The Spines of America

A message from Hosea

After Exit Pursued by a Bruised Ego, Hosea goes ahead to Emerald Ranch. Once Arthur has ridden away from Horseshoe Overlook and come back, Susan Grimshaw passes on his message: Hosea wants Arthur to head into Emerald Ranch when convenient, where he is "looking at a few business things". Susan adds that he will find something, because he always does.

Seamus

At Emerald Ranch, Hosea is talking with Seamus. He introduces him to Arthur as "our new partner"; Seamus answers: "I ain't no such thing." Hosea corrects himself: a prospective partner, if Seamus likes them. Seamus says liking is not the problem, trusting is. He asks them to keep their voices down, because he does not want his boss to hear: the business is a side line.

Arthur asks: "Prove ourselves? To this clown?" Seamus asks Hosea whether he knows why he is not dead; Hosea answers that he does not trust idiots, and Seamus agrees. Hosea insists they can prove they are not idiots. Seamus then sets the test: "Old Bob Crawford and his boys... just bought a beautiful stolen stage coach from upstate. It's in their barn. Now you go get that... and then we can work together."

Crawford is first "an acquaintance", then a cousin by marriage. He lives in a farmhouse called Carmody Dell, northwest of the ranch, up the train tracks toward Fort Wallace. Seamus adds that there is money in the house, which is their business, but tells them not to kill anybody: people know the two men are no longer close and would know it was him. Hosea sums up: "You heard the man... let's go rob his cousin." Seamus: "By marriage."

The ride to Carmody Dell

Hosea lets Arthur lead the way, since he is the one who has "been out gallivanting around here." Arthur says Seamus is a joke. Hosea answers that this is what makes him perfect: "A safe spot to fence wagons and coaches, that's easy money for us." He adds that if the two of them cannot steal a stagecoach from Seamus's old crooked cousin by marriage, they should hang up their hats.

Arthur asks about Emerald Ranch. Hosea says the owner is a nasty type by all accounts, and Seamus is scared of him. There used to be a saloon and a general store at the ranch; they are closed now, but the owners seem to have money. Seamus also mentioned the rancher's daughter several times: he used to see her around all the time, and now she never leaves the house.

Scouting the farm

From a rise near Carmody Dell, Arthur looks at the house through his binoculars; this is where the game teaches how to equip them. The barn behind the house must hold the stagecoach. Hosea offers two plans: do it now, with Hosea putting on "a little show" to distract the family while Arthur sneaks into the house and then takes the coach, or wait until nightfall, when Hosea takes the coach and Arthur tries the house.

By day: the spinal alignment

If Arthur chooses to act now, Hosea walks up to the house alone and greets the son, Bob Crawford Jr., who tells him: "Get lost, mister." Hosea answers: "I was lost! For many years, I was lost." Bob Crawford comes out and asks whether he is selling something. Hosea offers a free "spinal alignment", claiming that our souls are in our backs and that Crawford's back needs "ten or, fifteen sessions".

Crawford says whiskey suits him fine. Hosea blames the whiskey: the English drink gin, made with juniper, which "creates movement in the spine", while whiskey, made with grain, leaves the spine brittle, hence the hobbling Scots. He gets Crawford to lie down on a table outside and works on his back. Crawford: "That's the spot."

Meanwhile, Arthur sneaks into the house, loots what he can and reaches the barn unseen. Hosea finishes the session and offers to call again. When Crawford asks about the price, he replies: "I'm offering you virility and you're asking me about money, sir?" He adds that he will be around again next week. The Crawfords go back inside and Hosea joins Arthur in the barn.

The getaway

They drive the stagecoach out of the barn. As they leave, Bob Crawford Jr. hears them and spots the theft. Hosea: "Damn it, they're onto us! We need to get out of here." He blames Arthur for not being careful; Arthur answers: "Yeah, sorry, I must have left a dresser open." Arthur says he found money stashed in the house, "a few hundred".

On the road, the two men talk about the grizzly from Exit Pursued by a Bruised Ego. Arthur looks forward to Hosea's retelling around the campfire; Hosea tries it out: "It wasn't the first time Mr. Matthews had stared death in the eye, and as usual he did not flinch." When Arthur asks how long the gang will stay in the area, Hosea answers: "Until we can't, I suppose." He feels they are getting back on their feet, slowly.

By night

If Arthur chooses to wait for nightfall, the Crawfords are asleep. Arthur loots the house while Hosea takes the stagecoach, then meets him out front, and the two drive back to Emerald Ranch. Arthur can also wake Bob Crawford, threaten him for more money and knock him out (see Choices and variants).

Back at Emerald Ranch

Arthur drives the coach into Seamus's barn. Hosea greets him: "Hello, Seamus... we met your cousins." Asked how it went, he answers: "Fine... nice people." Seamus says "Nice work, Hosea"; Hosea gives the credit to Arthur: "It was mostly Arthur. Like I said, coarse, but competent." Seamus pays them and says he will make an offer for any other coach they find, as long as they are discreet. Hosea heads back to camp, and Arthur can ride with him.

Mission failure

The mission fails if the player:

• assaults, kills or abandons Hosea, or assaults or kills his horse;
• assaults, kills or threatens Seamus;
• alerts the law, or alerts the Crawfords too early;
• destroys or abandons the stagecoach;
• leaves Carmody Dell;
• kills or abandons his own horse;
• dies.

Deaths

• Bob Crawford and Bob Crawford Jr., only if Arthur or Hosea kills them (see Choices and variants).

Day or night

The choice of approach changes who takes the coach: by day, Arthur waits in the barn and Hosea joins him there; by night, Hosea takes the coach and picks Arthur up in front of the house. By night there is more time to search the house.

Threatening Bob Crawford

At night, Arthur can wake Bob Crawford in his bed and threaten him for more money before knocking him out. If Arthur has already taken the rest of the money in the house, Crawford gives up a cash box hidden under his bed, worth 150 dollars. Otherwise he points to a place Arthur has missed, such as the chest in his bedroom or his son's dresser, and the money is there.

If Arthur hogties Bob Crawford during the robbery, Crawford asks whether someone put him up to it. Hogtied Crawfords can be carried but not stowed on a horse.

Skipping the house

• The player can skip the scouting with binoculars and go straight to the house without failing the mission.
• The house does not have to be robbed: Arthur can go straight to the barn and the stagecoach. Hosea then gives up on the house and says they should just take the coach and leave.
• By day, Hosea is disappointed if Arthur watches the treatment instead of looting the house.
• By day, if Arthur stays in the house after the treatment, he can hear the Crawfords talk about the massage and about Hosea as they come back in.

Killing the Crawfords

• Both Crawfords can be killed, against Seamus's instructions. This costs honor and, unless they are killed silently at night, alerts a witness whom Hosea tells Arthur to stop before he reaches the law.
• At night, if they are killed silently, Hosea reacts to the killings.
• By day, if Arthur kills them while Hosea introduces himself, Hosea reacts and a witness is alerted.
• By day, if the Crawfords spot Arthur once the treatment is over, they attack him and Hosea. If Arthur kills them, Hosea scolds him for not staying hidden; if he does not fight back, they kill Hosea and the mission fails.
• If the Crawfords are killed, Carmody Dell stays deserted for the rest of the game.

The first objective covers the chests, cabinets, drawers, fireplace stash and food of the ground floor, the son's bedroom and Bob Crawford's bedroom upstairs. Closing every drawer, cabinet and chest that Arthur opened helps with the second objective. Threatening Bob Crawford in his bed at night does not cancel it. The delivery timer stops when Seamus opens the barn door.

• Look at us, honest as the day is long.

  Hosea, to Seamus

• That's what you call it. Clearly you've recovered from your bear encounter.

  Arthur, when Hosea says he has been out gallivanting

• That what you call finding out a little?

  Arthur, after Hosea's account of Emerald Ranch

• Once he opens up, seems Seamus does like to talk.

  Hosea, in reply

• I dance every night. Women adore me. I got the magic.

  Hosea, to Bob Crawford

• This was easier than hunting a thousand-pound grizzly anyway.

  Arthur, on the ride back

• Hosea rides his horse, Silver Dollar, in this mission.
• If the player follows Seamus after the opening scene, he is found smoking near his fence.
• Right after the mission, all fences are temporarily unavailable, but stolen wagons can still be delivered to Seamus. On the first visit afterwards, Seamus comments on the robbery.
• In Valentine, townspeople talk about the robbery of old Bob Crawford. The barber says he would have felt sorry for Crawford if Crawford had not stolen the coach first; the gunsmith suspects the coach had been stolen before it reached Crawford.
• If Arthur returns to Carmody Dell after the mission, Bob Crawford orders him off his property, sometimes with a Carbine Repeater or a Cattleman Revolver, and a dog barks to warn him. The Carbine Repeater normally found in the bedroom is absent during the mission and afterwards.
• Lines left in the game files show that Arthur could once threaten Bob Crawford Jr. in his bed at night, as with his father; Junior answered that only his father knew where the money was hidden. This was cut from the final game.
• If the player skips the opening cutscene, its audio can glitch and be heard during gameplay.