Chapter 1.5 - All

I'll give you all a chance to respond to the previous post before I post again.

"Well met Miss Mariette, I am happy we could help. Miss Ruby, I will do what I can to help you find your mistress as well, although I think we should wait until it is safe to go out and search. It wouldn't do her any good for us to get hurt or killed and then be unable to help her if we find her. I fear her innovation might have made her a target for these kidnappers though and we might have to get some help in locating her." Harris will still have his gun out, but more relaxed now and he will try to give an encouraging smile to the others.

"Thank you Mr. Darrington," Ruby says giving Harris a slight bow.

The large man Buford sits next to the opening to canyon his pistol in his hand listening carefully.

Mariette leans her head back and closes her eyes for a moment.

The woman in the yellow dress, Helen, looks up the second tunnel to see if she can see where it goes.

"Kovalsic," she replies with a smile as she scrambles into the opening, "Helen Kovalsic of the New York Daily News, fine work you did there Mister?"

"Oh my, Buford you are not getting out this way sugar."

"Ain’t the first time I had to go out the front door of the farmhouse Helen," the large man grumbles.

The big man near the entrance stands up, "I suppose a round of introductions are in order, that little lady over there," he gestures towards the woman in the yellow dress investigating the other way into this chamber, "is Miss Helen Kovalsic of the New York Daily something or other."

"News, Buford, the word is News." Helen is attractive, with curly blonde hair, blue eyes and an easy smile.

"My name is Buford Callahan, I’m a bounty hunter." Buford is a tall, barrel chested man in is mid to late 40’s with massive hands and salt and pepper hair.

"My name is Ruby," Ruby says standing up and offering a little curtsy , "Ruby Donovan, you can just call me Ruby. I don’t have any particular skills, I am, was Lady Fortingal’s maid servant. Probably not much call for a lady in waiting out here. I don’t imagine." Ruby is quite small, with dirty blonde hair and dark eyes.

"Mariette," the Frenchwoman says from the stone, "I used to have a last name, not anymore." Mariette would probably be gorgeous, if she wasn’t grey in colour and covered in her own blood.

A man in a crumpled bowler with a well trimmed mustache sticks up his hand, "Donovan Pearson, I was working as a bodyguard for that Professor Pearson fellow, couldn't find him after the wreck but I found his valise.

"There might be a way out up here," Helen says looking up the passage, "it angles up and it's smooth like there's been water flowing down here but it's quite narrow, Miss Ruby, Mister Hernandez or I might make it but I don't know about the rest of you gents."

Helen hops out of the opening, straightens and dusts off her dress, "Be my guest."

Climbing up into the second opening Napoleon notes that this one does indeed angle up towards the surface following a natural fissure in the rock there is indeed a narrow spot that he can get past with out much effort. It's a pinch where the fissure turns and there's a blade of stone that he figures he could easily break with something no harder than a rifle butt, perhaps even his boot though he would have to be cautious because the sand stone looks likely to fracture at sharp angles.

Following the passage a few ways further he finds that it does indeed open up to the plateau above the wreck on the south side of the canyon perhaps a half mile back away from the wreck.

It's a bit of a climb to get out of the water worn channel but he can definitely see the airship, well he can see the void in the stars where it is and the searchlights probing the canyon. You can not see what's going on down there. Further away from the airship there are any number of large features you could use for cover, you figure there's any number of large gullies here that you could make your way through as well. Either back towards Ashfork or forward towards lord only knows what.