Springfield 1866 Compact Deadeye
SPRINGFIELD 1866 COMPACT DEADEYE. (See also, RIFLES) The original Springfield 1866 is a breech-loading rifle bearing an extractor and .50-70 caliber centerfire cartridge. This model both shortens the barrel and adds a scope to the original design, making it an easy-to-carry sniper's fire arm, favored by game hunters who prefer to travel light.
Letter found in the possession of -REDACTED-
Undated
6/6
Turns out we were wrong about them having killed each other. Turned out we were wrong about a lot of things
Then he tells me, "They were the ones did that to the brother and the horse. That damn green horse."He started to really cry, then
Took a lot of encouragement and two more bottles to get the rest of the story out of him. He was incoherent for a while and then all of a sudden he just snapped out of it, like the guy who'd been sitting there crying had left and been replaced with somebody else. Couldn't rightly say if it was the same man sitting there in front of me. Same man I've been hunting with, sure, but not the same man who'd just been crying over a dead horse. His confession came pouring out all at once, barely a breath between words.
"They didn't say it straight out, but I helped them do it to others. Every third. Every single third! Said they were trying to break the oath. But it didn't make any sense. They must have wanted something more than to be able to hunt with three men together to do what they did to their brother, and the others, but they never told me just what it was. Every time was worse than the last. I started to think they weren't even human, couldn't be human. Don't rightly know if I'm human anymore, after the things they asked me to do. Worst thing is, I did it willingly."
According to Thomas, it went like this. Those brothers were asking him to do stranger and stranger things, and he didn't mind, for a while. They kept him in drink, and the drink kept the memories away. Then there was the incident with the Springfield and the mayor that you told me about.
Then he goes to visit them in their rooms one day, and the place was piled with mutilated corpses - right up to the damn ceiling! - cards scattered everywhere, and that drunk Rodgers among the dead, and those two brothers just sitting at there talking. Thomas must've had a soft spot for Rodgers. It's always something that seems small that sends a man over the edge, but really it's just the last thing atop a huge steaming heap of dung. Been so drunk himself at the time, though, he hadn't run right out. Had stood there wondering if his drink'd been poisoned and he was having visions. Has stood there wondering if hewas the one'd lost his mind. Says he doesn't remember much more about the night, but in the morning he left for New Orleans.
He says he thinks they're still hunting - must be if the oath of three still holds - but I wouldn't take his word for it. I don't think this explains jack about why the trinities suddenly got going without a hitch, but there you have it. The whole tale. Might find some answers in there, you look for them hard enough.
