Welcome to the walkthrough for "The Song of the Mockingbird"!
As the game begins, you'll be ambushed by the Black Blade's men. You seem safe enough
behind that boulder, so just look around until Ace shows up with a secret weapon. Every few turns,
he'll step up on that teetering rock and throw another exploding cylinder down at you.
He doesn't seem to be able to get it over the boulder, though, so you've got some time to
figure out a plan. Check out the rocks that litter the bottom of the arroyo, and pick one out. Wait
until Ace is standing on the rock and holding the exploding cylinder, then throw the rock at him.
Well, that seems to have worked. From the sound, though, it seems there's a survivor.
You'd best check it out, so go west. It's Ace! He doesn't seem like much of a threat
anymore, so you might as well talk to him.
You're not much wiser after your conversation, but you do notice something in Ace's
pocket. Search him to find a small gold casket. It seems important, so hold onto it.
Move back to the east, then south to reach an overlook above the Crossed Keys Ranch and unlock a few
of your memories about the past few days.
Move south once more to reach the northeastern corner of the ranch, next to the stable.
The Black Blade is probably in the main house. You might as well get this over with, so head
southwest. Uh-oh, it looks like it won't be that easy.
You can do quite a bit of exploring at this point, but you might as well try and figure out the gold
casket at this point. Take a look at it, and read its inscription. Open and inspect the compartments
and their contents. The gray discs in the large compartment are conveniently the same size as the
indentation in the small compartment, so take one and put it in the indentation.
Now turn your attention to the thumbwheel. It looks like the winding stem of a pocket watch, so try
to turn it. It won't turn, but you're familiar with pocket watches, so try pulling it out
and then turning it. That seems to have done something! Open the small compartment again to discover
that the gray disc has caught on fire. It seems the gold casket is some kind of automatic match.
It'll go out again in a few turns, but now you can relight it with "LIGHT MATCH".
Time to explore. Take a look at the Conestoga wagon and the eyelet. Go west, and discover
there's a gunman in the windmill intent on stopping you. We'll worry about him later.
You'd best find out what the ruckus in the stable is, so go on in. There's a horse here
(who you quickly christen Dancer), and she seems in a bad mood. Examine her, the stall and the
manger.
There's a whip hanging in the stall. You can't think why you need it, but you might as
well grab it while you're here. Open the stall and -- oh, Dancer's still upset with you.
Let's leave that for a moment.
Before you leave, you'd better check out the suspiciously dark corners and rafters of the
stable. Aha -- the handle of something is visible on the rafters. There's another item for our
to-do list.
For the moment, leave the stable and go south to discover another gunman, Whitey, perched in the
hayloft of the barn. It projects a bit, so you're safe enough if you stay underneath.
While you're here, check out the feed trough. It's full of hay, as expected. You've
got an inkling what to do with this, so grab an armload. You'll also discover a block and
tackle buried in the hay. This isn't your first rodeo, so you scoop that up, too.
Head east to enter the barn and have a short conversation with the charming Whitey. Be sure to
examine the trapdoor, and discover he's left you no way up. Note that there's a trail of
hay hanging through the trapdoor, though.
It's time to solve something! Make your way back out and north to the stable and head inside.
Dancer seems very interested in something you're carrying. Put the hay into the manger and
discover that she was just hangry. Just like me, her friendship can be bought with food.
Open the stall and take the whip off the wall. You and Dancer seem to have hit it off, so continue
your lovefest as long as you'd like. I'll wait.
You remember a -- story -- you heard once, about a man with a whip and it gives you an idea. Whip
the handle to pull it down and discover that it's actually a branding iron. You've no idea
what to do with this now, so just hang onto it.
Head back out of the stable, then south twice to reach the outside of the bunkhouse. Take a look at
the water trough and the barrel of lard while you're here. Oh, and also that very, very locked
door. There must be something important in there!
Let's check out the barrel first. You can't think of anything you'd rather have than
a barrel full of lard, so open it up. Oh, nothing to open it with? Maybe later.
That trough looks disgusting, but go ahead and search it. What's this -- a tool for building
fences? It looks pretty useful. You'd best hold onto it.
Just to be sure, you'd better search the trough a few more times. Ha! I can't believe you
fell for that!
I bet that fencing tool would make short work of the lard barrel, so try hitting the barrel with the
tool. You must not know your own strength; now you've got a broken barrel and fifty pounds of
half-melted lard. Once again, you don't know what you'll need all this for, but you know
you will. Grab the barrel staves, the hoops and a generous sample of the lard.
Head west to make Podge's acquaintance. He gives weasel-faced men a bad reputation. He's
hiding on the other side of the corral full of cattle, taking occasional potshots at you. You'd
better keep low if you want to keep breathing.
While you're here, check out the cattle, the corral, the gate, the padlock and, finally, the
brazier. It's full of ashes, so take a look at those, too. It's half-burned Confederate
money! It's 1867, so this money has been worthless for years, but this would have been a
fortune at one time.
You can guess what the brazier's there for -- heating a branding iron. You have a branding
iron. Your razor-sharp mind quickly connects these seemingly unrelated facts.
Put the branding iron in the brazier. You'll need something to burn, but you're carrying
the staves from the wooden barrel. Put them in, too. Light your fancy match, and then the barrel
staves. And, nothing. Apparently you need some kindling too.
Fortunately, you've already seen something that will work. Head back to the feed trough in
front of the barn and grab some more hay. Return and put it in the brazier. Relight your match and
light the hay with it.
While your branding iron is heating, head southeast or southwest to get to the south side of the
corral. Podge will sneakily move the other direction around the corral to avoid a head-to-head
confrontation. Let him go, the sneak.
There's a hitching post here, with a coil of rope hanging from it. You know the drill -- grab
it.
An idea has been forming in the back of your mind, and it involves these cattle. Pull out your
fencing tool and cut the fence with it. Now the cattle are free and dangerous. Boots is no idiot, so
he'll circle back to the north side of the corral to figure out the rest.
While you're doing all this, Podge will have been taking potshots at you. Notice that the
cattle don't seem to care for the sound of gunfire and try to get away from it. If you had a
gun now, you could fire it off and give him a big surprise. Unfortunately, Ace took it away from you
before the game even started.
You do have a bandolier full of bullets, though, and there's a brazier right next to you! Try
pulling out some bullets and throwing them in the fire.
That's the end of Podge. Grab the paper you can see in his pocket and read it. It seems to be
part of a letter about some money. Maybe that's the burned money you found in the brazier? Oh,
and you found a key. Go ahead and examine it.
Head northeast or northwest to the other side of the corral and examine the branding iron. It's
probably white hot by now. If not, wait around a bit until it is, then take it. It'll cool down
over time, but you can always stick it back in the fire if you want it hot.
Go east, north and east again to re-enter the barn. It's time to deal with Whitey. Hmmm… a
hot branding iron and a clump of hay hanging from the hayloft. Light the hay with the branding iron
to encourage Whitey to leave the hayloft.
Whitey didn't survive his hurried departure, unfortunately for him. He's got a part of a
letter in his pocket, too. Take it and read it. This stinks to high heaven! Oh, here's another
key. Take a look at it. You're beginning to have your suspicions about these keys, but
they'll wait.
Leave the barn and head north to the stable. You can't head west with that gunman on the
windmill, but you would like to examine that cart a bit closer. If only there were a way to bring it
closer.
Suddenly, you remember the rope you picked up south of the corral. Take another look, and see that
it's ideal for trick roping. You can tie it to itself, or just "MAKE LASSO FROM
ROPE".
The wagon is pretty far away, but fortunately you're up to the task. Lasso the wagon and give
the lasso a pull. Dang! The wagon's too heavy to pull this way.
Oh, but you picked up that block and tackle earlier! Put the lasso in the block and tackle, hang the
block and tackle on the conveniently-placed eyelet, and pull the lasso again.
That's done it. Examine the wagon, the axle, the cartwheel and the broken board. Grab the
broken board just in case it comes in handy (it won't).
You have an idea, but it involves getting this cart working again. You can't carry the
cartwheel around, but you can lift it briefly. Mount it on the axle. Nothing's holding it on
now, so take another look to see what's missing. It looks like it should have a metal band
around the axle.
Fortunately, you have a metal band exactly the right size! Remember the barrel hoops? The large
barrel hoop is perfect. Put it on the wheel.
You're not strong enough to push the barrel hoop into place. Try hammering it with the fencing
tool. Finally! You have a functional wagon!
It's finally time to put your plan into motion. Push the wagon west. You'll reach the area
under the windmill unharmed and discover that the gunman on the windmill is Felipe, Rosa's
guitar accompanist. He and Boots seem to have had a bit of a bromance, but there's no middle
ground today.
Take a look around, examining the windmill, the rotor, the discharge pipe, the cistern, the locking
mechanism and the x-shaped hole. Hmmm… Felipe's on a platform just at the level of the blades
and tail, and they would be moving if the locking mechanism were withdrawn. If only…
The hole's pretty rusty, and that's a problem you can solve. Put some lard in the hole.
That should lubricate it enough to turn if you can find something to turn it with. Let's see,
the hole is x-shaped… what would fit into it?
Of course, the crossed keys at the end of the branding iron! Put the branding iron into the hole to
turn it. The windmill turns and the tail knocks Felipe from his perch.
You're sorry you had to kill Felipe, but it couldn't be helped. By now, searching the body
is second nature. It produces another letter and a third key.
The letter sounds like plans for a war! And it's signed "P.M.". That stirs a memory
somewhere, but let's let that simmer for a bit. In the meantime, you've killed all of the
gunmen guarding the ranch house. Let's give that a visit by going southeast.
You can't endanger Rosa by approaching in full view of the Black Blade! But you're holding
three keys now, and you happen to know where there are three empty keyholes.
Around now, your brain puts together the clues from the three letters. Despicable!
Head back to the bunkhouse (east, south, and south). Take a look at each of the keyholes to discover
that each has a rim of colored metal: gold, silver and bronze. Take another look at your keys to
discover that each has a ring of one of the same three colors. Put each of the keys into the
matching keyhole. Open the door and head on in.
There's not much here, but be sure to examine the crates. The first one you look at will solve
the minor mystery of the broken board. You'll notice a patch of color behind the crates. Move
them, and examine the poster behind them.
Well. Well, well. Hmmm. This changes things. But then…
Head north and northwest. Then sing, sing and sing some more.
