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Wizards, Whiskey and Wonderful Things - Concluded
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2022710" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter Four, “"What did I get myself into?", Thursday, March 9th, 1882, 9:30 P.M.</strong></p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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." </p><p></p><p>"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." </p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>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." </p><p></p><p>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." </p><p></p><p>“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."</p><p></p><p>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." </p><p></p><p>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?"</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>"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. </p><p></p><p>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.” </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>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?" </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>"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." </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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." </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 2022710, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter Four, “"What did I get myself into?", Thursday, March 9th, 1882, 9:30 P.M.[/B] 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. [/QUOTE]
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