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Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Meltintalle » Sep 12, 2019 8:19 pm

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"It's the family business," Anthony explained. "Everyone, from old aunt Ruth to sister Sally's latest prodigy is expected to know how to coax a note from just about anything. I started with a rattle and worked my way up. You're not half bad yourself."

He stared despondently at the door. "Did you see if I left my violin inside? How soon will Hugh open?"
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby aileth » Sep 12, 2019 11:21 pm

Walk: In a Fog

Starting with surprise, Molly peered into the shadows. "Oh, it's you, Faye! I was just going to take a stroll, check out what the town's like. Maybe go out into the country a bit, get a bit of fresh air, and see if there's a decent hill to climb. Nothing like a good brisk walk before breakfast, as my Gramps used to say. You want to come, too?"

Her attention was caught by something white dangling from the window above. "That's odd," she said, grabbing it and giving it a firm tug. "It's a sheet. Do you suppose that this is an ordinary way of exiting the boarding-house?" Then she shrugged. "Oh well, guess I've seen odder things in my time."
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Lady Arwen » Sep 12, 2019 11:36 pm

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Harry chuckled.

“Well, I make do with what I’ve got,” he said. “My kid sister—she’s a Ruth too, good name—has this little harp she plays, and she makes it sing. Kind of like you with your strings.”

He paused, listening to Anthony’s question.

“Hugh’s not likely to be about for a while, but it’ll open soon; the kids have school in the back room. I guess if you wait a half hour or so, someone with a key will be along. I’ll wait with you, if you’d like.”
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Meltintalle » Sep 13, 2019 1:20 pm

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"What, afraid I'll do something rash?" wondered Anthony, who was wondering the same thing. How far was he willing to go, assuming this was a dream? "I'm just a guy with a violin. Except I don't have my violin. How'd you end up here, anyway?"
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Lady Arwen » Sep 13, 2019 11:45 pm

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Harry chuckled.

“I sell insurance, so I follow the money makers. They’re supposed to be makin’ this place some fancy sort of hot springs resort, but if hasn’t been goin the way most folks expected it. I thought it’d be a good bet to be here when the rich folks started rollin’ in, but with all the delays, I haven’t seen a rat’s whisker of luck. Shoulda stayed back east.”
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Meltintalle » Sep 14, 2019 6:21 am

Walk: By the Tavern

Anthony made idle conversation. "I'm no expert on resorts, but I've heard that iffn you build it they'll come. What's the trouble? Hot springs dry up?"
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Ryadian » Sep 14, 2019 9:28 am

Walk: In A Fog

"Not a bad idea. I'm not getting back to sleep any time soon..." '...and maybe get a few answers about this place.' She silently added. Molly seemed in too good a mood to bring up that idea. When Molly found the sheet, Faye had to stare at it in bewilderment for a couple of moments. Why...? The two of them had made it out with no trouble, why would someone resort to this? She glanced up - it hadn't come from their room, it must've come from the men's bedroom. 'I hope it wasn't Cody.' She thought to herself.

But, with no sign of any injured would-be escapees, the pair decided to move on. They went behind the boarding house, away from the main street, hoping to get away from the main street and the rest of town. Frankly, Faye didn't really want to run into any townsfolk at this point and have to try to explain themselves.

Before they'd gotten far, however, the morning mist grew thicker and thicker, until it was a solid fog. Faye squinted and peered, but she could make nothing of the landscape ahead through the fog. She glanced back. The fog wasn't nearly so thick behind them - she could still see where they'd came from. She shivered, and not because of the morning cold.
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Lady Arwen » Sep 14, 2019 10:08 am

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“Nah, Sol has been doin’ his best, but there’s been a mess of issues with gettin’ supplies. They thought the townsfolk would see the opportunities industry bring and jump on board, but none of ‘em have jumped an inch. When Sol first came out, he set orders from back east that were low.”

Anthony had hit on Town gossip, and two of the sources of Harry’s personal woes, so the insurance salesman had no trouble divulging the most pertinent information.

“First off, they’re havin’ to build awful far out, not near the edge of town as they were supposed to,” he continued, “they thought they’d be buyin’ the land from the gov’ment, but Hugh an’ Benjamin made it down to the courthouse while they were all busy surveyin’ and bought it up. Took all their money to do it, if I heard correctly, but folks was handin’ ‘em cash as they rode out of town. They wired back right away when they got it, an’ Grace set up to sniping the heels of anyone who set foot on it.”

He paused and looked mournfully at his own shoes.

“I had such a nice pair of oxfords....”
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby aileth » Sep 14, 2019 10:17 am

Walk: In a Fog

The fog really stuck in your throat, Molly found, making you want to cough. She had heard about pea-soup fogs before, but had never experienced one so thick. She pushed on a bit farther, hearing rather than seeing that Faye was right behind her. They were just past the last of the buildings when she paused, trying to make out any features beyond. Common sense dictated that they should stop now. No point getting lost in the middle of nowhere. But what was that? It looked like a bridge--a low wooden bridge with handrails. Measuring the distance, Molly decided it might be safe to go that far.

"What do you think, Faye? There's not much chance to see anything, and it'd be a bit awkward if we got lost and they had to send out a search party. I'd like to check out that bridge, and then perhaps we'd better head back. So much for a exploratory morning walk," she grinned ruefully.

The bridge crossed a deep-cut creekbed, bone-dry at the moment, but showing evidence
of a vigorous spring runoff. That wasn't what made Molly gasp, though.

"Faye, look! Isn't that the boarding-house?" She pointed off the far end of the bridge. "Have we gotten so turned around that we've done a full circle, or is there something else going on?"
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Meltintalle » Sep 14, 2019 5:17 pm

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"Sol give you the hot tip?" wondered Anthony. He leaned against the side of the tavern, trying to peer through the early morning mist and guess what color would appear next. He missed the pockets in his regular jacket. They were the perfect height for casual lounging. Sticking his hands in the bag pockets of his trousers didn't give the same effect. "You know what bothers me the most? I never did get to hear Grace play Jingle Bells. I was looking forward to that, and then y'all turned on me like a pack of lizards."
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Lady Arwen » Sep 15, 2019 1:15 am

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“Hey, I’m just doin’ my best to not get shot myself,” Harry chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, there ain’t a nicer, friendlier group of people. They’d give you the shirt right off their backs. But by golly, don’t try an’ corner ‘em. Nobody’s as scary as some of them, not even Sol or Pat. Pat’s done his best to get to know them, and they tolerate him some. Sol on the other hand, well, if I was in his shoes, I’dda shut the project down months ago, cut my losses, and left. Most of the time, people think the sheriff is there to protect the good people from the bad. In this town, though, it’s the opposite. Someone needs to keep the bad people safe from the good ‘uns.”
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Meltintalle » Sep 15, 2019 1:39 pm

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Anthony frowned, puzzling over what he'd just heard. "How'd you figure the difference between the bad un's and the good?"
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Lady Arwen » Sep 16, 2019 12:52 am

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“Well....” Harry frowned—this was an odd question. “The good ones are good an’ the bad ones are bad.”

He paused, then laughed.

“I guess I’ve been here so long I’ve been countrified. Grace would say the only good people are kids and folks like Miz Babbit, and it’s the job of the bad people to keep them safe from the worst people. Let me put it to ya this way. If ya decided to go rustlin’ and grab some calves from the herd Benjamin’s watchin’ over, he’d shoot ya. Wouldn’t matter if you were a boy or a man, if it was day or night, if you were far or close enough to put a hand on. He’d shoot ya, and no one’d bat an eye, cause it was just desserts. That was they way this town was afore Sheriff Milner came in—before there was a jail. Folks say it was a real wild place back then, but everyone trusts him to be fair and just. Nobody pays more for their wrongs than they ought, and nobody gets away with sins unduly. He’s probably the one person keepin’ the re-zort builders alive, else they’d have been run off long ago, people here are so hurt about it.”
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Meltintalle » Sep 16, 2019 5:28 pm

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"Sounds like there's probably a story about when Sheriff Milner arrived," said Anthony. "Or maybe a song?"

He stared out into the fog. It'd be a pretty picture, right out of the movies, a lawman arriving at dawn, on a big white horse, dispensing justice with a fair and even hand. It wasn't quite the life the doctor had described in his lecture, but so far, Anthony's experience was more flare than hard work.
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby stargazer » Sep 16, 2019 8:26 pm

Walk: A Dark and Foggy Night

Dan Baxter gradually came awake and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He looked down to see he’d fallen asleep in a hard wooden chair, still dressed Old West-style. Ugh, it wasn’t a nightmare.

It might have been fun if things had gone a little differently. He knew his wife and older daughter enjoyed dressing up all fancy-like, though modern fabrics were much more comfortable than what he had on now.

“I’m glad we left the kids at home,” he muttered under his breath, glad they didn’t have to worry about them as they had on the earlier adventure on the Titan IC. “I hope Angie’s all right.”

He got up, splashed some cold water on his face, and decided he looked good enough to go find his wife.

“And once I find her, we’re just going to walk out of town until we're out.” There wasn’t much to lose by trying, he reckoned.

---

Angie, meanwhile, had a somewhat more restful night. She’d found sleepwear in her room and managed to change. Now she donned another of the old-style dresses and was ready to find her husband and face the day.

She smiled as she heard a bird call coming from outside, and pushed the curtain aside to see him grinning at her. He gestured for her to join him.

“What’s up?” she whispered once they had met. It just seemed natural to speak softly in the early morning light.

“I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of this and I’m ready to go home.”

“Okay, but how do we do that?”

“Maybe we just walk out. Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and led her away from the small cluster of buildings.

Unfortunately, they didn’t know that Molly and Faye had already unsuccessfully tried something similar. They could have saved some trouble if they had, though Dan probably would have wanted to try anyway.

Morning fog was common where they came from so they had no worries when they ran into it here. But it didn’t take long for them to realize this was no ordinary fog as it got thicker and thicker.

“I can’t see a thing,” Angie said, taking some comfort from her husband’s touch as she gripped his hand even tighter.

“I can’t either. Wait, I think it’s thinning out a little.”

“How can that be the boarding house? Did we get turned around?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve heard of people going in circles when they’re lost in the woods or something, so that could be it.”

“I think I see Molly and Faye over there.” Angie pointed. “Let’s see what they have to say.”

‘Great idea,” Dan said. He began humming a familiar tune until he got to the passage he wanted. Then he cleared his throat and did a terrible Don Henley impersonation:

“You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”
But all night, Aslan and the Moon gazed upon each other with joyful and unblinking eyes.
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Re: Mansion: Winning Your Spurs

Postby Lady Arwen » Sep 17, 2019 2:22 pm

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((OOC: you’re not going to make me write poetry now, are you?? ;)) ))

“Now, The Ballad of Sheriff Milner doesn’t sound like a half bad idea,” Harry said thoughtfully, pulling his harmonica out of his pocket and fiddling with it. He lifted it to his lips to play, then caught himself. “Nah, I don’t know the story. That was before my time, but I hear it was pretty rough. The only bit of order there was was from our retired marshal, and I don’t think anyone was happier when the sheriff stepped up to the plate. Milner’s a good egg: he always seems to know just what to say to convince people to resolve their differences, and you can’t help but respect a man of his learnin’. Nothing ruffles his feathers. He’ll work things out between the hot springs folks and the townspeople; you’ll see.”

Harry’s stomach rumbled. He looked down and laughed.

“I hope they unlock soon; Ms Nora was fixin’ to make up some chicken an’ waffles for you folks, and I’m hopin’ she might have an extra plate. You haven’t had good chicken unless you’ve had hers.”
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