Episode Three - The Three Amigos
From Black Country Role Playing Society
The boys rise early the next morning (10 ish) and go to meet Pete at the sheriffs’ office to get the waiver signed. The waiver simply states that should anything happen to Pete that they will not be held responsible. With the agreement signed they load the wagon, get their horses and set off.
The sun bearable at the moment, promises another scorcher of a day. “Well boys” Pete drawls in his Texan accent, “Should oni tek a couple o’ ‘ours to get there” Nameless Smith looks at his watch, “Hey lighten up you can kill him at 11:59 tonight if you don’t kill anything else today” quips Tony Hart, Nameless just nods his approval and Tony has to do a double take to see if he is joking.
Buzzards fly overhead and circle the group licking their beaks in anticipation.
“Hey! Smith, I’ll give you a buck if you can shoot that fat one down”
“What you gonna do with that Tony” asks Jack
“Eat it o’ course”
“What! Eat buzzard, it’s a filthy animal dunno what you could catch off that”
“Tastes like turkey”
“You’ve eaten it before”
“Sure have, Well how about shootin’ it Mr Smith” with out any obvious effort and in the blink of an eye Nameless draws his pistol fires and holsters the weapon. The buzzard lands with its head blown off, just ready for plucking. Impressed Tony pays up.
They ride.
A movement in the distance catches Tony’s eye. A figure is trying to hide behind a cactus; the figure seems to get a bit to close and knocks the cactus which (probably due to the very little rain it has had recently) tumbles on top of him. “Aw crap”
Tony rolls his eyes; he’d know that high pitched Spanish accent anywhere and turns his steed towards the hapless figure. Jack and Smith follow asking what he has seen, Tony just points, Smith draws his gun and Tony motions him to put it away. By the time they get close to the figure, it has wiggled its way loose of the cactus and is removing needles from his backside.
“Hi Ace, are you using our fathers surname now”
“Sure am, I’m Ace Hart”
“Guys, this is my half brother, Ace”
“Yeah I can see the resemblance now it’s the ears”
“Ooh Your right Mr Smith, the ears I can see it now”
“What you mean the ears Jack, we ain’t got the same ears”
“You have”
“’fraid so Tony”
“Bugger”
“Not being funny but aren’t you of the Spanish persuasion Ace” asks Mr Smith
“I am”
“So you have different mothers then”
“We sure do, my mother was Barbara Hole” Stifling his laughter Mr Smith continues
“So who’s the elder brother then?”
“That would be me” Tony admits glumly.
Pete rides over to them, “Who’s that varmint?”
“That’s Tony’s brother “Ace””
“Yeah he’s a real card” Tony mutters.
“I can see it now, it’s the ears”
“We don’t have the same ears!!”
“Sorry Tony you do”
“Well don’ you go telling him about the gold” Pete claps his hands over his mouth.
“What the gold in the mine in that mountain” Ace asks pointing to the place they were headed to.
“Have you got a map, I don’t think so” Pete says triumphantly.
“I have” Ace pulls out his map and it is identical. Tony looks at Pete,
“So tell me again why we need you Pete” Pete looks nervous, with good cause, as Mr Smith loosens the gun holster for a quick draw.
“’Cause I have a map of the second floor and there is only one of those and I have it” looking triumphant with his winning argument, Pete turns the wagon back to the way the were going and says “Our party is one member stronger now”
The rest of the journey to the mine is uneventful, they tether the horses to a dead tree branch and head off into the mine. The air is cool and out of the sun it’s slightly chilly. They follow the only path down and very soon it is pitch black Pete leads the way and lights his lantern, they carry on down till they reach a huge cavern the path is small with a massive drop to the side. A rope bridge crosses the expanse and with a little deliberation Ace is the first to cross. He sets off with a rope secured to a rock and tied to his waist. The bridge is old, wobbly and creaks a fair amount about half way across Ace losses his footing and sends a plank crashing to the cavern floor with Ace following shortly behind it. A pure reflex reaction, Jack grabs the end of the rope and halts Ace’s descent, Tony ties another rope around himself and goes to help his dangling brother. Working as a team they haul Ace up and Tony offers Ace his hand and pulls him back onto the bridge. Not saying a word he motions Ace to continue, he doesn’t even take a step before he slips but before he can fall Tony grabs him, rolls his eyes and tells Ace to stay still. Tony makes it to the other side, secures the rope to another rock. They come across one by one.
“Anyone got a bell”
“Yeah I’m sure I packed one Nameless” jibes Jack. Tony rigs together a frying pan and a ladle to make a rudimentary alarm. They head off down another tunnel which descends quite rapidly. They haven’t got very far when they hear the ladle smacking the pan, they rush back up to see who it is. The bridge has collapsed and only the rope is spanning the gap now.
“Do you think anyone was on it?”
“I didn’t hear anyone scream Jack” says Nameless
“Could have been the coolest person ever to fall off a bridge though couldn’t it”
Nameless concedes the point. And they carry on down the tunnel.
An eerie noise comes up the tunnel which casts a chill down their spines, another step and they hear it again, petrified Ace refuses to carry on, Nameless rushes back to grab a stiff drink and Pete just starts whimpering. Tony pushes Ace aside and steps on a wet patch on the floor, “Goddamn it Ace! “ Jack accompanies him and the two of them set off, the noise grows stronger and they appear in another large cavern fresh air blows and the sound is the wind on an Eolian Harp. They decide to have a bit of fun and start taking it down. Just as they are nearly finished Nameless walks and asks what they are doing, they tell him they are planning on scaring the other two and Nameless agrees to help. They blow on the pipes as hard as they can and Nameless fires his gun and screams. Ace comes to his senses and is unaffected but Pete fills his drawers and runs off, Nameless goes after him.
The tunnel splits into two and they choose the left path to follow. This opens out into a largish room and in it are 12 sleeping rolls. Examining the room and the fire they reckon it has been about twelve hours since anyone was last here. Nameless Smith ransacks the place and finds five gold Doubloons with the stamp of Tortugas on them. Tony starts cooking and the rest hide in ambush. No one comes. After two hours no one comes. They eat the food Tony cooked and Nameless puts his head down for an hour.
Once more they set off down the tunnel, this time however they can hear running water, the tunnel opens out into a large cave. Inside the cave Nameless motions everyone to stop and be quiet. Tony goes over to see what the problem is.
Two rifle men wearing the southern uniform and Dixie flag, look their way but don’t notice them and another ten are loading cases onto a waiting gunship. Tony and Nameless discuss what needs to be done. Ace on the other hand try’s to hide but fails miserably and the rifle men take pot shots at him.
Bullets start flying as Nameless and Tony decide to throw sticks of dynamite at them, Nameless hurls a stick of dynamite into an open window on the boat. Bullets Start flying in all directions as Jack picks another one off Tony hurls some more dynamite and bags a few. The opposition soon crumbles under superior fire power (mainly accuracy) and dynamite charges.
“How many you reckon on that boat Tony” asks Nameless, “Twenty, maybe”
“Seem to recall those things carried about thirty five crew Mr Smith”
“Whoo that’s thirty five more for me and another day for Pete” Jack hearing the conversation ambles over,
“To confirm it Nameless, you going to have to go down there and check it out” “You maybe right Jack”
Nameless Smith is about to set off when an explosion from one of the cannons on the ship strikes the rocks above where they are standing. Rocks start to fall and………
Queue adverts, “You wouldn’t shoot a man eating a Texan bar would You?”
On to Episode Four - A Tale of Two Cowboys Part One
Back to The BCRPS Bandoleers o' Bandits Campaign page
