After a few restorative brandies and his 6th pint of Black Pony, Snapcase smiles at Samuel Gerard, “well done lad, if that ale had fallen into the wrong hands it would have been a disaster” “Give Titus a hand up, he’s not too badly wounded and I promised Red Molly the barmaid we’d help out with a little problem they have in Little Snoring” “It’ll be right up your street, a bold brave fellow like yourself.”
Thus ended the previous adventure in what is turning into a bit of a saga, the adventure was the last post on my blog.
Sir Verney Snapcase has had a hard day, most of it in the Dog and Sprocket consuming Old Buggars Bitter followed by a couple of pints of Black Pony Ale. There had also been a few restorative brandies taken after the attempted kidnapping of his good self by some hard nosed Moss Troopers who were in cahoots with Pearl de Ville the Landlady of the Dog and Sprocket.
However as a result of a conversation with Molly Bright, his favourite Barmaid in the Dog and Sprocket he has taken on a somewhat difficult task in an effort to gain her favour and unlimited OBB and BPA.
It appears the small town of Little Snoring is under threat from evil forces, or maybe “Forces of Evil”.
Strange howling has been heard on Snoring Moor, two of the local girls have been spirited away and then three nights ago, some of the men folk from the village went up to Snoring Moor and haven’t been seen since. No one has gone to look for them. Mistress Pitt disappeared after visiting her aged mother on the edge of town, the only sign of a struggle was her blood stained scarf, old Jim the Peddler’s remains were found, horribly chewed over, and now no one dares leave their houses after dark.
“Don’t E worry” Sir Verney had said to Red Molly “I have 4 of the stoutest troopers under my command and they aren’t afraid of anything”. Of course that was before the attempted kidnapping, now he only has 2 stout troopers under his command but that’s not going to worry him, although it may give Titus Flemming and Samuel Gerard his troopers, pause for thought.
Night time, and the dark draws in quickly in Little Snoring’s main street, the town is only illuminated by the thin light from a full moon, is this a lucky omen for Snapcase and his Troopers?
The main street is deserted; I think I might have mentioned that no one goes out after dark.
Well no one except for bold, brave and stout hearted troopers who are more afraid of their commanding officer than some unknown threat in the dark.
Samuel Gerard looking rather like the headless horseman is positioned at the north end of town. He’s checked the priming of his pistol 3 times in the last 10 minutes and gazes longingly at the barrel of Black Pony Ale still standing in the street. Maybe he can tap it later!
He looks nervously down the road to where Mansfield is positioned and wonders again at the cunning plan that Sir Verney explained earlier.
“Sam you’ll be placed at the north of the town and Edmund will be in the south”. “I will of course take the position of greatest danger, in the Dog and Sprocket with Red Molly and Pearl”. “They will be the target for any evil abroad tonight and I will be there to defend them. You two will be in place to come to my aid and help me fight whatever is out there”
It seemed to make sense when he’d said it, but now there seemed to be a slight flaw in the plan.
Edmund Mansfield has been positioned at the south end of Main Street, he too is nervously checking his pistol and wondering if he should double the load and have two balls up the spout, so to speak. Then thinks better of it, the army issue pistols had been known to explode with the normal strength load, he thought of his friend Three Fingered Pete Smith and decided to leave well alone.
He also wondered about Sir Verney’s cunning plan but Edmund wasn’t the sharpest knife in the draw and didn’t wonder too long or too hard.
Then he heard a low keening sound from the north end of the town. Spinning quickly around he looked hard in that direction just then the moon shone through the clouds, brighter than before. He could see a pale woman, dressed in red gliding down the road. She moved slowly but effortlessly towards Sam hidden behind the bales of produce.
Edmund knows Sam isn’t the boldest of men so he cocks his pistol and prepares to take a shot even though he knows it’s too far.
If you’ve read the previous episode in this sorry story you will know that Sam ran before the Moss Troopers advance.
He is aware of a presence even before he can see her, the low keening noise and a good dice roll ensured that. She has a terrifying aura, one that only the bravest of men can withstand before they have to take a horror card, one that may leave them gibbering on their knees or running as fast as ever they can.
However Sam surprised me, and the Red Woman, by stepping out from his hiding place and firing a hasty shot in her direction. Sometimes a good dice roll is better than being brave.
The Red Woman is a ghostly apparition, she’s already dead and so can’t be killed but she can be faced down, backed up or seen off by standing up to her, and rolling a double 6 is a good way to do it.
She fled the scene and Sam puffed out his chest with pride. Of course that bravado quickly disappeared when he heard a howling from the other end of the town. He’d heard wolves howl before now and this wasn’t a wolf.
The hard eyes from the edge of town turned out to be a Werewolf, the Forces of Evil come in many shapes and all of them terrifying.
Edmund hears the howl, it sends shivers up his spine but he stands his ground, although when he sees the shaggy beast advancing he wishes he’d taken to his heels, but it’s too late now.
Advancing faster than a man can run the Werewolf is at the fence before Edmund can fire.
Well that’s not strictly true, Edmund dithered and decided he stood more chance with his sword than a single bullet fired in haste against a fast advancing foe. He reasoned, cold steel is a great deterrent, although as it turned out, not against a Werewolf. Only a silver sword will deter it and Edmund didn’t know that and the army didn’t issue him with one.
However he prepares to sell his life dearly, 2 shillings should about cover it!
Snapcase comforts the women in the tavern and Sam starts to re-load his pistol.
Claws against steel and not even Sheffield steel at that. Edmund falls beneath a flurry of slashes, too injured to continue the fight and there’s an un-natural pause, as no one activates.
Then Samuel Gerrard fails his Brains test but passes his Guts test, this is always a bad sign it means a chap is going to do something very brave and very stupid. He hasn’t finished re-loading his first pistol but sets off running up the road in the direction of the howling.
The Werewolf and Sam see each other at the same time but Sam reacts first and with his 2nd pistol gets off a fast but un-aimed shot. This strikes the Werewolf in the head and even though it doesn’t kill, it’s a disabling shot.
Sam advances and with his sword strikes a mighty blow, severing the wolf’s head from its body, just as Pearl de Ville leaves the safety of the tavern. She’s armed only with a fan, a garter pistol and a lot of gumption; she moves forward to inspect the fallen creature.
Snapcase follows her out, sword raised to defend her honour but is dismayed to learn that this isn’t the creature that has been seducing the villagers away, although it is probably responsible for some of the more grisly remains found in and around Little Snoring.
However when Sam describes his encounter with the Red Woman, Pearl confirms she must be the one responsible and so it looks as if Sir Verney Snapcase will have to follow the Red Woman onto Snoring Moor to make good on his promise and possibly get free ale in the Dog and Sprocket for the foreseeable future.
The Three Musketeers…………………..hardly.
In prehistoric times, men were interred in Dolmens, Barrows, Hunebeds, different names in different places but essentially stone burial chambers. These took on many supernatural traits in later ages and I have recently built one in miniature. It looks like it’s going to form the central piece on Snoring Moor along with whatever the Forces of Evil can conspire to bring to the party.
Hope to see you there. Bring a wooden stake or some silver weapons, if you can afford them! Oh and a flask of brandy for medicinal purposes only, to keep the chill away you understand.
