Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter Thirty, “The Orange Tree Battle", September 3rd, 1882, 5:00 P.M.
Given the steepness of the plateau at this location they head north instead of east alongside the bottom of the hill and towards the main road, where Jasper, Obie and Enoch are now around 250 feet away and heading towards them.
Ruby leads them on foot while Autumn gathers up the horse Ruby rode in on as well as the two men's mounts and leads them. Alan rides alongside, his gun at the ready.
After they have gone around seventy-five feet Ruby suddenly feels the rope go slack. Turning, she sees it is cut and one of the men is charging at her with a short knife blade in his hand. While Alan is aiming his gun at this man the man's partner casually produces a small caliber revolver from his inside suit pocket and shoots Alan's arm, causing him to let go of the rifle with that arm but still clutching the rifle's stock with his other hand.
Having the man's rifle in her hand, Ruby turned on her heel quickly and raised it to the man. "I wouldn't..." she said, showing she knew how to use it. He continues to charge at her. She fires the rifle and just hears a 'click' sound, as there is no bullet in the chamber. He closes the distance and takes a slash at her with the short-bladed knife. Ruby used the rifle to block the man's attack on her, her nimble feet kept her dodging him rather than attempting to use strength. "Help!" she called out, hoping someone at the house would hear her. She reached up to her hair and pulled out the clip she wore almost every day, which was also a small dagger.
Those up at the house hear a revolver shot fire from the direction that Ruby heading off alone after the Pinkertons. Nanuet hears the gunshot from the direction that Ruby had stormed off to. Knowing he probably couldn't get there in time to do anything himself he called to Maska. When he finds her he commands his loyal wolf companion "Go help Ruby, she might be in trouble!"
At the sounds of the other shots, Hardin's face creases and he starts looking around for a horse. "Henry...if that's Ms. Ruby tangling with those Pinkerton assassins, I'm gonna be mighty cross. I would like to borrow your mount for a few minutes..." The set of his jaw and the way he hitches the gun belt around make it clear he isn't asking. Without hesitation Webb gives up his mount. Hardin swings easily into the saddle and digs his heels in. He pulls one of his Lightenings as he speeds away.
"Hee-ya...let's go now!" As Hardin gallops along, he fires three shots in the air, hollering at the top of his voice and generally making as much of a ruckus as he can. Lawrence is in the drawing room checking on James' condition when he faintly hears the shot. "Damn it. I thought that was over. Hold on while I check this out." He rushes from the house and sees Hardin ride off. Not seeing anyone else in trouble, he goes after Hardin on foot.
Ruby and the Pinkerton continue to dodge and parry as they slash their short blades at one another. Meanwhile, the other man turns and points his gun at Autumn while saying, "Bring me those horses and I'll let all three of you live." Autumn demurely approaches him, with "fear" stretching her eyes wide, her hand waving* as though spastic with panic and then fluttering to her throat, as she discreetly casts a Flame Blade spell. She makes to hand him the reins, just as a beam of fire leaps from her hand and slices deeply into his forearm.
The older MacKinnon, not happy with someone threatening his granddaughter, squeezed his thighs and attempted to rear up his horse, bringing it back down on the man who was pointing his gun at his granddaughter. Distracted by the flaming arm, the man does not see the cavalryman's charge. He does, however, feel the hooves of the mighty animal as it fatally crushes him into the ground.
Meanwhile, a short distance off Ruby continues to battle her opponent. As they fought Ruby kept her eye opened for that right moment and given just a moment she quickly moves in and attempted to knee the man in the groin as hard as she could. She gets in the knee but a last minute movement misses the groin as she strikes his upper leg. The hit does serve as a momentary distraction as he makes a slashing blow at her which she easily ducks under, leaving him temporarily open for a counterattack.
Ruby took her opportunity. She stabbed the man in the thigh with her dagger, using some force in hopes of knocking him to the ground. Wielding her blade of fire whilst closing on the man attacking Ruby, Autumn shouts, "Lick the dirt NOW or die standing up -- it matters not to me!" The man falls to the ground, although the short knife is still in his hand. He looks up at the women and says with a hint of fear in his voice, "Get any closer and I'll cut you open, I swear I will."
Autumn smiles grimly, "Our friends are coming to our aid, but you're outnumbered and outmaneuvered even before they arrive. Now take a big bite of mud, rifleman, rub your face in it. Resist, and I can't guarantee your safety." He angrily throws the knife at Autumn, which she is able to dodge under. Now 100 feet away, Enoch Kingsley takes a rifle shot at the man, barely missing him. The man reaches inside his suit jacket pocket.
"Oh for crying out loud..." Ruby desperately wanted to use some magic against this man and have it over it. A nice Charm spell, or Sleep even, and it would be done. But she wasn't certain that Autumn or Alan were part of the "group" or if it was safe to do so in front of them. Normally even that wouldn't stop her but now it was about more than her; George, her grandmother and James would all be affected by her illegal actions.
She felt a bit helpless without her spells yet she couldn't let this man shoot any more people. So she dove on top of him and attempted to break his hand away from his jacket and keep him from pulling anything else out. They tumble together on the ground. His right hand comes out of the jacket but instead of a weapon he is holding a thick cigar with a red bandana wrapped around it. As they roll he hits Ruby on the side of her head with his closed left fist.
An instant headache threatened to make her pass out yet she focused for just another moment. "You really want to die like your friend, don't you?" She didn't care if this thug heard her so she began muttering a spell, one that would hopefully make him sleep, and soon. The man falls asleep. His right hand open, with the bandana starting to unroll and the cigar starting to fall out. Hardin and Maska both reach the top of the plateau and see those below.
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as the man fell asleep and she saw some friends coming over the hill. She reached out for the bandanna and cigar. "It must be the best cigar ever for him to take the chance of pulling it out now..." As she picks up the bandana the cigar falls the rest of the way out and onto the ground. The ends of the cigar then ignites on its own and smoke begins to float up from it.
"AAHHH!!!" She looked around quickly to judge the closest uninhabited area that could survive an explosion with the least amount of damage, picked up the cigar and threw it as far as she could. "Everyone get down!" she yelled as she launched it. The throw is a little off, just getting sixty feet away before becoming lodged up in an orange tree. The cigar continues to smoke. Hardin digs his heels in harder, having difficulty making out exactly what's going on below. He leans forward, urging the horse to greater speed and brings up the Lightening, ready to fire...
The tree explodes in a massive detonation equivalent to four sticks of dynamite that flings branches, juice and orange pulp in all directions. Everybody in the immediate area (Alan, Autumn, the Pinkerton, Ruby and the five horses) take minor damage. The Pinkerton now appears to be barely conscious. Jasper, Obie and Enoch were outside of the blast range and rush forward the assist the injured.
Those back at the house hear the explosion and briefly see some of the flying debris fly up and then back down again beyond the plateau. George had been steadily running towards the plateau ever since Ruby had made off on the horse. It was a fortunate thing that he maintained his weekly walks in the woods back in New York he had a good pace though Hardin came up hard behind him and passed him on the horse.
He was just coming up onto the plateau when the explosion went off. “I just bet Constance is behind that”, he thought as he continued to run towards the group trying to find Ruby. Abby flinched as something on the plateau exploded. "My gods, what is going on out there?" Despite the temptation, she kept her position on the porch. With these men still here someone had to keep an eye on them.
Maska upon seeing Ruby below runs right up to her. By the time she arrives Ruby seems to have things well enough in hand. Maska nuzzles up to her just as the tree explodes which sends the wolf sprinting away from the explosion as a reaction. She returns to Ruby and begins licking the minor wounds that she suffered once the explosion is over.
Hardin barely stays in the saddle as his unfamiliar mount shies away violently from the huge explosion. It takes him some few moments to regain control and by the time gets the animal settled and starts moving forward again, his eyes have taken on a feral gleam. He dismounts quickly upon reaching the smoking debris and gaggle of people and horses. He notes Ruby's disheveled look and nods at Autumn. "Everyone here OK? Miss Ruby?"
Ruby looked down at her orange juice covered scratches. "You know, that actually stings." She plopped down on the ground next to Maska and pet her gently. "Yes, I'm alright Hardin, thanks for asking. This man tried to kill me and that one," she pointed to the now deceased other man, "Threatened us, he shot Alan. This one had a cigar that started to smoke so I threw it and it exploded into a mess of orange juice. I guess I'll have to work on my aim. Anyway, you can take over now, right?" She put her hand to her head, the punch gave her a headache and made her lightheaded and she felt swoony.
Hardin stalks over to the now barely conscious Pinkerton, stopping less than a yard away and bringing the weapon up to eye-level, an inch from the bridge of the man's nose. "Please give me a reason to shoot you..." The voice is casual, even nonchalant...but the threat is very real. "Miss, would you please relieve this...man...of anything that might be dangerous?"
George had just spotted Ruby as she plopped down. As she put her hand to her head, George came up behind her and picked her up off the ground. "Now, I am very cross with you Constance, running off alone like that. What if you had gotten seriously injured?" asks George protectively. He was out of breath having run the entire way from the house. But he would be damned if he wasn't going to carry her back.
They are able to strip the prisoner down to his skivvies, tie and gag him, and prop him over his horse. The do likewise with the body of the other one, then head up the road as a group to head back to the house. Ruby held tight to George's neck as he carried her, she was in no shape to argue. She gave him a small grin. "Would you mind waiting to yell at me until my headache is gone, please? I won't be able to properly defend myself against your well thought out and intelligent arguments until then." Those at the house are relieved when they see the group headed up the hill. Nanuet is relieved to see the group returning with his friends being the ones in better shape.
Sol takes charge as the group reaches the house. Giving Henry Webb back his horse and instructing Lawrence to accompany the man to the edge of the property and to continue to watch until the man is out of sight. He sends the MacKinnons and Ruby inside to have Luiz check their wounds. Out of earshot of the prisoners he asks Benjamin, Abigail and Hardin to bring the body of the deceased Pinkerton, the confiscated weapons and clothing of the other Pinkerton upstairs to the Science room.
Abby looked at Ben and shrugged, then picked up the dead Pinkerton's ankles. She struggled a bit to hold him, but more because it was awkward carrying the body up the stairs rather than it being heavy. Instead of leaving the room after they brought him up, Abby stuck around a few minutes to see if anyone came to look him over.
Sol asks Jasper and Obie to go empty the storage shed of all contents, which they will use that to hold the prisoners until the Sheriff arrives. Antoinette Delroy has now arrived too so Sol asks her and her half-brother Enoch to go secure all of the horses in the barn. He and Thomas then continue to watch the prisoners until the shed is secure for them. Seeing that Ruby is being cared for Nanuet checks Maska for wounds before setting her off to keep an eye on things. He then checks on Alsoomse to see what she is up to and if she needs help with anything. She is assisting Luiz with checking the wounded.
As Ruby and George pass through the hallway Ruby catches both James and Mina resting on the couches. "Is James going to be alright? Why does Nana look so pale... did she get hurt too?" "She was shot twice by those snipers," Luiz states. "What??? Nana!" Ruby ran over to her grandmother and kneeled at her side. "Nana, are you alright??" Ruby looks her over for obvious, serious wounds but Luiz had already covered that part. "I can't believe they shot you too. Those damn Pinkertons, they want those papers, right? They never leave us alone! One is dead... the other..." Ruby stood up with that wild angry look swirling in her eyes, her fists clenched. "I will kill him myself!"
James says, "No young lady, we will wait for the Sheriff. I suspect that in the long run him being a live witness will be far more problematic for his employer than him being deceased and unable to testify as to his orders." Ruby's youth showed as she pouted at James's scolding. "B-but they almost killed both of you!" She took a deep breath then sighed. "I suppose you're right though. I wasn't able to get much out of him except he swears he was shooting at Hardin. Do you think they are trying to get the papers James?"
Alan MacKinnon asks, "What papers?" James says, "Alan, remember that book I said I was writing about your family friend President Harrison. Well, the topic of the book is the fact that I stumbled upon evidence that he didn't die of illness as is commonly thought, but that he was intentionally assassinated." MacKinnon exclaims "What! Why?" James replies, "I'm still working on the how and who, but it appears to have been higher ups in his own political party. And there appear to be people still around who will go to great lengths to curtail my investigation." Ruby says, "Great lengths? Any lengths is more like it. They've got the Pinkertons involved somehow, who knows how else they will lie about it. I wonder how they got in with these other guys who had problems with Hardin."
James then looks to Mina and comments, "It's almost like looking back in time, she not only looks like you at that age she acts like you as well." Mina says, "I was never that impulsive." James and Alsoomse reply in unison "Yes you were." The corner of Ruby's mouth turned up into a grin. "Am I really like Nana when she was younger?" Alsoomse replies, "More than you could ever know." Ruby went back to her grandmother and hugged her tightly. "I don't know what I would do if something happened to you Nana. Please don't get shot again." She kissed her cheek. "It is kind of fun to hear that we are so much alike. I want to hear some of these stories..."
Luiz says, "Stories can wait for another time. Right now the only thing that I want the Parkers to do is go upstairs and get some sleep." "I know better than to disobey my Doctor's orders," is James's reply. James and Mina head off upstairs. Luiz says that he is going upstairs to check out the confiscated items. Alsoomse says she will go with him. "Hey be careful," Ruby called after Luiz, "That bomb looked like a regular cigar and only exploded when he unrolled it from this red bandanna."
Abby hasn’t been waiting long for Luiz and Alsoomse to arrive and the three of them look through the various items, identifying the magical ammunition from the revolver and rifle as well as searching the possessions. Both Pinkerton's have identification indicating that they were from the Richmond, Virginia branch of the nationwide detective agency. The dead one was named Nowell Haskins and the live prisoner is Lyndon Holt
Sol along with Obie, Jasper and Lawrence keep a close eye on the prisoners. Ruby pondered for a moment going out to interrogate the prisoners but realized that would just make her angry and she didn't want to disobey James. "I guess I should clean up these cuts and change. George, will you help me?" Ruby retrieves what will help her heal the most, a bottle of bourbon. They head upstairs and George tends to Ruby's cuts and she changes into a fresh outfit. to disembark Ruby was eager to begin their shopping. "So where are we going Alsoomse? I need a gown, well, I want a new gown, Nanuet needs a suit too." "You always want a new gown" said George with a smile as he took her ha
The next two hours go by slowly, waiting for the Sheriff to arrive. He shows up at 5:45 PM with two other deputies, who take the prisoners into custody (most of the Pinkerton's clothing being returned to him). Luiz turns the confiscated weapons over to the Sheriff.
Ruby says to George, "It's time for dinner now, I think, we should head back downstairs. I want to check on Nana and James too." On their way down to the dining room they pass the Parker's room. Ruby gives a listen at the door to see if she hears anything. Despite having already served their daily meal, Jemima brings a second meal up for supper, comprised of fish and rice.
Given the steepness of the plateau at this location they head north instead of east alongside the bottom of the hill and towards the main road, where Jasper, Obie and Enoch are now around 250 feet away and heading towards them.
Ruby leads them on foot while Autumn gathers up the horse Ruby rode in on as well as the two men's mounts and leads them. Alan rides alongside, his gun at the ready.
After they have gone around seventy-five feet Ruby suddenly feels the rope go slack. Turning, she sees it is cut and one of the men is charging at her with a short knife blade in his hand. While Alan is aiming his gun at this man the man's partner casually produces a small caliber revolver from his inside suit pocket and shoots Alan's arm, causing him to let go of the rifle with that arm but still clutching the rifle's stock with his other hand.
Having the man's rifle in her hand, Ruby turned on her heel quickly and raised it to the man. "I wouldn't..." she said, showing she knew how to use it. He continues to charge at her. She fires the rifle and just hears a 'click' sound, as there is no bullet in the chamber. He closes the distance and takes a slash at her with the short-bladed knife. Ruby used the rifle to block the man's attack on her, her nimble feet kept her dodging him rather than attempting to use strength. "Help!" she called out, hoping someone at the house would hear her. She reached up to her hair and pulled out the clip she wore almost every day, which was also a small dagger.
Those up at the house hear a revolver shot fire from the direction that Ruby heading off alone after the Pinkertons. Nanuet hears the gunshot from the direction that Ruby had stormed off to. Knowing he probably couldn't get there in time to do anything himself he called to Maska. When he finds her he commands his loyal wolf companion "Go help Ruby, she might be in trouble!"
At the sounds of the other shots, Hardin's face creases and he starts looking around for a horse. "Henry...if that's Ms. Ruby tangling with those Pinkerton assassins, I'm gonna be mighty cross. I would like to borrow your mount for a few minutes..." The set of his jaw and the way he hitches the gun belt around make it clear he isn't asking. Without hesitation Webb gives up his mount. Hardin swings easily into the saddle and digs his heels in. He pulls one of his Lightenings as he speeds away.
"Hee-ya...let's go now!" As Hardin gallops along, he fires three shots in the air, hollering at the top of his voice and generally making as much of a ruckus as he can. Lawrence is in the drawing room checking on James' condition when he faintly hears the shot. "Damn it. I thought that was over. Hold on while I check this out." He rushes from the house and sees Hardin ride off. Not seeing anyone else in trouble, he goes after Hardin on foot.
Ruby and the Pinkerton continue to dodge and parry as they slash their short blades at one another. Meanwhile, the other man turns and points his gun at Autumn while saying, "Bring me those horses and I'll let all three of you live." Autumn demurely approaches him, with "fear" stretching her eyes wide, her hand waving* as though spastic with panic and then fluttering to her throat, as she discreetly casts a Flame Blade spell. She makes to hand him the reins, just as a beam of fire leaps from her hand and slices deeply into his forearm.
The older MacKinnon, not happy with someone threatening his granddaughter, squeezed his thighs and attempted to rear up his horse, bringing it back down on the man who was pointing his gun at his granddaughter. Distracted by the flaming arm, the man does not see the cavalryman's charge. He does, however, feel the hooves of the mighty animal as it fatally crushes him into the ground.
Meanwhile, a short distance off Ruby continues to battle her opponent. As they fought Ruby kept her eye opened for that right moment and given just a moment she quickly moves in and attempted to knee the man in the groin as hard as she could. She gets in the knee but a last minute movement misses the groin as she strikes his upper leg. The hit does serve as a momentary distraction as he makes a slashing blow at her which she easily ducks under, leaving him temporarily open for a counterattack.
Ruby took her opportunity. She stabbed the man in the thigh with her dagger, using some force in hopes of knocking him to the ground. Wielding her blade of fire whilst closing on the man attacking Ruby, Autumn shouts, "Lick the dirt NOW or die standing up -- it matters not to me!" The man falls to the ground, although the short knife is still in his hand. He looks up at the women and says with a hint of fear in his voice, "Get any closer and I'll cut you open, I swear I will."
Autumn smiles grimly, "Our friends are coming to our aid, but you're outnumbered and outmaneuvered even before they arrive. Now take a big bite of mud, rifleman, rub your face in it. Resist, and I can't guarantee your safety." He angrily throws the knife at Autumn, which she is able to dodge under. Now 100 feet away, Enoch Kingsley takes a rifle shot at the man, barely missing him. The man reaches inside his suit jacket pocket.
"Oh for crying out loud..." Ruby desperately wanted to use some magic against this man and have it over it. A nice Charm spell, or Sleep even, and it would be done. But she wasn't certain that Autumn or Alan were part of the "group" or if it was safe to do so in front of them. Normally even that wouldn't stop her but now it was about more than her; George, her grandmother and James would all be affected by her illegal actions.
She felt a bit helpless without her spells yet she couldn't let this man shoot any more people. So she dove on top of him and attempted to break his hand away from his jacket and keep him from pulling anything else out. They tumble together on the ground. His right hand comes out of the jacket but instead of a weapon he is holding a thick cigar with a red bandana wrapped around it. As they roll he hits Ruby on the side of her head with his closed left fist.
An instant headache threatened to make her pass out yet she focused for just another moment. "You really want to die like your friend, don't you?" She didn't care if this thug heard her so she began muttering a spell, one that would hopefully make him sleep, and soon. The man falls asleep. His right hand open, with the bandana starting to unroll and the cigar starting to fall out. Hardin and Maska both reach the top of the plateau and see those below.
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as the man fell asleep and she saw some friends coming over the hill. She reached out for the bandanna and cigar. "It must be the best cigar ever for him to take the chance of pulling it out now..." As she picks up the bandana the cigar falls the rest of the way out and onto the ground. The ends of the cigar then ignites on its own and smoke begins to float up from it.
"AAHHH!!!" She looked around quickly to judge the closest uninhabited area that could survive an explosion with the least amount of damage, picked up the cigar and threw it as far as she could. "Everyone get down!" she yelled as she launched it. The throw is a little off, just getting sixty feet away before becoming lodged up in an orange tree. The cigar continues to smoke. Hardin digs his heels in harder, having difficulty making out exactly what's going on below. He leans forward, urging the horse to greater speed and brings up the Lightening, ready to fire...
The tree explodes in a massive detonation equivalent to four sticks of dynamite that flings branches, juice and orange pulp in all directions. Everybody in the immediate area (Alan, Autumn, the Pinkerton, Ruby and the five horses) take minor damage. The Pinkerton now appears to be barely conscious. Jasper, Obie and Enoch were outside of the blast range and rush forward the assist the injured.
Those back at the house hear the explosion and briefly see some of the flying debris fly up and then back down again beyond the plateau. George had been steadily running towards the plateau ever since Ruby had made off on the horse. It was a fortunate thing that he maintained his weekly walks in the woods back in New York he had a good pace though Hardin came up hard behind him and passed him on the horse.
He was just coming up onto the plateau when the explosion went off. “I just bet Constance is behind that”, he thought as he continued to run towards the group trying to find Ruby. Abby flinched as something on the plateau exploded. "My gods, what is going on out there?" Despite the temptation, she kept her position on the porch. With these men still here someone had to keep an eye on them.
Maska upon seeing Ruby below runs right up to her. By the time she arrives Ruby seems to have things well enough in hand. Maska nuzzles up to her just as the tree explodes which sends the wolf sprinting away from the explosion as a reaction. She returns to Ruby and begins licking the minor wounds that she suffered once the explosion is over.
Hardin barely stays in the saddle as his unfamiliar mount shies away violently from the huge explosion. It takes him some few moments to regain control and by the time gets the animal settled and starts moving forward again, his eyes have taken on a feral gleam. He dismounts quickly upon reaching the smoking debris and gaggle of people and horses. He notes Ruby's disheveled look and nods at Autumn. "Everyone here OK? Miss Ruby?"
Ruby looked down at her orange juice covered scratches. "You know, that actually stings." She plopped down on the ground next to Maska and pet her gently. "Yes, I'm alright Hardin, thanks for asking. This man tried to kill me and that one," she pointed to the now deceased other man, "Threatened us, he shot Alan. This one had a cigar that started to smoke so I threw it and it exploded into a mess of orange juice. I guess I'll have to work on my aim. Anyway, you can take over now, right?" She put her hand to her head, the punch gave her a headache and made her lightheaded and she felt swoony.
Hardin stalks over to the now barely conscious Pinkerton, stopping less than a yard away and bringing the weapon up to eye-level, an inch from the bridge of the man's nose. "Please give me a reason to shoot you..." The voice is casual, even nonchalant...but the threat is very real. "Miss, would you please relieve this...man...of anything that might be dangerous?"
George had just spotted Ruby as she plopped down. As she put her hand to her head, George came up behind her and picked her up off the ground. "Now, I am very cross with you Constance, running off alone like that. What if you had gotten seriously injured?" asks George protectively. He was out of breath having run the entire way from the house. But he would be damned if he wasn't going to carry her back.
They are able to strip the prisoner down to his skivvies, tie and gag him, and prop him over his horse. The do likewise with the body of the other one, then head up the road as a group to head back to the house. Ruby held tight to George's neck as he carried her, she was in no shape to argue. She gave him a small grin. "Would you mind waiting to yell at me until my headache is gone, please? I won't be able to properly defend myself against your well thought out and intelligent arguments until then." Those at the house are relieved when they see the group headed up the hill. Nanuet is relieved to see the group returning with his friends being the ones in better shape.
Sol takes charge as the group reaches the house. Giving Henry Webb back his horse and instructing Lawrence to accompany the man to the edge of the property and to continue to watch until the man is out of sight. He sends the MacKinnons and Ruby inside to have Luiz check their wounds. Out of earshot of the prisoners he asks Benjamin, Abigail and Hardin to bring the body of the deceased Pinkerton, the confiscated weapons and clothing of the other Pinkerton upstairs to the Science room.
Abby looked at Ben and shrugged, then picked up the dead Pinkerton's ankles. She struggled a bit to hold him, but more because it was awkward carrying the body up the stairs rather than it being heavy. Instead of leaving the room after they brought him up, Abby stuck around a few minutes to see if anyone came to look him over.
Sol asks Jasper and Obie to go empty the storage shed of all contents, which they will use that to hold the prisoners until the Sheriff arrives. Antoinette Delroy has now arrived too so Sol asks her and her half-brother Enoch to go secure all of the horses in the barn. He and Thomas then continue to watch the prisoners until the shed is secure for them. Seeing that Ruby is being cared for Nanuet checks Maska for wounds before setting her off to keep an eye on things. He then checks on Alsoomse to see what she is up to and if she needs help with anything. She is assisting Luiz with checking the wounded.
As Ruby and George pass through the hallway Ruby catches both James and Mina resting on the couches. "Is James going to be alright? Why does Nana look so pale... did she get hurt too?" "She was shot twice by those snipers," Luiz states. "What??? Nana!" Ruby ran over to her grandmother and kneeled at her side. "Nana, are you alright??" Ruby looks her over for obvious, serious wounds but Luiz had already covered that part. "I can't believe they shot you too. Those damn Pinkertons, they want those papers, right? They never leave us alone! One is dead... the other..." Ruby stood up with that wild angry look swirling in her eyes, her fists clenched. "I will kill him myself!"
James says, "No young lady, we will wait for the Sheriff. I suspect that in the long run him being a live witness will be far more problematic for his employer than him being deceased and unable to testify as to his orders." Ruby's youth showed as she pouted at James's scolding. "B-but they almost killed both of you!" She took a deep breath then sighed. "I suppose you're right though. I wasn't able to get much out of him except he swears he was shooting at Hardin. Do you think they are trying to get the papers James?"
Alan MacKinnon asks, "What papers?" James says, "Alan, remember that book I said I was writing about your family friend President Harrison. Well, the topic of the book is the fact that I stumbled upon evidence that he didn't die of illness as is commonly thought, but that he was intentionally assassinated." MacKinnon exclaims "What! Why?" James replies, "I'm still working on the how and who, but it appears to have been higher ups in his own political party. And there appear to be people still around who will go to great lengths to curtail my investigation." Ruby says, "Great lengths? Any lengths is more like it. They've got the Pinkertons involved somehow, who knows how else they will lie about it. I wonder how they got in with these other guys who had problems with Hardin."
James then looks to Mina and comments, "It's almost like looking back in time, she not only looks like you at that age she acts like you as well." Mina says, "I was never that impulsive." James and Alsoomse reply in unison "Yes you were." The corner of Ruby's mouth turned up into a grin. "Am I really like Nana when she was younger?" Alsoomse replies, "More than you could ever know." Ruby went back to her grandmother and hugged her tightly. "I don't know what I would do if something happened to you Nana. Please don't get shot again." She kissed her cheek. "It is kind of fun to hear that we are so much alike. I want to hear some of these stories..."
Luiz says, "Stories can wait for another time. Right now the only thing that I want the Parkers to do is go upstairs and get some sleep." "I know better than to disobey my Doctor's orders," is James's reply. James and Mina head off upstairs. Luiz says that he is going upstairs to check out the confiscated items. Alsoomse says she will go with him. "Hey be careful," Ruby called after Luiz, "That bomb looked like a regular cigar and only exploded when he unrolled it from this red bandanna."
Abby hasn’t been waiting long for Luiz and Alsoomse to arrive and the three of them look through the various items, identifying the magical ammunition from the revolver and rifle as well as searching the possessions. Both Pinkerton's have identification indicating that they were from the Richmond, Virginia branch of the nationwide detective agency. The dead one was named Nowell Haskins and the live prisoner is Lyndon Holt
Sol along with Obie, Jasper and Lawrence keep a close eye on the prisoners. Ruby pondered for a moment going out to interrogate the prisoners but realized that would just make her angry and she didn't want to disobey James. "I guess I should clean up these cuts and change. George, will you help me?" Ruby retrieves what will help her heal the most, a bottle of bourbon. They head upstairs and George tends to Ruby's cuts and she changes into a fresh outfit. to disembark Ruby was eager to begin their shopping. "So where are we going Alsoomse? I need a gown, well, I want a new gown, Nanuet needs a suit too." "You always want a new gown" said George with a smile as he took her ha
The next two hours go by slowly, waiting for the Sheriff to arrive. He shows up at 5:45 PM with two other deputies, who take the prisoners into custody (most of the Pinkerton's clothing being returned to him). Luiz turns the confiscated weapons over to the Sheriff.
Ruby says to George, "It's time for dinner now, I think, we should head back downstairs. I want to check on Nana and James too." On their way down to the dining room they pass the Parker's room. Ruby gives a listen at the door to see if she hears anything. Despite having already served their daily meal, Jemima brings a second meal up for supper, comprised of fish and rice.