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Wizards, Whiskey and Wonderful Things - Concluded
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2521078" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter 52, “Jake’s Devious Mind”, Thursday, March 16th , 1882:</strong></p><p></p><p>A short while after Kate has been in the Cantina Conrad Booth arrives and joins Kate for breakfast. He makes a comment about how much he dislikes early mornings and how he hopes that Arcade's Gang appreciates the sacrifices that he makes for them. Kate replies, "I'm sure they appreciate it. </p><p></p><p>As for mornings, it is hard to appreciate them when you keep late hours. But there is something beautiful about the early morning, when everything is still and silent, and the sun rises in a riot of colors. You feel like you're the only person in the world, but you aren't lonely, because the earth is there with you and you can feel how you belong to it, and it belongs to you." She stopped suddenly and blushed. "And obviously, one can become philosophical early in the morning." </p><p></p><p>She turned the subject then, talking lightly as they ate Dorita's delicious meal. As they were finishing up Kate said, "Oh, I wanted to return this." She reached into her handbag and pulled out the large amount of money he had left her last night. "I don't want your money," she said gently. "You are a friend, to take care of you at the Lucky Lady wasn't work." "Yes, but you were working." He takes back all except for a dollar, commenting "I believe that would be a reasonable tip for the evening. I wouldn't want to you treat me different than other customers of yours." </p><p></p><p>Chester walks over to the Cantina. He reaches for the door, but sees Kate sitting with Booth and says to himself, “Whoops. Don't want to butt in there. Guess I'll try the Silver Dollar.” Kate and Conrad sit and enjoy the breakfast. Near the end of the meal he removes and glances at six small books that he has in his pocket. "What's that?" Kate asks. He replies "The passports for Arcade's Gang. That's how I'm going to prove to the Judge that they were out of the country at the time of the shootings." She replies, "Passports should do it. I wonder if they'll come back here. I'm rather looking forward to it, except replacing one of their horses. Sure Shot Sam, I think Dorita said? I hope he won't be angry about what happened to his horse." He states, "Yes, Dorita has been worried about that since January. Mr. Gonzales said that he spoke to Sam about it so I guess you'd have to ask him." </p><p></p><p>Conrad puts the passports back and then takes out his pocketwatch and glances at it, commenting, "I got up too early, there's still some more time. Just as well, today will be a busy day in Promise City. The Lucky and Bauer trial is at 2:00 and the Vigilance Committee is holding a rally at 3:30. I heard that Baxter was up late last night printing up his rag to sell today. Looks like the halfling will miss it, he isn't expected in until tonight's stage."</p><p></p><p>Kate answers, "Poor Mr. Chumbley, he hates to miss anything. He really needs to set up an office here so he doesn't have to go back and forth to Tombstone. I'm afraid I'm going to miss most of the excitement. I have families to talk to this morning, a cooking lesson after lunch, and Flint will need Ginnie and I out at the ranch today. I'm not even sure I'll be back in town tonight, we might sleep out at the house. What kind of rally is the Vigilance Committee going to hold? Nothing to give us trouble down at the Lucky Lady, I hope." He replies, "Probably, that group would like to see all of the saloons in town close, especially those that have entertainment. But I imagine that the new priestess and the church will be the dominant topic for today."</p><p></p><p>Kate says, "Probably, poor Miss Minerva. I'll have to work very hard to keep my little school out of that committee's hands. Where is this rally being held? I might have to make the time to walk past and see what's going on. And I can get an idea of what Mrs. King is like." Conrad replies, "They have their non-public sessions at the Great Western Boarding House but for their public meetings, like today's, they meet in the unfinished Town Hall."</p><p></p><p>She says, "I'll make a point of stopping my before I go out to the ranch. Oh, and I need to go to Frye's today and pick up my new clothes. I think I've overscheduled myself today," she laughed. "I'm already tired and the day is just starting.”</p><p></p><p>Back at the Lucky Lady, Ruby answers laughing "Oh yes," to Jake’s comment. "Even then I was worried and looking out for you! And you thought I passed out from those rocks on my head but it was more from the stupidity of me charging in there and shooting a bunch of outlaws." Ruby shakes her head. "That seems like a long time ago." Jake's expression changes quickly, "Hey, come with me upstairs I want to show you something." </p><p></p><p>They climb to their room with the puppies in tow. Jake takes out the small crate that was delivered not long ago by the postmaster. The lid was already off and Jake removes the small hand press. "This little tool is a forger's dream. That is if you know how to use it." He smiles broadly. "It takes too much time, effort and resources to forge actual currency and the risk is too great. There are lots of lesser documents that can, with a little clever thinking, get you much greater rewards with very little risk." He is positively beaming. "We are going to use this to get a sample of Kitty Trent's handwriting." He tosses the pieces of the crate top to the puppies on the floor to chew on. "Oh," Ruby laughs looking at the press, "And I thought you were going to show me the bed." </p><p></p><p>She runs her finger over it. "And what are we going to do with dear Kitty's handwriting once we have it? And I'm guessing you know how to use this thing?" "It's been a while, but I was pretty good with it." Jake says while laying out the letter set. "I was wondering what Mr. Adair might think if he found a handwritten note from a trusted employee sharing some of his secrets for personal gain?" </p><p></p><p>Ruby furrows her brows and looks at Jake with confusion apparent on her face. </p><p></p><p>Jake removes a letter from his wallet and places it on the desk. He takes a fresh piece of paper and copies the first line. Ruby had written: <em>Dear Jake, Here I sit awake in the middle of the night, unable to sleep</em> He copies it several more times and hands it to Ruby. “Oh you kept that letter?” Ruby replies a bit embarrassed. She looks over what Jake wrote and her eyes narrow slightly, then she smiles. “You got pretty good there towards the end. That first line isn’t too good but you really got very close at the end. I might not even know it wasn’t my own handwriting.” </p><p></p><p>"Give me an hour to play with this and finish my idea." Jake gets up and gives her a hug, then pushes her out the door. “Hey…” Ruby pouts as she gets pushed out the door. “Alright, I’ll go help Maria, if she lets me.” Ruby heads downstairs with the puppies in tow and enters the kitchen where Maria is starting lunch. “Need some help?” Maria looks at Ruby with disbelief. “You feel ok Senorita?” “Sure, I’m feeling fine. Just thought I could help,” Ruby shrugs, “I mean, it is my saloon. Plus I’ve been hoping you could teach me how to speak and understand Spanish, at least a little.” Maria looks at Ruby with even more disbelief than before. “I help with your Spanish,” she says slowly, “You not help with lunch. Ok?” Ruby laughs. “Deal.” Maria spends the next hour or so teaching Ruby some basic expressions in Spanish. Ruby thanks her and heads back upstairs. </p><p></p><p>Ruby walks back to their room. “Baby, I’m home!” she calls out. She walks over to the office side of their room and sees Jake still sitting at the desk, hands stained with ink, crumpled up papers all over the floor. “You’ve been busy,” she says looking around at the mess. She leans on his back and looks over his shoulder. “Well, how did you do?” </p><p></p><p>"How is this?" He hands her an unfolded piece of paper that is printed on the letterhead and handwritten for the rest. </p><p></p><p><em>Steinberg, Noyce and Peterson Law office </em></p><p><em>PO Box 1187 </em></p><p><em>Chicago, Illinois </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Dear Miss Kitty Trent: </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>This is your official notification of the demise of Thaddeus Trent and the disbursement of his assets as directed by his last will and testament. Mr. Trent had substantial financial holdings from his land investments, but had no children to pass them to. This law office, named as executor of Mr. Trent's estate, is following Mr. Trent's final wishes as detailed in his will. Namely, located all living children of his brothers and disperse the assets evenly among them. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Unfortunately Mr. Trent's brothers have predeceased him, or at least we believe so. There is even some dispute as to how many Trent brothers there actually were. Mr. Trent came from a very poor family and was a self made man. It appears that his brothers were not as fortunate. We find the official records by themselves to be inadequate to identify potential heirs. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Please contact this office in writing to indicate your interest in the estate of Thaddeus Trent. Please indicate one of the following in your correspondence. </em></p><p><em>1. You are certain you are not related or are uninterested in any potential settlement.</em></p><p><em>2. You are certain you are related and are interested in the potential settlement </em></p><p><em>3. You are uncertain if you are related but are interested in potential settlement if proof of relationship can be established. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Evidence of family relationships will bolster your claim. Please include pertinent family history including names, dates and locations as you know them. Requests to be included in the potential settlement must be postmarked by March 31, 1882 to be considered valid. Research will begin as soon as correspondence is received. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>All correspondence will be kept confidential, and heirs to the estate can consider this law firm to be their attorneys for privacy regulations. This law firm recommends you keep the potential of a settlement on your behalf private to avoid any intrusions by opportunists. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Best regards, </em></p><p><em>Barnaby Mellon </em></p><p><em>Bequeathment Clerk</em></p><p></p><p>"I send it to Mattie, she sends to Kitty postmarked from Chicago. Kitty writes back to the PO Box, Mattie sends to me. You read Kitty's mind and tell me a secret about Adair. I write a letter from Kitty to someone, maybe Fisk, maybe someone else. We arrange to have the letter lying around where Adair can find it. We start to put doubt in Adair's mind about his trusted friends. Who knows what he'll do." Jake smiles a nasty smile. "I'll admit it needs a little more work, and is a bit complicated, but I really like it." Jake stands up. "I think it was Mark Twain who said there is more real pleasure to be gotten out of a malicious act, where your heart is in it, than out of thirty acts of a nobler sort." There is a gleam in his eye and a big smug smile on his face. </p><p></p><p>Ruby is silent for a few minutes before she finally speaks. “The letter is good, very good. How do we make sure Kitty gives me a secret? We need to work on that. And let’s try to get that rat Baxter involved in this too, if we can. Maybe include something about him being in on it and willing to publish it in his paper?” Ruby is silent again. “I’m in awe of your deviousness Mr. Cook, I’m impressed.” </p><p></p><p>Jake picks up a crumbled piece of paper. He draws the dagger from his boot and says “Incendie.” He startles only slightly as the flame emerges from the tip and lights the paper over a metal trash can. "Bad form to leave evidence." He meticulously burns each practice sheet of paper. "We'll have a little time before we get Kitty's response, assuming she does reply. Think about it." Jake addresses an envelope to Kitty Trent care of the postmaster in Promise City. He writes Mattie a letter and puts both in an envelope. He adds a five-dollar money order at the post office and mails it.</p><p></p><p>Ginnie excuses herself and heads right for the kitchen where she snatches a plate of food from the counter and avoids the snap of a dishrag that just misses her bottom "Morning Dorita!" Ruby says with a giggle as she pops a sweet pastry that she knows was left on the counter for her into her mouth. Dorita exclaims, "Go SIT and eat and no talk with mouth full!" "Morning Ma'am Kate, ...sir" she says in between bolted mouthfuls of food. "Slow down Ginnie, it's not going to go anywhere," Kate said with a fond laugh and an amused glance at Conrad. She asks, "I'm going to visit some of the families with children today, to see if there is any interest in a school, would you like to come?" </p><p></p><p>While Jake mails his letter Ruby heads over to the El Parador. Ginnie hurried out the door. Kate caught a glimpse of Ruby outside as Ginnie ran outside. "That girl moves so fast sometimes it makes my head spin. Sometimes you're right about my luck. I met Ginnie on one of the worst days of my life; but I wouldn't change it for the world." </p><p>She catches Ginnie on her way out the door. </p><p></p><p>"Hey Kid," Ruby greets her. "Let's go have a chat." They head outside to the barn and make sure no one is around. "Listen, I know that Kate and Mr. Gonzales are hesitant to help train you in certain matters. I would be willing, although I'm not sure what kind of a teacher I would be. Let me ask you a question. What you did yesterday... how did you feel when you cleared the table? Were you only copying something that you heard before or did that come from inside you?" "I also overheard what Kate said to you and she is right. It is dangerous doing that kind of thing and we have to be careful of who finds out we can do it. I've seen some not so pretty things happen to people with talents like ours." </p><p></p><p>Ginnie replies, "Actually what I did wasn't that hard. I heard you say the cleaning spell once. I followed the lines of energy that crosses the room. I made the energy do what I wanted them to do, just like twisting lace and then released it with the words. I do want to learn more but Ma'am Kate is really afraid, but I didn't say anything when she told me to promise not to do any more magic, I just smiled, so if I learned something from you I wouldn't be lying. And I'm getting really tired of waiting especially now that I know how I can make magic work... at least a little."</p><p></p><p>"Ginnie, you sound so much like me," Ruby laughs and shakes her head, "It's scary." Ruby moves a little closer to the girl. "I will help you then, in whatever way I can. I can use the magic like you can, without the help of books." Ruby leans down to the girls level. "You have a gift and you should practice it, learn to use it to help yourself. Kate is worried, and you should be too, you can't let others know you have this gift, that's very important, do you understand? It can be dangerous too so please, please don't try anything that I don't teach you." </p><p></p><p>"Now, you come by the Lucky Lady when you can. Tell Kate you are helping me, which you will be, so you won't be lying. Nothing in this world is free, but I suspect you already know that." Ruby stands up straight again. "By the way, make sure Kate gives you riding lessons. You need to learn that too." Ruby ruffles Ginnie's hair and they make their way back inside the El Parador.</p><p></p><p>Kate asks Conrad, “The Vigilance Committee….they don't have any actual legal power do they? They just sound like people who have taken this upon themselves." Conrad replies, "Actually, it's a little of both. Two years ago, not long after the town was founded, they had one group called the Promise City Civic Association. It had five main leaders, of which Frank Condon, Doctor James Eaton and Bill Watkins were three of them. Elton Hubbard and Burton Lumley were the other two. Last year they got into a disagreement over the direction the town should go. The first three wanted to 'civilize' the towns and drive out the saloons and roughnecks. But Hubbard's mining operation employs folks who need those vices as a release from their labors and Lumley owns the Gay Lady so the group reached an impasse. </p><p></p><p>So the main group disbanded and two new groups rose up to replace it. The high-and-mighty types formed the Promise City Vigilance Committee to promote their 'civilize the town' agenda while the others formed the Promise City Merchant's Association. The Merchant's Association is the more powerful of the two groups, since it pays the salaries for Marshall and his deputies and owns the municipal buildings. But the Vigilance Committee is still a force to be reckoned with and Mrs. King has made the church her focus. That group also supervises Boot Hill, the town cemetery, as burial and respect for the dead generally are done by the churches in most communities."</p><p></p><p>Kate says, "I'll do my best to stay beneath the notice of both those groups. We have enemies in both those groups, it might be fun to tweak both their noses. I'll have to Jake and Ruby about perhaps getting some things down around here outside of those committees. What time if your meeting? Soon?" He nods yes and says, “Well, your employer Niles Hoover is active in the Merchant's Association. Your friend Jake Cooke also joined, but he's missed most of the meetings since that group always meets early in the mornings so as not to interfere with business hours."</p><p></p><p>She replies, "In other words, it will be difficult to avoid the notice of the Merchant's Association at least. It might be time for Jake to start getting up a bit early now and then. Influence in the Merchant's Association could be a very good thing for us, which I'm sure is why Jake joined. I think I'm starting to get an idea of how things work in Promise City, and we can use all the advantages we can get. Thank you for being my teacher, Conrad." </p><p></p><p>Ruby walks in. "Good morning, Kate, Conrad." She faces Conrad. "I hope you enjoyed yourself last night and it won't be the last time you come to relax with us at the Lucky Lady. So Kate, what are you up to today?" She replies, "Quite a bit, actually. I have to get my new clothes from Frye's, talk to some of the families with children, get my cooking lesson with Dorita after lunch, and go out to the ranch to help out. Plus Conrad tells me there is a public meeting of the Vigilance Committee at 3:00 this afternoon that I'd like to drop in on, just to see what they do. </p><p>And you and I had something to talk about today, if you recall," she finished, trying not to look over at Conrad. "We can do that right after breakfast, since you are here now. Unless you have someplace you need to be."</p><p></p><p>Ruby laughs. "You are a busy girl. Yes, I am here to chat. I have some errands to do but they can wait. I'm sure Jake and I will go to Mr. Lucky's hearing later today. I wonder what time that is? They are usually early. Oh and I told Miss Ginnie here to insist that you give her lessons, riding lessons that is. Very important for her to learn." She smiles knowingly at Ginnie. "So I'm ready to talk when you are." Ruby leans back against the table and waits for Kate. Kate turned to Ruby and said, "Mr. Lucky's trial is at 2:00 this afternoon, although considering what happened, whatever he gets he deserves. It's his business if he wants to keep his bed filled with a different woman every night, but intruding on a marriage is another thing."</p><p></p><p>"I'll have to get back to the Lucky Lady to let Jake know. As for Mr. Lucky, you are right to a point. He may have intruded, but he didn't do it alone, and he wasn't the one who was married." Ruby shrugged. "There's just no sanctity in marriage anymore." She tried not to laugh. "But yes, whatever he gets he deserves." </p><p></p><p>With that Ruby and Ginnie wanders back into the kitchen to see Dorita. "Hola, cómo son usted Dorita?" she says, and Dorita nearly jumps out of her skin. "What you do with Ruby?" she asks eyeing her suspiciously. Ruby laughs. "It's me. I asked Maria to teach me how to speak Spanish. That's all I can say though." Dorita relaxes and smiles. "You never come here to visit! No Ruby, no Jake, you never come! You look skinny!" she says poking her stomach. Ruby rolls her eyes and smiles. "You're right, we don't come by enough to visit. We'll make a better effort. And you think everyone is skinny!" </p><p></p><p>They chat for a little while until it looks like Kate is done talking with Conrad. The talk was lighter for the last few minutes until Conrad left for his meeting. Kate wished him luck, very sincerely, feeling her own guilt for the trouble his friends were in. "I'm sure it will go well, and afterwards you can have a nap," she laughed. A few moments later Ruby came out of the kitchen and back to the table. "We'll be back down in a few minutes, Ginnie," Kate said, "then we'll head over to the Wells Fargo office to speak with Mr. Nevers and Mr. Wager. Ruby lets head upstairs." Ruby kisses Dorita goodbye and heads back out to Kate.</p><p></p><p>Katherine took Ruby upstairs to her room and closed the door quietly behind them. "Thanks for coming up, Ruby." </p><p>She paced back and forth a few times before she stopped and looked at Ruby. "I feel like things are going too fast for me to keep up. I never intended anything more than to be friends with Conrad. He's here every day, and especially after all of you moved out, it was nice to have someone to sit and talk with. And he never pushed, it was always simple and easy, nothing else going on. But lately..... he hasn't pushed, but things are changing, and I'm not sure I'm ready for it." </p><p></p><p>Ruby smiled and sat on the bed, on her feet. She looked curiously at Kate for a moment before responding. "Well, what's changing? Let's start with that." Kate says, "The other day, when we went out to the ranch we had a talk. He didn't really know anything about my life before I came here, and he hadn't asked. I told him about my family, my father especially. And then he told me that he had hoped that someday, when my mourning was over, that we might be more than friends. But he was certain that my father wouldn't approve of him. There are reasons, Conrad's family...I can't really get into it, it's not mine to tell. Anyway, I found myself telling him that someday, maybe....I didn't want him to feel badly, and my father would never hold his family against him. And now, I....I'm thinking of him differently than before. And I....I shouldn't." </p><p></p><p>Ruby smiled at her friend. "Kate I don't know anything about the way you were brought up and I really don't know anything about your family. I ran away from that life because it was all silly to me, it never made sense to not follow your own instincts. Why shouldn't you like him if you want to? Who is going to tell you that you shouldn't like him? And how much like are we talking about here?" </p><p></p><p>"I'm not in love, if that's what you mean," she said, finally dropping into a chair. "But I'm attracted to him. I'm not afraid of how anyone would react, Ruby. But I didn't think I could feel this so soon. I still miss Tom every minute of every day. Not like before, where I could hardly make myself get out of bed, but.... Logically, I know that there are a million ways to love someone, and I will never love anyone the way I loved my Tom. His absence will always leave a hole in my life. But I feel like I'm betraying him to even think of a man yet." </p><p></p><p>"It's natural to be attracted to other people. You shouldn't feel bad about that. I can't pretend to know what it's like to lose a husband or anyone close to me like that." Ruby continues softly, "But don't you think Tom would want you to be happy?" Kate replies, "Of course he would. Just like I would want him to, if I had died and he was here. It's so strange, he's only been gone for a little more than five months, but I haven't seen him for eight. And before that he was so ill, he was hardly like the man I knew. That month when he was well before he left seems like a dream, as if he's been gone for so much longer." Katherine reached out and picked up Tom's picture. "Yes, he would want me to be happy, I'm just not sure how to do that and honor him at the same time." </p><p></p><p>“You honor him by going on and living your life. He wouldn’t want you moping around. Which is what you’ve been doing as far as I can tell. I never thought I would say this, but maybe you just aren’t ready yet, it’s too soon for you.” Ruby pauses and then looks Kate in the eyes. “Well, what’s the rush anyway? If he is a man worth having he’ll wait until you are, ready that is. Give yourself some time.” Kate nodded and was quiet for a few moments. "I'm not quite ready to let him go yet. I need to get used to being an unmarried woman. Then perhaps I can start acting like one. I'd like to go to Tombstone later this week, I want to visit him." </p><p></p><p>"That sounds like a good idea, Tombstone. I'll go with you, if you'd like." Ruby smiled at her friend. Then she let out a light laugh. "Who would have ever thought I would be giving out advice on love?" Ruby shook her head. "Let me know when you're ready to do more, uh, personal, things. Now that I can tell you all about." "I was married for five years Ruby, I do know about the personal things. Quite well." She laughed and said with a little blush, "I miss the personal things a great deal more than I thought I would. It's lonely to climb into bed alone every night. To not be touched or held or....Well, you get the idea." </p><p></p><p>"Don't take this the wrong way, but just because you were married doesn't make you a good lover, I've seen that way too many times before." Ruby saw the blush come to Kate's face again. "Ok, it's definitely too soon for that," Ruby laughed. "Just keep it in mind." Ruby paused. "I never used to feel lonely in bed. If I wanted a partner to entertain me I would find one. But since Jake... well, I know what it's like to be lonely. When he's not there I hate it." With a sudden sparkle Kate answered, "It doesn't mean I wasn't either, but we don't need to discuss that just now. That loneliness is what I've felt every day, Ruby. It's why I would drink myself to sleep at night. But it's getting better. I suppose the day I can climb into bed and be comfortable with just me is the day I'll be ready to entertain the idea of another man." </p><p></p><p>"Yes, you've only been with one man and it's a big scary world out there. You should take time to get to know you first, the Katherine that can take care of herself on her own two feet." Kate moved over to the bed and sat next to Ruby. "I know you're right, and I'm not going to do anything until I'm sure I'm ready. Now if I just knew how to calm these feelings until then." "I'm sure Dorita has a tea for that..." Ruby replied with a serious face, but it was only seconds before she burst out laughing. "I wish I could help you, sweetie, but I've messed up my own love life to epic proportions, so I wouldn't be taking advice from me." </p><p></p><p>Kate hugged her friend and laughed. "You've given good advice today, I just needed to talk about everything. It's hard not to feel guilty, but I'll try. The rest will come when it comes. And I don't think you've messed up your love life, George Eastman will just have to get over you." Ruby says, "I wasn't talking about George Eastman, I was talking about Jake. Before I came to Promise City I swore I would never ever fall in love. And now look at me!" </p><p></p><p>Kate says, "Falling in love is not messing up. You can have fun with a lot of men, and like them, enjoy them. But there is nothing the same as falling in love, and I'm glad you're letting yourself experience that. As much as losing Tom hurts, I wouldn't trade my time with him for anything. And I'm guessing you'd say the same." Ruby laughed. "I'm not letting myself experience anything. It just happened and I couldn't and can't stop it." Ruby shrugged but kept her smile. "I just hope it's not the death of me." "It won't be," Kate said confidently. And it just might be the making of you, she thought to herself.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 2521078, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter 52, “Jake’s Devious Mind”, Thursday, March 16th , 1882:[/B] A short while after Kate has been in the Cantina Conrad Booth arrives and joins Kate for breakfast. He makes a comment about how much he dislikes early mornings and how he hopes that Arcade's Gang appreciates the sacrifices that he makes for them. Kate replies, "I'm sure they appreciate it. As for mornings, it is hard to appreciate them when you keep late hours. But there is something beautiful about the early morning, when everything is still and silent, and the sun rises in a riot of colors. You feel like you're the only person in the world, but you aren't lonely, because the earth is there with you and you can feel how you belong to it, and it belongs to you." She stopped suddenly and blushed. "And obviously, one can become philosophical early in the morning." She turned the subject then, talking lightly as they ate Dorita's delicious meal. As they were finishing up Kate said, "Oh, I wanted to return this." She reached into her handbag and pulled out the large amount of money he had left her last night. "I don't want your money," she said gently. "You are a friend, to take care of you at the Lucky Lady wasn't work." "Yes, but you were working." He takes back all except for a dollar, commenting "I believe that would be a reasonable tip for the evening. I wouldn't want to you treat me different than other customers of yours." Chester walks over to the Cantina. He reaches for the door, but sees Kate sitting with Booth and says to himself, “Whoops. Don't want to butt in there. Guess I'll try the Silver Dollar.” Kate and Conrad sit and enjoy the breakfast. Near the end of the meal he removes and glances at six small books that he has in his pocket. "What's that?" Kate asks. He replies "The passports for Arcade's Gang. That's how I'm going to prove to the Judge that they were out of the country at the time of the shootings." She replies, "Passports should do it. I wonder if they'll come back here. I'm rather looking forward to it, except replacing one of their horses. Sure Shot Sam, I think Dorita said? I hope he won't be angry about what happened to his horse." He states, "Yes, Dorita has been worried about that since January. Mr. Gonzales said that he spoke to Sam about it so I guess you'd have to ask him." Conrad puts the passports back and then takes out his pocketwatch and glances at it, commenting, "I got up too early, there's still some more time. Just as well, today will be a busy day in Promise City. The Lucky and Bauer trial is at 2:00 and the Vigilance Committee is holding a rally at 3:30. I heard that Baxter was up late last night printing up his rag to sell today. Looks like the halfling will miss it, he isn't expected in until tonight's stage." Kate answers, "Poor Mr. Chumbley, he hates to miss anything. He really needs to set up an office here so he doesn't have to go back and forth to Tombstone. I'm afraid I'm going to miss most of the excitement. I have families to talk to this morning, a cooking lesson after lunch, and Flint will need Ginnie and I out at the ranch today. I'm not even sure I'll be back in town tonight, we might sleep out at the house. What kind of rally is the Vigilance Committee going to hold? Nothing to give us trouble down at the Lucky Lady, I hope." He replies, "Probably, that group would like to see all of the saloons in town close, especially those that have entertainment. But I imagine that the new priestess and the church will be the dominant topic for today." Kate says, "Probably, poor Miss Minerva. I'll have to work very hard to keep my little school out of that committee's hands. Where is this rally being held? I might have to make the time to walk past and see what's going on. And I can get an idea of what Mrs. King is like." Conrad replies, "They have their non-public sessions at the Great Western Boarding House but for their public meetings, like today's, they meet in the unfinished Town Hall." She says, "I'll make a point of stopping my before I go out to the ranch. Oh, and I need to go to Frye's today and pick up my new clothes. I think I've overscheduled myself today," she laughed. "I'm already tired and the day is just starting.” Back at the Lucky Lady, Ruby answers laughing "Oh yes," to Jake’s comment. "Even then I was worried and looking out for you! And you thought I passed out from those rocks on my head but it was more from the stupidity of me charging in there and shooting a bunch of outlaws." Ruby shakes her head. "That seems like a long time ago." Jake's expression changes quickly, "Hey, come with me upstairs I want to show you something." They climb to their room with the puppies in tow. Jake takes out the small crate that was delivered not long ago by the postmaster. The lid was already off and Jake removes the small hand press. "This little tool is a forger's dream. That is if you know how to use it." He smiles broadly. "It takes too much time, effort and resources to forge actual currency and the risk is too great. There are lots of lesser documents that can, with a little clever thinking, get you much greater rewards with very little risk." He is positively beaming. "We are going to use this to get a sample of Kitty Trent's handwriting." He tosses the pieces of the crate top to the puppies on the floor to chew on. "Oh," Ruby laughs looking at the press, "And I thought you were going to show me the bed." She runs her finger over it. "And what are we going to do with dear Kitty's handwriting once we have it? And I'm guessing you know how to use this thing?" "It's been a while, but I was pretty good with it." Jake says while laying out the letter set. "I was wondering what Mr. Adair might think if he found a handwritten note from a trusted employee sharing some of his secrets for personal gain?" Ruby furrows her brows and looks at Jake with confusion apparent on her face. Jake removes a letter from his wallet and places it on the desk. He takes a fresh piece of paper and copies the first line. Ruby had written: [I]Dear Jake, Here I sit awake in the middle of the night, unable to sleep[/I] He copies it several more times and hands it to Ruby. “Oh you kept that letter?” Ruby replies a bit embarrassed. She looks over what Jake wrote and her eyes narrow slightly, then she smiles. “You got pretty good there towards the end. That first line isn’t too good but you really got very close at the end. I might not even know it wasn’t my own handwriting.” "Give me an hour to play with this and finish my idea." Jake gets up and gives her a hug, then pushes her out the door. “Hey…” Ruby pouts as she gets pushed out the door. “Alright, I’ll go help Maria, if she lets me.” Ruby heads downstairs with the puppies in tow and enters the kitchen where Maria is starting lunch. “Need some help?” Maria looks at Ruby with disbelief. “You feel ok Senorita?” “Sure, I’m feeling fine. Just thought I could help,” Ruby shrugs, “I mean, it is my saloon. Plus I’ve been hoping you could teach me how to speak and understand Spanish, at least a little.” Maria looks at Ruby with even more disbelief than before. “I help with your Spanish,” she says slowly, “You not help with lunch. Ok?” Ruby laughs. “Deal.” Maria spends the next hour or so teaching Ruby some basic expressions in Spanish. Ruby thanks her and heads back upstairs. Ruby walks back to their room. “Baby, I’m home!” she calls out. She walks over to the office side of their room and sees Jake still sitting at the desk, hands stained with ink, crumpled up papers all over the floor. “You’ve been busy,” she says looking around at the mess. She leans on his back and looks over his shoulder. “Well, how did you do?” "How is this?" He hands her an unfolded piece of paper that is printed on the letterhead and handwritten for the rest. [I]Steinberg, Noyce and Peterson Law office PO Box 1187 Chicago, Illinois Dear Miss Kitty Trent: This is your official notification of the demise of Thaddeus Trent and the disbursement of his assets as directed by his last will and testament. Mr. Trent had substantial financial holdings from his land investments, but had no children to pass them to. This law office, named as executor of Mr. Trent's estate, is following Mr. Trent's final wishes as detailed in his will. Namely, located all living children of his brothers and disperse the assets evenly among them. Unfortunately Mr. Trent's brothers have predeceased him, or at least we believe so. There is even some dispute as to how many Trent brothers there actually were. Mr. Trent came from a very poor family and was a self made man. It appears that his brothers were not as fortunate. We find the official records by themselves to be inadequate to identify potential heirs. Please contact this office in writing to indicate your interest in the estate of Thaddeus Trent. Please indicate one of the following in your correspondence. 1. You are certain you are not related or are uninterested in any potential settlement. 2. You are certain you are related and are interested in the potential settlement 3. You are uncertain if you are related but are interested in potential settlement if proof of relationship can be established. Evidence of family relationships will bolster your claim. Please include pertinent family history including names, dates and locations as you know them. Requests to be included in the potential settlement must be postmarked by March 31, 1882 to be considered valid. Research will begin as soon as correspondence is received. All correspondence will be kept confidential, and heirs to the estate can consider this law firm to be their attorneys for privacy regulations. This law firm recommends you keep the potential of a settlement on your behalf private to avoid any intrusions by opportunists. Best regards, Barnaby Mellon Bequeathment Clerk[/I] "I send it to Mattie, she sends to Kitty postmarked from Chicago. Kitty writes back to the PO Box, Mattie sends to me. You read Kitty's mind and tell me a secret about Adair. I write a letter from Kitty to someone, maybe Fisk, maybe someone else. We arrange to have the letter lying around where Adair can find it. We start to put doubt in Adair's mind about his trusted friends. Who knows what he'll do." Jake smiles a nasty smile. "I'll admit it needs a little more work, and is a bit complicated, but I really like it." Jake stands up. "I think it was Mark Twain who said there is more real pleasure to be gotten out of a malicious act, where your heart is in it, than out of thirty acts of a nobler sort." There is a gleam in his eye and a big smug smile on his face. Ruby is silent for a few minutes before she finally speaks. “The letter is good, very good. How do we make sure Kitty gives me a secret? We need to work on that. And let’s try to get that rat Baxter involved in this too, if we can. Maybe include something about him being in on it and willing to publish it in his paper?” Ruby is silent again. “I’m in awe of your deviousness Mr. Cook, I’m impressed.” Jake picks up a crumbled piece of paper. He draws the dagger from his boot and says “Incendie.” He startles only slightly as the flame emerges from the tip and lights the paper over a metal trash can. "Bad form to leave evidence." He meticulously burns each practice sheet of paper. "We'll have a little time before we get Kitty's response, assuming she does reply. Think about it." Jake addresses an envelope to Kitty Trent care of the postmaster in Promise City. He writes Mattie a letter and puts both in an envelope. He adds a five-dollar money order at the post office and mails it. Ginnie excuses herself and heads right for the kitchen where she snatches a plate of food from the counter and avoids the snap of a dishrag that just misses her bottom "Morning Dorita!" Ruby says with a giggle as she pops a sweet pastry that she knows was left on the counter for her into her mouth. Dorita exclaims, "Go SIT and eat and no talk with mouth full!" "Morning Ma'am Kate, ...sir" she says in between bolted mouthfuls of food. "Slow down Ginnie, it's not going to go anywhere," Kate said with a fond laugh and an amused glance at Conrad. She asks, "I'm going to visit some of the families with children today, to see if there is any interest in a school, would you like to come?" While Jake mails his letter Ruby heads over to the El Parador. Ginnie hurried out the door. Kate caught a glimpse of Ruby outside as Ginnie ran outside. "That girl moves so fast sometimes it makes my head spin. Sometimes you're right about my luck. I met Ginnie on one of the worst days of my life; but I wouldn't change it for the world." She catches Ginnie on her way out the door. "Hey Kid," Ruby greets her. "Let's go have a chat." They head outside to the barn and make sure no one is around. "Listen, I know that Kate and Mr. Gonzales are hesitant to help train you in certain matters. I would be willing, although I'm not sure what kind of a teacher I would be. Let me ask you a question. What you did yesterday... how did you feel when you cleared the table? Were you only copying something that you heard before or did that come from inside you?" "I also overheard what Kate said to you and she is right. It is dangerous doing that kind of thing and we have to be careful of who finds out we can do it. I've seen some not so pretty things happen to people with talents like ours." Ginnie replies, "Actually what I did wasn't that hard. I heard you say the cleaning spell once. I followed the lines of energy that crosses the room. I made the energy do what I wanted them to do, just like twisting lace and then released it with the words. I do want to learn more but Ma'am Kate is really afraid, but I didn't say anything when she told me to promise not to do any more magic, I just smiled, so if I learned something from you I wouldn't be lying. And I'm getting really tired of waiting especially now that I know how I can make magic work... at least a little." "Ginnie, you sound so much like me," Ruby laughs and shakes her head, "It's scary." Ruby moves a little closer to the girl. "I will help you then, in whatever way I can. I can use the magic like you can, without the help of books." Ruby leans down to the girls level. "You have a gift and you should practice it, learn to use it to help yourself. Kate is worried, and you should be too, you can't let others know you have this gift, that's very important, do you understand? It can be dangerous too so please, please don't try anything that I don't teach you." "Now, you come by the Lucky Lady when you can. Tell Kate you are helping me, which you will be, so you won't be lying. Nothing in this world is free, but I suspect you already know that." Ruby stands up straight again. "By the way, make sure Kate gives you riding lessons. You need to learn that too." Ruby ruffles Ginnie's hair and they make their way back inside the El Parador. Kate asks Conrad, “The Vigilance Committee….they don't have any actual legal power do they? They just sound like people who have taken this upon themselves." Conrad replies, "Actually, it's a little of both. Two years ago, not long after the town was founded, they had one group called the Promise City Civic Association. It had five main leaders, of which Frank Condon, Doctor James Eaton and Bill Watkins were three of them. Elton Hubbard and Burton Lumley were the other two. Last year they got into a disagreement over the direction the town should go. The first three wanted to 'civilize' the towns and drive out the saloons and roughnecks. But Hubbard's mining operation employs folks who need those vices as a release from their labors and Lumley owns the Gay Lady so the group reached an impasse. So the main group disbanded and two new groups rose up to replace it. The high-and-mighty types formed the Promise City Vigilance Committee to promote their 'civilize the town' agenda while the others formed the Promise City Merchant's Association. The Merchant's Association is the more powerful of the two groups, since it pays the salaries for Marshall and his deputies and owns the municipal buildings. But the Vigilance Committee is still a force to be reckoned with and Mrs. King has made the church her focus. That group also supervises Boot Hill, the town cemetery, as burial and respect for the dead generally are done by the churches in most communities." Kate says, "I'll do my best to stay beneath the notice of both those groups. We have enemies in both those groups, it might be fun to tweak both their noses. I'll have to Jake and Ruby about perhaps getting some things down around here outside of those committees. What time if your meeting? Soon?" He nods yes and says, “Well, your employer Niles Hoover is active in the Merchant's Association. Your friend Jake Cooke also joined, but he's missed most of the meetings since that group always meets early in the mornings so as not to interfere with business hours." She replies, "In other words, it will be difficult to avoid the notice of the Merchant's Association at least. It might be time for Jake to start getting up a bit early now and then. Influence in the Merchant's Association could be a very good thing for us, which I'm sure is why Jake joined. I think I'm starting to get an idea of how things work in Promise City, and we can use all the advantages we can get. Thank you for being my teacher, Conrad." Ruby walks in. "Good morning, Kate, Conrad." She faces Conrad. "I hope you enjoyed yourself last night and it won't be the last time you come to relax with us at the Lucky Lady. So Kate, what are you up to today?" She replies, "Quite a bit, actually. I have to get my new clothes from Frye's, talk to some of the families with children, get my cooking lesson with Dorita after lunch, and go out to the ranch to help out. Plus Conrad tells me there is a public meeting of the Vigilance Committee at 3:00 this afternoon that I'd like to drop in on, just to see what they do. And you and I had something to talk about today, if you recall," she finished, trying not to look over at Conrad. "We can do that right after breakfast, since you are here now. Unless you have someplace you need to be." Ruby laughs. "You are a busy girl. Yes, I am here to chat. I have some errands to do but they can wait. I'm sure Jake and I will go to Mr. Lucky's hearing later today. I wonder what time that is? They are usually early. Oh and I told Miss Ginnie here to insist that you give her lessons, riding lessons that is. Very important for her to learn." She smiles knowingly at Ginnie. "So I'm ready to talk when you are." Ruby leans back against the table and waits for Kate. Kate turned to Ruby and said, "Mr. Lucky's trial is at 2:00 this afternoon, although considering what happened, whatever he gets he deserves. It's his business if he wants to keep his bed filled with a different woman every night, but intruding on a marriage is another thing." "I'll have to get back to the Lucky Lady to let Jake know. As for Mr. Lucky, you are right to a point. He may have intruded, but he didn't do it alone, and he wasn't the one who was married." Ruby shrugged. "There's just no sanctity in marriage anymore." She tried not to laugh. "But yes, whatever he gets he deserves." With that Ruby and Ginnie wanders back into the kitchen to see Dorita. "Hola, cómo son usted Dorita?" she says, and Dorita nearly jumps out of her skin. "What you do with Ruby?" she asks eyeing her suspiciously. Ruby laughs. "It's me. I asked Maria to teach me how to speak Spanish. That's all I can say though." Dorita relaxes and smiles. "You never come here to visit! No Ruby, no Jake, you never come! You look skinny!" she says poking her stomach. Ruby rolls her eyes and smiles. "You're right, we don't come by enough to visit. We'll make a better effort. And you think everyone is skinny!" They chat for a little while until it looks like Kate is done talking with Conrad. The talk was lighter for the last few minutes until Conrad left for his meeting. Kate wished him luck, very sincerely, feeling her own guilt for the trouble his friends were in. "I'm sure it will go well, and afterwards you can have a nap," she laughed. A few moments later Ruby came out of the kitchen and back to the table. "We'll be back down in a few minutes, Ginnie," Kate said, "then we'll head over to the Wells Fargo office to speak with Mr. Nevers and Mr. Wager. Ruby lets head upstairs." Ruby kisses Dorita goodbye and heads back out to Kate. Katherine took Ruby upstairs to her room and closed the door quietly behind them. "Thanks for coming up, Ruby." She paced back and forth a few times before she stopped and looked at Ruby. "I feel like things are going too fast for me to keep up. I never intended anything more than to be friends with Conrad. He's here every day, and especially after all of you moved out, it was nice to have someone to sit and talk with. And he never pushed, it was always simple and easy, nothing else going on. But lately..... he hasn't pushed, but things are changing, and I'm not sure I'm ready for it." Ruby smiled and sat on the bed, on her feet. She looked curiously at Kate for a moment before responding. "Well, what's changing? Let's start with that." Kate says, "The other day, when we went out to the ranch we had a talk. He didn't really know anything about my life before I came here, and he hadn't asked. I told him about my family, my father especially. And then he told me that he had hoped that someday, when my mourning was over, that we might be more than friends. But he was certain that my father wouldn't approve of him. There are reasons, Conrad's family...I can't really get into it, it's not mine to tell. Anyway, I found myself telling him that someday, maybe....I didn't want him to feel badly, and my father would never hold his family against him. And now, I....I'm thinking of him differently than before. And I....I shouldn't." Ruby smiled at her friend. "Kate I don't know anything about the way you were brought up and I really don't know anything about your family. I ran away from that life because it was all silly to me, it never made sense to not follow your own instincts. Why shouldn't you like him if you want to? Who is going to tell you that you shouldn't like him? And how much like are we talking about here?" "I'm not in love, if that's what you mean," she said, finally dropping into a chair. "But I'm attracted to him. I'm not afraid of how anyone would react, Ruby. But I didn't think I could feel this so soon. I still miss Tom every minute of every day. Not like before, where I could hardly make myself get out of bed, but.... Logically, I know that there are a million ways to love someone, and I will never love anyone the way I loved my Tom. His absence will always leave a hole in my life. But I feel like I'm betraying him to even think of a man yet." "It's natural to be attracted to other people. You shouldn't feel bad about that. I can't pretend to know what it's like to lose a husband or anyone close to me like that." Ruby continues softly, "But don't you think Tom would want you to be happy?" Kate replies, "Of course he would. Just like I would want him to, if I had died and he was here. It's so strange, he's only been gone for a little more than five months, but I haven't seen him for eight. And before that he was so ill, he was hardly like the man I knew. That month when he was well before he left seems like a dream, as if he's been gone for so much longer." Katherine reached out and picked up Tom's picture. "Yes, he would want me to be happy, I'm just not sure how to do that and honor him at the same time." “You honor him by going on and living your life. He wouldn’t want you moping around. Which is what you’ve been doing as far as I can tell. I never thought I would say this, but maybe you just aren’t ready yet, it’s too soon for you.” Ruby pauses and then looks Kate in the eyes. “Well, what’s the rush anyway? If he is a man worth having he’ll wait until you are, ready that is. Give yourself some time.” Kate nodded and was quiet for a few moments. "I'm not quite ready to let him go yet. I need to get used to being an unmarried woman. Then perhaps I can start acting like one. I'd like to go to Tombstone later this week, I want to visit him." "That sounds like a good idea, Tombstone. I'll go with you, if you'd like." Ruby smiled at her friend. Then she let out a light laugh. "Who would have ever thought I would be giving out advice on love?" Ruby shook her head. "Let me know when you're ready to do more, uh, personal, things. Now that I can tell you all about." "I was married for five years Ruby, I do know about the personal things. Quite well." She laughed and said with a little blush, "I miss the personal things a great deal more than I thought I would. It's lonely to climb into bed alone every night. To not be touched or held or....Well, you get the idea." "Don't take this the wrong way, but just because you were married doesn't make you a good lover, I've seen that way too many times before." Ruby saw the blush come to Kate's face again. "Ok, it's definitely too soon for that," Ruby laughed. "Just keep it in mind." Ruby paused. "I never used to feel lonely in bed. If I wanted a partner to entertain me I would find one. But since Jake... well, I know what it's like to be lonely. When he's not there I hate it." With a sudden sparkle Kate answered, "It doesn't mean I wasn't either, but we don't need to discuss that just now. That loneliness is what I've felt every day, Ruby. It's why I would drink myself to sleep at night. But it's getting better. I suppose the day I can climb into bed and be comfortable with just me is the day I'll be ready to entertain the idea of another man." "Yes, you've only been with one man and it's a big scary world out there. You should take time to get to know you first, the Katherine that can take care of herself on her own two feet." Kate moved over to the bed and sat next to Ruby. "I know you're right, and I'm not going to do anything until I'm sure I'm ready. Now if I just knew how to calm these feelings until then." "I'm sure Dorita has a tea for that..." Ruby replied with a serious face, but it was only seconds before she burst out laughing. "I wish I could help you, sweetie, but I've messed up my own love life to epic proportions, so I wouldn't be taking advice from me." Kate hugged her friend and laughed. "You've given good advice today, I just needed to talk about everything. It's hard not to feel guilty, but I'll try. The rest will come when it comes. And I don't think you've messed up your love life, George Eastman will just have to get over you." Ruby says, "I wasn't talking about George Eastman, I was talking about Jake. Before I came to Promise City I swore I would never ever fall in love. And now look at me!" Kate says, "Falling in love is not messing up. You can have fun with a lot of men, and like them, enjoy them. But there is nothing the same as falling in love, and I'm glad you're letting yourself experience that. As much as losing Tom hurts, I wouldn't trade my time with him for anything. And I'm guessing you'd say the same." Ruby laughed. "I'm not letting myself experience anything. It just happened and I couldn't and can't stop it." Ruby shrugged but kept her smile. "I just hope it's not the death of me." "It won't be," Kate said confidently. And it just might be the making of you, she thought to herself. [/QUOTE]
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