Comin' Round the Mountain
Com’in Round the Mountain: By Earl Hughes
Dear readers, I know it has been awhile since you have read one of my pieces. But do not fret as I have been hard at work uncovering the truth out there. This time it came in the form of an acquaintance from a previous story. Jackson Tanning, some of my dedicated readers may remember Mr. Tanning from my story investigating Fort-51. Mr. Tanning was previously deputy but is now Acting Sheriff of Brimstone due to tragic circumstances, but I am not here to tell you about how Jackson Tanning became acting sheriff of Brimstone dear reader, no, no, no. I am here to give you the real truth.
I bumped into Mr. Tanning on a train bound for the Smith and Robards facility in Deseret. During this time Mr. Tanning and one of his friends Otto Von Muller recounted many strange and interesting tales to me. One of which Mr. Muller is writing a scientific paper titled “On Equine Telepathy and Other Strange Phenomena”, look for it coming out soon. It was on this topic of discussion that we remained for sometime. Many of the other passengers seemed to discount the stories being told. But the night was getting long and many of us turned in for bed.
It was after I had turned in for bed when the action happened. I heard a commotion in the Hall, and I poked my head out into the hallway of the passenger car to see Mr. Tanning and Mr. Muller having a heated discussion on where Mr. Muller had found a pair of Gatling pistols that Mr. Tanning was actively shaking at Mr. Muller in one hand, while using his other hand to keep Mr. Muller pinned to the wall. Needless to say this conversation drew the attention of many of the other passengers. When one of the other passengers recognized the weapons as their own they ran back towards the luggage car. I was not as quick as some of the other passengers or for that matter Sheriff Tanning. As both Tanning and another passenger by the name of John Newcomb raced after the passenger that ran towards the luggage car.
It was shortly after this sprinting towards the back of the train began that the screaming began. This screaming gave me pause, but I had to know the truth and kept running. To both Sheriff Tanning and Mr. Newcombs credit neither gave pause to the screaming and both continued running in the direction of the commotion at the back of the train. It was at this point that Mr. Newcomb entered the luggage compartment only to yell out in pain a moment later. Mr. Muller recovered a new science device from Mr. Tanning and activating it in the Luggage car it caused Mr. Newcomb to come flying out of the Luggage compartment. gripping a Gatling pistol in each hand Sheriff Tanning walked forward and let fly a wall of hot lead into whatever creature or thing was causing all this concern. After this display of firepower another of the passenger or compatriots of Sheriff Tanning came running forward, a Ms. Pauline Hall a cowgirl from out west and with quite some skill. She managed to rope this rather large spider creature and use ghost rock infused brass-knuckle to beat the living hell out of the thing until it stopped moving.
After that things quieted down, and it came to light that museum employees had been transporting a rather dangerous creature that had managed to escape its confinement and killed several of the train employees who were unaware of its presence. I will say that if Acting Sheriff Tanning’s actions on the train is any indication Brimstone is in good hands.