Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Wizards, Whiskey and Wonderful Things - Concluded
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2662161" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter 65, “The rumors of your death have been greatly exaggerated", Friday, March 17th, 1882, 7:00 A.M. </strong> </p><p></p><p>Laurie Gilson awakes when she hears the sounds from downstairs of her employee Jules Huerta heating up water for the first baths of the day. She checks her clock in her room, noting that she has overslept. She had woken up in the chair in the middle of the night and crawled into to opposite side of the bed as Ruby. Ruby is still sleeping peacefully. </p><p></p><p>Laurie gets out of bed, dresses, and heads downstairs to the ground floor where the business is located. She stops at the desk near the door and writes out a note, which she asks Jules to bring over to Dorita at the El Parador. Sitting on the floorboards of the porch with his back up against the outside wall of the Lucky Lady and his hand still on the whiskey bottle, Jake manages to sleep through a number of changes around him. The first fingers of light peek over the mountains and trace their way eastward on Main street. The puppies join him on the front porch with Lucky sleeping curled on his lap and mischief sitting by his feet, apparently preparing to growl and guard Jake from any intrusion. Dorita Figueres passes by the front porch on her way to the kitchen door, as unaware of Jake on the front porch as he is of her.</p><p></p><p>At a quarter past seven Dorita lets herself into the kitchen of the Lucky Lady using Maria's key. She sees Luc sleeping on an army cot set up in the kitchen and since she doesn't know him decides to not wake him up. She quietly makes her way around him and heads upstairs to the third floor to the room that Maria had told her belonged to Ruby and Jake. She knocks while saying, "Mr. Cook, Mr. Cook, Ruby is safe." </p><p></p><p>When there is no answer to her knock Dorita reaches into her apron and takes out a pencil and small pad of paper. She writes out: "Sr. Cooke, Rubí es seguro. Ella está en la casa del baño. Sr. Eastman no le mató."** <<</p><p>**Translation ""Mr. Cooke, Ruby is safe. She is at the bathhouse. Mr. Eastman did not kill her.">> She slips the note under the door where she assumes he will see it when he wakes up. She then heads back downstairs and exits the building the way she came, being careful not to wake Luc. </p><p></p><p>Minerva awakens as Luna flutters in on the cool morning breeze. The rising sun streams in the window to cast itself upon the statues of Minerva and Jupiter, which sit upon the dresser. She sits up, her dark hair falling across bare shoulders, and strokes the bird's snowy white neck feathers "No luck last night, Luna? The Goddess did not come to me in dreams to tell of dark deeds. This in itself is a hopeful sign," she says as she clamors out of bed. Moving to the dresser she lights 12 candles, one for each of the main powers of Olympus, and prays for wisdom, strength and courage. A feeling of calm energy penetrates her entire being and a satisfied smile slowly spreads across her face as she gives thanks to her gods. "But let us not depend on the gods too much. For they favor those who help themselves " she reminds herself. Quickly dressing she rushes back to the Lucky Lady in hopes of good news.</p><p></p><p>Minerva rushes over to the Lucky Lady. Reaching the porch she notices Jake, slouched in sleep his back up against the wall. Beside him an empty bottle has fallen free from his limp hand. As she climbs the steps the pup called Mischief begins to growl softly. Bending down before the pup she holds out her hand. "Shhh, It is o.k. little one, I am a friend" she whispers. When she stretches her hand out farther the pup waddles over and begins to lick it. Minerva, still in a crouch, picks up the little fur ball and scratches him behind the ears. "Now let's see if his bark is worse than his bite" she whispers. She reaches out and gently shakes Jake while quietly calling his name. "Senor Jake. Senor Jake. Wake up."</p><p></p><p>Jake lifts his head and his eyes open to see the priestess Minerva standing over him holding one of the puppies, his movement knocks the other off his lap. At first he seems dazed, and looks around once or twice before he seems to realize where he is. He rubs his eyes and then suddenly takes his hands away. "Has anyone found Ruby?"</p><p></p><p>She replies, "I don't know Senor, I was hoping that you held the answer. We will inquire together" she says standing up "but come, let us get you some coffee to clear your head and find some food for these watch dogs of yours." holding out her hand Minerva helps him up and hands him the puppy. "This one would guard you with his life." she chuckles.</p><p></p><p>Chester wakes up to the sound of the coffeepot boiling over. "Damn, damn, damn." He grabs the pot and burns himself. "Ow." He's surprised that Luc can sleep through it all. Chester sucks on his hand as he pours a cup.</p><p>Jake smiles half-heartedly and takes the dog as they head into the kitchen with the other dog loping along behind. "Morning Chester." Jake greets him with a sigh. "Thanks for the coffee. No, we don't know about Ruby." He adds before Chester can ask. </p><p></p><p>Jake kicks the end of Luc's makeshift bed, "Hey, it's morning." before the three of them head back into the main room. Sipping the hot coffee helps remove the bad taste in his mouth. Unfortunately his stomach takes this time to remind him he didn't eat last night, but he doesn't feel like eating. He sits at the table holding up his head with his and staring off at nothing.</p><p></p><p>Minerva rummages through cupboards in search of something to feed the pups. She fills a plate with cheese and bread and places it on the table in front of Jake in the hopes that he will eat. Sitting opposite Jake she feeds bits and pieces of the food to the pups as they scamper around her feet. She comments, "I would ask how you slept last night but that is self evident. I slept peacefully with no warnings from the goddess. This is a good sign and I am hopeful that we will find Ruby well. When you are finished with your coffee we shall go to the Marshall and find out what has happened. If There is news of her whereabouts I believe that he will have gotten it from Senor Eastman by now." She stands and brushes the crumbs from her gown. "Let's go."</p><p></p><p>Sitting opposite Jake, Minerva sees that his face is drawn with dark circles under his eyes. His hair is a mess. Normally his white silk shirt and black linen pants are meticulously cleaned and pressed, but what she can see of them through his unbuttoned duster show wrinkled and soiled. He nods agreement and stands. He dumps the rest of the untouched food on the floor and the dogs scamper to it. Jake has a final gulp of coffee wincing slightly because it's still hot. He pats Chester on the shoulder, "Later." He follows Minerva, his muscles stiff and his steps leaden.</p><p></p><p>The sun was well above the horizon by the time Kate woke from her fitful sleep. Her eyes felt dry and swollen and an ache pounded dully behind them. She felt tired and beat up, as if she hadn't slept at all. When she pushed herself up a slip of paper slipped off the bedside table. The note was short, only three words, but it sent Katherine into a frenzy of activity. She almost ran downstairs in just her robe, but thought better of that and hurriedly dressed, leaving her hair to hang behind her as she ran to the cantina to find Dorita.</p><p></p><p>Dorita looks up as Kate charges into the room. "Good morning Katherine. Ginnie ate and left a few hours ago". She then asks, "Would you like some breakfast?" Kate replies, "No. No breakfast. Where's Ruby?" Dorita replies, "Should be back at Lucky Lady, I left Mr. Cook a note two hours ago."</p><p></p><p>Kate says, "I wish you had woken me, Dorita. I wasn't getting any worthwhile rest anyway. I was going to go see her, but if she and Jake are together we won't see either of them for hours," she laughed. "Do the others know? And has anyone told the Marshall? He has Mr. Eastman in the jail there, you know. Although it might be better for him to stay there until the news that Ruby's alright spreads through town."</p><p></p><p>The wood elf exclaims, "Dorita not your servant! Laurie Gilson sends note, I leave you note but you not wake up. I get key from Maria and go to Lucky Lady but Cook not wake up either. My morning customers eat half-hour late because I busy running around town delivering notes instead of cook for them! Now you say I should have seen Marshall too! Nobody else here to cook for El Parador customers! You steal my daughter for ranch. You steal my other assistant for Lucky Lady! Am trying to run a business here!"</p><p></p><p>Kate pulled herself up tall as she had the night before and said coolly, "Dorita, I ask only so I would not repeat work you may have already done, not to say that you should have done any more. As for being a servant, I have assumed nothing of the kind. And I have stolen neither your daughter nor your help. If you'll excuse me, I'll leave you to run your business." </p><p></p><p>With that Kate turned on her heel and walked resolutely out of the kitchen, through the cantina, and into the street to go to the Marshall's office. Kate arrives at the Marshall's Office. The doors are locked. The windows are shuttered and locked on the inside. She hears voices inside. Kate knocked on the door. "Marshall. It's Mrs. Kale. I have news."</p><p></p><p>The door is unlocked and she is let inside, the door is then locked behind her. There are four people inside, Deputy Marshall's Warren Earp and Eduardo Rodriguez and Helen Barker are in the office. George Eastman in the jail cell unconscious. Two army cots with blankets are set up in the main room so it appears that the three alternated sleeping and guarding.</p><p></p><p>Kate gave a little shiver at being locked in any room with an Earp. "Ruby is safe," she said quickly. "I haven't seen her yet, I'm just on my way, but I thought you'd want to know. Dorita left me a note this morning, she said she should be back at the Lucky Lady by now. I doubt many people know yet, so it's probably safer for Mr. Eastman if he stays here until they do. Although seeing his condition, that doesn't seem to be an issue. I'll let you know when I have more details, but I'd like to go see Ruby now please," she finished.</p><p></p><p>Nanuet had awoke in the pre-dawn hours after his few hours spent in meditation. He then decided to spend the time until sunrise in prayer to his ancestors. He had been doing his daily prayers, but not praying at length and right now it seemed that was needed. Nanuet committed himself to his prayer deeply and before he knew it the sun was beating on his neck, finally breaking his concentration. He decided to head to the El Parador to get a bite to eat since it was right across the street. Nanuet enters the cantina and his stomach growls at the scent of the food. </p><p></p><p>He says to the owner, "Good morning Dorita. I would like some breakfast please. Any news about Miss Ruby?" he asks. Dorita snaps at him "You too! I not messenger service. Here!" She pulls the note from Laurie Gilson out of her apron and shoves it into Nanuet's hands. "Oh! Sorry Dorita, didn't mean to upset you." Nanuet says taking the note. He unfolds the paper and looks at it but is unable to make out the writing. He looks for the first person he recognizes other than Dorita and asks them to read it for him "Can I still get breakfast?" Nanuet says, once he is out of Dorita's reach.</p><p></p><p>Grant Keebler reads the note "Ruby is at my business. She spent the night here. Please let her friend Jake know. Laurie Gilson." He replies, "Many thanks Mr. Keebler." Dorita happily gets his breakfast. While she does so he notices that she is nervous and distracted, something he has never seen from her before. Nanuet noticed that Dorita was out of sorts. He was unsure of how to approach her but figured he should say something. "Miss Dorita, I know you are busy, please let me give you a hand. Is everything OK, you seem to be troubled."</p><p></p><p>She gestures for him to follow her out into the kitchen where they have more privacy. She says, "I worry about my Grandfather. He leave Wednesday on trip with Sonoma and crazy Jiminez lady. Then he bring Sonoma back yesterday say too dangerous for her to go, but he and Jiminez woman continue on with trip. The last time he go on trip that he say have great danger my mother and uncle both die. I fear he not come back."</p><p></p><p>He says, "OK, I understand your concern. Maybe there is a way his umm, what does he call them? Little birds... maybe there is a way they know how to contact him. I am sure he is OK Dorita, but I understand why you are worried. First I have to make sure the others know where Ruby is, then I will see what we can do. Want me to send Maria back to give you a hand so you can relax a little bit?"</p><p></p><p>Dorita replies, "No, I all right. Pedro used party idea last night to try and distract me and put me in better mood. It work until Ruby get missing, then I worry about both her and Grandfather both. Now just worry about Grandfather." OK Dorita, I will be back, I promise. You just send someone down to the Lucky Lady if you need anything before I get back." Nanuet quickly makes his way towards the Lucky Lady. </p><p> </p><p>A block away, the Marshall unlocks the door and let Kate out. She notices Jake and Minerva rounding the corner of Main Street onto Fremont. She made a concerted effort to shake off the unpleasantness of the morning and focused on knowing that Ruby was well. She picked up her skirts and ran to meet them. Katherine was just about to ask where Ruby was when she noticed neither he nor Minerva looked happy. "Jake, didn't you get Dorita's note? She left me one this morning that Ruby was safe. When I asked her where she said Ruby should be back at the Lucky Lady by now. I didn't come right away since I thought," she paused and blushed, "I thought you would be busy."</p><p></p><p>Jake, who's mind is a little slow from lack of sleep, replies to Katherine. "No, Ruby's not at the Lucky Lady we just left there." Then he looks at her with a confused expression before blurting out loudly, "Ruby's safe? Where is she?" Kate replies, "Dorita didn't tell me where Ruby spent the night, just that she thought she'd be back at your saloon by now." Kate gave Jake a quick smile. "But we both know how late Ruby likes to sleep. Dorita left you a note at the Lucky Lady, maybe we should go back and see if we can find it?"</p><p></p><p>Jake turns and runs towards the Lucky Lady. He stops and says, "What are you waiting for?" He runs back to the two ladies, grabs a hand from each and drags them half running back to the Lucky Lady. Katherine laughed, picked up a handful of her skirts, and ran. They were back at the Lucky Lady in moments. "I don't know where she left the note, but Dorita said you didn't wake up. Miss Florencia and I will look down here, why don't you look upstairs Jake?" She went over to the bar and started looking around it.</p><p></p><p>The trio look were looking around downstairs in the main room, kitchen and outside the kitchen door. One of the ladies suggests Jake look upstairs on his door and was so excited that he didn't even hear who. With adrenaline pumping he is mounting the stairs before she finishes speaking. Seeing nothing on the door or in front he flings the door open. The draft from the door lifts the note off the floor and Jake snatches it out of the air. He quickly reads Dorita's note and lets out a whoop. </p><p></p><p>Taking the stairs three at a time he rushes down, and then across the room not even slowing when he thrusts the note into Katherine's hand as he passes by. They can hear him yelling, "She's at Gilson's" as he bounds out the door. As Jake runs out of the Lucky Lady Minerva laughs in relief. She looks to the skies. "Thank the Goddess Ruby is well. " Minerva sits and waits for their return. Chester says to Minerva, "I think the goddess should keep Dionysus away from Ruby for a while, if you know what I mean. What if Mrs. Gilson hadn't found her first? But I don't know if it's my business."</p><p></p><p>Jake runs the entire way to Gilson's bath house and just as he tries to stop in front of the door to knock he makes a misstep and bumps chest first into the door and then onto his back side on the ground. Stunned a second, he shakes his head and climbs back to his feet and knocks loudly on the door while gingerly touching the new bruise on his left cheek. The male wood elf Jules Huerta answers the door. He has an armful of towels and says "Have a seat, all of the baths are taken at the moment. One should be free in around ten minutes."</p><p></p><p>Jake bursts through the door and nearly knocks Jules over but instead grabs him and his towels. The two teeter back and forth with the bundle before Jake manages to lean against the wall and let him go. His words come out in a torrent. "Where's Ruby, is she here? Where's Laurie, does she know? Laurie, where are you? Ruby! Ruby where are you? Where is she?" Laurie Gilson comes out of one of the rooms carrying an armful of wet towels. She looks in the front hallway and says "Jules, what on Earth is going on out here?"</p><p></p><p>"Laurie!" Jake cries out. "Is Ruby here? Is she all right?" Mrs. Gilson replies, "She's upstairs, still asleep when I last checked her." She sets the pile of towels down on the nearest chair and says, "Follow me". She leads Jake up the stairs to the second floor. Jake follows her quickly and a little too close because she stops, turns and frowns at him. "Er, sorry," he mumbles. </p><p></p><p>When they get to the room he sees Ruby still sleeping and gets close to make sure she is breathing. He turns back to Laurie Gilson and asks, "Is she all right? Is she? What happened?" She replies, "What happened? Far too much drinking, that's what. She was wandering around alone last night, stinking drunk, and then collapsed on my doorstep. She then decorated both my walkway and her dress with the contents of her stomach. I brought her in, gave her a bath and put her to bed. I hope you brought her a change of clothes, I had Jules bring the dress that she had been wearing over to Charlie Wong's Cleaners."</p><p></p><p>Jake gives her a tired smile and heaves a heavy sigh. "Laurie Gilson you are a godsend. I was up all night looking for her. People were saying she was... never mind what people were saying." Jake moves surprisingly quickly and gives her an awkward hug. "Thank you," he adds with a barely detectable cracking of his voice. He lets go of her before she can protest. "I'll go get her some clothes right now." He stops in the doorway and stares at Ruby sleeping in the bed for the length of several breaths before he goes back down the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>On Nanuet's way to the Lucky Lady he passes the bathhouse and sees Kate standing outside, the door flung wide open. He comments, "Well I guess Ruby's fate has been revealed? That is great! Kate, if you have a moment I need to talk with you." Nanuet pulls Kate aside and says "Dorita is really worried about her Grandfather. Apparently he came back to drop Sonoma off because it was too dangerous for her and then he headed back out. Is there any way you can contact him, you know, use your magic?"</p><p> </p><p>She replies, "I'm sorry, what little I've learned doesn't cover any kind of communication like that. I wondered why Sonoma was back, but I had a lot on my mind yesterday and I didn't ask her while I was out at the ranch. I wish I had. If wishes were horses....I have been keeping myself busy, so I haven't had too much time to worry. But Mr. Gonzales has gone off before and left us not knowing anything. I know a little more this time, so I suppose I've actually worried less."</p><p></p><p>Jake reaches the door and explains briefly to Katherine and Nanuet what Laurie Gilson told him and that Ruby looks OK. He has Maria help him gather up a change of clothes for Ruby and then heads back over to the bathhouse. He places the clothes neatly on the foot of the bed. He crouches next to the bed looking dirty, tired, wrinkled and bruised. Jake pushes hit hat back on his head and says, "Ruby? Princess can you hear me?" He gently shakes her shoulder through the covers. </p><p></p><p>Ruby moans lightly as she is shaken. Jake continues to shake her until she finally cracks open her eyes. "Jake?" She moans again. As her senses comes back to her she starts to feel an unfamiliar bed, hear unfamiliar noises. She looks at Jake, her eyes only opened half way, and furrows her eyebrows. "Where am I?" she says softly. "What happened to you? You look like crap."</p><p></p><p>He says, "You are at Gilson's. You happened to me," he says with an enigmatic smile. "Do you feel up to getting dressed and coming back to the Lucky Lady?" Ruby starts trying to get out of bed but Jake can tell her coordination is off so he gives her an arm to lean on. Jake guesses she is probably still drunk. He helps her get dressed, with Ruby waving off stockings and shoes. </p><p></p><p>Downstairs, Laurie Gilson pokes her head out the front door and interrupts Kate and Nanuet, telling them "Your friend Ruby is upstairs now with her friend Jake, but he looks to be as hangover as she is. They may need the both of you to get them back home. I'd appreciate some help as I'm trying to run a business here and don't need any more of this nonsense."</p><p></p><p>Katherine bit her tongue. Now that the initial rush of learning Ruby was fine was wearing off she was tired, worried, and cranky. She took a deep breath and said as mildly as she could, "Jake looks like that because we all spent more than half the night searching the city for her. I knocked on this very door several times. We woke up half the town looking for her. And this was after a rumor began going around that she had been murdered. So you can see how he doesn't appear well rested this morning. I apologize for your trouble and will get ourselves out of your hair as soon as possible. I'll go up now. Excuse me, please." </p><p></p><p>She went inside and followed the voices to where Ruby and Jake were. She knocked on the open door and said quietly, "We need to go, Mrs. Gilson has work to do."</p><p></p><p>They are just about to start downstairs when Kate shows up. "Katherine," Jake nods as he hands her Ruby's shoes and stockings. "Kate!" Ruby calls out loudly. "Can you get some of that tea from Dorita for later?" she asks with a goofy smile. Kate just shakes her head. </p><p></p><p>Ruby is about to walk out the door when Jake stops her. "I can't let you walk with no shoes on." He musters his last bit of energy and lifts Ruby off the ground, carrying her one block back to the Lucky Lady. She just buries her head on Jake's neck. He doesn't stop to speak to anyone and brings her right up to their room. </p><p></p><p>Ruby smiles at her bed and quickly throws her clothes off. She falls into bed with a sigh before looking at Jake. "Aren't you going to join me?" Jake nods and when he gets into bed Ruby snuggles right up to him. "Were you really worried? I'm sorry if I made you..." Jake interrupts her. "We can talk about it later. Let's get some sleep now, OK?" Ruby doesn't need to be told twice and she closes her eyes and falls asleep almost immediately.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 2662161, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter 65, “The rumors of your death have been greatly exaggerated", Friday, March 17th, 1882, 7:00 A.M. [/B] Laurie Gilson awakes when she hears the sounds from downstairs of her employee Jules Huerta heating up water for the first baths of the day. She checks her clock in her room, noting that she has overslept. She had woken up in the chair in the middle of the night and crawled into to opposite side of the bed as Ruby. Ruby is still sleeping peacefully. Laurie gets out of bed, dresses, and heads downstairs to the ground floor where the business is located. She stops at the desk near the door and writes out a note, which she asks Jules to bring over to Dorita at the El Parador. Sitting on the floorboards of the porch with his back up against the outside wall of the Lucky Lady and his hand still on the whiskey bottle, Jake manages to sleep through a number of changes around him. The first fingers of light peek over the mountains and trace their way eastward on Main street. The puppies join him on the front porch with Lucky sleeping curled on his lap and mischief sitting by his feet, apparently preparing to growl and guard Jake from any intrusion. Dorita Figueres passes by the front porch on her way to the kitchen door, as unaware of Jake on the front porch as he is of her. At a quarter past seven Dorita lets herself into the kitchen of the Lucky Lady using Maria's key. She sees Luc sleeping on an army cot set up in the kitchen and since she doesn't know him decides to not wake him up. She quietly makes her way around him and heads upstairs to the third floor to the room that Maria had told her belonged to Ruby and Jake. She knocks while saying, "Mr. Cook, Mr. Cook, Ruby is safe." When there is no answer to her knock Dorita reaches into her apron and takes out a pencil and small pad of paper. She writes out: "Sr. Cooke, Rubí es seguro. Ella está en la casa del baño. Sr. Eastman no le mató."** << **Translation ""Mr. Cooke, Ruby is safe. She is at the bathhouse. Mr. Eastman did not kill her.">> She slips the note under the door where she assumes he will see it when he wakes up. She then heads back downstairs and exits the building the way she came, being careful not to wake Luc. Minerva awakens as Luna flutters in on the cool morning breeze. The rising sun streams in the window to cast itself upon the statues of Minerva and Jupiter, which sit upon the dresser. She sits up, her dark hair falling across bare shoulders, and strokes the bird's snowy white neck feathers "No luck last night, Luna? The Goddess did not come to me in dreams to tell of dark deeds. This in itself is a hopeful sign," she says as she clamors out of bed. Moving to the dresser she lights 12 candles, one for each of the main powers of Olympus, and prays for wisdom, strength and courage. A feeling of calm energy penetrates her entire being and a satisfied smile slowly spreads across her face as she gives thanks to her gods. "But let us not depend on the gods too much. For they favor those who help themselves " she reminds herself. Quickly dressing she rushes back to the Lucky Lady in hopes of good news. Minerva rushes over to the Lucky Lady. Reaching the porch she notices Jake, slouched in sleep his back up against the wall. Beside him an empty bottle has fallen free from his limp hand. As she climbs the steps the pup called Mischief begins to growl softly. Bending down before the pup she holds out her hand. "Shhh, It is o.k. little one, I am a friend" she whispers. When she stretches her hand out farther the pup waddles over and begins to lick it. Minerva, still in a crouch, picks up the little fur ball and scratches him behind the ears. "Now let's see if his bark is worse than his bite" she whispers. She reaches out and gently shakes Jake while quietly calling his name. "Senor Jake. Senor Jake. Wake up." Jake lifts his head and his eyes open to see the priestess Minerva standing over him holding one of the puppies, his movement knocks the other off his lap. At first he seems dazed, and looks around once or twice before he seems to realize where he is. He rubs his eyes and then suddenly takes his hands away. "Has anyone found Ruby?" She replies, "I don't know Senor, I was hoping that you held the answer. We will inquire together" she says standing up "but come, let us get you some coffee to clear your head and find some food for these watch dogs of yours." holding out her hand Minerva helps him up and hands him the puppy. "This one would guard you with his life." she chuckles. Chester wakes up to the sound of the coffeepot boiling over. "Damn, damn, damn." He grabs the pot and burns himself. "Ow." He's surprised that Luc can sleep through it all. Chester sucks on his hand as he pours a cup. Jake smiles half-heartedly and takes the dog as they head into the kitchen with the other dog loping along behind. "Morning Chester." Jake greets him with a sigh. "Thanks for the coffee. No, we don't know about Ruby." He adds before Chester can ask. Jake kicks the end of Luc's makeshift bed, "Hey, it's morning." before the three of them head back into the main room. Sipping the hot coffee helps remove the bad taste in his mouth. Unfortunately his stomach takes this time to remind him he didn't eat last night, but he doesn't feel like eating. He sits at the table holding up his head with his and staring off at nothing. Minerva rummages through cupboards in search of something to feed the pups. She fills a plate with cheese and bread and places it on the table in front of Jake in the hopes that he will eat. Sitting opposite Jake she feeds bits and pieces of the food to the pups as they scamper around her feet. She comments, "I would ask how you slept last night but that is self evident. I slept peacefully with no warnings from the goddess. This is a good sign and I am hopeful that we will find Ruby well. When you are finished with your coffee we shall go to the Marshall and find out what has happened. If There is news of her whereabouts I believe that he will have gotten it from Senor Eastman by now." She stands and brushes the crumbs from her gown. "Let's go." Sitting opposite Jake, Minerva sees that his face is drawn with dark circles under his eyes. His hair is a mess. Normally his white silk shirt and black linen pants are meticulously cleaned and pressed, but what she can see of them through his unbuttoned duster show wrinkled and soiled. He nods agreement and stands. He dumps the rest of the untouched food on the floor and the dogs scamper to it. Jake has a final gulp of coffee wincing slightly because it's still hot. He pats Chester on the shoulder, "Later." He follows Minerva, his muscles stiff and his steps leaden. The sun was well above the horizon by the time Kate woke from her fitful sleep. Her eyes felt dry and swollen and an ache pounded dully behind them. She felt tired and beat up, as if she hadn't slept at all. When she pushed herself up a slip of paper slipped off the bedside table. The note was short, only three words, but it sent Katherine into a frenzy of activity. She almost ran downstairs in just her robe, but thought better of that and hurriedly dressed, leaving her hair to hang behind her as she ran to the cantina to find Dorita. Dorita looks up as Kate charges into the room. "Good morning Katherine. Ginnie ate and left a few hours ago". She then asks, "Would you like some breakfast?" Kate replies, "No. No breakfast. Where's Ruby?" Dorita replies, "Should be back at Lucky Lady, I left Mr. Cook a note two hours ago." Kate says, "I wish you had woken me, Dorita. I wasn't getting any worthwhile rest anyway. I was going to go see her, but if she and Jake are together we won't see either of them for hours," she laughed. "Do the others know? And has anyone told the Marshall? He has Mr. Eastman in the jail there, you know. Although it might be better for him to stay there until the news that Ruby's alright spreads through town." The wood elf exclaims, "Dorita not your servant! Laurie Gilson sends note, I leave you note but you not wake up. I get key from Maria and go to Lucky Lady but Cook not wake up either. My morning customers eat half-hour late because I busy running around town delivering notes instead of cook for them! Now you say I should have seen Marshall too! Nobody else here to cook for El Parador customers! You steal my daughter for ranch. You steal my other assistant for Lucky Lady! Am trying to run a business here!" Kate pulled herself up tall as she had the night before and said coolly, "Dorita, I ask only so I would not repeat work you may have already done, not to say that you should have done any more. As for being a servant, I have assumed nothing of the kind. And I have stolen neither your daughter nor your help. If you'll excuse me, I'll leave you to run your business." With that Kate turned on her heel and walked resolutely out of the kitchen, through the cantina, and into the street to go to the Marshall's office. Kate arrives at the Marshall's Office. The doors are locked. The windows are shuttered and locked on the inside. She hears voices inside. Kate knocked on the door. "Marshall. It's Mrs. Kale. I have news." The door is unlocked and she is let inside, the door is then locked behind her. There are four people inside, Deputy Marshall's Warren Earp and Eduardo Rodriguez and Helen Barker are in the office. George Eastman in the jail cell unconscious. Two army cots with blankets are set up in the main room so it appears that the three alternated sleeping and guarding. Kate gave a little shiver at being locked in any room with an Earp. "Ruby is safe," she said quickly. "I haven't seen her yet, I'm just on my way, but I thought you'd want to know. Dorita left me a note this morning, she said she should be back at the Lucky Lady by now. I doubt many people know yet, so it's probably safer for Mr. Eastman if he stays here until they do. Although seeing his condition, that doesn't seem to be an issue. I'll let you know when I have more details, but I'd like to go see Ruby now please," she finished. Nanuet had awoke in the pre-dawn hours after his few hours spent in meditation. He then decided to spend the time until sunrise in prayer to his ancestors. He had been doing his daily prayers, but not praying at length and right now it seemed that was needed. Nanuet committed himself to his prayer deeply and before he knew it the sun was beating on his neck, finally breaking his concentration. He decided to head to the El Parador to get a bite to eat since it was right across the street. Nanuet enters the cantina and his stomach growls at the scent of the food. He says to the owner, "Good morning Dorita. I would like some breakfast please. Any news about Miss Ruby?" he asks. Dorita snaps at him "You too! I not messenger service. Here!" She pulls the note from Laurie Gilson out of her apron and shoves it into Nanuet's hands. "Oh! Sorry Dorita, didn't mean to upset you." Nanuet says taking the note. He unfolds the paper and looks at it but is unable to make out the writing. He looks for the first person he recognizes other than Dorita and asks them to read it for him "Can I still get breakfast?" Nanuet says, once he is out of Dorita's reach. Grant Keebler reads the note "Ruby is at my business. She spent the night here. Please let her friend Jake know. Laurie Gilson." He replies, "Many thanks Mr. Keebler." Dorita happily gets his breakfast. While she does so he notices that she is nervous and distracted, something he has never seen from her before. Nanuet noticed that Dorita was out of sorts. He was unsure of how to approach her but figured he should say something. "Miss Dorita, I know you are busy, please let me give you a hand. Is everything OK, you seem to be troubled." She gestures for him to follow her out into the kitchen where they have more privacy. She says, "I worry about my Grandfather. He leave Wednesday on trip with Sonoma and crazy Jiminez lady. Then he bring Sonoma back yesterday say too dangerous for her to go, but he and Jiminez woman continue on with trip. The last time he go on trip that he say have great danger my mother and uncle both die. I fear he not come back." He says, "OK, I understand your concern. Maybe there is a way his umm, what does he call them? Little birds... maybe there is a way they know how to contact him. I am sure he is OK Dorita, but I understand why you are worried. First I have to make sure the others know where Ruby is, then I will see what we can do. Want me to send Maria back to give you a hand so you can relax a little bit?" Dorita replies, "No, I all right. Pedro used party idea last night to try and distract me and put me in better mood. It work until Ruby get missing, then I worry about both her and Grandfather both. Now just worry about Grandfather." OK Dorita, I will be back, I promise. You just send someone down to the Lucky Lady if you need anything before I get back." Nanuet quickly makes his way towards the Lucky Lady. A block away, the Marshall unlocks the door and let Kate out. She notices Jake and Minerva rounding the corner of Main Street onto Fremont. She made a concerted effort to shake off the unpleasantness of the morning and focused on knowing that Ruby was well. She picked up her skirts and ran to meet them. Katherine was just about to ask where Ruby was when she noticed neither he nor Minerva looked happy. "Jake, didn't you get Dorita's note? She left me one this morning that Ruby was safe. When I asked her where she said Ruby should be back at the Lucky Lady by now. I didn't come right away since I thought," she paused and blushed, "I thought you would be busy." Jake, who's mind is a little slow from lack of sleep, replies to Katherine. "No, Ruby's not at the Lucky Lady we just left there." Then he looks at her with a confused expression before blurting out loudly, "Ruby's safe? Where is she?" Kate replies, "Dorita didn't tell me where Ruby spent the night, just that she thought she'd be back at your saloon by now." Kate gave Jake a quick smile. "But we both know how late Ruby likes to sleep. Dorita left you a note at the Lucky Lady, maybe we should go back and see if we can find it?" Jake turns and runs towards the Lucky Lady. He stops and says, "What are you waiting for?" He runs back to the two ladies, grabs a hand from each and drags them half running back to the Lucky Lady. Katherine laughed, picked up a handful of her skirts, and ran. They were back at the Lucky Lady in moments. "I don't know where she left the note, but Dorita said you didn't wake up. Miss Florencia and I will look down here, why don't you look upstairs Jake?" She went over to the bar and started looking around it. The trio look were looking around downstairs in the main room, kitchen and outside the kitchen door. One of the ladies suggests Jake look upstairs on his door and was so excited that he didn't even hear who. With adrenaline pumping he is mounting the stairs before she finishes speaking. Seeing nothing on the door or in front he flings the door open. The draft from the door lifts the note off the floor and Jake snatches it out of the air. He quickly reads Dorita's note and lets out a whoop. Taking the stairs three at a time he rushes down, and then across the room not even slowing when he thrusts the note into Katherine's hand as he passes by. They can hear him yelling, "She's at Gilson's" as he bounds out the door. As Jake runs out of the Lucky Lady Minerva laughs in relief. She looks to the skies. "Thank the Goddess Ruby is well. " Minerva sits and waits for their return. Chester says to Minerva, "I think the goddess should keep Dionysus away from Ruby for a while, if you know what I mean. What if Mrs. Gilson hadn't found her first? But I don't know if it's my business." Jake runs the entire way to Gilson's bath house and just as he tries to stop in front of the door to knock he makes a misstep and bumps chest first into the door and then onto his back side on the ground. Stunned a second, he shakes his head and climbs back to his feet and knocks loudly on the door while gingerly touching the new bruise on his left cheek. The male wood elf Jules Huerta answers the door. He has an armful of towels and says "Have a seat, all of the baths are taken at the moment. One should be free in around ten minutes." Jake bursts through the door and nearly knocks Jules over but instead grabs him and his towels. The two teeter back and forth with the bundle before Jake manages to lean against the wall and let him go. His words come out in a torrent. "Where's Ruby, is she here? Where's Laurie, does she know? Laurie, where are you? Ruby! Ruby where are you? Where is she?" Laurie Gilson comes out of one of the rooms carrying an armful of wet towels. She looks in the front hallway and says "Jules, what on Earth is going on out here?" "Laurie!" Jake cries out. "Is Ruby here? Is she all right?" Mrs. Gilson replies, "She's upstairs, still asleep when I last checked her." She sets the pile of towels down on the nearest chair and says, "Follow me". She leads Jake up the stairs to the second floor. Jake follows her quickly and a little too close because she stops, turns and frowns at him. "Er, sorry," he mumbles. When they get to the room he sees Ruby still sleeping and gets close to make sure she is breathing. He turns back to Laurie Gilson and asks, "Is she all right? Is she? What happened?" She replies, "What happened? Far too much drinking, that's what. She was wandering around alone last night, stinking drunk, and then collapsed on my doorstep. She then decorated both my walkway and her dress with the contents of her stomach. I brought her in, gave her a bath and put her to bed. I hope you brought her a change of clothes, I had Jules bring the dress that she had been wearing over to Charlie Wong's Cleaners." Jake gives her a tired smile and heaves a heavy sigh. "Laurie Gilson you are a godsend. I was up all night looking for her. People were saying she was... never mind what people were saying." Jake moves surprisingly quickly and gives her an awkward hug. "Thank you," he adds with a barely detectable cracking of his voice. He lets go of her before she can protest. "I'll go get her some clothes right now." He stops in the doorway and stares at Ruby sleeping in the bed for the length of several breaths before he goes back down the stairs. On Nanuet's way to the Lucky Lady he passes the bathhouse and sees Kate standing outside, the door flung wide open. He comments, "Well I guess Ruby's fate has been revealed? That is great! Kate, if you have a moment I need to talk with you." Nanuet pulls Kate aside and says "Dorita is really worried about her Grandfather. Apparently he came back to drop Sonoma off because it was too dangerous for her and then he headed back out. Is there any way you can contact him, you know, use your magic?" She replies, "I'm sorry, what little I've learned doesn't cover any kind of communication like that. I wondered why Sonoma was back, but I had a lot on my mind yesterday and I didn't ask her while I was out at the ranch. I wish I had. If wishes were horses....I have been keeping myself busy, so I haven't had too much time to worry. But Mr. Gonzales has gone off before and left us not knowing anything. I know a little more this time, so I suppose I've actually worried less." Jake reaches the door and explains briefly to Katherine and Nanuet what Laurie Gilson told him and that Ruby looks OK. He has Maria help him gather up a change of clothes for Ruby and then heads back over to the bathhouse. He places the clothes neatly on the foot of the bed. He crouches next to the bed looking dirty, tired, wrinkled and bruised. Jake pushes hit hat back on his head and says, "Ruby? Princess can you hear me?" He gently shakes her shoulder through the covers. Ruby moans lightly as she is shaken. Jake continues to shake her until she finally cracks open her eyes. "Jake?" She moans again. As her senses comes back to her she starts to feel an unfamiliar bed, hear unfamiliar noises. She looks at Jake, her eyes only opened half way, and furrows her eyebrows. "Where am I?" she says softly. "What happened to you? You look like crap." He says, "You are at Gilson's. You happened to me," he says with an enigmatic smile. "Do you feel up to getting dressed and coming back to the Lucky Lady?" Ruby starts trying to get out of bed but Jake can tell her coordination is off so he gives her an arm to lean on. Jake guesses she is probably still drunk. He helps her get dressed, with Ruby waving off stockings and shoes. Downstairs, Laurie Gilson pokes her head out the front door and interrupts Kate and Nanuet, telling them "Your friend Ruby is upstairs now with her friend Jake, but he looks to be as hangover as she is. They may need the both of you to get them back home. I'd appreciate some help as I'm trying to run a business here and don't need any more of this nonsense." Katherine bit her tongue. Now that the initial rush of learning Ruby was fine was wearing off she was tired, worried, and cranky. She took a deep breath and said as mildly as she could, "Jake looks like that because we all spent more than half the night searching the city for her. I knocked on this very door several times. We woke up half the town looking for her. And this was after a rumor began going around that she had been murdered. So you can see how he doesn't appear well rested this morning. I apologize for your trouble and will get ourselves out of your hair as soon as possible. I'll go up now. Excuse me, please." She went inside and followed the voices to where Ruby and Jake were. She knocked on the open door and said quietly, "We need to go, Mrs. Gilson has work to do." They are just about to start downstairs when Kate shows up. "Katherine," Jake nods as he hands her Ruby's shoes and stockings. "Kate!" Ruby calls out loudly. "Can you get some of that tea from Dorita for later?" she asks with a goofy smile. Kate just shakes her head. Ruby is about to walk out the door when Jake stops her. "I can't let you walk with no shoes on." He musters his last bit of energy and lifts Ruby off the ground, carrying her one block back to the Lucky Lady. She just buries her head on Jake's neck. He doesn't stop to speak to anyone and brings her right up to their room. Ruby smiles at her bed and quickly throws her clothes off. She falls into bed with a sigh before looking at Jake. "Aren't you going to join me?" Jake nods and when he gets into bed Ruby snuggles right up to him. "Were you really worried? I'm sorry if I made you..." Jake interrupts her. "We can talk about it later. Let's get some sleep now, OK?" Ruby doesn't need to be told twice and she closes her eyes and falls asleep almost immediately. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Wizards, Whiskey and Wonderful Things - Concluded
Top