<\/p>\n

As I make it to the top of the hill overlooking our modest, worthless plot of land, I see a Cowboy on our porch. He is closing the door behind him, hat in hand. His head down for a moment, he places a black hat on his head and turns to the west.<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m clutching the medicine in a small vial that I spent two days walking to get for Mamma. As the Cowboy dressed in black heads off, I race down the hill to our house. It takes forever, but I\u2019m finally there and inside, calling out to her.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The medicine was supposed to help her. But there is a pillow over her head. Below it, she is dead. I close her eyes and then fish out a gun and holster from the bottom of the cedar chest.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mamma said Pa was a Cowboy. I never met him. But she said one day he\u2019d be back, and he\u2019d probably be the death of her. I strap on the gun and start following him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to find that Cowboy. When I do, I plan to find out if he\u2019s my Pa.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m also gonna kill him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Kid<\/u><\/b>:<\/span>
\n+1 bonus to rolls where you attempt to gather information you don\u2019t have.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Only once, the Kid can take a piece of information or an ability they know from their world and apply it to the situation.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Motivation<\/u>: The Cowboy knows more about how you got to this world than you do. You need this information.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clock: 0<\/span>
\nConditions: none<\/span>
\nItems: Gun and Holster, Bottle of Medicine, Canteen<\/span><\/p>\n

EVENT 1:
\n44. A horse begins to charge through the local marketplace. It begins to wreck stalls in its panic.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Only once, the Kid can take a piece of information or an ability they know from their world and apply it to the situation.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I grew up raising horses. Until a rustler stole them one night. I know a ride would help me catch up to the Cowboy, so I try to calm down the horse and mount it before its owner realizes it\u2019s missing.<\/b><\/p>\n

ROLL: 4<\/span>
\n2-4 is a success with a cost<\/span>
\nWhen you get a success with a cost, you can<\/span>
\n\u25cf Add a condition onto yourself.<\/span>
\n\u25cf Lose a useful or important item.<\/span>
\n\u25cf Move the clock of the Cowboy’s escape forward 1<\/span><\/p>\n

I get in front of it. It rears up once and I fall back, landing on the vial of medicine, crushing it. Not that I needed it anymore. I get back to my feet and make it to look me in the eyes, speaking in hushed tones. It takes a few tries, but it calms down.<\/b><\/p>\n

I grab the mane and launch myself onto its back. It protests a bit, but I pet it and urge it on in the direction the Cowboy was headed. On the other side of the small town, I see the Cowboy\u2019s footprints in the dust veering off to the side of a saloon. There I see the broken hitching post. It\u2019s hard to make out what happened at first, but then I see the set of hoofprints heading west out of town.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It looks like the Man in Black got hisself a horse, too.<\/b><\/p>\n

Clock: 0<\/span>
\nConditions: none<\/span>
\nItems: Gun and Holster,\u00a0Bottle of Medicine<\/span>, Canteen, Horse<\/span><\/p>\n

EVENT 2:
\n26. A small crowd has gathered around a hastily built stage. On the stage is a person dressed in the clothes of a wanderer. A banner above them proclaims this as “The Last Gunslinger’s Performance.”<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Outside of town, charlatans and snake oil salesmen prey on the ignorant. My Mamma taught me better than to waste my time with such as they.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I take a sip of water, feeling the heat glowing on my skin and feeling it burning within, as well. As I ride past, the gathered crowd all turn and stare at me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m coming, Cowboy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clock: 0<\/span>
\nConditions: none<\/span>
\nItems: Gun and Holster,\u00a0Bottle of Medicine<\/span>, Canteen, Horse<\/span><\/p>\n

EVENT 3:
\n62. You walk into town and see The Cowboy. They lock eyes with you, snap their fingers, and vanish.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

I had followed the Cowboy beyond the mesa, to the bend in the river, near Purgatory. I stopped and filled my canteen before heading into town. The sun blistering on the back of my neck, I had shared some water with my steed before lashing it to the post near the only inn in town.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And now I stand trying to figure out if I\u2019m following a ghost, a devil, or a hallucination.<\/strong><\/p>\n

+1 bonus to rolls where you attempt to gather information you don\u2019t have.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

ROLL: 6+1=7<\/span>
\n7+ is a failure<\/span>
\nWhen you get a Failure you must either<\/span>
\n\u25cf add a condition onto yourself.<\/span>
\n\u25cf Move the clock of the Cowboy’s escape forward 1<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m burning up, I realize, as I ask the patrons of the saloon within the inn if they has seen a Cowboy all in black. No one had, and they treat me like I\u2019m crazy.<\/b><\/p>\n

The thought crosses my mind\u2026 what if I have the same fever that had struck Mamma. I reach for the medicine and remember the vial broke when I fell.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With an out-of-place chill in the damning heat, I get back on that horse and head west once again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clock: 0<\/span>
\nConditions: Fevered<\/span>
\nItems: Gun and Holster,\u00a0Bottle of Medicine<\/span>, Canteen, Horse<\/span><\/p>\n

EVENT 4:<\/strong>
\n32. A couple of \u201cbandits\u201d catch you in between towns. There are only 3 of them, and their \u201cweapons\u201d are nothing more than retooled farming equipment. They demand all your food or your gun and all your bullets.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI ain\u2019t got time for you lot,\u201d I say \u2018tween gritted teeth and pull the gun from the holster as one of them jabs a shovel up at me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

ROLL: 3<\/span>
\n2-4 is a success with a cost<\/span>
\nWhen you get a success with a cost, you can<\/span>
\n\u25cf Add a condition onto yourself.<\/span>
\n\u25cf Lose a useful or important item.<\/span>
\n\u25cf Move the clock of the Cowboy’s escape forward 1<\/span><\/p>\n

I squeeze off three quick shots and put \u2018em all down, splitting open the head of the bandit with the shovel. The horse rears up, throwing me. By the time I regain my breath, it is long gone back the way we came.<\/b><\/p>\n

One of the bandits moans for help. But I gotta git goin\u2019. I\u2019m on foot now and the Cowboy\u2019s on horseback, so time\u2019s a-wastin\u2019. I suck down the last of my water, realizing I\u2019m starving, just like this bunch said they were. Now they\u2019re full of lead.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I got 3 bullets left for you, Cowboy. The canyon is to the west, I know. That\u2019s where I\u2019ll find you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clock: 0<\/span>
\nConditions: Fevered<\/span>
\nItems: Gun and Holster,\u00a0Bottle of Medicine<\/span>, Canteen,\u00a0Horse<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

EVENT 5:
\n24. You hear whispers of a woman claiming she can travel great distances instantaneously.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The Kid has heard this all before, from a hundred different snake oil salesmen. She’s faking it.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I ignore the band of gypsies and their stupid spooky stories as I pass along the road to the canyon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There, standing on the edge of the canyon, facing me, is the Cowboy. The Man in Black. I approach him, my hand hovering over the hilt of my gun, shaking.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDid you kill my Ma?\u201d I shout to him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The heat already boiling within me erupts from between my cracked lips as I shout at him: \u201cWhy?!?!!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what I do.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I stare into his dark eyes, looking for a clue to my next question\u2019s answer\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAre you my father?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cowboy\u2019s face finally shows a hint of emotion as one corner of his mouth rises. He sniffs and then says with a deep, demonic voice: \u201cPull that gun and find out.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

So I do\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

ROLL: 5-1 for Fevered condition<\/span>
\n2-4 is a success with a cost<\/span><\/p>\n

I wake up to the face of our only neighbor, ol\u2019 Samuel. Behind him, the sun shines brightly, and I realize I am on the ground.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cSon, yer burning up. Let me take you to the doc.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I look around and I\u2019m on the hill overlooking our house.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI gotta get this medicine to my Mamma,\u201d I say, trying to get to my feet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBoy, I got bad news fer ya,\u201d he says, taking off his hat. \u201cI done checked in on yer Ma. She didn\u2019t make it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I got her medicine!\u201d I start crying.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBoy, it\u2019s a good thing ya did. You got the same fever. This medicine\u2019ll do you a lot more good than yer poor Mamma. God rest her soul.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Samuel nurses me back to health over the next week. His chicken soup and the medicine meant for Mamma save me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the funeral, I go back to check on the gun at the bottom of the cedar chest. Lifting it out, I realize it smells strongly of gun powder and has only 2 bullets left. Next to it, under a shawl, is a black hat.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It has a bullet hole through the crown.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n