Foolish, perhaps, to be going scouting alone. Then again, being the ragabash she is, Three-Blades is the fool like that. A cautious fool, though, as she is extremely wary and takes pains to avoid possible human contact while scooting around in the dark on her paws. To the address of this one George Dobbs' farm she goes, keeping track all the way from the Kent Crossing outskirts to the open land.

The farm is a modest one; no more than a small field in which a milk cow, a goat, and one tired-looking pony graze under a mutual non-aggression treaty. Some trees have been left standing in the cleared area, and more hide the small sagging house and wooden barn from view of the road. At this time of night, it's quiet. Yi can smell the dew on Mrs. Dobb's small vegetable patch, hay, animal smells, perhaps a few chickens--the clucking from the back of the barn explains that-- and oil from a very aged pick-up in the driveway. There is a light on in the house.

The darkish red-fur helps blend a bit at night. So does the slim moon, for the most part. Three-Blades has a good look around, relying more on her smell and hearing for now. Not wanting to upset the animals, the Gnawer slips her way towards the driveway, thinking to herself that if there was a horse smell, it might be similar to the one found at the farm. Also on the look out for other human scents too, Yi keeps her own scent masked over. Thank Fox yet again and again.

Thank fox indeed-- normally, domestic animals tend to grow quite twitchy when Garou are nearby, but these seem altogether oblivious. There are scents, but apart from those coming from the barn, these mostly seem to be mice, beetles, and the usual denizens of a meadow. Nothing stands out-- at first glance, anyway.

((From afar, to the room, Sekhmet hm. Also human scents. Possibly Mr. Dobbs, along the edge of the driveway between the house and mailbox. At least three other human scents, one female.))

The Gnawerwolf is so bold as to confirm the scents of the humans on the way closer to the small house. She looks for signs of life inside. A light, perhaps. Or cooking smells, or a TV/Radio. If the pick up is here, maybe someone is in.

Yes, the sound of the TV /and/ radio are going at once. Drawing close to the porch she can see the main room is a living room/dining room/kitchen. Mom is at the sink working on the last of the dishes, to judge by the sound, and George Jr. and sibling are sprawled out on the couch, arguing loudly over a football game that's vying for dominance with a Christian preacher on the radio in the kitchen.

Hm. That's odd... that they don't notice George Sr. missing? Making a note of it, the ragabash continues on her investigation. Back to the truck she goes, and to the barn as well. Hadn't the man smelled like that one horse? Perhaps that horse's smell is here.

After some searching, Yi manages to catch the dead horse's scent. It's well-faded now, since the animal in question has been gone for many days, but this is definitely the right field. Around the back of the barn Yi finds one other item besides the chicken hutch: a bunch of beercans dented and shot full of holes, and quite a number of spent shells. Alarmingly, some of the cans are on the chicken coop, and holes in the barn wall suggest that someone was indeed having target practice right over the unfortunate birds.

Not so odd, perhaps, that the chickens asleep do not detect her yet. The beercans though, and the holes in the wall are rather disturbing. Yet she's seen some crazy things elsewhere too. Picking up on the dead horse's faded scent though, confirms that the horse was here before. She makes a circle around the barn, going back towards the front. Maybe there's something inside of more significance. Might require opposable thumbs to open the door, at that.

It's a typical split barn door, with a bright shiny new padlock and chain on the deadbolts.

Right. So it does need some shifting. Well this is what the ragabash is good at, and so with an observant look all around, she clears herself for a change back to breed form. With some opposable thumbs now, it's easier to get a look at the lock and see what kind it is. Knowing what kind it is ought to make those little Open Seal looks a bit easier. And if not... there's always that lockpicking set in her pocket.

It's one of those circular types that looks like an asthma inhaler disc--the metal bolt part rotates open and shut. It takes some delicate work, since the new lock is stiff, but finally Open Seal coaxes it to slide back with a fingernail. Pushing inside, Yi finds a pair of stalls, feed, bins of oats, a hose, tack, old shoes, rakes, shovels, sawdust, cobwebs, a halter that's twin to the one she found on Sunrise Road, and all the accoutrements of farm equipment. Again, she finds Dobbs' scent, as well as those of the sons. What she does *not* find is any trace of the strange veiled scent of the person who brought the horse.

Lumbering around briefly in a crinos form to smell around before shifting back to breed, Yi pushes her hair out of the way. Not too much help here. How annoying. She does a thorough check as best she can in the dim barn, before slipping back out and making sure the lock is rearranged into a similar position as before. Looking around outside, her next target is the pickup. Perhaps, looking for the possible clues of recent use amongst other things.

The chickens start clucking more loudly as Yi goes past; maybe they've sensed something. Meanwhile, the argument in the house is getting louder and more angry. But for the moment they seem contained where they are.

The pick-up has more feed and junk in the back, a gun rack, and a case of Budweiser under the seat, which is losing its stuffing. Apparently it's the family car; everyone's scent is in here more or less.

Yi looks up from her car inspection, as the voices get louder and such. Brow furrowing, aided with clucking chicken detection systems, the ragabash ducks low and slips back towards the house. Maybe she can get an idea of what they are arguing about.

It sounds like they've forgotten themselves what started the tirade. Mother has emerged from the kitchen and making pleas that go unheard, while the boys-- one looks to be about eighteen, the other fifteen-- are calling each other "Stupid lazy fuck" and the like; the elder is pounding a fist on the back of the sofa and looks like it may soon land in his brother's face. One sentence is at least vaguely intelligible in the tirade: "Dad wouldn't have had to go /out/ if you'd fucking locked the barn door..." Continuing to listen, Yi spares a glance back towards the barn door. Then she spies again on the argument inside, vaguely feeling sorry for the mother.

It doesn't take much longer before the brothers are tussling. Ah, sibling rivalry. But this is definitely more violent than in some families; neither one is pulling his punches. The mother continues to plead, weeping, and ignored.

Yi frowns, stepping back from the window she spies through and moving off to a side to think. Odd that she can contemplate at a time like this, but she does so. An uberviolent family, a father who was potentially a rapist, and still no hint of who the other man was at the road. This is getting way too weird. Looking up at the moon, Yi gauges if it would be wise or not to have a look at the place through an Umbral perspective. Hold on a moment... weren't there other animals? She steps away from the house, back the way she came towards the fields where she'd seen the farm animals grazing.

It's all one field, but yes, goat, cow, and pony are still there, sans the one that was lost. As Yi's moving along the fence she finally catches something: the scent of the missing horse on the /wrong/ side of the fence.

That'll be something to note indeed. With a scent to follow, she's like a coonhound on the trail. Sniffing along, the Gnawer's back to following up on a possible clue. A careful sniff along the wooden rails of the fence reveals the real reason. It's faint, very faint, but the stranger was here, and obviously unhitched the rails to let the animal out before putting them back. His work gloves' scent clings faintly to the wood.

The wolf rears up and works that nose, making sure of the scent. So, he was here. Whoever this was. Ears twitching, Yi drops back down to sniff about for a trail that might lead off elsewhere.

The man's scent vanishes, or teases her imagination-- is it there? Or isn't it? But the horse is clear enough, leading back along the dirt by the driveway towards the road. It's a slow process following it, but she finally finds, in the gravel where the driveway joins the road, the scent of a vehicle other than the pick-up. Or so she thinks. The horse's trail stops here, and she again catches just a hint of the stranger's scent a few feet away.

Maybe she's being baited, but so far all this has been one strange hunt for an unknown identity. There Yi goes again, when the main scent fades and reappears. Strange about the gaps. She'll have to make note of that. But still following and detecting the scent, the wolf keeps on going. She's not going to give up opportunities to figure out this puzzle.

It's not so much gaps, as that the scent is so well masked (and again, several days have passed) that a residual ghost of it can only be picked up in a few places. Much like her own, with the aid of Fox's gift. The horse is clear enough, though. As Yi continues searching, the door to the house is flung open. The younger brother comes storming out, flings open the door to the pick-up, and jumps inside.

Yi glances up in distraction as the human house bursts and emits an angry youth. Blinking, she pauses in her scent sniffing to watch the pickup and make sure no one's coming towards her from the house.

((Sekhmet pages: The horse's scent definitely stopped close to where Yi could smell the tires of a strange vehicle. It's hard to be precise, since it's so similar to the pickup's scent, but there was definitely something stopped here for a while at the end of the driveway.))

It's a good thing she's watching, because the engine blares to life, revs once, and then lurches as the boy slams the truck in reverse and backs recklessly along the driveway out to the road. Yi's able to get out of the way in time--just. There's a crunch from the mailbox as the pickup turns out into the street and roars off.

Yi looks in the direction the truck is heading until it disappears from view. Then her eyes go back to the house, almost expecting the mother to come out and look at the 'carnage' left behind. The poor mailbox. She waits a few moments for the silence to grow some more.

The silence doesn't have much of a chance yet; the mother and older brother have indeed come out onto the porch. At least the older son is sounding apologetic as well as sulky. The mother doesn't say a word; she's just staring out at the empty driveway, arms limp at her sides.

Ears twitching, Yi gives her ruff a shake. Crazy families. The Gnawer goes back to tending the horse scent along with the stranger's and the strange vehicle. Maybe if there is a chance, to match some similarity with the pickup's now more recent scent with the other vehicle. Doubtful, but maybe. An ear is kept towards the mother and son, strained to listen in on possible words on the wind.

Yi is unfortunately not a forensics expert, and a truck is a truck. All she can tell is that it's not the same truck, and it was definitely larger than a car. While the no-moon is puzzling over the scents, there's a muffled, "Hey," from George Jr., and some suspicious-sounding mutterings she can't quite make out.

The wolf looks back up, nose wrinkling a bit. Both ears pointed to the house and the two humans on the porch, she trots in a few yards to have a better scope of the son's words.

The son turns on his heel and heads back into the house, more quietly this time. Mom is still standing there with shoulders slumped, squinting out into the darkness. Hunh, well. Yi follows up some more, still staying low and as much out of sight as possible. She watches the woman carefully, ears tilted back, observing what the mother's going to do about her two sons.

Mother is disturbingly still. The son emerges again a moment later with a shotgun, steps off the porch, and starts moving up the driveway.

Odd. The woman isn't moving. And when the son comes out with a shotgun, the Gnawer wonders what he is going to do with it. Except that he's coming closer. Wait a minute. Things click, and the Gnawer scoots herself further from the coming son. Backwards a few steps, then quickly off to the side for the nearest patch of cover.

Not a moment too soon. The Gnawer has gifts and the moon on her side, but he's clearly noticed something, and is stalking slowly along the edge of the driveway with the slow, quiet movements of an experienced hunter. He seems to know a little of stealth himself. It's nothing supernatural, but it's definitely unfriendly. As slowly as he's moving, Yi can continue to edge farther back into the woods (which thankfully is on one side of the driveway; the cleared field is on the other) or wait for him to pass her by.

Crouching low, willing herself and her gifts into effect. Thank the small moon and her auspice moon, so to speak. And that she doesn't have some kind of blinding white fur. The Gnawer slowly moves back towards the woods a bit, before waiting and watching the elder son for some kind of intent, or signal that he's spotted her.

So far so good. He continues his slow sweep of the road, moving along the fenceline, and eventually makes his way out to the street. "George?" his mother calls finally, her voice hoarse. He doesn't answer, stooped by the mailbox and looking up and down the road suspiciously.

((Sekhmet pages: The Dobbs household is not the most pleasant of hick families.))

Yi's still as a rock, her eyes even narrowed to reduce shine. Breathing shallowly, the ragabash waits, tensed to dodge a shotgun if necessary. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wonders where the younger son has driven off to.

It's a good twenty minutes, and more searching, before the son finally makes his way back to the anxious mother. After some more muttered conversation-- "I don't know, Ma... Well, maybe it was a raccoon..." they retire back to the living room.

Twenty minutes of being a rock. Twenty minutes of expecting the double barrel to point her way. Twenty minutes, and her muscles feel cramped. The Gnawer silently curses the stubborn son, and when the two of them finally go into the house she gets up. First, a long stretch. Then a shake of her fur. Then, she's back out close to the driveway and sniffing, making sure she's got connections to place.

She's got 'em, all right, and now a much stronger sense of the older son's scent as well as the pickup's lingering foul exhaust. And the Dobbs mercifully stage no further soap opera in her presence, giving her leisure to explore. But clues are scarce, and at this point, other than finding the stranger's faint scent in a few more places between the fence and the -- well, whatever sort of vehicle was parked there -- there's not much else even for a keen-scented no-moon's nose to pick up.

((You paged the room with 'None of the sons smelled like our man right?'.
Sekhmet pages: Right. You've got five human scents here, more or less: Mom Dobbs, Farmer Dobbs, George Jr (the elder), and Reckless Driver (the younger), plus the stranger who took the horse. The stranger's scent appears to be associated with another truck-sized vehicle.
Sekhmet pages: or possibly a bit larger.))

Three-Blades licks her nose once, then makes her way back towards the cleared field and the goat, cow and horse left to pasture. She'll have a good sniff and a look at them, and also look at the cow to see if maybe, it's got some strange mark on it like the one Lyra had told her about.

A good thought. It takes a bit of cute maneuvering to thoroughly inspect bovine and equine rumps, but eventually Yi determines that these animals have been spared thus far.

((Long distance to Sekhmet: Yi` thinks that's pretty much all she's gonna squeeze out of you. Unless the prodigal son returns with blood on his hands or something, but I doubt that.
Sekhmet pages: Nah. Just doesn't come back for a day or two with the truck. And apologies for limited clues... I still have a great deal more of this story to do, so you're only starting to piece it together. ;)
Long distance to Sekhmet: Yi` grins. I wasn't expecting it to fall in place. But, the more I know. ;) ))