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Wizards, Whiskey and Wonderful Things - Concluded
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2790526" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter 83, “Battle Preparations”, Saturday, March 18th , 1882, 7:15 A.M:</strong></p><p></p><p>Minerva releases Luna, who immediately flies high over the ranch in an attempt to determine how many men are present. She then finds a hidden spot to land. </p><p></p><p>Ruby and Jake are now at the top of the hill and see a valley below with a two-acre corral containing thirty cows and ten horses, a barn and a farmhouse. They also see nine men. Three near a fire by the back woods 80 feet from the farmhouse. The farmhouse is two-stories high in the front and a single story high in the rear. Two men are at the right front corner between the farmhouse and the barn's front doors, and another three between the other front corner of the farmhouse and the corral. The ninth man was with the two men out front and heads into the farmhouse. All of the men are wearing western clothing including cowboys’ hats and have both revolvers and rifles. </p><p></p><p>Looking down, there appears to be two main ways into the valley, a road from the mountains that ends at the barn and farmhouse doors and a smaller foot trail that runs from the rear of the corral into a forested area with a stream. It also looks possible to climb down the lightly forested far hill that leads up to the rear of the barn.</p><p></p><p>Ruby looks back to Maska, looking her in the eyes. Then she whispers to Jake, "I wonder if Maska has her link with Nanuet, then he'd learn we're here and be ready to help, if he can." Ruby motions to the wolf. The wolf ignores Ruby, looking to be heavily in thought. </p><p></p><p>Inside the house, Nanuet snaps to attention then appears to be deep in thought as he holds up a single hand for a moment. "Maska is back, hopefully with the others. Snap to it soldier, time to be alert. Things are about to get real interesting' 'round here." Chester says, "Right." He then retrieves the fishing line from under the bed. Then he moves the boards enough so he can see out the window. Nanuet says, "Let me know what you see, I am going to listen at the door."</p><p></p><p>Ruby turns back to Jake again. "We could also get that pen open and let the animals go, that would get some of the men off guard." He says, "That would be mighty useful if she could. A distraction is a good idea too." </p><p></p><p>Jake crawls back to describe the situation to the others. "I'm thinking of sneaking down and getting in a better position. It sure would be handy to be able to disable some of those men magically and quietly." </p><p></p><p>Ruby again looks at Jake with surprise. Jeff didn't know of Ruby's talents yet. Well, I guess there is no time like the present.... "I can only hold one of them for a short period of time. I might be able to sing and distract them though but that isn't quiet. I can try to put some of them to sleep that should work for a group of them. Also there is this..." She pulls out the potions and tells everyone what they do. "But that would require us to get close enough and for them to drink them." She tries to make like the information she just gave out was the most nature thing in the world.</p><p></p><p>Kate says, "Spooking the animals would be easy enough, and we might be able to open the pen. If we're going to sneak I'd suggest picketing the horses a way back. Gunfire might spook them, and it's just hard to sneak on a horse." Jake says, "Good thinking, you and the others take care of that and I'll watch the valley a little longer." Jake sneaks back to the edge and tries to learn more useful knowledge of the area below and looking for where the boys might be kept. </p><p></p><p>To Ruby Kate said, "Being able to sound like one of them might be useful, especially like Ringo, if he isn't here. And heightened senses might be good for us as well. Everyone dismount. Jeff, Flint, will you help me take the horses back a bit and we'll tie them to some trees." Kate went with the other two men and took care of the horses, arriving back just a couple minutes later.</p><p></p><p>Ruby went back up the hill. Ruby asks, "Jake you want me to put some of them to sleep? What should we do?" Jake whispers to Ruby, "Last time someone did that gun fire woke them. So save that for the right time. If we sleep them we have to be able to quickly capture or quietly kill them."</p><p></p><p>She says, "Well, what did you mean by disabling them magically? You have something else up your sleeve I don't know about?" He says, “No, that is what I was talking about. Problem is the others down there can see them. Looks like fireworks time. Unless somebody has a bold plan, let's go back to the others and decide." </p><p></p><p>She says, "A bold plan? Can you and I sneak up behind one of the smaller groups? Let the rest of the party come from the front and you and I get them from behind. And we take those potions before we go." He says, "How about if Ruby, Maska and I climb down behind the barn while the others go around and take the trail. We'll need to wait for both sides to be in position and will need a signal." She replies, "Good idea Jake." </p><p></p><p>As Kate returned with Jeff and Flint she allowed herself to fall several steps behind. She began to mutter under her breath, just to get them used to the sound of her voice behind them. A moment later she added hand gestures and cast the protection spell. Hopefully, since she was already wearing clothes nearly identical, no one would notice the change.</p><p></p><p>Minerva makes a small clicking noise and Luna silently glides over to the party. Minerva says a short prayer and speaks to Maska. "Tell me which building that Senor Nanuet and Chester are in. How can we get Senor Nanuet his necklace?"</p><p></p><p>Ruby digs through her bag and takes out the potions. She hands one to Jake and keeps one for herself (the sensory potions). "Can Maska signal? Hum, I don't know if we can get her to. What about Luna? Minerva, can you have her give us a signal when you are in place?" She takes two sleep potions and 1 voice potion and puts all the potions back in her bag, then gives the rest to Katherine and Minerva. </p><p></p><p>"And just so we're all clear... we're not here to be nice. Last time we left people, well, they're still after us." Ruby has a calm look on her face but a coldness in her eyes. "Got that?" "Yes, I understand. Let's get this over with," Kate said as she pulled out her pistol.</p><p></p><p>Nanuet becomes unnerved as he and Chester wait. "What do you see out there Chet? Any sign of them? Stupid me, I guess we would know if they were spotted wouldn't we? Well maybe they are able to give us some sort of sign? See anything? Anything at all?" Chester replies, "Nothing yet. But like you said, if Maska is here, then the others are nearby. I bet Jake and Ruby are pretty good at hiding."</p><p></p><p>Jake takes his rifle from his horse and offers the shotgun to anyone who needs it. He puts some shells in his pocket for the sawed-off shotgun and loosens the duster on his right side to access his Colt for a quick draw. Ruby makes sure her dagger and other tools are in the correct spots in her jacket. She ties some rope around a loop on the jacket. She double checks her pistol and puts it away. She takes the rifle and waits for everyone to agree to the plan. </p><p></p><p>Jake notices that Minerva is concentrating with the wolf. When she finishes he says, "Anything new?" She replies, “Maska says that Nanuet and Chester are at the rear of the farmhouse.” She asks the wolf “Can you tell them that we are here and don't do anything foolish? We will try to get the necklace to them.” Ruby thinks to herself “Let's hope he doesn't need it.” She says “Luna, I will launch you into the air when we are in position. When the rest of our group is in position fly back to me.”</p><p></p><p>Jake states, "I suppose we have a plan then. The rest of you go around by the stream, when you are in place use the signal. Ruby and I will make some kind of loud noise and you can take action. Flint, try not to blow us up OK? Let's go" "Jake, before we go, please don't do anything crazy down there." Ruby looks at him seriously for a moment before looking away. "Let's go."</p><p></p><p>"Alright," Kate said looking at Minerva, Jeff, and Flint. "Let's go. We may not be as quiet as those two, but let's be as quiet as we can." She began to make her way to the trail, the others following behind. With a grim expression of acceptance, Minerva grabs her rifle, ammunition and rope from the horse and follows Kate, Flint and Jeff around out of sight to the woods down the trail. "When we are about to engage these ruffians I would like to take a short moment to pray for the Goddess's blessing on our group." Kate suggests, “I'd do that before we send the signal then, as usually you don't get much warning." Kate led the group as close as they could go down the trail without being seen and waited.</p><p></p><p>Jake, Ruby, & Maska climb down the lightly forested far hill that leads up to the rear of the barn, trying to stay hidden. When they arrive they search the back of the barn for a way in, and look around cautiously. The barn has a rear door but it appears to be locked from the inside. The only window in the rear of the barn is on the upper loft floor and is currently shuttered.</p><p></p><p>Inside, Nanuet states "Chester, the others are here, I am sure of it now. Maska has given that much information. I will stay by the door ready to pounce if it is opened. You keep an eye out outside." Chester replies, "OK. Great. I hope they brought enough firepower." His eyes widen in alarm. "Warn them about the Gatling gun. It'll tear them to bits."</p><p></p><p>I will try and warn them, but I am not sure how effectively a wolf can communicate "Watch out for the Gatling gun." Nanuet focuses on Maska trying to glean as much information from her as he can while also putting the picture of the gun into her head along with a sense of warning about it.</p><p></p><p>Ruby and Jake arrive at the locked rear door of the barn. Ruby carefully and quietly checks over the barn door, hoping to find a way to use her special tools to get the lock open from this side. Ruby is able to use her tools to get into the crack in the door and lift the inside latch. The barn appears to be dark inside. They open the door a crack and the large wooden building appears to be currently unoccupied. They see a wagon in the center of the room covered over with a tarp. Ruby slowly and again quietly makes her way towards the wagon and peeks under the tarp while Jake looks around the rest of the barn.</p><p></p><p>Kate’s group reaches their destination. Minerva says, “I'll send Luna up now to signal we're in place.” Jake is watching around and sees the white owl fly by. "They are in place. We are on." He looks around inside the building before entering to make sure there are no animals to make noise. They continue to move silently and checkout the interior and make sure no one is hiding in the wagon.</p><p></p><p>Jake and Ruby both come to an abrupt stop when they hear the sound of snoring coming from up in the barn loft. The second level of the barn consists of a U-shaped balcony along the sides and rear of the barn, ten feet deep on all sides that has hay bales stacked two high along the entire outer edge overlooking the open center. Jake is in the exposed open area in the center ten feet from the wagon while Ruby is at the wagon. </p><p></p><p>Listening closer, they pinpoint the sound as coming from the loft towards the rear of the barn. They are equidistant to the two closest ladders up to the loft, in each of the back rear corners of the barn. There are two more ladders up in the front corners of the barn. Each of these four ladders looks to end at a two-foot square hinged door along the loft floor and all four doors are currently closed.</p><p></p><p>Even though Ruby hears the snoring she continues to very quietly remove her dagger and cut one of the ties on the tarp on the wagon to peek inside. After that she waits for Jake to give her further instructions.</p><p></p><p>Kate watched as the owl flew out above the farmhouse. More and more now she wanted this to be over, to get back to the El Parador. There was too much going on in too many different places. Was she really of any use here? </p><p></p><p>Before she could go too far down that line of thinking she turned her mind to the large corral. If she could get close enough, she should be able to spook the animals inside and open the gate. Spooked animals add confusion, and they could use all of that on the other side they could get. She turned to Minerva and said, "Now is probably the time for your prayers if you feel the need to say them. There's no way to know when Jake will start this."</p><p></p><p>Minerva recognizes the familiar sound of unbelieving sarcasm in the tone of Katherine's words but dismisses them, patiently explaining. "Senora, Senor Jake will send us his signal when all is ready and then I shall ask for the help of the Goddess. It will not take long for her to answer my plea." </p><p>Minerva turns to the group. "There are three men between the farmhouse and the corral and another two men at the right front corner between the farmhouse and the barn's front door. Senor Jake said that he would make a large noise to alert us when he is ready. This will also attract attention to the barn. Perhaps we can create another diversion to enhance the confusion. It would be good to get the men to come closer to us somehow without giving ourselves away. Does anyone have an idea as to how we can do this?”</p><p></p><p>Kate replies, "I had some thoughts about that, but I need to close. Closer than we want to be. I can get the corral open and get the animals excited. It should give these men something else to think about, but to get close enough I'd be in plain sight."</p><p></p><p>“I am not willing to jeopardize your safety Senora." Minerva whispers. "We will find another way" </p><p>She gazes up the trail with a thoughtful expression. "Hmmm, It looks like we might be able to get closer to those men if we go further into the woods to the right. Do you see that spot over there?" Minerva points out and toward the right. "It looks to be about 30 ft closer than where we are now. If we're really quiet perhaps we can get there and when Senor Jake makes the loud noise they will be distracted towards it. I'll say a little tiny prayer" she puts her thumb and pointer finger together to indicate very little and grins at Katherine "and then we will just shoot them!" </p><p></p><p>A light comes into her eyes as the time for confrontation grows near. "I'm pretty handy with my Papa's rifle" she says patting it affectionately. "It is more than adequate to hit from that distance. I was told that Senor Flint is quite handy with dynamite also." She pats his shoulder and gives him a brilliant smile. "I am sure that he could make quite a diversion if we need one. Eh Senor?" She chuckles softly. "How far do you think you could toss that fire cracker? and how big of a boom will it make?"</p><p></p><p>Flint replies, "How big a boom do you want? I brought twenty sticks and can fasten them together if we want. I can toss a single a good 100 feet. I can get a triple up to 150 feet, that weighs more but the shape makes it fly better." Minerva raises her eyebrows. "THAT is very impressive! Senor." she says softly. "Could you use it to eliminate those three men and time its fuse so that they would be unable to toss it back upon us?" He replies, "Sure, I'm an expert at timing my dynamite throws. And if I use a triple that should still be effective even if my aim is slightly off. I could probably even get that other group between the house and barn if I had to." </p><p></p><p>"And those men by the woods near the fire, are they too far away?" He replies, "From here, I'm afraid so. We can see fine around those saplings in between but they would work as a barrier. Unless my shot were perfect the dynamite would be deflected off them, could even bounce back to us. I could move closer to them but then couldn't either of these groups here in front."</p><p></p><p>Katherine says "Speaking of that we'd better move if that's where we want to be. Closer is better, I'm a terrible shot." Minerva says, " Do not berate yourself for your lack of skill in this, Senora. The gods who guide us do not bestow all of their gifts upon us. Only those, which we are most suited to. And for the little time I have known you I can see that they have bestowed many upon you. Do not worry for if they desire it you will surely hit your mark. She turns to the others. "Senora is correct, we should hurry and get in position. Lead the way Senora, por favor. We shall follow."</p><p></p><p>Kate says, "A boom would certainly cause all the distraction we could want. I'd think one would be enough, we wouldn't want you to run out of dynamite, and if we're in those trees you won't have to throw it all that far. if that's where we want to be. </p><p></p><p>Kate was quiet for a minute, thinking about the teas Ruby had brought from Dorita. She had originally thought perhaps one of them might try to sound like Ringo, but she knew she couldn't pull off his attitude Then it occurred to her that someone else's voice might be just as distracting. </p><p></p><p>"Where do you think you can most effective, Flint? That's probably where we should be. I might be able to add a little more confusion to our little plan. It might just cause a bit of panic if they thought the Earp's had come for them. I've heard Wyatt speak enough, with that tea I could imitate his voice and shout from out of sight."</p><p></p><p>Kate was quiet for a minute, thinking about the teas Ruby had brought from Dorita. She had originally thought perhaps one of them might try to sound like Ringo, but she knew she couldn't pull off his attitude Then it occurred to her that someone else's voice might be just as distracting. </p><p></p><p>"Where do you think you can most effective, Flint? That's probably where we should be. I might be able to add a little more confusion to our little plan. It might just cause a bit of panic if they thought the Earp's had come for them. I've heard Wyatt speak enough, with that tea I could imitate his voice and shout from out of sight."</p><p></p><p>Minerva explains to Flint that when they hear the signal from Jake he should toss the dynamite and take out the 3 men farthest from them at the front of the barn. "We will shoot the 3 men closest to us. Jeff you aim for the one on the left, Katherine you take the one in the middle and I'll shoot the man on the right. If it looks like someone's going to toss that dynamite back at us I'll shoot them instead of my man. O.K? Is everyone in agreement?" </p><p></p><p>She continues, “As soon as I hear the signal I am going to say a quick prayer to insure that the Goddess will guide our bullets. If anyone of you should be ready to shoot again before I am be sure and take the opportunity. The men at the fire should come running when they hear the commotion so be ready to take them out as well. Maska counted the scent of 18 men. We have only accounted for 9 so there may be more in the farmhouse or the barn. If they come out of either, shoot them." She turns to Flint with a smirk on her face "Senor Flint DO NOT blow up the farmhouse. Nanuet and Chester are in the back room. If there is enough of a diversion and we have an opportunity, I will ask the goddess for sanctuary. I will no longer be able to fight but I will be protected. We can then sneak around the back and try and get them out. I wish we had that necklace though! "</p><p></p><p>Kate says, "Senorita, all I have is a pistol, we're about at the limit of how far it can shoot. I'll try, but I wouldn't count on my being able to take him down. I think we should try to clear the way before we try going inside to get Chester and Nanuet. Distraction is good, but for every man still standing when we go to get them, that's another man to go after Jake and Ruby."</p><p></p><p>"Si, Senora , we must see what doors the Goddess opens for us first. I agree, we should not attempt a rescue unless the opportunity presents itself. But once we have liberated Senors Chester and Nanuet we will have two more allies deal with these murderous rogues." </p><p>Minerva looks to Katherine in surprise upon learning that she only has a pistol. "I believe there is an extra shotgun on one of the horses but I do not think that we can make our way back there in time. "Senor Flint, do you have a weapon with more range that the Senora can use while you are tossing your firecrackers?" </p><p></p><p>Inside the barn, Jake silently steps back under the balcony and looks up to see through the cracks in the floor enough to determine how many bodies are sleeping up above. He also is looking to gauge the strength of the floor against the blast of a stick of dynamite while he looks for possible locations to place sticks that would send to the gods anyone on the balcony. Jake notices that Ruby would be easily visible to anyone looking over the hay bales on the balcony. He noiselessly waves his arms, getting her attention, and motions for her to come to him.</p><p></p><p>Ruby takes another quick glance under the tarp before heading back to Jake. Once there she points up to where the snoring is coming from. She motions to the ladder and herself, then to the spot where Jake has the dynamite. Then she gives him a questioning look, waiting for some sort of response.</p><p></p><p>Jake pulls her close, presses his mouth to her ear and whispers faintly into her ear, "Climb the ladder and see if the door is open. Make no noise. if it won't open or is going to make any noise stop and come back. we need to know how many are up there." Jake listens carefully while she does this.</p><p></p><p>Ruby nods and does as Jake asks. She very quietly approaches the ladder closest to where the snoring is coming from. She places her dagger back in its spot in her jacket, then begins to ascend the ladder. When she gets to the top she inspects the trap door, checking to see if it's locked. If it's locked she will check what kind of lock it is and see if she can pick it, but won't open it, just head back down. If it's not locked she will slowly push up and at the first sign of even the slightest noise she will stop pushing. If there is no noise she will open it just enough to peek up into the loft but won't climb up.</p><p></p><p>There is no visible locking mechanism on it but it won't open when pushed. Examining around the crack she sees a slight break that she concludes is a swing bolt fastened on the other side. Ruby heads back down to Jake and shakes her head, indicating she can't open the trapdoor.</p><p></p><p>Jake nods in understanding. He takes out two sticks of dynamite and twists the fuses together in the manner Flint showed him, leaving the fuses long. He places these two sticks on the top of the ladder in one back corner with the fuse hanging down. He makes a similar bundle with the fuses slightly shorter and places them on the other back ladder at the top rung. He holds one finger upright to his lips and takes Ruby's hand. He leads her silently underneath the right side balcony to the front of the barn. </p><p></p><p>Pulling her close he whispers faintly in her ear, "Watch the balcony, I need to look out front. If the guards are close we'll shoot them, run to the back and out the door. I'll light the fuses on the way out." Ruby nods a bit apprehensively and draws her pistol and watches the balcony as Jake moves silently to the doors holding his rifle. He looks for the largest cracks and peers through looking for the two cowboys between the barn and the farmhouse to determine how far away they are.</p><p></p><p>The crack in the door that Jake looks though is wide enough for him to peer out but not wide enough to stick a gun through. He sees the same five men as before, the pair 35 feet away between the barn and house and the other three 80 feet away between the house and corral. </p><p></p><p>The ninth man who he had first seen now comes out of the farmhouse carrying a steaming hot pot of coffee. He approaches the closer pair who each pick up a ceramic mug that are then topped off with coffee. The new man says something to the pair of them while gesturing towards the barn. The man then turns and walks in the direction of the corral and the other three men.</p><p></p><p>Continuing to be silent, Jake moves quickly under the balcony with Ruby and indicates to the back of the barn. They take Maska with them. Jakes tosses his rifle out the back door and pushes Maska out. He removes the last two sticks of dynamite from his pockets and hands them to Ruby. He then takes cuts two short bits of rope from her coil. He climbs back up the ladders and secures the explosives, and double checks the fuses on the them. Yes they are plenty long enough he thinks. </p><p></p><p>Jake takes the flame capable dagger out of his boot. He points to himself and then the dynamite on the ladders. He then points to himself and Ruby followed by miming throwing the dynamite in his hands. He carefully to points to the midsection of the balconies on each side of the barn. Ruby nods her understanding. Jake counts off the seconds to walk out under the edge of the balcony in the back, lob the dynamite unhurriedly over the bales on the balcony and sprint out the door. Yes, he thinks, not leaving enough fuse for someone to grab the dynamite and throw it back and not standing under the target in case we miss. Then a few seconds later the dynamite in the back ladders goes off. Here comes the noise I promised. </p><p></p><p>Using the 'rule of thumb' Flint showed him, he measures the fuses and cuts them with the knife. He plants Ruby under the middle of the back balcony, smiles broadly at her and give her a kiss. He climbs first the ladder with the explosives that have the longest fuse and lights it with the dagger. Then quickly the other. He then rushes to Ruby and lights the dynamite. They take a couple of steps out from under the balcony, toss the dynamite over the bales on each side in the center and run out the back door.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 2790526, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter 83, “Battle Preparations”, Saturday, March 18th , 1882, 7:15 A.M:[/B] Minerva releases Luna, who immediately flies high over the ranch in an attempt to determine how many men are present. She then finds a hidden spot to land. Ruby and Jake are now at the top of the hill and see a valley below with a two-acre corral containing thirty cows and ten horses, a barn and a farmhouse. They also see nine men. Three near a fire by the back woods 80 feet from the farmhouse. The farmhouse is two-stories high in the front and a single story high in the rear. Two men are at the right front corner between the farmhouse and the barn's front doors, and another three between the other front corner of the farmhouse and the corral. The ninth man was with the two men out front and heads into the farmhouse. All of the men are wearing western clothing including cowboys’ hats and have both revolvers and rifles. Looking down, there appears to be two main ways into the valley, a road from the mountains that ends at the barn and farmhouse doors and a smaller foot trail that runs from the rear of the corral into a forested area with a stream. It also looks possible to climb down the lightly forested far hill that leads up to the rear of the barn. Ruby looks back to Maska, looking her in the eyes. Then she whispers to Jake, "I wonder if Maska has her link with Nanuet, then he'd learn we're here and be ready to help, if he can." Ruby motions to the wolf. The wolf ignores Ruby, looking to be heavily in thought. Inside the house, Nanuet snaps to attention then appears to be deep in thought as he holds up a single hand for a moment. "Maska is back, hopefully with the others. Snap to it soldier, time to be alert. Things are about to get real interesting' 'round here." Chester says, "Right." He then retrieves the fishing line from under the bed. Then he moves the boards enough so he can see out the window. Nanuet says, "Let me know what you see, I am going to listen at the door." Ruby turns back to Jake again. "We could also get that pen open and let the animals go, that would get some of the men off guard." He says, "That would be mighty useful if she could. A distraction is a good idea too." Jake crawls back to describe the situation to the others. "I'm thinking of sneaking down and getting in a better position. It sure would be handy to be able to disable some of those men magically and quietly." Ruby again looks at Jake with surprise. Jeff didn't know of Ruby's talents yet. Well, I guess there is no time like the present.... "I can only hold one of them for a short period of time. I might be able to sing and distract them though but that isn't quiet. I can try to put some of them to sleep that should work for a group of them. Also there is this..." She pulls out the potions and tells everyone what they do. "But that would require us to get close enough and for them to drink them." She tries to make like the information she just gave out was the most nature thing in the world. Kate says, "Spooking the animals would be easy enough, and we might be able to open the pen. If we're going to sneak I'd suggest picketing the horses a way back. Gunfire might spook them, and it's just hard to sneak on a horse." Jake says, "Good thinking, you and the others take care of that and I'll watch the valley a little longer." Jake sneaks back to the edge and tries to learn more useful knowledge of the area below and looking for where the boys might be kept. To Ruby Kate said, "Being able to sound like one of them might be useful, especially like Ringo, if he isn't here. And heightened senses might be good for us as well. Everyone dismount. Jeff, Flint, will you help me take the horses back a bit and we'll tie them to some trees." Kate went with the other two men and took care of the horses, arriving back just a couple minutes later. Ruby went back up the hill. Ruby asks, "Jake you want me to put some of them to sleep? What should we do?" Jake whispers to Ruby, "Last time someone did that gun fire woke them. So save that for the right time. If we sleep them we have to be able to quickly capture or quietly kill them." She says, "Well, what did you mean by disabling them magically? You have something else up your sleeve I don't know about?" He says, “No, that is what I was talking about. Problem is the others down there can see them. Looks like fireworks time. Unless somebody has a bold plan, let's go back to the others and decide." She says, "A bold plan? Can you and I sneak up behind one of the smaller groups? Let the rest of the party come from the front and you and I get them from behind. And we take those potions before we go." He says, "How about if Ruby, Maska and I climb down behind the barn while the others go around and take the trail. We'll need to wait for both sides to be in position and will need a signal." She replies, "Good idea Jake." As Kate returned with Jeff and Flint she allowed herself to fall several steps behind. She began to mutter under her breath, just to get them used to the sound of her voice behind them. A moment later she added hand gestures and cast the protection spell. Hopefully, since she was already wearing clothes nearly identical, no one would notice the change. Minerva makes a small clicking noise and Luna silently glides over to the party. Minerva says a short prayer and speaks to Maska. "Tell me which building that Senor Nanuet and Chester are in. How can we get Senor Nanuet his necklace?" Ruby digs through her bag and takes out the potions. She hands one to Jake and keeps one for herself (the sensory potions). "Can Maska signal? Hum, I don't know if we can get her to. What about Luna? Minerva, can you have her give us a signal when you are in place?" She takes two sleep potions and 1 voice potion and puts all the potions back in her bag, then gives the rest to Katherine and Minerva. "And just so we're all clear... we're not here to be nice. Last time we left people, well, they're still after us." Ruby has a calm look on her face but a coldness in her eyes. "Got that?" "Yes, I understand. Let's get this over with," Kate said as she pulled out her pistol. Nanuet becomes unnerved as he and Chester wait. "What do you see out there Chet? Any sign of them? Stupid me, I guess we would know if they were spotted wouldn't we? Well maybe they are able to give us some sort of sign? See anything? Anything at all?" Chester replies, "Nothing yet. But like you said, if Maska is here, then the others are nearby. I bet Jake and Ruby are pretty good at hiding." Jake takes his rifle from his horse and offers the shotgun to anyone who needs it. He puts some shells in his pocket for the sawed-off shotgun and loosens the duster on his right side to access his Colt for a quick draw. Ruby makes sure her dagger and other tools are in the correct spots in her jacket. She ties some rope around a loop on the jacket. She double checks her pistol and puts it away. She takes the rifle and waits for everyone to agree to the plan. Jake notices that Minerva is concentrating with the wolf. When she finishes he says, "Anything new?" She replies, “Maska says that Nanuet and Chester are at the rear of the farmhouse.” She asks the wolf “Can you tell them that we are here and don't do anything foolish? We will try to get the necklace to them.” Ruby thinks to herself “Let's hope he doesn't need it.” She says “Luna, I will launch you into the air when we are in position. When the rest of our group is in position fly back to me.” Jake states, "I suppose we have a plan then. The rest of you go around by the stream, when you are in place use the signal. Ruby and I will make some kind of loud noise and you can take action. Flint, try not to blow us up OK? Let's go" "Jake, before we go, please don't do anything crazy down there." Ruby looks at him seriously for a moment before looking away. "Let's go." "Alright," Kate said looking at Minerva, Jeff, and Flint. "Let's go. We may not be as quiet as those two, but let's be as quiet as we can." She began to make her way to the trail, the others following behind. With a grim expression of acceptance, Minerva grabs her rifle, ammunition and rope from the horse and follows Kate, Flint and Jeff around out of sight to the woods down the trail. "When we are about to engage these ruffians I would like to take a short moment to pray for the Goddess's blessing on our group." Kate suggests, “I'd do that before we send the signal then, as usually you don't get much warning." Kate led the group as close as they could go down the trail without being seen and waited. Jake, Ruby, & Maska climb down the lightly forested far hill that leads up to the rear of the barn, trying to stay hidden. When they arrive they search the back of the barn for a way in, and look around cautiously. The barn has a rear door but it appears to be locked from the inside. The only window in the rear of the barn is on the upper loft floor and is currently shuttered. Inside, Nanuet states "Chester, the others are here, I am sure of it now. Maska has given that much information. I will stay by the door ready to pounce if it is opened. You keep an eye out outside." Chester replies, "OK. Great. I hope they brought enough firepower." His eyes widen in alarm. "Warn them about the Gatling gun. It'll tear them to bits." I will try and warn them, but I am not sure how effectively a wolf can communicate "Watch out for the Gatling gun." Nanuet focuses on Maska trying to glean as much information from her as he can while also putting the picture of the gun into her head along with a sense of warning about it. Ruby and Jake arrive at the locked rear door of the barn. Ruby carefully and quietly checks over the barn door, hoping to find a way to use her special tools to get the lock open from this side. Ruby is able to use her tools to get into the crack in the door and lift the inside latch. The barn appears to be dark inside. They open the door a crack and the large wooden building appears to be currently unoccupied. They see a wagon in the center of the room covered over with a tarp. Ruby slowly and again quietly makes her way towards the wagon and peeks under the tarp while Jake looks around the rest of the barn. Kate’s group reaches their destination. Minerva says, “I'll send Luna up now to signal we're in place.” Jake is watching around and sees the white owl fly by. "They are in place. We are on." He looks around inside the building before entering to make sure there are no animals to make noise. They continue to move silently and checkout the interior and make sure no one is hiding in the wagon. Jake and Ruby both come to an abrupt stop when they hear the sound of snoring coming from up in the barn loft. The second level of the barn consists of a U-shaped balcony along the sides and rear of the barn, ten feet deep on all sides that has hay bales stacked two high along the entire outer edge overlooking the open center. Jake is in the exposed open area in the center ten feet from the wagon while Ruby is at the wagon. Listening closer, they pinpoint the sound as coming from the loft towards the rear of the barn. They are equidistant to the two closest ladders up to the loft, in each of the back rear corners of the barn. There are two more ladders up in the front corners of the barn. Each of these four ladders looks to end at a two-foot square hinged door along the loft floor and all four doors are currently closed. Even though Ruby hears the snoring she continues to very quietly remove her dagger and cut one of the ties on the tarp on the wagon to peek inside. After that she waits for Jake to give her further instructions. Kate watched as the owl flew out above the farmhouse. More and more now she wanted this to be over, to get back to the El Parador. There was too much going on in too many different places. Was she really of any use here? Before she could go too far down that line of thinking she turned her mind to the large corral. If she could get close enough, she should be able to spook the animals inside and open the gate. Spooked animals add confusion, and they could use all of that on the other side they could get. She turned to Minerva and said, "Now is probably the time for your prayers if you feel the need to say them. There's no way to know when Jake will start this." Minerva recognizes the familiar sound of unbelieving sarcasm in the tone of Katherine's words but dismisses them, patiently explaining. "Senora, Senor Jake will send us his signal when all is ready and then I shall ask for the help of the Goddess. It will not take long for her to answer my plea." Minerva turns to the group. "There are three men between the farmhouse and the corral and another two men at the right front corner between the farmhouse and the barn's front door. Senor Jake said that he would make a large noise to alert us when he is ready. This will also attract attention to the barn. Perhaps we can create another diversion to enhance the confusion. It would be good to get the men to come closer to us somehow without giving ourselves away. Does anyone have an idea as to how we can do this?” Kate replies, "I had some thoughts about that, but I need to close. Closer than we want to be. I can get the corral open and get the animals excited. It should give these men something else to think about, but to get close enough I'd be in plain sight." “I am not willing to jeopardize your safety Senora." Minerva whispers. "We will find another way" She gazes up the trail with a thoughtful expression. "Hmmm, It looks like we might be able to get closer to those men if we go further into the woods to the right. Do you see that spot over there?" Minerva points out and toward the right. "It looks to be about 30 ft closer than where we are now. If we're really quiet perhaps we can get there and when Senor Jake makes the loud noise they will be distracted towards it. I'll say a little tiny prayer" she puts her thumb and pointer finger together to indicate very little and grins at Katherine "and then we will just shoot them!" A light comes into her eyes as the time for confrontation grows near. "I'm pretty handy with my Papa's rifle" she says patting it affectionately. "It is more than adequate to hit from that distance. I was told that Senor Flint is quite handy with dynamite also." She pats his shoulder and gives him a brilliant smile. "I am sure that he could make quite a diversion if we need one. Eh Senor?" She chuckles softly. "How far do you think you could toss that fire cracker? and how big of a boom will it make?" Flint replies, "How big a boom do you want? I brought twenty sticks and can fasten them together if we want. I can toss a single a good 100 feet. I can get a triple up to 150 feet, that weighs more but the shape makes it fly better." Minerva raises her eyebrows. "THAT is very impressive! Senor." she says softly. "Could you use it to eliminate those three men and time its fuse so that they would be unable to toss it back upon us?" He replies, "Sure, I'm an expert at timing my dynamite throws. And if I use a triple that should still be effective even if my aim is slightly off. I could probably even get that other group between the house and barn if I had to." "And those men by the woods near the fire, are they too far away?" He replies, "From here, I'm afraid so. We can see fine around those saplings in between but they would work as a barrier. Unless my shot were perfect the dynamite would be deflected off them, could even bounce back to us. I could move closer to them but then couldn't either of these groups here in front." Katherine says "Speaking of that we'd better move if that's where we want to be. Closer is better, I'm a terrible shot." Minerva says, " Do not berate yourself for your lack of skill in this, Senora. The gods who guide us do not bestow all of their gifts upon us. Only those, which we are most suited to. And for the little time I have known you I can see that they have bestowed many upon you. Do not worry for if they desire it you will surely hit your mark. She turns to the others. "Senora is correct, we should hurry and get in position. Lead the way Senora, por favor. We shall follow." Kate says, "A boom would certainly cause all the distraction we could want. I'd think one would be enough, we wouldn't want you to run out of dynamite, and if we're in those trees you won't have to throw it all that far. if that's where we want to be. Kate was quiet for a minute, thinking about the teas Ruby had brought from Dorita. She had originally thought perhaps one of them might try to sound like Ringo, but she knew she couldn't pull off his attitude Then it occurred to her that someone else's voice might be just as distracting. "Where do you think you can most effective, Flint? That's probably where we should be. I might be able to add a little more confusion to our little plan. It might just cause a bit of panic if they thought the Earp's had come for them. I've heard Wyatt speak enough, with that tea I could imitate his voice and shout from out of sight." Kate was quiet for a minute, thinking about the teas Ruby had brought from Dorita. She had originally thought perhaps one of them might try to sound like Ringo, but she knew she couldn't pull off his attitude Then it occurred to her that someone else's voice might be just as distracting. "Where do you think you can most effective, Flint? That's probably where we should be. I might be able to add a little more confusion to our little plan. It might just cause a bit of panic if they thought the Earp's had come for them. I've heard Wyatt speak enough, with that tea I could imitate his voice and shout from out of sight." Minerva explains to Flint that when they hear the signal from Jake he should toss the dynamite and take out the 3 men farthest from them at the front of the barn. "We will shoot the 3 men closest to us. Jeff you aim for the one on the left, Katherine you take the one in the middle and I'll shoot the man on the right. If it looks like someone's going to toss that dynamite back at us I'll shoot them instead of my man. O.K? Is everyone in agreement?" She continues, “As soon as I hear the signal I am going to say a quick prayer to insure that the Goddess will guide our bullets. If anyone of you should be ready to shoot again before I am be sure and take the opportunity. The men at the fire should come running when they hear the commotion so be ready to take them out as well. Maska counted the scent of 18 men. We have only accounted for 9 so there may be more in the farmhouse or the barn. If they come out of either, shoot them." She turns to Flint with a smirk on her face "Senor Flint DO NOT blow up the farmhouse. Nanuet and Chester are in the back room. If there is enough of a diversion and we have an opportunity, I will ask the goddess for sanctuary. I will no longer be able to fight but I will be protected. We can then sneak around the back and try and get them out. I wish we had that necklace though! " Kate says, "Senorita, all I have is a pistol, we're about at the limit of how far it can shoot. I'll try, but I wouldn't count on my being able to take him down. I think we should try to clear the way before we try going inside to get Chester and Nanuet. Distraction is good, but for every man still standing when we go to get them, that's another man to go after Jake and Ruby." "Si, Senora , we must see what doors the Goddess opens for us first. I agree, we should not attempt a rescue unless the opportunity presents itself. But once we have liberated Senors Chester and Nanuet we will have two more allies deal with these murderous rogues." Minerva looks to Katherine in surprise upon learning that she only has a pistol. "I believe there is an extra shotgun on one of the horses but I do not think that we can make our way back there in time. "Senor Flint, do you have a weapon with more range that the Senora can use while you are tossing your firecrackers?" Inside the barn, Jake silently steps back under the balcony and looks up to see through the cracks in the floor enough to determine how many bodies are sleeping up above. He also is looking to gauge the strength of the floor against the blast of a stick of dynamite while he looks for possible locations to place sticks that would send to the gods anyone on the balcony. Jake notices that Ruby would be easily visible to anyone looking over the hay bales on the balcony. He noiselessly waves his arms, getting her attention, and motions for her to come to him. Ruby takes another quick glance under the tarp before heading back to Jake. Once there she points up to where the snoring is coming from. She motions to the ladder and herself, then to the spot where Jake has the dynamite. Then she gives him a questioning look, waiting for some sort of response. Jake pulls her close, presses his mouth to her ear and whispers faintly into her ear, "Climb the ladder and see if the door is open. Make no noise. if it won't open or is going to make any noise stop and come back. we need to know how many are up there." Jake listens carefully while she does this. Ruby nods and does as Jake asks. She very quietly approaches the ladder closest to where the snoring is coming from. She places her dagger back in its spot in her jacket, then begins to ascend the ladder. When she gets to the top she inspects the trap door, checking to see if it's locked. If it's locked she will check what kind of lock it is and see if she can pick it, but won't open it, just head back down. If it's not locked she will slowly push up and at the first sign of even the slightest noise she will stop pushing. If there is no noise she will open it just enough to peek up into the loft but won't climb up. There is no visible locking mechanism on it but it won't open when pushed. Examining around the crack she sees a slight break that she concludes is a swing bolt fastened on the other side. Ruby heads back down to Jake and shakes her head, indicating she can't open the trapdoor. Jake nods in understanding. He takes out two sticks of dynamite and twists the fuses together in the manner Flint showed him, leaving the fuses long. He places these two sticks on the top of the ladder in one back corner with the fuse hanging down. He makes a similar bundle with the fuses slightly shorter and places them on the other back ladder at the top rung. He holds one finger upright to his lips and takes Ruby's hand. He leads her silently underneath the right side balcony to the front of the barn. Pulling her close he whispers faintly in her ear, "Watch the balcony, I need to look out front. If the guards are close we'll shoot them, run to the back and out the door. I'll light the fuses on the way out." Ruby nods a bit apprehensively and draws her pistol and watches the balcony as Jake moves silently to the doors holding his rifle. He looks for the largest cracks and peers through looking for the two cowboys between the barn and the farmhouse to determine how far away they are. The crack in the door that Jake looks though is wide enough for him to peer out but not wide enough to stick a gun through. He sees the same five men as before, the pair 35 feet away between the barn and house and the other three 80 feet away between the house and corral. The ninth man who he had first seen now comes out of the farmhouse carrying a steaming hot pot of coffee. He approaches the closer pair who each pick up a ceramic mug that are then topped off with coffee. The new man says something to the pair of them while gesturing towards the barn. The man then turns and walks in the direction of the corral and the other three men. Continuing to be silent, Jake moves quickly under the balcony with Ruby and indicates to the back of the barn. They take Maska with them. Jakes tosses his rifle out the back door and pushes Maska out. He removes the last two sticks of dynamite from his pockets and hands them to Ruby. He then takes cuts two short bits of rope from her coil. He climbs back up the ladders and secures the explosives, and double checks the fuses on the them. Yes they are plenty long enough he thinks. Jake takes the flame capable dagger out of his boot. He points to himself and then the dynamite on the ladders. He then points to himself and Ruby followed by miming throwing the dynamite in his hands. He carefully to points to the midsection of the balconies on each side of the barn. Ruby nods her understanding. Jake counts off the seconds to walk out under the edge of the balcony in the back, lob the dynamite unhurriedly over the bales on the balcony and sprint out the door. Yes, he thinks, not leaving enough fuse for someone to grab the dynamite and throw it back and not standing under the target in case we miss. Then a few seconds later the dynamite in the back ladders goes off. Here comes the noise I promised. Using the 'rule of thumb' Flint showed him, he measures the fuses and cuts them with the knife. He plants Ruby under the middle of the back balcony, smiles broadly at her and give her a kiss. He climbs first the ladder with the explosives that have the longest fuse and lights it with the dagger. Then quickly the other. He then rushes to Ruby and lights the dynamite. They take a couple of steps out from under the balcony, toss the dynamite over the bales on each side in the center and run out the back door. [/QUOTE]
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