User:Sully McClane

Sully McClane

Sully McClane Backstory.

Part One

Sylvester McClane was born in 1852, to Ned McClane and Elizabeth Pelletier. Ned was a linesman who worked for Harry Matterson on the Matterson Line. Elizabeth was a beautiful Canadian woman. Ned and Elizabeth met on a train whilst Ned was working. Ned was wearing his work clothes but Elizabeth didn’t care. When Elizabeth told her mother that she had fallen in love with a McClane, her mother slapped her across the face. The McClane family had a bad reputation, thanks to Sylvester’s grandfather, Conn McClane. Elizabeth's mother tried to keep the two from seeing each other. When Ned came to visit her one night after work, Elizabeth’s mother threw freezing cold water off of the balcony and onto Ned’s head, soaking him and sending him home. But, the two were in love and so Elizabeth’s mother was fighting an unwinnable battle. After their first child, Ned and Elizabeth decided to have another boy. Ned had the privilege of naming their second son since Elizabeth got to name Sylvester. Ned named their second son, Silas. When Elizabeth was visiting her friend in Rhodes with Ned and a very small Sylvester, her waters broke. Ned evacuated the room with Sylvester because he didn’t have it in him to watch the birth. Then, tragedy happened. Elizabeth died in childbirth.

After Elizabeth’s death, Ned continued to provide for his sons however the money he was earning wasn't enough for the family. Sylvester, who grew up on the train line, tried to help his father when he was very small. Sylvester loved trains, they fascinated him.

Ned later met a man called James Smith, the leader of the Smith Gang. Ned told James about his money problems and that he feared his family would starve if he didn’t get money soon. James then offered Ned some work. In 1861, when the Civil War broke out, Ned began supplying the gang with ammunition and firearms, using Matterson's trains. Harry Matterson soon found out, Harry was shocked! Harry had no choice but to let Ned go from the company. Harry was an honest businessman, he couldn't afford to have any illegal activity taking place on his line. A few weeks after leaving the company, Ned contracted tuberculosis and within a number of months he was dead.

Sylvester and his brother, Silas, were sent to an orphanage. The brothers were taught how to read and write by Mother Quale, an elderly nun who worked at the orphanage. Sylvester and Silas’ uncle, Arthur Turner, a Major in the military, frequently visited the brothers and would take them out of the orphanage for the afternoon. Arthur was married to Elizabeth's sister, Anne. Elizabeth's mother was delighted when Anne married a soldier, she wished Elizabeth married one too. Ned and Arthur didn’t get along. When the family used to meet up, Arthur enjoyed telling everyone about the war with Mexico and the time he killed seven men by himself. He would then mock Ned by asking him “have you ever held a gun?”, Ned would normally bite his tongue for the sake of the family which would often result in an awkward silence. Arthur and Anne lived in an apartment in Saint Denis, he had a lot of money and so he was able to go to the theatre a lot.

When the boys entered their teens, they ran away from the orphanage. They began living on the streets. When they needed food, they would steal it. The boys stole a lot of food and drink from a saloon called Monsteur Trouares Saloon. Next to the saloon was a shop that sold fancy goods that was called G. Veilleux Fancy Goods. Silas and Sylvester would steal apples from the shop and eat them in the alleyway next to Monsteur Trouares Saloon. On several occasions, they were caught but they often escaped before the law arrived at the scene. One day, whilst the brothers were eating and drinking in the alleyway, they came across a group of boys who also lived on the streets. The boys were lead by a very tall boy, who was older than the others. The boy was called Billy Kirk, an orphan from Hennigan's Stead. There was another boy called Cooper Spears, he was the youngest. He was a sickly looking boy, he was pale and gaunt. He was like Billy's younger brother, Cooper looked up to him. There was also Jesse Gray, a quiet boy with a sinister stare. Sylvester also met a boy called John Coburn, a muscular boy with jet black hair and dark eyes. John had a strange way of speaking, he spoke slowly and had a very deep voice.

The brothers became very good friends with the street boys. The boys started to call Sylvester, Sully. One day, Cooper told Sully that he would prefer him to be the leader of the boys. Sully was delighted that Cooper thought that, but was scared to confront Billy about it. Billy eventually found out what Cooper said to Sully and wasn't happy at all. Billy was born on a farm, he was born into a large family. He had several brothers who were younger than him and so Billy felt like he was always in charge. He was born a leader. When Billy didn’t get his way back at home on the farm he would swear, and turn his frustration into anger. One day, after a huge argument, he swore at his parents and stole his family’s money. He then used that money to run away. Sully and Billy fell out a number of times over the leadership role, but eventually Billy decided that it would be best to step down and let Sully and Silas take the lead. The boys renamed themselves The McClane Boys.

Sully began telling the boys about his father and his work on the railway. Jesse Gray's father also worked on the railway. Sully and Jesse loved talking to one another about it. Sully remembered so much his father taught him about trains. One day, when the boys were playing in the street, Billy overheard the boys talking about Sully's father. Billy sat beside the two and listened in. Billy showed great interest in what Sully was saying, which was strange for Jesse to see since Billy never showed interest in anything!

The boys started to hang around at the station, they could watch the trains for hours. A man who worked there noticed the boys one day. The man was called Robert, Robert Koninsky. He was a Polish man who worked on the trains. Robert worked for hours everyday. When it was time to eat, he would sit with the boys and speak to them. He would tell the boys what he's been up to, what he's fixed and what he needs to do before he goes home. One day, Robert didn't come to work. The boys asked the other workers if they had seen Robert, they said no. A week passed and Robert didn't show up. Eventually the boys heard some news, awful news. Robert had been killed by some horrible boys in the slums. Everyday, the boys would run up to Robert's house and throw stones at his window. Robert would run out of his house and scream at them. The boys would laugh because they didn't know what he was shouting, Robert couldn't speak English very well. That day, Robert ran out of his house and began to scream at them. One boy, who was called William Fowler, threw a rock at Robert. The rock hit Robert in the head, killing him instantly. The boys dragged his body into an alley and tried their best to hide him under some wood.

Sully and the boys went to the slums to find William. It took a while for them to find him but they eventually did. William was laying on the train track, pretending to be dead, laughing hysterically. The other boys were standing around him, holding guns made of wood. Sully and the boys stood there watching them for a while, until one of William's boys noticed them standing there. William's boys looked Sully up and down and began to laugh. Billy, who was standing at the back of the boys, was gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. William shouted out to Sully, he told Sully to leave or he would tie him to the track. Sully stood there, he wasn't going to move. Within a few minutes, all of the boys started screaming at each other! They screamed so loud that people living nearby ran out into the street to see what was going on. Then, the boys started fighting. Billy grabbed William and slammed his head into the ground. People who lived in the street ran over to the boys in an attempt to break them up. However, the fight was out of control. Some of the people who tried to break the boys up came away holding their faces, screaming. The fight eventually stopped when a number of lawmen appeared on horseback. Sully, Silas, Billy and Cooper climbed a fence and got away. William tried to chase after them but he couldn't climb the fence.

A few weeks later, Sully and the boys witnessed an execution. A man was being hanged at the gallows in Guiteau Square. He was a murderer, he had murdered his wife. Sully and the boys stood there like statues, their jaws hanging open. When the cathedral bells chimed, the executioner pulled the lever and the man fell. Sully looked away after he heard the rope snap tight. He looked around at Billy. Billy was standing there with his arms folded, staring intensely at the swinging body. Arthur, who was coming home, saw Sully watching the execution when he was crossing the road to his apartment. Arthur saw his nephew standing there with the group of boys. Arthur's face dropped when he saw Billy. A year ago, Billy started a fire outside the apartments Arthur lived in!

A few months later, Sully and the boys decided to leave Saint Denis for the day. Billy's aunt, who was a cleaner at S.J Cranson Jeweller, gave the boys her wagon for the day. Billy took the reins and the boys headed north. The boys came across a black boy who was stuck in the mud near a railway. The boy told Sully that a group of older boys ordered him to stand in the mud. The boy introduced himself as Lonnie, Lonnie Bridges. He was wearing ripped clothes that were made out of potato sacks. He was covered from head to toe in mud. Sully and the other boys pulled Lonnie out of the mud and attempted to clean him up. Sully took off his shirt and handed it to Lonnie. Lonnie looked confused, he told the boys that he was taught to hate white folk, he couldn't believe the boys were being nice to him. Lonnie climbed onto the wagon and went back with the boys. They bought Lonnie some new clothes with the little money they had. Lonnie eventually told the boys about his father, Augustus. Augustus was a slave who was owned by Howard Franklin. Sully began to realise how evil humanity really was when he listened to Lonnie’s stories. Lonnie told the boys about his brother who was shot at the plantation because he asked for a drink of water. Lonnie's aunt lived in hiding, in a shelter made from wood that was roughly nailed together. Lonnie took the boys to visit her one day. When the boys stole enough food, they would give some of it to Lonnie's aunt.

The boys then began stealing from wagons that arrived in Saint Denis. One of the boys (usually Cooper) would lay in the middle of the road pretending to be injured. The wagon driver would usually stop, climb off of his wagon and try to help the boy. Sully, Silas and the other boys would hide in the bushes, and as soon as the wagon driver was distracted, they would climb onto the wagon and steal everything they could. The boy who was pretending to be injured would then get up and limp a little. Then, he would sprint away after the other boys, who were running with handfuls of goods. The boys did this for a long time.

Weeks later, Billy Kirk's aunt was arrested after she stole a necklace from S.J Cranson Jeweller, where she worked. The boys went to the police station to visit her but were turned away by an officer who was sat at the desk.

Sully and the boys began to see William and his gang often. Fowler's boys would sneak into the Gauche Brothers Lumber and Sawmill and start fires. One day, one of the workers caught Fowler burning some newspaper near the mill's water tower. William was taken inside whilst some other workers watched over the other boys. William never told his boys what happened that day, but William never went back to the sawmill!

Sully and the boys began stealing from the trains that stopped at the station. Most of the trains were owned by Leviticus Cornwall. Sully, Silas and Billy would climb onto the trains and steal what they could, whilst the other boys distracted the people waiting at the station. The gang did this for a number of months until they started stealing from trains that were on the move! They finally got enough money for horses, so they could catch up to the trains.

The McClane Boys eventually headed North-West. The boys set up a camp near Heartland Oil Fields. They made tents out of the things they gathered. Whilst some boys stayed at the camp, Sully and his brother would go looking for things to build with. The brothers would tie branches to their horses and take them back to the camp. When the boys had enough sticks and branches to build a fire, Billy would light it. Nearby was another camp, a family lived there. The family moved out there after they were banished from Valentine. The father, a man called Abel Sanders, was a drunk. Abel accidentally shot a man in Smithfield's Saloon after drinking a ridiculous amount of alcohol. Abel had a daughter named Isabella, who Sully began to speak to. Sully and Isabella eventually fell in love!

Sully and the boys began stealing from the oil fields. When a train stopped there and unloaded its goods, the boys would take everything they could and quickly ride away before they were shot at. Sully and the gang began hearing about a man called Nigel Crawley. Nigel Crawley worked at the oil fields and was recruiting men to keep the boys away. One evening, when Sully and Billy were stealing some papers from the oil field’s office, they came face to face with Crawley. Nigel Crawley was a peculiar looking man, he was always hunched over with a creepy smirk on his face. He had nasty greasy hair that he scraped backwards which only made his protruding forehead even more noticeable. Crawley couldn't stop the boys. As soon as Crawley and his men worked out a way to stop the boys, Sully would find another way.

However, their luck didn't last very long. Sully began to notice the shortage of trains stopping at the oil fields. The very few that stopped there had already been robbed! A few weeks later, Sully and the boys found out that William Fowler's gang were robbing trains in New Hanover. William's gang were constantly on the move. William began calling himself The Golden Kid.

The Pinkertons began tracking Sully and the gang. Victor Corlin, a Pinkerton agent, thought up a plan. Victor sent his eldest son, Edmund, who had just started in the agency, to track down and ride with the boys and provide the Pinkertons with information. Edmund began riding with the boys in 1873. Billy thought there was something not quite right about Edmund. He was too quiet and he never blinked or showed emotion. Edmund would ride off on his own and sometimes he could be gone for hours! When the boys sat around the fire, Edmund would sit away from them in the dark. Ever since Corlin joined the gang, Sully and the boys were constantly moving. They would set up a new camp and within a few days the Pinkertons would show up. Then, Sully found out who Corlin really was. The Pinkertons showed up when the boys were sleeping. Victor crept into the camp to get his son. Billy who was awake, saw Victor and shouted for the boys! With that, the boys sprung up and grabbed their firearms. Billy fired at Victor whilst Sully grabbed Edmund. The boys sprinted into the trees, firing as they ran. Billy hid behind a tree and wildly fired at Victor who was crouching behind a bush. Billy shut his eyes and fired again, this time... a bullet hit Victor. Billy heard Victor scream, Billy opened his eyes to see what he had done. Victor was throwing his arms in the air, gasping for air and clutching his chest where the bullet hit him. Then, Victor dropped. Edmund screamed out, trying to break free from Sully's arms. Three Pinkertons darted out from the trees, Sully didn't hesitate to fire at them. Sully hit one of them, the Pinkerton dropped to the floor, dead. It took some time for Sully to realise what he had done, he had killed someone!

The day after, Sully killed Edmund. He decapitated him! Sully told Billy that he made Edmund pray before he killed him. He made Edmund beg for his life! Billy was shocked, he had never seen this side of Sully before and he wasn't sure if he liked it. Sully told the boys that Corlin had a secret, a secret he didn't want to tell. Corlin's secret was that he was a Pinkerton! (Years later, Sully named his Mauser Pistol "Corlin's Secret").

After killing Edmund, Sully returned to Isabella and her family. Sully asked her to come with him because he didn't want to leave her behind. In a drunken state, Abel told Sully to take his daughter with him! When Abel woke up the following day, he realised what he had done!

Sully and the gang set up camp in Tall Trees. William Fowler was robbing trains in Valentine, it was too dangerous for The McClane Boys to be anywhere near there. Sully was running out of ammunition, so taking on Fowler now would have been stupid of them. However, Sully and the gang started to rob a lot of wagons on the trail. There were once a great number of wagons headed to Blackwater. Leading the wagons on horseback was a man called Sawyer Madsen, a hugely disliked man, not only because he was an outlaw but because he formed a friendship with a Native American. The McClane Boys robbed two of his wagons before Sawyer's gang dispersed.

One day, Sully and Silas decided to go hunting. Sully was never a hunter, that was Lonnie's job. However, that day Lonnie wasn't feeling very well so Sully offered to go hunting with his brother instead. When the boys had been out for several hours, they finally caught a rabbit! Silas taught Sully how to skin the rabbit. Lonnie taught Silas how to skin small animals like rabbits before the brothers went themselves. When it started to get dark, the boys decided to head back to the camp. Silas was carrying the rabbit on his shoulder, Sully was leading the way, holding his repeater. Then, it happened. Sully and Silas stopped, dead. A bear was standing there, saliva dripping out of its mouth, staring them in the eye. Sully's body froze up. Silas threw the rabbit at the bear, hoping the bear would go for it. But it didn't. The bear bowed its head and thundered towards the brothers. Sully shot at the bear, the bullets hit the bear but it had no effect on it! Sully frantically grabbed Silas and dragged him away from the bear. The bear tore Silas from Sully's arms and tossed him up into the air! Sully screamed out whist fighting the monster off of his brother. Then, it was all over. The bear tore into Silas and he was dead. Sully fired at the bear once again and this time the bear limped into the trees. Sully then dropped to his knees and started screaming and crying hysterically...

End of Part One

Part Two

Sully returned to the gang’s camp late that night, coated in his brother’s blood. Sully had a blank expression on his face, but his cheeks were glistening in the moonlight with blood and tears. When the gang saw Sully coming, they ran over to him. From the way Sully was walking towards them and because of the absence of Silas, they knew something bad had happened. They sat Sully down by the fire and asked him what had happened to which Sully replied “He’s dead”. Sully then broke down in tears, Isabella rushed over to him and held him tight. Billy, who was standing by the fire, found it hard not to cry. Sully didn’t sleep that night, instead he laid awake with tears rolling down his face.

In 1874, The McClane Boys robbed a train. On-board the train were a number of miners who were from the mines in Annesburg. The McClane Boys got away with a lot of liquor and provisions, the miners had been keeping it all for when they got home.

A few months after the miner robbery, Pinkerton Agent Robert Hill, was treading on the gang’s heels. Agent Hill finally caught up to the gang when they were headed to Van Horn. Agent Hill had a large group of men and they all knew how to shoot. The group wasn’t just made up of Agents, there were hired guns too! One of the hired guns was Bart Geddings, the man who famously killed Phineas Hipple. The gang had stopped by the side of the road to rest when Agent Hill and his men descended on them. Agent Hill ordered the gang to throw down their weapons. Some of the gang did, but Sully, Billy and Jesse refused. Then, the shooting started. Billy fired at Bart Geddings. Cooper was caught in the crossfire and was shot three times by Agent Hill! Lonnie shot two Pinkertons before climbing onto his horse. The gang fled with the Pinkertons chasing after them. The gang were pursued until it got dark. The gang later regrouped and stuffed their pockets with ammunition, they were prepared for the Pinkertons to come back that night. Billy didn’t take Cooper’s death lightly, he felt like it was his fought. Billy always felt like he had to look after Cooper, since he was a few years younger than the other boys.

The gang decided to head north. Sully left Isabella back in the warm. They gathered a lot of blankets and pelts and wrapped them around themselves. As they went further, Lonnie began to complain. He didn’t like the cold, he wasn't used to it. The gang would give Lonnie their blankets, hoping he’d stop moaning. One night, it started to snow. The gang were held up in a small shack. The shack’s door was hanging off of its rusted hinges, where it has been caught by a huge gust of wind. The gang wedged as many blankets into the gap as they could to stop the cold from getting through. They couldn’t make a fire because the branches outside were too wet. The gang had to make do with what they had. The gang were hungry almost every night.

When the gang had been there for a few days, the sun started to show. The gang decided that this would be the best time to find food. They left Lonnie back at the shack with John. Jesse, Billy and Sully packed some ammunition and went off in search of dinner. It took them some time, but they returned to the shack with a deer dragging behind them. Lonnie prepared the deer, he didn’t mind getting his hands dirty.

The gang spent weeks in the snow, but the cold was starting to get to them all. Their blankets were constantly damp and they had no wood to build fires with. Men in twos and threes began showing up, holding soaked blankets in search of somewhere to keep warm. Sully was worried that these men were going to fight them for shelter.

When the gang made it out of the snow, Sully went to go and find Isabella. Only to find that she had fallen in love with a young man in Valentine.

In early 1875, Sully McClane and The McClane Boys robbed a train headed to Saint Denis. The robbery was a success, however, it didn’t go smoothly. Billy Kirk had to shoot and kill the expressman, a man named George Lewis, who stood in front of the safe when the boys were trying to get to it. The boys escaped with $40,000. Just a few weeks later, the gang robbed another train headed to Saint Denis again, this time making off with $15,000.

By February 1879, Sully McClane and The McClane Boys had committed exactly 10 train robberies. In Lemoyne, they had a celebrity status. Newspapers began covering their robberies, making them out to be heroes. At this time, Sully and the gang had set up a small camp in Lemoyne. They felt safe here. If the law came looking for them, they knew Lemoyne’s people would stand up for them. In the summer of 1879, the gang heard news that William Fowler had robbed a train and had escaped with over $12,000. Sully, Billy, Jesse and Lonnie went out looking for The Fowler Gang, Sully believed he knew where they were camped and he was right. When it got dark, The McClane Boys descended on their camp and killed Fowler and his gang. Sully shot Fowler as he was trying to escape on his horse. Lonnie was injured in the fight but the boys took him back to their camp as quick as possible.

A few days after the death of William Fowler, the gang robbed a stagecoach on the outskirts of Rhodes. No one was injured. The stagecoach was robbed of $2,100.

The McClane Boys then went on to rob two trains in March 1879. The first train was robbed as it arrived at MacFarlane’s Ranch. The second was robbed near Twin Rocks. In total the gang made $32,000 from these two robberies.

In May 1879, Billy Kirk went missing. Sully was first to wake up and see that his bedroll was empty. At first, the gang feared that the law had taken him in, but if that was true then why would they have left the other boys asleep at the camp? Sully, James and Jesse rode to Saint Denis to visit Billy’s aunt but when they got there, the house was boarded over. Sully tried breaking the boards off of the windows but he couldn’t. A man, who was watching the boys, called over to them and asked them what they were up to. Sully quickly turned around and replied, explaining that he needed to speak to the woman who lived there. The man shook his head, Billy’s auntie had been arrested again. Sully then asked the man where Billy was but he didn’t know anything about his whereabouts. Sully didn’t hear a thing about his friend until a few months later when he heard that Billy was dead! Sully didn’t know whether to believe it, but it was the only thing he’d heard about him since his disappearance. After a wagon robbery in August 1879, The McClane Boys went their separate ways. They were no longer getting support in the south and the law were hot on their heels. Alone, Sully began staying in Saints Hotel in Valentine. Here, Sully went under the name Clay O’ Sullivan. Sully’s stay in Valentine was peaceful for the first two months until people began recognising him. He was then forced to ride to Ambarino.

In 1881, Sully came across a Native American chief near Donner Falls. His name was Chief Running Fox. He was an old, battle-tested man with a badly scarred face. He was a kind man though, despite Sully’s colour, Sully was able to stay with him and his people. Running Fox’s people had fought many wars with the US Army in the area, his son had been beaten to death in Fort Wallace by a man called Captain Duggins, not long before Sully’s arrival. Sully was appalled when he heard about how they had been treated over the years. Running Fox’s people seemed like they had given up with fighting, they wanted peace.

Sully met another man who was also staying with the Natives. He was a young white man called River Watkins. River couldn’t believe it when he realised who Sully was. Sully began telling River about the robberies him and the gang pulled off. Sully was ashamed of the things he had done however. He didn’t brag when he spoke to River. He didn’t even like thinking about the people he killed whilst leading the gang. River could see Sully wasn’t a bad man. He called Sully, “The Black Saint”, a name which stuck with him afterwards. He used to say that Sully was a good man who did bad things for good reasons.

One night, after a quiet night in camp, Sully awoke to screaming. Sully tore open his tent to see three US Army soldiers dragging one of the Native women across the floor. When Running Fox climbed out of his tent with a gun, the soldiers fired at him but missed him when he dived under a wagon. Then, one of the young women came up behind an unaware soldier and slit his throat, when the second soldier turned, she threw the knife into his head. With one soldier left, the camp pounced onto him and began clubbing his body. A furious Running Fox then rallied his warriors and rode to Fort Wallace, holding their tomahawks above their heads, screaming. When they arrived at Fort Wallace, they realised that they were heavily outnumbered and they quickly returned to camp.

Captain Duggins was the man Running Fox wanted to see dead. Once killed, Running Fox’s people would be able to live a more peaceful life. Duggins would dump animal carcasses in the Native’s stream, contaminating the water therefore making it undrinkable.

On May 16th 1883, Running Fox and his warriors attacked Fort Wallace. When the warriors broke into its walls, Captain Duggins was immiditely grabbed and wrestled to the ground by Paa, one of Running Fox’s best warriors. Captain Duggins was taken outside of the fort, where he was shot by Running Fox. The Natives then fled after the US Army called reinforcements. This battle became known as The Battle of Cumberland Forest.

After The Battle of Cumberland Forest, Sully left the Natives. He wasn’t heard from again until 1888, when he began living down in Lemoyne again. Sully boarded a train to Saint Denis where he had an appointment with the governor. Sully surrendered and was only tried for three robberies. Sully went to jail and remained there for a year awaiting trial. Finally, Sully was acquitted and returned to Rhodes where he was staying.

For the next six years of his life, Sully became a law abiding citizen of Lemoyne. In 1894, Sully made it to the news papers once again, this time he was reported to be calling himself “A peacekeeper”.

Current Date (1898)