Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter 43, “New Orleans Night Life”, Tuesday, March 14th, 1882:
Kate comments, "I would imagine it's very much the same as learning about music. I rarely just listen to a pianist, I'm always thinking about what they are doing and how I can improve. But there is enjoyment in that too. We may not get the full enjoyment of the enhanced performance, but we would have the fun of understanding every nuance of what is happening." Ruby then says, "We'd better learn those spells, Mr. Gonzales, too many people use them and we're at a disadvantage."
Gonzales replies, "Oh no, not many use them at all. There are only six or seven places in the entire United States where the magical ley lines in the earth cross and magic is widely used, it's just that New Orleans and Cochise County happen to be two of them. The woman you just heard is the reason that Madge moved on. As good as our friend Miss. Duprey is, Miss Tollier is five years younger and considerably more superior as a singer. Madge isn't one to play second fiddle so she decided to become a bigger fish in a smaller pond so to speak."
While they are talking a single pianist, playing light early jazz-like tunes is providing the only music. A considerable change in the clientele takes place during this fifteen minutes, with about half of the patrons comprised of most of the better dressed half-elves and humans departing and then being replaced by younger mostly human couples in working class clothes.
Gonzales explains, "According to Madge this establishment has three separate sets of the entertainment geared to three different crowds. The first show is the after dinner entertainment for the Creole leaders of the town. What will now follow is geared toward the Cajun crowds, who are of French-Canadian and had been forced from Canada over a hundred years ago. They've settled along the entire southern Louisiana coast. There aren't that many here in the city itself but they'll travel here from their own Parishes for the show that we are about to see."
The next hour consists of Cajun music and dance, with accordion and fiddle being the primary instrument. A dozen dance hall girls dance on stage wearing traditional Cajun dance garb, consisting of cotton floor-length light blue skirts, white blouses and brightly colored carmagnolles (short decorated vests). Most of the dancing is provided by the patrons who fill the dance floor. Kate notices a similarity to some of this with Irish step dancing. Ruby and Sonoma are asked to dance by a pair of handsome young Cajun man and Gonzales encourages both of them to go give it a try.
Ruby gladly accepts and bounces onto the dance floor. She quickly picks up the moves and puts her own little hip swinging flair to it. At one point her gentleman friend puts his hands on her waist to spin her and Ruby immediately thinks of Jake and how she wishes he was there. She pushes the thought back and gets back into the moment, dancing and smiling and laughing. Sonoma follows the steps of the dance with a simple grace no where near as flamboyant as Ruby but with a simple grace all her own
Kate listened to this new kind of music with fascination. There was energy to it, and a story. The kind of lives these people lived was reflected in the way that both heartbreaking sadness and overwhelming joy came from the accordion and the fiddle. And most of all a determination to enjoy life no matter what else might happen. She laughed watching Ruby and Sonoma learn the new dance, imagining Ruby trying to bring it to Promise City with her.
The music and dancing continue for another half-hour. When it ends Jacqueline Lashane Tollier again takes the stage. She sits in a chair and says first in French and then in English "I will now tell you a story, one that many of you may have heard before from your Canadian parents or grandparents."
She then tells the story of the Wicked Fairy-wife, stating a few paragraphs in each language at a time. It is a tale of evil, hate, jealousy, compassion and revenge. The title character is a hideously ugly and wicked witch who forces a newly married prince to get rid of his young wife, Josette, and marry her. Josette is sentenced to be hanged; however, the hangman resists and instead blinds her and then releases her to stumble into a forest, assuming that she will perish. Fortunately, a friendly woodchopper and his wife take her in. She soon discovers that she is with child. Years later, Josette's son returns to the palace of the witch. Pretending the be a new servant, he first gains her trust and then plots his revenge on the wicked woman. He slays the witch and rescues his father who he then brings back and reunited with his mother.
As with the song in the first set, the story is riveting the way she tells it and all of the patrons in the hall listen in near silence as the tale unfolds. When the tale ends the fiddle player then launches into a slow haunting melody and Miss. Tolier then begins to sing a haunting ballad based upon the story she just told. The ballad is entirely in French but Ruby and Sonoma both understand most of it, which they realize must be part of the magical enhancement. When she finishes she receives a standing ovation.
"I'm going to have to learn how to speak other languages, aren't I?" Ruby sighs. "That was wonderful." She turns to Gonzales. "You said there was another place around here you wanted to visit? This one seem good enough to me!" He says, "You may want to stay Ruby but I'm not so sure about Kate. That concludes the Cajun block. You'll be seeing most of these couples clear out soon and sailors and roughnecks coming in. According to Madge the final entertainment block of the evening is rather bawdy and crude, geared to the wishes and desires of young men. From what Madge says it makes the entertainment at the Gay Lady look tame by comparison."
Ruby exclaims, "Oh, it's been a while since I've been around some really rowdy entertainment. Sailors and roughnecks, huh?" Ruby gets a little mischievous twinkle in her eye. "But then where will you go? I mean, I don't want to get left here in New Orleans," Ruby giggles. "Plus maybe the other spot is fun too?" Sonoma says, “Then perhaps I think that I may want to leave now also. I've been pinched enough by promise city men I don't want to slap hands here also. Especially after having so much fun so far.”
"At least with you and Ruby here, the men don't bother to pinch me," Kate laughed. "The music here has been wonderful, but I'd rather go before the rough crowd comes in. It might be a few months yet before I'm ready for that," she finished and grinned at Ruby. Gonzales says, "Well, I'll definitely be taking Kate and Sonoma to the other place in town. If you want to stay here Ruby I'll let you, but not dressed like that!" He reaches into his jacket pocket and removes a pair of eyeglasses. "Decide now Ruby, are you coming with us or staying here as Mr. Austin?"
"I'm not staying here as a man!" She gives Mr. Gonzales a look like 'what are you crazy?' "I've been around sailors and roughnecks before. I worked at places..." her voice trails off as she sees Mr. Gonzales face. "Fine, let's go."
They exit and head down Toulouse Street for two block, turning left onto Chartes. They approach Jackson Square on the right and get a good look at the magnificent cathedral. The then turns right onto Dumaine and continue on towards Decatur. Before reaching the main street he leads them down an alleyway to the their left. They approach the back door of building and he knocks. A window opens and Gonzales says something softly in a mix of French and Spanish.
The door then opens and a they see a very large man in a dirty plaid shirt, torn trousers long unkempt hair and a long white beard. He gives Gonzales a hug. The women thought he was human at first given his height and size but now note pointed ears indicating a mix of races.
Manuel tells the women, "The place I want to bring you is a private club. Maurice is a member and will get us in." Maurice excuses himself to go change. The man who returns five minutes later bears little resemblance to the person they saw a few minutes earlier, as he is wearing a pressed suit and his hair and beard are washed and combed.
They head north for two blocks back up Dumaine, cross Bourbon Street, and continue on two blocks to Burgundy Street. They approach a building without a sign on it and Maurice talks to the doorman. The five are admitted. They head down into the basement of the building, surprising in and of itself as New Orleans buildings do not have basements.
They reach the room, which is sixty by forty feet in length. A raised stage with a grand piano is in the center of the room with chairs on all sides of the room around it. A bar is in the northwest corner and a kitchen is in the southwest corner. There are currently six musicians playing on the stage, using a combination of instruments including some horns and woodwinds of types that none of the women have seen before. Of the 58 other patrons in the room, 12 are human, 23 appear to be Creole, 11 are full elvan, 9 are ogrish and the other 3 are of a race that none of the women have seen before that they suspect are gnomes.
Gonzales explains that the club is a multi-cultural exchange of music from various lands. He says that the musicians all just come and improvise pieces, experimenting with different instruments and finding different musical combinations.
Three of the musicians leave and are replaced by five others. A Creole pianist sets the stage for the next piece, beginning with an Old English Standard that Kate recognizes but can't place the name of. He plays through an entire chorus before the next instrument joins in, then others join. Most instruments work although some do not, at which point the musician is signaled to stop and retake their seat in the audience.
Gonzales points out to the women the various instruments that he recognizes the origin of, namely:
The didjibodhrán, an Irish frame drum with a stretched goatskin head that you blow into. http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om10000.html . A Russian stringed instrument with a triangular body known as the Balalaika http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om03000.html .
A circular harp http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om07500.html . An East European flute known as a Kaval http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om20000.html . And a variety of African rattles http://www.silverbushmusic.com/yrattles.html#anchor26166 .
Maurice goes over to bar and gets some glasses and a pitcher of a light honey and molasses ale. He then heads over to the kitchen and comes back with a platter filled with various fried meats and vegetables for the group to snack on. Kate nibbled absently on the food while listening to the new music. There were so many new things to hear, new sounds. Living in Arizona was a new experience and she loved it there, but she missed places like this. She wanted to keep seeing more of the world. The odd ale Maurice brought over was strange, but delicious, and Kate didn't think about how much she drank. Her smile got wider as the night went on.
Ruby was not as thrilled at this place as she was with the idea of being surrounded by a bunch of sailors. But the look on Kate's face made it all worth it. She hadn't seen her friend this happy and relaxed in...well... ever. It was a good start. So Ruby kept quiet and behaved herself. There would be plenty of time for rowdiness another night.
Gonzales gets the girls and gestures for them to follow him. They go back upstairs to a door on the second floor where a wood elvan man is standing in the doorway with a wide grin on his face. Gonzales and the man embrace and kiss one another on the cheek. They exchange a few words in Spanish and the man then gestures for them to all go inside.
The enter a living room with nice furniture and take seats in the couch and loveseat. An elvan Indian woman enters the room and Gonzales embraces and kisses her. He then makes introductions, the woman being Rain Tchoupitoulas and the man being her husband Pasqual Alvaro. He introduces the women as "My little birds, my nightingale Sonoma, my golden eagle Ruby and my precious sandpiper Katherine." They talk briefly about somebody called Enrique who Rain says "Is now in the State Legislature in Baton Rouge, one of only three elves to do so."
Gonzales and Pasqual head into a side room and talk semi-privately, the women just catching an occasional word of Spanish while Rain carries on with some small talk with the ladies, telling them what a great man Gonzales is. He soon returns and the four then depart.
Maurice is waiting by the main door and joins them as they leave. They wander back towards Bourbon Street and Gonzales tells Maurice about his apprentice Morgana and Arcade's Gang. He asks Maurice to be watching out for them and to introduce Morgana to Rain and Pasqual after they arrive. The big man agrees to do so and then heads back to where he lives while the others continue west down Bourbon Street.
Gonzales says, "Thank you for that, it was necessary. I also wanted to see my old friends, it had been one-third of a century since I was last able to." He then says, "You seemed to enjoy the Cajun music and dance. How would you like to finish off our evening with some more of that?" Ruby exclaims, "That sounds like fun, but only if Kate agrees to dance too!" She glances over at Kate and smile with a questioning look. "Mr. Gonzales, who were those people?" Ruby asks as they continue to walk.
He states, "They are co-owners of the private music club in the basement. They are also old friends of mine from the years when I lived here. Back during the Mexican-American war their son Enrique was conscripted by the Mexican Army and being of mixed-race, was assigned to a squadron that was little more than cannon fodder. I managed to get him out of that situation and back home, probably saving his life, to which his parents are eternally grateful. I wanted you all to meet them in case you ever find yourselves in this city and need some help. They understand what it means for me to call somebody one of my little birds, you can expect them to do anything for you just as they would for me."
"It must be so hard to have to leave your friends behind. I've only come to start to understand that lately." Ruby pauses before continuing. "And you've been all over! I didn't know you lived here. But I guess that is why you know so much about this place." She tries to fix her hair but realizes it's hopeless after all the dancing she's been doing, so she just pulls it all down. "So, let's go dance the night away."
"Indeed" he says, leading them down Bourbon to a building with a large sign reading "Grande Salle D'Endroit". Gonzales tells the women "This is where the Cajon crowd goes after they leave Antoinette's. According to Madge the musicians and singers here aren't as good but the patrons don't really care at this time of the night, just wanting to have fun. Oh, one more thing, everybody who works here only speaks French so you two had better let Kate or I do the talking."
Ruby laughs. "Mr. Gonzales, be my guest. But don't be telling all the cute men that Kate here is unavailable, she'll be able to understand you..." A few giggles comes out of Ruby before she walks inside. Kate says, "I can't dance unless someone asks me, Ruby, and with you and Sonoma here I think I'll be able to keep our teacher all to myself. But I promise, if someone asks, I will dance. Within reason, of course. If I've watched him step on someone’s toes....." Ruby says, "Keep the smile on and someone will ask you Kate. But if you feel more comfortable I'm sure Mr. Gonzales will be willing to keep you to himself all night."
The place is in high gear - about as many people dancing as there were at Antoinette's but in half the floor space, making it appear more crowded. There are four fiddle players and one accordion player on stage that all look genuinely happy playing their music. It takes barely five seconds for the two men that Ruby and Sonoma had danced with earlier to spot them and make their way across the room to ask them to dance. Ruby leans in to Mr. Gonzales and whispers in his ear, "You will dance with Kate, right?" before letting herself get pulled out to the dance floor. "Let's find a place to sit," Kate said, straining to be heard over the music as Ruby and Sonoma were spirited away.
Kate comments, "I think I had a bit too much of that ale. You have a lot of friends here." He replies, "Actually no, I only have three friends in this city, and you've just met them. But there are different levels of friendship. Maurice, Pasqual and Rain, they're not just friends but people who will do anything you ask them to do. And I just did, I've asked them to help Arcade's Gang, which potentially puts them in more danger than I care to think about. But Kate, that's what friends do. And if any of those three asked me to risk everything for them I would, in fact I did, which....well....Kate, that's what people like you and me do."
Kate got up on her toes and kissed his cheek, then slipped her arm in his. "I never had to risk anything before I came here. I've learned a lot about sacrifice and risks this last year, and a lot about myself I never knew. It's hard, isn't it, to care so much about people, but I can't imagine another way. But you do sound worried, Grand-père." "You're right and I shouldn't be, at least tonight. Let's take a try at that dancing shall we?" He pulls her out onto the dance floor and the time then passes far quicker than anybody realizes. It is 1:30 AM by the time Manuel and Kate decide they are exhausted. Ruby and Sonoma are reluctantly pulled away from their dance partners.
The four make their way back to the crypt that they arrived in and Manuel casts the spell bringing them home, where due to the time difference it is now 1:00 AM. Kate heads back to her room where she finds Ginnie sleeping. Manuel goes downstairs with Ruby and finds handyman Grant Keebler cleaning up. Manuel asks Grant to walk Ruby back to the Lucky Lady before heading back upstairs.
Ruby arrives at the Lucky Lady where Niles Hoover is cleaning up. He tells her "That Eastman guy was here a few times looking for you. He left you these," handing her a large box of Swiss Chocolates. He tells her "We had a good night. Clarisse cut her sets at the Comique short and spent most of the night singing here. My friend Harry has spent the last month taking piano lessons from Stanley Barker and was thrilled at the chance to play in public for the first time. He wasn't very good at it but the people here didn't seem to mind. Tony and Job both had good nights at their tables."
"That's great news," Ruby smiles as she grabs the chocolates. "You've been going a fantastic job of running this place Mr. Hoover, especially when the rest of us aren't around. I hope you've been enjoying yourself." Ruby makes her way upstairs to her room. She sits on the bed and sighs while opening the box of chocolates. "Another of my weaknesses," she says out loud. "You know Miss Ruby West, you'd be much better off if you didn't have so many weaknesses." She pops a chocolate into her mouth. "But you'd have so much less fun..." She grins to herself before taking off her dress, putting on one of Jake's shirts and climbing into bed.
Kate went into her room and quietly shut the door even though she knew Ginnie would wake enough to realize who was coming in. After she changed into her nightgown she sat down in front of the mirror and carefully brushed her hair and braided it to keep it from tangling in the night. When she was finished she bent over Ginnie's cot, softly brushed the girl's hair back and kissed her forehead before slipping into her own bed and to sleep. "Night Ma'am Kate, hope you had a good time." Kate watches as Ginnie snuggles into the covers and goes back to sleep
Kate comments, "I would imagine it's very much the same as learning about music. I rarely just listen to a pianist, I'm always thinking about what they are doing and how I can improve. But there is enjoyment in that too. We may not get the full enjoyment of the enhanced performance, but we would have the fun of understanding every nuance of what is happening." Ruby then says, "We'd better learn those spells, Mr. Gonzales, too many people use them and we're at a disadvantage."
Gonzales replies, "Oh no, not many use them at all. There are only six or seven places in the entire United States where the magical ley lines in the earth cross and magic is widely used, it's just that New Orleans and Cochise County happen to be two of them. The woman you just heard is the reason that Madge moved on. As good as our friend Miss. Duprey is, Miss Tollier is five years younger and considerably more superior as a singer. Madge isn't one to play second fiddle so she decided to become a bigger fish in a smaller pond so to speak."
While they are talking a single pianist, playing light early jazz-like tunes is providing the only music. A considerable change in the clientele takes place during this fifteen minutes, with about half of the patrons comprised of most of the better dressed half-elves and humans departing and then being replaced by younger mostly human couples in working class clothes.
Gonzales explains, "According to Madge this establishment has three separate sets of the entertainment geared to three different crowds. The first show is the after dinner entertainment for the Creole leaders of the town. What will now follow is geared toward the Cajun crowds, who are of French-Canadian and had been forced from Canada over a hundred years ago. They've settled along the entire southern Louisiana coast. There aren't that many here in the city itself but they'll travel here from their own Parishes for the show that we are about to see."
The next hour consists of Cajun music and dance, with accordion and fiddle being the primary instrument. A dozen dance hall girls dance on stage wearing traditional Cajun dance garb, consisting of cotton floor-length light blue skirts, white blouses and brightly colored carmagnolles (short decorated vests). Most of the dancing is provided by the patrons who fill the dance floor. Kate notices a similarity to some of this with Irish step dancing. Ruby and Sonoma are asked to dance by a pair of handsome young Cajun man and Gonzales encourages both of them to go give it a try.
Ruby gladly accepts and bounces onto the dance floor. She quickly picks up the moves and puts her own little hip swinging flair to it. At one point her gentleman friend puts his hands on her waist to spin her and Ruby immediately thinks of Jake and how she wishes he was there. She pushes the thought back and gets back into the moment, dancing and smiling and laughing. Sonoma follows the steps of the dance with a simple grace no where near as flamboyant as Ruby but with a simple grace all her own
Kate listened to this new kind of music with fascination. There was energy to it, and a story. The kind of lives these people lived was reflected in the way that both heartbreaking sadness and overwhelming joy came from the accordion and the fiddle. And most of all a determination to enjoy life no matter what else might happen. She laughed watching Ruby and Sonoma learn the new dance, imagining Ruby trying to bring it to Promise City with her.
The music and dancing continue for another half-hour. When it ends Jacqueline Lashane Tollier again takes the stage. She sits in a chair and says first in French and then in English "I will now tell you a story, one that many of you may have heard before from your Canadian parents or grandparents."
She then tells the story of the Wicked Fairy-wife, stating a few paragraphs in each language at a time. It is a tale of evil, hate, jealousy, compassion and revenge. The title character is a hideously ugly and wicked witch who forces a newly married prince to get rid of his young wife, Josette, and marry her. Josette is sentenced to be hanged; however, the hangman resists and instead blinds her and then releases her to stumble into a forest, assuming that she will perish. Fortunately, a friendly woodchopper and his wife take her in. She soon discovers that she is with child. Years later, Josette's son returns to the palace of the witch. Pretending the be a new servant, he first gains her trust and then plots his revenge on the wicked woman. He slays the witch and rescues his father who he then brings back and reunited with his mother.
As with the song in the first set, the story is riveting the way she tells it and all of the patrons in the hall listen in near silence as the tale unfolds. When the tale ends the fiddle player then launches into a slow haunting melody and Miss. Tolier then begins to sing a haunting ballad based upon the story she just told. The ballad is entirely in French but Ruby and Sonoma both understand most of it, which they realize must be part of the magical enhancement. When she finishes she receives a standing ovation.
"I'm going to have to learn how to speak other languages, aren't I?" Ruby sighs. "That was wonderful." She turns to Gonzales. "You said there was another place around here you wanted to visit? This one seem good enough to me!" He says, "You may want to stay Ruby but I'm not so sure about Kate. That concludes the Cajun block. You'll be seeing most of these couples clear out soon and sailors and roughnecks coming in. According to Madge the final entertainment block of the evening is rather bawdy and crude, geared to the wishes and desires of young men. From what Madge says it makes the entertainment at the Gay Lady look tame by comparison."
Ruby exclaims, "Oh, it's been a while since I've been around some really rowdy entertainment. Sailors and roughnecks, huh?" Ruby gets a little mischievous twinkle in her eye. "But then where will you go? I mean, I don't want to get left here in New Orleans," Ruby giggles. "Plus maybe the other spot is fun too?" Sonoma says, “Then perhaps I think that I may want to leave now also. I've been pinched enough by promise city men I don't want to slap hands here also. Especially after having so much fun so far.”
"At least with you and Ruby here, the men don't bother to pinch me," Kate laughed. "The music here has been wonderful, but I'd rather go before the rough crowd comes in. It might be a few months yet before I'm ready for that," she finished and grinned at Ruby. Gonzales says, "Well, I'll definitely be taking Kate and Sonoma to the other place in town. If you want to stay here Ruby I'll let you, but not dressed like that!" He reaches into his jacket pocket and removes a pair of eyeglasses. "Decide now Ruby, are you coming with us or staying here as Mr. Austin?"
"I'm not staying here as a man!" She gives Mr. Gonzales a look like 'what are you crazy?' "I've been around sailors and roughnecks before. I worked at places..." her voice trails off as she sees Mr. Gonzales face. "Fine, let's go."
They exit and head down Toulouse Street for two block, turning left onto Chartes. They approach Jackson Square on the right and get a good look at the magnificent cathedral. The then turns right onto Dumaine and continue on towards Decatur. Before reaching the main street he leads them down an alleyway to the their left. They approach the back door of building and he knocks. A window opens and Gonzales says something softly in a mix of French and Spanish.
The door then opens and a they see a very large man in a dirty plaid shirt, torn trousers long unkempt hair and a long white beard. He gives Gonzales a hug. The women thought he was human at first given his height and size but now note pointed ears indicating a mix of races.
Manuel tells the women, "The place I want to bring you is a private club. Maurice is a member and will get us in." Maurice excuses himself to go change. The man who returns five minutes later bears little resemblance to the person they saw a few minutes earlier, as he is wearing a pressed suit and his hair and beard are washed and combed.
They head north for two blocks back up Dumaine, cross Bourbon Street, and continue on two blocks to Burgundy Street. They approach a building without a sign on it and Maurice talks to the doorman. The five are admitted. They head down into the basement of the building, surprising in and of itself as New Orleans buildings do not have basements.
They reach the room, which is sixty by forty feet in length. A raised stage with a grand piano is in the center of the room with chairs on all sides of the room around it. A bar is in the northwest corner and a kitchen is in the southwest corner. There are currently six musicians playing on the stage, using a combination of instruments including some horns and woodwinds of types that none of the women have seen before. Of the 58 other patrons in the room, 12 are human, 23 appear to be Creole, 11 are full elvan, 9 are ogrish and the other 3 are of a race that none of the women have seen before that they suspect are gnomes.
Gonzales explains that the club is a multi-cultural exchange of music from various lands. He says that the musicians all just come and improvise pieces, experimenting with different instruments and finding different musical combinations.
Three of the musicians leave and are replaced by five others. A Creole pianist sets the stage for the next piece, beginning with an Old English Standard that Kate recognizes but can't place the name of. He plays through an entire chorus before the next instrument joins in, then others join. Most instruments work although some do not, at which point the musician is signaled to stop and retake their seat in the audience.
Gonzales points out to the women the various instruments that he recognizes the origin of, namely:
The didjibodhrán, an Irish frame drum with a stretched goatskin head that you blow into. http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om10000.html . A Russian stringed instrument with a triangular body known as the Balalaika http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om03000.html .
A circular harp http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om07500.html . An East European flute known as a Kaval http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om20000.html . And a variety of African rattles http://www.silverbushmusic.com/yrattles.html#anchor26166 .
Maurice goes over to bar and gets some glasses and a pitcher of a light honey and molasses ale. He then heads over to the kitchen and comes back with a platter filled with various fried meats and vegetables for the group to snack on. Kate nibbled absently on the food while listening to the new music. There were so many new things to hear, new sounds. Living in Arizona was a new experience and she loved it there, but she missed places like this. She wanted to keep seeing more of the world. The odd ale Maurice brought over was strange, but delicious, and Kate didn't think about how much she drank. Her smile got wider as the night went on.
Ruby was not as thrilled at this place as she was with the idea of being surrounded by a bunch of sailors. But the look on Kate's face made it all worth it. She hadn't seen her friend this happy and relaxed in...well... ever. It was a good start. So Ruby kept quiet and behaved herself. There would be plenty of time for rowdiness another night.
Gonzales gets the girls and gestures for them to follow him. They go back upstairs to a door on the second floor where a wood elvan man is standing in the doorway with a wide grin on his face. Gonzales and the man embrace and kiss one another on the cheek. They exchange a few words in Spanish and the man then gestures for them to all go inside.
The enter a living room with nice furniture and take seats in the couch and loveseat. An elvan Indian woman enters the room and Gonzales embraces and kisses her. He then makes introductions, the woman being Rain Tchoupitoulas and the man being her husband Pasqual Alvaro. He introduces the women as "My little birds, my nightingale Sonoma, my golden eagle Ruby and my precious sandpiper Katherine." They talk briefly about somebody called Enrique who Rain says "Is now in the State Legislature in Baton Rouge, one of only three elves to do so."
Gonzales and Pasqual head into a side room and talk semi-privately, the women just catching an occasional word of Spanish while Rain carries on with some small talk with the ladies, telling them what a great man Gonzales is. He soon returns and the four then depart.
Maurice is waiting by the main door and joins them as they leave. They wander back towards Bourbon Street and Gonzales tells Maurice about his apprentice Morgana and Arcade's Gang. He asks Maurice to be watching out for them and to introduce Morgana to Rain and Pasqual after they arrive. The big man agrees to do so and then heads back to where he lives while the others continue west down Bourbon Street.
Gonzales says, "Thank you for that, it was necessary. I also wanted to see my old friends, it had been one-third of a century since I was last able to." He then says, "You seemed to enjoy the Cajun music and dance. How would you like to finish off our evening with some more of that?" Ruby exclaims, "That sounds like fun, but only if Kate agrees to dance too!" She glances over at Kate and smile with a questioning look. "Mr. Gonzales, who were those people?" Ruby asks as they continue to walk.
He states, "They are co-owners of the private music club in the basement. They are also old friends of mine from the years when I lived here. Back during the Mexican-American war their son Enrique was conscripted by the Mexican Army and being of mixed-race, was assigned to a squadron that was little more than cannon fodder. I managed to get him out of that situation and back home, probably saving his life, to which his parents are eternally grateful. I wanted you all to meet them in case you ever find yourselves in this city and need some help. They understand what it means for me to call somebody one of my little birds, you can expect them to do anything for you just as they would for me."
"It must be so hard to have to leave your friends behind. I've only come to start to understand that lately." Ruby pauses before continuing. "And you've been all over! I didn't know you lived here. But I guess that is why you know so much about this place." She tries to fix her hair but realizes it's hopeless after all the dancing she's been doing, so she just pulls it all down. "So, let's go dance the night away."
"Indeed" he says, leading them down Bourbon to a building with a large sign reading "Grande Salle D'Endroit". Gonzales tells the women "This is where the Cajon crowd goes after they leave Antoinette's. According to Madge the musicians and singers here aren't as good but the patrons don't really care at this time of the night, just wanting to have fun. Oh, one more thing, everybody who works here only speaks French so you two had better let Kate or I do the talking."
Ruby laughs. "Mr. Gonzales, be my guest. But don't be telling all the cute men that Kate here is unavailable, she'll be able to understand you..." A few giggles comes out of Ruby before she walks inside. Kate says, "I can't dance unless someone asks me, Ruby, and with you and Sonoma here I think I'll be able to keep our teacher all to myself. But I promise, if someone asks, I will dance. Within reason, of course. If I've watched him step on someone’s toes....." Ruby says, "Keep the smile on and someone will ask you Kate. But if you feel more comfortable I'm sure Mr. Gonzales will be willing to keep you to himself all night."
The place is in high gear - about as many people dancing as there were at Antoinette's but in half the floor space, making it appear more crowded. There are four fiddle players and one accordion player on stage that all look genuinely happy playing their music. It takes barely five seconds for the two men that Ruby and Sonoma had danced with earlier to spot them and make their way across the room to ask them to dance. Ruby leans in to Mr. Gonzales and whispers in his ear, "You will dance with Kate, right?" before letting herself get pulled out to the dance floor. "Let's find a place to sit," Kate said, straining to be heard over the music as Ruby and Sonoma were spirited away.
Kate comments, "I think I had a bit too much of that ale. You have a lot of friends here." He replies, "Actually no, I only have three friends in this city, and you've just met them. But there are different levels of friendship. Maurice, Pasqual and Rain, they're not just friends but people who will do anything you ask them to do. And I just did, I've asked them to help Arcade's Gang, which potentially puts them in more danger than I care to think about. But Kate, that's what friends do. And if any of those three asked me to risk everything for them I would, in fact I did, which....well....Kate, that's what people like you and me do."
Kate got up on her toes and kissed his cheek, then slipped her arm in his. "I never had to risk anything before I came here. I've learned a lot about sacrifice and risks this last year, and a lot about myself I never knew. It's hard, isn't it, to care so much about people, but I can't imagine another way. But you do sound worried, Grand-père." "You're right and I shouldn't be, at least tonight. Let's take a try at that dancing shall we?" He pulls her out onto the dance floor and the time then passes far quicker than anybody realizes. It is 1:30 AM by the time Manuel and Kate decide they are exhausted. Ruby and Sonoma are reluctantly pulled away from their dance partners.
The four make their way back to the crypt that they arrived in and Manuel casts the spell bringing them home, where due to the time difference it is now 1:00 AM. Kate heads back to her room where she finds Ginnie sleeping. Manuel goes downstairs with Ruby and finds handyman Grant Keebler cleaning up. Manuel asks Grant to walk Ruby back to the Lucky Lady before heading back upstairs.
Ruby arrives at the Lucky Lady where Niles Hoover is cleaning up. He tells her "That Eastman guy was here a few times looking for you. He left you these," handing her a large box of Swiss Chocolates. He tells her "We had a good night. Clarisse cut her sets at the Comique short and spent most of the night singing here. My friend Harry has spent the last month taking piano lessons from Stanley Barker and was thrilled at the chance to play in public for the first time. He wasn't very good at it but the people here didn't seem to mind. Tony and Job both had good nights at their tables."
"That's great news," Ruby smiles as she grabs the chocolates. "You've been going a fantastic job of running this place Mr. Hoover, especially when the rest of us aren't around. I hope you've been enjoying yourself." Ruby makes her way upstairs to her room. She sits on the bed and sighs while opening the box of chocolates. "Another of my weaknesses," she says out loud. "You know Miss Ruby West, you'd be much better off if you didn't have so many weaknesses." She pops a chocolate into her mouth. "But you'd have so much less fun..." She grins to herself before taking off her dress, putting on one of Jake's shirts and climbing into bed.
Kate went into her room and quietly shut the door even though she knew Ginnie would wake enough to realize who was coming in. After she changed into her nightgown she sat down in front of the mirror and carefully brushed her hair and braided it to keep it from tangling in the night. When she was finished she bent over Ginnie's cot, softly brushed the girl's hair back and kissed her forehead before slipping into her own bed and to sleep. "Night Ma'am Kate, hope you had a good time." Kate watches as Ginnie snuggles into the covers and goes back to sleep