the second at the other man.Kate exclaims, "Be careful Ginnie, those horses could run you down easily." She stepped forward, but not far out into the street and tried the standard commands commonly used by trainers, hoping some of the animals would respond to the familiar words and a firm voice.  One horse is running south along east street and reacts to Kate's command as they move northward. The horse stops a block away from them in front of the Hoover Memorial School.Kate carefully approached the animal, trying not to spook it again. She would be better able to manage its fellows on horseback. Once she was close she took hold of its mane, hoping it would allow her to pull herself up.   As Kate and Ginnie near the horse she sees a mounted rider with a dark hood over his head exit the smoke cloud near Papago's and charge in her direction, now fifty feet away. He is holding a lit pair of dynamite sticks in one hand.Kate took a quick look around, making sure there was no one to see her. She hid herself behind the horse and pulled her pistol, once again using firing the weapon to cover the magic missile spell that was aimed for one missile to hit each hand.Jake's shot strikes the man in the upper chest. He falls from his horse just as the dynamite sticks on the ground ignite, finishing the job that Jake started. The remaining dynamite goes off in the three-story brick and wood structure. The windows of the first floor window all blow out and the north wall collapses, bringing down around one-third of the second and third floors and roof onto Sierra Street. A series of secondary explosions and fires follow as the remaining alcohol in the building ignite. Jake's shot a mere forty feet with a long-range rifle is perfect on the remaining rider, the bullet hitting the man's hood in the center of his face and he slumps over in the saddle of the horse that continues southwards, the bundle of lit dynamite falling onto the street outside of Fly's Boarding House.  Jake quickly looks about for more hooded men.Kate’s magical missiles strike the hands of the hooded rider, causing him to drop the dynamite. Another dynamite explosion follows as Kate gets a glimpse of a large section of the Palace Saloon's roof flying skyward.   Kate focused on the man she had just hit and repeated Jakes instructions in her mind. No trick shots, squeeze, don't pull. She then fired the pistol and hoped for once that her aim would be poor enough that she would hit but not kill him.Chester ducks as the explosions echo through the streets. People run screaming down the streets. Chester yells, "Get inside. It's not safe out here." The group reaches the Marshall's office. Eduardo is already unlocking the gun cabinet. He says, "What's going on? I heard a bunch of explosions up north." Berg says, "I don't know. We just came from the church."Another explosion follows and more dust and smoke fills the area. Jake cannot see what just exploded but Kate can, as the single-story log building with adjacent wood and adobe house behind the Papago Cash Store goes up, the tin roof flying off, the adobe wall collapsing and the logs staying relatively intact but setting fire. The building had previously been Driscoll's Tannery and is saturated with various oils used in the tanning process, quickly becoming an inferno.The image that follows will haunt Kate's dreams for years to come. She had prepared herself to kill a man, but instead the bullet passes through the right side of the horse's head. The animal crises out in pain and collapses onto the ground, throwing off its rider. Another hooded rider then emerges from the smoke from the newest explosion and levels his revolver towards Kate.Not immediately seeing another masked man, Jake buckles on his Colt, grabs his duster and the rifle then runs down stairs and out the door. Standing in barefoot in the street, duster covering his bare upper body he looks back and forth for more masked men. He glances down the street towards his saloon and then all around.   The lawman move out of the office and up Fremont Street. They see a man lying on the ground near Fly's Boarding House just as a stick of dynamite in the street goes off, showing the area with dirt and dust. Another explosion follows as the wooden building that up until now had been Bauer's Union Market and then the Morand-Seawell Mining Company explodes to splinters, the north and west walls raining down upon Fremont Street.Jake has reached the street when the Morand-Seawell Mining Company building explodes. He sees the lawman moving from the office. No more men are immediately visible but he notices movement fifty feet to the northeast as Katherine Kale is standing near her school and pointing a gun northward to some unseen target.  Seeing the revolver pointed toward her, Kate dove for the neared cover trying to keep the horse between herself and the shooter while making the subtle gestures and muttering under breath to put up the protective armor spell.  The shooter fires but his aim was poor and the bullet doesn't even come close. He continues to fire without really aiming as he rides up towards his fallen comrade who gets up and hops up onto the back of the second man's horse.   Jake sprints in Kate’s direction, "No good standing here protecting my house while Katherine gets blown up." While running he shoulders the rifle and draws his Colt which is easier to use while moving about.Knowing she could stop them on her own, Kate did the next best thing. Since she had gone toward cover she was even less visible than before. Still, she tried to hide her hands as she used the mage hand spell, lifting the hood of the head of the man who'd been shooting at her.  She only gets a very brief glimpse of the man's face, as he quickly pulls the hood back over his head, but recognizes his face as that of the junior teller at the Promise City National Bank.The horse with the two hooded men takes off to the east, using the north wall of the Hoover School as cover as one fires his gun behind, not really aiming but still putting down a field of cover fire. Jake moves forward, being careful of the shots as he nears Kate. They are then both knocked to the ground as Fly's Photo Studio explodes a mere ten feet away from them, driving splinters and other debris against them. The photography chemicals cause a large fire to follow. Kate looked up after the debris stopped flying, first to make sure Ginnie was alright, and then to check on Jake.   "Ow." Jake pulls himself up off the ground, holsters his Colt and moves to help Katherine get up. "We have to move away from this building fast!"   Kate sees that Ginnie managed to get inside the building.   Chester runs east along Main Street, trying to cut the riders off at the pass.Kate let Jake pull her up, saying, "Someone has to put that fire out, it'll rip through town just like in Tombstone, and the school will be the first thing to go. Ginnie! Out of the house, that fire could spread! The gunmen are gone!"  She turned to Jake and said, "They are gone, aren't they?"   As they move away from Fly's, Jake scans around and listens. "I do not know yet."Chester runs by Jake's house and then by Gorch Roofing behind it. He sees five hooded riders on four horses riding off to the northeast. He raises his gun to fire but has to hold his shot as Ginnie rushes out of the back door of the school building and into his line of fire. She has in her hand a lit stick of dynamite which she uses her baseball throwing arm to toss up onto the hillside fifty-five feet to the east as it explodes against the hill.Jake spins at the sound of the latest explosion, putting himself between Katherine and the sound. His Colt is drawn before his foot hits the ground and he looks about in that direction.  Kate yelled for Ginnie again even as she looked around for the horse she had grabbed earlier to get Jake a mount if he wanted to give chase.Chester curses loudly as he jerks his gun upward. He begins to run northward. Being on foot, he falls behind the fleeing raiders quickly. The lawman catches up to Ginnie. he gasps, "Not... a bad... throw. But next... time, watch where you're going. I almost shot you. Ma'am Kate would have had my head. By the way, do you know where she is?"Ginnie says, "She was out front with one of their horses. I was inside when I heard the glass break and saw the dynamite stick. I didn't have anything to put the fuse out and guessed it had another thirty seconds to burn to I decided to get rid of it. Sorry about getting in your way."   Chester runs his fingers through his hair. Somewhere along the way, he lost his hat. "It's OK. I'm just glad I didn't hit you. That was some quick thinking with the dynamite. Most people would have just hit the deck. The riders are gone, so let's go find her." There are no more explosions that follow and the sound of hooves gets further away. The next series of sounds are those of fires, as the five buildings that had been hit with dynamite are now burning, namely Palace Saloon, Papago Cash Store, Morand-Seawell Mining Company, the former Driscoll Tannery and Fly's Photo Studio. There is also damage to west walls of both Fly's Boarding House and the Hoover School from the nearby explosions to them."Meirda, what a mess." Jake says out loud to no one in particular. Brushing some wood splinters out of his hair he says to Katherine, "Much as I despise Adair, he is not a likely suspect. The Palace got hit pretty bad - " He stops speaking for a second and some recognition hits him. "Hermes!" He mutters and runs off back towards his house.  "Jake! Jake, wait!" Kate yelled, but wasn't able to follow until she could see Ginnie was out of the house and well. She ran toward the back of the house looking for her girl.They walk around the side of the school and run into Kate. Chester smiles and says, "Look who I found. She saved the school. What's going on? We heard some explosions at church."   Kate sees Ginnie standing over next to Chester. She also sees the trial of dissipating dust where the riders departed as well as dust settling by a crater on the side of the nearby hill.Kate rushed forward and pulled Ginnie to her, holding her tight. "It's pretty obvious, Chester. Masked people throwing dynamite into businesses and the town possibly burning down is what's going on. I got a look at one of them who shot at me, the junior teller from the National Bank. You should get the deputies together and chase them down before the trail goes cold."Chester says, "If they're the group that threatened Mr. Vidkin last night, then they're really looking for a fight. A bunch of masked riders told him to quit the race. Then they blew up his shed and killed some of his mules. If we're going to catch them, I got to go. Tell Clarisse that I'm on the job." Chester finds the other deputies and Berg. "Five riders just rode out of town. They're probably the same ones who threatened Mr. Vidkin. I heard that one of them is a teller at the National Bank. let's ride after them."Neil says, "Not Avery, he was with us in church." Berg says, "The junior teller is Jason Snavely. We know where to find him, he boards over at the Great Western." Helen manages to grab the loose horse that had belonged to the man lying dead in the street and gestures to the brand on it's back saying "Look familiar?" It is comprised of an "N" with a loop on the upper right hand corner of the N, essentially making a "P" using the same vertical line. Berg says, "That's the brand of Ned Phillips, these were the horses that were rustled from the Phillip's Ranch a week ago."  Chester states, "I reckon these riders and the horse rustlers are the same, then. That'll make our job easier. Fewer outlaws to round up." Berg says, "Helen, Chet and Neil, go get your horses and go after the men before you loose any time. Eddie and I will take charge here, we need to make sure nobody is hurt, the Palace was occupied, possibly some of these other buildings too."   Chester says, "They picked the right time to do this. Most people were at church, so our response was slow. Helen, Neil, we better go." Chester and the others head for the stables, while Berg and Eduardo hustle to the Palace. Chester saddles Lookout quickly and climbs aboard. Helen and Neil do likewise. They meet up at the corner of Fremont and Main before riding northeast. Chester says, "Helen, do you have a six-gun I can borrow? There's no time for me to get mine?"  She hesitates for a second before saying, "OK, Chet. Don't lose it. They were a gift from Stanley."After Chester left Kate turned finally let Ginnie go. "Would you please go back to the El Parador and let Dorita know we're both alright? You're much smarter than me, dear. I should have just gone inside and gotten cover too. We still have a home because you thought quickly. I'm going to try to find Jake. I'm sure Jeff is already getting the fire wagon, but if I see him I'll try to get him out here so our house doesn't catch fire."As the explosions continued those in the church became more apprehensive. The marshal and deputies attending the service and Doctor Eaton hurried out the door. Once the stop the Bishop exclaims "The sounds have stopped. You parishioners should stay here until we know it is safe. We priests should go in case anyone needs to be healed." At that point they hear the bell sounding on the town's fire wagon and a number of parishioners hurry out the door, stating that they are members of the town's fire company.  Minerva motions for Nakomo to follow and calmly makes her way to the exit of the church with Luna flying in her wake. As soon as the church doors shut behind them, she and Nakomo sprint toward the smoke. Jake runs to his house and tosses the rifle in the front door. He then bolts towards the disastrous looking Palace Saloon thinking “I wish I had some idea what room Red occupied.”</blockquote>

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