Alex "The Sentinel" Johnstone's Story

Just another normal day in Splitcreek. Alex was leaning against the wall of a shop keeping watch and smoking a cigarette, occasionally taking it out of his mouth to puff out smoke. Things had been going well for Alex, he'd recently found a lead to the location of the gang responsible for the death of his family and captured two of them. He planned to interrogate them later and make sure they were either executed or spent the rest of their lives in a cell. He had recently received a bunch of wanted posters for some notorious criminal going by the name of "Wildcat Kate" for pretty much everything but murder. He had just finished putting them all up about the town and made a map of where he'd put them so he could quickly learn if anyone was tearing them down.

Minutes later, he saw a woman galloping into the town, a woman who looked familiar somehow... Alex quickly remembered who she was, she was Wildcat Kate, and she'd just dug her own grave. He pulled out a revolver and fired a shot into the air to gain her attention once she was close enough.
"Hold!" Alex ordered, "Get off your horse and drop your weapons, or I'll shoot both you and your horse."

Jenny's expression turned cold and she turned her head quickly, and took out both her revolvers. Slowly standing up, due to the gunshots, she aimed outside and put her fingers on the trigger. "Trouble never stops, does it? At noon, of all times." She muttered towards Morgan. She walked outside and narrowed her eyes when she saw her. It wasn't the first time, either. "Wildcat Kate? Oh.. Y'all have to be kiddin' me." She grunted, and ran over to the Marshal. "Marshal.. That was you who shot, right?" She muttered, aiming her pistols at the girl.

She nudged Alex to get his attention. "She aint to be messed with, Marshal. Watch yourself."

The town was getting closer and closer, slowly changing from a mass of brown into clearly defined buildings. It looked relatively quiet, not a lot going on on what looked to be the main street. Perfect. She'd pull up, ride in nice and quiet, hitch up Gunsmoke and go in for a drink. Kate certainly liked to drink, and was quite proud of her ability to hold copious amounts of liquor.

She wasn't paying much attention, not the way she should've been, anyway, and was surprised to hear the crack of a gun. Gunsmoke was just about bomb proof, but a gun going off ten feet away will scare any animal, and he threw up his head, snorting and stamping up a storm. "Easy, easy," she murmured, laying a hand on his sweaty neck. The big bay whinnied, prancing in place, and Kate squinted at the shadowy figure standing in the shade of the building.

Great. She'd ridden two feet into town and there was already a trigger-happy bozo here to greet her. Finally quieting Gunsmoke, Kate jerked down the kerchief serving as a dustrag and gave her biggest smile. "My, what a welcome! Don't I feel special- a personal greeting from..." she strained to make out the words on his badge, "the town marshal!" She faked offense, shaking her head. "What, suddenly Wildcat Kate ain't good enough to meet the sheriff himself?"

Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned her name. Maybe she should've played dumb, pretending to be Sally Mays from Oklahoma or something like that. Ah well, too late now. Just then, a woman emerged from the saloon, running to the marshal's side. Oh hell, now there were TWO of them, and the girl was armed to the teeth, two pistols already drawn and trained on her head. "Well, now that y'all know I'm here, I'd best be taking off. Pleasure to meet you, Marshal, and I'll be seeing y'all real soon." With a wink, Kate jerked up her kerchief and clapped her heels into the Gunsmoke's sides.

The animal leaped forward, galloping off as Kate hunched over his neck, drawing her pistol and firing a shot behind her. She sure as hell hoped Gunsmoke wasn't too tired to run, because she was a lousy shot on horseback, and that looked to be one determined town marshal. All she needed was to get out of sight, and she could stash Gunsmoke and head back into town, see what she could do to shake up the town. But first...first she had to get away.

Gunshots rang through the air, causing Jan to both jolt awake and knock over a half empty bottle of whisky from last nights events. carefully he raised from the bed trying to both shake off and remember last nights events. A quick survey of his surrounding proved that he was in one of the upstairs guestrooms in the silver spurs and the disturbance seemed to have came from outside the bar.

Stealing a quick look out the window revealed that the so called "marshal" was recklessly shooting of his gun at someone riding off into the distance on a shrouded horse. Everyone that didn't have a ball to spare rushed inside their houses and shops faster than the now distant figure could fire bullets. Jenny quickly rushed to his side armed to the teeth, both guns drawn and slowly approaching the the line of fire babbling something about wildcatkate and hows she's a dangerous one.

"What the hell is that Arschloch doing?"He muttered to himself as he reached for the nearest article of clothing. Quickly he dressed himself(not to say orderly), and rushed down the small set of stairs faster than his stubby legs could carry him. There were very few people in the bar, being as it was a slow day and all. His eyes scanned the room, finding the nearest person to be a scruffy gold miner.

"You!"He barked, pointing a chubby finger at the vagabond."Tell me, what is the täuschen doing?"

"I'm too good for the likes of you." Alex retorted, "Compared to some of the men I've killed, you're just a petty thief."
Alex ignored Jenny's warning for the aforementioned reasons and proceeded to fire a shot at Kate with his revolver, but missed as she served away due to an oncoming miner. Damn, only 7 bullets left before he would have to reload. Alex swore loudly before whistling to call up his own horse, Gale.
"Jenny, help me chase her down." Alex ordered, "For all we know she could have a whole gang waiting for her to return, so I might need an extra gun."
Alex began running after Kate and quickly mounted Gale and hurtled after Kate. Gale was an American Standardbred, and lived up to his name through his speed.

Alex had seen the path Kate had taken, so she hadn't managed to throw him off her trail. Once she was once again in sight, Alex kicked Gale's sides to make him go faster so he could catch up to Kate. He wasn't going to waste bullets firing at a target moving that quickly, he was going to wait until he was close and then tackle her off her horse. He might even slit her throat if she resisted.

Emerging onto the smaller street lined with the shops of smaller tradesmen (saddler, blacksmith, etc.), Kate was sure she was in the clear. Travelling at the speed she was, she was only 5 minutes away from escaping the town and galloping up and over the hills. God only knew what lay beyond the town, but it had to be better than a snarling lawdog and his gun-happy girl snapping at her heels.

She'd left that miner in the dust, and there was no way he was coming after her with that mule. As for the marshal...well, she hadn't seen a horse when she was riding in, but then again she hadn't gotten very far before he'd fired his first shot and ordered her down. For all she knew, he was mounting up right now.

As if to confirm her suspicions, a second set of hoof beats rang out behind her. Whatever he was riding, it was fast and fresh. Gunsmoke just might be the fastest pair of hooves in the west, but she'd been riding him for near seven hours now with only a short break at a muddy creek bed. Probably not the wisest decision to have come galloping into town, but hell, Kate loved to make an entrance, and wise decisions never had been her specialty.

She didn't hear any more gunshots; it seemed the marshal was concerned with bullet conservation as well, and Kate weighed her options, wondering if it was worth it to swing around and go hunting through her saddle bag for another pistol. No, he was too close. The sound of his horse, snorting and breathing hard, was fast approaching; he was definitely gaining.

What to do, what to do? There was a saloon on her right, a quiet little establishment that probably had a great deal of trouble competing with the larger and more impressive Silver Spur on main street. There were 3 horses out front, saddled and drinking from the water trough. She calculated five seconds for a change of mount. What would those five seconds cost her? Gunsmoke was tiring, there was no way she could outrun a fresh horse on him. He was smart enough to head for the hills once Kate got off, but she hesitated to leave him with her other weaponry still in her saddle bag.

The saloon was just yards away now. Time to make a decision. Whipping around to snatch up her saddle bag, Kate thrust her feet from the stirrups and poised herself to leap onto the antsy paint horse now prancing nervously before her. With a whoop and a holler, Kate sprung from the saddle and leapt atop the paint, hastily scooping up the reigns and turning him away from the post. Gunsmoke had taken off, the empty saddle bouncing on his back, and Kate clapped her heels into the fresh mount's sides. "Better hurry, Marshal!" she crowed over her shoulder, urging the paint horse forward.

And she was off again, galloping through the town with wind tearing through her hair and a wild look in her eye. Wildcat Kate was back with vengeance.

Morgan watched the stranger enter the bar, nodding in response to the strange soul who'd drifted in. He looked beraggled, scruffy at best, but a trip through the desert'll do that to you. He wandered over to a table, as if blown by an invisible wind, and sat down, immediately fixing his eyes on the table. A very pensive fellow, indeed.

He could've stayed to chat, but Morgan had already wasted the better part of the day in the Silver Spur, and it was high time he got back to his tidy little office and had himself a nap. He didn't hear any more gun shots, but that didn't mean it was over. More likely, Alex was just being careful with his bullets. Fingering the gun holstered in his belt, Morgan pushed his way through the double door of the saloon and stepped out onto the porch.

Alex's horse was gone, which meant he'd given chase. "Better you than me," he muttered, shaking his head. He himself had walked to the Silver Spur, as his office was only a few storefronts away on Splitcreek's main street, and he headed that way now. His office was in the opposite direction from the chase, which was good; he wouldn't have to listen to the racket of a showdown. Hopefully whatever low-life outlaw had ridden into town hadn't brought friends.

Headed for his office, Morgan caught sight of a new wanted poster that'd recently been put up. It was a woman this time. Uncommon, but not at all unheard of. "Wildcat Kate". He snorted, shaking his head. Well damn, she had herself a proper nickname and everything. For amusement, he looked over the other wanted posters, noting a certain "Richard The Bell-Ringer", among many other outlaws. Seemed there were new posters appearing everyday. He whistled through his teeth as he saw what "Mister Bell" was wanted for, scanning the long list of charges. A very grisly fellow, certainly not someone you'd want to run into on a dark night.

Reaching his office, Morgan headed up the two steps to the porch of the sagging wooden building and sat himself down in a rocker, his hand on his gun as he drifted off to sleep.

Damn, this girl could ride a horse well. However, it wasn't that surprising considering she was a notorious criminal, and would need to ride well in order to escape the law. She had now committed two more crimes since she had met Alex, resisting arrest and horse theft. Despite the fact she was riding a fresh horse and Alex was still riding the same horse, Alex still reckoned he could catch up to her on Gale, since he was young, strong and a capable steed.

Alex was right, he was soon neck and neck with Kate.
"It looks like you're about to get declawed, Wildcat." Alex smirked as he hurled himself from Gale's saddle at Kate in an attempt to knock her off her horse and shove her to the ground. He had certainly jumped at the right angle and he was stronger than Kate, he just had to hope she wouldn't be able to shoot him before he had her on the ground.

So leaving Gunsmoke hadn't been the best decision. The horse she'd chosen, while athletic and fast, was inexperienced and nervous, and gave Kate a fair amount of trouble as she urged him forward. He wasn't fond of strangers with spurs, but Kate wasn't fond of uncooperative horses, and she gave him a good slap on the rump to get him going.

The startled horse jumped forward, but swerved sideways, and Kate muttered a string of foul curses under her breath as she struggled to get her steed back on course. The marshal was gaining ground, and Kate was growing desperate. It was time to shoot him and put an end to this wild chase, never mind the no-kill policy. She looked over her shoulder, ready to train her pistol on the marshal's head, but he'd vanished. Whipping back around, she found him to be right beside her, riding hard and fast. The horses were running side by side, Kate's horse actually glad to have the company of a confident mount. Some getaway horse he'd proven to be.

Kate's eyes flashed surprise, and she struggled to reposition her pistol, determined to blow a hole through the gut of the cocky lawdog who dared to challenge her. Her fingers fumbled as her horse's hoof picked up a rock, and she cried out in alarm as she saw the marshal preparing to launch himself at her. In a last ditch effort to escape him, she jerked the reigns left, but this only served to aggravate an already frightened horse, and her mount clung to Gale's side.

As the large form of The Sentinel flew towards her, Kate ducked low and sat deep, hoping her minimal mass and sheer determination were enough to keep her in the saddle.

No such luck. The air left Kate's lungs in a terrific whoosh as the marshal crashed into her full force, driving her from the saddle. It was like being hit by a freight train. The outlaw hit the dirt with a thud and yelp, taken aback by the pain of hitting the ground after being tackled from a horse galloping 40 mph. The few seconds it took to get her breath back seemed an eternity to Kate, but when air finally filled her lungs again she took to thrashing and bucking and like a bronco, all the while trying to regain her grip on her pistol and blow the marshal into the next state.

Bonnie smiled warmly as the man swiftly removed his hat in greeted, it was good to see chivalry was not a lost cause, she listened as he spoke, from his accent she could tell that he too was a fellow southerner and so that was a comforting fact to know. "Well there's a boarding house just down the road next to the saloon, it's no ritz but it's the best we have I'm afraid" she laughed lightly.

Upon the stranger mentioning food, she took in his thin appearance looks like the poor fellow could do with a good hearty meal "the saloon has a good cook" she smiled before laughing along with the man accusing his horse at laughing at him, reaching out she affectionately stroked the horses long nose "and the livery is just at the end of town where this one can get some rest" she continued.  

"oh forgive me, I'm Bonnie Bohannon and you are?" The blonde asked, out stretching her hand for him too shake. 

Looking behind the stranger Bonnie caught sight of a large group of men riding into the town, frowning she shook her head upon seeing Jan Hass leading them, this did not look good, biting her lip slightly she watched as Jan dismounted and went inside Jethros place "excuse me I need to get the marshal" she spoke quickly before rushing across the road towards the sheriffs office to find the Marshal, failing to see Morgan who was also hurrying down the boardwalk.

Hurrying inside she called his name "Alex?"

Alex smashed into Kate like a cannonball, knocking her from her newly stolen horse's saddle into the dirt path. She tried to grab her distant revolver, but did so in vain. Alex kicked it away to make it even harder for her to grab it and shoot him. He kneed her in the stomach, hopefully winding her so she couldn't thrash about any more. While she was pinned down, Alex pulled a coil of rope from his duster coat with which he bound Kate's hands and feet.
"Not so tough now, are you?" Alex chuckled before lighting yet another cigarette and proceeding to smoke it, "You're coming with me back to Splitcreek, I hope you don't mind spending a few years in the cells."
With that, Alex hoisted her up onto the back of Gale, mounted him, then slowly rode back to Splitcreek, making sure not to let Kate fall off Gale's rump.

Upon arriving back at Splitcreek, an appalling scene presented itself to Alex. Doc was dragging a dead man into his office, Jenny was looking like she had just seen a ghost and was pleading with Jethro and Hass was present and backed by a group of miners. Alex dismounted Gale, spat his cigarette into the dirt, ground it up and then walked over to the scene. These were truly dark days for Splitcreek.
"Alright then, what's happened?" Alex sighed, "I want to know exactly what happened, if any of you lie I'll make sure you're given a harsh punishment."

Kate snarled as Alex kicked her pistol away, watching helplessly as the gun went sliding across the dirt, coming to a stop some ten feet away. And where was her other pistol? Galloping away on the back of her former "getaway" horse. Fantastic.

She continued her thrashing, clawing and hissing as if she really were some feral animal. Her struggling came to an abrupt halt as Alex's knee made it's way to her stomach, and she found herself gasping for breath as the marshal produced a length of rope from his coat and proceeded to bind her hands and feet. Wasn't she a sight, all trussed up like a holiday hog! Kate didn't like it. She didn't like it one bit. She especially hated the smug look on the marshal's face as he lit another cigarette and put it to his lips, looking down on as if she were worth less than the dirt she was lying on.

"Not if you don't mind putting up with yours truly," she said, flashing a smile that looked more like a grimace. Her hatred was only barely contained, but anger didn't get you much unless you had a gun in her hand.

Back to Splitcreek he said. Splitcreek. So that was the name of the little mining town. And she was soon to become a permanent resident of the place, rotting away in a cell. She poised herself to kick out at the marshal as he bent to pick her up, her body coiled like that of an angry rattle snake, but in her compromised position Alex had no trouble throwing her atop his horse, lifting her as though she weighed no more than a sack of feathers.

She was quiet the whole ride back, which was unusual for her, for one of Kate's greatest pleasures was hurling insults, particularly at worthless lawdogs. But the marshal had her licked, at least for now, and she needed an escape plan. She craned her neck to see town as they rode in, unable to help her smile as she took in the chaotic scene. Oh yes, this would do nicely.

Alex dismounted, leaving Gale standing quietly with Kate still belly-down across his rump. With the marshal distracted and his horse unattended, she could hardly have asked for better circumstances. Well, it'd be nice if her hands and feet weren't bound, but she'd take care of that momentarily. Drawing her knees up under her, Kate prepared to roll off the horse, eyeing the ground warily. It would hurt, no question, but a little pain seemed a small price to pay for her freedom. Drawing in a breath, she tumbled off Gale, taking the brunt of the fall on her shoulder. It was hardly graceful, and she landed with a rather un-ladylike "oof" followed by a string of muttered curses, but she was off.

She looked back toward the marshal, but he looked to have his hands full, and she smiled to herself. There was a knife in her pocket that she had no hope of reaching, but her spurs might be sharp enough to do the trick. Contorting into a truly bizarre position, Kate brought her bound wrists to her spurs and began, through a series of odd thrusts, to saw the rope back and forth across her spurs. The rope was thick, the knot well-tied, but Kate refused to give up.

No way was Wildcat Kate spending the rest of her life in a cell. She had banks to rob, liquor to drink, a man to kill! Finally the rope broke with a satisfying snap, and Kate hurriedly dove her hand in her pocket, producing the small hunting knife that, while useless in a knife fight, made an excellent saw. She started in on the rope around her boots, but she knew she was short on time- a group of rowdy miners and a dead man could only occupy him for so long. Would there be enough time?

"I was robbed! The dieb blew up my mine and stole my gold! Clearly illegal! And Jethro here thinks its not right to go get justice!" The reappearance of the deputy has got Jan all rowled up again. There was nothing that could stop him from going after Bill, he knew that. But these guy could severely hinder his progress. Bill could be in another state by the time he could convince Jethro to give him he weapons.

Calming himself again, he decided it would be best if he could prove that he was wronged. Then the deputy couldn't deny him the right to go get justice if he had proof.

"Now I know that you don't exactly trust me. I know that. But for gods sakes I have proof! Just ride to my mine to me and I'll show that he blew it to bits and stole all the gold!" Slowly he gestured to the door with a steady hand.

"so, shall we Alex?"

"Well pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Bonnie, My name is-" Damian started to say when his possibly newfound friend had to hurry to the Marshall's office, as if she was in a hurry to see him and tell him something. He frowned to himself and slowly finished the sentence he started out. "Damian Kovacs. Aw heck, why don't I ever talk when it matters, you know what I mean Abram?" he asked his horse in a bit of a peeved manner. Sighing he let the subject drop when he saw a Horseman riding back with a tied-up woman in men's clothing.

"That must be the Marshall." Damian said to himself as he gave pause to think on what to do. "Should I go to him or should I not?" The question was answered for him when he saw the man dismount and talk to several people on a dispute. "Well he's got his hands full then... wait a minute, why didn't he take the prisoner with hi-? Aw Hell no! Opportunity comes knocking at that time for a little bit of a last attempt to escape!"

He then spouted several curses to himself before calming down. "No, I stopped being Nomad years ago. Not gonna start up being Nomad again... I'm going to get something t' eat, Marshall can just catch her again." He muttered to himself before putting on his hat and walking into the saloon once more, walking back to the table he was sitting at, pint and all, dropping some coins onto it as he sat back down. "Bartender, some of your hot food please, soup I reckon'll do." he called in his calm, tired voice.

Bonnie watched the scene unfold from the sheriffs doorway, she had no idea where Alex was and with him being the only person who could reassemble a lawman in this town, chaos could quickly follow this situation. Staring down the street, the blonde smiled upon seeing the man in question re-enter the town,squinting in the bright sun she was able to make out a figure bound over the rump of his horse, as they got closer Bonnie could see that it was in fact a woman. A feeling of relief washed over her as Alex dismounted his horse and stalked into the blacksmiths, hopefully he would be able to defuse the situation, surely this town had seen enough death for one day.

Leaving the relative safety of the sheriffs office, Bonnie stopped dead when she saw the prisoner was no longer bound on the marshals horse, she looked around frantically but the girl was nowhere to be seen "damn" she cussed lightly. Looking towards the group of rattled miners the blonde bit her lip, she didn't particularly fancy walking through the middle of that group but the marshal had to know about his prisoner.

Pushing her way through the crowd she ignored the leers and grabs, dirty ole miners never did have any manners, scowling she swatted hands away from her body before breaking through and stepped up onto the boardwalk and through into the building. Taking in the scene she saw Jethro sat listening to the situation, Jan Hass looking as if he was about to explode with anger and Jenny looking a little bit scared.

"Excuse me, Marshal?" her soft southern voice called out apprehensively, she knew for sure she was interrupting something but she figured Alex would like to know that his prisoner was no longer there.

Jethro had been sitting quietly in his chair and thinking through what had happened while Jenny and Hass had both been trying to tell their story's to the Marshal and when they where done he looked to Alex.
"She´s tellin the truth, Sentinel. Although i don´t think killing him was necessary, it all happened very quickly and she probably just acted on instinct when she shot him." He sighed. "Look, I´m not tellin you to let her of the hook completely, but I don´t think puttin her behind bars for any longer than a day is necessary."
He was still somewhat angry over what she had done but he realized that it wasn't something she should spend any longer that one or two days in jail for.

"And just so you know i´m leaving it up to you whether I should arm Mr Hass´s little mob over there or not." He nodded towards the large group of miners that where still standing outside his shop. "Because I´m not going to sell them any weapons unless you think that they arn´t gonna go breakin the law."
He stood up and turned to go inside and fetch the bottle of whiskey that he had left on a table next to the open door, asking the others: "Any of you who want a drink?" as he did so.
He kept his voice down as he said it to make sure that none of the miners heard him because he feared that if they found out that he had whiskey they would all come begging for a glass, they didn't look like they could afford any for them selfs and Jethro didn't have nearly enough for even half of them.
He stood in the doorway looking at the others waiting for a response..

(Alex "The Sentinel" Johnstone played by GM Luv-is-a-Bug)

Alex looked from one face to the other, doing his best to keep his cool. Jenny had her big puppy dog eyes turned on him, and here was Hass looking mad enough to swallow a horn toad backwards. Jethro, ever reasonable, sat quietly by, his eyes fixed on the marshal. The Sentinel passed a hand over his tired face, trying to remember the day when the quiet little mining town had gone to hell. When had shootings and robbery become the norm? And where were his deputies- the squeaky clean young men marching around, ready to risk their lives for glory or honor, or whatever it was that brought people out West these days? Nowhere. It was just him and the sheriff, and they couldn't save the town between the two of them. It was all he could do to clean up the messes he stumbled upon, never mind being able to prevent them.

And now this. He took a long breath, thoughtfully resettling his Stetson on his head before beginning his speech. He started with Jenny, sighing as he turned to her pleading face. "Now Jenny, I know you're looking to help, but it ain't no use to nobody for you to go shooting people in the street. If you have a problem, you're to report it to me or the sheriff, understand? I realize you're sorry, but it ain't proper for me to let you walk on this one. I'm afraid you're gonna have to come down to the jail with me."

"And as for you," he said, turning his attention to Hass, "there's no way I can authorize that kind of action; I don't care what he's done. You're entitled to justice, Hass, and the town'll be sure you get it, but it won't be with a man-hunt across the state. Soon as I get Jenny and that bandit I dragged in to jail, I'll ride out myself. As for the guns...well, that's up to Blackburn. It's his business, and his decision. But if I hear you've been hunting this fellow, you'll be sorry. You're not the only one with friends in high places. And another thing-"

He started to remind Hass of the last time he'd messed with Splitcreek's law, but the soft, sweet voice of Bonnie reached his ears. He turned to the school teacher, his face going red as she informed him of Kate's escape. "Aw hell," he muttered, turning on his heel and stalking back towards his mount. "Looks like I'll be heading out sooner than planned, Hass!" he called over his shoulder, his annoyance evident.

Swinging into Gale's saddle, he spurred the horse forward and headed out of town, the tail of his duster flapping behind him. It seemed the fun was only just beginning.

Jethro stood in the doorway, looking at his empty whiskey glass thinking about what the Marshall had said, that it was his decision whether Hass would get his guns or not. He looked up at the miners, if he didn't arm the men Hass would probably send them out in the desert after the man with nothing but knifes and rocks, he thought.
"Damn it." he mumbled and walked back outside, putting down his glass on the table. "Hass, could you come with me?" He walked inside his shop and stepped behind the counter, opening a storage cabinet behind it and taking out three Winchester repeaters and putting them on the counter. They where all very worn and one even had a big chunk of wood missing from the stock that had been repaired by the previous owner with a small strip of metal that had been crudely bolted over the gap.

"Now, I still won´t arm all of your men but I can sell you these. They are, as you can see, in a pretty bad condition and won´t shoot straight but I don´t think that will be a problem since I doubt that your miners out there can hit anything anyway." He picked up a cigar from one of the drawers on the counter and lit it.
"I also want you to know that if I find out that you went out there on that man hunt of yours even though the Marshall told you not to, I will be taking these back and you won´t be getting your money back." He paused to make sure the German took him seriously.
"Speaking of money, I´ll sell ya these for.. hmm, should we say fifty dollars?" He took the cigar out of his mouth.
"That is, if you still want em´."

He only shook his head in mock disappointment and disgust as Alex rode of after the escaped bandit. In truth he was actually dieing from laughter on the inside and choking back a grin from ear to ear, needless to say not very well. Not only did that täuschen let the thief get away, but he forgot to put jenny in jail! He couldn't even manage one prisoner, let alone catch one with a ten mile head start! He was definitely out of his league at splitcreek.

Turning his attention to Blackburn, he watched intently as the blacksmith tried to strike up a deal.

"Damn it." he groaned, waddling back outside and placed his glass firmly on a table. "Hass, could you come with me?" He stumbled back inside the shop and sidestepped behind the counter, swinging open a storage cabinet behind it. Slowly he brandished three Winchester repeaters and put them on the counter. They where beaten and broken and one even had half the goddamn stock missing.

"Now, I still won´t arm all of your men but I can sell you these. They are, as you can see, in a pretty bad condition and won´t shoot straight but I don´t think that will be a problem since I doubt that your miners out there can hit anything anyway." He fingered a cigar a big fat cigar and lit it with a grimy old match.
"I also want you to know that if I find out that you went out there on that man hunt of yours even though the Marshall told you not to, I will be taking these back and you won´t be getting your money back." He paused for effect, surely to make a point of not performing said manhunt. Fat chance.
"Speaking of money, I´ll sell ya these for.. hmm, should we say fifty dollars?" He took the cigar out of his mouth.
"That is, if you still want em´."

"What... is this?" He said eyeing the terrible deal that lay in front of him on the counter. He knew that he didn't have the best guns and couldn't arm all the miners, but this was one of the worst offers he ever seen, and hes seen some bad deals.

Simply taking a deep breath, he wandered outside to the crowd of confused miners. He was trying to hide his obvious rage, needless to say he wasn't doing a very good job. He had other plans already in his mind on how to get weapons to hunt bill, but that didn't stop him from being enraged by such a letdown. No matter. He would find other gunsmiths to sell him guns. Blackburn just slowed him down.

Deep in thought, he didn't see the figures in the distance speeding toward him...