When Greg uses the rope and a lantern and descends into the hole, you quickly find a man clinging to the steep sloping wall by his fingernails...
((Jake))
Jake either climbs up and out or falls into the depths...
The hole drops probably another 30 feet to the bottom, which is flooded by dirty black water. On the fringe of the lantern light, at the bottom of the hole, barely floating on the surface of the murky water, is another figure, a man...
... it only takes a few moments for Greg to descend far enough into the gap to tell that the body is Buddy...
... a quick glance reveals that Buddy has apparently been gutted, disemboweled, as his intestines and other gore from his gut are floating on the water's surface, all around his dirty, bloody body...
~cue dramatic, sad music (Buddy's theme) 🙁~
((what's the deal with all these theme songs it's an RP not a movie yeesh 😛 )) ((but as it seems to be the current trend, Luis' theme sounds like the music from that Mexican TV show on King of the Hill... The one with the preacher dude who always says "Via... Adios.." or whatever he says. Nat's is a short blues guitar riff. 😛 ))
Back in town, Sheriff Sanders is having a coniption fit. He demands that his son Steven be deputized and organize a hearty band of Regulators to round up the scoundrel renegade Buddy Reno and his posse of malcontents.
"No problem, Pop..." Steven promises. "Me and the boys will skin out and kick over every rock all across the prairie, until Reno the Rat turns up..."
"See to it, Son..." Sheriff Sanders steams. "They got my Li'l Lily... i promised her momma and her tribal chief that I would take care of her... if anything happens to little Sunia, it will mean my scalp, your scalp, ALL Sanders family scalps!!"
"Don't fret, Pop..." Steve smiles, "Me and the boys got it handled..."
...as he leaves the sheriff's office, Steve dabs the sweat from his brow using his sharply folded BLUE BANDANA (let's say marked with a SCORPION, to distinguish it from the thousands of other blue bandanas out there... and lets say the BLUES BROTHER POSSE BANDANAS hold the same scorpion insignia!!!!))
Lily gathered up her skirts and ventured near the edge looking down seeing his body. Crying her heart out she cries for what seems forever before she grabs her horse and settles out toward a direction into the village. Her silken slippers slide about as she trots through the hard dessert air. She had a feeling something was going to happen.
Oh, and back at the foothills...
Just when everyone is focused once again on the sinkhole, that's the moment when the mountain lions decide to go scouting for their nightly meal... yes, that was a plural folks!
2 mountain lions purr and growl on the prowl, and it's only then that the cowboys and girls realize all the blood and guts and gore which stains the area... it's a buffet, and all y'all are on the menu!!
...and, from the depths of the crevice, a soft, weak moan echos in Jake's ears...
Buddy Reno lives!! ?? !! 💃 😱 💃
Luis just sat there for a moment. Something wasn't quite right.. He sensed deep down that whatever had killed Buddy was still around. Taking his long hunting rifle up, he slowly approached the cave on his horse.
He was perhaps five meters away from the mouth of the cave when a large cat sprang out of the opening and lunged straight for him! Pancho jumped nimbly to the side, but the cougar's claws clipped his shoulder, making four shallow, bright red scratches across his shoulder. The cat and Luis on Pancho circled for a few seconds, as if in a swordfight. The cougar lunged again, this time scoring a deep hit with his teeth at the crest of Pancho's neck. The horse squealed in pain.
The combatants circled for a few more seconds. This time, when the cat lunged, Pancho ducked down low, and the animal went flying over Luis' head, taking his hat with it. Luis whirled Pancho around and shot the cougar twice in the back of its head, killing it.
((thats ok about the posts... it still fits mostly... ))
((edited since real Greg showed up 🙂 ))
More gunshots ring out, not from the core group, but from the fringes of the clearing, as Steven Sanders and several (9) blue bandana boys stride into the clear.
"Lily..." Steven gasps, collecting her as she collapses, then glaring at the rest of the group.
"Looks like we got us some murdering claim jumpers here, boss..." one of the blues brothers barks.
"Trouble follows all y'all like stink on a cow flop, don't it, vaquero?!" Steve snarls at the Mexican, holding Lily in one arm, while keeping dead aim on Luis with his Colt Peacemaker with the other hand.
Greg looped a slit knot in the rope, and gingerly slipped it over Buddy padding it with his own shirt. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but he wouldn't be able to see until he got him out. He climbed out of the hole, and pulled Buddy out carefully. He quickly looked him over for the extent of the wounds.
Steven countered. "Me and my boys got these foothills and this here marshland all squared away, scouted and surrounded... you might take me, and them 3 over there, and the 3 behind y'all... but I damn sure guarantee the Mexican and the Injun girl and your dead drunk leader will be dead, before we all go down, gunslinger..."
Greg the gunslinger felt the sights of many unseen weapons upon him, again... and with a few of the others being distracted by the mountain lions and by Buddy's plight, this could prove one tough skirmish to win out...
Greg eyed the others and took at deep breathe. He couldn't risk the others life just because he thought he could take them. He put his pistol back in the holster but kept the shotgun. "I'm gonna keep this, just incase you feel a little antsy. I may go down, but I'm sure as hell taking you with me. And you have my word I won't shoot unless the worst happens."