Incident Report from Eastman's Creek

The townspeople of Eastman's Creek had put a call out for a Ranger, following a series of lynching incidents (see enclosed telegram). I assembled a posse of freelancers (see above), and we rode to Eastman's Creek.   Questioning the local saloonkeeper, Samuel Smith, we learned the identities of the victims:

• Sylvester & Elizabeth Ward
• Thomas Robinson
• Willie Johnson

All victims were homesteaders in the vicinity of Eastman's Creek, and had been taken from their homesteads and lynched from the same tree.   An investigation of Willie Johnson’s homestead (the nearest location) revealed no signs of forced entry, but signs of a struggle.   Visiting the tree described by Samuel Smith yielded little conclusive evidence, so I agreed that we would camp out and observe it. That night, Gontiel Tormenta witnessed several individuals approaching the tree with an unconscious captive and moved to engage them. When calls and warnings yielded no response, I too engaged the party, all of whom seemed to have elongated necks. After subduing the perpetrators, I discovered that the tree seemed to have a degree of sentience, and attempted to eliminate all parties. Zachariah Gilham displayed great courage in attacking the sentient tree, which bled a resin-like substance and burned to ashes after being subdued. The captive was identified as Samuel Smith, and believed to have hallucinated the victims of the previous lynching incidents following a blow to the head.   Through William Tailor, I have convinced the townspeople that the guilty party is the Colby Brothers, warrants outstanding for rustling, and that the tree was destroyed to prevent further lynchings. The Colby Brothers remain at large.