Episode Seven - Two Mules for Sister Mary Clarence

From Black Country Role Playing Society

Quick as a flash, Nameless shoots the rifle out of the Injun’s hands.

Startled, he puts his hands up,

‘What’s your name, son?’ asks Tony.

‘Runnin’ Buffalo.’ he replies.

‘Sos, whys you pointin’ your rifle at us, boy?’ says Nameless.

‘Because we’ve been surrounded by the Blackfoot in this valley for some days now.’

‘We?’ says Diamondback.

‘Yes. Come I’ll show you.’

Runnin’ Buffalo leads them down a rocky gully in the blazin’ heat.

‘I’ve been hired to lead some nuns and children to the city – but we’ve been followed for five days now. For the last three days, we’ve hidden here.’

They come to an openin’ in the gully and upon two wagons, set in a v-formation and directly in front of a cave entrance with a rock overhang.

‘How are the nuns and kids, lad?’, enquires Si.

‘They seem fine – tired, if anythin’. The children are scared.’

After little deliberation, Si decided to enters the cave. The rest of the group stay outside discussin’ plans. He eventually comes across the nuns and children – tired and scared, as Buffalo said. And now startled.

‘Don’t be alarmed – I’m here to help’, say Si. ‘I’m a doctor.’

‘And I’m Sister Mary Clarence’, states a nun with a strong face with warm eyes, glintin’ from the candle light. ‘You need to attend to the children, Doctor. However, judgin’ by your hat, perhaps you are also in need of savin’?’

Si removes his stove-pipe hat and ‘admires’ it. It’s bite and bullet ridden.

‘Perhaps…’, he mutters under his breath.

‘LEAVE OR DIE!’, bellows a voice to the group outside.

‘But…’, says Tony.

Suddenly, a bullet whizzes through the air and removes Tony’s hat from his head.

‘LEAVE OR WE WILL KILL THE SISITERS OF YOUR GOD’, states the voice.

‘Blackfoot’, says Runnin’ Buffalo.

‘Thirty of them’, says Diamondback, scannin’ around the gully, pointin’ out the hidden ones.

‘Times to get my kills quota up’, says Nameless, and promptly starts to shoot at the Injuns, whilst the rest of the group scatter – Diamondback skulks off to circle them, Tony (mutterin’ about the shooter of his hat being’ a cheeky mother) leads the rest of the party to use the wagons as cover.

‘Jesus, what’s that wailin’?’, shouts Nameless under the hail of bullets.

‘It’s the nuns’, says Si, emergin’ from the cave, ready to join the fray. ‘The Mother Superior is leadin’ them in some hymn called ‘Climb Every Mountain.’

‘Times to get my kills quota up – even more!’, grins Nameless, producin’ a couple of sticks of dynamite. He starts to throw them at the swarm of Injuns convergin’ on the wagon, shootin’ the fuses whilst they are in mid-air., causin’ them to explode on impact – on the Injuns.

‘Is it too early to talk about your surrender?’, asks Tony, takin’ out another Injun.

Meanwhile, Diamondback finds a number of Injuns, sneakin’ up on the wagons, havin’ managed to get behind them. He proceeds to pick them off, shootin’ and scalpin’.

‘So, shall we talk about your surrender now?’ asks Tony to the only two survivin’ Injuns, captured and trussed up like Christmas turkeys, kneelin’ and surveyin’ the scene of dead and dyin’ Injuns, with Nameless, puttin’ the one out of their misery, utterin’,

‘Fifty-five…’

‘BANG!’

‘Fifty-six…’

‘BANG!’

‘Fifty-seven…’

‘We do not surrender, pale-face’, says one of the Injuns.

‘Okay’, says Nameless.

‘BANG!’

‘Fifty-eight…’

‘What, in the name of God’ is happening’ here?’, shouts a stunned Sister Mary Clarence, leadin’ the other nuns and children from the cave mouth.

‘We’re questioning’ these Injuns. We want to know if they’ve recently captured any white women recently’, says Tony, who shoots a glance at Si.

‘Well, this is awful. It’s tantamount to torture. These are God’s children.’ proclaims the Mother Superior.

Tony stares at her. Then, at the one remainin’ Injun.

‘Do you believe in God?

‘They are all witches’, defiantly states the Injun, cockin’ his head towards the nuns.

‘There you are’, says Tony. ‘Anyway, we’re not torturing’ anyone’

‘Found him!’, shouts Diamondback, descending’ from the valley, holding’ in his one hand, what appears to be the scalp of an Injun. ‘Here’s the bastard that shot your hat from your head – well, part of him.’

‘WAAAHHH!’, shriek the children, who start to cry, scream and run, hiding’ behind the nuns.

‘Barbarians!’, says Sister Mary Clarence. ‘I will make you realise the error of your ways, by the word of the Lord!’ ‘This man,’ she continues, pointin’ at the Injun ‘requires my help. I will covert him – and then all of you.’ And then, breaks into song.

‘Great – Christian Blackfoot Injuns’, says Nameless dryly.

‘Nameless’, says Tony.

‘Tony.’

‘You do realise, that if it comes to it, you may have to do some serious killing’.’

‘I’s don’t kills nuns. And I’s don’t kills children’

‘I don’t want you to kill women.’

‘No. I’s kills women. I’s just don’t kills nuns and children.’

Eventually, after some discussion (about directions and divinity (which includes a card game between Tony and Sister Mary Clarence, the stake for Tony being his conversion to Christianity, which luckily for him, he wins) and further interrogation of the ‘converted’ Injun, they decide to leave, headin’ west, to find the rest of the Blackfoot encampment whilst leadin’ the nuns and the children some of the way to the city.

After some time, they arrive at a ridge over the Blackfoot encampment of about forty wigwams, wagons and countless maraudin’ and battle-hungry Blackfoot Injuns.

‘This. This is a tough one’, says Si.

‘I will get the girl’, says the Christ-jun

‘What?’, says Nameless startled.

‘I will get the girl. They trust me. I will get her and bring’ her back. They know, by my presence that I will have failed, as I’m the only one to return back. They will at least allow me access, but not their respect. ‘

‘Wonderful!’, says Sister Mary Clarence, ‘but before you do that, I will lead us in a song.’

‘We’ve pulled some amazing’ stuff’, says Tony above a chorus of nuns, children and the Christ-jun singing, ‘Doe a Deer’,

‘A nun turns up – and it turns to shit. And then, a converted Injun decides to play f**kin’ Ippy-Whippy around a tee-pee.’

‘That ain’t happenin’. He’lls have to sin’s ‘Kum-by-a’ and f**kin’ shoots me before that happens’, says Nameless. Who then calmly walks up to the Christ-jun, drags him by his hair some feet away from the ridge, pulls out his knife and stabs him in the throat. As the Christ-jun slumps, garglin’ on his blood and convulsin’ to the ground, blood spurtin’ over Nameless’ boots, Nameless utters,

‘Fifty-nine…’

‘JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH!’, says a furious Sister Mary Clarence. ‘You, Nameless Smith, WILL burn in Hell for your blood-thirsty disregard for all that is holy and sacred. I will now dig a grave, bury this poor creature and lead us all in prayer for his soul swift journey to Heaven.’,

Realisin’ this could be a blessing’ in disguise, the rest of the party leave the nuns and children with Runnin’ Buffalo to conduct the ceremony and sneak down to the encampment.

Suddenly, they see a congregation of Injuns, hurriedly headin’ to the centre of the camp. There, on a wooden podium, is a shaman of considerable appearance, bristlin’ with some kind of unexplainable power. And there, bound and gagged among a clutch of young frightened girls in their undergarments…,

‘Rebecca..’, breathes Si.

But before he and the rest of the party can react, the shaman raises his staff in the air, incants some words…

…and Rebecca vanishes in a flash and swirl of blue light.

‘NOOOOOOOOOOO!’, wails Si….

TO BE CONTINUED

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