Springfield 1866 Compact

SPRINGFIELD 1866 COMPACT. (See also, RIFLES) The original Springfield 1866 is a breech-loading rifle bearing an extractor and .50-70 caliber centerfire cartridge. The compact model of this rifle has a shortened barrel and sawn-off stock, making it more weildly at the expense of accuracy and range.

Letter found in the possession of -REDACTED-
Undated
3/6

"That damn green horse wasn't so funny anymore when it had its intestines wrapped around its neck. The green paint and all that red blood - looked like the Devil's Christmas tree. Horrible sight to see and the body of the brother it belonged to tied to its back with the rest of the entrails. Hard to say what killed either of them. Don't think it could have been human, but it didn't look like what those other creatures do to the hunters out in the swamps. And I know because I found him myself.

Thomas stopped and took another long drink, just muttering to himself. Had to nudge him out of it with a tap of my boot. He didn't look so happy anymore to be telling the tale. The look in his eyes is what made me believe him. Not easy to fake, that haunted look. Then he says,

"Horse looked like it was no more than a sack of skin, barely hurt otherwise. Man looked like he'd been through the thresher. Most of his clothes had been torn away, and he was all blue and purple with bruises, and covered with a thousand tiny cuts. Body was recognizable, but there wasn't much left of his face. Limbs were hanging off all wrong. My partner and I'd found him out by the edge of the tree line and called in the other two brothers quick. They didn't show much of a reaction, just looked at each other for a long time, and nodded, and then sent us off for shovels. They buried him right there. Him and the horse. They were pretty upset that his rifle was gone, the Springfield, but I would've been more upset about his face being gone, it were my brother."