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Story Hour
"Revenge, Renewal and the Promise of a New Year" (Boot Hill/D&D)
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1766996" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter Seven, “A Few Days in Town”, Monday, January 2nd, 1882, 9:00 A.M. </strong> </p><p></p><p>Once Katherine and Ruby have left the building the man accompanying them asks, “Does anyone know if it’s against the law in this town to shoot a halfling?” Ruby laughs and comments, “That Chumbley does tend to get on people’s nerves. What was he talking to you about?” The man replies “Darnned if I know. I got caught up in a long poker game that ran into the wee hours of the morning. I must have passed out in that chair last night and the Saloonkeeper just left me there to sleep it off. This morning I was barely awake when the halfling showed up and started babbling at me. I wasn't sure what to do until you came in, then I saw what looked to be a pair of pretty twins. I guess my hangover has me seeing double."</p><p></p><p>Katherine asks the man “So, do you have a name?” “I go by Silver Jake Cook,” he replies as they approach the doors to the El Parador Cantina and Hotel. Ruby says, “This is where we are staying. We just going to sit down at a table in the cantina and wait for some friends. You’re welcome to stay and keep us company.” He accepts their invitation.</p><p></p><p>They sit down at the table and Dorita comes over to take their orders. Katherine and Ruby both ask for a herbal tea. Cook says “Kentucky Bourbon if you have it, otherwise I’ll have your best whiskey.” Dorita shakes her head. She returns with teas for the ladies and brings him a glass with some concoction made mostly of raw eggs. She lectures him that it is too early in the morning for hard liqour and that he should drink her hangover remedy. He suffers through it and then asks for “Coffee, lots of coffee.” </p><p></p><p>He asks about the accommodations at the El Parador and Katherine replies “Sparse but clean.” “Good enough for me,” he states and when Dorita comes back with the coffee gives her the money for a room for the night. He then turns to Ruby and asks, “So, what do you do here in Promise City.” She replies, “Oh, we’re both new here, we just arrived on the stage yesterday. I’m hoping to sing and dance at one of the saloons in town. I have an audition scheduled for tonight at the Lone Star Dance Hall and Saloon.” He then turns to Katherine with the same question and she tells him her tale. She then says “And what about you Mr. Silver Jake Cook? What brings you to Promise City?” He seems surprised by the question and Ruby laughs commenting, “Given how we found you I can only imagine.” </p><p></p><p>Silver Jake Cook sits half slouched in his chair savoring his first mug of coffee. He was woken far too early in the morning after a very long night and he is tired. He has his black hat pushed back on his thick brown hair and he occasionally strokes his mostly trimmed moustache and chin beard, that in some locals call a goatee. Although his posture belies it, his eyes move around the room looking for motion and pausing briefly to take in facial expressions, and eyes. If someone were ever to ask him about that he would simply reply, “Always watch the eyes.” In response to the ladies question he simply replies “This and that. Gambling and drinking lately.”</p><p></p><p>Not longer afterwards they are joined by Chow and Nanuet. Silver Jake Cook seems a bit surprised that the two young human companions would have these men as their friends but takes it in stride. "Who's he?" Nanuet asks. Ruby replies "We rescured him from Chumbley". That explanation seems to be sufficient for the both men. They then start talking about plans for the day, with Nanuet commenting about needing to learn how to use a rifle and speak Spanish, which strikes Jake as odd coming from a Mexican bandito. Chow replies that he will wander around town and see if he can offer help to anyone. “How much you charge for that?” Jake asks. “Nothing,” the half-orc replies and points to Katherine, stating “She pay for everything.” Jake just shakes his head and asks rhetorically “Who the hell are you people?” </p><p></p><p>Jake decides to head up to his room to rest. When he comes down for supper he sees Katherine and Ruby dining at a table together and they invite him to join them. After the meal Ruby and Katherine say that they are heading over to the Lone Star Dance Hall and Saloon of Ruby’s try-out as singer and Jake decides to come along. </p><p></p><p>The Lone Star is a two-story thirty-foot square brick building at the northeast corner of Main and Allen Streets. The main door is in the center of the south wall on Main Street. The first floor is comprised of the front room that takes up all but an L-shaped area in the northwest corner that has houses the kitchen and pantry. In the main room on the inside of the "L" of the L-cutout is the bar with eight barstools. There is a side door near the bar out to Allen Street and the outhouse behind the building. The kitchen also has a door out to the side alley. An elevated wooden stage area is located in the northeast corner of the building and the upright piano is along the eastern wall. A staircase to the second floor is in the southeast corner of the building, starting on the east wall near the piano to a landing in the corner then continuing up the south wall to the upper floor. </p><p></p><p>On the main floor near the west wall are three large round tables that can seat up to eight patrons, two of which are used by the poker dealers. Gambler Tony Lucky takes the table on the northwest nearest to the bar. Gambler Job Kane takes the table in center and slightly out from the west wall The other table of this size is in the southwest corner. The remainder of the room consists of square tables that can each seat up to four people but could be moved together for larger groups. Saloon owner Tom Whipple is behind the bar alongside the bounder Jeff Mills. </p><p></p><p>There are currently ten customers are present, two at the bar and the other eight playing cards at the two poker tables. Ruby heads over to the stage and Maggie Whipple sits down at the keyboards. Ruby runs through a number of songs that test out her singing range. After nearly a hour of play Ruby stops. The gamblers at Tony Lucky’s table continue to play cards but Job Kane stops his players and says, “She’s a friend of my cousin. Let’s show her our appreciation.” The people at that table give her a round of applause, joined in by the men at the bar and the Whipples. Maggie and Tom tell her that she is hired, that they will pay her $ 1.00 an hour starting at 8:00 P.M. the next night. </p><p></p><p>Silver Jake Cook had been sitting with Katherine at one of the tables and Ruby joins them. Jake buys her a drink to celebrate her new job. During the prior hour he had divided his attention between her and the two card games going on, deciding that Job Kane’s would be the better game to join. He asks if he can join the game and is invited to take a seat. </p><p></p><p>In addition to Kane, the other four players at the table consist of a tall clean-shaven man with the big ears dressed in plain clothing who answers to Al; a muscular man in rumpled jeans and a plaid flannel shirt with blond hair and a bushy mustache who Kane refers to as Neil; A man in denim jeans with a light blue work shirt and leather vest who most call Travis; and a man with blue jeans covered with dust and stained work shirt who everyone calls Jeremiah except for Travis who refers to him as Jerry. </p><p></p><p>Jake Cook knows that after buying the horse and saddle he now only has a little more than $ 40.00 to his name but does not hold back and manages to win $ 23.39 from the first game. He wins again in the second game, this time a mere $ 5.13. He then starts to lose, with the man named Travis taking him for $ 16.62 in the first game followed by losing $ 42.21 in the next game to Kane. Jake recovers, winning $ 27.41 in the next hand and calculating that he is now down less than $ 3.00 from where he started. He then loses $ 10.91 to Kane in the next hand and decides to quit while he is behind. He thanks the dealer and the other players. He then heads back to the El Parador with Katherine and Ruby. </p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Tuesday, January 3rd, 1882:</strong></p><p></p><p>The quartet comprised of Jake, Katherine, Ruby and Nanuet begin to fall into a daily routine. Duncan leaves town this day, heading back to Tucson to stay with a friend until he is fully recovered from his injuries. They see Chow a few more times this day, during which he complains that Charlie Wong keeps pestering him to get involved with his daughter Mary Wong. The trio return to the Lone Star Dance Hall and Saloon that night, during which Ruby sings for the better part of three hours and makes almost as much in tips as she does from her salary. Jake spends time at Job Kane’s poker table, winning several hands against a fat man with the scruffy beard named Henry but eventually losing it all and more to both Al and Kane. He ends the night down almost $ 7 from where he started.</p><p></p><p><strong>Wednesday, January 4th, 1882:</strong></p><p></p><p>Chow is seen at breakfast time but then disappears for good and Dorita indicates that he checked out of the hotel. Nanuet spends much of the day out in the desert with Pedro learning how to shoot the rifle and also getting a crash course in the Spanish language. Ruby has another good night at the Lone Star and there is a bigger crowd than the previous two nights, with about half of tables being full. Kane has a full table of seven players, including Jake, Al, Henry from the night before and Neil from the night before that. Jake continues to have mixed luck, winning several hands but like the night before ending the night down almost $ 7. </p><p></p><p>He rejoins Ruby and Katherine and comments how he now has less than $ 13 to his name. He mentions how this would be even less if Katherine hadn’t been picking up the tab for the hotel and meals for the group and thanks her for her generosity. Having lost now three nights in a row he concludes that Tom Whipple wouldn’t even consider hiring him as a gambler. He concludes that he had better start looking for a job. </p><p></p><p>Katherine says that she can’t keep paying for everything and should probably get a job herself. She has noticed that Maggie Whipple had trouble this evening taking care of the greater number of customers, especially when she was also trying to play piano for Ruby. Katherine asks her about the possibility of a job as either waitress or piano player. Maggie says, “Sounds good, I can use the help, but let’s hear how you play first.” Ruby has one more set this evening, during which Katherine accompanies her on the piano. </p><p></p><p>Maggie offers her the job for $ 3.00 a night plus tips beginning the next night. Maggie orders a round of drinks to celebrate her good fortune. Ruby looks at Jake and says, “Are you ready to now tell us who you are?”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 1766996, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter Seven, “A Few Days in Town”, Monday, January 2nd, 1882, 9:00 A.M. [/B] Once Katherine and Ruby have left the building the man accompanying them asks, “Does anyone know if it’s against the law in this town to shoot a halfling?” Ruby laughs and comments, “That Chumbley does tend to get on people’s nerves. What was he talking to you about?” The man replies “Darnned if I know. I got caught up in a long poker game that ran into the wee hours of the morning. I must have passed out in that chair last night and the Saloonkeeper just left me there to sleep it off. This morning I was barely awake when the halfling showed up and started babbling at me. I wasn't sure what to do until you came in, then I saw what looked to be a pair of pretty twins. I guess my hangover has me seeing double." Katherine asks the man “So, do you have a name?” “I go by Silver Jake Cook,” he replies as they approach the doors to the El Parador Cantina and Hotel. Ruby says, “This is where we are staying. We just going to sit down at a table in the cantina and wait for some friends. You’re welcome to stay and keep us company.” He accepts their invitation. They sit down at the table and Dorita comes over to take their orders. Katherine and Ruby both ask for a herbal tea. Cook says “Kentucky Bourbon if you have it, otherwise I’ll have your best whiskey.” Dorita shakes her head. She returns with teas for the ladies and brings him a glass with some concoction made mostly of raw eggs. She lectures him that it is too early in the morning for hard liqour and that he should drink her hangover remedy. He suffers through it and then asks for “Coffee, lots of coffee.” He asks about the accommodations at the El Parador and Katherine replies “Sparse but clean.” “Good enough for me,” he states and when Dorita comes back with the coffee gives her the money for a room for the night. He then turns to Ruby and asks, “So, what do you do here in Promise City.” She replies, “Oh, we’re both new here, we just arrived on the stage yesterday. I’m hoping to sing and dance at one of the saloons in town. I have an audition scheduled for tonight at the Lone Star Dance Hall and Saloon.” He then turns to Katherine with the same question and she tells him her tale. She then says “And what about you Mr. Silver Jake Cook? What brings you to Promise City?” He seems surprised by the question and Ruby laughs commenting, “Given how we found you I can only imagine.” Silver Jake Cook sits half slouched in his chair savoring his first mug of coffee. He was woken far too early in the morning after a very long night and he is tired. He has his black hat pushed back on his thick brown hair and he occasionally strokes his mostly trimmed moustache and chin beard, that in some locals call a goatee. Although his posture belies it, his eyes move around the room looking for motion and pausing briefly to take in facial expressions, and eyes. If someone were ever to ask him about that he would simply reply, “Always watch the eyes.” In response to the ladies question he simply replies “This and that. Gambling and drinking lately.” Not longer afterwards they are joined by Chow and Nanuet. Silver Jake Cook seems a bit surprised that the two young human companions would have these men as their friends but takes it in stride. "Who's he?" Nanuet asks. Ruby replies "We rescured him from Chumbley". That explanation seems to be sufficient for the both men. They then start talking about plans for the day, with Nanuet commenting about needing to learn how to use a rifle and speak Spanish, which strikes Jake as odd coming from a Mexican bandito. Chow replies that he will wander around town and see if he can offer help to anyone. “How much you charge for that?” Jake asks. “Nothing,” the half-orc replies and points to Katherine, stating “She pay for everything.” Jake just shakes his head and asks rhetorically “Who the hell are you people?” Jake decides to head up to his room to rest. When he comes down for supper he sees Katherine and Ruby dining at a table together and they invite him to join them. After the meal Ruby and Katherine say that they are heading over to the Lone Star Dance Hall and Saloon of Ruby’s try-out as singer and Jake decides to come along. The Lone Star is a two-story thirty-foot square brick building at the northeast corner of Main and Allen Streets. The main door is in the center of the south wall on Main Street. The first floor is comprised of the front room that takes up all but an L-shaped area in the northwest corner that has houses the kitchen and pantry. In the main room on the inside of the "L" of the L-cutout is the bar with eight barstools. There is a side door near the bar out to Allen Street and the outhouse behind the building. The kitchen also has a door out to the side alley. An elevated wooden stage area is located in the northeast corner of the building and the upright piano is along the eastern wall. A staircase to the second floor is in the southeast corner of the building, starting on the east wall near the piano to a landing in the corner then continuing up the south wall to the upper floor. On the main floor near the west wall are three large round tables that can seat up to eight patrons, two of which are used by the poker dealers. Gambler Tony Lucky takes the table on the northwest nearest to the bar. Gambler Job Kane takes the table in center and slightly out from the west wall The other table of this size is in the southwest corner. The remainder of the room consists of square tables that can each seat up to four people but could be moved together for larger groups. Saloon owner Tom Whipple is behind the bar alongside the bounder Jeff Mills. There are currently ten customers are present, two at the bar and the other eight playing cards at the two poker tables. Ruby heads over to the stage and Maggie Whipple sits down at the keyboards. Ruby runs through a number of songs that test out her singing range. After nearly a hour of play Ruby stops. The gamblers at Tony Lucky’s table continue to play cards but Job Kane stops his players and says, “She’s a friend of my cousin. Let’s show her our appreciation.” The people at that table give her a round of applause, joined in by the men at the bar and the Whipples. Maggie and Tom tell her that she is hired, that they will pay her $ 1.00 an hour starting at 8:00 P.M. the next night. Silver Jake Cook had been sitting with Katherine at one of the tables and Ruby joins them. Jake buys her a drink to celebrate her new job. During the prior hour he had divided his attention between her and the two card games going on, deciding that Job Kane’s would be the better game to join. He asks if he can join the game and is invited to take a seat. In addition to Kane, the other four players at the table consist of a tall clean-shaven man with the big ears dressed in plain clothing who answers to Al; a muscular man in rumpled jeans and a plaid flannel shirt with blond hair and a bushy mustache who Kane refers to as Neil; A man in denim jeans with a light blue work shirt and leather vest who most call Travis; and a man with blue jeans covered with dust and stained work shirt who everyone calls Jeremiah except for Travis who refers to him as Jerry. Jake Cook knows that after buying the horse and saddle he now only has a little more than $ 40.00 to his name but does not hold back and manages to win $ 23.39 from the first game. He wins again in the second game, this time a mere $ 5.13. He then starts to lose, with the man named Travis taking him for $ 16.62 in the first game followed by losing $ 42.21 in the next game to Kane. Jake recovers, winning $ 27.41 in the next hand and calculating that he is now down less than $ 3.00 from where he started. He then loses $ 10.91 to Kane in the next hand and decides to quit while he is behind. He thanks the dealer and the other players. He then heads back to the El Parador with Katherine and Ruby. [B]Tuesday, January 3rd, 1882:[/B] The quartet comprised of Jake, Katherine, Ruby and Nanuet begin to fall into a daily routine. Duncan leaves town this day, heading back to Tucson to stay with a friend until he is fully recovered from his injuries. They see Chow a few more times this day, during which he complains that Charlie Wong keeps pestering him to get involved with his daughter Mary Wong. The trio return to the Lone Star Dance Hall and Saloon that night, during which Ruby sings for the better part of three hours and makes almost as much in tips as she does from her salary. Jake spends time at Job Kane’s poker table, winning several hands against a fat man with the scruffy beard named Henry but eventually losing it all and more to both Al and Kane. He ends the night down almost $ 7 from where he started. [B]Wednesday, January 4th, 1882:[/B] Chow is seen at breakfast time but then disappears for good and Dorita indicates that he checked out of the hotel. Nanuet spends much of the day out in the desert with Pedro learning how to shoot the rifle and also getting a crash course in the Spanish language. Ruby has another good night at the Lone Star and there is a bigger crowd than the previous two nights, with about half of tables being full. Kane has a full table of seven players, including Jake, Al, Henry from the night before and Neil from the night before that. Jake continues to have mixed luck, winning several hands but like the night before ending the night down almost $ 7. He rejoins Ruby and Katherine and comments how he now has less than $ 13 to his name. He mentions how this would be even less if Katherine hadn’t been picking up the tab for the hotel and meals for the group and thanks her for her generosity. Having lost now three nights in a row he concludes that Tom Whipple wouldn’t even consider hiring him as a gambler. He concludes that he had better start looking for a job. Katherine says that she can’t keep paying for everything and should probably get a job herself. She has noticed that Maggie Whipple had trouble this evening taking care of the greater number of customers, especially when she was also trying to play piano for Ruby. Katherine asks her about the possibility of a job as either waitress or piano player. Maggie says, “Sounds good, I can use the help, but let’s hear how you play first.” Ruby has one more set this evening, during which Katherine accompanies her on the piano. Maggie offers her the job for $ 3.00 a night plus tips beginning the next night. Maggie orders a round of drinks to celebrate her good fortune. Ruby looks at Jake and says, “Are you ready to now tell us who you are?” [/QUOTE]
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