Mission Statement:
To endeavor to bring to all residents of the Five States the most current and important news from across the entire Five States region. Never yellow, the Five States Herald vows to serve only the people of the Five States, from New Austin to Lemoyne, free of charge now and forever.
Lady of the Sands Returns?
By Sofia Kathleen Fairfax – Lead Correspondent
Long ago, a womans body was found on a nameless beach in Lemoyne. No wounds were found on the remains, and her identity was never identified. She passed into legend as merely the Lady of the Sands, a tragic footnote. Many thought that was the end of the story, the lady disagreed.
For years after she died, locals reported seeing a woman, sitting at the beach on cold nights. She’d never answer to shouts of inquiry and would be cold to the touch if anyone got close.
Most frightening of all were claims of seeing a woman’s body on the beach, and when anyone attempted to move her, their hands would go through the remains.
Such tales are becoming almost nightly, perhaps the rash of treasure hunters disturbed her remains. Or it might be because many of said witnesses are drunk and perhaps heard a campfire story or two. Whose to say. All we can be sure of, was that some woman died a quiet death alone on a beach, and people still remember her after all this time.
Woman sent to asylum after flight from “the green”
By Jose Chavez
A woman found wandering alone beneath the merciless New Austin sun has been committed to a lunatic asylum after repeatedly insisting that she was being pursued across the desert by what she called “the green.” Travelers who encountered the exhausted woman said she stumbled along the road in terror, frequently looking over her shoulder and begging those nearby to run before a great green cloud overtook them; yet no witness reported seeing smoke, dust, weather, or anything else answering her description. According to the woman, the cloud eventually caught her, spreading across the whole of her sight until there was nowhere she could look without seeing the world through a sickly green tint. Water and shade did little to settle her, and even after being brought among other people she remained quite firm that the green had not departed at all, but was now everywhere she looked. With neither physician nor lawman able to explain the strange affliction, arrangements were made to send the unfortunate woman eastward for confinement and examination, leaving those who found her to wonder whether the desert heat had robbed the poor soul of her senses or whether she had glimpsed some other world that no sound minded man could see.
Eccentric gunman leaves five Rangers fallen in Ambarino
By Jane Duran
The fugitive known throughout the Five States as the eccentric gunman was spotted in Ambarino this week, prompting a posse of eight Rangers to give chase with the intention of apprehending the brightly dressed killer, whose warrant is now said to extend across all five states. The pursuit turned bloody when the gunman, recognizable by his conspicuous clothing and peculiar half-mustache, wheeled upon his pursuers and opened fire with dreadful accuracy. “Every time I heard a shot one of my fellows fell,” one surviving Ranger said, “we had no choice but to turn into the forest for cover, but that barely seemed to help.” Of the eight Rangers who began the pursuit, only three remained standing before the trees finally afforded enough protection to halt the slaughter, and in that confusion the gunman escaped. A second party later recovered his trail and followed it through the country toward Bacchus Bridge, where the tracks were lost and no further sign could be found. Authorities have not determined whether the remarkable revolver in his possession, the same weapon taken from the Blackwater Trick Shooter after that man’s killing, accounts for any part of his terrible proficiency, but after Blackwater, Armadillo, and now five fallen Rangers in Ambarino, few lawmen are likely to mistake the stranger’s flamboyant appearance for foolishness again.
Ancient bottle nearly brings fists across Blackwater bar
By Daisy Fairman
A cowpoke nearly came to blows with a Blackwater saloon barkeep this week after an ancient and apparently valuable bottle of spirits was opened and poured by mistake, though the quarrel ended with lighter pockets for the saloon and considerably happier throats among its patrons. The cowpoke had carried the old bottle into town after discovering it during a hunting expedition, saying that its seal remained unbroken and that, while the liquor within was probably still fit to drink, the bottle was far too rare a curiosity to ever be opened; several hours and no small amount of drinking later, however, the barkeep mistook the relic for ordinary stock, broke its venerable seal, and began serving generous measures to customers. Upon discovering what had happened, the owner flew into such a fury that witnesses expected fists, or worse, to follow, but the barkeep succeeded in settling accounts by wiping away a substantial portion of the cowpoke’s existing tab. The loss remains a sore one, though perhaps not entirely wasted: patrons fortunate enough to receive a glass before the mistake was discovered unanimously described the ancient liquor as delicious, which may make this the first time in Blackwater history that one man’s priceless treasure disappeared chiefly because everyone else found it too agreeable to preserve.
The spirit of vengeance walks Valentine
By Donna Deshner
Several frightened witnesses in and around Valentine have brought this paper the same impossible account: a man walking upright with nothing but a bare skull for a head, whom some have already taken to calling the “Spirit of Vengeance.” “No skin, no eyes, no hair, no nose,” one witness swore, “it was just a skull, but the man was walking, clearly alive.” Stranger still, several witnesses claimed the apparition’s skull would at times burst suddenly into flame, though neither hat nor clothing appeared to catch. The most dreadful account comes from a traveler who watched the figure seize another man firmly and stare directly into his eyes; within moments the unfortunate stranger collapsed to the earth, his body apparently uninjured but his countenance so empty that the witness declared it looked “as if his very soul had been burned out of him.” No satisfactory explanation has yet been offered for these reports, though their remarkable similarity makes them difficult to dismiss outright, and more than one shaken citizen has called the skull headed wanderer a spirit sent into this world for vengeance. Whether Valentine has been visited by some infernal judgment, an elaborate deception, or a horror for which sensible men have yet invented a name, this correspondent cannot say, but I would advise anyone meeting a burning skull upon the road not to linger long enough to satisfy his curiosity.
Fatal misunderstanding over horse feed ends in arrest
By Alois Levron
A man was shot dead in Saint Denis this week in what police and witnesses now describe as a tragic misunderstanding over the feeding of horses, with the alleged killer taken into custody almost immediately afterward. The victim had reportedly been offering feed to horses along a city street when a passing cowpoke noticed the act and, believing his own animal was being poisoned, hollered for the man to stop before drawing his pistol and shooting him dead where he stood. Officers were quickly upon the scene and arrested the cowpoke, who insisted that he had acted to save his horse from poisoning; subsequent examination of the feed, however, found nothing harmful whatsoever, and those familiar with its contents described it as safe and indeed quite nutritious for a working animal. Upon learning this, witnesses say the imprisoned cowpoke became overwhelmed with regret, repeating that he had believed his horse was in mortal danger and never intended to kill an innocent man. Saint Denis police have nevertheless made plain that a mistaken suspicion does not excuse a killing, and the affair now stands as another grim warning against reaching for a pistol before first reaching for the facts.
Congress again weighs an end to bounty hunting
By Adam Parvey
A bill seeking to abolish bounty hunting throughout the United States has been introduced in Congress, raising the prospect of a national prohibition with considerable consequences for law enforcement across the Five States and beyond. Similar measures have appeared before and gone nowhere, but legislators familiar with the present proposal say this occasion may prove different, with a growing number of Congressmen reportedly prepared to support a ban as bounty hunting becomes an increasingly controversial institution. Recent disputes concerning the use of private bounties have shaken public confidence in the legality of the practice, while several wanted men captured by bounty hunters have alleged that money and possessions were taken from them during their apprehension, acts they contend amount to robbery and a violation of their rights regardless of the charges against them. Defenders of bounty hunting answer that vast stretches of the country remain beyond the practical reach of sheriffs, marshals, and police, making independent hunters indispensable to the capture of dangerous fugitives. Rather than proceed immediately to a final vote, Congress has ordered the proposal examined by an ad hoc committee charged with studying bounty hunting, its legality, and its effects upon both public safety and individual rights; its findings may determine whether the familiar sight of bounty posters outside sheriff’s offices is destined to become a relic of the frontier.
The Five States Herald 