The posse spent an uncomfortable night camping in the wilderness in preparation for their assault on the ranch house. There was a brief dispute in the morning, but eventually, the kid took the lead and they made their way to the old farmhouse.
When they arrived, the group stopped on a hill overlooking the house to discuss plans. Deciding that they were taking too long, Zeke just wandered down into the courtyard and, ignoring the upside-down cross and pentagram, knocked on the door. He explained that he had become lost and Johnson, the man who had opened the door, invited him in for supper.
He sat down and broke bread with The Gaunt Man and about a dozen other gunmen. He tried to get The Gaunt Man's name, but was instructed just to call him "Sir". The rest of the cowhands joined him in a few swigs from his jug and it looked like he might be able to get them drunk until The Gaunt Man instructed his men to stop drinking as they had work to do.
The meal ended and they sat around talking for a few minutes, with Zeke trying to find out more about The Gaunt Man and the rest of his companions. Their conversation was interrupted by the howl of a dog. The Gaunt Man asked Zeke to go out with Johnson to look after the master's hounds.
Meanwhile, the rest of the posse weighed their options. A plan to show up as bounty hunters looking for Zeke was scrapped when they remembed that The Gaunt Man had seen most of them. They decided the best thing to do was to go in guns blazing and just see what happened.
Just as they were preparing to charge to his rescue, Zeke and two other guys entered the yard, heading for the barn, where the dogs were kept. Virgil shot one of the men dead in the head and killed him instantly. J.T. wasn't quite as good a shot and only wounded his target. Zeke and the wounded gunman ran back into the house.
Edgar and Hector circled around towards the back of the house, while Cletus, Zane, Kincaid and Armando charged down the hill. J.T. and Virgil continued to provide covering fire, as five rifle barrels poked out the side windows of the house and started shooting.
By the time, the first wave got down the hill, the five riflemen were dead. Armando took up a shooting position near the shed. Zane was nowhere to be seen and most of the rest of the posse was in the courtyard, looking for someone to shoot. Zeke had made his way back into the kitchen to the cellar and was in hot pursuit of The Gaunt Man. Edgar and Hector broke down the back door into the kitchen; Edgar headed up to the loft, while Hector made his way to the main room.
Gunshots rang out again and several members of the posse were wounded. They returned fire, but it was clear that their opponents had the superior position, with the house providing them a lot of cover. Hector took care of that, coming up behind them and killing all five with two bursts from his gatling pistols.
Zeke found himself in a barn with The Gaunt Man, a man he assumed was "the Master" and an imprisoned preacher. He wasted no time and launched himself at The Gaunt Man immediately, inflicting what should have been a fatal wound as he slit The Gaunt Man's throat. The Gaunt Man turned to grab him, at the same time releasing the hounds in the other half of the barn.
As Zeke struggled with The Gaunt Man, The Master used his eldritch powers to possess first Armando and then Virgil, both of whom he commanded to attack their friends. Cletus roped one of the dogs, but was nearly roasted when the dog breathed fire on him. Kincaid fired a few shots at the dogs, but was then forced to turn his attention to Armando and Virgil, as they had shot the kid and were now turning their attentions to him.
Zeke overcame The Gaunt Man, driving his knife through his lower jaw and into his brain. Hector and Edgar entered the barn from the tunnel just in time to see the Master step into the shadows and disappear. With both of them out of the fight, the group was able to make quick work of the hounds.
While the posse collected the dead, scavenged for food and generally tried to collect their thoughts, Kincaid bent his will to a single task: finding Zane. He entered the shed and found Zane there on his way out. Some words were exchanged and Kincaid made it clear he didn't think much of Zane's planning. He accused him of being yellow and of bringing the posse out here to cover him while he looted.
Zane took exception to Kincaid's accusation and offered Kincaid the chance to use his smoke wagons. Kincaid went for it, but Zane was faster and blew him clean out of the shed with some kind of magic. The rest of the posse leveled guns at the door and when Zane emerged, they started shooting. Zane ducked back in and tried to explain, but the posse wasn't in any mood to listen.
Eventually, Zeke and the preacher got everyone calmed down enough to hear the story. Zane said that he'd come to the shed hoping to find The Dark One but had run into some kind of guardian beast instead. Zeke and Edgar took one look at the beast Zane claimed to have slain and then set it ablaze. Zane offered to let them search him, the shed and anything else they could think of to make sure he wasn't just there as a money-grubbing ghoul.
When the posse decided to hole up in the house for a few days before heading up to Laramie, Zane decided to head south. He promised if he ran into The Dark One again, he'd wire Laramie so they could join him if they wanted.
