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Sagas of the Wild West
Pirates of the Plains — In-Character Archives

Pirates of the Plains August 20, 1876
Complete
A first-time Outlaw faces Long-time Outlaws with a Firebrand Filly to show him the Ropes

A good person is like a good gun: Reliable to the Last.

Posted Feb 19, 2023 at 9:36 AM

"Hey now, ya ain't dead yet, me neither, there's plenty'a time ta get et by a bear or shot twixt th' eyes."

Roland chuckled.  "Well, I might prefer a bear," he said, "to an animal that can shoot back at me."   

Lancasters were renowned for settling the business of wild creatures, after all.   He'd been somewhat less secure in their confrontation with the bandits.  He hesitated to imagine his fate if Addy hadn't dispatched the villain on her flank.  After having their fellows shot, the lone survivor of the bandit band might have seen fit to do more than kill Roland.  The fellow might have elected to express his frustrations, and in an ungentlemanly manner.  Though... perhaps Addy had additional worries on that score.

Best not to think about such things.  They'd made it.  That was what mattered.

"The payoff might be even better, if we are fortunate," Roland opined about the Wanted poster, "as the other pair may have their own price.  It's an interesting country, this, where one can be enriched by being the intended victim of a robbery."  

He chuckled, and took his bowl and spoon to wash.  

"Well, Addy, unless you wish to reconsider the evening's entertainment... I think I'll turn in.  From what you've told me, it'll be a long day tomorrow, with an arrival in the evening."

As he finished cleaning his utensil, he turned to her, "Hopefully without the intervention of any bears.  That is certainly not the sort of embrace I have been craving."   He winked, and then started to cast his gaze about, looking for the sleeping quarters... if there were any.

 

 

Bongo

Gunsmith
Role
Primary
Nickname
'Ro'
Birthdate
1/15/35
Height
6'2
Hair
Light Brown
Eyes
Caramel
Playby
Jeremy Irons
Played By

Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'

5'5
Posted Feb 19, 2023 at 11:33 PM

"Th' marshal'll be able ta figure it all out."  He had a stack of wanted posters, so one of them might provide some more information.  "Be good ta be able ta do some repairs on th' house, an' my wagon's all shot full'a holes!" 

She followed him over to the basin that served as a sink and rinsed her dishes as well, musing, "I'd get me an indoor pump with all that money, so's in th' winter I wouldn't hafta tramp through snow ta get water in my kitchen, that'd be right nice."  Having Weedy to care for had her thinking in a more 'domestic' way, considering how she could make life easier and more convenient, and an indoor pump would be a good start!

"Well, Addy, unless you wish to reconsider the evening's entertainment... I think I'll turn in. From what you've told me, it'll be a long day tomorrow, with an arrival in the evening."

"Leastways now, we know we can handle bandits.  Anythin' after that'll be easier'n skinnin' a possum in a snowstorm!"

"Hopefully without the intervention of any bears. That is certainly not the sort of embrace I have been craving."

"Well, there'll be plenty'a opportunity fer embracin' onest we get ta town!"  Grinning, Addy gave him a wink, then pointed to a rope-frame bed at the far side of the cabin.  "She's all tightened up an' ready."  The cot was covered with a feather bed and a couple of quilts.  "Or, there's a pallet I'll toss on th' floor by th' fire.  Gets mighty cold at night, so pick yer poison while I get cleaned up."

She gave him a quick wink, then headed to the porch.  It was getting dark, and cold, so she'd keep her union suit on and get the dust off around that.

Miss
Role
Primary
Nickname
Addy
Birthdate
06/15/1847
Height
5'5
Hair
Auburn
Eyes
Brown
Playby
Clara Paget
Played By

A good person is like a good gun: Reliable to the Last.

Posted Feb 20, 2023 at 12:50 AM

"They say the Romans had indoor water before Christ," Roland observed, "I guess it's taken us a while to catch up."

He studied upon the two options Addy had provided him with, trying to determine which was the more gentlemanly choice.  Should he selfishly take the soft bed, but leave the warm pallet for her?  Or should he give her the bed for its superior softness, and yet be selfishly enjoying the warmth?

It seemed that no matter what he chose, he'd be ungentlemanly in some regard... and not nearly in the way he'd hoped for this evening.

"I think I shall leave the bed to you, dear Addy," Roland declared finally.  "I'll retrieve my shirt from outside, where I hung it up.  It should be half-dry by now, and the fire will help with the remainder."

With the decision made, he followed Addy outside to get his shirt and pay the horses one last visit.  It was brisk out, and becoming more chill by the hour.  Addy knew her business on this frontier.  

When he was out of sight, he slouched against a wall and gave some thought to the day's events.  The ride with Addy.  The brutal fight alongside the rough and ready redhead.  Her bright eyes and quick smile floated in his mind, and he lamented that she wasn't five shades less proper in her comportment.  Dinner had only quelled one of the appetites which the day's events had brought upon him. 

It had been like that in London, too.  He'd eaten ravenously after the attempted robbery.  But like now, there hadn't been a willing vessel for his other desires.

Roland had endured and dished out his share of violence over the years, but he'd managed to live just over four decades without actually killing anyone.  Now he'd shot down four men in the span of ten weeks.  What did that say about the trajectory of his life?  What sort of man was he becoming?

That sobering question helped to dull some of the more inappropriate appetites which had come over him.  He put on his shirt- quite chilled in this weather- and headed back inside.

Tomorrow, they'd do it all again.

Hopefully with less bloodshed.

 

Gunsmith
Role
Primary
Nickname
'Ro'
Birthdate
1/15/35
Height
6'2
Hair
Light Brown
Eyes
Caramel
Playby
Jeremy Irons
Played By

Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'

5'5
Posted Feb 20, 2023 at 10:13 PM

"Reckon I'll take th' bed proper," Addy declared with a grin, "better'n sleepin' under th' wagon on a blanket."  There had been many nights in her life sleeping on the bare earth without even a blanket to put over her, and only recently, when she and Caroline had been in the clutches of them Injuns, she'd been trussed up, with movement restricted, so the options here were both satisfactory.  If it got cold, there were always more blankets, and a stinky buffalo hide to pull over her.

 

She followed Roland outside, respecting that he went to check the horses.  A man in these parts that didn't understand that keeping his horse healthy was the top priority, over his own comfort and even food, was a fool and end up in trouble.

 

As he did that, Addy unabashedly peeled out of her boots, shirt and skirts...the oversized union suit left a lot to the imagination, so it wasn't really much different than when she chose to wear her britches!  Using the pump, she just wetted a towel and scrubbed her face, neck and arms, then sat on the steps and cleaned betwixt her toes. 

 

Gathering her outer clothes, she went back into the station.  "Fergot ta tell ya," she said with a straight face, "him what sleeps by th' fire hasta keep it goin'."  She grinned widely.  "Just toss on a log if it needs it, ain't too hard.  Oh, right, an' don't be surprised if some critter snuggles up to ya fer warmth!"

 

No, there were no critters in the building, except maybe for bugs, the place was sound, nothing as big as a possum or skunk could get in. 

 

"If I snore, just throw somethin' at me!"

Miss
Role
Primary
Nickname
Addy
Birthdate
06/15/1847
Height
5'5
Hair
Auburn
Eyes
Brown
Playby
Clara Paget
Played By

A good person is like a good gun: Reliable to the Last.

Posted Feb 21, 2023 at 11:22 AM

Roland could think of only one critter who was welcome to snuggle up to him in the middle of the night.  Unfortunately, that now seemed an unlikely prospect.

"Rest assured, Addy, I shall keep the home fires burning."  He smirked and dipped his head before settling in for the night.  Keeping the fire going was a small matter.  His main concern was for any fleas or ticks which might be found here among the blankets or furs.  Fortunately, that didn't seem to be a valid concern.  He wasn't plagued by bites or rashes.  

At first, his dreams were pleasant enough.  Vignettes borrowed from his time on the train, or his voyage at sea.  The rolling landscape of the Americas.  The rolling waves of the Atlantic.

Some were darker, waking him in time to refresh the supply of wood in the fireplace before the embers died.

In one, he found himself gunning down bandits who'd sought to rob him.  In the dream, there was no wagon.  Just his nonsensical presence in an expansive desert, being set upon by highwaymen with handkerchiefs covering their faces.  But when he bent down to inspect their bodies of his defeated foe, he found that they all wore his own face.  Then he'd stood up with a start, somehow finding a mirror erected in amber plains which had recently been a rocky desert.  In that mirror, Thorn appeared.  Thorn, who proceeded to leap through the reflection's membrane to throttle him.  Roland's gun vanished, and he was impotent to defend himself as he was choked to death.

Fortunately, after waking with a start and then settling uncomfortably back to sleep, his dreams became pleasant again. 

A montage of smiling faces floated in sunlight, a cascade of various pleasant women he'd met in his travels.  Roland was an admirer of the fairer sex, and could be easily charmed by a smile.  Their countenances melted eventually into Addie's fire-framed grin.  When he woke from that, he found himself grinning, too.

A better rising than he deserved, most probably.

He rose up and stretched, wincing at the messages of complaint from his muscles and joints.  Now past 40 years of age, he found that his body did not recover from something so simple as lying down on imperfect terrain without requiring gentle coaxing.  He supposed that in another couple of decades, he'd find himself hunched over and needing a walking stick.  The inevitable decrepitudes of age often troubled him.  There was so much left for him to do, and precious little time to get started.  

His youth had been wasted.  Now he had to find some way to do great things with his middling years.

Turning about after his stretch to regard Addy, he looked to see if she was awake or asleep.

 

 

Bongo

 

Gunsmith
Role
Primary
Nickname
'Ro'
Birthdate
1/15/35
Height
6'2
Hair
Light Brown
Eyes
Caramel
Playby
Jeremy Irons
Played By

Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'

5'5
Posted Feb 21, 2023 at 8:42 PM

Addy was indeed awake and up, and had been for a short time before Roland, quickly dressing then putting on some water for coffee.  She headed to the barn, where she grabbed her coat from the wagon, fed the horses, and was now chopping some wood in front of the cabin.  The task was a good way to warm up, and the unspoken rule was to replace what you used...no one wanted to seek refuge here and not have an adequate supply of firewood, or to find the place in a shambles, so they'd have to clean up before they left.

 

She glanced up as Roland stepped onto the porch, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes that had come out of her braid.  "Mornin'!"  Frosty fog formed in the path of her words.  "Ya sleep okay?"

 

She'd been aware that he'd done a fine job keeping the fire going, so it was nice and warm inside, but she'd slept soundly and hadn't been aware of any trouble on his part.  Leaning on the axe, she commented, "We'll just munch some biscuits an' bacon once we're on th' road, save time."  No sense in cooking a full breakfast when there was so much to do, what with cleaning the place and hitching the team.  "Get ta town in time fer a nice, proper steak!"  She grinned at the thought.

Miss
Role
Primary
Nickname
Addy
Birthdate
06/15/1847
Height
5'5
Hair
Auburn
Eyes
Brown
Playby
Clara Paget
Played By

A good person is like a good gun: Reliable to the Last.

Posted Feb 22, 2023 at 8:11 AM

"I may have slept better than you," Roland suggested, blinking at her bright-eyed and chipper demeanor, "what ungodly hour did you wake up to?"

He was beginning to get the impression that Addy had a second job waking up the roosters so they could crow at the dawn.

"Biscuits and bacon would suit me just fine right now," Roland considered aloud, his belly managing a slight growl of agreement.  "And steak... Addy, when we get to town, we will murder a whole cow together!"

Clearly, appealing to Roland's appetites was the way to rouse his excitement. 

"Here, let me help you with that wood.  There are probably jobs for our departure that demand more skilled hands than mine."  He was as well educated as any man who hadn't actually attended university, but that didn't equate to useful skills out here on the frontier.  Addy had gone to college at a different kind of school, and doubtless had multiple degrees writ on her mind from hard work and difficult circumstance.

Soon enough, the chores of the morning would be done, and they'd be on their way with biscuits, bacon, and coffee to fuel them.  Coffee was not Roland's favorite beverage, but it was a fine solution to dispel the fog of fading dreams.  They were making dust on the road before long.  Roland's eyes were keener than they had been the day before, scanning the landscape for dangers he'd previously been unconcerned about.

Maybe he was beginning to get his own college course on surviving the frontier. 

At least he had a good teacher.

 

 

Bongo

Gunsmith
Role
Primary
Nickname
'Ro'
Birthdate
1/15/35
Height
6'2
Hair
Light Brown
Eyes
Caramel
Playby
Jeremy Irons
Played By