Posted May 4, 2022 / Weedy
Sniffling a bit and wiping his nose on his sleeve, Weedy nodded, taking Josh's hand as they went back into the kitchen. Having his little cousin here gave him a chore, after all, he was so much older at ten, and had to be strong for the younger kid.
"There's tater pie, too," Weedy muttered. "Just, Miz Addy is late getting home." He shot Arabella a look, challenging her to keep her mouth shut! "We're going to play pirates later, aren't we, Arabella? Maybe we should set the table for supper."
Not that he particularly cared about food right now, and he was hoping that Uncle Isiah and he could set out to find Addy themselves, but he wanted to keep Josh occupied. "Arabella said we can tie her up and tickle her, that sounds like fun, doesn't it?"
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
Posted May 5, 2022 / Arabella Mudd
"There's tater pie, too," Weedy muttered. "Just, Miz Addy is late getting home." He shot Arabella a look, challenging her to keep her mouth shut! "We're going to play pirates later, aren't we, Arabella? Maybe we should set the table for supper."
Arabella shut the oven door, she was keeping an eye on that pie and hoping against hope that the newcomers might leave before it was divied up! Weedy was leading an even smaller boy in and, well, her heart just melted: he was just so like her poor little brother Johnny, she could almost imagine that he'd popped down from Heaven to visit with her in this hour of peril.
"Why sure we are Porter, and who is this young gentleman, pray tell?" she asked, crouching down a little to greet him, though at 5'3" she hardly towered over them.
"Arabella said we can tie her up and tickle her, that sounds like fun, doesn't it?"
"It ain't fun for me, boys!" she countered, trying to make it sound even more appealing "You don't know what a lady goes through when she has her bare feet tickled." she said coyly "But I put up with it because it adds vermicelli-tude to the game - that means it makes it seem more realistic - y'know them pirates was always devisin' fiendish tortures to make folks tell 'em where their buried treasure was hid." she informed them in hushed tones, adding an arcane allure to the make-believe game.
"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
Posted May 5, 2022 / Jemima Wigfall
“Ms. Wigfall, with all due respect I have no desire for a stiff drink, but I do have a desire to go out and help the Calvary rescue my sister.” He spoke with urgency as he continued. “Please, don’t waste a moment with any other information you may have on her situation."
Jemima nodded and, in her flat nasal voice, told what she knew as succinctly and as swiftly as possible.
"Well, all right. Seems the stage got hit sometime late this morning on the road to Helena. Friend of my brother called Jake Lutz found it, Addy's shotgun feller and two passengers killed and mutilated, Addy and Miss Mundee from the saloon missing..." she frowned at the thought of the beautiful and glamourous singer, who was everything that she was not "... she ain't a fit person for you to know!" she couldn't help informing the handsome Mr. Chappel "Anyway, a party went out from the Fort this afternoon under Captain Barlow: if anyone can find them, he can, he's an experienced man and he's got Indian scouts and everything."
She then pointedly added another fact.
"Jake wanted to go with them but they wouldn't allow it: in fact they threatened to throw him in the stockade if he tried to follow the Troop, they said civilians just got in the way of Army operations." This was clearly aimed at Isiah's insistence on going along and helping. However she narrowed her piggy little back eyes at the restless and rugged looking widower.
"But, Mr Chappel, I don't think something like that would stop a man like you from trying to find his sister. I think I know the place where the attack must've happened from what Hector said, it'd take hours for you to find it in the dark." for indeed, the Sun was now setting in the Western sky "Sir, I've lived here all my life: I know a short cut through the pass, I can ride and I know how to use a gun: I can guide you there." she said simply.
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
Posted May 5, 2022 / Isiah Chappel / MD (Player left)
Josh listened as Weedy explained to him that there was even more food and that the reason for all this ruckus was that his Aunt Addy was late getting back. At 5 years old Josh didn't catch that cutting eye that Weedy gave Arabella daring her to say something more about Addy. So he wasn't concerned at all. Addy'd be back! He just tore off another piece of ham and listened as they talked about the game they'd get to play. Pirates! That sounded fun. His eyes widened as he pulled his knees underneath him to help him sit up taller in his chair.
"There's treasure?!" Now that sounded like something darn amazin'! And getting to hold Arabella hostage and tickle her 'til she told 'em where the treasure was, this was going to be great! Josh had heard about pirates before... "My grandpappy told me 'bout a pirate named Black Beard. Ya'll heard of him before?" Now that he'd asked them if they heard of him, he realized he didn't much remember the story his pappy had told him so he didn't know if he could tell them about it or not. Maybe he could just make somethin' up!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Josh could feel himself nearly getting sick to his stomach as he listened to the scene that had been conveyed to Ms. Jemima. Addy and a Miss Mundee both taken and not a part of the massacre, but what was happening to them? What were those Indian men doing? The thoughts repulsed him and he hoped that wild imaginative thoughts that were playing in his mind wasn't what was playing out for his sister. If those Indians so much as laid a finger on her! His blood was boiling. Jemima was exactly right, there was no way that he was staying back here and just waiting. He turned and rushed towards the living room where he'd been sleeping and where he'd kept his belongings. He spoke in a rush...and that because he was in one.
"There ain't no way I can take you with me Ms. Jemima. I need you here with those youngin's." He spoke over his shoulder as he got to his sleeping quarters and pulled out his revolver and starting checking it for ammunition. As he did this he looked up at the woman. "You think you can give me directions on how ta get there?" He knew nothing about the area. It was probably stupid on his part to go at it alone, but he knew he'd find a way. He'd say extra prayers tonight, pray to God, whom he was angry with right now for many a reasons, to help him find his way and for Jemima to give him clear enough instructions to at least get headed in the right direction.
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
Posted May 5, 2022 / Arabella Mudd
"There's treasure?!" Now that sounded like something darn amazin'!
"Well, no, course there ain't no real treasure!" Arabella frowned. She jerked a thumb at Josh and looked at Weedy, "How old's he?" she asked.
"My grandpappy told me 'bout a pirate named Black Beard. Ya'll heard of him before?"
"Oh sure!" Arabella waved her hand dismissively "Everybody knows him, he's the feller as used to set his own beard alight to scarify his enemies. Course my Pa did that once, too, but that was more by way of an accident. Had to throw a whole potty full of... well a whole potty at him to put it out or the whole shack'd 've gone up." she painted a vivid picture of life in the chaotic Mudd household before she was orphaned.
Arabella leaned forward in her chair and waved the two boys in to her, conspiratorially, her eyes round, her voice low, as she told them: "Now, Blackbeard was bad, but did you two ever hear of... Purple Beard?!!!" She looked around, to make sure no censoring ears heard her and stopped her polluting young minds with tales of this notorious buccaneer of the West Indies.
Before she could begin to tell them about the atrocities committed by her fictional Torturer of the Tortugas Jemima came stomping in with Isiah, her face even more unhappy, if not outright angry, than ever. She had offered to help the man find his sister but had been sent away with a flea in her ear. No doubt if she'd been pretty like Caroline Mundee or Anaesthesia Orr, he would have accepted her offer and taken her along. Well, he could go and get lost on the prairie in the dark as far as she was concerned: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Posted May 6, 2022 / Weedy
"Purple?" Weedy frowned, not sure that he believed that for a minute, nor that people set their own faces on fire, that didn't make any sense, but this was just tall-tale-telling anyway, right? So the taller the tale, the better! "Didn't he have birds in his..."
But then the adults came back in, and he looked at his Uncle. Jemima seemed upset, but then, weren't they all?
"Are you going to help Miz Addy?" he asked, although, even he knew the folly of going out this late. "Maybe we should wait here?" He could feel his heart starting to race in his chest. "Just stay and let the cavalry bring her?"
His Ma, Jay, now Miz Addy...he didn't want to lose Uncle Isiah, too.
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
Posted May 6, 2022 / Isiah Chappel / MD
Josh was on the edge of his seat as Arabella started telling them about Purple Beard. Being so young his imagination was about as wild as it came and so young that his imagination could almost seem like real world stuff to him! He could already see Purple Beard and Black Beard in a battle, and Josh wanted ta know all about it!! He couldn't hide the twinge of disappointment he felt when Arabella told him there really wasn't no treasure.
But then his Pa and Jemima came storming back into the kitchen and Jemima was mad!
Isiah followed Jemima back into the kitchen, walking and putting his gun belt into place around his waist at the same time. What had happened? Everything was just fine, Jemima was giving him all sorts of information, being a mighty big help ta him and then storming off angry??? Just like a woman!
"What's tha matter?!" Isiah asked as he glanced to Weedy and motioned for him to come towards him. "There ain't no place out there for you. You need to stay back here, mind these children and let me go out and handle these Indian matters! Now, please Ms. Jemima, some directions!" He demanded, feeling angry now for many reasons. He knew he was behind the pack, that the Calvary was already headed towards her, to rescue her, but there won't no way he'd just sit back here. Little did he know he was many many hours behind them and there was no way he'd catch up.
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
Posted May 7, 2022 / Arabella Mudd
"What's tha matter?!" Isiah asked as he glanced to Weedy and motioned for him to come towards him. "There ain't no place out there for you. You need to stay back here, mind these children and let me go out and handle these Indian matters! Now, please Ms. Jemima, some directions!"
Arabella watched Mr Chappel get quite irate with Jemima, and she could guess why: her friend was always saying an doing the wrong thing with men, especially handsome ones. As for Addy's brother, well, he clearly wanted to be 'doing something', if only to assuage his manly pride.
"Oh, just tell him!" she encouraged the frowsy girl.
"All right. well, a mile south of the muddy creek there's a draw and right of the sward there there's a tree with a bent branch and if you follow the direction the way that branch is pointing for half a mile there's this other tree that looks a bit like an old bent crooked man. Three yards to the left there's a big bush that conceals a narrow pass. You follow that and it comes out in the trees near the place where I reckon the savages must've hit the stage." she droned on in her monotonous voice.
Arabella caught Isiah's eye "Well that's as clear as mud. I reckon she'd better go and you stay here." she opined, and not completely in jest.
Weedy / Posted May 7, 2022
Weedy's nose wrinkled up at his uncle's admonition, and the blunt delivery. The man surely wouldn't be talking to him like that if he'd been older...but heck, he was almost eleven! Not only that, but he and Miss Addy had been taking care of each other for a long time before Isiah showed up, and he took care of the horses when she was gone...Sure, he was only ten, but he was a man!
Still, he was a kid, and he had no choice but to do what grown-ups told him to do, even if it did rankle his hide. But at least Uncle Isiah had given him the role of looking after the ladies, like a real man would do, even though the 'ladies' in question lived somewhere else and were the ones helping him to cope!
"Yes, sir," he muttered, but then he perked up at the convoluted directions that were given. "Hey! I know that tree!"
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
Posted May 10, 2022 / Isiah Chappel
Isiah waited with expectation as Jemima finally started to give him the directions he so desperately needed to at least try and find the search party that was out there finding his sister. At first she had him hook, line, sinker, but then the more she went on he realized just what she was doing and it did make him mad! He was about to speak the very words that Arabella said as he caught her eye.
Arabella caught Isiah's eye "Well that's as clear as mud. I reckon she'd better go and you stay here." she opined, and not completely in jest.
"You got that right." Isaiah muttered as he grabbed a chair from the kitchen table and pulled it out, slinking down into it, feeling a bit defeated, worried, angry....everything all at once. He pat the seat for Weedy to come sit back down. He won't going nowhere. At least not at the moment. He realized he'd upset Jemima and that was not his intention.
"Ms. Jemima, I didn't mean to speak so harshly. I just want to find her. And I don't want to go dragging anyone else out there that don't have ta be. I've seen my fair share of blood shed and gore ..." because of the war... "and it ain't something you can un-see. I don't want no one to have to through that, that don't have to." Then quickly he realized that perhaps what he had said could elude that there may be blood shed and gore to be seen at the hands of Addy and anyone else that had been with her. "Not that I'm expectin' there ta be any for those that are rescued....but I do hate ta see what's going to happen to those Indians!" Because he knew had he been there and got his hands on any of those Indians that had gotten a hold of Addy .... well it wouldn't be pretty!
Isiah had no appetite but he could tell everyone was hungry. "Why don't ya'll eat and then maybe Weedy and I, and whoever else wants, can go into town and see if anyone there's gotten any news?"