"Here There Be Vampires" A Promise City, Arizona Story Hour

To anyone who has been following along this story hour...

I'll be getting married next weekend, so finding time for upates in the next week or possibly two is going to be rough. I expect to get one up this weekend, and I hope one during the week.

If I can get a few ready over the weekend, I can space them out over the next couple weeks to keep the thread fresh. Of course, once I catch up to the PBP, we'll all have to wait for the players to write enough to make good updates.... But that time is far away yet.

Errands

Nanuet turns to Minerva. “I am going to the grove where I feel most at peace, you may come with me if you wish. If you want to come rest there I can watch over you until then." Nanuet scratches his head. "I feel there is something we are missing, something that will give us an edge. Perhaps after I have rested it will come to me."

"I am sure that our gods will show us the way to defeat this abomination. I know that I have not sounded very optimistic but it is just my exhaustion talking. We must not lose faith, Mi Amor. Sleep is an excellent idea. Perhaps the gods will guide us in our dreams."

Minerva follows Nanuet to the grove. She removes the icons of Jupiter and Minerva from her bag and prays for their guidance. She rolls a blanket and places it behind her head as she settles herself against the trunk of a large tree to continue studying her books in a desperate effort to glean more information about who or what they are up against. Eventually the words on the page begin to blur and she falls asleep.

Nanuet turns from his task and notices the book hanging limply from her fingertips. "She will he sore if she continues to sleep that way." He thinks and walks over to her. He stares at her for a while thinking how lucky they are to have found one another and kisses her lightly on the top of her head before he gently positions her limp body so that she lying down.

Curious, he picks up the fallen book and leafs through the pages. The words of the white man have no meaning for him but he stops and becomes visibly paler as he stares down at a drawing. It is of a man. He has dark hair and a rather pale complexion. In his eyes is a look of evil glee and he is crouched over an unconscious woman who looks much like Minerva in her gentle slumber. He has a feral look about him and Nanuet shudders as he notes the artist has given the creature unusually prominent canine teeth which are dripping with blood. The unsuspecting girl has two small holes in her neck.

* * *

Chester fetches his bent Colt from his room and heads over to the gunsmith. "Good afternoon Pierre."

"Good afternoon to you, too, Deputy. How may I help you?"

Chester puts the damaged revolver on the counter. "I kinda had an accident last week. I was wondering if you'd accept it in trade for a Remington Model 1875? It felt weird having two different six-guns."

Pierre clucks his tongue as he picks up the weapon. "You should really learn to take better care of your firearms. First the Bailey piece and now this. I'll give you $3 for it. The barrel should be easy enough to replace."

"It's a deal. Now how about a Remington?"

"You're in luck. I do have some for sale. That'll be $20 minus the $3 for the Colt." Pierre writes down the transaction in book and gets a Remington from the cabinet. "Here you go, Deputy. I hope it serves you well."

Chester says, "Me too. Thanks."

Chester next stops by the Marshall's office for his shift. He greets the Marshall.

Marshall Berg seems relieved to see Chester as he walks though the door. He stands up and shakes his hand, takes his hat off and wipes his brow.

"Glad your on time Chester, feeling a bit under the weather and can't wait to get home and get some rest. Nothing really too interesting to report today. Have a quiet shift.”

Chester pats Berg on the back. "You should get to bed. I'll be looking into the murders. I have a feeling that Mr. Turner is behind them. Maybe someone at the Palace saw the dancer with him before she was killed."

After Berg leaves, Chester walks over to the Palace. The bouncer, McCoy says, "What do you want Deputy?"

"I'm looking into the death of one of your dancers. I was wondering if anyone saw her with a Mr. Colin Turner during the festival."

McCoy answers, "One of our dancers? Oh right, that new girl. Can't say we did keep track of who was with who during that festival. Don't recognize that name either, Turner that is."

"Is Miss Trent available? Maybe she knows something. Having two people killed during a festival to the gods is an ominous sign, don't you think?"

"Sorry lawman, Kitty has the day off. She ain't around. I'll tell her you were lookin' for her."

"Thank you, Mr. McCoy." Chester visits Doc Eaton. "Afternoon, Doc. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Deputy. What's on your mind?"

"Do you know where Gus Thomas and Shelly Longfield were buried? I figured the killer might visit their graves."

"Shelly Longfield was sent on a train back to her folks, Gus was buried here since nobody claimed the body. Nobody even came to say goodbye to that poor fellow. If you'd like I can show you where Gus was buried, figured you might have some investigating to do."

"That'd be nice, Doc. Maybe his killer would feel sorry and visit the grave. A long shot, sure, but you never know."

Eaton leads Chester to Boot Hill. After walking down the rows of simple grave markers, they reach the final resting place of Gus Thomas. Eaton clears his throat and say, "Here we are, Deputy. I've got patients to see back at the office, so I'll leave you be. Good day."

Chester replies, "Thanks. You too." After Eaton leaves, he looks around and doesn't see anything unusual. "Hopefully Miss Longfield won't become like Turner." The Marshall shudders. "I'll ask Harry if he noticed Thomas and Turner together."

Chester goes to Kelly's Dry Goods to buy a pair of holsters so he can draw his guns normally. Cross-draw felt awkward with two pistols. Once that's done, he returns to the Lucky Lady. Harry Rote is behind the bar. "Harry, can I ask you some questions about the murdered miner, Gus Thomas?"

"I'm not sure what I can tell you, but go ahead."

"Did you see Thomas with Colin Turner? That strange man who's been bothering Ruby."

"Well, being that Gus was from out of town, here for the festival from what I understand, I didn't know him from a hole in the wall, but that Turner guy was in here the night before they found the body.” Harry paused for a minute. “I thought I remember sitting with somebody who might have matched Gus's description but that might be my mind playing tricks at this point. Is that Turner guy still around? I was figuring either business would be scarce 'cause everybody would be scared away or we'd be booming since everyone wanted to see what was going on with their own eyes."

"I haven't heard one way or the other. This Turner seems to be a ghost of something. No one knows anything about him. I'll see you later." Chester walks back to the office and stays until dinnertime.

* * *

After the others left, Kate went into the kitchen looking for Dorita. She found the elven woman mixing one of the countless batters she used during the day. Dorita turned as Kate stepped inside. "Look at you, you look like you no sleep! Mr. Ringo is dead, you should sleep good now. I make you tea to help you sleep."

"I just had a nap. I'm alright, really. I'll be as good as new tomorrow.” Kate picked up one of the cookies Ginnie was so fond of and nibbled. ”Do you remember the man who asked after me the other night? A Mr. Turner? If you don't mind, if he should ask for me again, would you please tell him I am not available to him?"

Dorita stumbles a bit as she speaks "Ohh, but Miss Kate, he is so nice. He say many nice things about you and he loves my cooking" she says blushing a bit. "No, I no lie to that man, I no lie to anybody. If you not here then I tell him you no here. I can tell him you no want to see him, but I no lie to him."

"I didn't mean to lie, Dorita. I keep forgetting things aren't the same here as they were in Boston. That I do not want to see him is exactly what I meant, and it is fine to tell him that. He is a very charming man, and I'm sure he said many nice things. But he does not mean me well. I think it's best to stay way from him."

Kate turned to leave, then turned back. "What did he say about me?" she asked, her curiosity winning out.

Dorita's sullen look changes to an excited one. "He say many good things. He say you beautiful and smart. He say you play piano very nice and he like to hear you play. He say you do the right thing with Ginnie and you make a good teacher."

"He does his research. I thought he would be too wrapped up in his fascination with Ruby to find out about me." Kate shook her head and said more clearly, "Well, he will just have to do without seeing me again. I can't prevent him from coming into the Lucky Lady, but I can keep from seeing him here. He's not to see Ginnie either, please. Thank you, Dorita."

Katherine left Dorita in the kitchen, unsure if she had learned anything. Colin Turner always seemed to leave a string of breathless women in his wake, but that didn't mean he was using his influence.

She went back up to her room. Ginnie was off on her lunch run and the room was quiet. Kate looked at Tom's picture. She talked to him every night knowing he heard her, but there was only so much comfort to be found when he couldn't talk back. It was obvious even to Kate how she had isolated herself. Even as she spent time with others she was keeping them away, and now she wasn't even sure if she could trust those she thought she had let in.

There were a few hours yet before she had to meet the others at the Lucky Lady, and she still needed that bath. Kate wiped her eyes of the unshed tears; she had promised her Tom no more tears.

The hot water of the bath felt wonderful, and she relaxed into the tub. No time seemed to pass before Laurie Gilson came in and tapped her shoulder. "You fell asleep," she said with her rich laugh. "Come on. It's slow this afternoon, come have a cup of tea with me."

Kate nearly refused. Jake had wanted them to investigate Turner, but this was important too. Instead she sat for an hour with Laurie, then went back to the El Parador and gave Ginnie her lessons and some much needed attention before she went to the Lucky Lady to meet the others.

* * *

Minerva makes her way to the bank to deposit her money and then visits Sr. Lacey to find out if he knows where the Bishop went. Judge Lacey does not know the Bishop's schedule, only that they were planning on visiting several other parishes before returning to their base of operations.

She then spends the rest of the afternoon in her room rummaging through her book trunk and reading anything she can find that might give them an advantage over the cold dark evil that threatens them, before Nanuet calls on her for dinner.

Minerva searches through her books in a desperate search for information. The only item of note though is that not all victims of the creatures return as monsters, only those selected. She rubs her eyes and realizes that she has wasted the entire afternoon on this futile quest and decides to pay a visit to the Mexican Priest on the outskirts of town before it gets to dark. She leaves a message with Bea telling Nanuet that she will meet him at the Lucky Lady grabs her new pistol with the magic bullets and heads for the Mexican Church at a brisk pace.

Thomas Valdez answers his door. "Oh, Miss Florencia. Come in," he leads the way. "Congratulations on your new post in town. It would be wonderful if we could work side by side to bring the different religions in the town together."

He offers her a seat, "How can I help you today?"

Minerva smiles, "Gracias Padre, Si, I am looking forward to working with you also." She glances out the window and tries to contain her nervousness brought on by the darkening sky. "Padre, I need your help. I do not know if you have heard of the unusual deaths in town recently. There is a dark evil walking the streets."

She goes on to explain about Colin Turner and the incident in the saloon, including her own failed efforts to turn him away or shield Ruby from his influence. “He says that he is coming back! Padre, I know very little about such evil or how to stop it. I was hoping that you would know what to do."

"Well I buried one of the unfortunate victims, said the blessing at his burial that is. Unfortunately my child I have little knowledge on such subjects. I have been doing research but have little to show for my efforts. I believe holy symbols and blessed water may help keep him at bay, an old wives tale I read mentioned the use of garlic and that creatures such as him would need to be invited into any non public building before they could enter, but I can not attest to the validity of any of that."

“I tried to turn him away with my holy symbol. He did not flee but on the other hand he did not kill me either. I do have some holy water but I only have a few vials. If you have some to spare, it would certainly be helpful in protecting my friends."

Valdez nods. "I have that in abundance, have you never learned to bless water Priestess? I wish you and your friends much luck and will continue my studies to see if I find anything. Perhaps some simple prayer will shed some light on things.

“Si Padre, I can make holy water but I have had little time since my arrival 3 weeks ago to seek a source for the silver that is required for it's creation. Por Favor, pray that the gods favor us with the knowledge to destroy this monster. I must go now. It is getting dark and I am expected elsewhere. Buenas Noches," she says and stepping into the darkening night she looks about her to be sure that she is not being watched and she rushes back to the Lucky Lady.

Meeting at the Lucky Lady

Ruby was tired, tired of being scared, being afraid and tired of making Jake work so hard for her. He was constantly having to fight over her, fight for her, fight against her not to leave. And he did it, every time and never complained. And so far he was successful. I did warn him trouble follows me… she thinks, But that’s not good enough anymore. I have to try harder to help. How long before he tires of me and having to work so hard and put it so much effort? He used to be lazy!

Ruby gazes at Jake’s smooth, young looking face. Even now with the stress they had been under and new stress they were currently under he looked calm and in control. He was one of those men who was handsome and didn’t know just how attractive and handsome he was. Confident but not cocky, well, not about some things Ruby laughs to herself. A real leader, even if reluctant. Jake catches Ruby staring at him and he smiles at her, a smile that warmed her heart.

They arrive at the Lucky Lady and climb the stairs together to their room. In their room Ruby sits on the bed and stares at the open window for a couple of minutes before speaking.

“Baby, I can close the window and I will. The problem isn’t the window.” She does walk across the room to the window and shuts it slowly. Sitting back on the bed she continues with a sigh, “This is the problem.” She runs her hand over the fluffy blankets on the bed as she smiles dreamily, “This place…our room… and especially this bed… is where I go, where I come, to feel safe.” She continues to roll the soft blankets between her fingers. “This is where I come to you, where I dream of our future, where we make love, where we share secrets and plan our life and everything is made ok again. Where I wake up with you next to me and I feel refreshed. And I feel loved. I’ve always felt safe here, even safer when you’re here too and never more safe than when I’m in your arms in our bed.”

Her smile slowly falls off her face. “But he was here, he came into our room and into this bed. He violated our bed and my sanctuary, besides what he did to me.” She rises off the bed and stands over it looking down. “I don’t know if I can feel safe here anymore. It feels hot, stuffy and cramped in this room to me.”

She turns her face to Jake again and the corners of her lips start to rise. “But I still feel safe with you, that he can’t change. And when we went to our spot, it felt really good. And being with you makes me feel calm and comforted.”

“That is why I want the window open.” Ruby sits slowly on the bed again.

Jake listens carefully and nods as he understands. "We'll put an end to that creature. If that doesn't make things right here we'll get rid of it. The bed, the room, the saloon, whatever it takes to make things right we sell or burn to the ground and start again." Jake finally smiles back, the tension he had been hiding comes to the surface and floats away. "I understand now. I believe you about being free from his influence. We don't even half to sleep here until this matter is settled, we can camp out by the steam if that makes you feel better. Frankly, it makes me feel better. I wouldn't sleep much here, staring at the window all night with a pistol in my hand." Jake chuckles.

Ruby's smile widens, "Yes, let's camp out by the stream, you and me. And we can make plans about our future and dream and make love just like we would here. Except under the stars. Our stars." Ruby's face relaxes and lightens. "Now I do feel better," she laughs lightly. "Now kiss me to make it true. Then tell me your plans."

Jake leans back and pulls her over with him. They spend some minutes kissing and laughing before he speaks again. "It's wonderful to have you back."

Jake starts speaking quickly and somewhat disjointedly. "I don't really have fully cooked plans yet, just some ideas. I'm sure we are going to need to ask around after where ever Turner is hiding. Seems to me he would have more folks around him under his influence, so some amount of secrecy or disguise is needed. When we go after him we should bring Louise and leave Ruby behind." He winks at her, "Of course at some crucial point Ruby may appear out of nowhere. Perhaps even to draw him out. What a surprise to him if Ruby was protected from his influence but acted like she was on his side just long enough to surprise him. You have those nasty shotgun shells Ringo's boys left us, they might be just the thing to slow down an unsuspecting Colin Turner." He taps her nose lightly. "I'll let my stubbly beard grow and borrow some glasses or something so someone who has not met me would not be looking for Mr. Alistair Jacobs from Denver. Oh, and your ability to put someone to sleep might be just the thing to stop one of our own who turns against us temporarily."

Jake is looking at her and smiling but she can see in his eyes that he is still scheming. "The others will be here soon, they may have some more useful information for us. Now that my Ruby is back I am expecting some devilishly clever ideas from her some time soon as well."

Ruby laughs, "Are you going to grow a full beard now, Mr. Cook? I might not even recognize you! Mr. Alistair Jacob, huh? Have you used that name before?" She ponders for a moment before continuing, "I don't like hiding myself, I don't like being someone else, I like being me. And...." she hesitates and pulls at her hair, "He would know it's me, I know it. Even though the spell is broken I still feel like I will know when he is coming back so hiding wouldn't work."

"I will try to think of some ideas Jake. But... I'm afraid of what will happen if he gets that spell on me again. I know you want to try to make it harder but no matter I don't think we can make it impossible. I was trying to tell you earlier, I am scared of hurting you. That and scared of getting a stake through my heart."

Ruby shakes her head, "Oh I said I wasn't going to do that! Forget it. I'll try to think of something. I think I need some help thinking..." she smiles and grabs at Jake again. His kisses would make her forget her fears, even if temporarily.

* * *

When Katherine arrived at the Lucky Lady, none of the others seemed to be there yet. She felt a little guilty, having spent her afternoon on her own pursuits rather than looking into Turner. Still, she was going to need to be calm and to keep her wits about her. If the cost of that was one afternoon, it was well worth it.

The other employees and owners and a few of the early dinner regulars greeted her one by one. Kate made a conscious effort to be open and friendly. Since the others weren't down yet, she sat down at the piano and began to play. It was a classical piece, but Ruby wasn't there anyway and it was unlikely the dinner crowd would mind.

After some more kissing and laughing Jake and Ruby head downstairs and take their regular table. At this point it's reserved all the time for them as no other customers dare take it.

They get some liquor and order up some food and wait for everyone else to show up. Ruby plays with the frisky puppies while they wait.

Jake is lost in thought while Ruby plays with the dogs. He suddenly leans over and whispers to Ruby, "What did the old man actually DO to remove the influence?"

"He cast," she looks around to make sure no one is close enough to hear, "A spell, the one I have on the scroll. It's called Dispel Magic. Why?"

"So what Turner does is some kind of, ahem, that. That means if someone is influenced it could be detected by someone who can see that sort of thing?"

"No, I think what he does is different. I didn't see him casting anything and I was looking right at him. It must be something special about what he is that he can do that somehow." She shudders and shrugs. "But I WOULD guess that it could be detected by someone like me who can see those type of things. I didn't think look."

Ruby's attention is drawn to Katherine who had somehow snuck in and started playing on the piano. "How pretty..." Ruby says under her breath as she is mesmerized by her fingers running over the keys.

Jake taps his finger on the table still musing. "It would be helpful if we knew that for certain, not that I want someone still under his influence so we can test it."

Ruby grabs his fingers and stops them from tapping. "Well, how would we know who to check? We don't. Unless you want me to check me or Kate, except we should have done it before the spell." Ruby shakes her head. "I don't know baby."

She bends sideways from the waist and leans her head towards Jake, her hair brushing his lap. She reaches up with one arm and wraps it around his neck. She kisses him, "I'm in a cuddly mood today baby. Let's get this meeting over with."

"Heh, this probably shouldn't take too long. We might have some business to do after this though." He scratches at his unshaven cheek and asks, "Is it hard to do? To check Katherine?"

Ruby's face drops and she gulps. "Oh, I forgot that."

She stares up at Jake. She seems to be lost looking at his face but finally she blinks, "No, not hard. Easy actually."

Kate continued through the quiet piece, letting the music soothe her. Once she reached the end of the piece she felt much more herself, completing the therapy she'd begun earlier that afternoon. She turned and saw Ruby and Jake had come downstairs and moved over to join them.

"You both look better," she said as she took a seat.

"I think we both feel better. I'd say you look more relaxed this afternoon too." Jake makes eye contact with Ruby, "Why don't you do that if it easy, and while you are in the kitchen see what is taking so long with the food. My appetite is coming back finally."

Ruby pulls herself up from her comfortable position and silently heads to the kitchen. She sets Maria to hurrying at finishing getting their meal together.

Once Maria's back is turned Ruby quickly casts the detect magic spell on Katherine. Her ring glows but that is all she notices. Maria says, "Did you say something Miss Ruby?"

Ruby smiles, "Nope, just muttering to myself. I do that a lot." She picks up a couple of platters piles on a basket with bread.

"Well, I have a little confession to make," Kate said with a blush as Ruby left. "I talked to Dorita and Mr. Gonzales this afternoon, but other than that I spent it soaking in a bath, having tea with Laurie Gilson, and giving Ginnie her lessons. I know you wanted us to see what we could find out, but I would be useless to you if I didn't take a little time to relax."

Walking back to the table carefully trying not to drop anything, Ruby announces her arrival, "Food's here!"

She sits, "Kate, that was a beautiful song. It's always nice to hear you play."

"No you've earned the time to relax Katherine. I too enjoyed your piano piece. I imagine that is how my mother envisioned me playing before I squandered the lessons and exasperated the instructor." Jake grins and helps Ruby with the food.

"You didn't squander your lessons. You only squander them if you don't play the way you like to play,” Kate said.

Ruby says, "Now, before my meal is ruined, did anyone find anything out? I'm getting tired of talking about this and I want it over with."

Nanuet grabs at the food quickly. As he does he says "Didn't find out much, nobody seems to remember that guy except from last night. Found that his belongings were taken on the stage this morning." before stuffing a biscuit in his mouth.

“I did find out one thing, although it's not really about Turner,” Katherine said. “When I talked to Mr. Gonzales after Ruby left, he made some suggestions that I thought were odd. But he didn't push them and clarified what he meant. Later I talked to Dorita and she was just full of good things to say about Mr. Turner.

I found myself suspicious because I was predisposed to be. Trust is going to be an issue between all of us, knowing that our minds can be touched. I don't know that there's a solution for it, but we should all be aware.

And if I become Mr. Turner's advocate again, I fully support a sharp blow to my head to stop it," she finished with a little grin.

"Oh we found that out too. Heading to Thomas-something." She also grabs some food, her stomach finally letting her know it was ok to eat.

"Where is Minerva?" Ruby asks suddenly.

"Not sure, I went by the boarding house to escort her over here but Bea said that she already left and would meet us here," Nanuet answers.

"Hmmm.... I wonder what she is up to."

"Thomaswell, New Mexico," Jake adds for Ruby.

After Jake adds his comment, "That's right, New Mexico. Stage then train. I guess that's how we'll go too."

Kate stopped the torrent of thought that started when the conversation went right past her comments. 'Down that road lies distrust,' she thought to herself. "How we'll go? Are we going?"

Nanuet coughs loudly as he chokes on the food. "What do you mean that's how we'll go too? I thought we were going to Tombstone, take care of Kate's husband's remains!"

Kate said, "I do want to do that, but I have already waited weeks until we could do it in safety. Tom wouldn't want us to risk ourselves. If we need to take care of Turner first, then that's what we need to do."

Ruby looks at her friends curiously. "Of course. We have to go find him, right? After we go to Tombstone that is. Unless you want to sit around and wait for him to come back and turn me into one of him."

"No, we don't want to sit around and wait. I was just surprised. We usually argue about these things for a while."

Ruby raises an eyebrow and says completely seriously, "We can argue about it if you'd like Kate."

Kate shook her head. "No need to argue. It's the plan I would go with."

Ruby smiles, shrugs and continues to eat. "Have it your way then."

Nanuet says, "I'm all for going after this guy. It worked for Ringo right? Not that we are up against the same thing here, but... well I just like the idea of going after him, being the hunters and not the hunted."

"That is clearly my choice, I'll be going after him with anyone who feels the same way." Jake says matter-of-factly and notices Minerva rushing into the saloon from outside. He waves her over, "Buenos Tardes, Senorita."

Nanuet jumps up from the table and rushes to Minerva hugging her perhaps too tightly. "Glad you decided to join us, I was worried about you." He looks her up and down "You look tired, did you get any rest? You didn't sleep enough this morning."

Minerva hugs Nanuet tightly relieved to be in out of the dark. "I am fine, Mi amore, now that I am in your arms." she smiles up at him. "I have been to visit the Mexican Padre to see if he has any knowledge that would help us in our quest."

"Excellent thinking my love, here, sit down and get something to eat." Nanuet says pulling out a chair for Minerva to sit. He then notices activity and questions what is going on. "Any idea who that is?" he says pointing towards the corner.

As the group of companions sits around the table there is a bit of commotion at the front of the saloon. People seem to be backing away from the door and everyone seems to be looking that way. The group is unable to see what they are looking at, but it does look as though a man has entered the saloon. The crowd’s neck's croon as their attentions are drawn to a table in the corner near the front where whomever entered has now taken a seat. Quiet murmurs now fill the air of the saloon.

Fight or Flight

"Damn." Jake says plainly, "Now what." He stands up and walks over to see what is going on in his saloon.

Instead of heading towards the commotion Ruby stands from the table and backs away slowly, keeping her eyes on that area but trying to get to the side door.

Minerva notices the paninc in Ruby's eyes as she begins backing away and goes to her. "Are you alright?"

Ruby glances at Minerva but doesn't answer, instead continuing to head out the door, making it into the early evening air.

Minerva follows and grabs her arm. "Ruby, You must come back inside it is less safe out here by yourself."

Ruby pulls her arm away from Minerva and makes it out into the night. "Safer out here than in there. And you'd be safer away from me." Ruby starts hurrying down the street and away from the Lucky Lady.

"Ruby, Come back." Minerva calls, chasing her down the street. "You must not panic. Trust us to keep you safe."

On his way back to the Lucky Lady, Chester sees Ruby and Minerva rushing down the street. "Whoa there ladies. Where are you going in such a hurry?"

Nanuet follows Minerva and Ruby outside trying to figure out where she is going and to keep an eye on both the women.

Ruby glances at Minerva over her shoulder, before slipping around a corner and into the shadows. <hide, move silently> She didn't want Minerva following her in case Colin came for her and made her do things. She wasn't going to let any of them get hurt for her again.

She slides up against a cold brick wall and continues moving away from Minerva.

"Senor Chester, Do not let her go. She is not safe on her own. There may be trouble at the Lucky Lady."

"Chet, why don't you head over to the Lady, I think you will be needed more there. We can handle Ruby, I think she got spooked."

"OK. Is Turner back?"

Nanuet says, "I look like it. Take care."

"I will. Find Ruby." Chester hurries to the Lucky Lady. He puts his hand on his sixgun before opening the door.

* * *

Kate kept her seat, looking curiously over toward the door. "There's more than one thing that can cause a commotion," she said calmly. "We have every reason to believe our troublemaker from last night is gone now. And it would be dangerous for him to show his face amongst so many who saw it's true nature yesterday."

The crowd settles down and parts as Jake makes his way over towards the area of everyone's attention. He notices a tall, light haired finely dressed man. The man's head is tilted down and he is wearing a hat that blocks his face. A cane is next to the table and the knob is finely crafted silver in the shape of two letters. C.T.

Jake motions for Jeff Mills while saying to the man, "Good evening." His hand wanders to his Colt.

Kate noticed Jake's hand move over to his Colt. She's seen it often enough now to know it's something he does when he expects trouble. She slipped away from the table and moved back toward the wall, hoping to find a place to watch unobtrusively, and act if necessary.

Jeff was already on his way over after seeing the slight commotion. He joins Jake near the table.

"E-e-evening" the man stutters never raising his eyes. He pulls the cane towards him and adjust the high collar on his jacket.

"I don't believe we have been formally introduced, I am one of the owners by the name of Jake Cook and you are?" Jake moves to see the man's face.

The man takes pains to continue to hide his face, now adjusting an ascot tie to hide the lower portion of his face. "Just a lonely man here for a drink, thanks for the hospitality."

"Yes, but it is common courtesy to face your host."

Kate dipped into her bodice and pulled out the derringer with the Magical Weapon bullet inside and kept her eye on Jake.

"Well then I guess I am rude, I just want a drink Mister, what was it? Mister Cook."

"At least take off your hat when ladies are present..." Jake reaches out and smacks the underside of the brim of the mans hat, knocking it back.

The man cowers backwards as Jake sends the hat flying. The man drops the cane and whimpers. "Look Mister Cook, I didn't mean to hurt nobody, I... I can't help myself, don't know what I am doing." The man is visibly shaken and disturbed, but is certainly not Colin Turner.

Kate's heard started pounding again, sending loud torrents of blood through her ears. She tucked the derringer away and walked toward Jake and the stranger.

"Hermes!" Jake spins around looking for Ruby and doesn't find her. "Jeff, don't let him get away," Jake hollers as he runs out the side door.

Outside he looks around and does not see any of them. "Blast!" He thinks a moment and screams at the top of his lungs, "Ruby! Meet at the run away spot!" He makes his away across town to the El Parador.

* * *

Nanuet whispers to Minerva "Did you see which alleyway she went down?"

"She went that way." Minerva says pointing to the corner. "She was just ahead of me. She could not have gotten very far."

Nanuet begins looking for her tracks. It takes a few moments but when he thinks he has found the proper ones he motions for Minerva to follow him. <<move silently>> Nanuet makes his way towards the alleyway where he believes Ruby is hiding.

Minerva follows behind Nanuet, alert for trouble that may be lurking in the shadows.

Nanuet stealthily enters the alley. He looks it up and down but is unable to spot anyone. "She must have gone out the other side, keep looking." Nanuet starts calling out her name, giving up on trying to out stealth Ruby.

"Damn, that girl is going to get us all killed. Nanuet, we should not be so loud. We do not know what ears may be listening. Minerva rushes to the other end of the alley "

"Fine then, I just wanted her to know we were looking for her, she shouldn't be out here by herself running around. Here, let me track her again."

Nanuet takes his time checking over the tracks. "Here, she went this way" he says pointing down the road, "Let's hurry."

"She knows we are looking for her. That is why she is running! What is going on in that girls head? If she would just listen we could ward her against that monster." she says rushing after Nanuet.

"The girl is scared, and afraid she might do something she regrets if Turner was to get to her again."

Ruby starts breathing heavily as her heart starts pounding in her ears. She looks back and forth down the alleyway and doesn't see anyone. She moves a little way, then cuts across a street and goes back into the shadows, continuing to move away from the Lady.

Nanuet's eyes adjust to the darkness and he can easily follow the tracks. Soon Ruby can hear them approaching.

Dammit Ruby mutters to herself as she hears them nearing. Instead of trying to completely hide Ruby lifts her skirts and starts running as fast as she can, sticking to alleyways, dodging behind buildings and around corners as fast as she can.

"After everything that happened this week you would think that she would trust her friends. None of us are safe from that abomination if we don't stick together. If she runs off we'll just be forced to go after her." Minerva says rather loudly in her exasperation.

Ruby hears Jake's voice carrying on the wind and she hears "run away spot". She immediately changes course and runs until she gets into the barn of the El Parador. She heads to her horse and breathing heavy she slips into the stall where her black stallion is resting.

"Well I can't be chasing her forever, look there she goes running off. Let's go!"

Owen Wills

Kate sighed as she was suddenly alone again in the Lucky Lady. She felt a little better a moment later when Chester came in.

Chester grabs the man and spins him around. "Who are you? Did Turner put you up to this? Answer me."

"Y-yes!" the man stammers. "I mean I guess that was his name. He, it... whatever it is is inside my head!" the man screams and swings wildly at Chester.

"Chester, that isn't going to do any good!" Kate said loudly. "Sir, sir! I know about him being in your head," she said, trying to get his attention on her and away from striking Chester. "Please, tell me what he wants you to do."

Chester dodges the wild swing. "Whoa. Whoa. I'm not going to hurt you. Just calm down. Where is he?"

The man seems to be soothed once Kate and Chester react in a calm manner. "He's gone home, that is what he told me. Don't matter though, he can reach me anywhere, can't hide from him no matter where I go."

"I know," Kate said softly. "Come sit down. I'll get you a drink and you can tell us about how you got that cane."

The man heads towards Kate and begins to sit down, anyone looking at him can tell he is very nervous and he clutches the cane tightly until his knuckles are white. "Thanks Miss, mighty kind of you all. I know this is crazy, but you seem to know what is going on."

Chester sits with Kate and the man. He nonchalantly puts his left hand on his other gun as he extends his right to the man. "Greetings. I'm Chester. What's your name, stranger?"

The man slowly reaches out his hand towards Chester. He gingerly shakes hands and quickly withdraws and replies "Owen, Owen Wills. Nice to meet you Chester."

Kate said, "We know some of what’s going on. I know right now there is a strong compulsion inside you to do something. I've felt it too. He wanted me to convince my friend to leave with him, and then to make someone let them go. What is it you want to do right now? Or you wanted to do just a few minutes ago?"

The man leans the cane on the table "He wanted me to pretend to be him, to try and fool all of you. I thought it was foolish, and have no idea why he wanted to do it, but I couldn't help myself, it is all I could think of."

"And now that we know you aren't him, that is gone and you are yourself for now. We think he's left town. Unless he has some way to watch from afar, there's no reason he should take your mind again.

Where did you meet him? Did he give you his cane then?"

"Yeah, the cane was given to me, that is how I met him. Noticed the nice cane and said something about it to him. Don't know what you mean miss, but he is still in my head, I have no doubt. Not sure why he is allowing me to talk with you, but I can feel him."

Chester gestures toward the cane. "Mind if I take a look at that? It's a fine-looking thing."

* * *

Nanuet follows Ruby's tracks to the barn, but once outside he hears Jake's voice. He motions to Minerva.

"Jake is in there with him. I think we should go back, let him handle this, he knows Ruby best. If anyone can talk some sense into her then he can."

Nanuet begins walking briskly back towards the Lucky Lady.

Minerva looks back towards the barn in indecision but quickly rushes after Nanuet. "Wait, do not leave me out here alone!"

"I didn't leave you, I just knew what it would take for you to follow me." He walks with Minerva and as they enter the saloon he heads to the bar to get drinks for them.

"Why would you say such a thing? Are you angry because I did not let Ruby run off into the night? Or because you did not follow me last night? Never mind we shall discuss it later." she says in a flash of heat clearly insulted by the remark as she makes her way over to Katherine and Chester.

"But I... None of those things... but... Minerva wait!" Nanuet starts to follow but can see that Minerva is clearly angry with him so he decides to bide his time.

Kate looked up briefly and saw Miss Florencia and Nanuet coming in. She nodded, ignoring the latent tension between them. "I'm not sure either," Kate said, continuing to talk to Wills. "His attention may be elsewhere just now, so we must talk while we can. When did you get the cane? Last night, sooner?"

Minerva startles when she hears these words and looks around the room to see if the monster is present in the room. She says a short prayer and attempts to detect his evil presence, but there seems to be no evil in the room.

Minerva relaxes a bit, reasured that Turner is not present. Nanuet walks over and hands her a drink. "Gracias" she says and turns from him to continue her observation of the man as he tells his tale. She observes his physical appearance as well paying special attention to his neck to be sure that he does not have marks on him like the woman in her book.

"It's been a blur...,” Wills answers. “Yeah it was last night, late last night. Had a few too many drinks I guess, stumbling about like a fool when I saw him." Owen suddenly stands up and grabs the cane. He doesn't say a word, but bolts for the back door running as quickly as he can, dodging patrons and a confused Maria who is trying to serve the customers.

"Don't let him leave!" Kate shouted. "Stop him!" She got up and ran after him herself as well.

Minerva, who is watching him closely, notices when he begins to tense and attempts to block his path and grab his arm when he bolts.

Minerva is quick and blocks his path but the man is strong and manages to break free from Minerva's grasp. He pushes her back and continues to bolt for the back door. Kate is a step too slow and unable to get to him before he gets past Minerva.

Jeff reacts to Katherine's cries and tries to stop him but is unable to maneuver around the tables and patrons fast enough.

Chester leaps out of his chair, knocking it to the floor. He races after Wills. "Try to block him out, Owen."

Chester is also a step too slow and he and Jeff get tangled with each other as they try to pursue the man. Both end up on the ground in a tangle.

Owen runs out the back of the saloon and turns to the left. He continues to flee into the night, not looking back.

Kate kept running, intending to follow him outside where there weren't witnesses to what she might have to do.

"Damn it. He's getting away." Chester and Jeff untangle themselves. "Stay here Jeff. Just in case the real Turner shows up." Chester darts out the door looking for Wills, Minerva, or Kate.

Minreva follows after Katherine. "It could be a trap." she says in warning and races after the man.

"I know, we won't go far,” Kate said. “I just need privacy."

"What are you doing? I'll block you. Hurry he's getting away!" Minerva pants.

The two women followed Owen out the door. Kate looked quickly, trying to see him. She took a pinch of sand from the folds of her skirt and began the incantation. The man crumpled to the ground in a heap.

Kate stopped and took a few deep breaths. "That's all I wanted to do. Be careful moving him back inside. It's no deeper than regular sleep. Too much jostling or noise will wake him up."

Minerva runs over. "Katherine, That's amazing! Chester, Help me get him back inside." Minerva takes his legs and directs Chester to take his arms and they carry him upstairs.

* * * * *

Outside the barn at the El Parador, Jake peers around to see if he was followed or anyone is waiting. He quickly enters the barn, looking and listening.

When Jake gets to Ruby's horse an arm reaches out and grabs him, pulling him into the stall. Still breathing heavy Ruby asks nervously, "Was it him?"

"No, but clearly he sent him. Once I knew it wasn't him I figured it was a trap to get you out of the saloon. That part worked pretty well, don't you think?" Jake keeps looking around the barn and listening. "We should find out what this guy knows."

Ruby gives Jake a pissy look. "What was I supposed to do? Stay there and let him get me?"

In an annoyed, still breathless tone, "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to think, woman, if you keep reacting like that he will get you." Jake rests his left hand on her shoulder. "I know you are afraid, and so am I but we need to stay together. Did you sense anything? Did you feel anything? Or did you just run because it looked like him?"

"I ran because I wasn't sure. I didn't feel anything." She looks into Jake's eyes, "I TOLD you I'm not going to let him hurt any of you though me again."

"Then you have decided you can't come with me to put an end to this? Perhaps you can speak to Gonzalez, you told me he has a place of safety or he can whisk you away to some far away spot while I do what must be done."

"No," Ruby replies stubbornly, "Why would you say that?"

"I do not understand you. You fly at the first sign of him and still tell me you are going to help me destroy him? If you insist on letting your fear rule you, then you are just helping him. If you cannot master this fear, then you should stay safely behind. It is dangerous enough what we propose without the risk of you panicking at a critical moment." Jake's tone is gentle even though the words are harsh.

"You're not leaving me behind!" Ruby says even more stubbornly than before. "If you leave me behind I'll go on my own." She steps out of the stall. "So there wasn't any reason for fleeing at this particular moment was there? You tricked me to come here."

"Let's go back now so you can get your information."

"Tricked you!" Jake exclaims and then lowers his voice. "I was worried that he tricked you into running outside where he might be waiting. I thought I already said that. This was the fastest way of finding you so I could protect you. If my protection is just a cheap trick....." Jake growls and steps out of the stall next to her. "So it is OK to go back and get MY information now? What about you? Aren't we going to work together? Am I really forcing this on you?"

Ruby blinks in surprise at Jake. "No, you aren't forcing me. I understand you were worried. I'm sorry I ran off. And you didn't trick me, I guess I was just upset still... I'll do better next time, I promise."

She shrugs. "You haven't figured out by now that I don't need all the information you do? And especially with this. What do we need to know? We found out where he is. We go there and you kill him. Or he'll come back for me, I know he will. What does it matter who... who was it anyway? In the saloon?"

"I don't know who it was. I didn't stay a moment longer after I knew it wasn't Turner and I discovered you had run. I still don't know that Turner isn't out there or why this guy shows up. Do you think Turner knew what you were thinking when he had control of you? Could he be using people to spy on us and relay the information back through their thoughts?"

"What do you mean? He could have been reading my thoughts, sure. I don't know if he did or didn't. He could be reading other people's thoughts. I don't have the answers for you."

A smile comes to Ruby's lips. "I might have been thinking something naughty," she giggles, "Then he'd really come back for me."

Jake doesn't laugh. "We should go. Hopefully the others have learned something useful. Please don't run away from me on the way back. It might be better if this guy who was masquerading as Turner didn't get to see you."

Ruby stops smiling. "Alright Jake. I won't run away. Let's go back."

Jake and Ruby make their way to the Lucky Lady, with Jake being overly cautious. They enter the Lucky Lady from the front door and look for their friends.

Turner's Double

Chester arranges Wills to make it look like he's drunk as he and Minerva carry him upstairs. "Chester says to the curious, "He had a little too much. We'll just take him upstairs to sleep it off. He fell down in the alley."

Minerva and Chester gently carry the slumbering man up to the room, being careful not to awaken him as they place him on the bed. Minerva remembers what the mexican padre said about vampires not being able to enter a room uninvited and afraid that the man might wake up and do so she quickly crosses the room to shutter the window and draw the drapes while Katherine prepares her spell to break him free of the monster's influence.

Owen Wills lays on the bed, motionless except for the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest.

"We don't want to wake him up yet,” Kate said. “I doubt Mr. Turner can look through his eyes when he's sleeping. We can free his mind the same way Mr. Gonzales did, but we need him asleep. It's not safe for him to know how it happens."

Jake and Ruby ask Niles where everyone went and he directs them upstairs to Chesters room where they are bringing a drunk. Ruby furrows her brows and says to Jake as they climb the stairs, "But why would they..." She is cut off by Jake who raises his eyebrows at her.

When they make the turn in the stairs, Jake say, "Ruby, from the way this guy acted and spoke I think Turner had him under control. This might be a chance for you or Katherine to find out if you can detect whether someone is or is not under control."

What am I, his genie? For a moment Ruby is mad but then a little giggle slips out and she smiles. "Sure Jake, I can do that." She stops outside the door. "By the way, I did what you asked earlier and there was no signs of anything."

They knock and the door is opened. Ruby doesn't enter, she stays back in the doorway. Just in case...

She notices the man sleeping on the bed. "What's going on?" she whispers from the door.

Chester crosses the room to the doorway. "That's Owen Wills. He was pretending to be Colin Turner, cane and all. Said Turner was in his mind, like you and Kate said earlier. While me and her were talking to him, he bolts. Kate puts him to sleep and me and Minerva bring him up here like he's drunk. What do you want to do?"

"You'll have to wake him up so I can cast a spell on him. But please make sure he's secured first. I don't want him trying to snatch me away."

Chester heads back over and gently ties the man hands together. Then he shakes him, "Hey mister, wake up."

Groggily, the man starts to stir. After he is awake Ruby casts the detect magic spell on him to find out if being under his enchantment would be detected.

Kate sighed. Chester had been waking the man up before she could even object. Maybe he did need to be awake for Ruby to do whatever it was she was doing, but that meant Turner's eyes were in this room. Beside Owen himself being awake to see what she and Ruby could do.

Owen looks dazed for a moment but even with his hands tied together his only thought is of getting out of the room. He flops off the bed onto the floor and begins trying to get up so that he can walk. With his hands bound his is having little success.

Ruby says, "There is definitely some kind of magic on him but it's not a spell, not a normal one anyway."

Kate went over and whispered to Ruby, "I don't have a scroll anymore. If you still have yours, we should free him from Turner's influence. He can't be trusted for us to let him go if we don't."

"I do have the scroll Kate but we might need it for us. I'd rather save it. Maybe we can drop him at Valdez's church? That way he can also study the effect."

"I don't have any objections to that, but I think we need to knock him out again then. And in such a way as he doesn't see it. We don't want Turner knowing about any of our special talents."

"I think there is a good chance he already knows that Kate, at least from me." Ruby doesn't step any further into the room but looks down at the desperate man with pity, trying to claw his way out. "I know what he feels like," Ruby says softly. Half out of the room and still holding onto the door frame Ruby asks, "Have you asked him any questions yet? Like what his command was? If not you could try but I'd doubt in his state you're going to get anything from him."

"I know how he feels too, Ruby," she said quietly. "I talked to him downstairs a little; before he tried to bolt. His command was to try to make us think he was Mr. Turner. I imagine Mr. Turner needs time to recover from his altercation with Jake. If he could make us think he's still here, it would be that much longer before we came looking for him.

Mr. Turner came upon him late last night, drunk out in the street. That's when he took his mind and gave him his cane. He must have some way of watching. The way Mr. Wills ran, it was as if Turner suddenly discovered he was talking to us and made him run."

"So he could heal and be ready for us." Ruby stares at the man before looking up at her friends. She realizes she probbaly shouldn't have said that outloud, even if it was true.

Ruby slips out the door and leans up against the wall, waiting for the others to finish with the man. Bringing him to the priest was the only thing they could do to help him.

After that it was monster hunting. Ruby hoped she had the courage and strength to stand by and watch someone get staked through the heart, especially after the vision she saw of herself being turned into one of them. The thought makes her shudder and she pushes it out of her mind. Not time to think about it yet...

Chester whispers to Kate and Ruby, "I can hit him with the butt of my gun. It's simple."

"Just wait one moment," Ruby says, placing her hand on Chester's arm without entering the room. "Jake," she whispers, "Do you want to ask this poor pathetic man anything?"

"Chet, maybe you ought to lock this guy up. He could have been part of the murder of one or both of those two people. I hope he isn't, but either way Ruby and Katherine will be out of his reach by then." Jake looks at the ladies who startle. "No more arguing, I have heard enough. We've talked about this several times already and you two are going on the train Monday to stay with Katherine's cousin in St. Louis. Not another word about it."

"Saint Louis?" Ruby questions, taking her a moment before she gets what Jake is trying to do. She nods her head, "Oh yes, Saint Louis..."

Jake takes Chesters neckerchief and blindfolds the bound man. "Anything you want to tell us or need to do before the marshall takes you off to the jail?"

"I didn't murder nobody, I swear it! You gotta let me go, this man will make me crazy. I just gotta do what he says is all, I won't hurt nobody. I gotta go now!" he begs and pleads, half crying.

Minerva speaks soothingly to the paniced man. "Senor Wills, You know who I am, do you not?" He pauses in his sturggle and nods in the affirmative as he tries to focus on what the priestess is telling him. "Well then, be assured I will help you. You must go with the Deputy. You cannot out run this devil. It is safer for you if you are confined until this evil is removed from your mind."

As Minerva tries to calm the man Chester whacks him on the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him out.

"By the goddess, Deputy! Was that really necessary?” Minerva says catching the man in her arms. He is an innocent victim in this," she says. "You could have used gentler methods to subdue him!" she huffs in outrage. "Meirde, Such violence is uncalled for!"

"Sorry Priestess. I don't know any gentler methods. We don't know if Turner can see what his victims see. So, it's best to keep our special powers hidden until needed.”

"Well, I shall pray to the gods that I never find myself in need of such assistance from you." She says sarcastically before she stomps off.

Ruby watches Minerva stomp off. "What's her problem?"

Chester replies "She didn't like my methods of making Mr. Wills easier to handle. Guess she is right but it seemed like the easiest way.“

Kate said, "I can't say I liked it either, but I like it better than him waking up to tell people how the witch put him to sleep.

Chester and Jake carry him over to Valdez, Nanuet helping once they get downstairs, explaining the situation to him and leaving the man in his care.

* * *

When they return to the Lucky Lady they meet up again at their table. "Well, that was exciting," Ruby comments flatly. She explains to all of them what she saw when she detected magic on him, that it wasn't a spell but some other sort of magic.

Minerva tells the others that Pardre Valdez has an abundance of holy water that he is willing to provide them. "It would be best if we all carried some on our person. It will not kill the monster but the pain that it will inflict will definitely deter him. I will need help transporting it."

She turns to Ruby. "Are you feeling better? I know that you are scared. We are all scared, but running away only puts us in more danger. Next time I will ward you against his influence. I am carrying enough silver powder on me to perform the required ritual."

"I guess I'm feeling better." Although nothing has changed... Ruby finds herself a drink. "I was only going to go out the door. But it's better if you don't stay with me if Colin comes back and you chased me, you should have stayed in here."

"How are you so sure you can ward me from his influence? He's very very powerful."

Nanuet returns from the errand of dropping the body off with Valdez. He joins in the conversation with the others. "If she is speaking of the prayer which I am thinking of then she is right, she should be able to protect you from coming under his influence again, but the protection will only last for a few minutes. In my meditations I have also found a way to strengthen our wills against his influence. I don't think I can pray for everybody, but at least a few of us should the need arise again."

"A few minutes!" Ruby says, exhasperated, "What good is that going to do??" She looks at the surprised faces looking back at her. "A few minutes is better than nothing," she continues sheepishly, "Hopefully all we need." Ruby fiddles with the glass in her hand.

"I am heartened that our two priest companions are learning ways to give us an edge, a little time in an encounter. I hope that Turner was listening when I lied to Wills. We need every edge we can get, and having Turner not expecting us is one way. Having him not know it is us for as long as possible once we are there would be another."

Jake strokes his beard and continues, "Even if Valdez can't help Wills, Chester could just charge him and keep him in jail. If he is of no use to Turner, the monster may leave Wills alone. It might be useful to feed Turner some more wrong information before we leave, though I'm not sure what. Chet, make sure if he is in jail and under Turner's influence that the others don't say anthing about you leaving."

"Is there a mundane way to prevent someone from coming under his influence? None of us saw him do an incantation or anything, what did he do? All I did was stare him down."

"I guess it's a special power he has, a spell but not a spell. Creatures like him must be able to do it. I guess he can do it silently and without gestures. I know of no way to stop someone from doing something I don't even know he's doing. But I think it has something to do with his eyes. They're very mesmerizing."

"Mr. Wills was drunk when Mr. Turner met him,” Kate said. “I would guess that you resist Turner with the strength of your will. So if you are drunk, say, or perhaps feeling very tired he would have an easier time getting into your mind. I don't know of a mundane way to stop him from trying, but I'd recommend we keep ourselves sober and well rested, the better to resist."

"Well, isn't that boring," Ruby comments.

Chester then adds the story about Doc Eaton showing him where Gus is buried in Boot Hill and that the girl was already shipped home. "So I guess we know what to do next," Chester comments. "When are we going?"

"So, what do we need to go see this Gus guy? Just the wooden tent stakes? And are we going right now? It seems to be getting pretty dark outside," Ruby says straining to look out the window.

"I was hoping to have viewed him in the daylight. I'm not sure we want to wait until tomorrow. Chet, what do you think? Was the grave disturbed? I guess it would look that way anyway, they just planted him. Should we get some lanterns and assist you in your official investigation right away?"

Chester thinks for a moment then replies. "Well seeing that we are digging up a body I think we should do it when there is the least chance of others observing us. Night time seems the best time and since I am on shift now I say that we should go ahead and take a look at old Gus now."

Ruby shivers, "Alright, let's do it now and get it over with. I don't want to keep thinking about it anyway." She stands, "But I want to bring lots of special bullets, I"m going to get them now."

Chester says, “I got two shovels over at the office, meet you all there when you are ready."

"All right Chet, we'll follow you. Just give me five minutes to get my gear. Make sure you bring those stakes." Jake shudders involuntarily. "The rest of us will meet behind the saloon and head over."

Jake pulls on his duster and hat. He straps on his long barrel Colt that has five of the incendiary rounds in it. He was already wearing his favored Colt, and had put five rounds in it previously of Pierre's own making. He looks at his remaining weapons for a moment trying to decide. He finally chooses the Spencer and loades it with a mix of Pierre's magic rounds and the incendiary rounds. Lastly he replaces the ordinary round in his derringer with one of Pierre's as well. Hoisting his rifle over his shoulder he comments, "I am really looking forward to feeling stupid doing all this preparation for nothing."

"Yes, well, it's not every day you go to kill a dead guy," she says flatly.

Ruby gathers up her gun, a batch of magic ammo, plus a shotgun. She puts her olive leaf pendant around her neck and kisses it before walking downstairs with Jake.

Nanuet gathers his regular gear and heads downstairs.

Once everyone who is coming is gathered at the back of the saloon they head over to the jail to meet Chester.

Boot Hill

The group heads over to the jail to meet Chester who is waiting as he said with a pair of shovels. From there the group heads to the town cemetary. The small fenced in hill looks eerie in the moonlight, which lights the skeletal shapes of the trees casting gaunt shadows on the ground. A low mist covers the ground and swirls in the light breeze. An odd rythmic grumbling sound can be heard from somewhere inside the cemetary, adding to the spookiness of the scene.

As they walk through the mist Ruby is obviously nervous. "Good gods," she whispers, "This is creepy." She shudders and shivers and rubs her arms as they walk. It seems the air temperature drops the further in they get. The strange noises and atmosphere make for a very different Ruby than the group is used to.

Someone steps on a twig and she nearly jumps out of her skin as she gasps. Barely audible she mutters, "Are we almost there yet?"

"I certainly hope so," Kate said, slipping her arm around Ruby. "What is that
sound?"

Ruby nervously looks over her shoulder. "It might be better not to know." She stays as close to Kate as she can as they keep walking.

Chester replies, "It's just up ahead."

Minerva walks silently along trying to see through the gloom. She is grasping her Holy Olive Leaf amulet, that hangs about her neck, in one hand while tightly clutching her pistol with the special bullets in the other.

Chester leads them to the back of the graveyard. As they get closer to the back the strange rumbling sound gets louder. They round the corner to see down the last row of graves when they discover the source of the sound. A dirty, scruffy bearded man is asleep next to a mound of freshly turned earth. The wooden marker near the sleeping man's head reads "Gus Thomas unknown - 1882"

Nanuet who had been quiet up to this point says "Well we found the spot, but who's that?"

Jake approaches and nudges the sleeping man with his toe while pulling back the flap on the right side of his duster exposing his holster. He keeps his hands relaxed, not threatening and says, "Hey pardner, wake up. What in Hades are you doing sleeping in a graveyard?"

Ruby whispers in a desperate tone, "Wait Jake..." as he nudges the man but she is too late. "Be careful it might be the guy..."

Ruby then begins to wonder why she doesn't also have a stake in her hand.

The sleeping man mumbles a bit in his sleep before opening his bleary eyes. He startles and scrambles a few feet away trying to take cover behind the wooden marker nearby. "What am I doing sleeping in a graveyard? What are you doing in a graveyard with a whole posse, guns and shovels? I'm a bit down on my luck, came to pay my respects to old Fuzzy here and figured I could catch some winks before moving on tomorrow."

"Fuzzy?" Ruby questions, "What are you talking about?"

"Fuzzy Thomas" he says pointing to the freshly disturbed earth to the man's right. "Died a few days ago, took me a bit to get here but I wanted to pay my respects. He was a decent man, never did harm to nobody and a hard worker. We worked a few claims together, ol' Fuzzy and I" the man hesitats and mumble something under his breath before continuing. "Now why are you folks here with iron and shovels, did somebody take something to the grave with 'em that you wanted?"

Ruby ignores his question and blurts out, "What happened to him? Your friend I mean?"

The man starts getting to his feet slowly obviously indicating that he doesn't want to start any trouble. "Look Miss, I think I done told you enough about myself, how about I start getting some of my questions answered."

"We are helping the marshall here," Jake points to Chester with his thumb, "in an official investigation . We are no grave robbers, watch your tongue. What's your name and how did you hear that Gus Thomas was dead?"

"Don't mean no disrepect, just don't like being on the end of a gun if you know what I mean. Name's Frank Jones. Been working the mines around these parts for a while now. Heard a rumor that Gus came to the festival here, then heard a rumor that he didn't leave. Came with some other miners who had nothing but drink on their minds, didn't exactly keep together and watch out for one another. Realized he wasn't among them when they picked up and left town. Stragglers who caught up with them later said he was deceased. When I heard about it I figured I would come and see for myself."

"I'm very sorry for your loss, sir, You must be a devoted friend to make this journey to pay your respects."

Jake looks back at the others, some of which have guns in their hands. Jake adjusts the strap on the Spencer rifle sitting on his shoulder. He consciously keeps his right hand relaxed not to spook the man, but does not cover his holster with the loose flap of his duster. Jake shifts his position and moves away from the others to the left of the freshly turned grave. Feeling less threatened by Jones he glances about around them before adding to Katherine's sympathies, "It must make an old friend like you angry to know he was likely murdered."

Ruby stays silent, looking at the man suspiciously. She quietly and slowly sneaks up behind Chester and using her quick hands she pulls the wooden stake from inside his bag. She hides it behind her back and moves towards the grave.

As Jake looks around he sees the man's gear. The man has a pack which has a rifle and a pickaxe tied to the outside. A bedroll is on the ground next to the grave and an empty whiskey bottle lies on the ground next to the pack.

"Well, we were partners and he would have done the same for me. I kinda got a guilty conscience, didn't always do the right thing by old Fuzzy so I figured at least I had to pay my respects. Had no idea about the cause of death, figured natural causes."

"That's very nice of you," Ruby replies, still looking at the pile of dirt. "I hope when I'm in the grave my friends come and visit me too."

"Now that you're leaving, where are you off to?"

"Was figuring on heading to Tombstone, trying to find some work there and then move on from there. Not much for civilized life" he says with a chuckle "as you can tell by my choice of sleeping arrangements."

"Civilization isn't all it's cracked up to be, but a warm bed is one of the things it got right. I'd far rather do that than sleep in a graveyard," Kate added with a shiver.

Ruby looks up from the grave and then to the man. "Jake, baby, why don't you give Mr., uh, this nice man here some money so he can sleep indoors tonight?" She smiles at Jake adoringly, momentarily distracted, knowing he'd be reaching for his pocket in a second and probably add something for a meal too.

"Mighty kind of you folks, but I don't need your charity. If you're going to arrest me for vagrancy then I'll be moving on, otherwise I'm just fine where I am till daybreak. Who's gonna harm me in a graveyard? Everybody's dead!"

Ruby speaks up suddenly, "There are mad Cowboys about and it's not safe to stay out here in town like this. I'm pretty sure Marshal Martin here would suggest you leave for your own saftey. You never know when those pesky Cowboys will show up. Didn't you hear what happened during the festival?"

Chester speaks up, "I just might have to do that, sir. It isn't safe for you here. We're expecting trouble. There has been a lot of dirty dealing on Boot Hill recently. Smugglers and the like. We want to catch them in the act. So, I ask that you move along. I don't want any civilians caught in the crossfire. You can come back in the daytime."

"Ok then, like I said, I don't want any trouble. I'll just get my stuff and move along then. Know a place where I might find some affordable lodgings this time of night?"

Frank Jones begins gathering his gear, rolling up his bedroll and lashing it to his pack which he then slings over his shoulder. He kneels down and picks up the empty whiskey bottle and waits for a response to his query.

Minerva reponds, "I believe that the Comstock House would be more than willing to give you a spot Senor. You may tell Bea that Priestess Minvera sent you and she will be sure to take good care of you."

The bedraggled man awkwardly gimped his way out of the cemetary, the pack slung over one shoulder and headed into the town, not even looking back.

Gus Thomas' Remains

Once the man was well away Kate said, "Well, I guess that answers the question of whether or not he was sent to guard the grave. Let's get on with this, I don't think any of us are keen to stay here any longer than we have to."

Ruby steps slightly away from the grave. Keeping her hands behind her back she shivers and says, "I agree with Kate, let's get out of here as quick as we can."

Nanuet and Chester take the shovels and begin digging at the site of Mr. Thomas with Jake releaving them as necessary. They continue to dig until they can see the freshly buried casket.

"Well there it is. I don't feel great about this, maybe someone else wouldn't mind opening the coffin?" Nanuet says wiping sweat from his brow as he takes a step backwards.

Ruby's eyes widen as she looks into the hole curiously and nervously. "Maybe you should take the box out here before you open it," she says to no one in particular.

"I don't think we have the right equipment to do that. It'll be quicker down there anyway, we won't have to spend the time hauling it up and then getting it back down," Kate said and shivered. "Gentlemen?"

Ruby raised her eyebrows, "Yeah, who's going to go down there? Not me and not Jake," she says matter of factly.

"Disturbin' a man's eternal rest is no small thing, but I'll do it." Chester takes the shovel and pries off the lid of the coffin.

Ruby peers curiously down the hole as Chester hops in and pries the lid off. She keeps the stake gripped tightly in her hands, still hidden behind her back.

Chester pries the lid off the pine box and is greeted by the expected sight. A man wearing the practical clothes of a miner, hands folded across his chest. The mans face is decorated by a full beard, obviously the source of his nickname of "Fuzzy". His skin is lacking all color, eyes closed in eternal rest.

"How do we know if he... If he isn't going to stay peaceful?" Kate asked.

Nanuet who paces back and forth uncomfortably stops and looks for a moment at the now exposed and opened coffin. "Well if the stake through the heart is what we have to do to prevent him from coming back then I say we do it either way. He is already dead and we didn't disturb his rest so that we could shake hands. Did anyone bring the stakes that Chester made? I didn't think of it myself. If someone has them, give me one and I'll do it."

"Jake brought his," Ruby offers while keeping her hands behind her back.

Jake hands the stake down to Nanuet. "Be careful Indian."

Nanuet takes the pointed stick from Jake and then takes a deep breath. He pulls Chester out of the hole and then jumps down to take his spot. He takes a deep breath and raises the stake over his head with both hands.

"Forgive me Gus, but we have to be safe." he says and then begins to violently thrust the stake towards the deceased man's chest.

As he does the man in the coffin sits bolt upright and grabs Nanuet's wrist, twisting until he is disarmed. Everyone hears a sickening snap as the bone in his arm splinters. Nanuet howls in pain and tries to pull away from the overpowering grip. "Meirde! Someone shoot it!" he screams.

Gus Thomas, or what was Gus Thomas is now wrestling with Nanuet. His skin remains pale, but his eyes are now open and glow red with a feral look. His mouth, now sporting long fangs inches closer to Nanuet even as the Indian resists with all his strength.

"Minerva, the water!" Jake yells as he draws his Colt. He takes two handed aim for a moment before firing a single round enchanted with Pierre's magic weapon spell into the largest exposed section of the creatures body with the least risk to his indian friend.

Ruby inches closer to the edge of the hole with the coffin, trying to stay out of Jake's way. She sees him aim and waits for his shot to go off.

Trembling, she kneels next to the hole, carefully choosing a spot in in which she can reach Gus's chest. Her hands shaking she raises the stake above her head. She waits until the right moment when she can get around Nanuet and she begins to stab at the man's chest.

Instead of following through with the stab she drops the stake on the ground. Rising from the ground she fearfully backs away from the hole and the fight.

Nanuet manages to get the palm of his good arm under the vampire's chin and push the head up and away from him. Just then, Jake's aim couldn't be more true as his shot strikes the creature right in the head. Gus Thomas jerks backwards and Nanuet manages to free himself from the creatures grip and crawls his way out of the hole, still wimpering in pain and favoring his arm.

Kate jumped when the man sat bold upright in his grave. Shock froze her for only a moment before she began a magic missle spell, firing the two missles at the things head.

Minerva grabs the stake that Ruby dropped and turns to Chester. She speaks feverently. "Chester, Do you trust the gods? The have given me the power to grant you their divine protection. Be quick. Jump in the hole and stab him!" Minerva rapidly cast a protection spell.

Chester accepts the offered prayer. He wields the stake uneasily. Would the simple weapon really affect the undead creature?

As Nanuet crawls from the hole Jake holsters his fast draw pistol. He commands, "Stand away from the hole!" His left hand pulls the duster open and his right hand cross draws the long barrel Colt. Jake takes a half step back and says while pulling the trigger, "You'll thank me for this Gus," and fires an incendiary round at the creature's chest.

Ruby flinches at the repeated shooting and threats of stabbing of poor Gus. She screams as she continues to back away, "Kill him already!" Tears flow down her face and her knees start to buckle. She turns her back to the scene and falls to her knees in the mist, sobbing.

Kate kept her eyes on the burning body in the grave even as she knelt down next to Ruby and laid her hand on the shaking girl's shoulder. She was ready to cast the spell again, just in case it was needed.

Once again Jake's shot rings true. He strikes the creature in the middle of the chest and what was once Gus Tuner bursts into flames. The shot throws him back again and he writhes in pain on the ground as the magic bullet does it's work.

The body and the coffin continue to smoulder, the stench becoming sickening. Soon there is nothing left of Gus Thomas and the wooden coffin collapses inward upon itself.

Minerva hands Chester the stake just as Jake fires. She watches in horror as Gus Thomas goes up in flames, his face a grimace of pain as the flesh melts from his bones. His agonizing screams pierce her stoic exterior, and draw her to the open grave. As his cries die she falls to her knees and prays for his soul. "May the gods take away your pain and accept you into Olympus," she prays over and over while her tears fall quietly into the open grave. She is suddenly grabbed by an icy chill of terror and scrambles back from the grave as a cloud rises out of the hole and floats into the night sky.

"C'mon, Ruby," Kate said softly. "Let's move away. They don't need us to fill the hole back up."

Ruby wipes her eyes with the back of her hand then numbly lets Kate help her stand. They walk a little bit away from the scene but stay close enough so the others can still see them. Ruby continues to keep her back turned as she stares off blankly into the now dark night.

"Let's get this cleaned up,” Chester says. “Is Ruby going to be OK? This is not something any of us should have seen, but it had to be done." He and Nanuet grab a shovel and begin filling in the raw wound in the earth.

Chester and Nanuet notice when they start filling in the hole that there is literally nothing left of Gus Thomas. No charred remains, no bones, nothing.

"Where did he go? Does the fire from those bullets burn that hot?" Nanuet inquires aloud.

"I was hoping that Chet could have still drove a stake into him once he was down. I wonder if we have seen the last of old fuzzy face." Jake looks around the darkened Boot Hill. "Something does not feel right about the way there is nothing left. Turner became a puff of smoke or mist, so why not fuzzy?"

"I think maybe he did and just camoulaged himself with the smoke." Nanuet says weakly.

Minerva looks at her friends with wild eyes. "When a vampire is "killed" they turn into a gaseous cloud! I'm sure that's what I felt," she says seeking the warmth of Nanuet's arms. "But they must return to their coffin within a couple of hours to regenerate. If they are unable to return to the coffin, say if it were destroyed by fire like this one is, then the vampire will die permanantly. We have to be sure there is NOTHING left of this coffin!"

Nanuet holds her as best he can with his one arm, his other still unnaturally twisted. "Well, I am glad to see all your studying paid off. Maybe I will have to learn to read after all. Let's see what we can do to make sure there is no coffin left."

"Why don't you take care of that arm instead, indian, it looks pretty bad." Jake jumps down into the hole with a shiver.

Nanuet nods in agreement "Thanks Jake, I owe you one." He casts his own healing spells on himself until he is at least able to move the arm again. "Have to be careful with the arm still, not sure how well it healed. Don't want to test it just yet."

Ruby shivers at the thought the monster was still alive and even worse he would have a long protracted death from not being able to get back to his coffin. Better to have put it right out of it's misery. She continues to tremble. "Hurry up!" she calls frantically over her shoulder, "I want to get out of here!"

Kate moved around to Ruby's front and wrapped her arms around the taller woman, soflty rubbing her back like you might do for a child.

Ruby softly mutters, "Thanks Kate. Is it done?" Kate nods and the two women walk back to the Lucky Lady.

"Like I am taking my time because it is so enjoyable down here...." Jake hands up whatever pieces of wood remain in the hole to Chester. "Chet, make a pile and douse it with oil from a lantern."

When the last piece is out and on the pile Chester offers Jake a hand out of the grave. Chester shakes oil from the lantern on the pile and Jake stretches out his dagger and says, "Incendie." The little pile of wood begins to burn. Jake looks over at Nanuet's arm, shakes his head and picks up the shovel. With the next shovel full of dirt Jake remarks, "Chester, did I ever mention how much I hate working with a shovel?"

"I don't think you have, Jake. Bad memories?"

"Heh, yah," Jake replies, "No matter how hard I try memories of hard work haunt me."

Chester snorts. "We'll make an honest man of you yet. You've alredy put down roots."

The remaining bits of coffin burn in the lamp oil aided flames. By the time the hole is filled back in, all that remains is a few cinders as the dry pine burns well. It seems to the companions that their work here is done.

Minerva watches as the coffin shards smoulder and burn. She stares into the flames wondering how the gods could allow such evil to befall an inoccent man like Fuzzy. He must have been a good man to attract the loyalty of his fellow miners. She looks up to the dark heavens and vows I will Not allow such evil to walk this earth. I will avenge you, Fuzzy Thomas." She is lost in her dark thoughts until the fire has consumed the remains of the coffin, She kicks the embers to be sure that there is nothing left but ash and turns to the others with a fire in her eyes. "There is nothing left to do here. Let us go back and make a plan to rid the earth of the vile creature."

Nanuet could sense the fire burning from within Minerva. He too felt a need to take upon this creature known to them as Colin Turner but for a different reason. These creatures were an abomination of nature, the opposite of life. Especially now that he had seen what they could do to innocent men he too was ready to rid the world of this evil.

"Yes Minerva, I agree, our work here is done, let us plan for future battles against this monstrosity of evil."

Minerva wraps Nanuet's injured arm imobilizing it against further injury. She takes out her holy water and dumps it on the grave and over the burned ashes of the coffin for good measure. "Just in case" she says to Nanuet who is eyeing her in puzzlement. She puts her arm through his good arm and carries his things as they begin to walk back to town. "At least we now know that he can be destroyed."

"I hope so, Priestess. If not, we went through a lot of trouble for nothing." Chester looks at Nanuet. "How are you doing there, Nanuet? Ol' Gus got you good."

Nanuet thanks Minerva for the aid with his arm. As he walks with her he puzzles out loud "Do we know that he can be destroyed? I mean, I just hope all your information is correct. I wish we had someone who had dealt with something like this before."

Nanuet looks at Minerva and wonders if he hurt her feelings unintenionally.

"Don't get me wrong, your information has been invaluable, I just wish we knew someone with some experience."

“I am not offended, Mi Amore. I too wish that we knew someone with much experience so that my experience with this creature could stay confined to books. He is my worst nightmare come true. But since we do not have someone to turn to we will have to rely on our book knowledge and guidance from above," she sighs in despair.

Decisions

Once Ruby is back in the unsaftey of the Lucky Lady she heads right behind the bar for the biggest bottle of whiskey she can find. Not wanting to go to her room she retreats outside to the porch, where she pulls her feet up undernearth herself and starts drinking.

Kate watched Ruby grab her bottle and head outside. She hesitated a moment before she followed, sitting silently on the stairs for a few minutes. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked finally.

Ruby sighs, "What's there to talk about? You saw what happened." She takes another gulp from the bottle.

"I did. And it was ugly, and horrible." She stopped for a minute. "It smelled absolutely wretched. And I'm willing to bet you spent the entire time imagining the same thing happening to you."

Ruby shivers as Kate speaks, so she grabs her legs and hugs them tighter, careful not to spill any liquor. Then she takes a very long gulp before answering, "Yes."

She is quiet for a long time before speaking again. "We have to take care of this as soon as we can. We need a plan or he will come back for me, and soon, and he will take me and make me one of those."

"Part one of the plan," Kate said matter-of-factly, "Is you stop drinking so much of that. Your head needs to be clear. You need to be able to think, to plan, and to resist, and liquor doesn't help. Believe me, I know. I spent three months learning just how numb I could make myself."

Ruby narrows her eyes at Kate and takes another drink from the bottle, but it's notably a sip and not a gulp. "What's part two?" she asks flatly.

"What, I have to do all the thinking?" Kate smiled lightly. "My next step would be going back to Valdez and seeing if he has learned anything from Mr. Wills. Then we load up on anything that can protect us, hunt Turner down, and do to him what we just did to Gus Thomas."

Ruby takes another sip but then she returns Kate's smile. "I hope it's that simple." She takes a couple more sips, then hiccups. "See, it must be true."

The quick drinking of the alcohol is already lightening her mood and her body starts to relax and she sits in the cool night air.

"Well, there are a few more steps inbetween, but that's what it boils down to. We should go inside with the others. They're better planners than I am."

"You're right, we should. Why don't you go inside and make my vote for me please. I'd like to stay out here." She looks up at Kate, "Go ahead, I'll be fine."

"I'm not going inside without company. One or the other of you," she said, nodding at the bottle of whiskey.

"Why can't I be left alone for 2 seconds? I don't need a babysitter!" She looks at Kate's expression then sighs. "Fine." She takes a long gulp then hands Kate the bottle. "Go tell them your plan."

* * *

Nanuet watched as Ruby took the bottle from behind the bar and headed outside. He wanted to go after her but figured she might need to be alone. He was glad to see Kate head out after her and hoped that she could provide some comforting words.

"So, what if anything do you have to do here? I mean if we were to decide that we were leaving as soon as possible do you have anything you need to get done before we go?" Nanuet asks Minerva as he pulls a chair out for her.

"We should return to the mexican padre and gather as much holy water as we can transport and as many holy symbols as he is willing to give us. It would not hurt for everyone to wear a holy symbol. Perhaps the power of the gods in the symbols would guard them against this evil."

"Yes but a symbol presented by one who does not believe in it is worthless,” Nanuet says.

"True, but Senor Chester believes in the gods. He proved himself this evening. And Katherine and Ruby believe in the gods also. Although I do not know what protection Aphrodite would be," she wonders aloud.

"Yes, there are several of us who do, you speak the truth. Hopefully they will have some effect, but I am sure it can't hurt." Nanuet says.

"No, It can not hurt, but you are right. We should not rely on the gods to swoop down from Olympus and save us."

Chester walks up to the table where Nanuet and Minerva sit. "That means a lot, Minerva. Thanks. If a icon holy to the gods can scare Turner, I'd carry one. Mind if I join you?"

Nanuet says, "Have a seat."

Chester drops into the chair. "That was some messy business. If Thomas was just turned into that, how powerful can Turner be?"

"I don't know Chet. What I do know is he was unbelievably strong. Snapped my arm like a twig." Nanuet looks around and judges how loudly he can speak. Nanuet continues in a lower voice, "It seems like magic works on them though, not sure what else. If they can just turn into a cloud and get away though that is going to be tough to deal with."

"Si, I shudder to think how powerful he really is. I do not think that he will be so easy to dispose of. Do we have any more of those bullets that Senor Jake was using?"

Nanuet nods. "I know I have a bunch. We got a lot from Ringo and his boys."

Jake stands aloof from the two groups for a few minutes. He is watching Ruby and Katherine while listening in to the talk at the table. He had not spoken to Ruby on the way back. Instead he had just stayed close to her and watched for her safety.

He finally approaches the table, and without sitting says, "There is a late stage to Tombstone tomorrow night. I don't know the train schedule to New Mexico from there but I assume something leaves in the morning from Tombstone."

"Well Mr. Jake, I am ready, but you knew that." Nanuet says with a smirk on his face.

"And I still have my revolvers full of both kinds of ammuniton," Jake adds.

Minerva asks, “Do you have any that would fit the pistol or rifle that you gave me?"

"No, there were none of those fiery rounds that fit the caliber you are using," Jake smiles politely. "Otherwise I would have equipped you with some. We have them for a Colt Peacemaker or a Spencer carbine."

"That is unfortunate. We would have a better chance of success if we were all equipped with those rounds... But I suppose that I shall have to be thankful that the gods sent us Johnny Ringo. If we had not defeated him we would not now have the ammunition to defeat this abomination. The gods do work in mysterious ways do they not Senor Jake?"

"I cannot argue that, Senorita. However, it is probably lucky for us that we all are not carrying those rounds in every weapon. Otherwise my first shot would have killed Nanet when it struck the creature that was Thomas. They have quite a spread and I have to be careful."

"Well since I have no exprerience with them anyway. I will continue to trust you to use them wisely. Perhaps someday you could teach me how you shoot so well. I would like that, but for now I think we should decide on our plan and act,” Minerva says.

Nanuet looks to Minerva, "I thought you got a bunch when we split up the spoils of our war against Ringo? Maybe not the fire ones, but at least the magical ones."

“Si, I have those loaded now."

"I still have two full loads of explosive bullets for my Spencer. Plus a couple magical ones," Chester adds.

"Besides magical bullets what other weapons do we have against this creature?” Nanuet asks. “I can also cast the protection spell you used on Chester, so that should be helpful, protect us from falling under his influence, but again that is only temporary."

Jake keeps glancing out the door at Ruby and Katherine on the porch. "We were foolish and lucky out there. We need to work together better next time. I don't doubt anyone's bravery," Jake thinks, Well maybe just one at this time, "but we don't need to cut it that close in the future. He was a bit too close to the indian if you ask me. Seems like we shouldn't be wrestling them as well as avoiding looking them in the eye."

"Does anyone here know how to shoot a bow?” Minerva asks. “If we made stakes to fit a bow we would not have to get close to stab Colins in the heart. I wonder how big the stake needs to be to be effective?"

Nanuet answers, "No idea how big the stakes need to be, but arrows do not fly well with things attached. Definitely an idea with some merit though. Oh, and I am quite proficient with a bow."

Kate walked up to the table and put down the bottle she took from Ruby. "We are going after Mr. Tucker, are we not?"

"I am." Jake says flatly. "I'll welcome anyone crazy enough to come along, and understand if anyone chooses not to." He glances quickly around at them all before walking out to the porch.

Before Jake makes it out the porch he nods at Jake and says "You can count me in."

Chester nods. "He's a threat to all of us and the town as a whole. Count me in."

This is good reading. Thanks for doing this, orchid.