Plotted starter for @greentrinket
Samuel had spent over two hours arguing with the Sheriff in El Paso, determined to see his bounty handed over and the man’s writ paid in full before heading back to Colorado. What had transpired had been beyond anything he could have expected. He had been offered three times the bounty sum to escort Edward Fisher to the City of New York, where, it was intended, the man would be prosecuted in their courts for fraud, murder and embezzlement. After much negotiation, Sam had reluctantly agreed to sail with Fisher from Florida directly to New York, where upon delivery of the criminal, he had been assured he would be paid his bounty and a given a ticket to sail to San Francisco; a journey that would allow him to visit his Father in Clayton, upon his return to the West Coast.
In truth, Samuel had never spent so long travelling with the same captive and while Fisher was clearly not a man to be trusted, the corrupt banker had proved himself to be polite, and in that sense fairly pleasant company. After days of riding and sleeping rough, by the time both had reached the port in Florida, they were exhausted and despite their hunger had spent the first day on the vessel sleeping. After rising on the second day, they had finally eaten and while all that was to be offered on this ship was coffee, biscuits and boiled salt pork, it suited their needs and kept them nourished.
On the second night however, both men had found themselves awoken by the panicked ring of a bell, the shrill sound signalling that those below deck were required above. Samuel, dressed only his long johns and boots, had quickly fastened his gun belt around his waist, before pulling Fisher out of his bunk and ascending the stairs. Reaching the deck, he had been greeted by the sight of the crew piling into a small wooden boat, one that looked decidedly ill-equipped to cope with the fierce waves of the surrounding Sargasso seas. It was then that the ship had violently lurched, sending the small packed boat straight down into the belly of the sea and every one left on deck straight down to the ground. Finding he was beginning to slide, a sure indication that the ship was beginning to sink, Samuel had found his feet and turned towards Edwards, about to offer him release from the iron bindings around his wrists, when the man had struck him across the head with a piece of wood, sending him straight back down to the floor.
The next few moments had occurred in a blur; the shrill sound of the bell, replaced with shouts and screams as people scrambled around him, trying to find anything that might keep them afloat in such torrid seas before the vessel went under. Samuel himself had found himself unable to move, the blow to the head so hard, he could do nothing more than breathe, spit blood and wait for the cold waters to engulf him.
