History
-
Born as the only daughter of Silas Crounse, Postmaster of Helena, MT, Priscilla was born into wealth. From birth, she had been promised to the son of the current Mayor in hopes that her father would secure a higher position in Politics. Sadly for her father, her life would go a severely different route. As a child, Priscilla was always a little different from the rest of the kids in town. She was rowdy, adventurous, and unpredictable to everyone she came into contact with. Her favorite hobbies included running around the town streets with her finger pistols (Since her father never let her own a toy one) and pretended to shoot other kids. Silas was beside himself. He spoiled her rotten in an attempt to change her but the rambunctious tyke never seemed to be satisfied with them.
Her parents often never had time for her, really. Her father was often out doing his job and kissing up to higher politicians and her mother spent much of her time in bed with Influenza (She eventually passed away when Priscilla was about 13.) As such, Priscilla was often left with a nanny or her tutors. Proper etiquette, reading, writing, cooking, and sewing were the main courses she learned as a child. She was never happy with it but if she didn’t do as she was told, she would a ruler to her hands.
Other than running around in her free time, Priscilla enjoyed reading the news - watching the happenings in the world. Specifically she enjoyed the crime section. Something about the stories there called to her. The Nelson Robberies, Nicholas Saul, St Kilda Road robberies, Elizabeth Martha Brown, and plenty other smaller outlaws, you name it, she was fascinated by it. The freedom they all seemed to have. None of them had to marry a boy they didn’t like. None of them needed to learn etiquette rules for no reason. Priscilla wanted the freedom of the road. She wanted to live by her own rules and relish in the thrill of crime.
Priscilla seemed to get her wish when an older lass rode into town one evening. Ms. Faye Whitaker, 10 years Priscilla’s senior, was lone wolf. A bounty hunter with a name for herself and a reputation with the law. She had taken to helping out sheriff's with their bounties to keep her own name off the boards. A 17 year old Priscilla seemed enraptured with the woman at once. Meeting at the saloon, they hit it off and Priscilla was soon sneaking out at night to spend time with her.
A year later, 2 days before Priscilla’s arranged marriage, Faye stole Priscilla away and ran. Silas was enraged when he found out. He tried desperately to get Faye’s name put on every sheriffs board in town, along with his daughter. Wanted: Faye Whitaker - DEAD, $500. Wanted: Priscilla Crounse - Alive, $1000. Many sheriffs wouldn’t put Faye’s name up there in light of their deal with her, but they would happily put Priscilla up.
3 years went by and no one seemed to find Priscilla or Faye to bring her home. Faye had already taught Priscilla how to shoot, hunt, and collect bounties. The two of them were having the time of their lives, in love, on the run, and free. Priscilla’s favorite lessons had been shooting and hunting. She seemed to be a natural with a rifle, almost surpassing Faye in her aim. But Priscilla would never admit to being better than the woman she loved, it was just impossible.
Eventually, Silas was sick of waiting and hired a notoriously violent gang to track down, kill Faye, and bring Priscilla home. He paid them a hefty $5000 dollars to do the job and they did the job well. It didn’t take more than 3 days for the men to find the two women in the forests of Montana. It was a down right ambush. Men from every side seemed to come out of the woods to, guns raised high. Faye told Priscilla to run. She refused at first, but when the first shot was fired, she turned tail. Cowardly. She looked back only once to see Faye pushed to her knees and a bullet placed between her eyes. Her fault.
Priscilla managed to escape and hide for some time. The gang, their mission not complete, split up into smaller groups to search for the woman. But with reduced numbers, the marks woman was able to pick them off group by group. When their numbers seemed to dwindle, they gave up. The woman wasn’t worth the amount of men she had taken out and by that time, the boy she was supposed to marry had already married another little rich girl.
With sadness in her heart and her new found freedom, Priscilla escaped Montana to try and move on. She made her living the same way her and Faye did, with a couple of extra jobs here and there. She spent time moving from town to town and if she saw her bounty, she’d get one of the bounties for the sheriff in exchange for taking hers down. She also took to sleeping with the weather. Called herself an escort. They paid top dollar for her… services… and she would instead steal from them in the wee hours of the morning and run.
Priscilla lived the life she always wanted. She was free and she was having fun. The only difference was that she was alone and she liked to keep it that way. After Faye had passed, she swore to herself she wouldn’t keep that sort of company anymore. It wasn’t safe in this type of world. Bad luck seemed to follow the people she attempted to get close too. She’s got plenty of stories that she isn’t proud of and a mental list of names whose lives were ruined because of her. Men, women...hell, even kids were up rooted because of her. It wasn’t until she was 25 that she noticed the poor luck.
It would seem that the gang she had run from years prior, had recuperated their numbers. Their leader, a Mr. Alexi Strouse, was angry and wanted revenge. They had been tailing her for the past few months, ransacking homes and attacking people she’d been with to gain information. They eventually caught up with her. She had been spending time with a wealthy married man who had been giving her top dollar for her services. He had a wife and kid but his wife was away for a week, visiting her parents in the East. So, Priscilla had been visiting frequently, getting his money and mooching off his food. One night, however, when the two were asleep, smoke slowly filled the house. Priscilla was the first to wake up and the first to leave. First to see the perpetrators behind the act, Alexi’s gang. The father and son never made it out. It was the last time Priscilla would stay in one place for more than one night.
Priscilla took to running again. Always running. She could easily take down many of the men from this gang, but they just seemed to keep growing. Eventually, she made her way back to the hills of Montana, running from a group of men after they had scared off Moonshiner and left her on foot. This was when she met JJ. He seemed to miraculously swoop in and save her, allowing her a chance to shoot the men dead. JJ offered her a place in his gang, impressed by her marksmanship. She asked him if it would be safe there. He told her his group could take care of themselves and their people. With uncertainty, she joined up. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, she could live without the constant threat of Alexi’s men.
And for a while, that was true. She almost found a family with them. She almost found a lover among them. Tommy. Tommy Blackwell was a sharpshooter, as well. Some of the members said they rivaled each other in skill, but she knew better than that. He was the top dog and they seemed to get along like no one else. Love wasn't a strong suit for either of them and it took them a long while to admit it to each other. Once they did, however, they were inseparable.
It wasn't long lived, however. The two left JJ's gang together to travel and continue their bounty hunting. They even took down Alexi together. But time caught up with Tommy's good luck. Age slowed him down and one of their bounties managed to get him right in the chest. Priscilla couldn't patch that for him. She gave him a proper send off. It was hard for her... to be alone again. But she took his hat and his gun and continued to travel.
Now she travels the west completing bounties and staying out of the law's eyes until she, too, gets shot down.
