Walkthrough
by Tally Ho - Summer, 2004
| I strongly urge you NOT to print this walkthrough. Instead, save it to your hard disk, then you can load it (offline) while playing the game, and use <Alt-Tab> to switch between the game and the walkthrough. The reason is, it contains many internal links to pictures and answers, which are cascaded at the end of the main text. Printing will result in zillions of pages, some blank, wasting paper and time. |
Use that Cellphone Often! Bess and George were going to join Nancy, but they are stuck elsewhere, because their flight was diverted. However, they can provide much useful information. By the way, the biggest mystery of all is, the Rawleys always wanted a cattle ranch, but you will not see a single cow in the entire game! You will however, need to something about riding horses, Western style.
After the introduction, you find yourself in the Den of the homestead. See the little exclamation point on the phone? That means it is available for use. You should call the Rawleys, Bess, and Frank and Joe. The conversations work best if you call them in that order, but any sequence will actually work. (Don't bother calling home; there's never anybody there.)
Keep in mind the little fact that George is reading a book on antique clothing - she will be a big help with a problem sometime in the future.
I'll describe things to do in this room in clockwise order, starting with the corner cupboard visible after you turn slightly to the right. Again, the sequence is unimportant, just as long as you find and read everything eventually. In the corner cupboard is a book by Charleena Purcell, autographed to Aunt Bet. This connection will mean something soon.
Turn all the way around and see the large double bookcase. Curiously, you can approach the left side of the bookcase, but there are no books to read. On the right half of the case,read the book on the care and feeding of horses. Don't worry, you will not have to work out a formula, but take special notice of the picture of Oats, Corn, and Soybean Meal. In the next few pages, learn what it means when a horse gets colicky, and when it founders. Reading about the various colors of horses, pay special attention to the description of the Bay. Yes, there's a sort of quiz coming up!
To the right of the bookcase is the rolltop desk. You will need the key, which Dave will give you later. In the corner to the right of the desk, is a blue chest. You can open the main compartment, but not do anything. Close the lid, and look closer to the corner. You see three square holes, and the emblem of a clock-face. "Something Goes Here."
Back away until you can rotate the view toward the fireplace. Read the other book about horses that you find on the table. You will need to know how to measure a horse's height in 'hands' and something about the Appaloosa breed, and the Donkeys. Look at the Mantel-Clock - It's not running. More important, notice the colors associated with the hours.
Rotate the view slightly right, and step toward the portrait. You can read the lady's name and wonder who she was. Keep her in mind - you will want to examine the picture more closely later on. You can play the radio if you want; it's for entertainment only. Turn right some more, and enter the kitchen.
Turn right and introduce yourself to Shorty, the Cook. Talk to him about the Phantom horse and Dirk Valentine. After talking with Shorty, turn all the way around and exit the house via the kitchen door. See the garden straight ahead? Go toward it once, and see the chicken coop to the left of the gardens. Go there and talk with Dave. He will give you the key.
Might as well go back into the house and open that rolltop desk. To do that, click on the inventory button, click on the key, then click on the Exit Inventory (X at top right) button. Use the key to open the desk. (Then you have to re-open the inventory and insert the key into inventory to get rid of it! Awkward inventory management, if you ask me.) Items in the desk: Upper left; three levers. ("Something Goes Here?") Lower left - bill of sale for Steamer Trunk containing junk from the ranch. Nancy will probably want to get into that trunk at some time. Bottom Center - nasty letter from Jane Nash. Right center - Envelope for Mary Yazzie. That's all, close the desk.
Go to the blue chest in the corner, and use those three levers. They can be rotated. Remember the colors on the clock? Blue is at 2:00, Red is at 12:00, and Yellow is at 7:00. Turn the levers to those times, and the panel opens. Three items to take here. At the left, a Pocket Watch. Click on the pointed end of the chain to open the face, and see the initials M.H. (useful information) - and the time is 3:11 (unimportant.) Click on the face. Uh-Oh; a puzzle. Try clicking on the numerals. You discover that the even numbers, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 are active, the odd numbers don't do anything. As you click, one of them will stay depressed. If you click on another even number, either both will stay down, or both (or all) will reset. So you must discover the sequence, which is randomly set just for you. Once the watch opens, you will be rewarded with an inventory item; a chain that belongs to another watch, and a photo of Frances at a younger age, with her father, Meryl Humber, the Sheriff.
In the envelope, which had apparently never been opened, you find two documents - a final, desperate love letter from Dirk, and a strange sort of map with a diagram of rock formations surrounded with symbols. Finally, on the right, is a journal kept by Meryl Humber. Read it. It's a sad story. Take careful note of her favorite flower, the "Harrison's Yellow."
Maybe we can take one of the horses out, and go see Mary Yazzie and find those rock formations. Go to the barn, and enter the tack-room to talk with Tex. Finish the conversation, only to learn that you will not only have to finish some chores first, but also answer some questions about horses. Also you must remember to ask Tex before riding at any time, and to bring your saddle and bridle inside before leaving the paddock.
Go to the kitchen and talk to Shorty. You've got chores, all right! Pick only the perfect vegetables, not unripe and not too ripe. Also lay a fire, and leave a bucket of water nearby. Exit the kitchen, turn around and take the basket that is hanging there, to the right of the thermometer. (Notice the thermometer reads almost 90°. What a scorcher. Go to the garden (looks like a patch of sunflowers.)
Nancy needs to learn what ripe vegetables look like. Use the Cell Phone and open the Internet Browser. Search, and read about harvesting vegetables. Look first at the left garden. The Romano beans are not ready, nor are the Ivory-egg tomatoes. However, there are four Northern Lights tomatoes that are just right. Take them and go to the right garden. The beans aren't ready here, either. But there are two Beefsteak tomatoes and two Golden Queens to take. So that's it - just tomatoes today. Take them to Shorty. If you did it correctly, he says "Good for You!" and gives you an egg-basket, together with a warning that it's kinda old.
Look at the basket in inventory, and examine the broken area on the side nearest you. You need to fit the pieces into place. The good part about this puzzle, is that when you place a piece correctly, it stays there, and cannot be removed.
Once you have all the pieces, click the lacing three times to sew everything up tightly. Are you good, or what? Now the basket is sturdy, and the eggs will not fall out. Go to the Chicken Coop. No need to talk to Dave at this time; just go in and gather the eggs. Watch out for that white hen in the lower right, she's feisty, and will attack if you try to take her egg while she's there. You'll have to return for that one. Look in all the nests, whether there's a bird there or not. All except the white one, of course.
You should have found five eggs, Shorty will want six. Go to him, and he'll say you can find more eggs than that. Now, if you return to the chickens, the white bird should be gone, and you can take her egg. If you now have six eggs, give them to Shorty and take the Canteen of Water.
Exit the house, and turn right to find three logs, a chopping block, a mallet and a wedge. Click on a log to place it on the block. Click on the wedge to place it in the log. Now you can choose the angle of swing - make it match the angle of the wedge; and the depth of the swing - near, medium or far; and the direction of swing, left, centered, or right. After you have split all three logs, take them into inventory. Now you must find kindling wood. You are searching for twigs.
Twigs:
Go to the gardens, and step in between the right and left
gardens. Find twigs on the ground, near the
fence.
Go to the Chicken Coop, and don't enter the door; instead look on
the ground just in front of a small bush.
Turn around from the Chickens, and look at the ground under
the old cart with a cactus growing on it.
Go toward the kitchen door, but don't step up onto the porch.
Find twigs to the left, just under a bush.
Last ones are next to the right of the red pump-house,
between the building and a bush.
That's it - five bunches of twigs. Only one thing left to help
start a fire - newspaper.
Go into the Den, and take the newspaper from the basket by the fireplace. Rumple it up, and take the second paper. Rumple it up also, and you are ready to lay the fire. Go to the fire pit and click on it, taking a slightly burned note with a cryptic message.
The message is composed of anagrams (scrambled words) and symbols. We will need further information to read the symbols. In the meantime. build that fire. Paper first, then twigs, then logs. (When I first played the game, I had gathered all the split logs and twigs, placed the bucket of water, and never built the fire. I was allowed to proceed anyway.) After building the fire, which will be used after dark, pick up the empty bucket, take it into the red pump-house, and place it in the utility sink. Fill it with water, and take it back. Put it on the ground where you found it. That's all the chores; veggies, eggs, firewood, and water. You should be able to ride the horse now. Go to the barn, and talk to Tex. He says you can ride, providing you prove you know something about horses, but now what? He doesn't ask any questions. So - give it a try. Turn around, and pick up the saddle. (The gloves come along automatically.)
Go to Bob, the first horse, and click on him to move close-up, and place the saddle on his back. Lift the stirrup, and tighten the cinch, one, two, three, and lower the stirrup. Click IN FRONT of the saddle-horn to lead him out; if you click on the saddle itself, it pops back into your inventory and you will have to install it again. You and Bob go to the mounting-block, climb aboard, and that's when Tex re-appears and wants some answers.
Where's the horse's hocks? |
back legs. |
||
| Where's the horse's frog? | bottom of hoof. | ||
| How tall is 15 hands? | five feet. | ||
| What is a Paso Fino? | gaited horse. | ||
| How do you know if a horse is colicking? | it keeps lying down and then standing up. | ||
| What is the difference between a Bay and a Chestnut? |
Bay has black points. | ||
| What tribe bred the first Appaloosas? | Nez Perce. | ||
| What part of the horse is most likely to be hurt when it founders? |
the feet. | ||
| What part of the saddle should be checked before you go out on the trail? |
the cinch. | ||
| What is a mule? | offspring of a female horse and male donkey. |
You can just bull your way through the questions if you wish, by keeping track of any incorrect answers. The same questions will be asked again, until you get them right. Tex will eventually be satisfied, and let you go.
Exit the corral, and there will be only one possible destination for now; Mary's Gifts. Go into the shop and talk with her. Give her the letter. She was trying to buy some land from the Rawley's, but they refuse to sell. Petroglyphs? There are some at Cougar Bend. (This bit of conversation will make another destination available on the map)
Things to look at in the shop, from left to right:
Books
by Charleena Purcell (You will now have her phone number
available)
A display of arrowheads
The "Run for Cover" game - Click here for solutions -
A package of Tuning Forks. Guess what? It's NOT going
to be a musical puzzle!
Two portfolios of pictures - one shows what Petroglyphs look
like, so you can be on the lookout.
Finally, the trunk that Mary can't open. See the three holes?
"Something goes here." Yes, you have the three handles,
but not the information needed to set them correctly. Triggers
for this puzzle: You need to examine it,
in order to learn the information to open it. You also need to try
the three handles in the holes, for Charleena to talk to
you.
Go outside the store, so you can use the phone. Call Charleena Purcell. She talks with you (finally!) and informs you that the Humbers' wedding day was April 9, 1811. That's 4-9-11, which sounds like three numbers that could be used on the three handles. Go inside, approach the trunk and insert the handles. Set them from left to right, 4-9-11 and the trunk opens. You can take any object, but the one you want is the watch. Open your inventory, look at the watch. "I wonder how you open this." Open inventory again, and use the chain you obtained from the other watch. It opens, revealing a puzzle similar to the first watch. This time, the odd numbers are the active ones. It's random; solve it by finding the one that stays down, then the next, etc. When it opens, you find an old photo torn in half. Pick out the photo, and read "Green Bottle Under . . ." Whatever that means.
Ride Bob back to the ranch. Be sure to take the saddle off the horse, and go into the tack room, putting it back in place. Uh-oh, a letter fell from the saddle. Nancy picks it up intending to return it to Tex, but it seems to come open all of its own accord. It's a birthday card for Tex, from Jane Nash. Oops - she's his sister! Talk to Tex, and mention his sister. He is p*ssed. I would be too, if you opened my mail. Anyway, exit the barn, and it should be evening, with Shorty singing around the campfire. I bet his Lamb Ragoût is better than his crooning!
Omigosh! The Phantom Horse arrives, and the Pump-House blows a gasket!
The next morning, Aunt Bet calls, and gets the whole story. After the conversation with Aunt Bet, go into the kitchen. Shorty is not there, so approach the small desk to the right of the stove, and examine the Prospector's Map you find there. When you put the map down, Shorty catches you spying, and tells you not to pry into his things. Exit the kitchen, and use the Phone to call the SW Geological Survey. Geza tells Nancy all about meeting with Shorty.
Return to the kitchen, apologize to Shorty, and ask him what chores need to be done this morning, and talk to him about Mary, and how he loves to gossip. Go out, take the vegetable basket, and head for the garden. In the left vegetable garden, pick the 5 ripe Romano Beans (not the dried ones) and the 2 ripe Ivory egg tomatoes. No Northern Lights tomatoes are ready. In the right vegetable garden, pick 2 red Beefsteak tomatoes and the 3 dried Black Turtle beans, not the green ones. (No Golden Queens)
Give the veggies to Shorty, and it's time to gather some eggs. The basket is still in your inventory. You should find six eggs, even without bothering the nasty white hen. Take the eggs to Shorty, and he will need you to make a cake for him. Now or later, so long as it's done before day's end. Turn right after talking to him, to find the recipe box on the kitchen table. Look at the refrigerator to find the measurement conversion table.
| Recipe Amounts | Converted Amounts |
| 1 cup butter | two sticks butter |
| 2 eggs | 2 eggs |
| 1 2/3 cups milk | 5 times 1/3 cup milk |
| 4 cups flour | 2 pints flour |
| 1 Tbsp Baking Powder | 3 teaspoons B. P. |
| 2 1/3 cups sugar | 7 times 1/3 cup sugar |
| 3 tsp Vanilla | 3 teaspoons Vanilla |
The
ingredients must be placed into the bowl in the exact amounts.
(Any sequence will be okay)
Pick up butter. It says right on the wrapper, one stick = 1/2
cup. Put two sticks into the bowl.
Put two eggs in.
The milk only comes in 1/3 cup doses, use five of them.
The flour comes in pints (who knew?) which equal two cups each.
Use two pints.
One Tablespoon = 3 teaspoons. Use 3 tsp Baking Powder
Seven one-third cups sugar
Add 3 tsp Vanilla.
When all the ingredients are in the mixing bowl, step back and you will have the option to "add more ingredients", "bake", or "throw away. If you have mixed it correctly you should select "bake." (If you know you did something wrong, throw it away and start over.) You should also save your game right here, because there are still more ways to go wrong, and if you mess up, you will have to start from the beginning of the recipe.
There are three cake-pans available. Use the center one, the larger round pan. Now, guess at the temperature and time, since the recipe did not include this information. Actually, I have never seen a cake recipe that didn't give some indication of how to bake it. (Careful - if you make it too hot, the oven will be set on fire, and Shorty will walk off the job. Aunt Bet will not be exactly pleased with Nancy.)
For this cake, use medium heat for 45 minutes. Perfect! Now, it need to be decorated. Click on the icing, and reveal a puzzle. It's not difficult, since the outline is visible. Place the pieces to make a tulip that looks like this:
Then paint it. The blossom should be red, and the leaves and stem green. That finishes the cake. Exit the kitchen, and it's time to investigate the Pump House. Go there, and Nancy realizes she should call the Sheriff before entering. Call him, talk to him about everything you can, and then go into the building. Examine the pipe - it looks pretty badly corroded. While you are right there, look on the floor, and find a Blue Arrowhead. Exit the pumphouse.
Hey! Somebody has already built today's fire, and filled the bucket. Nancy won't have to worry about that today. It's time to go for a ride. Remember to ask Tex first, before trying to ride ol' Bob. Talk to him about his sister etc., then ask to go riding. Oops, more chores, and this one's not so simple.
Turn around and look in the feed-bins. Remember the picture of Oats, Corn, and Soybean meal in the book? You will find Oats in the first bin on the left, Corn in the corner, and mixed pellets in between. The Chicken feed is in the last bin on the right, next to the unknown pink stuff.
For the Chickens - open the rightmost bin, and use the scoop. The food automatically goes into the bucket. Place two scoops in the bucket, The scale reads 5 lbs., not that it matters. Take the bucket (back away and "Keep) and go to the Chicken Coop. Place the feed into the Easy Feed hopper. That takes care of the birds.
Back in the barn, check the blackboard for the individual rations. Bob gets Ration A. 2 Oats, 1 Corn, 1 1/2 pellets.
Do
the Oats first. Notice each can of Oats is one pound, so use two
cans.
Next, do the Corn. See that each scoop of corn is 1/2 lb., so use
two scoops of Corn.
The size of the mixed pellets scoop is still unknown, but when
you use it, the total is 4 1/2. One's enough!
Take that bucket and place the contents into Bob's feed-pail.
Clyde gets Ration C - 3 Oats, 1 1/2 pellets. (That's 3 cans of oats, and one scoop of pellets.)
Ace gets Ration D - 1 Oats, 1/2 Corn, and 3 pellets. (In scoops, that's 1 oats, 1 corn, and 2 pellets)
Now see if you can go riding. Yes, Ol' Bob's all yours. Tex mentions something about barrel-racing and roping a sawhorse with a lariat. Saddle up the horse, and climb on. You can see the barrels and the sawhorse with the lariat. You don't need to do either the roping or the barrel-racing now, but I suggest you do, because you will be needing that rope. You can do either the roping or the barrels first, it doesn't matter.
Tex will time your course around the barrels. Bob knows which way to go, that's no problem, but he will be too slow unless you find a way to tighten up the turns. Click on Barrel One to start, then watch as the cursor changes to a smaller arrow. Click once or twice near the top of the barrels, and Bob will make better turns. Nine-point-five will be good enough.
To rope the sawhorse, take the lariat, and watch until the circle smoothes out. To aim properly, click near the bottom of the sawhorse, and drag upwards, releasing the mouse. Four out five will get you the rope. Dismount Bob, put the saddle away, and ask Tex for the Lariat.
Go into the Pump-House. Look at the wall with shelves, to the left of the pump. Locate the grille near the floor, and enter it. You have found a tunnel that leads to the basement of the farmhouse. Dave is there, searching under the cellar stairs. He knows about Dirk's treasure after all, and also knows that the stairs lead to a secret entrance from the bookcase above. When you exit the cellar, do so by going up the stairs and through the bookcase. That way, if you want to re-visit the cellar, you can get there through the bookcase.
After Dave leaves, look to the left, at the shelves. Notice the acid on the top shelf, and take the partially-finished needlepoint from a lower shelf. Exit via the stairs, and go outside, to the chicken coop. Talk to Dave again, and he arranges to have you repair the broken wire in the fencing. Ask him about the Jail that Dirk stayed in. Also ask to see the letter from Frances Humber to his aunt.
Ask Tex to ride again, and re-saddle the horse. This time, ride to Dry Creek, which became available after you asked Dave about Dirk being in jail. Did you notice Mary standing just outside the farm fence? (If you go to her store now, it will be closed.) The buildings are laid out as follows, starting where you leave the horse. On the right, Water Tower, Sheriff, Gallows, Post Office. On the left, General Store, Outhouse (I think) the Bank (not labeled) and Cappy's.
Try going to Cappy's. The Sheriff has locked the building for security reasons. Want to call the Sheriff? Too bad, there is no cell phone signal this far from town. (Actually there is a way to cheat. Click on the Web button, then click on the Directory Button. Now the Phone is activated. - Thanks, Karla for the tip!) Look around the old village, and notice the branding iron marks everywhere. There is a JA on the hitching post between Cappy's and the Post Office; a JF on the barrel between the Post Office and the Gallows; a J-something on the hitching post in front of the Bank. Stand in front of the Outhouse, and turn left toward the General Store's porch. Look close at the device on the porch, and take the red-handled crank next to the device. Notice the brand in the boards next to the device.
Your quickest route now, will be to ride Bob back to Mary Yazzie's shop. If the "Closed" sign is gone, she will be there. You need to talk to the Sheriff, either before you go into the store, or after you come out. The Sheriff will give you the combination; 9-2-7-4. (By the way, you can't just read the walkthrough and put the combination in; you must talk to the Sheriff to get it. And you can't be cute and call the Sheriff first; you must see the lock in order to ask the question. Go do it!)
Talk to Mary. If you ask her about riding near Shadow Ranch, she will get paranoid and think you are accusing her of trespassing; end of conversation. Don't worry, just go somewhere else; when you return she'll be friendly again. When she is, you will realize that she and Tex are in love. The reason Mary is interested in a parcel of land, is that there is a lot of petrified wood there, and she uses it in her jewelry and artwork.
Return to Dry Creek. Go to Cappy's and unlock the door and enter. If you look to the left, and go closer to the old counter, you can see an old cracker tin, and a mark on the wood that is "Interesting." On the little side table, discover an Electrician's Manual. That's an odd thing to find in an abandoned ghost town.
In the far corner, find a bedroll and other personal items. Someone seems to be living there, temporarily at least. To the right of that stuff, is a sort of slot machine. Look at it, and it says to "Make the Meanest, Roughest and Toughest Gang in the West, and WIN! The token you got from the 'Run for Cover' game will operate this machine.
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Put the token in the slot and pull the lever. The wheels spin, and some mean characters and some nice characters appear, at random. Press the button between each mean character to keep them and prevent their wheels from spinning. Pull the lever again. If all four wheels now show up mean, you get more tokens. Now what? Save them, you'll want them in a while.
As you leave Cappy's, a shadow passes over one of the windows in the Bank. Nancy feels she is being watched. Return to the Ranch. This time, you see Mary and Tex talking outside the fence. Ask Dave what gives with that? He doesn't know. Talk to Shorty about the treasure. He doesn't believe in it.
Go to the Den, and open the secret passage to the basement by pulling a book on the first shelf. Go through the basement, and enter the grille that leads to the tunnel to the pump house. Nancy speculates that the message refers to these stairs. Go down the steps once, and turn around. Click on the top riser, and reveal a puzzle. Oh Joy! The object is to be able to slide the block with the initials F.H. on it.
The thirteenth move you will make, is to slide the block with the initials 'FH' to the right, opening the box. A Green Bottle is revealed, which contains three letters. Read them all. (It's necessary to read all of them in order to trigger some future events.) Take notice of various clues: The shawl and the stitch; the handbag and the beaded pattern; Agates, the flower on her letter-paper; and Charlie's grave.
Exit the basement area and ask Tex to ride again. (If you happen to use the exit through the bookcase, you will notice a new hotspot on Frances' portrait, that allows you to look very close at her shawl. If you use the cell phone to browse the web, and search for common knitting stitches, the stitch that closely resembles the shawl is called the Daisy Stitch. (You need to hear Nancy say the words "Daisy Stitch. To do that, browse with the cell phone while you are actually looking closely at the portrait.)
Ride Bob again, this time going to Cougar Bend. You also have the option to go to "Trail Stop" but I prefer to save that for later. Arrive at Cougar Bend, and go once toward the rock formations. Hey! That looks like the picture on the parchment you found in the trunk in the den. Look at the parchment again. It seems to have a row of symbols along the bottom, seventeen of them; and scattered all over the rocks, are seventeen locations marked with squares. In addition, the top and left side have alphabetic characters that associate with the rows and columns. Let's go up close to the rocks, and search in the locations marked by the squares on the parchment. Try going to the place where you can see a log sticking out if you look up. On the ground, are two round boulders at the center, and two larger square stones at the right and left sides. You will find two petroglyphs in the rocks; one down low and close to the round boulders, the other about eye level over the right square stone.
Click on a petroglyph, and click on it again. The parchment opens, and you have 'recorded' the image on the right side of the page. If you pick up the image, you can place it on any of the squares on the parchment. As you do, two letters appear under the bottom row of symbols, suggesting that you will be spelling out a message upon completing the puzzle. The correct technique is to place the symbols on the parchment corresponding to the location where you found them.
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Use the lasso to snag the log overhead, and climb up. On the way up, see the petroglyphs and remember their positions, for you can't use the map while hanging onto the rope. At the top, find the three glyphs straight ahead, and another by turning right. In this view, to the left of the forked stick, are several pebbles. But wait! One of those pebbles is actually an arrowhead. Take it. Return to ground level. Look to the left of the area you just explored. Step forward, and find another arrowhead on the ground, and a glyph on the pointy part of the formation.
Back away and look somewhat more to the left, to find two more glyphs on the face of the stone. Finally, back away again, and find the area on the far left where you can climb to the top. There is a third arrowhead on the ground, just before the rocks. Five more glyphs complete the set. If you place them correctly, Nancy will read the quote at the bottom of the parchment: "Beneath Cappy's keys, Pappy's name please!" We know that Cappy's is the name of the saloon where the slot machine game is, and where someone was camping out.
Ride Bob to the Trail Stop. As you dismount, there will be an arrowhead visible on the ground, to the right of the trail. Take it. Step forward once, and find another one on the left edge of the trail, hard to see. Go forward again, and look to the right to see Charlie's grave. (Charlie evidently was a mule.) Careful! If you rotate your view so that Charlie's grave is at your back, you can go forward toward a marble-like stone. DO NOT inspect the stone, there is a rattlesnake snoozing under the stone. You can faintly hear the rattle. Be patient, you will be able to do something here later.
Instead, continue forward once more, and find the arrowhead at the left side of the trail. Finally continue forward again, to the place where Nancy says "Heck, why walk when I can ride?" Look down to the left, VERY hard to see, and when I played, the cursor did not show red. A fourth arrowhead.
Stop at Mary's, and look around the shop. On the little table with brochures about Petrified Wood, you will discover a large piece that wasn't there before. Ask Mary about it, and she is uncomfortable answering, like she might be lying.
When you exit the store, use the cell phone to call Charleena. Ask her about 'Pappy' and the crackers. She tells you that Dirk's father was named Cashmeer. Ride Bob to Dry Creek. Go to Cappy's, and inspect the piano. It looks like a player piano, with mechanism under the keyboard. Cappy's Keys, get it? Under Cappy's keys (the piano) Pappy's name please. That must mean that the puzzle wants to say "Cashmeer." It starts out saying "TNUNRFLN" It will reset to its original state if you back away. Correct the letters in this order: 7, 6, 8, (2 or 3), 1, 4. A parchment is revealed.
Take
your Forks and a Crank to Beady Eyes Ranch
And make sure you see what's below.
When you stick the forks in and give it a spin,
Off towards my treasure you'll go.
Collect two arrowheads (one by the barrel between the gallows and the Post Office, and a second one on the ground in front of the outhouse.) Caution - if a scorpion appears, wait until it stops moving, then back away. Do not try to pick up the arrowhead while you see the scorpion. Just walk around a little and come back. When the scorpion does not appear, it is safe.
Ride to Mary's shop. Ask her about silverware. If she doesn't get it, turn around and look at the Tuning Forks again. Now ask Mary. She agrees to give Nancy the Tuning Forks, if she can come up with ten arrowheads. You may have already found them; here's the checklist. One at the ranch, in the pumphouse. Two at Dry Creek, three at Cougar Bend, and four at Trail Stop. Go to Mary's, and give her the ten arrowheads. She only needs nine, so you get to keep one, and get the forks in return. (Don't forget to turn around, and actually take the tuning forks with you.)
Now what? Beady Eyes Ranch? What's that about? Go back to Dry Creek. Do you remember a brand burned into the wood that looked like BD? "Bee-Dee" as in sounds like "Beady?" Check the front porch of the Sheriff's office. Click on the BD brand (it's a backwards B) and pick up a box with an intricate mechanism inside. The shape reminds Nancy of something - the mark next to the Cracker-Tin at Cappy's. Go there. Place the box on the familiar spot. Insert the crank into the right-hand end of the box. Use the forks on the top.
This is not a music puzzle, it is a word puzzle. You have seven forks: A, B, C, D, E, F, G; but there are only four blank holes, and some intervening letters. _R_N_ _S. Does that remind you of anyone's name? Of course, Frances. Put the appropriate forks in, and you hear the sound of breaking glass. What gives? Look around, and discover the lamp right over your head has been smashed. Look at the lamp, and find this parchment:
Now Go and peek
Beneath Zebra Rock
An attractor of metal
What's there, will unlock.
Remember the rattlesnake sounds under the rock at Trail Stop? Maybe now you can look under the rock. However, "An attractor of metal" is a magnet. Do you have one? Have you seen one anywhere? How does Shorty attach notes to his refrigerator. I'll just bet you can swipe one of those.
Before you leave town, take a look in the Sheriff's Office/Jail. Yikes! The walls in the first cell look pretty unstable. And phooey! The other cell is locked. Let's go to the ranch and find that magnet. Put up the saddle and step outside the barn. Whoops - it suddenly becomes night-time. Go to the kitchen, take the magnet from the Fridge, and talk to Shorty. He says "Great cake - go get Tex and we'll eat it. " (I suspect we should have done that long ago, during daylight, because Tex won't be in the barn at night, but it doesn't matter.)
Go to the Chicken Coop. Down near the ground is the area of broken wire that Dave asked you to fix. Put on the gloves, and do the repair. Don't have the gloves? They are on the saddle. Go to the barn, and click on the saddle to get the gloves. Fix the wire, and watch the cutscene. The Phantom Horse arrives; and the Transformer on the pole explodes. Then, the next day arrives, and Bess calls. Talk to the girls about the beaded purse in order to learn about the pattern.
You know the routine - go to the kitchen and talk to Shorty. The power will be out for a while, but life must go on. As usual, he wants fresh veggies and eggs. Go outside, take the basket and see what's happening in the garden. The left garden is easy - pick four bicolor Northern Lights tomatoes, that's all. No Ivories, and no beans. On the right side, take two Beefsteaks, two Golden Queens, and two Black Turtle beans; the dried ones. (Actually, that means pick everything in the right garden. Give the stuff to Shorty.
(On the way to the gardens, notice the horseshoe, and take it with you. ) Gather five eggs, talk to Shorty, who sends you back. The nasty white bird is gone and you can take the sixth egg. Give the eggs to Shorty, ask for a canteen of water, and you're good to go. Before you go riding, talk to Dave and mention the "Thing" that Tex and Mary have going. Then ask Tex to go riding.
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Tex has disassembled a
bridle, and it's your job to figure out how to put it
back together. Here's a picture to guide you. When it's finished, take the bridle, talk to Tex, and ask him permission to ride. Yep! By the way, if you look on the floor to the right of
Tex, you will see a bag of Pink Cattle Supplement. |
Let's see what's happening at Dry Creek. Have a look in Cappy's. Go to the corner where someone was camping. Aha! That must be the key to the jail cell. Thud! Auggh. Nancy is hit from behind, and locked in the jail. Look around. To the left are some bricks. Pick up a couple. Now look out of the locked cell door. You can see a key hanging on a nail. If you look closer at the key, you have the opportunity to throw a brick at the key. But caution - see that hole in the floor? You need to find something to block the hole. Use the lasso to drag the chair and cover the hole. Settings for the brick - second angle, middle strength. Use the rope again to pull the chair closer, and get the key. Important: Before you exit the cell, look to the right, where the sink is. There are some symbols scratched on the wall. Count the lines, and guess what alphabetic character they represent. They are in order, 1 to 26 equals A to Z. Type in the letters, pressing the enter key after each one. If the letter is correct, it will stick, if not, it will vanish until you use the right letter.
Find Dirk's Decoder on the floor of the office.
Remember the note you pulled from the fire pit? Now you will be
able to make sense out of it. It says:
Will need more supplies.
If ranch is not soon, check message shelf again.
Dirk might have hidden it right under Sheriff's nose.
Bank? Oh yeah, the Bank is the building with the outhouse to its left, how convenient. Look at the Bank, and notice the white lamp on the left side of the building. Look at the cornerstones, until you find the hotspot. A letter inside reads -
"Did you know you can play some games more than one way?
You can and I'll tell you how.
Use the ring that/s the twin of Ellie's, your cousin in Cappy's
fun machine now."
That must be referring to the slot machine. Think: Who would have a ring? Probably Dave. Go to the Ranch, and talk to Dave. Mention being attacked, and also ask about a ring. Sure enough, he will loan you a ring. Hope it's the right one. Go to the barnyard, but before you saddle up, call the Sheriff.
Ask Tex to ride, and go to Dry Creek one more time. At Cappy's, look at the slot machine game. See the red button above the coin slot? Use the ring there, and voilà! Now the machine wants nice guys instead of bad guys. I suggest creating a saved game, just in case the machine gets ornery and won't let you solve it in one pull. Remember to use the buttons to lock the ones you don't want to change. Winning, you get a key for your efforts. IF YOU USE THE SECOND TOKEN, be sure to use the ring on the red button again before you play.
There's lots to do everywhere, but since you have a magnet now, why not head on out to the Trail Stop and see if that Rattlesnake has left the scene. Sure enough, Nancy can move that striped rock, and finds a puzzle underneath. Open the lid to the puzzle, and reveal some kind of maze. Ugh. I hate mazes. Use the Apple-Magnet from the fridge, to move the little metal pieces around. (Never mind that magnets attract Iron, but not Copper, Manganese nor Silicon.) You need to maneuver the pieces until they come to their respective homes in the center. Orange is Iron (Fe) - Green is Copper (Cu) - purple is Manganese (Mn) - and grey is Silicon (Si) Solving the puzzle yields a Music Box. It has a flower puzzle on it, for which you have been gathering clues throughout the game. However, you are not quite ready.
Feeling stuck? Go somewhere where the Cellphone works, and check your e-mail. There should be a message regarding a bead pattern, and another about the brand of Crackers. Now that you know the bead pattern, Talk to Mary Yazzie and ask her for some beads. She will dig up some beads for you, provided you agree to sort out the display of gems. Sort them first by kind and color, blue on the left, and red in the middle; then each sub-group by size. As you pick up each gem, the size icon is partially hidden by the cursor, but visible. When it's done, she says so. See Mary about the beads.You can stand right there and solve the purse puzzle if you wish. Open inventory, view the purse, then open inventory again and take the beads, and place them on the thread area.
The pattern as described in your e-mail was:
Yellow - 1
(Black - BRc) x 4
(Red - White - Red - RPc) x 4
Apply the beads in that sequence, and "Perfect!" Looks kind of like a poppy. (That's a stretch!) Let's take stock of what clues we have collected.
Frances' favorite flower was the Harrison's Yellow.
We have seen a tulip on the cake,
A poppy on the purse,
Daisy stitching on her shawl,
Sunflower from the crackers, and
Lily from the letter to her cousin.
Remember the music box? It had six flowers that could be arranged. Let's have a look.
Flowers on Frances' favorite things around her favorite flower? That suggests that the central flower on the music box should be the Harrison's Yellow rose. Do that first. If you examine the leftmost flower, you discover that only one of its selections matches one of the favorites, the Sunflower. Set that and leave it. Going clockwise, the top flower contains the Sunflower and the Poppy. Since you need the Sunflower on the left, select the Poppy for the top. Now try out the bottom left. Three possibilities are found; Sunflower, Poppy and Daisy. Select the Daisy and leave it there. Only two left. You need to place the Tulip and the Lily. Since the tulip is only found on the bottom right and nowhere else, put the tulip there, and the Lily on the right. Ta-Da! Read the parchment found in the secret compartment.
If
you hope this task
to ever complete,
you must wind her up
to move her feet.
Use the key gotten from the Slot Machine game, and wind the music box. It opens, and this verse appears, along with a pictorial clue.
On
the paper you got when you first began
Draw lines 'tween the pictures shown here.
If you draw then in order,
You'll find something you need
Behind the picture that you make appear...
Connect the images on the original parchment, and you come up with this:
Notice the big "V" you have drawn on the mountain, as well as the new "V" petroglyph surrounded by the big V. The thing to do, is to ride out to Cougar Bend and use the lasso to climb up to that location, and find the "V" petroglyph. Turn left once, and find the rock with the V. Slide it away, and read the parchment:
At
Charlie's grave, hold this up,
Look around and you'll see
The trail to a gift to you from me.
(Oh, and I don't mean the Charlie that's buried in Dry Creek.) That must mean he intends you to visit the grave of Charlie the Mule, buried in Trail Stop. Take the rock. Too bad it's so scuffed up! Well, Nancy, you know who works on rocks and gems. Get thee hither to Mary's Shoppe.
Talk to Mary, give her the scuffed-up stone, which she will polish. It's a picture agate. Exit the shop, and Bess will call. Talk to her, then it's time to figure out where to go. The last verse says something about Charlie's grave. Go to the Trail Stop, and walk near Charlie's grave, to the spot where you can rotate the view. Click on the grave, and the Agate pops up. Look around, and you will see a tree that matches the picture, beyond the zebra rock where the snake was. Click in that direction, and Nancy will ride to the new location. Use the lasso one last time, to climb to the ancient cliff dwellings.
Read the inscription on the wall at the end of the first corridor. The scrambled words and symbols can be translated if you refer to the Decoder found in the Sheriff's office at Dry Creek. They read:
Brown
- Lime - Yellow - Red
Blue - Orange - Lime - Yellow
Brown - Blue - Lime - Orange
Blue - Brown - Lime - Orange
Red - Blue - Yellow - Lime
Blue - Lime - Brown - Yellow.
The doors throughout the labyrinth are marked with colored stones. The directions provided by the inscription will get you to the locked chamber, where five keys will be required to unlock the door. The keys are hidden in the old pots found in various rooms, and it will be necessary to explore ALL the rooms, not just the ones listed in the guide. There are several empty pots, and some cannot be seen without turning around. They are distributed randomly, so you are on your own as you hunt for them.
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Near the end, look in a small room with a red marker, and notice the rug on the floor. It is covering a dangerous opening. Just to the right of that room is a door with a green (lime) marker. That one takes you to the final ladder leading to the treasure. Assuming you have found all five keys, place them in the lock, and open the door. Aha! Dirk's treasure. When you back away, you will finally come face-to-face with the culprit. Surprise! He tells his story, then proceeds to come after you.
You will want to switch two stones, to confuse the culprit, and cause him to step on that little rug.
As
soon as you are able, turn left, go down the ladder, make a
U-turn, and go through the green door. Turn left, and
click on the red stone above the door where the little rug is on
the floor.
Take the red stone and turn left to face the
green door you came through.
Take the green stone. Open inventory and put the red stone where
the green one was.
Turn right and place the green stone where the
red one was.
He
will follow the instructions, stepping through the green door,
which was really the red one.
Now you will be rewarded with a nice ending sequence, and
introduction to the next game in the series.
Well done, Detective!
Level One D2, R3, L, D5, R5
Level Two U2, R7, L3, D4, R3
Level Three U2, R2, D2, L2, U3, D3, R2, U5, R5, D