Rough Riders

[Grace]

Beth's expression grew very stern. "Stranger, my ship will be ready in 60 hours or less. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got other business to attend to."

 

She turned to Vince, who stood behind Jonathan. "Vince, get Ed and Leila to help Martha with the parts we need. Tell them I've authorized the price of bikes. Have them get the parts back to the ship as soon as possible."

 

To Jonathan, she said, "We'll get him back. You can help with ship repairs when we've got him."

 

In a moment, Vince returned, followed by Ed and Leila. Beth handed over the map the stranger had drawn for her to Martha. "Martha, take Ed and Leila to the spot on the map. Get the parts, get back to the ship. Work 'till the job's done. We'll be along to help if we can."

 

Without a word, the dark-skinned woman nodded and gestured for Ed and Leila to follow. In less than a minute, they were out the door. Once more, Beth turned to face Jonathan.

 

"Anything you can tell me as to leads on where they might have taken him would be greatly appreciated," she suggested.

[Curt-Man]

"All I know from the rumors that they have a hideout at the abandoned mine shaft, from there all I can tell you is that they are nuts and shoot first, ask questions later. Damn Sadists." Jonathan answered.

[Grace]

Beth smiled faintly and said, "Well we ask questions, find some good cover from psycho first-shots, and then return fire in ways they could never expect... in that order."

 

"We're also good at sneaking about," Vince added with a grin.

 

"Vince, get any blueprints you can find for that mine shaft," Beth ordered. "We'll have a look at what we're up against... what would be the smartest way to defend it, what would be the dumbest, and what way would be most likely for the Gang to use."

 

She turned to Jon. "Don't wander too far. I want you to come with us once we've planned this out."

 

As Vince left to do as he was told, Beth stood. "Now that he's gone, I want you to be honest with me," she told Jon quietly. "Why did they take William?"

[Black Knight of Keno]

The stranger left the house and looked around quietly before heading off towards the saloon. He had nothing to do for the next 60 hours unless the mayor's little hitman group showed their faces and began a firefight with him like he was planning it should go. And 60 hours should be a good timeline for it to happen and for the stranger to manage and break out of jail after the gunfight. He had some tricks up his sleeve if the sheriff decided to put him in jail until they found a judge and could assemble a jury. Of course if they managed to find it before the ship was ready to leave, the rider would be in serious trouble with a most probably hanging ahead of himself after the mayor bought off the judge and the jury. In that case the best thing for him to do was to have enough ammo to slaughter most of the town that's coming after him. He hoped it wouldn't come to that.

 

So he entered the saloon, sitting up by the bar and ordering himself a pint of ale to keep himself busy until the hitmen arrived into town. Of course, he would jump to the first job that involved gunfighting pretty much immediately if he got such an offer.

[Curt-Man]

Jonathan breathed a breath and began. "Its not complicated, I owed them a favour because they bailed me out of bad situation, when the time came for me to pay my debts, I refused to do it. So I ran, they caught up with me it seems." Jonathan said. "And now I got william caught up in this mess too." He said with sadness and anger.

[Grace]

"Don't worry," Beth said gently. "We'll get him out of there... Vince will be back in no time at all with those blueprints and we'll start working on an infiltration strategy."

 

She began pacing, thoughtful about the upcoming rush of activity. Suddenly, she paused, turning to Jonathan. "Can I get you anything to drink while we wait for Vince?"

[Curt-Man]

"Yes please, whiskey will be fine." Jonathan said as he took a seat.