The life and times of Belle Plain...

[Lucky Irish Tom]

The tall one steps through the bat wings of the White Elephant, his eyes slowly scan the crowded room taking in every detail and every person within while not touching on any one individual.  As he steps over to the bar his partner steps just inside the bat wings scanning the crowd and occasionally glancing outside. 

The tall man orders a whiskey, the bartender notes that his eyes are as cold as the impression of the snake given by his birthmark.  The mans flips a coin onto the bar that is well in excess of the cost of the drink.  As the bartender reaches out to pick up the coin the tall man's left hand is suddenly holding his wrist, in a voice that sounds like dry, rustling leaves he says, "you can keep that change just tell me if there are any new faces in Town."

Silent Ed gives his best bartender smile and says says, "Quite a few, the Poker Tournament has brought a good sized crowd to Town."

The stranger releases his arm, downs his whiskey, and turns to leave.  Eyes that have been watching the exchange at the bar suddenly turn to other business to avoid the man's look.  He walks out of the White Elephant without another word, a few moments later his partner backs out through the bat wings.

[LazyK Pejay]

In the lamp lit room across the street the doctor pours some whiskey over his hands and picks up an old towle to dry them off. Walking to the table, he cuts the wounded man's shirt away with his pocket knife. The wound is just below the ribs on the left side. He checks the shirt and notices a neat hole where the bullet entered. The doctor looks around while shaking his head. "The bullet carried a patch of the shirt inside. If I don't get it and the bullet, infection will eat him up." The doctor inserts a finger into the slowly bleeding hole. "It's deep. I don't know if it hit anything vital. I haven't done anything like this in years boys..."

The two gunmen leave the White Elephant and walk up the street toward the church. The street splits making a "Y" in front of white spired building. To the right and left houses stretch to the very edge of town. Each house spills light onto the street as darkness falls. The taller man turns to the left. "The last house on the left is his." The other man lights a cigar and follows after his partner...

[Lucky Irish Tom]

From one of the openings in the spire the barrel of a Sharps carbine pokes out.  The barrel follows the movement of the two men as they head down the street.  The old injun watches the men from the shadow of a building, as the one man lights the cigar the injun puts an arrow to the bow he now carries.  The injun has been busy while the two men were in the White Elephant.  One of the Sheriff's deputies stands in the front parlor of the Doctor's office, at the flare from the lucifer he works the lever of the Winchester he is holding.

[LazyK Pejay]

There is a fliting sound as an arrow sings out from the bow. From the spire, the church bell rings once as the person holding the Sharps brushes it while trying to see clearly the one man standing in the street looking down at his fallen sidekick. From the last house on the left a light is snuffed out...

[Lucky Irish Tom]

The cigar falls from the man's fingers as the arrow pierces his shoulder.  The Church Bell rings as he falls, his partner looks to the sound and sees a shadow that could be the barrel of a rifle.  He drags his partner out of the line of fire and scans the area for the source of the arrow as his pistol clears leather.

[LazyK Pejay]

The indian in the alley moves back into the shadows, his work for the evening done. In the bell tower the rifleman curses his bad luck with the bell. Down the street the sheriff's deputy notices the wind picking up and assumes the bell just caught a gust of it for a moment.

In the doctors office the men holding wounded man look to the doctor as he wipes his glistening forehead with a towel. The man on the table moves and sighs. "Is he ready Doc?" one of the men asks. The doctor looks at his hands and then picks up a thin surgical knife. "Yep, he's ready and I am as ready as I will ever be." the doctor says as he places the knife blade near the wound opening.

Outside the wind begins to moan and sigh over the rooftops and down into the alleys. Dust rattles like rice against the White Elephant windows. Inside the music is loud and the banter between poker players finding a table is light hearted. Soon serious business will change all that. Jack Rabbit buys two shots of bourbon, one for himself and one for large Bill. The red-headed lady sits at a corner table shuffling a new deck of cards...