Chapter 4: Strange Pursuit

[ateno]

With no Cow Handling skill, Doos would need to roll a 1 to wrangle that semi-wild longhorn.
We have two judges, a doctor, and a... quiet guy. And a card player.
No cowpokes. The cows have a simple L brand. The PCs didn't notice that brand on cows on the way, but they weren't paying much attention to cattle brands.

No problem, thanks

[jemmus]

The red spot is the robbers' hideout.
DT rides for the Bouchards' place to the north. He arrives around 6:00 PM and gifts the family a welcome present of chickens. And delivers the news about the capture of the stage robbers. Bouchard says he'll inform Sheriff Bland that very evening. Hearing that the group is headed for Fredericksburg, he directs DT to the Llano-Fredericksburg road to the west. The family has just finished supper, and Mrs. Bouchard invites DT to eat. He politely declines, but she insists. I know you must be in a hurry, but having supper shouldn't add more than a quarter hour to your ride. DT enjoys a good meal and sets off to the west. He strikes the road Bouchard had described and turn southwest.

The main group set out for Fredericksburg. Teaming two equally strong horses and rotating the teams, the wagon makes fair progress following farm trails and cattle trails toward the west. Gideon says, For a marriage to work out, the man and the woman have to be equally yoked. Otherwise the stronger one will do more pullin than the weaker one, and they'll resent it. That's in the Bible. Proverbs or Psalms, maybe. The riders are on the watch for Comanches, but when the Sun sets the only potential danger they encounter is a small pack of wolves.

They trail the group from a distance for a while, then lose interest and disappear into the trees.

At length they hit a road running southwest. Andreas is pretty sure its the Llano - Fredericksburg. The group follows it for miles, seeing at first dim kerosene lights in distant ranch houses, then seeing no lights at all. The back left wheel of Billy Vitek's old wagon begins to squeak, louder and lounder with each rotation. But the riders have on wainwright for a repair among them.

A little before midnight, DT overtakes the wagon on the road and informs of his successful visit to the Bouchard place. The miles seem to pass slowly, every second interrupted by the failing wheel's screech. It could likely be heard a mile away on this still summer night. It brings the riders' minds back of the rotations of the squeaky windmill at the stage robbers' hideout. They hadn't heard it during the noise of rapid gunshot all around and near and far during the gunfight. Or maybe they'd just gotten used to it. The wagon drivers and men on horses scan around, watching for Comanches or anything else hostile in the night.

At last, the little caravan comes upon some widely spaces houses on either side of the road. From what can be seen in the light of the quarter Moon, they seem to be brightly whitewashed and have woodwork black rectangles and Xes on their walls. The northeast side of Fredericksburg, Andreas says. Gideon says, Well, ah know ah'm kinda soft, but fer me it's been kind a long day. Started off with a nice breakfast was follaed by swimming the Colorado River, then a fair amount a gunfire, and then drivin this ole wagon ta Fredericksburg. And ah fer one got chased by a longhorn bull. Ah wouldn't mind checkin into a hotel right about now. But ah guess that ain't ar first stop tanight. None of the riders has a watch, but they guess it might be around 2:00 AM.

Please post in Chapter 5: Prince Frederick's Town. viewtopic.php?p=736894#p736894