Chapter 6 - Open Roads to Anywhere

[ateno]

Since DT knows most about Cap and Ball conversions and his Carbine is in pile B, he'll take that one. Since Slade is a fine gunsmith, he'll start there.

Can we add our gun skill to our stature since it's directly related to the gun sale?

I'm thinking the person with the best Stature who goes with Group B should do the talking. I'll try to take a supportive role.

Stature 7.2: [1d20]=16

Luck 8: [1d20]=12

Doos will lead the task

Stature vs. 10.2 [1d20]=6

[Thumper]

Lawyers should know how to negotiate.

Sorry, the doctor was no help to you.

[jemmus]

Slade inspects the nine firearms. Some of them are in better shape than others, aren't they? But pretty good overall, just normal wear and tear and a few cosmetic things. I can offer you $62 for the lot.

This is for the B group with more cap and ball revolvers. If that's not what Doos intended, please let me know.

[ateno]

Slade inspects the nine firearms. Some of them are in better shape than others, aren't they? But pretty good overall, just normal wear and tear and a few cosmetic things. I can offer you $62 for the lot.

This is for the B group with more cap and ball revolvers. If that's not what Doos intended, please let me know.

Thats more than before and this guy is recommended.


Hold out hand.

"You were recommended by Mr. Houston, I'll let him know we did business and what came of it. with the I can say this is a good deal:.

Shakes

Doos

[jemmus]

That leaves William and Gideon to sell the other lot of guns.
Gideon stature [1d20]=10 No good. Luck [1d20]=6 Succeeds.

[Thumper]

Are we waiting on RedWarrior to make a roll before moving the story along?

[jemmus]

Yes. And to say what he and Gideon do to sell their guns. For example, at the gunsmith or the general store.

[jemmus]

Monday morning, as Andreas is about to leave for the Wells Fargo job, Gideon says, Andreas, we'll save yer share of the money from the guns and horses fer ya. Let's meet back here at the Drover when yer done with the job. If we ain't here, check fer a note from us at the front desk. Er leave one of yer own, too. If ya swang by Fredericksburg, say howdy to little Inga fer me. Viel Glück und auf Wiedersehen He shakes Andreas's hand.

At the Wells Fargo office, six wagons are being loaded with tools, lumber, hardware, tents, pots and pans, and barrels of provisions. In addition to a foreman, three teamsters, three teamsters/workers, three carpenters, and a short and stout Mexican cook there are three men standing by saddled horses. They're fairly unimpressive-looking, just ordinary men who might be a little down on their luck. The first two have fair horses, but the third's is sway-backed and getting on in years. The oldest of the three, a man probably in his mid-40s steps forward and says, I guess yer the other camp guard. Jerry Seymour. He sticks out his hand. Andreas sees that he has a single action revolver tucked under his belt. There's a revolving cylinder rifle on his horse. The next man says, Johnny Rodriguez. Good to meet you. He's a younger man close to Andreas's age. He's of Mexican descent, but speaks with a Central Texas accent. He shakes Andreas's hand. He has a cap and ball revolver and a single shot hunting rifle. The third man, around 30 years old, has red eyes and looks a poorly today. He says, Matthew Logerwell, good ta me you. He has a single action revolver and a Sharps Army surplus single shot rifle.

The foreman watches the the loading of the wagons, directing the men on how to evenly distribute the loads. He wears a double action revolver. When the loading's done, he says, All a y'all, gather around. Name's Mack Carney, ah'll be yer foreman on this job. Well, y'all all know that we're goin rebuild the stage station between here and Fredericksburg. And ya know what happened to the last one. A real shame. They say the Rangers and the Army both have set out to find them Comanches. Well, our job is to build a new Wells Fargo stage station on the site. And as soon as possible. In no more than two weeks. If we can finish sooner, we all still get two weeks' pay. And who knows, the company might throw in a little bonus for each of us. They want the stage running again right away, so I expect they'd feel a little generous if we can make that happen sooner than scheduled.

Y'all carpenters have yer floor plans and ya know what ta do. Y'all teamster-workers will assist em, however they direct ya too. Three of the wagons are ours to keep and use as needed throughout the job. Three others we'll be sendin back after they unload. Y'all camp guards, you'll have to escort them wagons back ta Austin. Meanwhile, we need somebody up guarding the camp at all times, around the clock. I'll let y'all decide how to divide up the duties.

Any questions? No? Alright, let's get goin. The guards and Carney mount up and Andreas notes that the foreman's got a good horse. Not as good as his own horse, but a good one. The teamsters shake the reins and yell out Hyaw! and the teams of big horses get the wagon wheels rolling.

Having ridden this route before, Andreas estimates that they'll reach the stage station site just a little before or after dark, assuming no breakdowns. Does he make any special preparations before leaving Austin? How does he ride with the train of wagons (front, rear, right (north) side, left (south) side, etc?

[Thumper]

After selling the guns, DT will want to go to the State Prison to see Davidson (he’ wait to meet up with and invite Gidean and William if they wish to go). He’ll bring Davidson a new deck of cards, a plug of chaw, a couple dime books, and some rock candy.

He’ll inform the warden of the accuracy and helpfulness of Davidson’s previous information in finding the Shepherd’s hideout. He’ll also ask Doos and/or William to prepare two identically worded and signed affidavits.

He’ll lay out his map on which Davidson previously marked the location of a Comal county rustler station; and he marked the sites and dates of the stage coach raids, and the Comanche burned way station. He’ll have the affidavit sitting on top of the map.

“Hello again Davidson. Good to see you doing well these past couple months. We brought you a few things to make your life a little more bearable in here.”

Hands the gifts to Davidson.

“Your previous information was good…real good. Accurate enough that, with some help, we located the hideout. These two affidavits say the same thing. Affidavits are a legal statement attesting certain facts are true. Legal stuff, but they can help you. We’re going to leave one with the Warden here to help your prison record. We’ll leave the other with your attorney, Mr Houston. Maybe these will make your life a little easier here. Better treatment from the guards, etc.

If ya don’t mind answering a few questions further, we’ll write more affidavits when we succeed in bringing in the next round of rustlers. Ok?

Down here outside of Stringtiwn lives the Wiley Brothers Gang. Y’all Duncan Gang bought horses from them, remember? They’re stooges for Harvey Adler.

We’d like to know who else they buy and sell horses with. What are their names and where are their hideouts? “

After Davidson’s response:
“We think the stage robbery that took place here on June 7th was committed by someone other than the bandits and rustlers at the River Station. Whoever it was, they left this card prominently displayed in a tree close to the coach. They say this bandit gang didn’ take everything from the passengers and spoke in a jovial manner. He stole passenger cash, but left most of their possessions. Witnesses described a front man who acted like this was a game. Took the coach’s horses though. Kind of like a Sam Bass wanna be. Does this remind you of anyone? Does that and the card ring any bells?”

He’ll look to his friends to see if they have any questions.

[cybersavant]

Andreas Larson says goodbye to the fellows he rode with these past weeks and saddles up to join the work crew.

Y'all camp guards, you'll have to escort them wagons back ta Austin. Meanwhile, we need somebody up guarding the camp at all times, around the clock. I'll let y'all decide how to divide up the duties.
Any questions? No? Alright, let's get goin. The guards and Carney mount up and Andreas notes that the foreman's got a good horse. Not as good as his own horse, but a good one. The teamsters shake the reins and yell out Hyaw! and the teams of big horses get the wagon wheels rolling.
Having ridden this route before, Andreas estimates that they'll reach the stage station site just a little before or after dark, assuming no breakdowns.

Andreas introduces himself. "I vhas scout fur der Army. Und did zum guard duty fur der Railroad. Vier ... four shifts ist best, ya?"

Andreas rides near the front, just behind and off to the right of Carney. He keeps watch in the direction of the Comanche tracks they followed. He rides with his rifle across the saddle horn, ready in case there's trouble.

[redwarrior]

OH Sorry guys, I was off the internet for like 5 whole days! It was glorious!

William heads over to the gunsmith and offers the remaining guns for sale. It looks like his being new to the Texas territories shows, though! Either that, or the outlaws took very poor care of the things.

Afterwords, William will write the affidavits out and accompany on the visit to the prison.

Stature target 13 [1d20]=19
Luck 6 [1d20]=12
"That part about me being who I was didn't impress him much!"

[jemmus]

Gideon's Luck roll prevails.
Slade says, I can offer ya $58 for the lot. Some other fellas were just here and they kind of cleaned out my cash on hand.
Does William accept the offer?

[jemmus]

Davidson takes the gifts. He seems happy to have outside visitors-- even ones who helped get him put behind bars. He replies, The common belief is it was Sam Bass hisself who did that robbery. I never met him, but leavin a card or some kind of sign to tease the lawmen sounds like his style. I don't know of anybody who leaves cards at a robbery site.

We just dealt with them Wiley boys the one time. Harvey Adler sent one of his men to tell us to go pick up the horses. As far as I know, the Wileys never stole any horses until that time. They's just kids, ya know. I don't know anything else about the horse business than what I already told ya. Harvey Adler has a place west a Comaltown where we'd drop off and pick up horses. We'd git em out of Comal County and take em to our place in Blanco County, then on to a "station" in Burnet County. The one I told y'all about, with the squeaky windmill. I only went their once. I heard somebody found it and shot the Shepherd brothers and their gang. Was it y'all? The Shepherd gang boys are right here in this very same pokey as we speak. They're not that friendly, they generally keep to themselves in the yard. Nobody talks about politics er the War around em. That can get em goin.

He stops, but then remembers one other thing. Harvey Adler's man who handled his horses for him was a older man, maybe around almost 50 years old. The Duncan brothers called him "Flem." He was missin two fingers from his left hand, walked with a limp, and wore a beard to try to cover scars on his face. People said that a shell must've blowed up in his face durin the War. He rode a fine roan stallion. Must've been a fair rider to handle that big ole horse.

Well, I sure do appreciate the presents, Doctor. Anything from the outside makes life in here more tolerable. If ya feel like coming back with some tobacca, papers and Lucifer matches, and a pencil and paper, and few quarters fer playin cards... I might remember somethin else y'all might want ta know. He winks and grins a big friendly grin.

[Thumper]

"Harvey Adler sent one of his men to tell us to go pick up the horses. As far as I know, the Wileys never stole any horses until that time. They's just kids, ya know. I don't know anything else about the horse business than what I already told ya. Harvey Adler has a place west a Comaltown where we'd drop off and pick up horses. We'd git em out of Comal County and take em to our place in Blanco County, then on to a "station" in Burnet County. The one I told y'all about, with the squeaky windmill. I only went their once."

"Would you be willing to sign an affidavit to that affect? Doos or William could draft it up quickly and you could sign it before we leave?"

I heard somebody found it and shot the Shepherd brothers and their gang. Was it y'all? The Shepherd gang boys are right here in this very same pokey as we speak. They're not that friendly, they generally keep to themselves in the yard. Nobody talks about politics er the War around em. That can get em goin.

"Ya, that was us. I got four buckshot scars to show for it on my chest. Fortunately, the owner of that vacant land build solid walls on the house. Doos got really hurt. Stay away from that Shepherd convict. He's a bad one, and they have a long time in here...so nothing to lose. Don't let on that you were with Duncan."

"Harvey Adler's man who handled his horses for him was a older man, maybe around almost 50 years old. The Duncan brothers called him "Flem." He was missin two fingers from his left hand, walked with a limp, and wore a beard to try to cover scars on his face. People said that a shell must've blowed up in his face durin the War. He rode a fine roan stallion. Must've been a fair rider to handle that big ole horse.

"Would you be willing to put that in an affidavit as well? Doos, William? Useful for getting some official sanction of our investigation from Capt Watson again?"

Well, I sure do appreciate the presents, Doctor. Anything from the outside makes life in here more tolerable. If ya feel like coming back with some tobacca, papers and Lucifer matches, and a pencil and paper, and few quarters fer playin cards... I might remember somethin else y'all might want ta know. He winks and grins a big friendly grin.

DT chuckles:
"Ha. Sure thing Davidson. More tobacco, something to write with, and smoke rolls. You got it.

Charlie, any chance we can get you to make a quick run to the corner store for all that and come back right away? Here's a couple of dollars for all that."

DT stands and fishes in his pocket for all his loose change. He tosses down a mix of coins adding up to 80 cents onto the table.

"Anybody got a few more coins on 'em?

Davidson, we ain't going to be in town much longer, so how about we talk this up now? You know we'll get you what you asked for. Hell, Charlie will probably be back with our request before we're finished talkin'. Plus, if your information is as good as last time, we'll be back in town soon, and we'll bring you another package of entertainment for your trouble. That's a promise."

[redwarrior]

Gideon's Luck roll prevails.
Slade says, I can offer ya $58 for the lot. Some other fellas were just here and they kind of cleaned out my cash on hand.
Does William accept the offer?

He does, He thanks Slade and takes the money back to the group to be divided before heading out to the prison.

[jemmus]

Gunsmith Slade pays a total of $130 for the two lots of firearms. Charlie's 9-shot rifle sells for $12.80. Please update your sheet. That leaves $117.20 to be divided between William, Gideon, DT and Doos. $27.30 each. Please also update your sheets.

[Rex]

Charlie

Sheet updated. Thanks everyone!

[ateno]

Sheet updated!

Judge Doos adds 90 cents.

"Of course if your information comes to be helpful, I will write a affidavit of your help and distribute it to all interested parties. Might help a bit,"

Doos

[jemmus]

Oops, I left Andreas out of the cut. Everybody's share should be $23.44.[ Sorry about that. Who's keeping Andreas's share for him?