Wizards, Whiskey and Wonderful Things - Concluded

[Silver Moon]

This Story Hour is a new module continuing the campaign started in the “Revenge, Renewal and the Promise of a New Year” Story Hour, which can be found at the following link:
"Revenge, Renewal and the Promise of a New Year" (Boot Hill/D&D)


The story starts on Thursday, March 9th 1882, in the American southwest of an alternative earth, a historically based world that is also populated with D&D races, magic, spells and deities.

Primary Cast of Characters
Chester Martin - “The Ex-Soldier”, male human fighter/ranger (SteveJung)
Ginnie Flaherty - “The Kid”, female human rogue/wizard (Kriskrafts)
Jake Cook – “The Gambler”, male human rogue/fighter (Baradtgnome)
Katherine Kale - “The Lady”, female human expert/wizard (Orchid Blossom)
Ruby West - “The Singer”, female human bard/rogue (Queenie)

Secondary Cast of Characters
Nanuet – “The Indian”, male high elf ranger/cleric (Dire Wolf)
Sonoma – “The Senorita”, female wood elf druid/bard (Kriskrafts)



Prologue One: "Morgan Earp", Friday, January 27th, 1882:

Morgan Earp sat on the train, traveling northwest and away from to the town of Tombstone, Arizona. He had settled there with his four brothers, the oldest brother Virgil becoming the town’s Marshall. Brothers James and Wyatt co-owned the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone, which James managed and bartended at. That was where the trouble had started nearly four months ago.

There had been six of them playing poker in the early hours of October 3rd, 1881. The others at the table had been his brother James, the quick-tempered bartender Buckskin Frank Leslie, the gunslinger Johnny Ringo, a town lay about named Colby Tucker and a newcomer from Massachusetts by the name of Thomas Kale, who sat there with an annoying grin plastered on his face. At one point Kale stupidly insulted Ringo, but James calmed Johnny down.

At two in the morning James handed Morgan the keys and headed off to bed. By then Morgan had lost all of his money to Kale. Tucker left then too, telling Kale he’d see him back at the boarding house. Kale continued to play with Ringo and Leslie while Morgan sat at the bar emptying a bottle of whiskey. Morgan thought he saw Kale cheating but decided to keep that observation to himself. The game ran for another half-hour with Kale as the big winner for the night. Each man departed and Morgan locked up the saloon behind him. He then hurried after Kale, stopping him in the back alleyway. Grabbing Kale from behind and said, “You owe me my $ 120 dollars back. I saw you cheating.”

Kale denied it and accused Morgan of being drunk. Morgan answered, “You’re the one who’s drunk. What do you think Leslie or Ringo will do if I tell them you were cheating?” Kale made some comment about how he doesn’t cheat and wouldn’t stoop to being blackmailed. He then turned his back on Earp and began to walk away. Kale was right about one thing, Morgan was drunk, and as a result he was not thinking straight. He was immediately overwhelmed with anger at this cheating upstart Yankee and before he even realized what he was doing he had drawn his knife and plunged it into Kale’s back.

Kale fell to the ground and died on the spot. Morgan just stood there in shock for an unknown period of time. He then heard someone approaching. He turned and fled, rounding the corner and then hearing Colby Tucker’s voice exclaim “Tom!” Morgan went to the home of his brother Virgil and told him what happened. James Earp arrived shortly thereafter, looking for the Marshall. Virgil told Morgan, “You stay here I’ll take care of it.” Virgil was good to his word. Thomas Kale was taken to the undertaker who was a friend of the Earps' and Morgan’s knife was quietly disposed of.

Kale had been sickly when he first arrived in town and only recently had he telegrammed Boston for his wife to join him. Virgil convinced Tucker that it would be easier on her to think that Tom died of a relapse of his illness, that story also told to the local newspapers. When Katherine Kale got off the train Tucker broke the news to her of her husband’s death. A funeral service was held at the town’s Boot Hill.

Morgan expected Mrs. Kale would board a train back to Boston, but she instead moved into her husband’s boarding house. Whenever Morgan saw Mrs. Kale his guilty conscience would tug at him. By mid-December he couldn’t take it anymore, so when his brother Wyatt was offered at job as Marshall in the nearby mining town of Promise City Morgan decided to accompany him as Deputy Marshall.

Two weeks after that Mrs. Kale arrived in Promise City, getting a job as the pianist at a local saloon. A week later fate put her and Morgan together on a stagecoach that was attacked by outlaws known as the Cowboy Gang. Morgan was mortally wounded and would have perished if not for Katherine Kale’s valiant efforts to save him. This caused his already guilty conscience to really bother him so when Morgan was given an opportunity to return to Tombstone he took it.

A week later Mrs. Kale made a return trip to Tombstone. She claimed to have come to purchase a stone for her husband’s grave but her real reason was to follow up on rumors concerning her husband’s death. She spoke to both Johnny Ringo and Colby Tucker and Tucker then went into hiding. Whatever she may have discovered was just hearsay but Tucker was another matter altogether. He might have seen Morgan fleeing from the crime scene or recognized the knife in Kale’s body. She may have convinced Tucker to talk to a judge, which could bring harm not only Morgan but the reputations of the entire Earp clan.

Mrs. Kale headed back to Promise City but said that she planned to return when her husband’s tombstone was ready. Virgil had the newspapers circulate a story accusing Tucker of being a member of the Cowboy Gang and wanted for participation in a recent stagecoach robbery. That kept him in hiding and would also discredit any testimony he might give in the future. Virgil said that if necessary they would accuse Tucker of Kale’s murder and make the charges stick.

Morgan’s conscience now badgered him even more. Virgil and James were concerned about their brother’s mental state and convinced him to head back to California for an extended visit with their mother. As the train pulled away from the station Morgan said to no one in particular, “I’ll be back, maybe in another month or two. This has to end.”

[Silver Moon]

Prelude Two" "The Half Breed", January 31st, 1882

The room was cramped and old. The wood creaked and cracked when walked on. Luc had rented the room above the rowdy saloon two months ago. He had been working as the bouncer/janitor. The saloon owner was a fat jovial dwarf named Henry Shankstone. He was the kind of dwarf who didn't care where you came from,who you were or what you were. He only cared that you were in the saloon to have a good time. Even if you were a man with a past.

The bar maid Emma had been sneaking looks at Luc since he had arrived. While working he had kept his guns and weapons in his room. Last thing a man on the run wanted was to be challenged by a drunk to a gunfight. Nothing really bad had happened the past two months. Some old prospector had gotten fresh with Emma and Luc had to throw him out. Luc wouldn't have minded staying here. But as was his life, he could never stay in one place for long. It would only be a matter of time until someone found him.

So it was on the last day of January he stood in front of the mirror in his room shaving. A basin of hot water set on the dresser in front of him and his gun belt ten feet away hanging on the bed post. He heard the creak before he looked in the mirror to see the man standing in the doorway with gun in hand. " Games up half breed," the man said," time to pay yer dues."

Luc sighed heavily and placed the razor on the dresser where the man could see it. He was a young man hardened by a life of doing the right things the wrong way. Luc judged him to be no more than twenty five years old. " I'm going to give you one chance to put your gun away, turn around and walk out of this saloon, and forget you ever heard of or saw me."

" Forget it ya yella bellied traitor," the man scoffed," yer worth too much to let go. Besides what are ya gonna do shoot me wit yer finger. Yer guns are over yonder and you ain't that fast. So put yer shirt on and let's go." The man monitoned the gun belt which was occupied by Luc's
gun.

A shot rang out in the room. The smoke hovered like a dark cloud that follows a fella and brings him bad luck. The barrel of a gun stuck it's head out from under Luc's right arm. The man brought his left hand up to his chest and came away with fresh blood. He looked at Luc and began brining his own gun up when Luc unleashed two more shots catching the other man in the heart and neck. The man fell backwards with a crash that seemed as if it would bring the entire saloon down with him.

Luc walked over and put his shirt on. He strapped on his gun belt, strapped a sawed off double barrel to his back, grabbed his saddlebags from the floor, and replaced his silver Colt in the right side of his two gun holster. The other side held an identical gun, only with a black finish. He put his hat on and walked out of the room stepping over the body of the bounty hunter. The smell of gunpowder hung heavily in the air even when he walked down stairs. Henry stood behind the bar on a booster stool cleaning a glass.

" Henry.... I'm," Luc began before Henry waved him to be silent.

" No need son," Henry said putting the glass down," I could smell the gunpowder on ya when ye came in here. It was nice having ye son. When you clear up whatever mess yer in I want you to come back. Maybe make ya a partner. Yer too smart to be sweeping floors and tossing out drunks. Now come here and say goodbye."

Luc crossed the twenty feet that seperated him and the bar. He stuck his hand out and henry grapsed it firmly. When Luc pulled his hand away he had fifty dollars in it. " Henry I can't." Luc protested.

" Sure you can," Henry half smiled," you need it more'n I do. And if you even think of leaving it I'll put a load of buckshot in yer ass as a goodbye. Now go. The sheriff'll be here any minute."

" Thank you Henry," Luc said as he backed away to leave," I'll pay you back one day."

Henry nodded and smiled in response," Get the Hell outta here a fore I turn you in maself."

With that Luc ran out of the saloon and to the stable. He gave the stable hand five dollars and jumped on his horse and rode out of town as if he was being chased by demons. Which in a way he was. He would never be able to stop running, and they would never stop chasing. He had named his horse Wanderer. It was an irony he smiled at every time he though about it. He almost settled on Outlaw, but thought that was just too blatant. So he rode on. Hoping the next town he came to would be his oasis, his paradise, maybe even his home.

[Piratecat]

KidCthulhu has just started running a western game, too. I'm enjoying this!

[Silver Moon]

Glad you're enjoying it PC. Lots more to come. I hope you're reading my two other western Story Hours as well!

Prologue Three: "The French Wizard", February 12th, 1882:

Over two years earlier Ferdinand de Lesseps had first proposed the construction of a fifty-mile wide sea level canal through the Central American land of Panama. He was the same French engineer who had success constructed the Suez Canal in Egypt just ten years before that. Lesseps was confident he would complete the canal which would allow for quick passage from east to west, the original goal of Christopher Columbus. He organized investors for the project, creating the French holding company named Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique. But political instability in France had deterred investment in new ventures and by late 1881 he only had managed to collect 8% of the 400 million francs that he estimated the project would cost.

But not to be deterred, he used what he had collected and purchased tons of modern equipment, including steam shovels, locomotive and dredges. He had transported to the site this digging equipment along with 2,000 workers. So on Friday, January 20, 1882, the digging for the canal commenced. Their plan was to cut a broad path through the jungle. In the months and years ahead tens of thousands of working class Frenchmen would have to contend with swamps, pumas, jaguars, ticks, fleas, spiders, chiggers, and several species of poisonous snakes. At the end of 1883 the work force will have grown to 13,000, many of whom would perish from disease in this hostile land. By the time in 1894 when the French company eventually goes bankrupt and the project abandoned it will have cost its investors $ 287 million dollars as well as over 20,000 lives.

One man who would not lose his life on the project was the grand arch mage Marc Andre Guillieaut. He had been hired to assist with the project but within hours of his arrival on January 20th in the humid, bug infested land he realized that he had made a terrible mistake. Not only was the land inhospitable but there was an absence of magical lay lines in the earth. This location just wouldn't do for him to spend the next decade of his life.

He confronted Lesseps, who adamantly refused to provide Guillieaut with transportation back to France. One spell that the arch mage had never been able to successfully master was that of teleport, effectively staranding the man. So he arranged transportation for himself onto a ship that was leaving Panama and traveling north to American, unsure of exactly where this new path of his life would take him. The jouney north took several weeks, with him stopping and exploring various places along the way.

He eventually found himself this day arriving at the port of New Orleans, Louisiana. He felt immediately at home in the French Quarter of the city. Not only were the magical lay lines present here but he was told that this was one of the few places in the United States where magic use was not outlawed. Mages still needed to be discreat, but they did not have to fear being burned as witches or jailed for use of a simple spell. So he decided to make this city his new home. Little did he know that a mere five weeks later fate would have other ideas.

[Silver Moon]

Prologue Four, "Grasshopper", February 25th, 1882:

Kwai Chang Caine was the half-orc son of a Chinese orc woman and an American human sailor. As an orphan, he grew up in a Shaolin temple in the Honan Province of China, taught and trained by Master Po and Master Kan. Then in 1874 a relative of the Emperor killed Po and Caine in turn killed him. Caine fled to America where he then attempted to find his half-brother, Danny, while trying to escape American and Chinese bounty hunters.

During the next seven years of his life he traveled the American west, with adventures in California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. During these journeys he assisted those in need while continuing his search and sharing his philosophy on life. A quiet man, Caine was also capable of great violence, being a master of the martial arts form known as Kung Fu.

Caine’s travels have now brought to a location in the Arizona Territory, two days ride northwest of Phoenix. This land was the traditional home of the Yavapai Indians, a tribe of around a thousand who are known as the Sun People, the name Enyaeva for "sun" and Pai for "people" combined into the tribe’s name. In 1875 the United States army had moved most of the tribe to a reservation near San Carlos, some 180 miles away, but a few Yavapai had escaped the forced march and remained in the area, including a proud warrior named Chopido. Chopido and Caine recognized each other as kindred spirits and had befriended one another.

Two days ago Caine and Chopido were traveling through the town of Gillett, along the Agua Fria River. Gillett had a reputation for its share of lawbreaking. It seems that the town's blacksmith had a side job of robbing the Wells Fargo stagecoach outside of town. He was caught when he used his proceeds of his most recent robbery in a poker game. When asked to name his two accomplices in the robbery he pointed outside to the half-orc and his Indian companion who had the misfortune of just being in the neighborhood.

When the law came to arrest them Caine attempted to explain that they had never met the blacksmith before and knew nothing about a robbery. The Sheriff did not believe them and attempted an arrest but Caine countered with his martial arts skills and left the Sheriff lying incapacitated on the ground. The two had been running since then although Caine was no stranger at running away from trouble.

They had considered heading toward the reservation near San Carlos for provisions but changed their mind once they learned that a posse had been dispatched towards there looking for them. At the town of Iron Springs they managed to barter some belongings for two mostly wild mustangs, realizing that they could get much further on horseback than on foot.

Caine asked for suggestions from his companion as to where to go next. Chopido suggested that they head southeast but not to the reservation in Graham County but beyond it to Cochice County, some 300 miles away. He said that a Yavapai cousin of his named Nanuet had recently headed there on a quest and that this cousin might be of assistance to them.

[Silver Moon]

Final Prologue, “The Mysterious Island”, Wednesday, March 6th, 1882:

The vessel was named the S.S. Jesmond, a British merchant ship of 1495 tons bound for New Orleans with a cargo of dried fruits from its last port of call in Messina, Sicily. David Robson, holder of master’s certificate 27911 in the Queen’s Merchant Marine, captained the Jesmond.

The Jesmond had passed through the straights of Gibraltar on the 1st of March and sailed into the open sea. When the ship reached the position 31° 25' N, 28° 40' W, about 200 miles west of Madeira and about the same distance south of the Azores, it was noted that the ocean had become unusually muddy and that the vessel was passing through enormous shoals of dead fish, as if some sudden disease or underwater explosion had killed them by the millions. Just before the encountering the fish banks, Captain Robson noticed smoke on the horizon, which he presumed came from another ship.

On the following day the fish shoals were even thicker and the smoke on the horizon seemed to be coming from the mountains on an island directly to the west, where, according to the charts, there was no land for thousands of miles. As the Jesmond approached the vicinity of the island, Captain Robson threw out an anchor at about twelve miles offshore to find out whether or not this uncharted island was surrounded by reefs. Even though the charts indicated an area depth of several thousand fathoms, the anchor hit bottom at only seven fathoms.

When Robson went ashore with a landing party they found themselves to be on a large island with no vegetation, no trees, no sandy beaches, bare of all life as if it had just risen from the ocean. The shore they landed on was covered with volcanic debris. As there were no trees, the party could clearly see a plateau beginning several miles away and smoking mountains beyond that. The landing party rather gingerly headed toward the interior in direction of the mountains, but found that progress was interrupted by a series of deep chasms. To get to the interior would have taken days. They returned to their landing point and examined a broken cliff, part of which seemed to have been split into a mass of loose gravel as if it had recently been subjected to great force.

One of the sailors found an unusual arrowhead in the broken rock, a discovery that led the captain to send for picks and shovels form the ship so that the crew could dig into the gravel. He and his crew soon uncovered crumbling remains of massive walls. They continued to dig near the walls for better part of two days, finding bronze swords, rings, mallets, carvings of head figures of birds and animals, and two vases or jars with fragments of bone, and one cranium. But their greatest find was what appeared to be a mummy enclosed in a stone case, encrusted with volcanic deposit so as to be scarcely distinguished form the rock itself. The spend much of this day getting the rock sarcophagus aboard the Jesmond as dark clouds began to roll in off of the horizon. Robson now worried about uncertain weather, decided to abandon further exploration of the island and to resume his course.

[Silver Moon]

Chapter One, “Preparations and Pranks”, Thursday, March 9th, 1882, 3:30 P.M.

The owners and employees of a particular saloon in Promise City, Arizona situated at the northeast corner of Main and Allen Streets wait in anticipation of the Wells Fargo Stagecoach, scheduled to arrive in approximately two hours. Coming in on today's stage is the talkative Australian halfling by the name of Hezekiah B. Chumbley, a reporter for the Tombstone Epitaph. Normally his arrival would not be so welcomed, but today he is bringing with him the Promise City Edition of his newspaper that features a full-page advertisement placed by Jake Cook announcing the grand reopening of the saloon.

"Oh I can't wait to see the paper today," Ruby says excitedly. She turns to Kate who is sitting calmly in the Lone Star. "Once it gets here we can check it out, then go pick up our new dresses for tonight. I always like getting new dresses. Did you get one for Ginnie too? A new dress that is?"

Kate smiled at Ruby and picked out a few stitches in the quilt block she was sewing. Ginnie had been surprised when Kate asked to be taught, but seemed to relish being the teacher as much as being a student. "I had to argue with her about it," Kate laughed, "but I won in the end. She hasn't quite grasped yet the fun of a new dress. I on the other hand.... I'm excited for you about the saloon, but I've always appreciated a reason to buy a new dress." Ruby then turns to Jake, who is also sitting calmly. "Do we have anything else we need to do? Oh and aren't you excited to see your new room?"

"You two just need to worry about your dresses. That is until you get them." Jake chuckles. "I hope it will be busy." He twirls his hat across the back of his hand. "I'm just biding my time until you show me this fine new room of ours, of course I'm looking forward to anything which improves my standard of living. I am, after all, a creature of comfort." He says with a genuine smile. "It's still a while for the stage, why don't you two get your dresses now, and we can have Maria feed us early here. I'm sure half pint will bring the papers here first. Besides the fact we are the biggest advertiser this time, I think he rather likes being around you two." He chuckles again.

"And who wouldn't?" Ruby says flipping her hair. "Ok, Jake you ask Maria to get dinner ready and Kate and I will go get our new dresses." Jake replies, "While you're out I'll check with Jeff that all the touch up painting looks good."

Ruby takes Kate's hand as she hurriedly tries to put away her quilting. Ruby drags her out and they head out to get their dresses. "You know Kate, I haven't been this excited in a while. I'm sure it'll be a fun time. And thank you for being excited about the Saloon, I do appreciate it." They reach Kelly's Dry Goods and head inside. They both pick up their new dresses, and Kate picks one up for Ginnie too. “Alright Kate, go get you and Ginnie ready and meet me back at the Lone Star for dinner, ok?” She gives her friend a hug and hurries back to the saloon.

Jake has Maria prepare supper for them early. He also does a walk around with Jeff Mills. "Once again Jeff, you've done outstanding work. Like we planned don't put up the new indoor sign until the after dinner and keep the canvas over the main sign outdoors until we come out and see all the touch up." Jeff nods happily and Jake gives him a hearty pat on the back. Nanuet arrives early and wanders in to find Jake relaxing with a whiskey. "Hello Mister Jake, the place looks good." "It does indeed Indian." Jake gets up and shakes his hand. "I am pleased you could join us Nanuet." He offers him a drink and they chat quietly waiting for the others to join them for dinner.

Ruby takes her time getting ready. She brushes her hair then puts it all up, leaving tendrils hanging all around. She puts on her makeup and chooses a simple black velvet ribbon for her neck. She puts on her undergarments, then pick up her dress. She smiles when she does. The dress is a ruby color, with darker garnet accents on the front. It’s tight, like all Ruby’s dresses are. It has a square neckline, with sleeves that sit on her shoulders but have strings of beads that hang off the shoulder. The skirt just hits the top of her shoes in the front but is longer and drags slightly in the back. She finishes by putting on some of the perfume that Jake gave her. Ruby looks herself over in the mirror and satisfied with what she sees she heads downstairs.

"Simply beautiful, Miss West." Jake greets her with a whistle, gives her a quick spin and then a hug. Jake, Nanuet and Ruby are waiting for the Chester and Katherine to meet them for dinner at the Lone Star.

When Ruby sees Chester come in she bounces up and rushes over to greet him. “Hi Chet! So glad you could make dinner tonight.” Ruby takes Chester by the arm and starts leading him to the table. "Thanks Ruby. It's always a pleasure." “Have you had a chance to ask Clarisse out yet? I know you’ve been admiring her.” Ruby gives a little giggle. He replies, "I haven't yet. I don't want to bother her while she's singing. Do you think she's too young for me?" Ruby looks over to Chester. "You're a good guy. She is a bit young but she's not too young. I'm sure you'll be considerate of her youth," Ruby winks.

They reach the table, where Jake is already sitting with Nanuet. Chester pulls out Ruby’s chair for him and she sits. “Aren’t you such the gentleman,” Ruby says while throwing Jake a glance. “Some men know how to treat a lady….” She leans in close to Jake but says loudly, “Right darling?” and she gives him a kiss.

When Katherine arrives wearing a dark purple dress with a low, square neckline, the color reminiscent of a rich amethyst. With her is Ginnie, her hair tied simply and neatly, her mint green dress touched off with darker green ribbon. Jake gives Ruby a raised eyebrow and gets up to take Katherine by the elbow. "Good evening Mrs. Kale, my don't you look lovely tonight. Let me get your chair for you." Jake pulls out her chair and helps her into it, every bit the gentleman. He makes a motion towards Ginnie's chair but the girl doesn't wait, Jake just smiles and says nothing about it.

As Jake seated her Kate whispered, "And what was the eyebrow about Mr. Cook? I'd almost think you didn't approve." Jake whispers back quickly before he pulls away. "Sharp eyes Mrs. Kale, apparently I've a break in my poker face. You DO look lovely, and Silver Jake Cook was never one to complain that a dress should cover more of a woman." A flush crawled up Kate's neck and she became acutely aware of the pendant hanging against her skin, more of which was showing than she was used to. Ruby clears her voice loudly while giving Jake a disapproving glance then turns to Chester. Chester unsuccessfully hides a grin. "Ruby, I don't think you have anything to fear from Katherine." “Hum, I suppose you are right Chester.” Ruby has a devilish little grin on her face. “I know he can’t resist me.” She cocks her head and looks right at him, “Right Mr. Cook?” "The word irresistible just seems so inadequate Miss West." He take her hand and kisses it in formal European fashion. Ruby smiles at Jake’s answer. He always knew what to say.

Chester tips his hat to Kate and Ginnie. "Good evening ladies. Katherine, you look lovely as always." Jake hands Katherine a folded piece of paper. "Can you please give that to Dorita when you get back to the El Parador tonight?" "Of course, Jake," she said and tucked the note into her handbag. Kate tucked her chair in a little further and raised her voice. "Thank you. Nanuet, Chester, good evening. We should probably enjoy this quiet time, it won't be this way for long.” He replies, "I agree. I almost miss the excitement."

Kate comments, “No paper yet, Ruby? Don’t worry, "Chumbley'll be along. He's probably just stopped to sell a few papers on the way." Ruby comments to Chet, "I do wonder where Chumbley is with the paper. Chester, do you have the time? I think he's late." "Sure. Let me see." Chester reaches for his pocket watch. Not finding it, he searches his pockets quickly. "That's odd. I though I had it earlier today. Has anyone seen it? Maybe it dropped on the floor." Chester pushes his chair back and begins looking around for the missing watch.

Before Kate pulled her hand out of her purse she noticed something hard and metallic inside that she couldn't remember putting in it. While she looked at the others, Kate probed in her handbag with her fingers. It was cold metal and disk shaped, and there seemed to be a chain attached. She opens the bag and peers down surreptitiously and sees a pocket watch in her bag. "Ah, Chester?" Kate slowly pulled the watch from her purse, but her gaze fell on Jake. "I think I found it."

Jake holds Katherine’s gaze with a smile. "How fortunate. What time is it?" Jake holds Katherine’s gaze with a smile. "How fortunate. What time is it?" She dropped her voice and said, "Next time, leave me out." Chester says, "Er. Thank you Katherine. I guess you didn't use your special powers. Right, Mr. Cook?" He replies, "No, no special powers were needed."

Nanuet watches the exchange between the other four with mild amusement. When he believes no one is looking he casually checks all of his belongings to make sure they are where they belong.


Flashback to a week earlier, Lazing about their room, Jake takes a sip of whiskey and is looking at Ruby. “Did I ever tell you about Big Abby?" Ruby shakes her head no. "She ran a boarding house in Chicago. She also had a bunch of girls working for her, some soliciting, some scam artists, some both." "I'm not sure I want to know you lived in a house of ill repute." Ruby comments dryly.

Jake ignores her and continues. "One of their scams was to have one of the girls lift something from one person, pass it to a second girl who would plant it on a different person. They had a number of interesting uses for that little number, none of which made the receiver of the item very happy. If we ever wanted to pull that scam all we would have to do is learn how to pass stuff between us unseen. I know a few ways, I’ll bet you do to. Interested in sharing and practicing?”

Ruby thinks it over for a moment. “Could come in handy, sure let’s practice that. My skills have been getting rusty lately; I haven’t needed to use them. So first let’s work on that. Give me your wallet.” Jake gives her a funny face. Ruby sticks out her hand. “You know I can just take it, so why don’t you give it to me?” Jake hands her his wallet. “I’m going to hide it and you work on getting it without me knowing.”

Ruby hides it in a not impossible place. Jake steps towards her and stumbles into her. "Too obvious and you missed, try again." He nods. He turns away before walking past her gently brushing up against her. "Not bad but I felt you take it that time." "No you didn't." He replies. "Yes I felt you take it." she says hands on her hips. "No you felt me put it back." he says waving some cash in his hand. "I guess I'm out of practice." Ruby takes out the wallet and it is empty. “Alright, I’m impressed, but only slightly,” she says kidding.

They keep working on getting their skills up to par, giving each other tips as they go. They work on this for a few days until they are both confident in their skills and knowing how the other one works. Ruby finally tells Jake it’s time to try it for real. They decide to use their friends as victims, just in case of the unlikely event they get caught. "Do you think they'll mind?" Asks Jake?

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Two “Surprises”, Thursday, March 9th, 1882, 5:30 P.M.

Nanuet asks Ruby, "So, besides for keeping you all company is there anything you need me to do tonight to make this evening a success?' “Yes, actually, loosen up a bit and relax tonight,” Ruby replies with a smile. “Especially you, Nanuet. You have been working hard helping get the third floor done and you never seem to reward yourself. So as your boss I am ordering you to have a good time!” Jake comments, "Thanks for hanging around Nanuet. It is just good to know you are here if something were to go wrong if nothing else."

They all continue to sit around making small talk. Ruby is fidgety, waiting for dinner, waiting for the paper, just waiting. Finally she blurts out, “Come on Jake, I don’t want to wait anymore, let’s go see our new room.” She practically jumps up from the table and starts dragging Jake. She looks back at the others over her shoulder, “We’ll be back in just a bit!” In a voice just loud enough for Ruby and Jake to hear, Chester says to the others, "Sure, just a bit. They're going to miss dinner." Then he gives the pair an innocent look.

Chester asks, "So Nanuet, what are you going to do, now that the third floor is finished?" He replies, "Well there is always the ranch for me to tend to, and I am sure I can keep myself busy around here." He says waving his hand in a sweeping gesture around the room. "The last several weeks have been nice, the excitement had been getting a little too much around here. "

Ruby leads Jake up to the third floor. She makes him close his eyes and he hears her open the door. She takes his hand and guides him inside. Ruby whispers to Jake he can open his eyes and he sees her looking giddily excited. “You let me know if you think you can be happy here…”

The room is L-shaped, extending across the front of the building on Main Street and coming around the corner onto Allen. Jake is standing in the doorway, which is on the left side of the room. The whole room is painted a deep red color. On the wall to the left is a coat rack and hanging there is Jake’s leather duster and Ruby’s traveling jackets and cloaks.

To the right of the door, flat against the wall, is a big gun cabinet, stocked with their rifles, shotguns and ammunition for all. There are various dressers taken from the other rooms of the saloon all around their room. There is a small table with two wide velvet chairs in the corner. On the table is a couple of glasses, some fine whiskey and, of course, Kentucky bourbon.

On the far side of the room there is a huge closet with all their clothes hanging inside and their shoes and boots are lined up neatly. Next to that is a large floor length mirror. On the dresser near the mirror is a basin and new scissors and blade for Jake to shave with and a vanity table with Ruby’s makeup and perfume.

But Jake’s eye is immediately drawn to the huge four-poster canopy bed in the center of the room. It has sheer white curtains all around that are currently pulled back to each bedpost. It is covered with a huge fluffy white bedspread and piled high with soft pillows. Jake then notices all the windows have the same matching sheer curtains and they are blowing from the windows being open. He notes there are also shades to pull down for privacy. There is a nightstand on both sides of the bed with a lantern on each side.

On the other side of the gun cabinet is a doorway to the other section of the room. In this smaller room there is a larger table with 4 chairs around it. There is a big chair next to the window for reading and a couch next to that. There is a desk and some cabinets for papers. There is also a safe that Jake locates under the desk. It is a two-foot square Diebold safe. He also notes there is another door out of this room.

When he walks back out to the big part of the room Ruby is sitting on the bed. “I had my eye on this bed the minute I saw it,” she laughs, running her hand across the bedspread. “Oh one more thing,” she says with a smile. She does some quick hand gestures and speaks a few words Jake doesn’t understand and when she is done she slowly waves her hand around the room lighting candles that Jake hadn’t noticed before. They cover all the dressers and bathe the room in soft light. “So what do you think? As far as I can tell there is only one problem,” the smile gets a little wider on her face. As she wiggles her hips on the bed a few times, “The bed squeaks!”

"The bed squeaks, huh." Jake laughs, an easy and free laughter. He takes off his hat and looks around the room one more time. "You have thought of everything. It is truly perfect." He fingers the white curtains on the bed, runs his hand over the velvet of the chair and then picks ups the bourbon and places it back down. "Once again Ruby, you have outdone yourself. I like what I see." He pushes down on the soft comforter enough to make the bed squeak. "Heh, we'll need to fix that."

He puts his hat back on and offers her a hand. "Save those candles for later, I don't want Chester getting too smug, we should to back downstairs. You are spoiling me rotten, Ruby darling." As he pulls her up off the bed it squeaks again and Ruby giggles. "Heh." He puts his arm around her waist and guides her to the door. "Now I feel bad that I don't have a surprise for you." They go back and rejoin the others for dinner.

At 7:15 PM the Wells Fargo Stagecoach pulls up to the front door of the Lone Star, more than an hour behind their usual schedule. Chumbley comes bouncing off of the stage and Chuck Nevers hands down two bound bundles of newspapers to Jeff Mills who helps Chumbley carry them into the Saloon. The bundles are stacked by the piano and the newspaperman cuts the twice on the top bundle. Complimentary copies of the 12-page paper are handed to the owners and employees of the saloon.

The front page features a single front page under the headline “Escaped Prisoners Seen in Wyoming”, which is a follow-up to a story in the prior edition about the New Douglas Gang. This story carries the bylines of both Hezekiah B. Chumbley of the Tombstone Epitaph and W. A. Eaton of the Cheyenne Transporter

The article includes interviews with three Cheyenne merchants, a saloonkeeper, a stable master and a general store owner all describing the mannerisms and visual descriptions of recent guests with comparisons to descriptions provided by Chumbley. The reporters have tentatively concluded that the New Douglas Gang is comprised of Arthur Deadeye Douglas, Mongo Bailey, Pinto Joe Weams, Shotgun Sally Fox, Pamela Yeats, a woman suspected of being the safecracker and former Douglas Gang member Mae Clarke and an unknown elvan Indian whose saddle blanket was of a Navajo design. The remainder of the article gives histories of the former Douglas Gang, the January 13th Promise City bank robbery and the January 24th jailbreak.

The interior pages include a full-page advertisement for Upton’s Counting House & Brokerage; Half-page advertisements for Lacey’s General Store, the Long Branch Saloon, Kelly’s Dry Good & Tailor, Pierre’s Gunshop & Hardware, and the Bar H Stables; Quarter-page advertisements for Bauer’s Union Market, the Alhambra Saloon, the First National Bank of Promise City, Fly’s Boarding House & Photo Studio, Slade’s Hardware, Cook’s General Store, Drover’s Hotel, and Rixton’s Furniture; and One-eighth page advertisements for the Comique Variety Hall and Saloon, Boyd’s Cigar Store, Mason’s Feed & Grain Store, and Berman’s Mercantile.

The remaining four pages of content include stories about a shallow grave found in the Dragoon Mountains with four unidentified human male bodies; the Merchant’s Association collecting funds for a town fire wagon; the Promise City Vigilance Committee’s call for a school and a church to be constructed; a profile on Elihu Upton the town’s newest lawyer; a recent altercation at the Long Branch Saloon where gambler Paget Flashman was accused of cheating and barred from returning; and a robbery in the Cochise County town of Bisbee where Mexican bandits Diego Perez and Pepe de Gallego robbed Hawkin’s General Store and then fled back over the border.

The back page features a full-page advertisement for the saloon, which reads:

Grand Reopening Under new management The Lucky Lady Dance Hall and Saloon (formerly Lone Star) invites you to enjoy the musical talents of singer extraordinaire Ruby West. Bring in this ad for a 'buy your first drink and get your second one for free'. Only one per person thank you. Your favorite serving staff and dealers that you have come to know are waiting to make your night a memorable one.

As they are reading the advertisement Jake waves Jeff Mills over and the two of them go outside. Jeff climbs the ladder and pulls the canvas off the sign. Ruby and Nanuet followed the others outside. She watched as Jeff pulled the canvas off the new name. She flipped her head back and forth a few times reading and rereading the sign. The words 'Lone Star' are gone. Replacing them in bright red letters trimmed in black is 'Lucky Lady', with a simple queen of hearts logo in the letter 'a'. Jeff climbs down and stands next to Jake, who has only the hint of a smile on his face as he watches the others come out and gaze at the sign for the first time. "Mr. Jake, I know I have said it before, but I like your style." Nanuet shakes Jake's hand then pats him on the back. "Now where is this dinner I keep hearing about?"

Jake turns to Ruby, "In case there was any doubt, I never believed it was the hat,” he says quietly. "Mr Cook," Ruby said slowly, turning to face him, "Have I told you lately how crazy I am about you?" She stood on her toes and kissed him, not caring that anyone else was around. "And you lied!" She playfully smacked him. "You said you felt bad you didn't have a surprise for me! You're very sneaky..." She kissed him again and ended it with a big hug. She whispered in his ear, "I'm glad you never believed it was the hat. But it worked, right? And we both got way more than either of us could have imagined." She pulled away from him and smiled.

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Three, “The Lucky Lady”, Thursday, March 9th, 1882, 7:45 P.M.

The newly renamed Lucky Lady Dance Hall and Saloon is the second oldest drinking establishment in Promise City, Arizona. It had been built two years earlier by Tom and Maggie Whipple, who had named it the Lone Star. They began with a singer named Flossie; a combination bartender/bouncer named Jeff Mills and a mediocre gambler by the name Tony Lucky. The business picked up when superior gambler Job Kane started playing there. In January the Whipples were divorced and Tom headed off to Denver with Flossie while Maggie went out to California. Tom sold his half of the saloon to Job Kane and liquor distributor Niles over while Maggie sold hers to gambler Jake Cook and singer Ruby West.

Hoover handles the daily management operations of the saloon and occasionally tends bar. Jeff Mills is the head bartender with Hoover’s friend Harry Rote as his assistant bartender and Chester Martin filling in on Jeff's days off. Ruby is the primary entertainer with Kate Kale as her pianist. Sonoma Figueres and Clarisse Townsend sing and serve as waitresses along with Mrs. Kale. Maria Fuente is the saloon’s cook and occasional waitress, with Sonoma filling in as cook on Maria’s days off. The Indian Nanuet also helps out as needed.

Ruby and Jake were still out front when they saw that everyone returned inside. Ruby glanced at the sign one more time, took Jake's hand tightly in hers and headed back inside. Dinner was on the table and everyone was starting to eat. Ruby ran to the bar and grabbed a bottle of champagne, including some glasses. She poured everyone a drink, including Ginnie and held up her glass, "To the Lucky Lady!"

Kate quietly took the drink Ruby placed in front of Ginnie and moved it out of the girl's reach, replacing it with the glass of water she had been drinking before. She spent a moment looking at each face around the table. Jake and Ruby had been together for nearly two months now, and neither seemed to be in a hurry to move on. Kate kept quiet about the look in Ruby's eyes. She was not as skittish as she had been the first few weeks about getting tied down, but Kate doubted she was quite ready to hear the word love.

Chester had his interest in Clarisse, and Nanuet seemed to have settled somewhat into life here although she guessed it was still strange for him. She looked fondly over at Ginnie and let out a deep breath. Being quiet and busy suited her, and she was even looking forward to this night.

Ginnie watched as “Ma'am Kate” moved the champagne glass out of what she thought was her reach. As she was looking around the table Ginnie reached the glass and placed it in front of Kate. Ma'am Kate still looked at Ginnie as a child to be cared for and that suited her fine. There was a comfort in the idea of allowing someone else to think about the day to day food shelter and living things, but Ginnie was beginning to tire of sitting in the room for most of the day reading books and making lace. Hopefully tonight would start making her life a little more exciting again. She missed the adrenaline of always being aware and on top of her game. Ginnie was ready to start living a more exciting life again, the question being what would it take to do that.

While they were eating Jeff Mills went upstairs and returned with a painted wooden sign that he hand on the wall behind the bar. It was a smaller version of the Lucky Lady sign outdoors. When he's done he looks to Jake who nods back and smiles. "I'm done with decorating." He says to Ruby. "It's all yours to handle that again." "Oh, but you did such a good job," Ruby laughs, "I'm going to have to figure out how you kept that secret from me... but for now let's enjoy dinner." As they eat they chat about the new Lucky Lady and the Douglas Gang in Wyoming, but mostly keep it light.

After dinner is over Ruby pulls Ginnie aside and tells her, "Listen, I have a proposition to make to you. We both know we have some um, similar talents. And we know those that have those talents find it easier to spot others who have those talents. Hopefully, it's going to be very crowded here tonight. I'll be busy singing and entertaining and won't be able to keep such a close eye on things. Maybe you wouldn't mind keeping an eye open while enjoying yourself? And if you do a good job then maybe Jake and I might have some ways for you to make some money in the future..."

Tony Lucky arrives and sits down beside Jake. He laughs out, "Nice to see that you decided to name the place after me! But shouldn't it read Lucky's Lady?" "If we want to be accurate it would have read 'Lucky's Ladies'." Jake laughs back with him. "Tell you what. I'll have Jeff get the ladder and give you the paintbrush. Let's see if your feet even get a chance to touch the ground on the way back down before someone shoots you between the eyes." Jake leans in and whispers, "I've seen her shoot, she doesn't miss often."

Tony laughs in return. "Only kidding Boss man. You're predecessor made me promise to keep my hands off of all the female employees, said if I wanted to play here I couldn't play here. I suspect that was because he just wanted to keep them all to himself! Looks like you're continuing that tradition." "Not me, I got my hands full with one." Jake gives him a wink. "Didn't we just discuss her shooting ability?"

Tony replies, "Ah, so that new singer is fair game! Nice to know." Chester acts annoyed by that comment and attempts to change the subject by asking Tony, "Will Job be coming? I know he has tonight off but it is the Grand Reopening." Tony says, "Nope, you won't see him until tomorrow. He's got a Lady friend up in Willcox, northern end of the county, who he's been spending his Wednesdays to Fridays with." Tony heads immediately over to his poker table, where three of his regular players are waiting. Listening to Tony talk, Kate suddenly wished she had a shawl to cover herself up with. Thankfully he'd never shown any interest in her and considering the kind of girl he liked, it was unlikely he ever would.

Chumbley has finished selling papers to all interested customers in the saloon. He then gets a complimentary tankard of ale from Jeff Mills and heads over to the table to join the others. "One for the road before I go sell my other papers!" he says as he climbs up onto a chair. Jake tried to hide his annoyance when Chumbley came and sat with them. The diminutive man then downs the entire tankard in around a minute. It was a relief when Chumbley arrived, and Kate watched amazed as he pulled down his ale. Jake was about to tell the half-pint not to drink himself dumb, but then thought the better of it. A dumbstruck Chumbley might be an improvement. Instead he just smiled and wished him good luck.

"Where do you put it?" she laughed when he was finished. Chumbley says "And good luck with you're grand reopening." He heads over and picks up the remainder of the first stack of newspapers and bounces out the front door.

Kate stated, "I should go play, it's starting to pick up in here. I know you don't need any encouragement, but be sure to sell plenty of those papers. We want a good crowd here tonight." After speaking witty Ginnie Ruby walks back to the table. She glances around the room before looking back to a blushing Kate. "It's early to start singing. Kate, why don't you play? And while you do that I'll enjoy this champagne that no one wanted to share with me." Ruby pours herself another drink. "I'll share a little more before my game starts up." Jake goes and sits with her.

Kate exclaims, "I want to celebrate with you Ruby, but you know it's better if I don't drink too much. And Ginnie is really too young to be drinking. Let's give her some time to grow up before we start introducing her to all sorts of interesting vices." Kate leaned over and kissed Ruby's cheek. "Now, what do you want me to play? Standard songs? I don't know if classical pieces are what you want in here tonight."

"Kate, you are fooling yourself if you think that kid is too young for mostly anything. She has been living on the street how long?" Ruby pauses for a moment, "Well, let's not discuss it tonight anyway. You can play whatever you'd like for now, but later we need standards and fun songs to make the crowd happy. I guess I'll just see what everyone wants to hear as I go. So for now, just make yourself happy." Ruby watched Kate over to the piano with a smile before turning to Jake.
Kate decided that she would be playing saloon songs all night, so she’d start with some folk songs. They were light songs, appropriate for the mood tonight, but still something Katherine enjoyed playing. She kept her eye out for Ginnie, making sure Ruby didn't give her any more drinks and that no one bothered her.

Jake asks Ruby, "Are you ready for tonight? You should have quite a crowd." "Ready, what's ready? A wise man once said to me, 'I'm generally not ready for anything I start' and that's pretty much true for me too." Ruby pauses and smiles. "Then again, I slept with him right after he told me that, so I guess there are some things I am always ready for."

"All is good in the world then." Jake gets up and gives her a kiss. "I'm going to go earn us some money, I think there are some folks here who want to leave us some. I'll be right back down stairs" He goes upstairs and changes. He comes back down in his white silk shirt and black linen pants nods to Ruby and welcomes his players. Yes, he thinks to himself, for now all is good in the world. "Let's play."

Back when Job Kane was the main draw for the saloon he wound up playing six nights a week. One of the first things he did upon becoming an owner was decide to take some consecutive nights off during the week, picking Wednesday and Thursday. That had a huge advantage for Jake, as he inherited Job's players on those nights.

Looking around the table he recognized all five faces currently seated three of whom had been Job's. First there was the tall and clean cut Al Brower, who co-owned the gunshop, cigar shop and the Comique Saloon. Next was Tempel Morand, who managed the Rocking-H Ranch, ten miles southwest of town. He had been spending more time in town in recent weeks helping his uncle Zack with the family's new mining interests. The third of Job's former players was the town's blacksmith, Henry Weller.

Next was a player who Jake had attracted by the name of Don Wainright. Don and his wife Sandra ran a hardware store in town, which also stocked musical instruments and sheet music. Sandra also knew how to tune the pianos and her skills were greatly needed following the departure of the Whipples. Kate had sparked up a friendship with Sandra as Jake had with Don, who had never played poker before but was starting to get fairly good at it.

The last player was Alfredo Garcia. The previous owners had enforced a "humans only" policy that the new owners were quick to reverse. Having wood elves Sonoma and Maria helped to communicate that all were welcome. Alfredo was a half-elf who worked at Johnson's Barber and Baths. He didn't consider his poker skills good enough for the weekend crowd but was happy to join Jake's table on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The other Thursday night semi-regular hadn't arrived yet; the prospector Humphrey Lewis who was one of Jake's partners at the Fisk Mountain Mine.

Ruby drank her champagne and listened to Kate play. The songs she chose seemed to match her lighter mood. She watched Jake get ready to play cards. Ruby planned on "warming up" his table for him when he played, for fun, but not tonight, their grand reopening. Nanuet and Chester were having a lively debate about something and they were laughing and enjoying themselves. It felt good to have a place where they all could come together and relax. When it was time Ruby happily got on stage and sang her heart out.

During the next hour several new faces showed up at the saloon, many carrying the newspaper ad to get their free drink. Around half of them left after that but others stayed and took in the music. The remaining chairs at both Jake and Tony's tables soon fill up with new players. Jake discovers that the two at his table are a mineworker named Abel Weir and Carl Berman, who Jake has seen around town but never met before. Berman and Don Wainwright happily greet each other and are on a first name basis.

The offer to watch for others that might be aquisitionists felt right to Ginnie so she let Ruby know that she'd keep her eye out while she bussed tables. The place should be really busy tonight and Ma'am Kate would be busy serving and playing, so that would give Ginnie some real freedom for the first time in a long time. Ginnie scoped out the room seeing where she would be if she was planning to be on the take and marked those spots for "special" watching. The petite twelve-year old girl surmised that this could be a very lucrative night.

Ruby introduces herself and talks to all the new people in between sets. She'll lightly flirt but generally just try to make them feel at home and relaxed. She sings any requests that are asked for, mostly happy songs with some love ballads thrown in for good measure. As the crowd gets drunker she'll sing some drinking songs to help make sure their glasses stay full. As usual, she'll keep an eye on Kate and Jake, and now Ginnie too as she can.

Chumbley comes back for another pile of newspapers. The next hour goes well. Jake is having a fairly good night at his table, although Tempel Morand is the biggest winner. Both Weller and Garcia drop out of the game. Humphrey Lewis arrives and joins in, as does a cowhand from Morand's ranch named Jack Stuart. Jake continues to play and gives Ruby a smile.

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Four, “"What did I get myself into?", Thursday, March 9th, 1882, 9:30 P.M.

The last notes of the piano died away just as the last echoes of Ruby's rich voice fell silent. Katherine smiled at her friend. Her happiness shone through her face, her voice, even the way she moved. No matter how many pocket watches Jake slipped into her handbag, she would always be grateful to him for making Ruby this happy.

She got up from the piano and began helping to serve, making sure she emptied the tip cup before leaving. Ginnie was busy making sure the tables were cleaned up, and Kate noticed that the girl's eyes were busy taking in everything. Maybe Ruby was right, although she wasn't going to be giving the girl alcohol no matter how much time she'd spent living on the streets.

The time went quickly as she moved from table to table, and thankfully most of the gentlemen kept their hands to themselves. A few admiring glasses made her think twice about the dress she'd chosen, but it felt good to be dressed up again.

At one point during one of Ruby's singing sets she catches Ginnie gives her a hand signal indicating trouble. Ginnie then moves quickly over near the front door and brushes up against a man who is pushing his way past other patrons to exit. Ruby catches Ginnie brush into him and carefully removes something from the man's coat pocket. Ginnie flashes Ruby an "OK" sign and then heads up to bar and gets the attention of Jeff Mills. Jeff brushes her off.

She then heads over to the piano and while Kate is playing tells her "A man dressed as a ranch hand just picked the pocket of that man by the bar in the blue shirt and derby hat. I redistributed the wealth. I tried to tell Mills but he just said, "go away little girl"." Ginnie then drops a pile of bills onto the piano bench and says, "Maybe you should return this to that man. And please tell Mills that if Ruby wants me to help with security he should listen to me."

"They have you helping with security?" Kate was about to go on but paused a moment. They weren't asking her to steal, but to watch out for the patrons here. "Just make sure you don't get caught redistributing. Those who pick pockets don't take kindly to having their own emptied. I'll talk to Jeff."

Kate walked over to the bar with the cash in hand and approached the man in the hat. "Pardon me, sir. One of our staff retrieved your property from a pickpocket. I suppose under new management the local petty thieves will be trying to find out how good our security is. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, your next drink is on us."

Jeff is quick to give the man the free drink while giving Kate an odd look. Once the patron is set with the drink he steps over to the side of the bar and away from customers. "Mrs. Kale, next time you might want to get me to help you. I am the bouncer in this place. You shouldn't be putting yourself in danger." She replies, "When are you going to start calling me Katherine, Jeff? I think we've known each other long enough."

Ruby had seen Ginnie's signal from the stage and then watched her deal with the man at the door, quickly and effectively. As long as there was no danger, Ruby wanted to stay out of it and see what the kid would do. She finished up by approaching Kate, not the best choice, but considering she was probably the only person the kid trusted... Kate headed over to Jeff and Ruby watched Ginnie "disappear" back into the crowd. Ruby smiled knowingly and headed over to Jeff and Kate. "Is there a problem?" Kate smiled at Ruby and said, "No. No problems that weren't easily taken care of."

“As for danger, I wasn't in any. Ginnie saw the man pick the gentlemen's pocket. She tried to tell you, but you shooed her away. Ruby asked her to keep her eyes open, so if she comes over to tell you something it's probably important." Kate laid her hand on Jeff's arm and smiled up at him. "You know I can handle a dangerous situation, you went with me into one, remember? But if it will make you feel better, I promise I won't try to apprehend any pickpockets without you."

Mills replies "Yes Mrs. Ka...Katherine. I just wouldn't want you to put yourself into harm without there being a need. The same can be said for your little girl too. If I'm not available ask Mr. Martin to help." Kate widened her smile and patted his arm before she let go. "Of course. It's sweet of you to be concerned about us. The best way you can watch out for Ginnie is to listen to what she has to say. I should get back to the piano. You're wonderful tonight, Ruby," she said before heading back. "It's good to see you so happy. I think this place will work out for you."

She stopped on the way to talk to Ginnie and said, "He should at least listen to you now, although I think he might pass out if he finds out you've been retrieving property yourself. Just let him think someone got it for you. The girl answers, " I never intended to let him think that I was acquiring the property or redistributing it and I did bring it to you instead of keeping it myself. I kept up my side of the deal and will continue to. I am good at what I do and no one expects it and if worse comes to worse...” Ginnie looked at Kate with a devilish little smile "I can always cry" with that she skips out of Kate’s view to go clear another table and keep an eye on the patrons. Kate just shook her head as she went back to the piano and said to no one in particular, "What did I get myself into?"

Another hour passes. It is now 10:45 PM and the place is still fairly crowded. Temple Morand continues to have a very good night at cards, with newcomer Carl Berman also doing very well. Jake is down a total of $ 20 for the night when he decides to call for a break. Chumbley returns to the Lucky Lady to pick up his final stack of newspapers.

A large group of men come in who Chester, Ruby, Kate and Jake all recognize as Wells Fargo Stage employees Kris Wagner, Chuck Nevers, Chandler Wells, Billy Glass, Newton Gilly and the half-orc Coolie Fagan. This is the first time that they've seen any of these six men in this saloon, as they usually drink over at the Drover's Hotel. All of the men have a copy of the newspaper in hand, apparently having been drawn to the establishment by the offer of the free drink.

"Gentlemen, what a pleasure to see you," Kate said as she came over to greet them. "Why don't you find yourselves a seat and I'll be right over to get your orders. You've taken care of us quite often, I'm glad for the chance to return the favor. Miss West will be singing again soon, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it." The men find a seat at one of the tables. Kate overhears Wagner tell Fagan "See Coolie, I told you there wouldn't be a problem." Ginnie walks by the table paying no special attention to any of the men, including Never's whose wallet Ruby had watched her expertly lift two months earlier in Tombstone.

With Jake on a break Ginnie goes over to him and gives him a complete description of the pickpocket that she stopped earlier. "Ma'am Kate returned the money to the person it had been taken from and Jeff Mills will listen to me now. Oh and it seems that all of your players are playing a clean game but I haven't been able to pay as much attention to that as I might like. You have some areas that make it easy to acquire things from other individuals but I think I have them mostly under surveillance. It should be easier to catch the individuals that wish to ply their trade here, after a while I think they will realize that it would be much better for them to frequent Mr. Adair's establishment.”

He replies, "Nice work kid. You're all right. Don't do anything stupid for a couple of dollars though." Jake crouches down and shakes her hand. "Extra sharp eyes are always welcome." With that Ginnie takes the dirty mugs from the table and wipes it down with a clean damp cloth.

As soon as she spots the men from Wells Fargo Ruby bounces over to their table. She approaches Chuck. "Mr. Nevers, " she starts, "My knight in shining armor, you finally came to hear me sing. How lucky for me. And you brought your friends. I see that Kate is already getting you drinks. Is there anything else I can do for you?" She gives them a smile as they shake their heads no. "Very well, you let me know." She gives Chuck a wink over her shoulder before walking away.

She sees that Jake is taking a break at the bar so she wanders over to him. "Hey handsome, how is your game going tonight? I can't believe we are still full of people!" She turns her back to the bar and leans her arms back against it, so she has a good view of the room. "I guess I should sing again too, even though it's already around 11:00 P.M." He replies, "I'm not winning tonight, but that's OK. The folks are having fun, I"ll not lose much." He looks around the room. "I'd stretch it out tonight, after all it is the grand reopening." He laughs. "It's not like we have anywhere to go tomorrow morning."

Ruby laughs back, "But every day we get woken up early! I think we should have later hours anyway, I'm not complaining." Ruby looks around the room until she sees Kate. "Have you noticed Mrs. Kale lately? She seems so much happier since we got back from Tombstone. She's finally gaining some weight. For a while she was getting pretty thin. And showing some neck with that dress of hers. Next time we go to get dresses together I'll get that neckline even lower. Anyway, I'm glad she is feeling better, can you notice the difference too?"

Kate returned to the table with Mr. Nevers and his friends and passes out their drinks, making sure to make eye contact with each, especially Mr. Fagan so he would be sure he was welcome.
Chumbley returns, announcing "All sold! I should have printed 100 more! Nothing like a free drink special to sell more papers!" He heads up to the bar and gets another complimentary tankard of ale from Jeff. "And there is nothing like an ad in your paper to bring in the customers," Kate smiled back at him before heading back over to the piano. She played some saloon songs in the background, content with those until Ruby was ready to sing again.

"Oh, she is playing again, let me go talk to her quickly. We can chat later." Ruby gives Jake a quick kiss and walks to the piano. "Kate, you are playing just wonderfully tonight. And you actually look like you are enjoying yourself, well, minus the work part anyway," Ruby laughs. "It's hard not to when my friends are all so happy. And not too many pinchers tonight, that always improves my mood." Ruby asks, "How have things been? I know it's busy..." "Tonight or in general?" Kate laughed. "Tonight, silly! I just wanted to make sure that you weren't having any problems is all. We did make some changes."

Kate answers, "It's good that it's busy. And good too that there are some non-humans coming in. It's been busy, but exceptionally friendly. I like it." Ruby glanced around the room and smiled. "I should go sing again. I just wanted to check in with you." She looks back at Kate, and puts her hand on her face. "Just making sure you are happy." "Ruby," she said gently, and a bit surprised. "You're being quite serious. Let's just say happy isn't as far away as it used to be. Happy and I are working on getting reacquainted." Ruby stands up and starts towards the stage. "I just want you to feel happy like I do Kate." With that she climbs the steps and waits for Kate to play.

Niles Hoover comes over to Jake "That ad of yours sure did the trick. We've already honored ninety-six free drink specials tonight, and that's not counting the last two tables of folks who just came in. This Chumbley fellow says he printed and sold two hundred papers, so we can probably expect more tomorrow. It's a good thing I decided to make the Lucky Lady's beverage prices twenty-five percent higher than the Lone Star's were, or we might have lost money on drinks tonight. As it is I figure we've just about broken even."

The Wells Fargo table responds well to Ruby's singing as do a table full of miners that came in since her previous set. Kate notices her friend Mr. Austin arrive and take a seat at an empty two-person table over near the stage. He has a relaxed look on his face and after he arranges his tower of coins and then sits back to listen to his friends play and sing.

Kate looked back over her shoulder and smiled at Mr. Austin as she continues to play for Ruby. It was a good night, and while working a saloon wasn't something that made her happy, seeing her friends happy was. It was easy to let herself smile as she played on.

Things were getting better. She still missed Tom; but as she built a life here she didn't feel so rootless and lost. The Gonzales' had become a surrogate family to her, and her friends had proven time and again they would be there when she needed them. And once she'd known she wasn't really alone, she could concentrate on starting to live again. And having Ginnie to take care of had forced her to not drink herself to sleep and to be productive each day. Katherine looked around the room that held most of the people she loved and smiled again.

And the happy and relaxed Kate finishes the current song. In the immediate silence that follows she hears part of Chumbley's conversation to Jeff Mills, the halfling saying "....had to go back to Tombstone then. Marshall Wyatt rode behind the stage while his Deputy brother Morgan came inside the stagecoach with us to made sure that their prisoner didn't try escaping. That's why we were late getting here." Kate's fingers froze over the keys where they had been about to begin another song. Blood pounded behind her ears as her breath hissed between her teeth.

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Five, “"He’s Back”, Thursday, March 9th, 1882, 11:15 P.M.

Kate took a few steadying breaths and approached Chumbley and Jeff. Ruby was about to start singing when Kate got up and walked away from the piano. "Uh, Kate...Kate...?" But she was ignored. So she continued to sing a few more songs unaccompanied, keeping a close eye on Kate.

"Jeff, can I have a brandy? I'd meant to ask why you were so late today," Kate said to Chumbley, hiding her shaking hands in the folds of her skirt. "What prisoner was that? He must be dangerous if the Deputy Marshall had to come back with him."

Chumbley replies "Pony Deal, the same guy Wyatt went out looking for with a posse last month. He showed up back in town yesterday but without his pony, came in on the train. He heard from his friends that the Earps were looking for him. He apparently laid low until the stage was ready to leave today and then got on it at the last minute, apparently with a ticket that a friend picked up for him. But somebody else saw him and told the Earps so they rode out to get him. Stopped the stage around four miles out and made it head back to town, that's why we were late."

Kate responds, "Can't be very smart to get on a stage from a town where the Earps are the law to another town where the Earps are the law." Chumbley replies, "I doubt he would have stayed long in Promise City. He would have headed out to Galeyville the first chance he got."

She took a sip of her brandy and casually added. "So the Deputy Marshall will probably be staying with his brother for the night. over at his boarding house?" He replies, "No, you misunderstood. They had the stage drive back to Tombstone with the prisoner. Once he was dropped off at the jail the Earps stayed there with him."

"Oh, I see," Kate said quietly. "Well, I'm sure it was very exciting." She drained her brandy in one gulp. "Another Jeff?" Kate didn't go back to the piano, but sat at the bar instead. It was quieting down, no one really needed her at the moment. Ruby's singing was just fine without her playing. She finished that brandy and just had Jeff keep refilling the glass each time it emptied.

Nanuet had been sitting to the side, minding his own business most of the night, but had been steadily consuming whiskey. He got up deciding it was time to tell his friends how much he appreciated all they had done for him and how welcome they made him feel. He scanned the room and his bleary eyes immediately found Jake and standing at the bar. He saw Ruby give Jake a peck and then head back towards the stage as he got up from his seat, noting that he was dizzy, so he stands still for a few minutes.

Nanuet eventually lumbers across the room, bumping into and knocking over a chair on his way. He walks right behind Jake and pats him strongly on the back. In a loud, very slurred voice he says "Mr. Jake, have I ever told you what I think about you? You guys" swinging his arm in the general direction of the kitchen and stage "You guys, are the best companions an elf could ask for! I don't know what I would do without you. I just wanted to tell you that..." He then slumps onto the bar smiling from ear to ear. "I need another whisky."

"You are most welcome my friend." Jake goes around the other side and pours Nanuet another. "Why don't you just take one of the extra rooms tonight, looks like you could use it." He smiles and chats with the increasingly maudlin Indian, but Jake is watching Ruby and Katherine out of the corner of his eye.

Ruby had started the song like she intended to be accompanied by Katherine’s piano, but quickly switched to an unaccompanied style. Jake had heard enough of Ruby's singing to know the difference rather well. He also caught her watching Katherine, though not obviously. Katherine was facing away from Jake, so he couldn't read her expression. Nothing to do but wait or let it blow over. "Whoa there, don't be drinking that so fast. I'm not inclined to be carrying you up the stairs."

The Indian replies, “What? You think I can't handle my whiskey? I can handle myself Mr. Jake, you won't need to be carrying me nowhere." Nanuet turns and watches Ruby singing onstage with an admiring look in his eye. "You know what else Mr. Jake? You are a lucky man, cause you sure got yourself a fine woman there in Miss Ruby. You better take care of her, she is a fine woman she is." "I will not argue the point. I count myself lucky indeed," he replies.

Nanuet watches intently as Ruby sings the completion of the song. He claps loudly and tries to whistle but only manages to blow air and make little or no sound. He then makes his way up towards the stage, yelling as he stumbles across the room "Let's hear it for Miss Ruby! Prettiest girl and best singer in Promise City!"

Ruby sees Nanuet working his way across the room. Worried that he might fall or knock someone over she hops off the stage and heads towards him, hoping to reach him and avert potential disaster. She reaches the drunken Indian and extends a hand to help steady his stumble but instead he grabs her and wraps her up in a bear hug lifting her off the ground for a moment.
Ruby giggles and returns the hug as Nanuet swings her around. He puts her down and promptly falls on the floor. She offers him a hand with a smile, just as Jake makes his way over to help. Feeling woozy he then puts Ruby down, takes a step back and attempts to sit in a chair, missing the seat and ending up on the floor instead.

Jake is laughing himself silly watching Nanuet. He sees Jeff Mills heading over towards Nanuet but waves him off. Jake strolls over and offers him a hand up saying, "I've been meaning to get some better chairs, by the end of the evening the ones we've got are just too slippery."

Ruby says, "Nanuet, it's much better to see you enjoying yourself then being all serious. I must admit I'm a tiny bit jealous of your current state." Jake and Ruby pull him up, with Jake taking much of the weight. "Thank you for the sweet words," as she gives Nanuet a kiss on the cheek. "Let's go have another drink, shall we?" They lead him over to a table in the corner and help him sit.

Nanuet laughs heartily at his own antics and accepts the assistance from his friends. Sitting down he puts his head in his hands. "See, this is what I mean with friends like this who needs... uh wait, that didn't come out right. I still don't get many of the white man sayings."

Nanuet continues to laugh with his friends for a few moments. Another round of drinks is brought over and he sips at his slowly. As the conversation continues Nanuet's complexion becomes pale. He jumps up from the table and pushes anyone in his path out of the way as he bolts for the back door. Immediately after the door closes behind him, the sound of retching can be heard.

Chester says, "Oh, boy. Jeff, hand me a clean rag, please. And put on a fresh pot of coffee, too." Chester strolls out back where Nanuet is vomiting in the alley. "Hey there. Looks like you had too much to drink." He hands the rag to the Indian. "Wipe your mouth with this. I asked Jeff to make some fresh coffee. How are you feeling. I don't think I've ever seen you drunk before. What's up?"

"Well, I have felt worse, and I have felt better." Nanuet says. "So where does that put me? Somewhere in the middle I guess." He wipes his mouth with the rag, but it still doesn't take the smile from his face. Guess I drank too much huh? I was just sitting there thinking about things, and all the nice people I have met recently and all the adventures we have had and uh, the whiskey kept coming so I kept drinking."

Jake turns to Ruby, "You still jealous of his condition? No, don't bother answering." They watch Chester attempt to help Nanuet. "That Mr. Martin is a real salt of the earth kind of guy. I can't really picture him punching his superior." Ruby raises her eyebrow and says, "It was Lieutenant Gamble, wasn't it?" Jake replies. "Yes. Right. Ok, I can picture it." "Mr. Martin is a good man, a real gentleman, a genuine nice guy." Ruby laughs, "And if I had to spend time with that Gamble guy I probably would have done worse than punch him."

"Well, no sense in wasting this, right?" She picks up the remainder of Naneut's whiskey and drinks it down. She hears poor Nanuet out back and makes a face. "Oh, he's going to regret this night in the morning." "Girl, I'm not sure where you put all that alcohol you drink." He says shaking his head. Jake looks around and sees that the place is nearly empty, but Niles and Rote are still working to clean up. He continues with a sly grin, "When you're through talking to everyone down here, I'm willing to resume looking."

"Are you complaining that I drink too much Mr. Cook?" Ruby looks at him with furrowed brows. "And resume looking at what?" "I wasn't complaining, Ruby dearest. I was simply at a loss to explain where it all goes. And my natural curiosity about such things drives me to look very carefully and thoroughly to find it." Jake smiles and looks away innocently. "No matter where you may be hiding it."

Ruby’s face relaxes and she giggles. “Oh for a moment I thought there was something about me that you didn’t like. Silly me!” She leans over and gives him a kiss. “Well, then let’s wish everyone a good night and help get Nanuet in bed. Then we can go looking. I’m afraid for your part I’ve hidden it very well and it might take a long time of searching for you to discover my secret.” She slowly gets up, then starts walking towards the kitchen. Knowing Jake is watching her she swings her hips and winks at him over her shoulder. She yells into the kitchen, "Is everything ok in here Maria? If so we are going to say good night and head to bed soon." Maria replies, "I was just cleaning up. Go on up, I'll head back to the El Parador with Mrs. Kale and Mr. Martin." "Thanks, Maria. By the way, the food was excellent, you did a great job yet again. I think tomorrow will be just as busy, so you might want to stock up. Take Harry with you of you need help. Have a good night!"

Nanuet stands up straight putting both hands on Chester's shoulders and looks him in the eyes. "Chester, you're alright. Now did you say something about coffee?" Nanuet wobbles his way back inside and finds a seat at a table somewhere near the bar. Chester waits for the coffee to finish brewing and brings a large mug of it over to the elf. By the time he sets the mug on the table Nanuet is slumped over, asleep in his chair.

Ruby heads back out to the main room and sees Chester sitting over by Nanuet. Chester chuckles. He walks over to Jake. "Mr. Cook? Help me get Nanuet up to a room where he can sleep this off. He's not going to feel good tomorrow." Together, Jake and Chester carry the sleeping elf up to a spare bed.

Ruby sees Kate sitting at the bar with Ginnie quietly next to her. Kate looks to be swaying slightly so Ruby approaches her. "Um, Kate, is everything alright?" Kate threw back the most recent in the long line of glasses of brandy she'd consumed in the last half-hour. "He's back," she said dully. "In Tombstone." Ruby is confused and asks, "Who's back? Did someone go somewhere?" Kate replies, "Morgan Earp, back in Tombstone. He'd gone somewhere, now he's back."

Ruby takes Kate's glass and bottle and puts it behind the bar. "Kate what are you doing?" She stares hard at her before walking around the bar to the opposite side of where Ginnie is sitting. "You want the kid to see you like this?" she whispers in Kate's ear. Kate tried to focus her eyes and look around the room. Mr. Austin was still at his table, but she couldn't see what he was doing. She could just see Ginnie a bit behind Ruby. "She's seen worse. Weren't you saying that earlier when you tried to give her a drink?"

Ruby says, "Yes but she trusts YOU now to take care of her. How can you take care of her if you're drunk?" "I didn't know that Morgan Earp went anywhere." Ruby leans in close and whispers in Kate's ear. "Darlin', you need to decide once and for all what you want to do about this problem, and then let's go do it. You'll never move on with your life this way." Jake and Chester come back down the common room. Ruby pulls away from Kate and says loudly, "Chester, would you be a sweetheart and escort Kate and Ginnie back to the El Parador please?"

Kate continues to stare at the wall and says, "What I want is ten minutes alone with him. His brothers have different ideas. Chester can catch up with us." "Ten minutes," Ruby says to herself. "Ten minutes we can do." Kate got up and got her wrap, her walk unsteady by not dangerously so, and headed for the door. Ruby turns back to Jake. "Ready to go looking for trouble?"

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Six, “Luc Arrives”, Thursday, March 9th, 1882, 11:30 P.M.

"Tonight?! I thought we had other plans?" Jake rubs his eyes. "Since when to we have to look for trouble, it seems to come and sit on our front porch. What do I have to do now?" "Baby," Ruby puts her hands on Jake's face, "The only thing you have to do, the only trouble you are getting into tonight is taking me upstairs. Any other problem can wait until morning, well, afternoon." Ruby took a glance towards the door and watched Chester try to guide Kate though. She hid her disappointment at this new twist and looked back to Jake.

Meanwhile, several hours earlier, the wind whipped by his ear as Wanderer rode a steady pace. He kept it at an easy run as to not tire himself. Luc had ridden since morning trying to put as much distance between him and trouble. He knew he was in Arizona but hadn't seen a town in days. He had been drinking cactus water and eating beef jerky.... and he needed a good stiff drink. He saw the town ahead around 7:00 in the late evening. The sun was setting behind the plains. Blue sky had made way for hues of orange, yellow and red.

Luc came into town and found the stable. He paid five dollars and took his horse into the barn. He stroked Wanderer's mane for a time to settle the horse and relax it after a long days travel. He left the barn and picked up the paper at the general store. He looked through to see if he had been spotted by any of the locals. Luckily a gang more wanted than him took all the press. Luc returned to the barn and lay in the hay reading the paper until his eyes quit on him.

Luc woke up with a start to see it was dark. He could see the interior of the barn. He heard music and cheering somewhere off in the distance. He pulled his pocket watch out as he walked out of the barn. 10:45 P.M. He had recalled reading about the buy one get one free ad for the Lucky Lady. " God I need a whiskey." Luc said as he walked down Main Street. He came to the Lucky Lady and walked in. He strolled up to the saloon.... and realized he still wore his guns." If I get into a gunfight tonight...." Luc thought as he walked inside.

His worry quickly ended when a large wide-shouldered bearded man who appeared to be in his late twenties with a handgun on his belt stopped him inside the door. The man stood by a large wooden cabinet and said "Check you guns sir?" Looking around Luc saw that this man was the only one in the place that was armed and assumed that he was the bouncer. Noticing Luc's hesitation the man repeats "Your weapon will be safe. The cabinet will be locked unless I'm standing here. Come on in, all are welcome."

A look of relief and worry passes over Luc's face. He smiles slightly at the bouncer and uses his middle finger and hooks it into the trigger guard of his shotgun and pulls it free. He then uses his right hand to pull his left gun free by it's trigger guard and his right hand to pull his left gun free the same way. Luc wasn't taking chances that the bouncer had an itchy trigger finger. Finally he pulls the bowie knife out of its sheath in his boot. " I like to be prepared." Luc says knowing he usually gets stares when he unarms himself. " That's everything. You got anything to give me so I can get my guns when I leave or you gonna remember my face?" Luc says as he tips up his hat just slightly.

From the stage, Ruby notices a newcomer enter the bar, noticeably late. She had never seen him around Promise City before. He sits at the bar and orders a drink and after her set Ruby approaches him. “Hey Cowboy, ever been to the Lucky Lady before?” She leans against the bar next to him. He shakes his head no. “Well, you came on a good night. It’s our grand reopening, under new ownership. What’s your name?”

Luc shoots his whiskey. It burns as he swallows and turns to Ruby. He looks at her for a minute." Names Luc" he says as he motions to the bartender for another shot, "you might want to try one of these other boys. I really don't have too much money. I just came to town not too long ago. 'bout all I have money for is a few drinks and a room." Luc shoots another whiskey and motions for another one putting a dollar down on the bar.

Ruby laughs. "Luc, You'd better believe it's your loss that my boyfriend over there doesn't like to share me." She motions her head in Jake's general direction. She leans in really close to him, "And he gets to keep his gun on, so I'd be careful if I was you." She leans back away from him slowly. "I'm Ruby. I sing here at the Lucky Lady. We're going to be closing soon, but you should head back here tomorrow night, come and watch me sing. You won't be disappointed." She starts to walk away before turning back. "Oh and if you're looking for a room, try the El Parador. Tell them we sent you, they'll take good care of you." She gives a little wink and hair flip before walking away.

Luc can't help but laugh. As she walks away Luc shakes his head and says "Woman's got a tongue like a rattler." Luc shoots one more whiskey and walks towards the door. Last thing he needed was for some saloon girl to go tell her honey that some guy made a pass at her.... or in some cases turned her down. Luc had a slight buzz as he took his guns from the big bouncer. Killin' a man isn't as glamorous as folks think.

Luc left the Lucky Lady debating whether he should go to the El Parador. He had visions of the saloon girl and her boyfriend busting in on him in the middle of the night. Luc went back to the stables and found Wanderer fast asleep. Luc lay down in the hay next to his friend. He was asleep within a few minutes.

Back at the Lucky Lady, Ruby indicates that she is ready to head upstairs. Jake nods twice, smiles and offers his arm. Without further words they head up to their recently completed room. Ruby walks in to their new room and pulls her shoes off, throwing them in the corner. “My feet hurt! That was a lot of standing and singing. I think tomorrow, well, tonight, will be the same. It’s great though, it was a good idea for those coupons and hopefully we can get more people to come more often. I like making money.” Ruby smiles and falls back onto the bed. “I knew you’d be good at this stuff.”

"Heh, I've always been good at spending it too. Having too much money was never a problem. Coupons were Whipple's idea not mine, saw that the first night you started. I'll steal an idea, just as a well as a dollar from those that deserve it."

Ruby rolls over onto her side watching Jake take off his gunbelt, looking for a good spot for it in the new room. “I just wanted to tell you again, I really like the new name. When did you come up with that?”

"The Lone Star just seemed like the Whipple's place, and too much like Texas. We needed a name that let folks know there was gambling and fun inside, plus a beautiful entertainer. I was sitting there looking at my hat and it just struck me. I told you before, it's not the hat." Jake tosses the hat on the bed in front of her. "Maybe you don't believe you have been lucky, but you've been lucky for me." Old habits die hard and Jake hangs his gunbelt within reach of the bed.

“Yes, you told me it wasn’t the hat.” Ruby grabs Jake’s hat and puts it on her head, laying on her back and holding it with both hands. “But I like this hat! Well, I guess it’s the wearer I like,” as she turns her head to Jake. “No, I haven’t been lucky for myself, always in the wrong place and the wrong time with the wrong people. But I was lucky to meet you, and if I’ve been lucky for you, then all the better. And you really did name it after me, huh?” Ruby lies on the bed, just smiling at Jake for a moment. “Oh, I have something to give you…” She sees a grin grow on Jake’s face, “No, not that, that’s later…” She gets off the bed and walks over to the other room.

She is in there for a moment before returning with her hands behind her back. As she walks towards Jake, “Something you’ve been wondering about for a while…” She stops right in front of Jake before pulling out a dagger and holding it in front of him. “You wanted this?”

Jake’s eyes only bulge for a second before his face returns to normal. "Er, not the business end thank you." He delicately runs his index finger along the blade. "Is that the dagger from the rustler's cave? I thought that was part of your share of the goods? Frankly I sort of lost track of who got what, I was pretty happy with the duster." Then he says with a hint of drama, "Did Senior Gonzalez reveal its deep magical secrets?"

“Oh believe me, getting the business end from me… you’d never know it was coming.” Ruby gets a cocky grin on her face before continuing, “Yes it’s the dagger from the rustler’s cave, cleaned up a bit. Is it my share? Yes, Mr. Gonzales enlightened me about its deep magical secrets, but I guess since you forgot all about it then you’re not interested?” Ruby turns her back to Jake and pretends to walk away.

"Oh, don't give me the," he feigns a woman’s voice, "Jake, it's not like you to leave money on the table" he coughs and returns to his normal timbre "routine." He waits for a second and when Ruby doesn't respond he says with a slight exaggeration and a hint of emphasis, "Yes, Ruby, I am interested in finding out all about the pretty knife."

Ruby turns back to Jake with another smile. “Ok, ok. Yes, it is magically enhanced to help hit your target better. Plus it does this,” Ruby smiles and points it away from Jake. As she does she says a word which he does not know, "Incendie.” As she finishes the incantation a flame ignites from tip of the blade. She raises an eyebrow while moving the dagger in her hand. “Now that could be useful.”

Jake whistles. "It's like one of those new lighter gadget things. Not only would it be handy lighting something, like say a candle or a lamp or some.... dy-na-mite.... you could use it for light in an emergency." Jake strokes his beard a few times. "If there are no bloomin' wizards around, who in Hades makes all this magic stuff that seems to be everywhere I turn?"

“You are just dying to use the dynamite aren’t you? Such a naughty boy,” Ruby grins and pulls at his beard. Then her face turns serious. “There are probably wizards everywhere here, Jake. Just because there wasn’t many in Philadelphia… well, you know they exist. Plus there is so much money around here, these are the people who can afford to have the magical items. You have to be careful because you never know who could be able to wield that power. Look at Kate, you would have never thought she would be able to, right?” Ruby moves a little closer to Jake, “Or how about me, did you think I would be able to cast a spell on you when we first met?”

"Not when I first met you, no." Jake pretends to be in torment, "But now that I know the truth and am hopelessly ensorcelled, there is no turning back. Ahhhhh!" Then he laughs hysterically.

Ruby puts on a pout. “Are you making fun of me Jake?” she whispers. “I’m trying to tell you to be careful and you’re teasing me.” Ruby pauses in thought then starts gently pushing Jake back towards the chair, “Why would you tease me, Mr. Cook? I’m only concerned for your well being…” She pushes him in the chair and sits on his lap. “And you’re right, there is no turning back for either of us, you ARE under my spell, whether you think so or not.” Ruby leans forward and kisses Jake but only for a moment. “I know that you just couldn't go on without me, and that's the way I want it.”

"Alright princess, I won't make fun of you any more tonight. I will be careful. It's not the wizards that worry me, because I intend to avoid them, its all the stuff everyone seems to have. Seems like I need to put things on an equal footing somehow, but I'm not sure exactly how. Hmmmmm...... So where were we... oh, yes. You have me just the way you want me. Minus the knife of course."

“Heh.” Ruby reached out her arm and drops the knife on the table. “We’ll think on your question tomorrow. Now about that searching you were talking about…How exactly does one go about that?” Ruby gives Jake a mischievous smile.

"Can you do that, er, trick with the candles first? I kind of liked that." Ruby nods and recites the incantation again, lighting all the candles. "Yes, very nice. Now if we are going to be thorough that dress will have to go, it is definitely in the way...." Ruby kisses Jake and does exactly what he asks...

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Seven, “Food and Beverages”, Thursday, March 9th, 1882, 11:45 P.M.

Katherine was silent and stiff on the walk home. It wasn't a long walk, and it was only a few minutes before they walked inside. Chester followed Kate and Ginnie quietly. There 's been something on her mind ever since that halfling spoke to her. It's too bad, because it looked like she was getting over her husband's death. It's probably nothing.

Chester walked up to his room and changed for bed. Should I move to the Lone… wait, the Lucky Lady? Wonder if I'll have to pay rent there. Need to ask Ruby about that tomorrow. It's a nice offer. He falls asleep thinking about the new family he's found in Promise City.

Kate followed Ginnie to the stairs and up to their room. She waited there until Ginnie had gotten changed and into bed. She knew that the moment she left the girl would do what she pleased, but so far she seemed to be keeping it pretty tame, so Kate didn't worry about that. Once Ginnie was at least pretending to be settled Kate left and went into Mr. Gonzales' rooms. He should be back by now. She said the incantation and went into the magnificent rooms behind and started pacing the long front room.

Katherine paced the length of the room a few times with only a few stumbles. Mr. Gonzales usually appeared a minute after she came in. Kate began to poke her head into each room, looking for him. She stepped inside the library and looked at the books that Johnny Ringo claimed belonged to him. Maybe they did and maybe they didn't, but even if she was inclined to give them up, how in the world would they be moved. She grunted and turned her back on the room.

He wasn't in his bedroom or the laboratory either. She spent a moment looking at the laboratory, with all its tempting bits of glass. There was enough sense left in her to back away and shut the door. Instead she walked over to the fountain and began casting, holding her shaking hand in front of her face. Her hand remained empty as she slurred her way through the spell. "Damn it," she muttered and tried again. This time she said it slow and loud and a blob of glass appeared in her hand.

Kate looked at the irregularly shaped thing in her hand. It was supposed to be round, but it didn't really matter. The spell wasn't very strong; it could only make fragile and pale imitations that disappeared after a short time. But that was her intention.

She stepped a bit away from the fountain and looked at the back wall. No one would hear her from in this place. She pulled in a deep breath and screamed as she hurled the ball against the wall. It shattered with satisfying spray of glass and Kate immediately created another and repeated the process. She rapidly ran out of spells, thumped down onto the side of the fountain and put her head in her hands.

Manuel Gonzales enters his mansion and immediately notices all of the broken pieces of colored glass all over the floor and a dejected Kate sitting there. He approaches her without making a sound and stands there for a considerable amount of time until she notices him. "My little sandpiper, it saddens me to see you so distressed. And you drank far more than you should have back at the Lucky Lady. What exactly was it that the little man told you that brought you to this state?"

She states "I.....Did I tell you? You were away and I can't remember... Ruby told me about Tom, how they lied to me. When I went to Tombstone, the time when I brought Ginnie back, I went looking for Morgan Earp. But his brothers hid him from me. And then he disappeared." "Yes my dear, after I returned from California both you and Ruby told me parts of that story. I was grateful that no harm came to you. The Earps are dangerous people.

Kate dropped her hands into her lap. "And now he's back. But I don't.... I shouldn't... I can't stop being angry." He replies, "Anger is fine, but what you do with that anger can be problematic. Right now you have had far too much to drink and am not thinking straight. Although I am at least thankful that you decided to take out your anger in the privacy of this place rather than around town. What are your thoughts as to how you will handle this?”

She answers, "What is there to do? He's an Earp. I can't so much as set a foot in Tombstone without them knowing they'll just hide him again. Or worse. They know who I care about, and they have Wyatt's eyes here. And they wouldn't hesitate to 'discourage' me by going after those people."

Kate stood up again, her hands helplessly waving as she continued. "I just want to know the truth! I don't care about judges and charges and courts. All I want is to know why my husband is dead, and I want to hear it from the man who did it. I want him to face me to admit what he did!"

"What was he thinking? What was he doing out there? Why wasn't he home in his bed instead of out drinking and playing cards? We were supposed to...." Kate's hand flew to her mouth as she sat again and whispered, "I'm sorry. Forgive me."

Manuel gives her a big hug. "My little sandpiper, you know that I want only what is best for you. But now you have been drinking too much, so are not looking at things right. In the morning you will probably be able to look at this more objectively. You should get a good night's sleep first. If you'll wait a minute I can put together a nice herbal tea for you, to help you sleep."

Kate just nodded waiting for the drink. "Isn't the idea of drinking to drink too much?" She had missed her teacher while he was gone, and it was a relief to have this safe place to let everything out. A few minutes later he returned and she took the warm cup in her hands. "Where were you earlier? I thought for certain you'd be back before Ginnie was settled."

"Mr. Austin was helping out some mutual friends of ours," is his cryptic response. He waits for her to drink the tea and then escorts her back to her room. He gives her a kiss on her forehead and wishes her a goodnight's rest.

Kate managed to pull of the new dress and her corset before crawling into her bed. She'd hoped to have better memories to go with that dress at the end of the night. After a few minutes of struggling with her shoes she managed to get them off and curled up, waiting for the tea to take effect.

March 10th, 1882, 7:15 A.M.

Ruby slowly opened her eyes. She wasn’t accustomed to the new room and the morning light was coming in different spots than she was used to. The bed was comfortable and she was comfortable, up until the part where the splitting headache came on her. Damn champagne. Jake was still sleeping and it was early so she didn’t want to wake him. She pulled herself up slowly, the headache getting worse. She needed coffee.

Ruby grabbed Jake’s shirt and threw it on, left the room and headed to the kitchen. It seemed the whole place was still asleep. When she got to the kitchen she stood there helplessly, trying to remember what Maria had told her. Where was the stupid coffee? Ok, she went to the pantry and got the coffee out and the pot. She put it on the stove with some water. She stood there waiting. And waiting. Maybe I should turn the stove on, she thinks. She gets the wood, throws it in and uses a spell to light it. She smiles to herself. That wasn’t so hard!

She decided while she was there she was hungry. Jake would probably be hungry too. Hum, a steak for Jake, he would appreciate that. Ruby grabbed one and another pan. She put the steak in the pan on top of the oven. That’s not too hard either. Then Ruby decides to get adventurous. Pancakes it was. She went back into the pantry, grabbed another pan, a bowl some flour and eggs.

She laid the items on the counter, looking them over carefully. How hard could pancakes be? She started with the flour. She tried to pour just a little in the bowl but a whole pouf of flour came out, leaving white dust in the air and all over Ruby. Coughing she fanned the air until the flour settled. Ok, I’m making more than I thought. Then she tried cracking the eggs. Pieces of shell kept ending up in the bowl and the battle to get the pieces out waged for a few minutes. She mixed it up but it didn’t look right. She went searching for the milk, which she found. She poured too much milk in, so then she added more flour, which pouffed out again.

After mixing it up, that finally looks good, so she puts the pan on the oven next to the steak and pours the batter in. Hey, I’m making breakfast! It smelled like something was starting to burn. She checked the coffee, which was ok. Whoops! It was the steak. She grabbed a fork and turned it over. Maybe Jake wouldn’t notice. Damn It! At the Cantina Dorita always made good breakfast and it looked easy. This was getting hard.

The pancake started to bubble, but didn’t really look like a pancake. Ruby tried to turn it over but it stuck to the pan. She scraped it off and flipped it over, but it was all mangled. Well, maybe the next one will be better. Of course, the next bunch turned out just the same. Ruby was getting frustrated at the situation and the headache was getting worse so she took the coffee off the stove and poured it into a mug. It looked a little thicker than usual, but she tried it anyway. It was immediately spit out. She put the coffeepot on the counter, wondering what she did wrong.

The pancakes didn’t look nice but she held out hope anyway. One bite proved that hope had failed, they were not cooked on the inside, they were hard on the outside and they tasted like paper. Ruby frowned at the mess that was all around her and she shook her head. She pealed the now blackened burnt steak off the pan and threw it on a plate. She started making her way upstairs but not before a stop at the bar, the only true cure for a hangover headache was whiskey. She grabbed a bottle and made her way back upstairs.

She put the steak on Jake’s nightstand and had a looonnngggg drink out of the whiskey bottle. She climbed over the covers and hoped the next time she woke up would be better.

A while later, Nanuet wakes up due to a burning smell assailing his nostrils. He wonders why his head feels like it is in a vice, then begins to remember pieces of the night before. Boy, did I make a fool of myself he thinks. "Oh well, at least it was among friends. Now... what is that smell?" He stands up and immediately puts his hands to his head trying to do something about the throbbing. His mouth feels like leather so he thinks some water will help the situation and heads to the kitchen.

As Nanuet approaches the kitchen area he realizes that is where the smell is coming from. He walks into the kitchen and his jaw drops. There is flour; eggshells and a few pancake looking objects scattered across the room. The wood stove is still burning so he begins quietly searching for someone who might be around. While searching, he spots a pot of coffee on the countertop. He feels the pot and sees that it is still hot and pours himself a cup. He grabs the mug as he sees footprints leading through the flour and begins to follow them. He makes his way back out of the kitchen and heads up the stairs

Upstairs, Jake slowly comes to consciousness. He thinks “Why is Ruby moving around so much? Ah there she stopped. Some time goes by. "Sniff" What is that smell?” More time goes by. "Sniff” Jake sits up slowly and sees Ruby with her head under the covers and a just started bottle next to her. He smells the air and looks around. He discovers that there is a plate on his nightstand. He swings his legs over the side of the bed and looks that the plate. "What the f..."

With his fingers he picks up the cold burnt piece of meat that perhaps was once a nice rib-eye steak. With a tsk he drops it back on the plate. He gets up and wipes his fingers on the shirt he threw on the floor. He pulls on some pants and goes to sit in one of the velvet chairs, admiring the room and watching the pile of bedclothes faintly rise and fall with her breathing.

Ruby moans and rolls over, back and forth, until the blankets are barely covering her. With more moaning she opens her eyes again and sees Jake. "Baby, please, please don't let me drink champagne anymore, I mean ever again. I have such a headache." Ruby sits up and Jake notices the dusting of flour. "I made you a steak this morning. Did you try it yet?"

Jake smiles. "Good morning princess. I'm sorry but I slept so late it was cold by the time I woke up." If I was a more kind-hearted man, Jake thinks to himself, “I'd take that poor steak out in back and shoot it out of its misery.” "Oh. I'm sorry. You want me to try to heat it up?" Ruby asks in earnest.

Nanuet has followed the footprints to outside Jake and Ruby's room. He turns away from the door a full smile on his face shakes his head and takes a sip of the coffee.

"Ah, why don't you..." Jake's answer is interrupted by the sound of someone spitting a mouthful of liquid and then coughing loudly can then be heard outside of Jake and Ruby's room, followed by loud words in native elvish and more coughing. His head turns towards the door and then back to towards his flour spattered girl friend. "Did you feed anyone else this morning?"

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eight, “Travel Plans”, Friday, March 10th, 1882, 8:30 A.M.

Ruby gets out of bed with the sheet and sits sideways on Jake lap, putting her head on his shoulder and pulling her legs up. "No...” she looks up him innocently with big eyes. “Well, I may have left a little mess in the kitchen.” She pauses but then continues on quickly, “I was going to clean it up after I had a little more sleep and my headache went away. But I need some of this," she reaches out far for the whiskey, letting Jake hold her from falling, "To help." She takes another drink, "Aaahhhh."

With the hand the bottle in is, she points to the room, "So... how do you like the new room now that you've stayed in it? The squeaky bed was kinda, um, funny." "That's a relief." Jake says in a very low voice. "I like it. I still can't get over having a room like this, that actually belongs to us." He brushes some flour out of her hair. "I didn't really notice if the bed was squeaking or not last night. I did hear you get back in this morning though."

Jake chuckles a bit before continuing. "Ruby darling, you are a fantastic singer, a crack shot, one of the best sleight of hand artists I've ever encountered, and have some other skills that I find most pleasant indeed." He blows on the powder that is still clinging to sheet and it dusts up between them. "I appreciate the kindness to get up and make me breakfast, especially with a champagne hangover." He gently brushes some flour from her cheek. "Let Maria cook. That is why we pay her. Otherwise she'll go hungry and so will we." Jake then takes the bottle out of her hand and has a small swig. "Besides, if the Marshall sees that steak you murdered he'll put you in jail."

"Jake! I didn't murder it, I just cooked it," Ruby says with a small pout. "Besides, Maria doesn't cook breakfast and I was hungry. I'm still hungry..." Ruby puts her head back down on Jake's shoulder and looks around the room. "Yes, it is nice, isn't it? Our very own room. I wanted it to be perfect before you saw it." Ruby is quiet for a few minutes, thinking to herself. She turns her head back to Jake and kisses him. "Oh, good morning, by the way," she says with a smile.

"What do we have to get done today? I'm going to need a nap later, tonight will be a late night. I think we should stay open as long as people want to stay." "A late night will be fine. Maybe we can keep the music going with some others too and have a little fun ourselves. If not tonight, then another night soon." He sneezes some flour away. "Heh. Today I want to see Condon and Berg, but neither will take long."

"I want to do that tonight! Have fun that is. I want dancing and I want to play cards! And NO champagne..." Ruby says scrunching her face. "I guess I need a bath with all this stupid flour all over the place. Hum... what should I wear tonight?" Ruby seems deep in thought.

Jake seems deep in his own thought as he scratches his beard. "I want you to look at that gold box. I'm tired of carrying it around. It's the box the South American money was in. Some book too. Anyway, I couldn't sell it in Tucson, there are two many gold and silver boxes around because of all the mines. Why don't you make a guess at what it's worth and we give it to someone who's been helping out. I don't need it." She replies, "Sure, as soon as we get up I'll look at it. What do you need to see Berg and Condon for? Working on another business deal?"

"I already have too many businesses to run." Jake says with a sigh. "No, I need to make sure that Condon is keeping an eye on Scarface. So I'm gonna tell him a story. I want to ask Berg some questions about Adair. That and I think I'm going to put him on retainer for us." Jake pushes a strand of red hair from her face. "Not that I think we'll need a lawyer any time soon." Jake shrugs. "I will just make me feel better that he is looking out for us."

Nanuet makes his way back downstairs and hears a tapping sound coming from the front door. He heads over that way and sees Manuel Gonzales standing outside with a wooden box in his hands. "Good morning Sir!" Nanuet says holding the door open for him. "I have not seen you in quite some time. Please come in. Is there something I can help you with?"

He answers, "Yes, do you know if Ruby and Jake are awake yet? I need to talk to the three of you." Nanuet replies, "Well at least one of them was up earlier today for sure. Let me go get them, in the meantime, make yourself at home." Nanuet bounds up the stairs and knocks on the door to Ruby and Jake's room.

Ruby hears the knock and hops off Jake's lap. She opens the door in only the sheet, which she is barely holding up. "Morning Nanuet, how are you feeling today?" Ruby giggles. "Come in," she says opening the door wide. Nanuet's face immediately turns bright red and he averts his eyes from the scene on the other side of the door.

He stammers "Well, uh, hem... thanks for the invite, but Mr. Gonzalez, eh, Manuel that is, is downstairs and he needs to speak with us. I will meet you down there." Nanuet turns and looks at the ground as he walks away from the door. "I'd have looked." Jake says matter of factly as he gets up and puts on his shirt, boots and straps on his favorite Colt.

Ruby turns to Jake, "What? You'd think I was naked or something!" Ruby giggles again. "I wonder what Mr. Gonzales wants? Hum..." She wanders over the closet and starts pulling out clothes. "I guess me looking at that box will have to wait. I'll do it this afternoon." Ruby starts pulling on her clothes. She has Jake do up her corset, "My headache feels much better, thank goodness." She finishes getting dressed. "Ready?" She gives herself one last peek in the mirror before they head downstairs. Jake and Ruby go down stairs and meet Nanuet and Gonzalez.

"Buenes dias, Senor Gonlazez." Jake says in a friendly tone. He answers, "Hello. Look, I'll get straight to the point. You all, well maybe not you Nanuet, but you two saw how upset Kate was last night. I spoke to her afterwards, after she...well....she wasn't her usual self. Angry and destructive would be apt terms. She is beside herself about this Morgan Earp situation. I'm not sure what should be done about this. I have a few ideas, but wanted to talk to the three of you first. How do you think we should proceed?"

"I would be too. Except I would have put a bullet in the man already. I know, that won't do for Kate." Ruby sighs. "She thinks 10 minutes will make her feel better and be able to move on. I think we should get her 10 minutes with Morgan Earp." Nanuet says, "To be honest with you Mr. Gonzalez, I think that is something only Kate can deal with. It is her demon, she must face it. Of course we, or at least I, will do what I can to help if she were ever to ask or show that she wanted my help."

"Morgan's brothers will do ANYTHING to keep him from going to jail for the murder of Tom Kale. That includes burying Katherine." Jake had started to raise his voice but lowers it again. "I'm not a against doing something." Jake kicks the dirt on the floor. "Old Caleb White once told me, We all live in the protection of certain cowardice’s which we call our principles." He laughs. "Well mine's a pretty short list, but on it is keeping my friends alive. I'll do what it takes, but we need to avoid making the other Earps angry..." Jake then wiggles his Colt Peacemaker in it's holster. ".... or be willing to deal with the consequences."

Gonzales says "Well, I may have only known Katherine for ten weeks now but I think of her like a daughter. I will do what I have to in order to protect her. If I thought that killing Morgan Earp would rid her of those demons I would not hesitate to do so."

He pauses and then says, "But she wants a conversation, one that his brothers will not allow. My fear was that she would run off to Tombstone when she awoke this morning, so I, well, gave her something to help her sleep. Sleep until after the stagecoach for Tombstone had departed. I also asked Grant Keebler to take her horse out with him as well when he did his morning ride, to keep her from riding off until we've had a chance to talk some sense into her.

I don't know how to proceed. But regardless of the challenge facing me I have always found preparation to be of importance. The only one of us who knows Tombstone is Katherine, but she's not in the right frame of mind for a scouting mission. I'm inclined to head off there now myself, and was wondering if any of you would care to join me?"

"Count me in," Nanuet states. Ruby doesn't need to think it over. "Let's go." Then she pauses. "Wait, are you saying you drugged Kate?" Gonzales says "I gave her some special tea to help her sleep, and explained that to her before she drank it."

"I think we need some supplies in Tombstone for the Lucky Lady. Supplies that are only available in Tombstone. You know which supplies I mean, right Nanuet?" Jake says matter of factly. Nanuet states, "Oh sure, those supplies yeah. I almost forgot all about them." “What supplies is he talking about?” Nanuet thinks to himself, “Sometimes he loses me with his slick white man ways.” Jake says, “I have a couple of things to do today before I go though. shouldn't take long."

Gonzales sets his wooden box up on the table and begins to take some items out. Jake and Ruby both recognize the brazier as the one that he uses for the teleportation spell. He then places four other items on the table, one being Sonoma’s hairclip, another being Mr. Austin's glasses, another being a silver ring with a green gem and the final one being a solid black necktie. He says, "I would suggest that you hurry with your errands Mr. Cooke, I would like to be back before Mrs. Kale wakes up and we all still need to change."

"Jake, can't you do that stuff later, when we get back?" Ruby looks closer at the items on the table. "All right, I'll skip one of them. I'll be right back." Jake rushes over just up the street to Condon's house, to visit with the brother that is not working. "Mr. Condon," Jake says to Frank with a serious and troubled look on his face "I have some information and have been torn whether to tell you or not. I believe you are an righteous man, so I have come to the conclusion it would be only fair that you should know. It pains me when people spread rumors, and I don't want to be like the kind that do. It is doubly painful when it is someone I know and has said good things ab-" Condon interrupts "Martin! What's Martin up to?"

"No sir," Jake continues smoothly, "it's not Chester Martin, that boy is honest as the day is long. It's.... it's Danby Jones. I don't really know him very well, and was surprised when he gave me a reference. I needed the work and meant to give you my honest best so I didn't think too much about it.

Back when I first met Jones there were folks that suggested he had an unsavory reputation. I never saw him do anything of the kind, and that's why it pains me to say anything to you. I doesn't seem right to besmirch a man's reputation on hearsay." Jake looks down at his feet and back to Condon before continuing, the troubled look back on his face. "I myself have been the victim of that. You treated me right though, and I want to pay that back. So don't treat Jones unfairly, just keep an eye on him."

Jake laughs, "It's not like you've seen him trying to see the combination to the safe, or eavesdropping in on secrets like where the real money is hidden, or had your bank or home keys in his possession." His expression changes to one of contemplation. "You know Jones did imply to me that I owed him a favor for getting the job, not sure what he meant by that...." Jake goes back to smiling. "You won't tell anyone I said anything will you? That really takes a load of my conscience telling you and knowing you'll keep that secret between us and your brother." Frank takes all of this information in and thanks Jake, finishing with "I'll look into this."

After Jake goes running off Ruby turns to Gonzales. "So, what do we have to do? And what do you mean, get changed?" Ruby pauses. "And I'd like to get some of that tea, the stuff that helps you sleep..." Gonzales replies, "Oh, I need you awake today my golden eagle.” She answers, "Not for now, the tea. Would I be able to make it for myself, like for a night I couldn't sleep?"

He asks, “How do you feel about being 'Louise' today?" She answers, “No I don't mind being Lousie at all. What do I do?" He tells her to put the clip in her hair as Sonoma had done and just say "mo`opuna ula". Ruby takes a quick look around the room, noting that no one is there. She does as Gonzales tells her and she transforms. She runs over to look at herself in the mirror behind the bar and giggles, especially at the blond hair. "Red is better," she says to herself. "Oh but can't I have a better name that Lousie? How about Lola?" she laughs. Nanuet laughs at Ruby's new name .

He replies "Well, we at least made her dress red for you, although it is a bit more conservative than you are used to. Unfortunately Louise was waitress here long enough that some Tombstone folks might recognize her, so you'd better play her as Sonoma did. Hope you can do a Boston accent."

He turns to Nanuet and says "I have three choices for you. One is a wood elf and the other two are human. You are already familiar with Mr. Austin. The wood elf is a much younger version of myself. The other human is a handsome blonde haired young man wearing traditional western garb." Nanuet says, "I think I will go for the younger version of you if you don't mind." Ruby says, "Oh yay! I can't wait to see that!" Gonzales hands him the necktie and tells him to tie it and put it around his neck and then say the phrase "Ungt menneske brun"

Nanuet puts the necktie on and attempts to say the activation phrase "Ungt menneske brun." Nanuet is surprised that the man he turns into is wearing a brown three-piece suit and polished black shoes. He does look like a Gonzales, but at half the age, with not a hint of gray or white in the long dark beard and full head of hair. Nanuet playfully bumps Ruby out of the way of the mirror so that he can admire his new appearance. "Not too shabby I must say. I could get used to this I think."

"Yes, this neck is rather tight," Ruby replies pulling at it. "But I thought we were going to Tombstone? Do they know her there?" "She's never been there, but this saloon gets a regular mix of folks who frequent both town. And we know that Morgan was here in Promise City while she was playing Lousie. One thing about using magic is you never want to do anything to make people suspect you are using it. For a person to suddenly start acting differently raises suspicion.

"And Mr. Gonzales, of course I can do the accent!" She starts talking in a nearly perfect Boston accent. With a flourish or her arms, "Don't you know what I really want to do is be an actress?" She spins around the room laughing at her. She looks up to see a not-so-happy Mr. Gonzales. "Alright, I'll behave." She hops up on a poker table, swinging her legs, but least is quiet, until Nanuet transforms that is. "Oh, Mr. Gonzales, you are a very handsome man," Ruby says with only a hint of surprise.

“Now that Mr. Cooke had best hurry back soon or we will have to leave without him,” Manuel says. Jake runs back to the Lucky Lady. "I'll be right down stairs!" He says as he bolts past them. He grabs his duster, sawed off shotgun, long barrel Colt, and Ruby's dagger and heads back down stairs. He is just finishing putting everything together when he notices the not so subtle change in who is with Gonzalez. "Uh, not more ma..." he stops himself.

"You like blondes mister?" Ruby says in a Boston accent while laughing. "Get changed so we can get out of here. People might get suspicious if I start kissing Miss Ruby's boyfriend." Gonzales has transformed himself into Mr. Austin. He hands the ring to Jake and says "Take off your guns and anything else you are going to want in the other form. Then say, "menehune akahele kultihin"

Gonzales has transformed himself into Mr. Austin. He hands the ring to Jake and says "Take off your guns and anything else you are going to want in the other form. Then say, "menehune akahele kultihin" Jake looks into the mirror sees a tall rugged muscular cowboy with long blonde hair, clean shaven, with deep green eyes whose retina patterns he still recognizes as his own. He is wearing a tan cotton shirt with a beaded swirl design on it, a thick leather belt and darker brown work pants. His feet are in a large pair of brown leather cowboy boots.

Gonzales says "It unlikely that anyone around her has ever met my friend "Tex" before, but if you can do a Texas accent that would be appreciated. "I'll do the best I can with the accent." Jake says as he puts outfits himself with the weapons. "I can do Missouri real well, but I'll try and do Texas and keep the speech to a minimum." Ruby and Nanuet both look at him with disbelief. "Alright, alright, I'll practice the Texas accent."

Ruby gives a whistle while hopping off the table. "Nice to meet you Tex. How lucky am I, I get to be accompanied by three handsome men today!" She turns to Gonzales, "Are we ready now?" Gonzales says "Yes, gather around.”

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Nine, “A Very Short Trip”, Friday, March 10th, 1882, 9:00 A.M.

Gonzales says, "We're pushing the weight limit of this spell at this point. I probably should have had you become Tex after we got there. Should still be okay though." He gets the brazier going and takes out some powder. He then adds, "And be ready to draw fast if you have to. There shouldn't be anyone where I'm taking us, but you never know." He drops the powder in and a cloud of pink smoke encircles them as he states the incantation and motions with his arms.

The four reappear elsewhere, in a spot that is not the Lucky Lady. They are in a small box canyon, with rock walls on three sides around them and an upward slope out on the other side. The canyon is twenty-feet from side to side and forty feet deep. There is light vegetation. Jake is the first to hear a rattling sound and sees the snake on the ground preparing to strike, around a foot behind 'Louise'.

Jake doesn't hesitate a moment or look around. He quick draws his Colt and fires at the snake until it's dead. Jake's second shot successfully kills the snake. Unfortunately his first shot goes through Ruby's leg, causing severe damage, and she falls to the ground.

Nanuet exclaims, "Damn it! I could have saved that animal. It was just startled, we bothered it by just showing up here is all." Ruby falls to the ground, cursing her head off. "OOOWWwwww, getting bit by a snake might have been better!" Ruby screamed

Nanuet exclaims, "Jake, what the hell did you do?" The brazier is still going and Manuel immediately casts his remaining teleport spell, bringing them all back to the Lucky Lady.

Gonzales stops Nanuet from casting the spell until he reaches over and removes the necktie, transforming the Indian back including his necklace. He does the same with Ruby's hairclip. He says, "Without you holy symbol it would have been less effective. We also need to see the real her." Ruby pulled her skirt up high, enough to see the wound. After seeing the wound Ruby turned pale and tried not to get sick. Nanuet casts his most powerful healing spell that he had memorized for the day. The broken bone, ruined muscle begin to heal, and some of the blood flows back into the wound. The wound seals over. A pool of blood remains on the floor.

Jake doesn't get in the way while Nanuet heals her, but watches intently without a word. As the spell begins to work, he walks over to the bar and grabs a bottle of whiskey. On the walk back he has a drink himself and puts the bottle on the table next to Ruby. "I'm sorry.” he says without meeting her eyes and walks a few feet away.

Ruby looks at her leg again, the wound healing partially, and calms down a bit. She reaches up from the floor to grab the bottle and she takes a very long gulp. She looks at Jake, "You know, if you wanted to look up my skirt you could have just asked." Ruby gives Jake a small smile. "It's ok, you probably just saved my life."

Gonzales removes the "Mr. Austin" glasses and takes the ring back from Jake. "Well, I guess scouting out Tombstone is out for today." He gestures to her leg and says "We had to get back to take care of that, plus we were near the town so the shots would have been heard." Nanuet comments, "Well if we aren't doing any more adventuring today then I can do a few more healing prayers to help your leg." "That's ok, Nanuet, save your spells. It's just sore now.”

Ruby says, “But, um, someone want to help me up? I don't like the view from the floor." Nanuet says, "Mr. Jake, I believe that is your duty. Don't want to be stepping on anybody's toes." Jake walks over towards Ruby and bends down. "Yes," he replies mirthlessly, "I would imagine she'd be pretty upset if you stepped on her toes after I shot her in the leg." He picks her up and places her gently on the nearest chair. He sits down behind her. Mr. Jake, you can find humor in any situation can't you?" Nanuet says with a chuckle. "So, Miss Ruby, should I try and use some more healing on you?"

Ruby sits for a few minutes quietly drinking. She turns to Nanuet. "Thank you, we're lucky to have you around. And you did a good job." She sees Jake sitting quietly and adds, "Look, I feel much better." She stands, cautiously at first but then with some confidence. "I can walk around just fine. I just need to rest it a bit. No dancing for me tonight." She walks over to Jake and sits in one of her favorite spots, on his lap and kisses him. "I guess we'll just have to find something to do where I'm off my feet instead," she smiles at him. "Any ideas?"

Nanuet says, "I don't know where you two find the strength! I am glad I could help. The gift of healing is a great one and I am lucky to have been given the chance to use that gift. I only hope that I am around when you need me." "Strength?" Ruby says innocently, "Strength for what?"
"Yes, I hope you'll be around to keep saving our butts too. Why don't you move in here then so we can keep you close?"

He replies, "Well, I did buy into that ranch, but I am not sure how much of that is really mine any more since I spent most of my free time doing your construction while the others were building it up. You sure you still got room around here? Seems like this place might get a little crowded. Oh, and don't play coy, you know what the strength comment was all about." "Coy? Me? Never. Yes we have room for you or I wouldn't have asked. By the way, can you make coffee?" Ruby gives him a big grin.

Nanuet replies, “Thanks for your offer, I will consider it. Yes, I can make coffee, but based on what I found in the kitchen this morning someone else is having difficulty. That stuff damn near killed me! I'll go make a fresh pot and see if I can't clean up some of that mess while I am waiting for it to brew." Ruby says nothing, just keeps the angelic smile on.

Gonzales gets some water to put out the fire in the brazier and then repack his things in the box. He says, "You may want to talk to that halfling about information instead, he said he was heading back to Tombstone tonight." "What kind of information do you want us to get? Half Pint will tell us anything he knows."

Gonzales replies "Yeah, he has loose lips. That isn't the problem. We don't want him telling other people that we were asking. Basically, we need to find out things about Morgan's schedule if we want to ever get him alone without any of his brothers for them to have that conversation. And we have to do it in such a way that he doesn't suspect magic use, unless you're planning to kill him afterwards."

Ruby says, Well, I don't plan on killing Morgan Earp, I really feel like this is Kate's thing and she needs to make the decisions. But you know, Nanuet is right. Kate hasn't asked us to help her, maybe she doesn't want us to help her. And I thought she decided she was going to try getting over it." Ruby sighs, "But I can't stand to see her so angry and upset, just when she was moving on. I'll talk to Chumbley today and see what I can find out."

Ruby glances around the room. "You know, we'd better get that," she says pointing to the puddle of blood, "Cleaned up before it sets in. And now I definitely need a bath and a clean outfit." She turns back to Jake. "Will you come with me to the bathhouse?"

Jake hadn't answered Ruby so she figured she was on her own. She got off his lap and made her way back up to their room. She took off her dress and examined it, the hole and bloodstains. It had taken her and Kate a considerable amount of time and magic to repair her leather pants from the last time she got shot. But then again, they were both a little better now with controlling their skills with magic. Ruby threw the dress and her underclothes in the corner and started getting dressed again.

She stood in front of the mirror staring at the scabbed over bullet hole, the dried blood and she sighed. This was going to cause a bruise, probably worse than the last. She struggled with getting her corset on and she realized how tired she was. Staying up late, waking up early, getting shot? Who knew. She needed Mr. Gonzales tea. Instead of continuing to get dressed she laid on the bed and pushed her thoughts away. Maybe she wouldn't sleep but at least she would rest.

Ruby was talking to him but he didn't really hear her. He felt numb. He watched her get up and climb the stairs, favoring one leg. Jake sat there for a few minutes ignoring anybody else in the room. "I can't believe I shot her." The words come out of his mouth without expression. He gets up, kicks a chair over and walks out of the saloon.

Mechanically, he goes to see Mitchell Berg. He makes small talk with him and then gives him $100. "Will you take that as a retainer? You predicted that one of these days I'll need your services. I hope you are wrong, but if I'm going to be a good customer I should listen to my lawyer. Have that cover Miss West too." Before he goes he asks Berg, "Do you know who owned the Palace before Adair won it in a card game?"

He replies, "Spencer Jordan, a card shark from California. He moved on after that."

After visiting with Berg, Jake goes to the El Parador barn and gets his horse. He rides him hard out of town to the area he normally does target practice. He ties off his horse, sets up a small target and quick draws several times. Miss. Miss. Miss. He notices that his hands are shaking. Jake leans his head back and looks at the sky for several long moments before he suddenly screams. He then stomps around abandoning his legendary cool, kicking stones and trees, cursing, and yelling. Panting, he finally stops. Leaning forward, his hands on his knees, his breathing slowly comes back to normal.

Jake spends the next few minutes collecting bits of wood to use as targets. He arrays them around him on rocks, trees and cactus. Then he stands motionless in the middle with the flap of the duster tucked behind his holster. Without any outward sign his hand flashes past his holster, his gun comes away in a fluid motion, his left hand meets the right, the hammer is fanned while trigger is squeezed, BANG, and the stick splinters. Again. Again. Again. This goes on until through several reloads. He misses a few times, but not many.

With one bullet left in the cylinder he stops and takes a silver dollar out of his pocket. He walks over to a mesquite tree and nestles it among the branches at eye level. He walks away from it steadily when without warning he spins. The duster flies open revealing his holster, the draw is a blur, hands meet gun, BANG, and a flicker of silver flees the tree to be lost in the desert. Silver Jake Cook looks out over that portion of desert for a while before he transfers the last of his bullets from the long barrel Colt to the fast draw Colt.

By the time Ruby makes it downstairs she is starving. She enters the kitchen to get herself some lunch and sees Maria cooking. "You're going to have to show me again how to make the coffee," Ruby sighs. Maria thinks to herself "Again? I never showed you before!" She grabs a plate and heads out to the main room. She takes a seat alone at the bar. "Niles, did you ever have one of those days?" Ruby doesn't look up at him as he gives her a whiskey. "Thanks," she says throwing it back.

Jake’s ride back to town is more leisurely. After dropping off his horse he walks back to the Lucky Lady. He stands outside looking at the sign for a moment. "I wonder if she was lucky today." He walks in and sees Ruby. "Hi. I really am sorry."

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Ten, “The Bank Job”, Friday, March 10th, 1882, 9:15 A.M.

Chester wakes up and readies himself for work at the bank. He has a quiet breakfast and goes over to the bank. "Hi, Mr. Condon. How are you?" "Fine, thanks, Chester. How are you. I heard the grand opening of the Lucky Lady went well." "It did. Everyone had fun, and Jake and Ruby were happy." Condon replies, "I hadn't pictured Jake as a saloon owner. But I had a feeling he wouldn't satisfied with being a bank guard. How about you?" Chester says, "Haven't thought too much about it, to tell you the truth." Condon replies, "Fair enough. It's almost opening time now."

At around 11:00 AM Danby Jones comes in to get the lunch orders. When he is over near Chester he whispers "Let Silver Dollar know that tonight's the night. You two meet me in the alleyway between the Indian Head Saloon and the Promise City Herald right after dark." Chester replies, "Um. Sure, Danby. Why tonight?"

Jones answers, "It's Friday, they won't discover we're gone until Monday. Gives us the longest amount of time for the getaway. That part of the plan was Silver Dollar's." Chester answers, "OK. Where'd you plan on going? Silver, uh, Dollar hasn't told me much. Do you have a hideaway set up already?" Jones replies, “Of course I do, I'm the brains of our trio. Look I gotta go, I'll see you later."

Chester opens his mouth, as if to speak, but closes it. He rubs his forehead and thinks to himself, “If it weren't for the people shooting at me, that guy would be the death of me. I'll have to tell Jake about this.” A customer walks into the bank just then. "Morning, sir. Please check your weapon at the door. You'll get it back when you leave." The man hands over his pistol. "Thank you."

Morning came with it's bright sunlight streaming in through the windows. For the first time in weeks, Kate woke alone in her room and with a splitting headache. Ginnie must have been out and about already. Kate managed to get herself dressed and downstairs to the Cantina. Dorita came hurrying over a few moments later with a loaded plate, but Kate waved it away. "Just tea and toast for now Dorita, I'll eat more later, I promise."

Dorita replies "You not more hungry than that? You sleep the morning away. It almost time for lunch!" Kate says, "My stomach is just a little bit delicate this morning. I don't want to make myself sick. If this goes alright I'll think about having some more. Did Ginnie pass through this morning?" "Sonoma take her to ranch. Bring back later," Dorita answered before going off to bring the tea and toast.

Kate ate slowly, waiting to make sure that everything stayed where it belonged. Riding today would be stupid, she wasn't up to it yet. But it seemed a shame to waste the time that she had to herself. She lifted her eyes after a while and looked around the room, noticing Conrad Booth come in for his late breakfast. She smiled slightly and went back to her tea.

Conrad Booth walks over to Kate's table and asks "Would it be possible for me to join you this fine morning? Oh wait, I recognize that complexion, not so fine. Dorita, we need a glass of my 'wake up special' for Mrs. Kale." "Wake up special? Why do I get the feeling that's going to be worse than the headache I've got now?" He says, "Oh, it will be the worst thing you have ever tasted but it is a great cure for a hangover. Trust me, Dorita has served it up to me on more than one occasion."

Dorita brings her a mug with a hot bubbly liquid inside that is the color and consistency of mud. Kate blew over the liquid a few times and took a swallow. "Ugh, that's foul. You drink this? On purpose?" Booth tells Kate, "No, I drink that to function. And you do too. Don't worry, I'll order us both up a fine meal to get that taste out of your mouth. She comments, You think I'll be able to eat after this? You have a high opinion of my stomach.”

He says, “Now I see that saloon you work at has a new name. I guess I'll get jealous to know that you are the Lucky Lady of that place, I wanted you to fill that role at my gaming table." Kate smiles and replies, “And I'm sure you know the Lucky Lady in that saloon is Ruby. I don't think Jake told her before he unveiled the sign. They're very happy there, and I think they're both surprised about it," she said and laughed. "So there is no reason for you to be jealous."

Kate took another drink of the foul liquid. "I have to say, I wonder at your judgement. I don't seem to be a very lucky person." He answers, "That's absurd Katherine, my luck improved the moment I laid eyes on you. No need to drink any more, that should suffice for someone of your size. Give it a few minutes and you head should be clear of your prior overindulgence."

"Oh thank heaven. Sometimes being small pays off," she said pushing the glass away. "That brew works two ways, makes you feel better and encourages you not to get in that condition again." Amazingly the brew did work and when the meal Conrad ordered arrived she was able to eat it. "I hope we haven't pulled too many people away from your table over at the Long Branch. We're hoping to get most of them from the Palace. I'd hate to think our success came at your expense."

He laughs at that and says "The Long Branch is the oldest saloon in town. Kate Higgins knows what her customers like, and some of that can't be obtained over at your place. I heard that the Palace was none too pleased about you guys, but with Hoover as an owner that Adair won't cut off his nose to spite his face. Expect to be upstaged soon though. The story is that once the Tombstone paper was out yesterday with the full page ad for your place that Adair's boy Bob Scull physically pulled Parker Baxter out of the Gay Lady to get him started on an edition of his paper for today.”

She replies, "Poor Mr. Baxter. If not for Adair his paper would be out of business and the good people of Promise City would have nothing to line their birdcages with. Competition we can handle. It's outright sabotage that upsets us. The Palace crowd is different than our crowd anyway. Things should settle down in a few weeks. Well, I have a little time to myself today and nothing planned. Any suggestions as to what to do with my time?"

Booth says, "I have no plans until evening. If you'd like, I could rent us a buggy from Drover's Livery and you could then show me this ranch you keep telling me all about." "I don't know, I...." Kate stopped for a moment. "Well, I could use some cheering up. I'm sure you've guessed I did not have a good night last night. Why not? If you're interested in seeing horses and cattle I'll be glad to show them to you. Perhaps you can help me choose a spot for a house." She then thinks to herself, “And it will keep me from thinking about Morgan Earp. I have to let that go...there's too much at risk now to be foolish, and I promised.”

He exclaims, "A house? You'd be moving out of the El Parador? I'm sorry to hear that. Well if you're moving away then I would definitely want to find out where you live. I've enjoyed your companionship and would hate for that to end."

She answers, "It's really not far. And it will be some time before I have the money I'd need to build there. I'd like to stay in the El Parador, but especially with Ginnie it's getting a little cramped in my room. I'd like to have something a little more than just a bedroom for myself. I'd still be here everyday, you know that." He says that he is happy to hear that. Following the meal he says that he will go make arrangements for the buggy and that he'll pick her up out front in a half-hour.

Kate went back up to her room to get her hat and jacket. It was March and fairly warm now, but she might want it. She picked up her dress from last night, still on the floor. She cast a Prestidigitation to clean it up, then folded it carefully into her trunk. As she stood back up she saw Tom's picture in it's frame on the nightstand.

"I made a fool of myself last night my dear, but I said something that maybe I should have said sooner." She sat on the bed and folded her hands in her lap. "I am so angry with you! You know that I've never objected to you having a drink, or to playing cards. But what were you doing getting drunk with people like Frank Leslie and Johnny Ringo? And then to leave alone and go down an alley? I know you know better. After everything we went through to keep you here, to be so careless!"

She was silent for a moment. "I don't know if you can hear me or not. I like to think you can. No matter how angry I am you know I love you and that's not going to change. No matter what else happens in my life, I could never love anyone the same way I love you." She gently touched the picture and laughed. "And I could never be angry at someone the same way either."

A deep sigh came up from her throat as she stood and put on her hat. "Now, I'm going to go for a nice drive and show off the ranch. I think you'd be proud of it." With that she quietly shut the door and went downstairs.

Meanwhile, across town, Luc's eyes cracked open around noon. Disorientation took him as he was unsure of where he was. The light streamed through the spaces in the boards of the stable. Wanderer nudged Luc's arm trying to rouse his owner. "I'm up already," Luc said laughing," Ya ain't got to get so pushy." Luc stood up and stretched. He hadn't had a good sleep like that in months. Luc took out his pocket watch and looked at it and saw the time was four past noon.

"Haven't slept this long since that drinking binge back in Virginia." He hadn't felt this good after sleep in a long time. Luc patted the horse’s side and walked out of the barn pulling his hat on as he hit the sunlight. "Missed breakfast," he thought as he walked down the street. His stomach rumbled a reply as if saying " No kidding! You gonna feed me or what?!" Luc decided to go back to the Lucky Lady, as it was the only place he knew in town.

Luc looked around seeing many new faces and what seemed to be a thriving town. Luc hadn't seen a town this prosperous in a long time. Luc walked up to the doors of the Lucky Lady and it hit him. When the Hell would he learn to leave his guns on his saddle. Luc sighed and shook his head as saying " Oh well." He then proceeded to head over to the saloon and get a bite to eat.

Back at the bank, Frank Condon comes in to see his brother. The two of them head back to the vault to chat in private. Frank then leaves and Morgan stays behind. Chester thinks, “I wonder what that was about. Well, they don't pay me to be curious. If it were important, they'd tell me.”

A short while later Danby Jones returns with the lunches from the kitchen of the Double Eagle Boarding house. Morgan is happy to take the steak sandwich that had been ordered for Frank. When Danby gets near Chester he whispers "Has Silver Dollar been in yet today? Do you expect him?" Chester whispers back, "No, he hasn't. I don't think he'll be here today." Danby answers "No problem, I'll stop by that saloon he hangs out with. Have to get him the spare set of keys to swap over."

Over at the Lucky Lady, Postmaster Eddie Palmer stops in to the Lucky Lady with a small shipping crate for a J. A. Cooke before sitting down to dinner. Jake had just apologized to Ruby. She waves to Niles to bring Jake a drink. She doesn't look up from her lunch, "I know you are sorry. And I know you didn't do it on purpose. But Jake," she finally looks up at him and looks right into his eyes, "I don't like it when you don't talk me, when you ignore me." She looks away from Jake's gaze and pushes her plate away.

"I didn't mean to ignore you. I just..., sort of..., you know..." Jake looks down. "Of course you don't know, how could you?" He leans with his back to the bar, his face looking away from hers. He is close enough to her that their arms are touching. "I was inadequate, felt inadequate. I've never shot someone I cared about. There is no time for thinking doing what I do, when it's time to draw instincts take over. Thinking is too slow. There is no room for doubt." He glances over at her. "I just needed to shake that feeling, I'll be alright. If you are."

"Inadequate? You saved me from getting bit by a snake. That could have been much worse than your shot." Ruby is quiet, Jake can tell she is thinking. She whispers, "I've had much worse things happen to me in my life. I just don't want you running away from me. I thought we were past that." Ruby looks back up at Jake, "Please don't do that to me." "I wasn't running away." Jake locks eyes with her. "I just needed some time to get my head back together. I'll quit whining, it was you that got shot."

"Is your head back together then?" Ruby pauses. "So what? I got shot. I'm still here. Let's not fight, ok? It's done with. I'm going to take a bath." She smiles, "Do you want to join me?" He sighs. "I told you I was fine now. A bath is probably a good idea."

Jake notices Danby Jones enter the Lucky Lady and try to get his attention. Jake walks over. "Hi Jones. Trying a different place for lunch today?" Jones says, "Hi Silver Dollar, nice place you have here," as he extends his right hand to Jake for a handshake. Jake extends his hand cautiously, this is not like Jones he thinks. "Thanks. I think we are doing pretty well for ourselves." The hands clasp and Jake can feel a key ring with five keys cupped into Jones's palm. Jones gives him a nod.

Jake puts on a confused face. His hand comes away from the clasp with the keys. He holds his hand palm up with the keys on them between him and Jones. "What's this for?" Jones whispers over "The plan Silver, the plan! Morgan's at the bank now. You need to switch that set with Frank's. Martin is all ready too for this. We roll tonight after it gets dark." Jake closes his fingers around the keys and lowers his arm. "What in Hades are you babbling about. There is NO PLAN! Why do you keep following me around spouting nonsense?"

Jones takes a quick glance around, noting the other dozen or so people in the place. "Ah, I get it," he says softly. He then turns and exits, leaving Jake standing there with the key ring. Nanuet says, "Something wrong Mr. Jake? You don't seem like yourself today?" Jake was just staring out the door after Jones when Nanuet comes over and speaks to him. Ruby came over right after Nanuet.

"That Scarface is either the most clever or the most stupid person I have ever met," Jake says as he holds his fingers closed tightly around the keys and brings his fist up to his lips to think. "I'm pretty sure it's the stupid one. Besides shooting my girl friend on an errand to get the Earps mad enough to kill us, and Scarface Jones trying to get me to rob a bank I think that the day has gone remarkably well so far." Jake puts his finger through the key ring and twirls them around his finger. "Of course it is still early."

"Scarface thinks I'm going to do a switch with Condon and get him the keys he needs to get in the bank. No amount of telling that man I'm not interested seems to slow him down." He stops spinning the keys and holds them tight again. "I'd pull a scam and have him caught, but I'm afraid it will backfire. I need to get these keys back in Condon's possession just in case something goes wrong. I don't need evidence on me."

"Excuse me," says a male wood elf who had been dining alone at one of the tables in the center of the room, as he approaches the swinging exit doors that Jake, Ruby and Nanuet are currently blocking. "Whoops, sorry," Ruby says, pulling Jake and Nanuet out of the way. "Did you enjoy your lunch?" She takes a good look at the man as he walks by. He replies "Yes, thank you. It is good to find places where those of my race are welcome."

Ruby thinks better of starting a whole conversation with the man. "Well, you are welcome here and glad you enjoyed your lunch. Come back again soon, or if you'd really like an enjoyable experience come back tonight and hear me sing." She gives him a warm smile and watches him walk away.

She turns back to face Jake and Nanuet. "This might not be the best place to discuss Jones. Let's go upstairs to our room." They make their way upstairs and head to the smaller section. Ruby plops down on the couch with a winch, forgetting about her tender thigh. "So, how do you propose we get Mr. Condon back his keys? I don't understand why you don't just tell them. If it comes out that you knew about this and weren't honest they will suspect you."

"If you two weren't standing there to talk to, I'd have walked right over to the bank." Jake looks back from one to the other. "I have talked to them about him this morning, but more in general terms. I also told Chester to watch him and do something, but he hasn't either. At least not that I know." Jake paces a couple of times. "I think I should just go there now, see what is said, leave the keys and then we can talk about it." Ruby asks, "You want company or are you going alone?" "I'd accept company." Jake starts twirling the keys again. "There is a risk to you two being with me if something goes awry." Jake shrugs. "That's nothing new."

Ruby stops herself from saying "No kidding". Jake can tell Ruby was going to speak and he says, "What?" She shakes her head. "Bad joke. You know I'm coming with you. I like risks." She smiles at him. "The risks have been worth it." Nanuet comments, "I wouldn't go if there wasn't a risk involved."

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eleven, “Kate’s Date”, Friday, March 10th, 1882, 11:45 A.M.

Kate sees that Conrad Booth has rented the fanciest rig that Drover's Livery owns. It is painted an off-white color with a white fringe curtain over the back and sides. Two fine animals are hooked up to it and Conrad gets down to help her up and into the seat. As she gets in she notices a small picnic basket tucked into the back corner of the floor with what looks to be breadsticks, cheese and a bottle of wine.

"What's this all about?" Kate asked with a laugh. "It's a bit fancy for an afternoon ride isn't it? And a short ride at that." She got herself settled on the seat and smiled. "It's a nice day for a picnic though." He replies "You did not eat very much at lunch time and I thought that you might get hungry for a snack." She responds, "I'm not exactly notorious for eating much."

As Conrad picked up the reins Kate described the best way to get out to the active area of the ranch. "Sonoma, Ginnie, and Flint should all be out there. We can look around a bit, and maybe drive some. It seems a shame to only go a mile or so when you went to all this trouble." Conrad replies, "Well, maybe we could take a longer ride afterwards. I know some very scenic places in the area." "I wouldn't have suspected you of knowing the country well. I would have thought you preferred cities."

Katherine enjoyed the short ride out to the ranch, talking of nothing in particular and watching the scenery. She enjoyed riding Meribel out, but it was nice to just ride again. Before long they approached the adobe buildings. "Sonoma did most of the work to get the buildings up. I helped as I could, but my knowledge of such things is lacking." Sonoma smiles with pride as she shows the buildings to Mr. Booth. Kate notes that she is very comfortable with this man from all of his meals at the El Parador. She shows him the four existing structures.

She explains that the first two are for storage, one being a root cellar and pantry for the humans that also has the spring planting seed. The other is a storeroom for feed the animals. She explains "The grasslands give them much of what they need to graze, but to maximize both size and fertility it helps to flush their system with some other grains and nutrients as well."

She points to a pile of larger thicker trees that Flint has cut, stripped and hauled to the site and says "Those are being shaped by Flint into the beams for the barn. There is a shortage of lumber in town at the moment so we will need to wait a while until we can get to the barn boards. We'll start to put up the frame soon regardless. Once the barn is up we can use the animal feed storehouse for other purposes."

Next she shows them her house, which she has started to decorate with a combination of wood elvan and high elvan decor. The last building is an empty two-room structure with more walls being added onto the side. She says, "This will be Kate's. It had originally been designed for just her, but that was before Ginnie came into the picture. We're now making it bigger so that both can live here." Booth just nods and does not comment further.

Kate exclaims, "Sonoma, you've worked wonders here, I'm still amazed. And the house is more than I had hoped for so soon. I think Ginnie and I will be happy here. I'll have to get a stove, and I suppose I'll have to learn to cook. I don't think we can live on tea. I wonder if I could get a piano out here. Of course, I'd have to get a piano first."

Kate looked over at Conrad. She was going to ask what he thought of her little house, but changed her mind. "Perhaps you'd like to see the horses?" He answers, "Yes indeed. I've known how to ride for the last decade but I've never owned my own horse, and actually don't know that much about them.

Kate gently took his arm and led him toward the area where the horses were corralled. She kept her voice cheerful. "We could have ridden out today then. I can't imagine living without a horse, but I suppose you don't have much need for one. Tom taught me so much. I already knew how to ride when we met, but he taught me how to train horses."

They arrived at the corral where the wild mustangs are housed. "Of course, he never taught me how to train wild horses, so this is new territory for me. You can always come here to ride, if you like. Training horses is the only skill I have that will support me here. And I like to think Tom and I would have built a place like this," she said with a soft smile. Booth replies, "I'm sure that he would be proud of what you are accomplishing here."

She says, "I hope so," she said and let the subject drop. Instead she began telling him about the Apache and how they had brought the stock to them. "Nanuet is their ambassador you know, and I am, sort of his assistant. I doubt anyone else would have taken this bit of land, but we are on friendly terms with the Apache in the mountains."

Kate then took him to the already trained horses and began to explain some of the simpler parts of knowing a good horse, hoping to bring his cheerful mood back. After a while she says, "You know, I'm getting hungry. You must have the gift of prophecy, predicting that," she teased. "Why don't we go find a good spot for a snack?" He is agreeable to that. He suggests "Why don't we ride a mile or so to the east over near the Cochise Head rock formation. I know of a steam that runs down from that to a grove of shade trees. Should be a nice place for a picnic."

Kate agreed and they walked back to the fancy rig Conrad had rented. "Hopefully no one's cut the trees for lumber," Kate said as he helped her in. They rode out toward the formation, and Kate kept her eyes open, knowing this would be near the border with the Apache. Booth brings the rig to a location near the rock formation. He points out to her how the mountain gets its name, as it looks like a side view of the Indian chief's head.
http://www.davis-family.org/Sites/Si...s/Image23.html

He ties up the horses where they can drink from the stream and gets a cotton red-checked pattern blanket out of the back along with the picnic basket. Kate helped spread the blanket, then sat down and watched the water bubble over the rocks as the stream wound through the trees. "It's lovely here," she said after a time. "So peaceful. In Massachusetts the ground will still be covered with snow and everyone will be inside curled up by their fires."

She listened as Conrad laid out the food and opened the wine. "Thank you for this," she said before turning to look at him. "I know you don't understand everything about, how do I say it, what I've been going through in the last few months. But you've been a friend to me anyway, without pushing to know more. And you've given me someone to spend time with for no reason other than the pleasure of one another’s company. You've helped me more than you know," she finished, turning back to watch the water again.

Booth replies to Kate "I too have appreciated your company these past months as well. Katherine, you are a special person. You do not realize the transformational effect that you have upon others but I have seen it and experienced it first hand. Everyone whose life you have come into contact with comes away better from it.

I have tried not to pry into your past. The last thing I wish is to bring you pain. I get the impression that this was not how you were brought up, this ranching and house building." The twenty-eight year old handsome young man pauses and it appears that he is carefully trying to decide his next words. He says, "Katherine, the subtle things about you, your mannerisms, your speech patterns, speak of a level of refinement, your upbringing was clearly....better than this.

Now please do not get the wrong impression about me. I will not deny that I am a fortune hunter, but the fortune that I seek I plan to fully earn myself, not gain from any woman who I might be attached to. However, I am naturally curious about your upbringing and background. You spoke before of your parents having brought you to the theater in New York but I know no more than that about you."

Katherine turned back from the water and looked at him, surprised. "You really don't know any more than that? That first day when I asked you about Irby Cole, you seemed to know so much already. And you always know what's going on around town, I thought you would know about me already." He replies, "I know what I hear and what I observe. But I have not asked anyone about your background because it would not have been appropriate. From the conversation I had with Mr. Cook it appears that your friends are all very protective of your privacy, so I have respected that."

She says, "Yes, they are protective. But it's protective for you as well. There are things that it might be dangerous for you to know," she said, her mind flashing back to Morgan Earp. "You had a talk with Jake, about me?" Booth replies, "More of a case of him having a talk with me. Sounded more like a father than a friend, it was along the lines of 'what are your intentions'. Don't be angry at him, I would have probably done the same if the situation were reversed." Kate suddenly laughed. "That's so like him. He tries to play this part of the roguish gambler, but there's more good in him than he likes to admit."

In answer to his request she says, "I wouldn't say that my upbringing was better than this, just different. I have freedoms here I never dreamed of in Boston. But yes, I was raised very differently than this." Katherine then began to sketch in her life in Boston. How growing up her family's home had often been full of important people, her family being firm abolitionists. The days while her father was gone in the war between the states and the loss of his arm, and how her mother had stopped taking them to church while he was gone. She laughed while explaining that her brother Phillip's first words were in French because it's what they spoke while her father was gone.

She told him about the happy years after her father came home, and then her two years at finishing school. Her debut ball and the years spent in the whirl of social life where all the girls were looking to find a husband. And then how she met Tom in the stables. She was able to speak about him and remember how happy they were. The only time tears threatened was when she spoke of the times he was so ill he didn't know her.

"But he finally recovered, but everything was gone and he wouldn't stay well in Massachusetts. So he came here to set up a place for us, and sent for me in October. You can imagine how shocked I was when I got off the train and was told he had died." She looked back out over the water. "I spent three months drinking myself into oblivion in Tombstone before I realized I couldn't stay there. And I couldn't face going back to Boston, so I came here."

He reaches across and places his hand on her arm. "I am sorry that I asked. I have upset you. The last thing that I wish is to cause you pain. But if it any consolation, I am glad that you have come here." "Don't be sorry, Conrad," she said gently. "Talking helps."

He releases her arm and then makes a poor attempt at changing the subject, telling her about some of the plants and trees that they can see from where they are sitting. She let Conrad change the subject then, listening with interest to what he told her about the landscape. If she was going to live and work here she should know these things.

Kate is surprised by his knowledge as he describes for her the subtle differences between the trees that they can see. Most are the Arizona pine. He says that is the most common, but pointing over to Cochise Head explains that the green at the higher elevations are Ponderosa Pine and Conifer trees and how to tell them apart and that peaks further east also have spruce tree and how those are unique. He then points out the oak trees and explains to her the differences between the Emery Oak, Mexican Blue Oak and Arizona Oak, all of which are growing within their field of vision.

He says that on the way back he will also point out to her the big-tooth maple and alder trees that grow in the lower canyons. He then identifies for her several types of flowers, the Yucca plant, Indian Paintbrush and Gaillardia being the ones growing in the most immediate area. The basket was nearly empty now, except for the wine, which Kate had gone light on, conscious of the condition in which she'd awoken that morning.

She picked up the basket and wandered around the clearing, picking a few of the flowers that Conrad had just identified for her. She chose them carefully, one from here, one from there, so as not to leave any spot lacking for beauty. She took two of the flowers and stripped the leaves from the stem. One she tucked behind her ear, and the other she slipped into Conrad's buttonhole. "There. You're such a dandy, you weren't complete without a flower," she teased. Kate looked around the spot and sighed. "I suppose, we should be heading back."

"Yes, I suppose we should," he states. He begins to fold up the blanket, the stops and looks up to her. He clearly wants to say something but hesitates. She prompts him and is surprised by his question of "You spoke of your father, is he still alive?" She answers, "Yes, I've been fortunate. He and my mother are both well. I got a letter not long ago. Why do you ask?"

He hesitates and while still standing eight feet away from her and making no attempt to get any closer says "Katherine. You appear to think that I am a fop and a dandy, disinterested in females, because I have knowledge of plants. That is hardly the case at all. In December I would have not been able to tell you the difference between a pine and a maple tree. I only acquired that knowledge recently so that I could be of help to you. My knowledge of magic is limited, but I do know that components are needed for spells and that many of those components are found in the flora and fauna of the area where wizards reside."

After a pause he continues "Katherine, I must be totally honest with you. While I greatly appreciate our friendship I had hoped that at some point in the future, after an appropriate period of mourning had passed, our relationship might be more than that. But based upon what you told me today I have to accept the fact that our relationship will never be more than it is now. You have such great love and respect for your parents, and your father being an abolitionist and wounded Union Army veteran I have no doubt that he would never accept you having a relationship with the nephew of the man who murdered President Lincoln."

"Conrad, I.... Do you remember what I said the day you told me why you were no longer allowed in the Comique? It's wrong to punish you for the crimes of another who just happens to be related to you, and whom you've never met. My father raised the woman who feels that way, where do you think I learned it? My parents had high hopes for me when it came to marriage. When I fell in love with Tom they were disappointed. At first. Socially his family was newly wealthy, and not as high in social circles as we were. And he was Irish."

She paused and looked Conrad in the eye. "And it didn't make a bit of difference once they saw how happy he made me. As for calling you a dandy," she said as she stepped up to him and straightened his lapel, "I was only teasing you. You're always so well dressed you stand out among all the cowboys and miners here. I never thought you had no interest in women." She blushed a little and stepped back. "I'm not blind. You know I'm not.....ah, ready. And it may be some time yet before I am. I appreciate everything you've done learning all this, keeping my secrets, and respecting my mourning. I want to continue spending time with you, and maybe someday, well..... that will be then."

He appears to be at a loss for words and merely nods. He folds up the blanket and gathers up any of there other belongs, placing them back inside the carriage. He does extend his hand to help her up into the carriage but aside from that refrains from any other physical contact. On the ride west out of the mountains he continues to point out various other tress and flowers that he has learned of. He asks "Should we go back to your ranch or directly back to town?"

"The ranch please. I want to see if Ginnie wants to go back into town now. I think she's tired of lessons, so she may want to stay out here with Sonoma, which will be up to her. But I do have my own lessons to get to, and then work tonight." Katherine and Conrad arrived back at the ranch and he again offered his hand to help her down. She held onto it a moment longer than strictly necessary as she reached the ground. "I'll go find Ginnie and see if she's ready."

She found Ginnie with the horses and called her over. "Mr. Booth and I headed back now. Did you want to ride in with us or stay with Sonoma?" Ginnie considered for a moment and decided to stay out on the ranch with Sonoma. "Alright dear, I'll see you later then," Kate said, and resisted the urge to hug the girl. She still didn't seem comfortable with that sort of thing. "Have a good time."

She walked back out to the rig and let Conrad help her in. "It's just us on the ride home," she said with a smile. As Conrad shook the reins and got the team started Kate asked, "Who's been teaching you about the local plantlife?" He replies "An old wood elvan woman named Mother Jaminez. She knows more about the plants of this region than anybody, been living here for centuries. I tell you Katherine, one advantage to our spending considerable time at the El Parador is that we are among the few humans in town who the long-established wood elves have accepted onto their land. The key is to just treat people as people regardless of race. Not that I have to tell you that, seems your father already did a good job with that lesson."

"He did, but I didn't learn what that really meant until I came here. Nanuet was on the stage when I came from Tombstone, and I was afraid of him. And angry with myself for being afraid. He's the sweetest man, of course, but I let my fears rule me for a while on that ride. I'm still ashamed of myself. But I'm so thankful I got over those fears. I don't know what I would have done without the El Parador and everyone in it. I needed family and they took me in without a second thought. As did you, in your own way," she said lightly touching his arm. "I have been transformed as much I have transformed anyone else," she said lightly as she laid her hand back in her lap.

Conrad chuckles, "You were afraid of him? And now you own a ranch together! What a wonderful world this is that we live in." The carriage arrives back in town just before 3:30 PM. Conrad brings her to the front door of the El Parador and helps her down. "Thank you for a wonderful picnic" he says. Before he lets go of her hand he gives her a kiss on it and then releases it.

"Thank you for brightening my day. I... Well, I'll see you at dinnertime. And if not then, tomorrow I'm sure." She plucked the flower she'd worn in her hair out and dropped it on the seat as she picked up the small bouquet she'd picked. "To bring you some luck," she smiled before she turned and went into the Cantina.

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Twelve, “Trouble at the Bank”, Friday, March 10th, 1882, 1:15 P.M.

Ruby, Jake and Nanuet make their way over to the bank. Ruby comments, "I should probably check on Kate at some point too. I hope she isn't sitting around plotting again..." They get to bank and head inside. There are currently no other customers. Frank Condon is sitting at the desk and both tellers are behind the teller's windows. Jake notes that Frank is wearing his sidearm, which he usually keeps inside his desk drawer except for times when he suspects possible trouble.

Ruby walks up to Chester, "Hi Chet, how's it going today?" he answers, "Just fine Ruby," with a smile. Condon looks up towards Jake and asks "Here to make a deposit?" "Yes, though an usual one." Jake places the keys on the desk next to him. "Can I sit? Or should we talk somewhere private?" "Private? Then why'd you bring them with you?" Frank states, gesturing to Ruby and Nanuet. “Time to do your stuff” Silver Jake Cook he thinks to himself. He says to Condon, "They came because they are my friends and I'm a little rattled. Since you have no customers right now, I guess we are private enough."

Jake lowers his voice and sits. "A man gave me these, told me that I'm supposed to switch these for a set that you have. I told him I don't know what he's talking about, he makes some vague innuendo and goes away and leaves me with these." Jake takes a deep breath and rubs his throat before continuing. "Now, I'm not a man of deep thoughts but I suddenly realize this man thinks I'm going to help him do something illegal. Something I'm certainly not going to do. And worse, I'm carrying keys and look guilty!"

Jake exhales deeply. "Well, I'm not carrying keys any longer. When we talked this morning I told you that man's name. You must be getting pretty nervous right about now, and suspicious too. The last thing I want is for folks thinking I'm associating with someone planning what he is planning." Jake looks him right in the eyes. "Frank Condon, if I'm making you nervous and you want me to, I'll walk right out of here and leave you to deal with this and not say another word. Instead if you trust me and want some help setting up that weasel, then tell me that." He wipes some nonexistent sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. "Tell me something though, I'm mighty uncomfortable sitting here after what I just told you."

Frank again gestures to Nanuet and Ruby and says "So, how are they involved in any of this?" "They are not. They were just in the saloon when Jones came in a little while ago. They came over to me after Jones left because my mouth was hanging open. I trust them, they've both saved my skin several times." Jake looks back at them and then back to Condon. "Look, if we are making you nervous we'll leave. You can come see me later if you want." Frank says, "No, stick around. My brother will be coming by soon and I'm sure he'd like to hear what you have to say too."

Ruby glances at Jake sitting and talking with Condon. Nanuet starts to walk over to them but Ruby grabs his arm. "Better we stay here and keep Chester company." She looks Nanuet in the eyes and he stops walking. They continue to chat with Chester, but Ruby keeps her eyes on Jake.

A customer comes in. Jake, Ruby and Nanuet all recognize him as the same wood elf who had dined at the Lucky Lady and had left there a half-hour earlier. He heads up to the teller's window and fishes out some crumpled bills and a few coins from his picket and talks to new Head Teller Bruce Maxwell about opening an account.

Ruby walks up to the wood elf. "Well, isn't this a coincidence. If I was the paranoid type I would think you were following us," He replies, "Following you? I departed from the saloon first. Maybe it is you who are following me." Ruby laughs. "So, what's your name? Mine's Ruby," she says extending her hand. "Eduardo, Eduardo Rodriguez" He extends his hand in greeting. She notices that while the handshake is firm the hand itself is free of any calluses, bruises or scratches.

Nanuet sighs and says to no one in particular in a low and quiet voice "Hi my name is Ruby, I love talking to strangers and trying to find more trouble than I am already involved in. What other information would you like about me and my companions? Oh, you still don't want to talk to me, that's OK, I will keep talking to you every time I see you around town." He continues until he feels Ruby's eyes boring a hole into him. He meekly smiles and says "Never mind."

Chester unsuccessfully tries to stifle a laugh. Ruby's look helps him. "Good afternoon. What brings you three to the bank today? Are you carrying any weapons? I'll need to put them in the box here, if you're staying. You now, after the excitement in January, we're being more careful.

She continues,"Ah, you found out my secret, Mr. Rodriquez. I like to follow all my customers around." She glances at Jake who is still chatting with Condon. "Well, I'll let you get back to your business then.” He answers, "There is no hurry. The teller says that I need to speak to the bank manager, who is currently busy with your friend." She says, “I hope we'll be seeing you at the Lucky Lady again soon?" He replies, "Yes, it was a fine meal. I am told that they have fine entertainment as well."

"You're looking at the entertainment. I sing and sometimes dance. We have poker games too, if that interests you. I'm certainly glad to hear that you enjoyed your meal. You new in town? Here on business?" Ruby pauses, and looks at Nanuet, whose earlier remarks had not escaped her, "Since there is no hurry..." She then thought to herself, “What was taking Jake so long?”

Jake tries to judge Frank Condon's state of mind, whether or not he trusts Jake, and whether or not he is nervously stalling Jake and his friends. "Do you want us to wait outside? I feel funny just hanging around the bank like this, I don't want to concern your customers." Condon replies loud enough for Ruby and Nanuet to hear "Your friends are free to leave. I'd like for you to stick around until my brother arrives.” Chester hears that and thinks “What's that about? Is he worried about Jake?"

Jake watches the wood elf out of the corner of his eye, looking for anything unusual including weapons, whether hidden or not. " Jake does sense that Frank is nervous. The wood elf is just waiting patiently by the counter. His attention appears to be focused on Ruby at the moment. The man has a buttoned up waist-length jacket and western-style tie over a cotton shirt. The clothing fits rather tightly so there is no place for any type of firearm other than perhaps a derringer. He does, however, have high wide-brimmed cowboy boots so could conceivably have a weapon concealed in one or both of them.

Chester approaches the wood elf and says, "Excuse me sir. Do you have any weapons. If so, you must check them at the door. You'll get them back when your business is done." He says "Do I look like I'm carrying a weapon? I have not guns. I know how these towns work, one of my race could get shot just for carrying a firearm." Chester answers, "Well, no. But I have to ask everyone. My mistake, sir."

Jake gets up and goes over to Nanuet. "Condon is nervous with all us standing here, I'm not sure he trusts me. I think he'd like you and Ruby to go. I don't really want you to, but it would make him less nervous. Maybe you guys could leave and keep an eye on the bank for a bit." Jake stops and scratches his neck. "Why does this seem familiar. You two outside and me inside." He laughs nervously. Nanuet replies, "OK, we will wait outside and not too far away. C'mon Miss Ruby, let's go."

"Huh?" Ruby looks away from Eduardo. She surprised herself, having not seen Jake approach. "I'm not going anywhere..." Ruby looks nervous at the prospect of leaving Jake in the bank alone.” Nanuet walks towards Ruby and reaches for her arm slowly and gently, trying to guide her towards the exit. "Mr. Jake needs us to do an errand for him. It can't wait, we need to do it now, please."

"Oh, then why wouldn't he tell me?" Ruby started to worry about this Jake not talking to her thing... She let Nanuet pull her out of the bank but looked back at Jake to try to catch his expression. Jake smiles and nods when Ruby looks at him. She thinks to herself, “Why wouldn't Jake want us in there after bringing us along? Something just seemed wrong about this whole situation.

"Sorry, you know I am not good with words" Nanuet says leading Ruby out of the bank. Once they are out of earshot of the people inside he continues. "Jake said that we were making the bank owner nervous. He wants us to wait nearby." They turn east on South Street. They walk no more than five feet away from the door when they see Warren Earp standing in the alleyway just off of the Street. Ruby pulls her arm away from Nanuet and heads over to Warren. "Good day, Mr. Earp. Out for a stroll?" "Ma'am" is all he says in response to Nanuet and Ruby and continues to watch them.

Something didn't sit right with Ruby. Nanuet is obviously flustered by the appearance of Warren Earp. He tries to keep his cool and lead Ruby away from him, but she obviously has other ideas as she turned on her heel, hair flying, and walks back into the bank.. He stands now in the middle of the street waiting to see what happens next. Warren Earp steps forward and tells Nanuet "I would suggest that you go away now for your own good."

As Ruby walked past Chester, "It's ok, I just forgot something." She walks up to Jake, who is again sitting at Condon's desk, "Come on, let's go." She puts her hand gently on his arm and squeezes. When Jake looks up at Ruby she starts adjusting the neck of her dress. Jake turns to Frank Condon, "I can't stay longer right now. We can arrange for Morgan and you to talk with me later."

Warren has followed Ruby into the bank and then turns and throws the deadbolt lock on the door behind him. Jake gets up, tips his hat and starts to follow Ruby out of the bank until he sees Warren lock the door. Chester turns as Earp enters. "Afternoon, Marshall. What's going on? Is Deadeye back in the area or something?" "Something like that" Earp tells Chester. Frank tells Warren "Put up the 'closed' sign, we're done for the day. Warren slides a metal lever to the right on the door, sliding the plate on the other side from covering the word 'open' to 'closed'.

Nanuet steps towards the door as he hears the deadbolt lock but he realizes he is too late. He heads around the side of the bank to see if he can see in through a window or if there is another entrance. He soon finds that there isn’t, and can’t see anything though the small wire reinforced frosted glass window on the door. He then sees the sign on the door change. Nanuet realizes that there is no other way in or out and the only window is the tiny one by the door. He waits near the front of the bank, trying to come up with an idea.

With Jake in tow Ruby heads for the door. Warren has already bolted it. "Is there a problem?" Ruby asks defiantly. "Can't say yet. We'll find out soon enough," is Warren's reply. Ruby exclaims, "What does that mean? You can't keep us here against our will, we didn't do anything!" He replies, "Actually, this badge says that I can." He gestures to Frank Condon and says "His brother and my brother will be along soon enough and then we'll all find out what this is about."

"This is turning into a really BAD day!" Ruby crosses her arms and leans up against the teller window. "Relax Ruby," Jake says, "we'll just wait for the others and see what they have to say. Frank, this is twice now I've taken on a significant personal risk to help safe guard your bank. I understand you need to be cautious, but let's not go overboard. I own property, have money in both banks and am a part owner in a silver mine. The last thing on my mind is doing anything to mess that up. I was trying to be a good citizen and friend." Jake sits back down. "Looks like you see it differently."

Condon answers, "Mr. Cook. Last summer the James gang tormented and terrorized two of my employees and stole more than $ 10,000 from myself and my brother. Not two months ago Deadeye Douglas and his gang were in here threatening all of our lives and causing my Head Teller to have a nervous breakdown and quit. Today you tell me that a trusted employee, one who I have known for far longer than I've known you, is planning to steal from me. I believe I have ample justification to be cautious in this situation." "Heh," says Jake his eyes narrowing, "I met Deadeye Douglas that day too. He left me a couple of presents." Jake shakes his head. Ruby exclaims, "Can we not talk about that day, please?"

Outside, Nanuet paces back and forth outside, thinking if any of his prayers could help. Standing out here is probably not the best idea. These two will be the end of me I am sure of it. Nanuet walks away trying to find a spot where he can observe the front of the bank without standing immediately in front of it. He heads next door to the Indian Head saloon and finds a comfortable spot to stand and be out of the way. Another ten minutes pass until Nanuet sees Morgan Condon and Wyatt Earp heading down from Main Street along Front Street, coming up to the back of the bank.

Nanuet notices the two of them and thinks if there is anything he can do. As they approach the bank he steps out and says "Mr. Condon, is the bank closed? Any idea what is going on in there? I was going to do some business but she's locked up tight. I can't read the sign but door is not opening." Morgan sees the sign on the door and says "Looks like they closed early today." Nanuet notes that Morgan Condon is wearing a sidearm and Wyatt Earp has two revolvers on his belt and a shotgun slung over his back. Wyatt says, "Best that you just move along Indian. This does not concern you."

They reach the front door. Wyatt knocks and says "Warren?" Those inside hear this. Ruby says, "Is this going to take long? I can't keep standing here, I need to sit down." She tries not to look at Jake as she says this. "I hope we can get this over now. Answer all your questions." Jake says flatly. Wyatt unstraps the shotgun from his back as Warren walks back to the door, turns the deadbolt and opens the door. Ruby walks over to the desk and sits in the chair. The wood elf follows Ruby.

Over at the door Warren lets Wyatt Earp and Morgan Condon inside. He then shuts and relocks the door. Wyatt walks into the room, raises the shotgun towards Chester and says "Okay Martin. Unfasten your gunbelt nice and slow and hand it to Frank." Chester does as instructed, handing this gunbelt over to Frank Condon. Frank puts it inside his desk drawer and then locks the drawer.

Wyatt then gestures to Ruby and says "And not one move from you Missy. Watch her Eddie." "Oh, Eddie, and I thought you liked our cooking." Ruby rolls her eyes but doesn't attempt to make any threatening moves. Eduardo does not answer her. Morgan shakes his head and looks at both Chester and Jake, saying "I'm very disappointed in both of you." Wyatt says, "Enough of that. Martin, Cook, either of you care to make a confession?"

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Thirteen, “Arrested”, Friday, March 10th, 1882, 2:00 P.M.

"Confession? You must be joking." Jake looks at Wyatt. "I'll confess to being naive in trusting that I could tell the Condon's the truth in this matter. I should have thrown those keys in the street and left you to find out on your own how much you can trust Scarface Jones."

Jake just shakes his head. "I'm no bank robber. Why in Hades would I need to rob a bank? I've got cash in both banks, own part of a saloon and a percent in a silver mine. There's no sense in throwing all that away even if I was the type to rob a bank. WHICH I AM NOT." Jake finishes with emphasis. "We have done nothing wrong. I gave you a set of keys, if they don't belong to you give them back to Jones."

Chester exclaims, "What in the name of Olympus is going on? We took bullets for you. Jake almost died. Mr. Condon, do you think we're going to rob you? Jones came up to me and Jake trying to wrangle us into helping him. So we both told you about his plan. Don't you believe us?" Chester crosses his arms. "Where is Jones anyway?"

Frank looks up towards Wyatt and says "Martin did try to warn me about Jones, around a month ago. Cook didn't say anything until today." Wyatt replies, "It sounds like I'd better have myself a private talk with Mr. Martin. Eduardo, Warren, please escort Mr. Cook down to my office and lock him up for the time being. Make sure he doesn't have any concealed weapons on his person."

"I've a knife in my boot and a derringer on my back belt." Jake stands slowly and keeps his hands up in the air. "Help yourself." Eduardo retrieves both of the weapons that Jake spoke of and hands them to Warren, who puts them in his coat pocket. While he is doing this Jake manages to get a good look down Eddie's right boot, seeing knives of two different styles and a bulge where a third one is probably concealed.

Jake says, "Frank, I tried to keep this quiet. I know that folks in town wonder about the safety of the bank since you've been hit so many times. You don't care too much about that now apparently. Mr. Earp would you send someone for my lawyer, Mitchell Berg, after you escort me to your jail? I believe I am in need of one."

Frank looks to Wyatt and says "He has a point. Do we have to draw attention to this?" Earp replies "No. This investigation is still very preliminary. I haven't had a chance yet to question two of the suspects." He then glances to Ruby and adds, "or perhaps three." He continues "I want to get all of the facts together before I speak to Judge Isby. He is expected to arrive back this weekend. We can keep this quiet for now Frank. Eduardo just arrived today and people don't know him or that he's working for me. Eddie, you walk alongside Mr. Cook down to the office. Warren, you follow but keep a distance so it is not obvious that you are together."

"Fine. But I still want to talk to Berg." Jake turns to Eduardo. "Please don't neglect to mention you were in the saloon and saw Jones hand me those keys just a little while ago." He then looks at Ruby. "It will be fine. Berg can represent you also, if there is a problem." Turning back to Eduardo. "Lead on." Jake and Eduardo leave. Warren follows a few minutes later. Morgan Condon relocks the bank door after they go.

Nanuet sees Jake being escorted out. He decides that it is better to not cause any trouble at this point so he stays out of the way, even stepping into the Indian Head saloon if need be to avoid them. He waits a few moments then looks to see if Ruby comes out of the bank or not.

Wyatt turns to Ruby and says "So Miss. West, what is you involvement in this?" She exclaims, "I'm not involved in this, and neither are Jake or Chester. If we were planning on robbing the bank why would we come here and tell you first? That Jones guy has been harassing Jake since he started working at this bank. And why would we throw away everything we worked so hard for around here?"

Wyatt says "Oh, it seems obvious that things have changed and Cook either changed his mind or lost his nerve. But that doesn't mean that he wasn't involved in a conspiracy to commit a bank robbery. As for Martin, I'll find out in the next few minutes what he knows about this. Miss. West, up until I walked through that door I did not have reason to suspect that you were involved. So if you continue to deny that you are then I guess you're free to go now."

She says, "Yeah, things changed. Jones walk into MY saloon and dropped a set of keys with a plan to rob the bank tonight. That's what changed." Ruby stands slowly. "I'm going to get Mr. Berg." Earp says "Fine, that will save us a trip. Good day Miss West." Morgan Condon unlocks the door for her to exit. Frank Condon looks over at the teller's windows and says "Bruce, Mark, why don't the two of you go next door to the Indian Head for a snack. We'll come get you when we need you again." Both tellers also leave, and Morgan relocks the door.

When Nanuet sees Ruby come out of the bank they chat for a moment. "They are taking Jake to the jail!" Ruby exclaims. "They think we were trying to rob the bank!" "I figured something like that was going on, I saw Jake leaving just a moment ago. What do we do now?" Ruby replies "I am going to see Mr. Berg, Jake asked to see him before he talks to the Earps." Nanuet answers "I am going to find that dirtbag Jones and see if he wants to shed some light on things."

Once there are only the four of them left in the room Wyatt gestures to the chair that Ruby vacated and says "Mr. Martin. Why don't you have a seat and tell myself and the Condon brothers everything that you know about this potential bank robbery. Take your time and go into as much detail as you know."

Chester takes the offered seat. He isn't happy about these recent events. After taking a moment to relax, he begins. "OK, Marshall. In early January, Jake, that is, Mr. Cook, introduced me to the Condons as a potential guard as a replacement for him. They hired me on and I began working here a couple days later. The day of the Douglas robbery, Jones came up to me and told me the robbery would delayed. Not long after Deadeye Douglas came into the bank in disguise. Mr. Cook gets shot, I get shot. Douglas and part of his gang escape.

Later on, I ask Jones if he had anything to do with Douglas. He tells me no, but talks as though me, Mr. Cook, and him were still in this together. I get tired of it and walk off. Then I told the Condons what Jones had in mind. "Today, Jones comes up to me again saying he has the fake keys and the plan is to go tonight. I brush him off and he leaves. That's where you come in."

Frank says, "Why didn't you tell either myself or my brother today! There were times after Jones left where there wasn't anyone except us and the tellers in the room. Why didn't you say something if you weren't involved? Chester says, "I don't know. I thought he was all talk, I guess. Lucky for you he doesn't know the truth about the money."

Wyatt Earp says "I'm going to level with you here, Martin. It doesn't look all that good for you. You obviously knew of Danby's plans but kept them to yourself. Seems mighty convenient to deny your involvement now that it's gone sour. I understand that you and Cook are friends, but you should know that he sold both you and Jones out. We wouldn't be sitting here now if he hadn't betrayed the both of you. This town just got its third lawyer. If you're smart you'll hire yourself a different one than the two of them and cut yourself a deal. I'd say at least two of you are going to prison, you can think about which two you'd rather that be." Chester says, "What? I do want a lawyer now… Please."

Wyatt gets up and tells the Condon's "Can you watch him until I can send Warren back? I need to go talk with Cook in private." Frank says, "Sure, we're both armed and there's only one way out of here. Morgan, you go let Marshall Earp out and stay over there and guard the door. I'll stay seated here with Martin." After the Marshall leaves, Chester asks Frank, "Now what?" Frank looks at his watch. "Hope that deputy comes back soon, I'd hate to be closed the rest of the day."
Morgan just shakes his head at Chester with a disappointed look on his face and says "And we trusted you! All three of you!"

Chester shouts back, "And what about you. I tell you Jones is planning something and you do nothing. Jake hands over the fake keys, and you blame us." The ex-soldier throws his hands in the air in disgust. "Good luck finding guards in the future." Morgan's hand drops near his holster. "You can thank Tyche Jones didn't know about the fake money, otherwise even he could have robbed you blind."

Nanuet heads back to the Lucky Lady and looks for Jeff Mills and Harry Rote. "I need you guys to help me with something. It's a long story and I don't have time to explain. They have Jake at the jail and are accusing him of planning a bank robbery. I need to find Danby Jones, he set this whole mess up. Can you help?" He replies, "Danby? We both live over at the Double Eagle Boarding House. His room is two doors down from mine. During the day he works at both the bank and over at Drover's Livery. I think he spends most of his time at the Livery since it's owner Austin Blake prefers to spend time at the hotel instead."

Eduardo and Jake arrive at the Marshall's Office. Eddie says "Just wait by the front door until Warren arrives with the key." Jake says, "So Eduardo, who is setting me up? I mean you just happened to be in my saloon? Are you a law officer interested in the truth, or just helping to put me in Jail?" He replies, "It's not always easy for those of my race to find employment in human communities. I worked with Wyatt Earp back when he was an Assistant Marshall in Dodge City, Kansas. He recently offered me a job here. When I arrived today he put me to work on this case."

"So you were watching me?!" Jake says disgusted. "I know what you mean about folks not giving somebody a break. What was I supposed to do? See what happened when I tried to tell someone about it. Bastards!" Jake looks away from Eduardo. "I'm sure they'll be able to railroad me in. Well congratulations, you got yourself a big name case. Who cares if an innocent man goes to jail or not."

Eduardo replies, "All I know is what I heard, I am not the judge here. It is up to him to decide who is innocent. It does appear that you are jumping to conclusions. All that the Marshall has asked is for us to hold you until he has a chance to talk to you privately about this matter." Jake says, "Perhaps you are right. Having the Marshall pull a shotgun on me doesn't exactly give me confidence though." Jake adds sarcastically. "I'm sure the poor kid from Philadelphia turned gambler will get a fair chance."

Eduardo states, "He was only being careful and didn't want you or your friends to try anything foolish. Mr. Martin was obviously armed, we now know that you were too and for that matter your friend Ruby may have been as well." Warren arrives with the key and unlocks the door. The three enter. The building is empty of occupants and Warren unlocks one of the two jail cells and gestures for Jake to enter.

Jake fishes the silver card case out of his pocket and hands it to Warren. He then gets in the cell. "Check it out please, be satisfied that it is only a deck of cards. I'd like it back so I can keep myself occupied." Warren removes the cards and hands them back to Jake. He says "I'm holding on to the case for now. It's hard enough to be used as a weapon."

Ruby heads over to Mitchell Berg's Office, knocks and walks in. "Mr. Berg?" she calls out. “Come in" he states. He immediately notices that Ruby appears to be upset and offers her a cup of tea. "I'd prefer a whiskey..." She sees his disapproving glance, "Tea is great, thanks." She takes the cup. He asks her to sit and explain what she needs him for. She proceeds to tell Mitchell Berg the whole story of Jones and how they are questioning Chester and Jake is in jail.

"So you're his lawyer, let's go get him out of this mess..." He replies,"I'm his lawyer for business matters. Criminal cases I either take or decline on a case-by-case basis. I won't defend anybody if I think they are guilty of the accused crime, as I can not convincingly make a case to a judge if I do not believe it myself. From what you told me it sounds like he is innocent, but all of your information is second hand. Were you present and did you hear any of those conversations between Jones, Martin and Cooke? If not, then I will need to talk to Cook before I decide if I am going to take the case."

Berg arrives at the Marshall's Office. Ruby had accompanied him. He asks her to wait outside. She refuses. He tells her "Then you can find him another lawyer. I need to talk to him and him alone." She reluctantly takes a seat on the bench outside of the office. He goes in side and explains that he needs to talk to Mr. Cook. "You his lawyer?" Warren asks. "That's what this conversation will decide," is Berg's answer. Eduardo notices Ruby outside and decides to head out to keep an eye on her.

Warren asks if he has any weapons and Berg says that he does not. Warren unlocks the cell and lets Berg inside, then goes and moves his chair to the opposite end of the room, where he can watch both men in the cell while presumably still being far away to not hear what they are saying. "Good afternoon Mr. Berg. Thanks for coming. Sorry I can't offer you anything," Jake tells apologetically.

Keeping his voice low Berg says. "First off, why don't you tell me why you just happened to pick today to put me on retainer? Did you know this was about to happen?" Jake is taken aback. "No. Serendipity I guess. I hadn't really thought about it. I had been meaning to do that for some time. I was really worried that Evan Adair would start something up between his saloon and ours." Jake lets out a big sigh. "I'm just settling in here, Promise City that is not jail. When Jones came in earlier it spooked me, I've got a lot to lose for a change. If I had been thinking clearly I would have come to you first for advice. If you don't believe me ask Ruby, I told her early today that I was going to put you on retainer for us."

Berg replies, "Well, I'll tell you what I told her. I'm your lawyer for business matters. Criminal cases I'll take or decline on a case-by-case basis. I won't defend anybody who I think is guilty of the crime they are accused of. I need to genuinely believe in my client's innocence. How can I convincingly make a case to a judge if I do not believe it myself? In this instance, I haven't had a chance to speak to the Marshall yet, which works in your favor, as he probably wouldn't even allow me to talk to you until after he gets to. So, tell me what you have to say before he come back and interrupts us."

Jake tells his story to Berg, the whole history with Jones and what happened before this day. “Only a few hours later Jones walks into my saloon and hands me keys. He put keys in my hands. No more innuendo. Now for all I know those keys open the outhouse. I talk to my friends for advice for a couple of minutes. They don't know what to do either. I decide to go to Condon right away. Now I'm in jail." Jake stops talking and looks at Berg. "What else do you want to know?"

He replies "I want you to know that I'm not a fool. You knew damned well what those keys were for, and it wasn't an outhouse. You say something that foolish in front of Judge Isby you might as put a ‘Hang Me Now’ sign around your neck.” Is that clear?"

Marshall Earp walks in and yells to Warren "What's Berg doing here!" Warren stammers out "He..he's Cook's lawyer." Berg says, "Actually, I haven't decided to take the case yet. I haven't heard the charges yet." Earp says "Right now, conspiracy to commit bank robbery, but I'm still working the investigation so that could change. I've talk to the other two co-conspirators and need to hear what Cook has to say. "I'd like to stay for that" Berg says. Earp says, "Okay, keep your mouth shut and turn and look at the wall. Cook you look at me, I don't want you responding based on Berg's signals." Earp then glares at Cook and says "Start talking. I'm listening."

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Fourteen, “Jailed”, Friday, March 10th, 1882, 2:45 P.M.

Luc left the Lucky Lady early afternoon. The sun was bright and it hurt his eyes after being in the shadowy saloon. The food was good and Luc hadn't had a good meal like that in over a month. Luc needed a place to stay. He couldn't sleep in the barn night after night. He also needed a job if he was going to keep eating. He decided to go to the hotel the singer from the Lucky Lady suggested. After that he would look for a job. As he made his way there he noticed a large number of people standing outside the bank. Luc stopped and asked the nearest person," What's going on? Someone die?" “Nope, just closed,” a man says.

Over at the Marshall’s Office Jake sighs and begins to tell Wyatt Earp his story. "Jones approaches me not long after I get the job at the bank. He talks in innuendo, implying that the bank would be easy to rob, and that he knows how to do it. I tell him he's crazy, I'm no bank robber and I don't want anything to do with it and he should not think about it." He pauses and sighs again. "Look Wyatt, at the time I'm new in town, I don't know anybody, and I'm supposed to run to the bank owner and say your trusted employee might have said he's planning to rob the bank? I had met Jones before a long time ago and my personal opinion was that Jones is incompetent, and that nothing was going to come of it."

Jake describes the other times that Jones contacts him the same way he did with Berg. "Each time, there is enough not said, that he can deny it if I tell someone, each time I tell him he's crazy and I'm not interested. I even told Chester Martin a long while ago to keep an eye out for Jones. Finally this morning I decide to warn Frank Condon. I still didn't have any hard facts to go on. I told him that I didn't know for sure, and didn't want to ruin a man’s reputation, but that Jones had a reputation and was saying strange things to me.

Only a few hours later Jones walks into my saloon and hands me keys. He put keys in my hands. No more innuendo. I believe your friend Eduardo was in the room at the time, though I didn't know him nor was I paying any attention to him. I talk to my friends for advice for a couple of minutes. They don't know what to do either. I decide to go to Condon right away. I tell him and he asks me to wait around, so I do. From there you know the rest." Jake looks Wyatt in the eyes the entire time he is talking. There is no threat in Jake’s expression, but no pleading either.

Wyatt Earp replies "Cook. I've been at this game that I'm usually able to tell when a man is telling the truth or not. But I've also found that's not always the case with gamblers, they know how to bluff and lie just a little too well. But that Danby Jones, he's no gambler, he's not even all that bright. He says that you and Martin are in on this, which you even helped with the details of the plan. I stared him down when he said that and by Jupiter and Mars I swear he was being truthful.

So I'm inclined to believe him instead of you. Thankfully, I'm not the one who has to make that final decision. And don't try to use what you did today as a defense with me, that just shows that you chickened out and decided to sell out your partners. So make yourself comfortable, you're staying in that cell until your trial."

Outside, Ruby sits on the bench, waiting anxiously. She notices Eduardo come out but does not acknowledge him at first. She sits swinging her feet for what feels like an eternity. Finally she jumps up and looks at him, "What is going on? It's taking forever!" She sees a look for concern cross his face. She sits slowly back down and quietly says, "Can you please tell me what's going on, I'm so worried." And there is genuine concern and worry on Ruby's face.

Eduardo calmly states "You friend's lawyer was the one who asked you to remain outside not me. And I've been here with you, so I obviously do not know any more about what is going on inside than you do."

Berg glares at the Marshall and then agrees to defend Jake. Earp tells Berg "This town only has two jails, and the other one is currently occupied, so Martin will have to be here in the other cell. He'll probably have his own lawyer so you may want to tell your client to not talk to him about the case." Berg replies, "We heard you."

He unlocks the cell and lets Berg out, then relocks it. Once that is done he tells Warren to go back and get Martin. Ruby and Eduardo look up as Warren Earp walks out. A minute or so later Berg follows, and tells Ruby "The Marshall is holding Mr. Cook until trial, so at least until Monday. You may want to get him some things to keep him occupied. I have agreed to defend him." "Trial? Why is there a trial? I don't understand any of this..." Ruby looks to Mitchell Berg. "In any case, thank you for agreeing to defend him. He IS innocent."

With that Ruby heads inside to see Jake. Wyatt Earp tells her "Hold on a minute there Miss West. Have a seat", and gestures to a chair. "We have another prisoner on his way over and I'm not taking any chances until he's safely locked away too." Ruby does take the seat and glances over at Jake. She says quietly to Wyatt, so Jake can't hear, "Do you really think Jake is the type of person to rob banks, and stupid enough to do it in this manner? We helped save your brother's life, not because we had to because we wanted to. Do bank robbers do that?"

He replies softly, "Ma'am, I think your friend is an opportunist. When he arrived in town and saw his old riverboat gambling buddy working at the bank he saw an opportunity to get rich. Since then he's found what he considers to be better opportunities and decided this was the easiest way to get rid of his co-conspirator. But his plan backfired and now he's caught and trying to weasel his way out of it."

"If any of that was true why would he come forward? Why not just stay silent? This is what you get from being honest around here?" Ruby shakes her head, "You're so wrong about him. He's just trying to make a life here and you can't just take all that away." Ruby pauses, looks at Jake and the continues under her breath, "I won't let you."

Warren Earp arrives at the bank. He tells Chester "I can tie your hands or we can do this honorably and respectfully. Your choice." In clipped tones, Chester replies, "Honorably will be fine, Marshall. I don't have any place to be."

Warren has Frank get Chester's gun belt out and remove all of the revolver bullets. Chester is then allowed to put the belt back on. Warren says "Let's just walk down the street side-by-side. Don't try anything stupid. Eduardo will be backing me up. You won't see him, but he'll be there." Morgan unlocks the door and the two depart. Frank heads out to, telling his brother "I'll go get the tellers. We can still get in the last half-hour."

Warren Earp arrives a few minutes later with Chester. Wyatt yells to his brother "Why is he armed!" Warren says, "We removed the bullets first. Didn't want to make it obvious what the problem was, as small crowd had formed outside waiting to do their banking. Remember Wyatt, the Merchant's Association pays our salaries, we shouldn't go hurting the Condon's business." Wyatt just grumbles and has the gunbelt removed. He opens up the other cell and has Chester go in. Chester sits down on the bunk in silence. He thinks to himself, “Did Jake give me up? I can't believe it, but I've known him and the others only a couple months. What do I do now?”

Wyatt now allows Ruby to stand and visit with Jake. She walks over to the cell where they are keeping Jake. She puts her hands on the cell bars and leans in close. Jake can see Ruby is holding back tears. "This is all my fault," she shakes her head, "If I hadn't been distracting you all these weeks you would have taken care of this a long time ago. Now you're in here and... and...a trial.... and Judge Isby..." Ruby looks down and doesn't finish her thought.

"I can't see why any of this is your fault." Jake gives her a hopeful smile. "I live to be distracted." He chuckles and then gets a serious look on his face. "I should have known better. What was I thinking trying to do the proper thing? This morning trying to help Katherine, look what happens. Get Chester a job, and later try and keep the Condons from getting their bank robbed and this. I may not be the smartest boy, but I do learn from my mistakes."

He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Don't do anything too foolish, take Bergs advice if you can when he gives it. Ask him if the Condons are pressing these charges. Perhaps they can be convinced by Berg to drop them to avoid the bad press." He stops talking and looks her in the eyes for a minute. "Maybe I'll be lucky. Berg is a good lawyer."

“ Too foolish? What’s that?” Ruby won’t let Jake continue his stare and she looks away. “When you sit and think about it, and you’ll have time to do that now, you WILL realize it my fault. We should have been checking Danby out, finding out what he was really up to, but we didn’t and now you are here.” Ruby continues to look away from Jake, “And you’re right, we keep getting crap for trying to do the right thing around here. I’m done with that, all of it.” She kicks at the bars with her foot. “People like us can never do the right thing, it just never works for us. Why did we even think it could?”

Ruby sighs. “You know Judge Isby doesn’t like ‘people like us’. That’s what I’m most scared of. You're going to need Berg to be the best lawyer he can be AND some luck.” “I will find out what I can, maybe pay Jones a visit. Why isn’t he in here too?” Ruby shakes her head. “I’m sure there is no good answer for that.” She turns back towards Jake but still doesn’t look at him. “So what do you need?”

He says, "I'll bet Jones is in the other jail. At least that's what I'd guess based on what Wyatt said." In a faint whisper, "I'm sure there is payback for being involved with Katherine asking after Morgan here. So don't give them any additional opportunities with you." He goes back to speaking softly, "What do I need, what do I need.... hum. I don't think they'll let me have whiskey or a female companion." He grins. "I already have a deck of cards, but they are holding the silver case so I don't try and bludgeon my way out of here." He chuckles. "So I just need you to stop blaming yourself, stay out of jail and make the second night of grand opening successful." He kisses his fingertips and reaches through the bars to touch her lips.

"I don't care about the Lucky Lady right now, I can't sing feeling like this." Ruby closes her eyes and feels Jake's fingers on her lips. A tear starts falling and she tries to quickly turn so Jake can't see her crying. She starts walking out, "I'll bring you and Chester some dinner later, find out if he needs anything," and she starts walking out. Jake can see her rubbing her eyes from behind.

When she gets outside she gives herself a few moments to compose herself before heading back over to Berg's office.

She knocks on the door and he answers. “Ruby, what are you doing back here?” She says, “Mr. Berg, I have a few things I need to talk to you about. I need advice, I don’t know what to do.” Ruby sits. “Do you have some time? And everything that gets said between us stays that way, right?”

He replies, "Probably, but if you have information about the bank conspiracy that's a different matter altogether. I've told you before, I don't defend people who I feel are guilty. And if I'm not involved with the case and you're not my client I could be called to testify, in which case I would have to tell what I know." He invites her in and gives her another cup of tea. “Well, it’s not directly involved in the case…” Ruby takes the tea and actually drinks it this time.

She says, “I need a will drawn up. I can’t even believe I am doing this. I need to leave my share of the Lucky Lady, and everything else I have, which isn’t much, to someone, in case something happens to me.” Berg looks up at Ruby, “Why do you think something would happen to you?” She answers, “Because of something I know. And today’s events. Jake IS innocent and I believe there might be more to this than what has been said. Probably not, but it’s possible. I want it written up that if something happens to me this comes out in public. If something happens to Jake, I’ll bring it out myself, but if something happens to me… take it to the Judge, the newspapers, I don’t care.”

Ruby sighs and begins the story of Thomas Kale. She includes all the details, including the Earps trying to change their story and blame it on Colby Tucker. She indicates that she knows where he is, and therefore if he was needed to testify she would be able to get to him, and that the Earps do not know where he is. “Kate and Jake also know where he is, but I will never let on that anyone knows that but me. It’s just too dangerous for them.” She does not tell him where Tucker is, instead leaving a sealed envelope with her papers.

He listens intently and nods. He says that he doesn't know if Thomas Kale's death has anything to do with the present situation. This robbery conspiracy looks to be isolated to Promise City. He does then write down some notes of what she said and promises to pass it on to both newspapers if anything should happen to her. “Now about that will…” She has Berg start to draw up the papers. Ruby finishes up her business with Berg and departs.

Nanuet heads over to the livery to look for Danby Jones. The only one working the livery is the owner, Austin Blake. He tells Nanuet "Danby didn't come back after lunch, but that's not all that unusual. He also works for Condon's Bank and they pay him better than I do, so if they have work for him he sticks around there instead." Nanuet replies, "Yeah, I already checked at the bank and he wasn't there. Any other ideas where he might go?" Austin suggests the boarding house.

After getting no more information from Mr. Blake Nanuet heads dejectedly over to the boarding house where Danby is supposed to live. He enters the boarding house and asks if Mr. Jones is around. He is told that Jones picked up the lunch for the bank employees a few hours ago and hasn't been back since. They suggest that he check either the bank or the livery. Nanuet scratches his head and heads back to the Lucky Lady hoping that Ruby had more success.

Jake passes the time quietly with the deck of cards. For endless hours he plays some solitaire, does shuffle and cut tricks but mostly manipulation tricks with a single card in each hand. The cards go nimbly back and forth across his fingers, turning this way and that in an entertaining and impressive fashion. Periodically they stop faces out, as if he was giving a show to some unseen audience. But there is no one there to applaud as the Jack of Spades and Queen of Hearts present themselves.

After finishing her business with Mitchell Berg Ruby makes her way back to the Lucky Lady and finds Nanuet there. She sits next to him at the bar, and Hoover brings her a drink. Ruby looks at him, "Jake won't be back for a few days, just so you know." Maria walks in with Harry, arms full of food. Ruby instructs her to make 2 packages of food for Jake and Chester, and 2 plates of dinner. Ruby tells her she will bring it over herself when it's ready. She turns to Nanuet, "This is really bad, I don't know what to do." Nanuet can tell she is on the verge of crying and trying everything she can to keep it in.

"Oh... uh, wow." Nanuet says weakly. He stands up and awkwardly moves to Ruby's side, then stops. He takes out a cloth handkerchief and hands it to her. "Here you look like you might need this." "I don't need this!" Ruby slaps the handkerchief down onto the bar, making a fist around it. "I don't want to need it," she continues quietly, "But I can't help myself," and with that a few tears starting rolling down Ruby's cheeks. "I am so embarrassed," as she tries to wipe them away with Nanuet's handkerchief. "See what I mean about people making you weak..." she says to herself, shaking her head.

Nanuet says, "We'll figure something out, Jake is innocent and there has to be a way to prove it. Jones is the key, we have to figure what in heck he is thinking and if he was bought out by someone to do this." She replies, "Let's go upstairs, we have some things to talk about."