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Old 07-19-2017, 10:09 PM   #181
tshiggins
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
Default Re: Campaign: Facets

(...continued)

Carlos leapt up to the driver’s side with unexpected ease and agility, as the rest of the group decided to jog ahead, except for Aurelia, who decided to stay in the carriage with Doña Eva and Sebastiàn, and engage them in polite conversation. She deduced (correctly, as it turned out) that the two vampires would behave themselves so long as they believed the party would help them reach safety in the new world. Randy clambered to the top of the carriage and rode alongside Carlos.

Despite the chill of the mid-March evening, the streets of Santa Fe remained quite busy and, even though Carlos mostly stuck to side-streets with few gaslights, the sheer size of the carriage made it impossible to completely conceal and it drew a few stares. However, no one tried to stop it, and the carriage left Santa Fe and reached the site of the concealed buggies before 9 p.m.

There, Jimmy waited with some trepidation, which proved a bit prophetic when the carriage doors opened and Sebastiàn emerged. The vampire spotted Jimmy, immediately, and sauntered over to the former “guest” of his mistress and bid him a superficially pleasant “buenas noches.”

Sebastiàn expressed surprise that “James” would “care enough” to accompany “the mistress,” given how rudely he’d left their company, several months past. After all, Sebastiàn noted, James had seemed to enjoy the ministrations of the mistress, at least, during his time there.

Jimmy replied that Sebastiàn’s understanding of matters had been “clearly mistaken” (which Jimmy said he found “hardly surprising”) and bluntly told the vampire to steer clear of him for the duration of the trip. Jimmy also said to remember who, exactly, was doing the favor for whom, in the situation. Moreover, the red-headed young man noted that he had passed through the portal, himself, several times, now, and that had implications Sebastiàn should probably keep in mind.

Somewhat taken aback by the former slave’s confident demeanor, Sebastiàn forced a laugh and returned to the carriage. Claudia decided to join Randy up on top, with Carlos, instead of inside, and Aurelia took the wheel of one of the buggies.

The group decided that A.J., in his fast vehicle, would scout ahead, while Stephen, the best shot, would remain well to the rear of the carriage and cover the back-trail. Meanwhile, Aurelia and Henrietta would stay pretty close to the carriage, since the placid percherons didn’t seem startled by the rattle and engine noise of the buggies.

After a brief debate, the group decided not to cut the telegraph lines, as that would immediately draw attention to their general area – especially since the newspaper stories seemed to indicate the Spanish suspected (probably correctly, at least in some cases) the actions of American saboteurs.

The group chafed a bit at the slow pace of the percherons, but both Jimmy and Henrietta observed that the animals actually made steady, decent progress – especially given the bulk of the carriage. As morning approached, the carriage had traveled more than 20 miles into the farming hinterlands west of Santa Fe, and the group decided they’d traveled enough – especially given that no one had any sleep since the previous night.

The party found a copse of scrub oak in a wash off the main road and pulled in to rest. Then, A.J. and Claudia approached DoñaEva and said that, while the horses had done well, they needed to make better time. With that in mind, A.J. said he wanted to examine whether or not a buggy could be rigged to tow the carriage, as that would make better time than the horses.

DoñaEva expressed some doubts, but when told the present pace would push right up against the deadline of the closure of the portal after the Spring equinox, she agreed they should give it a try. However, she said any such would could not, under any circumstances, threaten the structure of the carriage and that Carlos would not permit them to continue if he felt that it might. With that, she and Sebastiàn retired to the inside of the carriage, and the group soon heard the sound of heavy bolts.

The party gobbled down a quick breakfast (Carlos politely declined) and then caught a few hours of sleep. At about mid-day, A.J. and Claudia (the two engineers) and Jimmy (with some experience as a teamster) decided to examine the carriage to see if they could devise a way to hitch a buggy.

A.J. crawled underneath to check out the carriage, and found what was likely a quite modern suspension (by the retarded standards of this world, anyway) holding up a solid hard-wood chassis heavily reinforced with steel brackets. Pleasantly surprised, he called Claudia down to take a look, and the two agreed the carriage could probably take the higher speed of the buggies with little difficulty – at least for the three days, or so, it would take to reach Dark Canyon.

During the examination, Jimmy mentioned that, during his time with the vampires, DoñaEva had three companions – Arturo, Rodrigo and Sebastiàn. Jimmy said he understood that Arturo had gone to the other side of the portal to prepare a place for his mistress, and Sebastiàn had clearly come along on this trip, but he wondered what had happened to Rodrigo?

With that, the trio got to work. It helped that Beatrice had taken a cue from A.J.’s design and welded numerous loops and connectors to the frame of her heavy-duty truck-bed buggy, and the hitching hardware on the carriage offered decent attachment points. By the end of the day, the trio had managed to rig a decent set of tow-lines and things looked good.

The group ate another meal, broke camp, led the percherons down to a stream and left them there, after they’d discussed matters with DoñaEva. She looked to Carlos for his opinion and, when he expressed cautious optimism about the arrangement, she agreed to travel in a buggy-drawn carriage.

At that point, Henrietta asked about Rodrigo. DoñaEva cocked an eyebrow at Jimmy, and replied that, at Don Maximo’s insistence, her third companion had accompanied the sorcerer’s goods on the long train ride south, so they need have no concern for him. Henrietta asked if Rodrigo might become upset that Eva had abandoned him, and choose to throw in fully with Don Maximo. Doña Eva laughed and said they needn’t fear any such thing, since Rodrigo would always love her.

With some careful driving, the group made nearly two hundred miles, that night, and by the next morning found themselves on the other side of the mountains, approaching the high desert. Another evening found them well along the Camino Real del Norte, paralleling this world’s version of the Colorado River.

As dawn approached, A.J. roared ahead to check out the ford across the river, at the site of what would be Moab in their world. He found it quiet, with the Ute trading camp unoccupied and not recently disturbed.

The former NASA engineer motored back to the main party, and after a quick palaver, the group decided they’d pull up a bit early, and not try the ford until they’d had plenty of rest. At mention of the ford, Carlos seemed a bit disconcerted, and asked if there weren’t a bridge to cross. When told there wasn’t, he seemed a bit upset, and shortly after dark the party noted him in earnest conversation with DoñaEva.

The vampire approached the group and expressed her gratitude (and frank surprise) at the speed of the trip, and inquired when they would reach “the bridge.” A bit nonplussed, Henrietta asked what she meant by, “the bridge” since (as far as they knew) the Rio Grande del Norte had no such span anywhere along its length.

Noticeably disturbed, DoñaEva said that, when she’d traveled to the portal at the “request” of Don Maximo, the previous year, he had used his magics to construct a temporary stone bridge across the river, and that had allowed her to cross.

Henrietta asked her to explain what she meant by that, and a frustrated and increasingly annoyed DoñaEva said that vampires had “difficulty” crossing running water and, if the group truly were the mages they claimed to be, then they would already know that. After all, Don Maximo certainly had, DoñaEva said, and he’d taken great pains to make sure a bridge existed that allowed her to cross the river with little discomfort.

DoñaEva further noted that while it was possible for her to “achieve a condition” that would allow her to cross the river under her own power, she found the process terribly distasteful and had no desire to do so, if she could possibly avoid it. However, she said that Sebastiàn was “too young” to do such a thing, himself, and she wouldn’t leave him behind.

Caught a bit flatfooted, the group explained they had no way to build such a bridge (especially on such short notice), but A.J. noted that he had an idea that might work, and that he’d have it ready by the following evening. Mollified, Sebastiàn and Doña Eva retired to the carriage as the eastern sky began to turn pale, above the mountains.

(continued...)
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MXLP:9 [JD=1, DK=1, DM-M=1, M(FAW)=1, SS=2, Nym=1 (nose coffee), sj=1 (nose cocoa), Maz=1]
"Some days, I just don't know what to think." -Daryl Dixon.
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