Barlowe Station

Kane thinks of the scratch marks on the door and the bare feet on the ground and an image begins to form in his mind. Something horrible and unnatural.

"Giant rats? Half human half rodent. A pack of 'em." The troubled man pauses and shoots a stream of vile tobacco juice into the dirt. "But why drag him into the latrine? And what in Sam Hell are they doing here anyway? I thought monsters were scary creatures children made up to scare their sisters. The poor station master musta been shootin' at 'em to protect hisself."

Standing close by during the inspection, but giving Ruby room and offering no thoughts of her own on the wounds or the state of the body, Delilah squints into the sun and cocks her head at Victor.

"See anythin' like that down the commode hole, Mr. Kane? Tracks or anythin'?"

When the man shakes his head and then postulates his own theory, the woman nods. "Yeah. Not good. Might be best for us to just move along as soon as we're ready, alert the law in Varney Flats."

"Are you shittin' me, Delilah? It weren't my intention to look around any more than I had to." Kane shakes his head, perplexed.

Truth was, Kane knew about the oddities that occasionally made theirselfs known but he reckoned didn't want to alarm the ladies. Who knew what they knew?

The existence of the supernatural is hardly a secret. Maybe you haven't seen it much yourselves, but if you got points in Occult, or any appropriate Edge, then darn tootin' you heard enough to believe.

"Not the four legged kind of rats, in any case." Dirt says with a knowing eye to the others. "Not if they dumped a man down a hole like that, they ain’t. Could be that they walked on two legs."

Truth be told, he’d heard tell of things that walked on two legs, but he’d never heard tell of upright rats.

DD shrugs at Kane, then nods at Dirt. "Lots of strange things roam these parts these days," she says, thinking of the many stories her father has told. "We best be on the lookout."

Then, after looking at the little cabin, the shitter, and back the small station house, the woman shakes her head. "Just one thing I can't figure. Where they come from... and where they went. We ain't seen no tracks suggesting either of them things."

"The train! The tracks lead from the platform, then double back and return. They musta got on the train and maybe they got off it too. Damned if I know fer sure."

Victor takes off his hat, brushes off imaginary dust from the crown, and places it back on top of his head.

"It's the only explanation in my mind anyways. We could look at the tracks theirselves, I s'pose."

Ruby eyes everyone and gives a scoff. "I don't think any train conductor would let on board bipedal man-sized rats. Maybe they just follow the tracks to wherever their warren or den or whatever the hells you call a rat home? Either way, checking the tracks ain't a bad idea."

"Well, maybe we ought to check the other side of the track? Train driver will be looking to get gone before long, but we might have time to get on the other side and see if there are tracks out that way too." Dirt says with a shrug. The tracks might only look to be coming from the train carriages, though he did think the idea made some sense.

There are no tracks other than what you've seen, leading from the station platform to the shack including the trampling of the vegetable garden and to the outhouse.

Checking far side of the train, you don't see anything where they came across land. Now, if they came along the tracks walking, that's harder to tell. You'd have to go up and down the tracks both ways a spell to look carefully for signs someone might leave between spars or what have you. Nothing you can see from near Barlowe Station.

Ruby crosses her arms. "Well I don't see much else to do here besides passing the info on to the authorities at the next town we reach."

Delilah Dillon nods in agreement. "They might'a come 'an gone walkin on the track, or even with their own steam engine. Or a pumper hand car..."

Looking up and down the tracks, the brunette adds to the engineer, "I'll walk the tracks a ways in both directions, see what's worth seein'. But yeah -- let's get underway as soon as you're ready."

"I’ll come with you, Marshal!" Dirt starts, with a nod to the woman. "Ain’t much else to do here, and it’s best to be safe."

He turns to the other two, and gives them a nod.

"Keep an eye on old Blossom, would you? See that our train driver don’t leave without her!"

"A dozen giant two legged rats on a hand car. Now that there's a perty vision alright. I might as well join the rest of you."

DD and Dirt walk the tracks a half mile in either direction, a two mile walk in total, but see no signs of anyone walking along. When they get back, they're both thirsty but perhaps relieved to see the engineer is ready to go.

Kane puts the cash box back into the shack and does his best to secure the door in the closed position. He decides to keep the pistol though. Fairtrade for his time, he figures.

So nothing, huh?" he says, rather than asks of DD and Dirt.

"Not that I seen," Delilah answers, taking one last, long look around the area. "They definitely must’a come and gone usin’ the tracks, one way or another. Should we wrap up the poor man, get him aboard?"

"Yes, we should take him with us. He deserves a proper burial. If we leave him here who knows what will happen to the body."

You wrap up the body in a canvas sheet, and sure that the animals in the barn will be okay for a couple days, load back up on the train. Blossom is none too happy but goes back in with a few indignant snorts.

The train pulls out and continues down the line. It's a half days ride to the next stop

Varney Flats

Seldom do visitors bother to stop in Varney Flats, so the posse draws quite a bit of attention. The townspeople aren’t suspicious—just curious as to why anyone would stop in their little piece of Hell.

Founded two years ago, Varney Flats itself is little more than a water stop for locomotives traveling westward. The town hosts perhaps a few dozen permanent residents, with most respectable folk having long since moved on, but recently it’s gained a small boost from buffalo hunters.

The hunters use the town as a base for launching their hunting raids into the Coyote Confederation’s lands. This practice is frowned on by the US government and Coyote Confederation alike, but the revenue from the hunters is too great for the community to put a stop to it.