Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (Oklahoma Part #2)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer)

Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)

The team decides to walk the town, to see what they can learn about the local happenings and the good Rev. Kornfield. On their excursion they make the following stops, and learn and see the following things: 

• Oz flips through the newspapers in the hotel lobby, looking for any sign that people have been dying or disappearing in town. On the contrary, he discovers there have been almost no deaths since the Rev. Kornfield returned from his wilderness excursion, and none at all from traumatic events. 
• As the team makes it's way down Main Street, Ivy notes the stray cats all look half-starved. 
• Nigel and Oz head for Kinkel's Barbershop for a trim and to ask questions. Ralph Kinkel, barber  and owner, has nothing but praise for Rev, Kornfield, hinting even that the good reverend has helped his wife get over some unspecified affliction. They pair are startled when Ralphs' wife rushes into the shop from their upstairs home, leaps against the window to slurp up the lazy flies that buzz there, then rushes back upstairs. Ralph shrugs as if to say 'Woman!' and goes back to cutting hair. Oz likewise notes old Harry Mathewson snoring the the comer, looking like he (literally) just ate a whole pig. And is again startled when the old man stirs, rubs his jaw so hard it unhinges completely, before pushing it back in place. Ralph notes the Rev. Kornfield has recently cured Harry of his blindness. 
• Ivy and Zeke head for the offices of the local paper, the  Bingham Journal. There they befriend the editor Baxter Fandyke, who they learn is not a fan of the Reverend. But is too afraid of alienating his customers to say much. But he does let Ivy browse the pile of back issues and his files to learn more about the town. She notes that pictures of the  Reverend show a man who looks much younger after his harrowing pilgrimage in the wilderness. She also learns he is single, and dismissed his cook shortly after returning from the wilderness
• The four reunite and head for the church. Except for the lack of half the sign outside and the usual Christian paraphernalia inside, it looks much like any other small town church. Except the Sunday school kids seem obsessed by Adam and Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden. As is the good reverend, based on the sermon notes the team rifles through in the small office. 
• Having learned from the newspaper editor that the local blacksmith is no fan of Rev, Kornfield's, they head to Bill Schoenbaum's forge to have a talk. The big man is clear in his dislike of the reverend; seems to have something to do with how his wife was 'healed' of her skin condition. But the blacksmith gives few details, and remains guarded. He does tell them to go see Peggy Shaw if they want to see more of what the Rev Kornfeld's supposed healing touch can do. 
• Encountering a crowd of street urchins rushing out of an abandoned house nearby, the team gets the kids to show them what's going on. They are led to the upper story which overlooks the Schoenbaum home. There they see Bill wife, Pearl, sunbathing naked on the roof. They see no sign of a skin condition though; in fact her skin looks pink as fresh as a newborn. Remarkable for a woman in her fifties.  
• Before going to see Peggy Shaw, they head back to the telegraph/telephone office where her husband Greg works. They've learned he seems to be uncomfortable with the Reverend as well. He doesn't say much, so they go outside to eat their picnic lunch and eavesdrop with the serpent person listening device they brought. They hear Greg conspiring with Suzie Schoenbaum, Bill and Pearl's teenage daughter. The pair plan to firebomb the church that night. They also overhear the office manager listening in on the phone calls of everyone in town, and making notes on those who speak ill of the Rev, Kornfield. 
• The team backtracks to the Shaw house, where Ivy gains entry by posing as a public health nurse. Peggy Shaw is just recovering from a difficult birth, one in which the Rev, Kornfield intervened to save mother and child. As she speaks to the pale and frail Peggy, she is shocked to learn the young woman is very visibly pregnant again, having given birth weeks before. And notes she is tending a sand tray full of reptilian eggs warming under the kitchen stove. Checking on the newborn in the nursery, Ivy is further shocked to see a baby with scales and a forked tongue! 

The team reconvenes back at the hotel. They decide to not intervene in the planned firebombing of the church, but instead will find a place nearby to observe what happens. They find an abandoned house just across the street, and watch (and listen) as Greg and Suzie sneak into the church and set it ablaze before running off into the shadows. The alarm is soon raised, and after some time the team likewise sneak out and joins the the bucket brigade of townsfolk who have gathered, attempting unsuccessfully to douse the flames. This brings them to the attention of Rev, Kornfield, who  praises and thanks them for their efforts and insists they join the congregation for a outdoor Sunday service  the following day ...