Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter Eight, “No Honor Among Thieves“, Sunday, June 4th , 1882, 7:00 A.M.
Flying Arrow heads over to Pinto and kicks him in the head to wake him up. “Hey, I’m getting up,” he exclaims. She replies, “You’ve been robbed!” He says, “Robbed! There’s nobody here but dew.” Mae checks her things and says, “I haven’t been robbed.” Deadeye echoes the same. “Hey, where’d my bag go?” Pinto asks. He then looks around and says, “Where did Mongo and Pamela go?” Deadeye shakes his head and comments “Probably the last we’ve seen of them.”
Pinto says, “We’ll track them down. They stole my money!” Deadeye asks, “You can track?” Pinto replies, “Flying Arrow can. They can’t have gone that far. It’s only been a few hours since we went off watch.” Deadeye says, “Don’t we have enough money between the five of us?” Pinto says, “They have MY money.” Pinto now realizes that most of his personal possessions are also gone, as they had been inside of his saddlebags. He yells out “They have my extra flask of whiskey.” “Those bastards!” Deadeye exclaims.
Pinto says, “They’ve got the rest of the dynamite too.” Sally says, “You had more dynamite?” Pinto replies, “Well yes, just in case.” Mae says, “We didn’t even know you still had any dynamite.” “Well I don’t now, so it doesn‘t matter.” Pinto states. Deadeye says, “Well, maybe Mongo will mistake them for cigars.” Pinto states, “Damn, my cigars were in there too.” Mae states, “Well, if we hear any loud explosions in the distance we’ll know that Mongo mistook them.”
They discuss how Pamela had been flirting with Mongo for several days and since he already had a crush on her it would not have taken much for him to fall under her influence, that she had him wrapped around her little finger. Shotgun Sally states, “Mongo is simple minded and easy to manipulate, Pinto and I have been manipulating him for years.” “We’ve got to find them.” Deadeye says, “How the heck did Mongo didn’t convince her to leave?” She he even keep a straight face when saying that and bursts out laughing. Pinto says, “I think it is safe to say that she was the brains behind that pair. I knew taking her along was a bad idea.”
Deadeye points out that Pamela and Mongo were aware of the direction that they were planning to go next, so could potentially alert the authorities. Sally wants to track them down and take away off all their money as punishment for betrayal. Pinto wants to find and execute the pair as punishment. Mae suggests that they could just move on and switch directions from what they had planned. Pinto exclaims “But they stole from us!”
Deadeye points out that Mongo and Pamela know where Mae owns a house under an assumed name in Boulder so they had better not go back that way. Deadeye comments, “I reckon we have enough money now for her to buy another house.” Flying Arrow states, “We have to change course. We can’t go on anywhere that we ever discussed going.” Deadeye looks at the map and says, “The closest community looks to be Glenwood Springs. We should go there to reposition ourselves, since Mongo had most of our food supplies.” A quick check reveals some oatmeal and hardtack left, which they then consume for breakfast.
They decide that lacking food for the horses they have little choice but to continue to the northwest in order to stick with the grasslands. They discuss staying on the forest’s edge along the Roaring Creek River parallel the grasslands, in order to continue to have access to both water and food for the horses. The map shows that they are on the Roaring Creek River around ten miles before it intersects with the Frying Pan River (where the town of Woody Creek is today). From that fork the Roaring Fork River flows fifteen miles later into the Colorado River at Glenwood Springs. From the there Colorado River reaches the town of Rifle twenty miles later and the larger community of Grand Junction some forty miles further downriver.
It is pointed out that Pamela and Mongo knew the group’s eventual destination to be Glenwood Springs. Looking at the map Mae says “But we’re still in the middle of nowhere, and since Pamela and Mongo were here just a few hours ago they’re still in the middle of nowhere too. There’s nobody for them to tell unless they head east back to Leadville, but Pamela is smarter than that.”
Flying Arrow makes sure that the others all have enough breakfast to sustain them for a while. Flying Arrow points out that she also knows how to hunt. It would take her time to do so, but that would at least keep them from staving if they don’t reach a community soon. They propose having her do a hunting shift at night rather than taking a watch. They question if the watches should be the same pairings as before given what happened. Shotgun Sally exclaims “None of us ran off.” Pinto mutters softly “None of us thought of it.”
Deadeye suggests “I still say we plan on Glenwood Springs unless we come upon somebody before then.” Mae says, “I think that’s what we have to do.” They discuss going other directions as there are other locations with grasslands for the horses, but feeding the people also takes priority to them. They decide to first check out the upcoming fork, as it would be a natural location for a settlement. Despite being alongside a river the terrain is very rocky and uneven, which takes considerable time to travel over with many detours around natural obstacles along the way.
They reach where the Roaring Fork and Frying Pan Rivers intersect finding nothing there and continue onward. Five miles later they reach the point where the Roaring Fork River intersects with Roaring Creek (now known as the Crystal River, where the town of Carbondale stands today) and do spot a settlement. They see that there is some sort of stockade fortress at that location It is a relatively small fortress, most-likely a trading post, with only a handful of wooden buildings inside of the stockade fence. Smoke is coming from chimneys of the buildings.
The sun is setting as they approach the structure. The first thing that they check is to ensure that there are no telegraph lines going into the structure. They then notice there are also no roads, that the building appears to primarily be an outpost for river travelers. Flying Arrow points out that she was watching the horses during the robbery so nobody even knows that the New Douglas Gang has an Indian with them.
They decide they will need some money for trading at the trading post. They sort through what they have for money in small bills and loose change, keeping the bundled bills separate for the time being. A check of the bundles indicates that most are new bills but they do manage to find some of the twenty-dollar-bill bundles have worn bills that had been circulated.
Mae suggests that they pass themselves off as settlers who got lost and need help finding their way. Shotgun Sally suggests that they put a spin on the story that they bought land from a man in New York but when they got to the destination the farmlands weren’t there nor were they in any condition to be farmed. “So we were cheated? Kind-natured folks who were swindled by some huckster?” Deadeye comments. Mae says, “Yeah, you just can’t trust anybody these days.” “What’s the world coming to!” Sally exclaims.
Attired in their worn traveling clothes they decide to approach the fortress, first heading through the woods so as to be approaching from the river to the southwest rather than the southeast.
Flying Arrow heads over to Pinto and kicks him in the head to wake him up. “Hey, I’m getting up,” he exclaims. She replies, “You’ve been robbed!” He says, “Robbed! There’s nobody here but dew.” Mae checks her things and says, “I haven’t been robbed.” Deadeye echoes the same. “Hey, where’d my bag go?” Pinto asks. He then looks around and says, “Where did Mongo and Pamela go?” Deadeye shakes his head and comments “Probably the last we’ve seen of them.”
Pinto says, “We’ll track them down. They stole my money!” Deadeye asks, “You can track?” Pinto replies, “Flying Arrow can. They can’t have gone that far. It’s only been a few hours since we went off watch.” Deadeye says, “Don’t we have enough money between the five of us?” Pinto says, “They have MY money.” Pinto now realizes that most of his personal possessions are also gone, as they had been inside of his saddlebags. He yells out “They have my extra flask of whiskey.” “Those bastards!” Deadeye exclaims.
Pinto says, “They’ve got the rest of the dynamite too.” Sally says, “You had more dynamite?” Pinto replies, “Well yes, just in case.” Mae says, “We didn’t even know you still had any dynamite.” “Well I don’t now, so it doesn‘t matter.” Pinto states. Deadeye says, “Well, maybe Mongo will mistake them for cigars.” Pinto states, “Damn, my cigars were in there too.” Mae states, “Well, if we hear any loud explosions in the distance we’ll know that Mongo mistook them.”
They discuss how Pamela had been flirting with Mongo for several days and since he already had a crush on her it would not have taken much for him to fall under her influence, that she had him wrapped around her little finger. Shotgun Sally states, “Mongo is simple minded and easy to manipulate, Pinto and I have been manipulating him for years.” “We’ve got to find them.” Deadeye says, “How the heck did Mongo didn’t convince her to leave?” She he even keep a straight face when saying that and bursts out laughing. Pinto says, “I think it is safe to say that she was the brains behind that pair. I knew taking her along was a bad idea.”
Deadeye points out that Pamela and Mongo were aware of the direction that they were planning to go next, so could potentially alert the authorities. Sally wants to track them down and take away off all their money as punishment for betrayal. Pinto wants to find and execute the pair as punishment. Mae suggests that they could just move on and switch directions from what they had planned. Pinto exclaims “But they stole from us!”
Deadeye points out that Mongo and Pamela know where Mae owns a house under an assumed name in Boulder so they had better not go back that way. Deadeye comments, “I reckon we have enough money now for her to buy another house.” Flying Arrow states, “We have to change course. We can’t go on anywhere that we ever discussed going.” Deadeye looks at the map and says, “The closest community looks to be Glenwood Springs. We should go there to reposition ourselves, since Mongo had most of our food supplies.” A quick check reveals some oatmeal and hardtack left, which they then consume for breakfast.
They decide that lacking food for the horses they have little choice but to continue to the northwest in order to stick with the grasslands. They discuss staying on the forest’s edge along the Roaring Creek River parallel the grasslands, in order to continue to have access to both water and food for the horses. The map shows that they are on the Roaring Creek River around ten miles before it intersects with the Frying Pan River (where the town of Woody Creek is today). From that fork the Roaring Fork River flows fifteen miles later into the Colorado River at Glenwood Springs. From the there Colorado River reaches the town of Rifle twenty miles later and the larger community of Grand Junction some forty miles further downriver.
It is pointed out that Pamela and Mongo knew the group’s eventual destination to be Glenwood Springs. Looking at the map Mae says “But we’re still in the middle of nowhere, and since Pamela and Mongo were here just a few hours ago they’re still in the middle of nowhere too. There’s nobody for them to tell unless they head east back to Leadville, but Pamela is smarter than that.”
Flying Arrow makes sure that the others all have enough breakfast to sustain them for a while. Flying Arrow points out that she also knows how to hunt. It would take her time to do so, but that would at least keep them from staving if they don’t reach a community soon. They propose having her do a hunting shift at night rather than taking a watch. They question if the watches should be the same pairings as before given what happened. Shotgun Sally exclaims “None of us ran off.” Pinto mutters softly “None of us thought of it.”
Deadeye suggests “I still say we plan on Glenwood Springs unless we come upon somebody before then.” Mae says, “I think that’s what we have to do.” They discuss going other directions as there are other locations with grasslands for the horses, but feeding the people also takes priority to them. They decide to first check out the upcoming fork, as it would be a natural location for a settlement. Despite being alongside a river the terrain is very rocky and uneven, which takes considerable time to travel over with many detours around natural obstacles along the way.
They reach where the Roaring Fork and Frying Pan Rivers intersect finding nothing there and continue onward. Five miles later they reach the point where the Roaring Fork River intersects with Roaring Creek (now known as the Crystal River, where the town of Carbondale stands today) and do spot a settlement. They see that there is some sort of stockade fortress at that location It is a relatively small fortress, most-likely a trading post, with only a handful of wooden buildings inside of the stockade fence. Smoke is coming from chimneys of the buildings.
The sun is setting as they approach the structure. The first thing that they check is to ensure that there are no telegraph lines going into the structure. They then notice there are also no roads, that the building appears to primarily be an outpost for river travelers. Flying Arrow points out that she was watching the horses during the robbery so nobody even knows that the New Douglas Gang has an Indian with them.
They decide they will need some money for trading at the trading post. They sort through what they have for money in small bills and loose change, keeping the bundled bills separate for the time being. A check of the bundles indicates that most are new bills but they do manage to find some of the twenty-dollar-bill bundles have worn bills that had been circulated.
Mae suggests that they pass themselves off as settlers who got lost and need help finding their way. Shotgun Sally suggests that they put a spin on the story that they bought land from a man in New York but when they got to the destination the farmlands weren’t there nor were they in any condition to be farmed. “So we were cheated? Kind-natured folks who were swindled by some huckster?” Deadeye comments. Mae says, “Yeah, you just can’t trust anybody these days.” “What’s the world coming to!” Sally exclaims.
Attired in their worn traveling clothes they decide to approach the fortress, first heading through the woods so as to be approaching from the river to the southwest rather than the southeast.