Warning: if you're reading this log and you want to some day play in the published adventure "Canyon O' Doom", don't. It'll just give you this horrible sensation of deja vu when you do, and if you're anything like the posse, you'll get in horrible trouble despite your foreknowledge.

The posse makes it to Cliffside by the next afternoon with no further incident. Edgar discovers that the river guides haven't turned up yet, and that no one has seen them around. Everyone else takes the opportunity to fan out, listening for rumors (there are apparently cannibal Indians down in the canyon!), badgering the local mad scientist into giving them a tour of the mining works, and of course contemplating whether they should infiltrate the local brothel.

A couple days pass, during which most people just knock about. Elder Tanner actually makes good use of his time preaching on a street corner, completely outclassing the Guardian Angels who are also set up in town. Everyone is disturbed by their presence, except Edgar and Sophie, who have to be cued that this is disturbing.

Tobey and Robert go hunting and make an unfortunate discovery on the way back - half of a body. They eventually pick out the other half, up in a tree. After everyone else is alerted, they decide to get the Sheriff to deal with it. He's disbelieving at first, but Sophie brow beats him into coming to look at it.

The body is identified as one of the miners who lives in the tents outside of town. All his internal organs have been removed (to say nothing of his being torn in half). Elder Tanner asks for a vision of the past, but only sees darkness and hears the beating of huge wings. The general consensus is that they're dealing with another giant devil bat. They decide they should find it and kill it.

"I hate to ask this, but why do we want to find a flying devil bat?"
"I dunno, we're in town with a couple of days to kill." - Sophie and Bart

Later on Tobey and Robert are out hunting again and bring back a mountain sheep (for bat bait), but it's unfortunately lost when beetle swarms emerge from the canyon. Everyone flees for cover and watches the little sickle beetles eat the sheep. They're quite strange creatures, but neither Dr. Haskins nor Dr. Vorpwhistle make much headway analyzing them.

They decide to use the skin from the sheep and make a sheep decoy, which they can drag around some clearing in the woods as bait. This consumes another day or so building the decoy, and then they drag it out into the Kaibab. In doing so, they find no devil bats, but do meet a Navajo woman named "Summer Rains Bring Short Corn". She has left her tribe due to some unspecified indiscretions (although Dr. Vorpwhistle tries to get her to specify them) and is a follower of the Corn Maiden. She's seen the flying creature, and it's more like a huge man with wings and horns than a devil bat. It certainly has one more set of limbs than the bat does. Edgar talks to her about the local flora and fauna - she seems like perhaps a useful adjunct for the guides (or maybe a replacement for them).

At this point their guides show up - the Edmunds brothers - somewhat delayed by native chaos in Arizona. They're not ready to go without a bit of rest, so they arrange with Dr. Haskins to leave the next day.

Back in town, Robert smokes the pipe and enters the Hunting Grounds to talk to Eagle. Eagle hasn't seen the killings, since they were at night, but reveals there has been another victim left in a tree. Eagle also shows him a large band of Guardian Angels traveling through the Kaibab, and their leader somehow summoning a pack of coyotes. One of the group is a huge man (but just a man, no wings). Eagle shows Robert a cave behind a waterfall, darkness, and a beating heart, and an arm in black coat and starched shirt reaching for the heart from the west. Eagle also confirms that Summer Rains is in fact a follower of the Corn Maiden. Tobey goes back and asks her to join them the next day as another guide.

Considering these revelations, the posse decides to find out more about the Angels. Cady makes herself unnoticable and goes to spy on them, pressing herself against the canvas of their tent. She finds them halfway through plotting to snatch something (but she misses what) from Dr. Haskins when he goes out alone or lightly guarded. More strangely, the plan is that when someone gets the item, someone else will swoop down and carry them off! Unfortunately, Cady can't see which is the swooper.

Our heroes hatch a plan - they're going to ambush the ambushers. Cady disguises herself as Edgar, becoming close to his spitting image. She and Sophie are going to go for a walk that evening, and generally hang about the corral where the supplies are. The rest of the posse will be hiding there, ready to spring their trap on the Angels.

Thanks to Jan Maessen and Andrea Humez for guest-starring as Edgar and Sophie.