At the Mayor's house:
"Accroding to Ranger James and Deputy Ramon, the men where hired in Odin Sir."
"Odin?! That's almost a three weeks ride! Anything else?"
"Yes Sir. They were each offered $1,000 to make the murders look like the A-ki."
"(grumbling)McPhearson, damn him"At the Iron Skillet
"Mail call Emma May"
"(reads the letter, shocked)Oh dear."
The sheriff interrogated John Smith, one of the men hired in Odin and found out more of the details of the plan. In the end, he was forced to offer Smith leniency in order to get him to help them arrest the man who had hired him. Smith was remanded to the Ranger's custody and the posse made plans to ride the week to Odin.
Meanwhile, Ramon discovered Emma May alone in her kitchen crying. When he tried to omfort her, she explained that she had once been the wife of a wealthy rancher who had died under mysterious circumstances. She had been left with a lot of land and two men bidding eagerly for it. Unable to decide, she had given the land to an orphanage. A letter had arrived from one of the men demanding that she give him the land and money or he would kill her sister and the orphans. Ramon agreed to stop in Brighton and pay this McPhearson a visit.
The ride was fairly calm and everyone arrived in Brighton in good spirits. While most of the posse headed to the saloon to get even more spirits, Colin and Ramon visited the church and got directions to the orphanage. Thinking it was likely a dead end, Ramon went out alone while James rejoined the rest of the crew in the saloon.
John the gambler was having an excellent day, including getting Ken to buy him and the convict lunch, plus beating him handily at cards. He'd even parlayed some of his winnings into a decent chance with one of the local doves. Ken was pretty frustrated, having been unlucky at both cards and love, and decided to try his luck in a different venue.
He arranged a bath and a room, then asked after McPhearson. The saloonkeeper had never heard of him. When Ken finished his ablutions, he headed back into the street to find the right woman, but instead he found four men with guns waiting for him. They tried to intimidate him, but Ken, who feared not even the Aki, would not back down. A brief gunfight began and, though he acquitted himself well, not even Ken was a match for four men at close range.
Luckily the rest of the posse heard the commotion and rushed to his aid, they quickly felled the two Ken hadn't managed to handle himself. the sheriff arrived, but acdcepted the marshall's word that the other four had attacked without provocation. Plans were laid to head out to the orphanage in the morning.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Ramon had discovered that the orphans had all left for a picnic and overnight camping expedition. He tracked 'em for a while, but didn't seem to be getting any closer, so he headed back to the ranch. He arrived after nightfall, and was close enough to hear a man report taht some folks were looking for McPhearson.
The cowhands at the ranch reacted with military precision, taking up sniping positions and generally looking more like the army than a bunch of cowhands. Ramon snuck up on one of them, hog-tied him, and took his place in one of the barns. Like the others, he settled in for the night and hoped his faithful steed might help him.
In the morning, the rest of the posse headed out to the ranch and, guided by Ramon's faithful steed, they got pretty close without being seen. A discussion followed - James and the rest of the crew seemed to favor waiting for darkness to fall, but Skeeter and Smith weren't as sure. They decided to ride up to the gate and ask for their missing friend.
While the others waited, the two of them approached the gate. John the gambler moved to a better vantage point. As soon as they reached the gate, they knew they'd made a mistake. If the sight of three dead children wasn't enough to convince 'em, the loaded guns pointed at them were. Smith retched repeatedly at the gruesome sight; Skeeter, with his poor vision, couldn't quite make out what was hanging over the sign.
The guards told them to drop their weapons. Skeeter complies, but Smith took advantage of his retching to get the drop on the two guards and fired at them wildly, hitting one in the gut. Skeeter dropped from his saddle and drew his own weapons. The two of them opened up on the soldiers and were soon joined by John.
Unfortunately, though those two were quickly dispatched, the ranch boasted more than twenty men and many of them were already in position to lay down a whithering cover fire. From his vantage point, Ramon could see the signals and knew the shooting was about to commence. He pumped three rounds into one of the snipers, working his lever action rifle with the same smooth grace he normally used on a beautiful senorita.
The battle was joined in earnest then, as one of the kidnappers fired back wounding Ramon. The others swarmed from the outbuildings and began firing at the unfortunate pair who had approached the gate. They continued to fight back, crouching behind the sign for cover, while John continued to do what he could to help them. The rest of the posse jumped aboard the professors steam wagon which lurched forward violently, accelerating to breakneck speed in no time.
Ramon crossed himself as he stepped back from the edge of the loft just as two bullets hit the wood where his head should have been. Four more men stepped out of the house, and he fired his lever action smoothly, forcing the men to dance back as his rifle played a deadly bolero. Skeeter rode forward, guns blazing while Smith's smokewagons continued to spit death and John contested with spirits who would as soon kill him as his enemies, all so that he could save some children he'd never met. The other guys sat in the wagon.
The battle raged for several minutes until finally the smoke cleared. Amidst the eery silence and the grim stench of death, the shrill voice of a child could be heard; it screamed and was cut suddenly short. Ramon leapt from his loft to land astride his faithful steed and fired his last round at the lock of the cellar door. He and Skeeter arrived first, followed quickly by John and Smith. The other guys got out of the wagon as Skeeter threw the doors open.
Sheriff: It's either help them or get hung
Smith: I can helpSteve: I'm known to be soft on prisoners; I don't allow no dragging.
Mark: Some of us appreciate that.John: Give this man a bottle of your finest whiskey.
Carson: You know, the stuff you give the Indians.GM: The saloon girl is obviously flirting, but you're not sure who with.
Steve: She's got broadband.Colin: I don't think you should go alone.
Ramon: It is an orphanage senor; how dangerous can it be?Steve: Me, my dog, and my horse go out to the orphanage.
GM: Uh oh Mr. McPhearson, I think we're in trouble. Ace Ventura is coming.GM: Do you have “Big Britches”?
Tim: No
Mark: He's got “Dumb as Rocks”.Tim: Bastards jumped me when I come out of the cathouse.
Mark: Shouldn't you have come in the cathouse?Sheriff: Why'd they jump you?
Mark: His ass looks like a trampoline.GM: It's either your shirt or your guts
Steve: Hell, I can buy new guts with a chip.Joe: Hell, I wanna get in a gunfight too. McPhearson, McPhearson, here McPhearson.
(After John arranges for dinner, drinks, and doves)
Smith: This is the best custody experience I ever had.GM: The Ranger shows up with Carson, he's not looking too good.
Joe: Yeah, and he's all shot up too!Mark: I'm not so bright?! You conned yourself out of your own bet!