"Seven Outlaws in Search of a Bank" Sidewinder Recoiled - Game 5

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Seventeen, “Escape Plans”, Tuesday, June 13, 1882 – Canon City Colorado

At dawn Pinto writes a short note for Rex to deliver for Sally. Sally’s player sarcastically comments, “Yeah, that ain’t getting to me.” “This one might,” Pinto’s player comments. The day guard brings the prisoners their breakfast and collects waste buckets, not speaking to any of the prisoners other than an occasional profane word stated to the male prisoners. He goes off duty mid-afternoon.

Rex comes around at 3:00 PM bringing fresh buckets of water. Pinto calls Rex over and slips the note across stating “Give this to Sally.” Rex stashes the note in his pocket, to read it on the stairwell before heading up to the ladies. He usually just drops Pinto‘s notes to Sally into the waste buckets but decides that this one will indeed be delivered.

Rex approaches the ladies and says “Good Afternoon.” Sally has been giving a lot of thought as to what to say. She comments in a soft, almost pleading voice “I’ve been thinking about what you said. And if I’m really going to start a new life I can’t do it with a man who doesn’t appreciate my friendships. I mean, even though Pinto may have been the one who led me astray, in his own way he has been good to me and I can’t abandon him to die.” Pinto takes out the note and hands it to her, saying “Read this.”

She looks it over. Pamela asks, “Is it from Pinto?” Sally replies, “Yeah. It says ‘Sally, It’s not right for us to die for Deadeye Douglas’s crimes. I was the one who convinced you to join the Gang. I am sorry that I caused all of this, try to forget me, I wish that you would have found an honorable man instead.’” “Is that all?” Pamela asks. “That’s all,” Sally replies. “Wow, that’s pretty big of him don’t you think Sally?” Pamela asks adding “I admire a man who can admit when he’s done wrong.”

Rex comments, “You look upset Sally, is everything alright?” She says, “I’m alright. I would have thought that making a clean break would have been a little harder.” Pamela looks at both Sally and Rex when she says, “That just goes to show that Pinto does indeed have honor in him.”
Sally looks to Rex and says, “See, it’s what I told you about him. Now how can I just go off and let him die?” Pamela adds, “He’s right about it being all Deadeye’s fault. He should be the one facing the rope, not innocent Pinto Joe.”

Sally interjects, “Absolutely. Talk about leading people astray, it was all Deadeye’s doing. Pinto, Mongo and I were just peaceful ranchers until he came along.” Pamela adds, “Guilt by association. We were just there when someone else’s fingers were pulling the trigger.” Sally looks at Rex and says, “You don’t suppose there’s a bounty on Deadeye Douglas? “There is,” Rex replies.

Pamela says, “I wouldn’t be surprised in Deadeye made his way to California. Wouldn’t it be great to start our careers as bounty hunters by bringing him to justice? What do you think Rex?” Rex says, “He did make quite a few enemies and victims. He’d half to get out Colorado quickly and was heading west according to newspaper accounts. He probably did head that way.”

Pamela asks, “If we were going to make a clean break how would we go about it? I mean, this is a prison after all. We’re locked in here with nothing. No shoes even, no way to ride off, no supplies or nothing. We’d be dead within hours.” Rex adds, “We’d have to make sure that nobody got hurt when we did it.” “Well of course,” both women state in unison. Rex says, “Well, what I’m thinking is that if I let Shamus out of his cell he could knock out the other guard before he got a chance to call the other guards. Shamus knows how to do that kind of thing with his bare-knuckles.” “He’s the boxer?” Pamela confirms. Rex says, “Exactly!” The girls concur.

Rex continues, “Then, if it were late enough, most of the off-duty guards spend their time at night either sleeping or drinking or whoring in town. There’d only be a few other guards on duty, so we should be able to make our way over to the stables undetected, no one would be the wiser.” Pamela adds, “We’d have to have a change of clothes for each of us, these prison outfits are too easy to spot. Do you know where our stuff got put?” Rex says that he does not, but that there are stores in Canon City where he could buy clothing. He adds that it might be better to buy things thirty-five miles away in Pueblo instead, as people in Canon City might wonder why a prison guard suddenly needed woman’s clothing.

“The gates are closed at night aren’t they?” Pamela asks. Rex says that they are, and that there are night guards posted up in the towers by each gate. He says, “They keep dynamite in the tool shed. It would attract attention, but we could blow a hole in the gate where there aren’t any guards and ride out, nobody would get hurt and it would still take time for them to organize a posse to come after us.” “A lot of time if we took all of the horses with us,” Sally adds.

Rex says, “We should be able to get a distance off at least, I don’t want any guards getting shot. Nobody gets any guns until after we ride through the hole and are well away from the place.” Sally says, “I’m alright with that, but what if something doesn’t go according to plan? I don’t want you getting caught trying to help us with a saddlebag full of guns. And getting away might mean shooting someone in the leg to keep them from chasing us. I don’t want the whole plan to fall apart and for you to get in trouble.” Rex points out that the gate guards would be staying up in the towers not chasing on foot. As long as we are out of range of their shotguns we’ll be fine.”

Sally suggests, “We could maybe use some dynamite to start a diversion elsewhere, get the guards to focus on another part of the prison first.” Rex says that most parts of the prison are still within sight of at least one of the three gatehouses, each of which would have a pair of guards on duty. He comments “We have to avoid the gatehouses. There is no way we’d make it through any of those without killing someone, and we are not going to be killing anybody.”

Rex also points out that there are far more horses in the stable than what the small number of them can ride. Sally reiterates that she, Pinto and Mongo were ranchers, and know how to gather together and bring along lots of horses, so taking all of them would be viable. Besides, we may need to change mounts at some point.” Pamela adds, “It’s a good plan, but Sally is right, not everything goes according to plan. Rex says he will have a bag with the changes of clothes waiting in the stables, then he’ll put a gun inside each person’s saddlebags there but that they aren’t to take them out until they are all away from the prison.”

Pamela asks who is going to set off the dynamite. Rex says that he knows a thing or two about that. Pamela whispers to Sally loud enough for Rex to overhear “See, he’s not just a pretty face.” Rex points out a section of the walls to the northeast that is furthest from any of the gates that he should be able to get over to. Rex says, “We’ve got to concentrate on covering as much ground as fall as possible. We’ll ride for several hours and then change mounts, let the old ones ride off and take the ones that had riders until then. That’ll give us the best chance to get furthest away.”

Sally says, “Good plan, the other horses will be tired but not as tired as the ones we’ll be riding.” “Exactly,” Rex states adding, “I still remember a thing or two from my Pony Express days.” Sally adds, “You said we’re taking Mongo, Black Angus and Shamus. We’ll have to take each of their cellmates too, anybody we leave behind will know what was going on and might call out and spoil things otherwise.” Rex says, “Angus has no cellmate and I was planning to bring Shamus’s cellmate along two, that Bennett is a mountain man, he has the skills for us to live off the land.”

Noticing the omitted name, Sally asks, “And Pinto Joe….?” After a long pause Rex says, “You’ve got to understand. I can’t let you fall back into that sort of company again.” Sally says, “You heard his note, he’s willing to end things. He can ride off in another direction.” Rex states, “No Sally!” She pleads, “You’re going to have us start a new life with blood on our hands?” “Not an option,” Rex replies.

Sally decides to try a different tact and says, “Blood is blood. I would need to repent. Maybe I can become a nun.” Pamela suppresses her desire to laugh and says, “Might take a lot of repenting.” Sally says, “It might. I’ve done some mighty bad things. Leaving Pinto here to die when we could have helped him would just make it worse. I hear there are some missions out in California. If we leave him here I might just have to become a nun.” Rex says, “I’m sorry you feel that way about it Sally.”

Pamela tells Rex she will also need him to get some medical supplies and rattles off a short list, with the list including chloroform, thinking she will probably need to use that on Rex at some point. Rex heads off back downstairs, heavily in thought.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eighteen, “Rex’s Decision”, Tuesday, June 13, 1882 – Canon City Colorado

Early evening comes around and Rex heads to the second floor to change the buckets in the rooms. He arrives at the cell with Mongo and Pinto Joe. Rex gestures with his left hand so that Pinto Joe sees that there is a note cupped in it. Pinto Joe comes over and reaches his hand through the bars to be passed the note. Rex opens his hand to release the note into Pinto Joe’s.

Rex then lowers his hand, grabbing Joe’s. Pinto looks up at Rex and says “Huh?” while Rex’s right hand simultaneously drops down to his sidearm. In a voice only loud enough for only Pinto to hear Rex states “Sally deserves better.” Rex then fires three shots at point blank range into Pinto’s chest. As Pinto’s body falls to the cellblock floor Rex loudly exclaims, “He grabbed for my gun!”

[This action came as a complete surprise to the GameMaster and players, but the unanimous consensus around the table is that it was a brilliant move. The GameMaster comments how he is surprised that this rather violent campaign has managed to go four games before the first player casualty.]

Other guards soon arrive at the sound of gunfire. Rex repeats his story about Pinto Joe Weams grabbing for his gun, which nobody questions. The fact that Pinto’s back was to Mongo when it happened, with Mongo muttering “Joe shouldn’t have done that! Why did Joe do that?” further confirms Rex’s story. One of the other guards takes over for Rex, and he is told that he has to head over to the Warden’s house to make a report on the incident.

Rex goes to the Warden and again repeats his story. The Warden is concerned that his guard may be shaken up over killing a man, so gives him the rest of this day and the following day off with pay to recuperate, telling him not to report back until his Thursday mid-afternoon shift. Rex is pleased about this, since he can now go to Pueblo to get the supplies for the escape.

Upstairs, the women have heard the gunshots but do not know what has transpired. Sally assumes the worst and tells Pamela “This is all your fault you bitch!” They later see that Rex is no longer on duty and try to ask the replacement guard what happened but in accordance to prison policy he doesn’t speak to them. [DM’s note: The 19th Century Colorado Prison rule #8 read: “Guards shall not allow any convict to speak to them about any subject not immediately connected with their duty, employment or wants and all familiarity between convicts and officers is strictly forbidden and prohibited.]

Wednesday, June 14, 1882:

Rex rides over to Pueblo to purchase the supplies. He stays the night there, to ride back to Canon City the next morning. The women do not see Rex at all this day, which in turns creates more anxiety, as he would always tell them in advance if he was to be getting a day or two off. Sally is concerned about Pinto Joe while Pamela is fretting over the fact that something might have happened to Rex, as he was their only way out.

Thursday, June 15, 1882:

Rex shows up again on the top floor at around 4:00 in the afternoon, bringing the women their evening meal. Pamela exclaims in a sweet voice “Rex, you’re alright! When we didn’t see you the other day I thought maybe something happened to you.” In a despondent voice he replies, “I’m mostly alright.” “What…what’s wrong?” Sally asks. Rex angrily snaps “I told you that damned fool was no good!” “What?” Sally states.

Rex exclaims, “I told you he was just leading you astray.” Pamela asks, “What happened?” Using acting talents that he never knew he had Rex exclaims in a choked up voice and with tears in his eyes, “You said that he was honorable….so I didn’t keep a close eye around him. I was handing him a note about the planned escape and he reached right past it towards my holster.” Pamela notes that Rex is avoiding direct eye contact with them, a clear indication that he is lying.

Rex lowers his voice and says, “There was nothing I could do.” Pamela says, “I take it we’re not talking about Mongo.” Rex shakes his head and says, “No.” Pamela comments, “A person has to defend himself. I had thought that maybe Pinto Joe had changed his ways.” Rex says, “I guess he decided that he was going to bust his way out. That note he sent you, that must have been his way of saying goodbye.” He stretched his hands out on the bars with an anguished look on his face. A long pause follows.

Pamela asks, “Are you under any sort of investigation from this incident? Are you in any sort of trouble?” Rex replies, “No, Mongo saw the whole thing. He told the other guards just what had happened.” Sally still appears to be in shock. She mutters “Mongo saw the whole thing?” Pamela mutters softly to herself in a sarcastic manner, “Mongo, he’s real observant.” She then speaks up and says, “Poor Mongo, loosing his friend. The sooner we get him away from these types the better.” Sally doesn’t say anything else, turning her back to Rex. He soon walks away. Turning to keep Pamela from seeing, Sally begins to cry.

Rex next heads down to the men’s cells. Angus engages him in conversation, telling him he had no choice in having to shoot Pinto, that the man was a mad killer, the type of folks who bounty hunters have to deal with. Rex agrees. Angus says, “That’s the type of snap decision you have to make in this line of work. You did well.” Angus asks Rex if he knows whether his hanging has been scheduled yet. Rex replies, “Yes, ten days from now. A lot can happen in ten days.”

Angus says, “Well, I know a lot about the phrase ‘dead or alive’ and can tell you, alive is much better. Even when capturing people for a bounty alive is always better, usually more money and fewer questions asked.” Rex says, “I never wanted to kill anybody but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

Rex fills Angus in on his plan, outlining where the stable, dynamite shack and best spot to blow the wall are. He says that he picked up clothes and extra firearms, which are now in his horse’s saddlebags out in the stable. Angus comments “The engineer in me wants to tell you that the dynamite will be the trickiest part. You have to set it just right to get the result you want, won’t do any of us any good if you just blow a hole in the ground and leave the wall still standing.” Rex says, “I know what I’m doing, I’ve used dynamite before.” “That’s good,” Angus replies.

Angus says, “It sounds like you thought of everything. So when will you be opening up the locks to these cells?” “Soon,” he states. “Hope so, my time is finite,” Angus replies.

Shamus lets Rex know that he hasn’t ridden many horses and is not very proficient in that task. Rex begins, “Ah, well back in the Pony Express….” followed by several lengthy stories which essentially work out to mean “Don’t worry about it, I know everything there is to know about horses, we’ll be fine.”

Pamela gives Sally time alone. Eventually she starts talking to her about understanding how she feels, having felt this way after her own husband was killed. Pamela eventually tells her “When he comes back you have to be friendly with him, otherwise we’ll see the hangman’s noose.”

Rex eventually makes his way back upstairs to the women. He and Sally start a low-key conversation on the relatively safe subject of prison food. Sally comments about how she can cook up a mighty fine steak. “I would like that,” Rex replies. “I can cook up a mighty fine cherry pie,” Pamela interjects. “I would like that too,” states Rex. Pamela says, “I hope we’ll get that opportunity.” Rex replies, “You will, I’ll be back in a few hours and we’ll go.”

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Nineteen, “Getting out of the cells”, Thursday, June 15, 1882 – Canon City Colorado

It is well into the night and soon approaching midnight. Shamus and Mongo appear to both be sleeping. Angus and Bennett are staying up late talking. Bennett says, “Shame that Pinto guy went and got shot. Guess it was just mean to be though.” “Fouls up my plans,” Angus states. Bennet says, “About getting out you mean? Yeah, looks like we’re stuck here.” Angus comments, “Are you familiar with engineering and things like that?” Bennett says, “A little…why?” Angus gets out his lock pick and works the door of his cell until it opens.

Bennett appears only mildly surprised by this and says, “You could have done that all along?” Angus replies, “Yes, but I wanted Pinto to lead me to the money. That isn’t going to happen now.” Bennett replies, “Well, that Mongo guy may know where it’s at.” Angus replies, “I suppose you want a cut of that too?” Bennett answers, “No, not particularly, I just want to get out of here.” Angus heads over to Bennett’s cell and says, “We may need the fighter” as he starts to work the lock. Bennett wakes up his cellmate Shamus, gesturing for him to keep quiet.

Pamela’s player comments “Do not tell Sally that we could have gotten out without Rex. Do not. That would be bad.”

Meanwhile, Rex returns upstairs to the cell with the women and appears unsure of what he will do next. Pamela says, “You know Rex, she dreamed about you the other night.” “Pamela!” Sally exclaims. Pamela continues “Well, you did.” Sally is uncertain of where this made-up story is going and says, “Can’t we keep some of this just girl talk?” Pamela says, “She just said that she dreamed of the two of you riding in California, the way you described it, free, the two of you together.”

Sally comments, “There were big pine trees, rivers and stuff.” “And how she had a gold band on her finger, isn’t that right?” Pamela adds. Sally states, “Pamela, I ain’t telling you anything ever, ever again.” Rex asks, “Would you Sally?” “Would I what?” she asks. “Would you let me make an honest woman of you?” Rex states. Pamela mutters softly to herself “That would take some doing.”

Downstairs, Angus has managed to unlock Bennett and Shamus’s cell. He starts to work the lock on Mongo’s cell but tells the others that they will have to be careful waking up the large man so that he doesn’t make a lot of noise and ruin things. He is unable to get the cell open. They then hear some noises upstairs, as Rex has accidentally kicked a bucket over while pacing in anticipation of a reply from Sally to his proposal. Upon hearing the sound of the bucket the three temporarily freed men on the second floor decide to wait, each heading back into their own cells and shutting but not locking the doors to them.

Sally is uncertain of what to say. Pamela interjects, “Sally this is just like in your dream. You’ll have a husband and be able to start a family together.” Sally gives Pamela a look of disgust, which Rex thankfully misses. Turning back to Rex, Pamela says, “And she dreamed that the two of you kissed.” Sally exclaims, “I can’t tell you anything.”

Rex says, “I can’t have a woman who’s going to be my wife remain behind bars a minute longer than I have to. Sally, I love you.” She quickly and insincerely replies, “I love you to.” Rex doesn’t catch the monotone of her voice, being elated just to hear her say those words. “I’ll be back soon,” he states, as he then heads downstairs.

He approaches Angus, Shamus, Mongo and Bennett’s cells, noting that three of the four are awake, and asks them if they are ready. Angus says "As ready as we need to be.” Bennett comments, “Absolutely, to me it feels as if we’ve already been given a slight taste of freedom.” Rex says, “Give me a chance to make sure that everything is set. I’ll be back for you soon.”

Rex heads downstairs and tells the other guard that he is heading to the outhouse, and that he is feeling poorly so might be there for a while. He does as he said and then walks around a bit to clear his head, stopping by the stable to make sure that horses, saddles, tack and harness are all set. He gets his own horse saddled up and rechecks the saddlebags to make sure that the provisions are all ready. He then gets five more horses all saddled up. There are two more horses in the barn, and Rex also gets them ready to ride.

Rex next heads over to the hardware shed to check on the dynamite. He has to be very carefully to get over there without being seen from the guard towers. Once there he gets several sticks ready as well as the blasting caps and fuses. He heads over to the best spot along the outer wall and sets up the dynamite for what he guesses would be the maximum effort. He manages to sneak back without being seen.

He heads back inside, saying hello to the other guard on the first floor, and then makes his way up the staircase to the top floor. Sally asks him “Is everything alright?” He replies, “Couldn’t be better.” He then tells them about the preparations that he has made. He unlocks Sally’s cell and lets her out. They have a short embrace until Pamela clears her through, at which point he unlocks her cell too.

Rex, Sally and Pamela make their way down to the second floor and approach the cells with the men. Rex goes to unlock Angus’s cell. Angus holds the cell door shut so that Rex doesn’t realize that it is already unlocked. Meanwhile, Pamela speaks softly to Mongo to wake him up. He appears to be pleasantly surprised to see her. Rex heads over to unlock Mongo’s cell.

He then heads over to the third cell to unlock Shamus and Bennett. As they exit the cells Shamus decides that the last thing they need is a guard so slugs Rex across chin in an attempt to knock him unconscious. Rex is surprised but remains standing. Shamus then slugs Rex in the stomach. Angus moves in to grapple Rex as Pamela urges Mongo to exit his cell. Shamus’s fighting skills are superb and he gets in another bare-knuckled punch causing Rex to falter.

Bennett decides to use his ‘bull-rush’ skill to knock both Shamus and Rex over towards the stairwell. They are pushed backwards, being bashed between the stairs and wall. Rex appears to now be barely conscious. While this going on Sally whispers to Angus “What really happened between Rex and Pinto?” Angus replies, “Rodgers shot him down in cold blood, took Pinto totally by surprise.”

While Rex still has some where-with-all to think he calls over to Pamela, Sally and Angus “Ladies, Angus, quick, back to your cells. The other guards don’t need to know.” He then draws his gun and takes a shot at Shamus. The bullet goes through Shamus’s right arm, not hitting any muscle or bone. “Damn!” Pamela exclaims, realizing that the sound of the gunshot will alert all of the guards at the prison.

Sally sends Mongo over to the stairs to the first floor, realizing that is the direction that the other guard in the cellblock will soon be coming from. Pamela rushes forward to put herself between Shamus and Rex stating “Cut it out you morons! You’re going to get us all killed.” Rex starts to back up rather than fire. The alarm bells haven’t sounded yet but they all assume that other guards are coming to investigate.

Rex still has his gun in hand, trying to see if he can get a shot at Shamus without endangering Pamela. Rex again urges the women to return to their cells. Pamela tells Rex, “No, come on, let’s go. Mongo will knock out the other guard when he comes up the stairs and we’ll leave.” Rex exclaims, “We can’t get to the gates now. There’s going to be too many people on alert.” Pamela says, “We got this far, we can’t quit now.”

Bennett decides to just get away from this chaos as fast as his feet will carry him. He charges down the dark staircase, colliding with the other guard who is now nearing the top. Bennett lets out a yelp as he plows into the man, knocking him down the staircase. In the process the guard drops his revolver, it landing on a middle stair. Bennett keeps going.

Pamela mutters, “This isn’t going to work. We’d just be running around in the prison yard until they shoot us. Maybe we should go back to our cells.” Sally moves over towards Pamela and says, “We’re not going back.” Sally then punches Pamela in the side of the face stating “That is for the dream!” Pamela and Sally both move back towards the stairwell up to the third floor but stay on the second, ready to head back to their cells if they decide to. With Pamela no longer between them Shamus charges Rex and slugs him with a knockout punch, leaving him unconscious on the stairs. Sally reaches down and picks up Rex’s gun.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Twenty, “Do you people want to continue being stupid or do you want to get out of here?”, 1:15 A.M., Thursday, June 15, 1882 – Canon City Colorado

Sally looks up at Angus, Shamus and Mongo and says “I’m gonna guess that you all didn’t know the plan.” Mongo says, “There was plan?” Pamela screams “Of course there was a plan! What were you thinking!” She points to the unconscious Rex and says, “We were playing that boy like putty!” Angus says, “You weren’t playing that boy very good then Lassie. Because he came down here two days ago and he just shot Pinto dead.” Sally starts to cry.

Pamela says to Angus, “Look, I have no idea what to do, this plan is so messed up now.” Mongo and Shamus just stand around looking confused. The prisoners in the other cells are now all awake and are yelling to be let out. Angus smiles and softly says to Pamela “Cannon Fodder.” “Huh?” Pamela replies. Angus reaches down and picks up Rex’s keys stating, “They all want out, we’ll let them out.” He heads over to the first next occupied cell to unlock it.

Pamela heads over to the stairs and sees the unconscious guard who Buckskin Bennett had plowed over, also noticing the guard’s gun lying on the stairs. She quickly scurries down to that step to retrieve it. Mongo and Shamus assist Angus with unlocking and releasing all of the second floor prisoners, who immediately hurry downstairs. This results in yells from the first floor prisoners to be released too.

While this is going on Sally kneels down beside Rex, lifting his head and lying it beside her leg. He begins to stir. His eyes start to open and he looks up to see Sally above him. He mutters her name “Sally….what?” She replies, “Rex, you shouldn’t have killed Pinto.” Before he can fully comprehend exactly what she is saying Sally places the barrel of Rex’s gun to his forehead and fires. Mongo walks over to Sally and looks down at Rex’s dead body. He asks, “What did Rex do?” Sally looks up at the big man and says, “He killed Pinto Joe.”

As Angus and Shamus return to the others Pamela raises her voice and says “Do you people want to continue being stupid or do you want to get out of here?” They then hear gunshots, shouts as well as the sounds of several fist fights from downstairs towards the front. Angus hands Shamus the keys and says, “Take Mongo and go downstairs, let as many of the other prisoners out of their cells as you can, but stay clear of the fighting.” They head off.

“How do we get out of here?” Pamela asks Angus. He says, “There’s only one exit from the building, the front door, which is where the melee is going on. We’ll have to wait until that clears out enough to get by.” “Only if the prisoners win,” Sally replies. Angus says, “That’s why we’re now sending them prisoner reinforcements.” Pamela smiles and tells Angus, “Smart man. You stick with us okay?” They cautiously make their way down the stairs to see what is going on.

It is hard to make out exactly what is going on due to all of the firearms smoke. As their eyes adjust to the smoke they see ten prisoners lying near the doorway, some dead, some wounded. Two prisoners are wrestling with a guard near the doorway. Outside, there are three guards with guns, firing in. One of the wrestling prisoners is shot but the other manages to smash the guard’s head into the doorway and takes his gun. The prisoner then fires point blank into the other guards, one of which falls and the other two pull back.

The absence of guards immediately at the doorway prompts the released prisoners to charge out. Rifles fire from several guard towers and several prisoners fall but over a dozen others begin to scatter. A pistol and rifle from the fallen guard are picked up by a pair of prisoners who start to fire back while charging in the direction of the towers.

Angus says, “Now’s the time, while they are all busy shooting at each other.” Gathering the women, Mongo and Shamus to them Angus leads the group out the door and around the side wall of the building to get out of the line of fire from the smoke-filled area. More of the escaped prisoners make their way out the front door, running in all directions, making themselves targets for the guards.

Firefights are now going on at both the east and west gates of the prison. The guards at the south gate do not appear to be engaged in battle. Pamela suggests that she and Mongo go get the horses. Sally says that she will go find the place on the wall where Rex had set the dynamite. Angus agrees, finding a place for him and Shamus to hide until they have the horses. The two former rustlers reach the stables and find that Rex had readied the mounts.

They bring them over to the doorway. Pamela sees movement in the nearby south guardhouse but the rifles aren’t firing as there are no escaping prisoners near that area. Pamela telling Mongo “Too dangerous to try exiting now. We wait until we hear the big boom.” Meanwhile Sally manages to find the fuse, lights it, and moves back behind some cover.

There is a loud explosion while the wooden side wall disintegrates where a twelve-foot wide section had been. Pamela and Mongo waste no time in darting from the stable while the guards in the south guard post are still disoriented. There are a few rifle shots at them before they are out of range which all miss. They stop very briefly to pick up Angus and Shamus. They then make a beeline towards the wall.

Sally sees the horses approaching and moves out from her cover. She motions for them to keep moving and not stop, using her rustler talents to successfully mount one of the saddled horses while it is still moving. As they make their way through the walls a few more shots ring out at them from the east guard post, one shot hitting a saddlebag on Mongo’s horse, the only casualty being a metal canteen.

They stick together heading towards the hills where they see Buckskin Bennet walking away on foot. Realizing that they might need his backwoodsman skills Pamela insists that they stop for him. The six outlaws ride off as fast as they can, leaving the Colorado State Prison well behind them.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Twenty-one, “Making a break for it” - 2:30 A.M., Thursday, June 15, 1882 – The hills near Canon City Colorado

The DM comments how he expected the gunshots and kills to take place after the prisoners encountered the other guards, not before that. “That covers about fifty-percent of the players too,” a player states.

Pamela and Angus continue to argue about ‘the plan’ and who messed things up. Pamela insists that Rex was getting them out and it was foolish to fight with him. Angus says, “Well your plan had flaws, or did you forget that Pinto was murdered in cold blood.” Mongo exclaims, “But Pinto reached for Rex’s gun? Why did he do that?” Angus exclaims, “He didn’t you simpleton.” “Don’t you be yelling at Mongo,” Pamela exclaims.

Sally states, “Well, don’t you be blaming any of this horse manure on me.” “Well don’t it on me either,” Pamela exclaims. “I didn’t, did I?” Sally says. “Yes you did!” says Pamela. Sally says, “I did not, I only blamed that dream stuff you made up on you, the rest of it was the fault of these idiots over here.” Pamela exclaims, “That dream stuff is what got us out of the prison!” The yelling continues for another ten minutes. By the time they finish arguing they notice that the experienced tracker Buckskin Bennett is nowhere to be found, nor do they have any idea when he separated from them.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Bennett is over a mile away heading south towards the tallest mountains. It had not taken long into the verbal argument for him to realize that their yelling had the potential to attract a posse, so sticking with this group was potentially suicidal. He decides to take a round-about-route to seek out his former Indian companion.

Heading west, the others stop and look at a map that Rex had put in the saddlebags and light a candle to look at it. They realize that they are heading in the direction of the Royal Gorge, an impressive chasm that would be rather difficult to get across. Angus suggests that they change direction, suggesting they go towards the Current River. They change direction from west to south, riding hard while they still have the cover of darkness.

At the first light of dawn Buckskin Bennett is well up into the mountains and looks southward to see if there is a posse following. There are no lawmen to be seen, but he does notice the other five outlaws around a mile-and-a-half back heading in the same direction. Bennett states an explicative. He decides to dismount walk his horse up into steep backcountry where the others are unlikely to follow.

Back down below, with light to see now they start to look though the saddlebags to see what Rex has packed for them, distributing the food and water evenly among them. They panic at first at finding the guns in none of their horse’s saddlebags, fearing that Bennett might have them. They then check the saddlebags in the two extra horses, breathing a sigh of relief when they find the guns there. The revolvers are evenly distributed among the outlaws. Pamela is relieved to find a medical kit also with the extra mounts.

They follow the Great River southward, stopping only for short breaks to feed and water the horses and also alternating with the two extra horses to continually lighten the load. Lacking Bennett, they rely on a combination of Angus’s knowledge of wilderness survival skills and Sally’s rustler knowledge of the great outdoors for suggestions. The conversation then degenerates into another verbal cat-fight between Sally and Pamela until Mongo of all people intervenes and gets them to both apologize to each other. Sally jokingly suggests to Mongo that he should ask Pamela to marry him.

The group starts to talk about ‘longer term’ plans. Shamus decides that he’ll head out to California and resume his fighting career under an assumed name. Angus agrees with that plan but also suggests that he seek fights in smaller towns and avoid the cities, for fear that he might be recognized. When they reach the major fork in the river the four say goodbye to Shamus, as he rides westward while the others continue southward.

The others eventually find a secluded area to stop and get a few hours rest, alternating watches.
By Thursday nightfall they reach the small mining town of West Cliff, Colorado, around twenty miles southwest from Canon City. There are no telegraph lines going into the town, so they conclude that news of the prison break would not have reached here yet. They avoid the buildings in town and ride until they find a farmhouse a little bit off from the town. They let Shamus and Sally do the talking, tell the farmer a tale of heading south to join a cattle drive. The farmer puts them up for the night in his barn.

Friday, June 16th, 1882:

The group gets up, buy some more supplies from the farmer at rather generous prices, and continue on to the south staying near but not directly alongside the river. Angus has some concerns with Shamus knowing they were heading south, fearing that he might tell the authorities if he were caught. Pamela suggests that the group change direction, to make a long round-about turn to the northeast to the place where they had stashed the stage coach months earlier as it would be a safe place to hold up and rest. They turn east and ride on for the remainder of the day.

June 17th to June 23rd 1882:

Taking their time, keeping to low ground where possible, and avoiding communities the quartet eventually travel the 150 miles to reach the abandoned mine. Once there Pamela surprises the others by retrieving a hidden saddlebag filled with money. She counts out the $ 124,000 in front of the others and divides it into four even stacks of $ 31,000 for each of the four, telling them that is the remainder of what she and Mongo had left from the Leadville robbery. Pamela’s act of generosity impresses the others and goes along way towards regaining Sally’s trust.

When she has some time to herself Pamela also heads back into the cave retrieves a second saddlebag with $ 200,000 in larger bills, which she conceals on her own horse unbeknownst to the others.

The group discusses where to go next. Since they have killed Federal soldiers they conclude that leaving the country might be the best idea and debate heading to Canada or Mexico. Given that Sally, Pamela and Mongo are familiar with the Arizona climate the idea of a warmer area appeals to them more than the Canadian Rockies. They decide to head northwest to Wyoming and then change direction southward through Utah.

[This concludes Game Four. The campaign will continued with Game Five, played the following year with a different group of players.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Game Five of this campaign was Played on June 2, 2007 at the KahunaCon Game Day in Massachusetts. This chapter will introduce two new playing characters, both of whom were NPC’s my Play-by-post Wild West module that ran from August 2004 until April 2007. The events immediately following the module “Ballots and Bullets”.


Chapter 22: Arrival in Tucson, July 29th, 1882:

Since that time Henry Buckskin Bennett reunited with his fellow prison escapees he has taken up the role of party leader, bringing them south through the unpopulated sections of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona with a final destination of Mexico. They have been dependent upon him for food and shelter during this trek. As they neared the southeastern Arizona community of Tucson he had urged that they avoid the town completely but Sally convinced Angus that they needed to replenish their supplies before heading the final sixty miles to the Mexican border

They found lodgings in the poorer side of Tucson seedy no-questions-asked hotel. Henry’s concerns proved to be warranted as Sally, Mongo and Pamela were almost immediately recognized. Thankfully that recognition was from two Promise City saloon rats who were also on the run. These two are a saloon girl Kitty Trent and gambler named Tony Lucky.

These two decided to throw in with the gang despite Henry’s voiced concerns about then, with MacTavish now assuming the mantle of leadership. MacTavish was also leery of being with these two but decided it was safer to keep them very close at hand, otherwise they will probably just cut a deal with somebody to turn the group in for the reward money.


History and Background - Kitty Trent

Born in Memphis Tennessee in the year1852, Katerina was the illegitimate daughter of a union between a local dancehall girl Chartreuse Fortier and a Mississippi River riverboat gambler named Beauregard LeFrance. Over the years Katerina discovered that neither of her parent’s were actually using their real names and that each was running from the law for unspecified crimes. Her parents never married but remained close.

Katerina’s superior intelligence was recognized at an early age and she began school when she was only two. She spent the school year living with her mother at the saloon Chartreuse worked, which meant that ‘Kitty’ often had to spend the night sleeping in a back alleyway whenever her mother had male guests in their room. She spent summers with her father aboard whichever riverboat he was with, using his last name at those times. Between the two she became well versed in the shady world of gambling halls and the various types of people who frequent those professions.

During the summer of 1863, the height of the Civil War made riverboat travel along the Mississippi River unsafe, and the riverboat that she and her father were on was docked in Chicago for the duration of the war. Beauregard and Kitty had no complaints, as the city provided a number of new financial opportunities for them, and both lost their Southern accents fairly quickly. When the war ended they remained in Chicago as they received word that Kitty’s mother had died during the war so there was no reason for her to return to Memphis.

As Kitty blossomed into a beautiful young lady she soon found that men were attracted to her. She and her father worked out a scheme where she would flirt with a prominent man and get him alone and into a compromising position. Her indignant father would then arrive on the scene and they would then blackmail him. This worked for several years, being most effective with powerful married politicians. But they eventually crossed the wrong man, a mobster, who killed Beauregard in retaliation. Kitty fled to safety in the south side of the city where she worked under her mother’s name as a dance hall girl and prostitute until the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Her neighborhood was destroyed in the fire, so she then sought employment back on riverboats.

Kitty worked as an entertainer on the Lauren Belle, the riverboat of gambler James C. Duvall. While there she fell became romantically involved with an engine room mechanic by the name of Jethro Trent and they were wed. He was a huge burly man and they readopted her scheme of her getting men into compromising positions with her large irate husband then arriving, after which they would then negotiate blackmail money. She was on the Lauren Belle in 1876 for the ‘Million Dollar Tournament’, won by gambler Brett Maverick (from the movie “Maverick”). She was upset that she was unable to come up with a scheme to steal the tournament money and vowed to not let an opportunity like that pass her by again.

Two years later a similar opportunity presented itself, this being a $ 500,000 tournament. She and Jethro arranged to have the riverboat’s steering mechanism break while traveling at top speed towards a sandbar. The crash and fire that followed provided them with an opportunity to steal the money, but not before a guard shot Jethro dead. Kitty killed the guard but had to move quickly and in the melee had lost the satchel they had planned to conceal the stolen money in, nor could she hide it away on the rapidly burning ship. She quickly convinced a passenger and tournament gambler of questionable morals by the name of Evan Adair to smuggle the stolen money off the ship for her. She later met up with Adair and they evenly divided the money.

Kitty lived in luxury for the next thirty months until the money ran out. At that point she looked up Adair, who had acquired a saloon in the Arizona Territory in the town of Promise City. He took her on as an employee and in short time she had worked her way into both his bed and a managerial position, as the Madame of the Palace’s contingent of prostitutes and dancers.

Kitty enjoyed this life until six-months ago. In January 1882 a rival saloon came under new management and the Lucky Lady Dance Hall and Saloon owners began to make Adair’s life miserable, including threats to murder Adair. A Palace Saloon prostitute named Jane Boag then began to undermine Kitty’s authority and created unrest among the employees. Boag later left town for a Tucson gambling hall which was coincidentally owned by the Lucky Lady’s owners.

The Promise City saloon rivalry culminated in early June when the Palace Saloon was dynamited, killing two employees. A few of the attackers were killed, one of whom was a former customer of Kitty’s from her early months in town. On his person was found a forged document, incriminating Kitty in the attack. She knew she was innocent but that Adair would never believe her, so for her own safety she fled town, and is now wanted by the authorities as well.

She fled to Tucson where she ran into another old acquaintance from Promise City, Tony Lucky, a gambler from the Lucky Lady who was recently fired. For several months Lucky had served as Adair’s spy, filling him in on events at the Lucky Lady in return for female companionship at the Palace. Similar to Kitty’s situation, false evidence was presented implying that he too had been working against Adair which forced him to flee town.

In the last two weeks Tony and Kitty became lovers. They began plotting how to get their revenge against the people who ruined their lives and livelihood, by either robbing or destroying the Tucson gambling hall operated by the people who have wronged them. A unique opportunity then appeared, as Tony and Kitty have spotted five individuals sought lodgings at the near Tucson where they were staying.. Three of these – Shotgun Sally Fox, Mongo Bailey and Pamela Yeats – were former Promise City residents turned outlaws, joining the New Douglas Gang.


History and Background - Tony ‘Lucky’ Corleone

Born in 1854 on the Italian island of Sicily, Anthony (Tony) Corleone found himself a family outcast as he had little interest in his family’s various business enterprises, preferring instead to spend his time in the company of attractive young ladies. This led to difficulties when at the age of sixteen one of his several lady friends found herself to be ‘in the family way’ and this young woman also happened to be the daughter of one of the family’s business rivals, where a blood feud had been going on for generations. Tony asked his father Vito for advice on how to best deal with the predicament and in response he was handed a pistol and told to quietly eliminate the young woman.

Tony chose instead to avoid both the girl and his own family and quietly fled from Sicily, traveling first to the Italian mainland, then on to Spain, and finally to the United States. While living in a poor section of New York City he began to make a living running games of three-card-Monty and other dishonest games of chance that relied upon his sleight-of-hand skills. This led to him becoming a professional gambler. At that time he acquired the nickname ‘Lucky’ although the nickname refers less to his mediocre card dealing and more to his success with obtaining female companionship.

Tony eventually found his way out west to the mining town of Tombstone, arriving there in 1879. By that point in time the ‘boomtown’ was already well established, the large veins of silver having been discovered two years earlier, and the saloons had already established gamblers as dealers. As their skills surpassed those of Tony he was unable to find employment as a dealer, but was able to win enough money as a player to get by. At that point he crossed paths with his cousin Francis Corleone Fiochelli. Francis was now going by his Americanized name of Frank and was employed as the bodyguard for a Tucson, Arizona banker who was visiting Tombstone. Tony did not want to get embroiled again with the family business and kept his interactions with his cousin on a superficial level.

Silver was discovered some sixty miles east of Tombstone in 1880 and Tony was among the first to set off to find his fortune there. The community of Promise City, Arizona grew up between the initial four mine heads and Tony became the house gambler at the newly established Lone Star Dance Hall and Saloon, working for an enterprising Texas couple named Tom and Maggie Whipple. Tony’s fast draw skill began to draw a crowd and helped with security, although he thankfully never had to actually fire the gun, as while he can pull a gun quickly from the holster his marksmanship isn’t very good at all (Tony is a lover, not a fighter).

The Lone Star had initial success but then fell upon hard times in 1881 when Maggie caught Tom having an affair with their dance hall singer Flossie. Flossie was fired and moved to another saloon in town, with the majority of the Lone Star’s customers following her. Eventually a new (and better) gambler named Job Kane joined the Lone Star and business picked up again. In January 1882 the saloon hired a new singer, a new waitress, and a third gambler. Business continued to pick up but Tom Whipple’s roving eye again caused trouble, him hitting on the new female employees, which resulted in the Whipples divorcing and selling the Lone Star to the town’s liquor distributor and three of the employees. Tony wasn’t even asked about becoming a partner, which he considered to be grossly unfair since he was the employee with the most seniority.

Tony continued to deal at the renamed “Lucky Lady”, whose new owners initiated an ongoing feud with another gambling hall in town, The Palace Saloon. This benefited Tony greatly as he soon became the ‘inside man’ for the Palace’s owner Evan Adair, reporting to Adair the various happenings at the Lucky Lady in exchange for time with the ladies of the evening at the Palace.

In June things took a nasty turn when one Lucky Lady partner was killed, another permanently left town, and a third lost part of the saloon in a poker game to a famous Tucson gambler. That gambler decided to host a high stakes poker tournament there. Adair decided to play in the tournament, hiring Tony to help him to win, but the owners decided to have Tony work security rather than dealing. Cousin Frank also showed up and was put on security detail as well. Adair then worked out a plan included replacing dealer Job Kane with a look-alike, with Tony being key in making the switch. But the imposter was soon found out, requiring Tony and Frank to flee town in a hurry.

They initially fled to Galeyville, a former mining town along the Arizona/New Mexico border. They soon found out enough information about the outcome of the poker tour. Adair was prevented from winning due to an arrest by Federal agents on trumped up charges and he was arrested and then deported to Europe. The whole tournament was apparently a sham from the start, as with the removal of Adair a Lucky Lady own it. Tony discovered that unbeknownst to the general public, this owner and the Tucson gambler who organized the tournament were old friends and they actually co-owned the Tucson gambling hall together. Tony vowed to get revenge on those who had wronged him despite Frank’s urging to let it ride and just move on.

From there Frank presumably continued on to Texas while Tony headed up to Tucson seeking revenge. Upon his arrival there he ran into an old acquaintance, Kitty Trent, who was the Madame at the Palace Saloon. She too had been forced to flee Promise City on bogus charges. In the weeks since meeting up the two have become lovers and began to plan how to hurt the gambling hall. Tony then learned to his surprise that his cousin Frank had not gone to Texas but was in Tucson, and that he was also a long-time partner at the Tucson gambling hall of Tony’s enemies. Thus, Tony had been set up and betrayed by his own family!

While plotting their revenge Tony and Kitty had the good fortune to spot a group of five individuals seeking lodgings at the same seedy no-questions-asked hotel near Tucson where they were staying. Three of these five, Shotgun Sally Fox, Mongo Bailey and Pamela Yeats, were former Promise City residents turned outlaw who had joined the New Douglas Gang led by Deadeye Douglas. Two months earlier that Gang had pulled off the largest bank robbery in United States history, at a large silver town in Colorado. Half of the gang escaped but these three were captured and thrown in prison, from which they had escaped a month ago. Tony and Kitty approached this group and after revealing that they were also wanted from the law joined up with the gang, who were on their way to Mexico

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 23, “I could wear a hat”, Thursday, July 26th, 1882:

After Sally indicates interest in doing another robbery as ‘One for the Road’, Tony says, “Listen folks, me and Kitty are hard up for money and want to get revenge. You guys must be flush with money after pulling off the biggest bank robbery in history.” Sally says, “Well, actually, because of that whole being thrown in prison and breaking out we’re actually a little on the broke side.” Pamela sarcastically comments, “Yeah, they don’t give it back to you during your prison escape. That is so inconsiderate of them.” Bennett declares that he wants nothing do with a robbery and heads outside to the stables to take care of the horses.

Sally asks, “So what do you propose for this gambling hall? Robbing it or burning it to the ground as your revenge?” Kitty interjects, “Can’t we do both? But it we’re limited I say we go for the money. I have an awful lot of fun with money. So what is with you guys, shouldn’t you be planning on going to hide somewhere?” Pamela says, “We are, out of the country.” Angus interjects, “But right now we’re doing what is called hiding in plain sight.”

Tony says, “Okay, let’s do this. There are one or two issues though, it seems that people would be suspicious if either me or Kitty were to walk in there, they might recognize us. We will also have to wait a day or two anyway, it’s a members only club that has only small crowds on week nights, a fair sized members only crowd on Friday, and Saturday as the big night. That’s when members can each bring a guest.” Kitty adds, “But, of course, none of us are members so we need to work out a plan.”

Angus asks, “So, do you know if they store money there of it goes straight to the bank?” Tony replies, “The banks aren’t open on Saturday nights so they have to store it there.” Pamela suggests that maybe they should wait until the well-guarded money cart is being delivered to the bank on Monday. Kitty points out that it is a very heavily guarded money cart.

“Seems to me like Sunday might be a good day for this then,” Angus suggests. Kitty says, “The problem with Sunday is that they don’t have guests on that day, and most of the employees and owners live there so would still be around.” Kitty suggests, “Late Saturday night when everybody is tired or drunk might be an excellent time. The lead dancer used to work for me and does a very distracting dance, that might provide us an opportunity to get in and around then.” Pamela looks at the guys in their group and says, “Unless the men in our group become equally distracted by her.”

Kitty says, “From what I’ve seen these people running the place aren’t stupid. We might want to figure out a way to get in Friday night and scout around, see how things go, get a good look out.” Angus says, “Any chance of convincing the doorman that we’re members?” Tony says, “No, the door is usually manned by an owner who knows who is a member. His name is Richard and he’s the head of their security. He can’t be bribed. Guests are also required to spend time in the large lobby before being admitted into the gambling hall, giving lots of time for scrutiny.”

Kitty asks, “Any other plans?” Mongo says, “Mongo want to go to town.” “What town?” Kitty asks. Mongo says, “Mexico. Go to town of Mexico.” Pamela replies, “Yes, but it might not hurt to have some spending money when you get there.” Angus asks, “How hard is it to become a member?” Kitty says, “They check your background, but we might be better of impersonating somebody they already know. We’ll need disguises either way.” Mongo states, “I could wear a hat.”

Angus eyes the ladies and suggests that whoever is good at making friends should be a key part of this plan. Looking over the crew Kitty says, “I’d say that of the six of us we have a few who might be able to make friends with people who could bring us as guests.” Tony says, “Alternately, we could try to impersonate somebody.” Mongo interjects “I could wear two hats.”

Angus points out that until now he has never been to Arizona, so the chances are that even without a disguise he probably won’t be recognized. Tony says, “Maybe he could apply for membership.” Kitty says, “Well, there is that background check problem.” Tony suggests, “We could come up with a fake background for him.” Pamela says, “Yes, except they would use the telegraph to verify it.”

Sally says, “We’re over-thinking this. Why don’t we just find out if any members are going to be out of town this weekend. We could break into their homes and use their own clothes as part of the disguise.” They decide that the plan has merit. Pamela suggests to Kitty that she just go and apply for a job there. Kitty points out that the owners there don’t like her so she is unlikely to be welcomed. Kitty suggests that they should be able to get several of them inside.

Angus asks about getting sidearms or other firearms inside. Tony says, “No dice, they won’t let anybody come in armed.” “So we’d need to find a way to get concealed weapons inside,” Sally states. Kitty says, “They do let armed bodyguards in, but they aren’t allowed any further than the lobby.” Angus says, “Okay, that would at least get some weapons into the next room.” Sally considers dressing and passing as a man so that she can bring in her shotgun.

Pamela asks, “Exactly what are we going to do once we get in there.” Kitty says, “Get the money, that’s why we have to get in Friday night to figure out where it is kept. Angus says, “We will need to impersonate members then to get in on Friday.” Sally points out, “Yeah, but members would also know the place on the inside, which we wouldn’t. Whoever goes in would have to be very careful.”

Sally points out that given Kitty’s past association with ‘working girls’ she might try to seek one or two who work there out and engage them in conversation. The problem with that is that most of them live there, so don’t just wander around the streets. Kitty also points out that there is a risk there too, as they could report the conversation back to the owners, which could put them on alert. Mongo adds, “We need to get in there. They serve beer. I like beer.”

They then talk about the former ‘Water Hole Saloon’, a small run-down building that is closed when the Three Gods Meeting House opened, which is physically attached to the back of the larger building. They consider that maybe they could break into the smaller building to get into the larger one. They consider going and looking around there to see if that is feasible.

The group splits up and then make some inquiries around town. When they get back together Tony and Kitty have determined that there are two professional gamblers in town who are members of the club that appear to be currently out of town, who could apply for membership. Looking at Black Angus they conclude that he is a close enough match to a gambler known as Black Jack that a disguise could be arranged. The gambler is from Mississippi, which is an accent that he thinks he can bluff. Kitty describes what she’s heard, that he walks with a bit of a swagger. Tony offers to teach Angus a few tricks about poker.

While Tony and Kitty work on transforming Angus into Black Jack, the other trio of Sally, Mongo and Pamela go to check out the building. They find themselves looking at a massive 100 by 60 foot four story building. The only public entrance is on the sixty-foot wide street side, which has multi-colored stained glass windows about the ornate front doors. From the outside it resembles a cathedral rather than a gambling hall. The sign about the door reads “Three Gods Meeting Hall”.

Heading around the Meeting Hall and looking close they do see one side entrance near the rear of the building, probably an emergency exit of some sort. The only windows on the first two stories are the stained glass in the lobby. There are windows on the third and forth floor. Pamela suggests that they go and get some dynamite in case they need to blow the place up. They see electric lines going to the building, so assume the first two floors are lit by electric lighting.

They check out the former ‘Watering Hole Saloon’, seeing the windows are all boarded up and there are no doors, the only door apparently attached to the back of the Meeting Hall. They are unsure why such a fancy new building would want to be attached to such a run-down shack, unless they perhaps turned the old building into a big vault. Upon closer examination they find a side door to the shack that also appears to have been boarded up with the doorknob removed. They suggest one plan would be to get in at night by climbing up to the roof of the shack and from there up to a third floor window.

Kitty heads off to gather information and discovers that there is a gentleman in town named Robert F. Bates who is a prominent Tucson attorney with club membership and has only briefly visited there twice before. He is currently away at the Arizona Territory capital of Prescott. He also has a girlfriend from out of town called ‘Cat’ Anderson who has brought as a guest. Kitty finds out his address and contemplates paying a visit. She decides to head back and confer with the others.

They decide that the break-in might be a good idea but that they shouldn’t risk blowing the new Black Jack’s cover with his participation, nor do they think that bringing Mongo would be a good idea. Kitty, Tony, Sally and Pamela head off to take care of it. They head over that way. Pamela says, “This will only work if this guy looks like Tony.” “Or unless he’s a real ‘Girly Man’,” Kitty comments. Pamela replies, “I don’t know, Sally can pass as a man.”

They manage to break into his house unseen and locate a photograph of Mr. Bates and his girl Cat. They conclude that it is a close enough match to be able to disguise Tony and one of the women to pass themselves off as the couple. A search of the building also finds clothing for both of them, which they bring as well. They then debate which of the women will portray Cat Anderson. They conclude that Pamela might be the best one to play Cat. Tony still likes the idea of dynamiting the place.

 

[Silver Moon]

Just wanted to let readers of this thread know that the saga will be continuing at GenCon 2017. I will be running a game titled "The Magnificent Seven Outlaws" on Thursday night from 7 to 11PM. If you have any interest in bringing Mongo, Shotgun Sally Fox, Pamela Yeats, Angus McTavish, Tony Lucky, Kitty Trent or the new seventh ally to life now is the time!