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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3385175" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter 233, “Gunmen on the Roofs” , Sunday, April 2nd , 1882, 12:30 AM</strong></p><p></p><p>Ruby starts to turn slowly to face the crowd with a smile. To the extreme disappointment of almost all of the men in the crowd, they can see as Ruby turns that her long hair has been arranged now so that it is covering anything of interest, as even less can be seen with her hair blocking her than with the scarves on. She was about to curtsey and exit the stage when she notices an extremely red-faced Jake and as she motions for him to meet her at the side of the stage</p><p></p><p>Nanuet bolts through the crowd as she turns around and then jumps up onto the stage blocking the view of the leering men and tries to shove Ruby off towards the side of the stage. "Ruby what are you doing?" he exclaims! “I was dancing, what in Hades are you doing?” she asks in a peeved tone, covering her chest with her arms. "You call that dancing? Flashing everybody your chest like that?" Nanuet says before he realizes she purposely covered her breasts with her hair. He then comments, "Heh, now I see. Didn't make too many fans there did I?"</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Katherine had reached a point mid-way between Cook’s General Store on the north side and the Long Branch Saloon on the south side. She turns her head to avert her eyes from her friend’s nudity and since the man on the roof is now within the fifty-foot range of her spell she sees him taking aim at her friend from what for him will be considered point-blank range.</p><p></p><p>"Sonoma, the corner of the Deputy Sheriff's office, on the roof. Shooting at Ruby," she whispered urgently even as she pulled her pistol and the wand from her purse. All eyes were glued to Ruby, no one would see. She lifted the pistol, hiding the wand against it. She aimed the missile for the man's gun hand.</p><p></p><p>A large fist strike's Kate's hand from her right side, knocking it downward. She manages to still hold onto both the gun and the wand as the hand grabs onto her wrist. The man is between 280 and 300 pounds in weight and stands six-foot-four. The bearded man is dressed in a leather coat and vest and wool/cotton pants, with cowboy boots and a large cowboy hat. He reeks of the smell of cattle and grumbles in a Texas accent "Drop the gun woman."</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Sonoma has cast her scroll spell onto the roof. The man becomes temporarily visible and then drops down flat onto the roof before anybody else can see him. The crowd was focused upon the confrontation between the dancer and the western-attired Indian and fails to see him, with only Sonoma and Minerva getting a brief glimpse of him. Minerva indeed notices the man on the roof just as he crouches down. "Meirde she says and quickly makes her way toward the stage where Nanuet and Jake are.</p><p></p><p>Still covering her chest Ruby stomps off the steps without her robe. "What, you didn't trust me? And besides, I am a grown woman and in case you haven't noticed, I've done this before." "Look, I didn't know. You fooled me like you fooled all the rest of Promise City. Ruby I didn't know, I am sorry. I should have left earlier like I was going to. Now I messed up everything."</p><p>Nanuet says following her off the stage. "It's fine. Although all these men are going to think I was really going to show them something." Ruby glances around, "Where is Jake, he looked like something was wrong." She furrows her brows, "And where is Jane?" She looks around but doesn't see the petite priestess. She looks back at Nanuet, "Uh, I need something to wear." She heads back on stage a bit embarrassed to grab her robe.</p><p></p><p>Jake is still seething as he starts to walk towards the side of stage, changes his mind and starts to climb the stage to retrieve Ruby's discarded white covering. Minerva grabs Jake's arm. "Man on the roof!" He looks towards the Sheriff's roof top and sees nothing. He quickly looks around at the other roofs and crowd, scanning for guns or trouble while he unbuttons his waist coat and without being seen draws his short barrel Colt</p><p></p><p>"Nanuet get down!" Minerva hisses as she stands below the stage and continues scanning the roof. "Has anyone seen Katherine?" Ruby finds Jake looking a little ticked off retrieving her robe for her so she waits on the edge of the stage. He doesn't come immediately over, pausing mid stage. so she starts walking out. "What, are you getting stage fright?" she asks as she moves towards him. Jake flings the covering to Ruby and hisses, "Get down we have company."</p><p></p><p>"What?" Ruby looks around the empty stage and seeing no one gathers that Jake is being paranoid again. She holds the robe up to her chest as she starts walking to the edge of the stage again. As she walks she slides the robe back on. Once it's on she pulls her hair out from inside the robe and looks back to Jake. "What is your problem?"</p><p></p><p>Jake continues to scan for enemies. Nobody appears to be on the roofs in the area of the dance floor and he glances further down the street. He then spots a man lying on the roof of a building seventy-five feet away, on the flat one-story roof of the brick building between Wainwright's Store and Cassidy Lumber. The man has a rifle pointed at the main stage that he and Ruby are both now standing on.</p><p></p><p>For a moment Kate considered resisting, but there was no way she could break that grip. Very slowly she moved her fingers from the pistol, trying to keep the wand in her hand even as it fell to the ground. "Now, let go," she grated at him. Conrad had heard Kate alert Sonoma and saw her reach from the gun. He too had looked towards the roof and had not expected the man to charge forward. His immediate reaction was to step backwards from the charging behemoth of a man. The man then grabbed at Kate's wrist and was physically hurting her.</p><p></p><p>Something inside of Conrad snapped. This man was hurting Kate. While the man was distracted by Kate's releasing her gun, creating an even greater danger since that made the man now armed, Conrad acted. With a quick fluid motion he reached for the sword worn to the side of the costume and drew it, raising it high above his head and then lowering it towards the man's arm.</p><p></p><p>Earlier that day, following the failed book exchange where Deputy Martin was seriously injured, Conrad had come to the realization that the Cowboy Gang was a very real threat to Katherine. He needed to protect her at the ball but was unsure of exactly how. Furthermore, the costume that he had chosen had nowhere on it that a gun could be concealed. It then occurred to him that the costume included an ornamental sword.</p><p></p><p>Conrad visited the town's blacksmith, Henry Weller, and asked if he knew of anybody in town who might possess a real sword. Weller suggested Judge Lacey. Lacey indeed owned two, a cavalry saber and a traditional European longsword, both of which he had used during the Civil War. Conrad convinced Lacey to loan him the longsword and sheathe, and then had Weller spend the next hour sharpening the sword's edge to its fullest potential.</p><p></p><p>The brute now before Kate screams out in pain as his hand is cleanly severed half-way between the wrist and elbow as the sword slices through it. Kate stifled a scream as blood splattered over her arm and dress. Even so she reacted quickly and grabbed her pistol. She then looked around to see how much attention they had drawn. Nanuet hears the man whose hand Conrad has just cut off scream out in pain and pushes back Ruby and Jake to see what is going on as Jake dives at Ruby aiming to tackle her down to the ground and hollers, "Gunmen on the roofs!"</p><p></p><p>Nanuet hears the warnings from Minerva and Jake and drops flat to the ground. He immediately begins scanning the rooftops. While the man screaming and a handful of people seeing why created some level of disturbance, Jake's screaming "Gunmen on the roofs!" from the main stage has the effect of creating total pandemonium. People begin to run and scatter in all directions, most charging through the doors of whatever the nearest open building happens to be.</p><p></p><p>They fall off the stage with Jake landing on top of Ruby with an "Oof." "Why honey, if you wanted me that badly you could have said so!" Ruby jokes at a very bad time as she tries to push the two of them up. "Ooww." She then adds, "I didn't see anyone and I don't have a gun hidden under here." Jake wraps one arm around her gets her up and away from the stage towards the shadows of a porch. "One on the sherriff's roof and a rifle on the house next Cassidy's. There is likely more." He pushes her to crawl away from the stage and keeps his body between her and it.</p><p></p><p>A rifle fires, followed shortly thereafter by a second rifle shot and then a third. Nanuet deduces the direction of the first shot, looking west and sees the distant roof as the second and third shots are fired from the rifleman lying on it. Jake looks up at the stage sees the second and third bullets fly across the stage, nowhere near him or Ruby but twenty feet away, and out towards the dance floor. The shots cause people to scream as they scurry about in all directions.</p><p></p><p>Ruby, Jake and Nanuet now see the bloody body of the Greek Arch-Bishop lying face down on the dance floor, apparently the targeted recipient of the rifleman as there are two blood stains on his back where bullets apparently struck. Nanuet stays low and tries to stay behind cover as he makes his way over to the priest. He tries to drag him behind the closest cover before checking him over. Nanuet is able to get the priest closer to the stage where it makes an effective wall to block the shooter on the other side. The Priest is still alive despite the two bullet wounds. One bullet entered below his shoulder and exited out the front. The other entered the center back closer to the lungs and is still inside. Minerva notices Nanuet beside the Greek/Roman priest.</p><p></p><p>"Meirda! Baby what in Hades is going on?? Why can't these bastards leave us alone??" Ruby crawls in the direction that Jake pushes her. She sees the priest, "They shot the priest too? Maybe we should check on him?" Then she watches as the Indian pulls him to safety. "Good, Nanuet's got him." Jake stays very close but pushes her butt and says, "Come on keep going."</p><p></p><p>Her emotions are still high from the dance but the feelings of love were quickly turning into feelings of hate. "What are we going to do?" she whispers back to him as she crawls. "I need a weapon." As they crawl people are running all over the place and they try not to get trampled. "Where are all the freaking heroes around here?" She looks back at Jake, "Besides you that is, you're mine."</p><p></p><p>Crouching low Minerva makes her way over to Nanuet and the Bishop. "Is he alive? Your Excellency can you speak? Nanuet we must heal him and get him to safety. How serious is it?" She draws her pistol out from under her gown and continues to scan the area. The Priest in no longer conscious. The shoulder wound does not appear to be fatal but the other one is very serious. Nanuet replies, "He is alive, but unconscious. I have the necklace under my shirt."</p><p></p><p>Nanuet quickly pulls out the necklace. "Minerva please help me, we should do this together and call on both of our gods." They use a lesser stone, but one of the speckled ones so they can heal the priest together. The bleeding stops and the wound looks better although the bullet remains inside of him.</p><p></p><p>The dance floor is now totally cleared except for Nanuet and Minerva over by the priest, and the screaming and crying man in the center holding the stump where his hand and lower arm were. Most people have run elsewhere. Deputy Rodriguez had carefully made his way down the street to where the rifleman had been. Deputy Barker had run upstairs at the Long Branch and climbed the pull-ladder up to the third floor roof in order to scan all of the other rooftops. Mr. Austin and Louise had helped Conrad get Kate back to the El Parador.</p><p></p><p>Chester shields Clarisse from the maddening rush of people. He pushes his way through the crowd, almost carrying her. They make their way to the Gay Lady. Chester says to Clarisse, "Stay here. I have to see what's going on. I'll be back to get you. I love you." She clutches his arm. "I love you too. Don't do anything foolish." Chester tears the eye-patch off. "I'll be as careful as I always am." He pins his badge on his shirt, draws his pistol, and rushes back outside. He tells the fleeing people to go home. He goes over to the crying man on the dance floor. "What happened? Who was shooting?" Seeing the bloody stump, Chester pulls the sash from his waist and ties it around the wrist in a makeshift tourniquet.</p><p></p><p>When Minerva and Nanuet look up they see that Doctor James Eaton is beside them, along with two of his Vigilance Committee companion. He kneels down and examines the wound. He looks at Nanuet and Minerva and says, "Thank you. You got to him in time. But he still has a bullet in him. He should be able to now survive being moved." He looks up at Zeb Cook and Derik Avery and says "Help me get this man to my office, I need to operate." As Doc Eaton is busy operating on the Priest, Deputy Eduardo Rodriguez comes up to Chester and says that he will take the man with the amputated hand to Thomas Valdez for healing. After the surgeon took the priest away Nanuet gets up and just wanders away aimlessly. His face is expressionless and his eyes are a blank stare</p><p></p><p>Back at the El Parador, Kate stared at her reddened wrist as she was firmly set in a chair and poured a large brandy . Her hands shook as she lifted the glass and took a sip. "Are the others alright? They weren't really after us, were they? Only to keep us out of the way, they wanted the Priests." She looked at the spattered blood up and down her arm, then touched her face and found the wetness there too. "Could I get something to wash this off, please?"</p><p></p><p>Mr. Austin says, "Probably. They shot that senior priest and they may have believed that Ruby was actually that Aphrodite Priestess given the comments that she with her dance." Dorita brings over a wet compress to wipe off Kate's clothes while Austin discreetly casts a Clean Cantrip to remove the blood. "Thank you," Kate said, giving Dorita a warm glance. "Perhaps it's a good thing the other priests weren't there. Is someone helping the Arch-Bishop? Is he alive?"</p><p></p><p>Kate looked at Conrad who was sitting next to her. "I'm alright. You made sure of that." She took another sip of the brandy. "I feel I should be out there helping." He replies, "You did fine, you've helped enough. According to Sonoma you probably saved Ruby's life. I think I need some of that brandy myself."</p><p></p><p>"I think we could all use some, except Louise. She doesn't drink, you know," she said, slipping her arm around Louise's waist to hug her. "I guess I got to see your swordplay after all," Kate said to Conrad. "Where in the world did you get that sword?"</p><p></p><p>Conrad replies, "It belongs to Judge Lacey. The incident with the books earlier, when Chester got hurt, made me realize that I needed to be able to protect you tonight. The costume didn't really have any place for a gun to be concealed, but it had an ornamental sword. I was able to convince Lacey to let me have a real one instead. The real thanks however goes to our blacksmith Henry Weller for turning it into the sharpest blade in the county." "And here I thought it was my job to protect you," Kate said with a warm look that would have been better saved for a private moment. "You have changed, Conrad."</p><p></p><p>Conrad replies, "Due to you my dear. I believe that somebody told you long ago that you have a transformational effect on people." Then with a mischievous grin he says "If you don't believe me ask your friend Mr. Austin, he appears to have transformed completely in just a few hours." She laughed and finished the brandy. "While this helps, I think the best thing is sleep. We haven't heard back from the trackers yet, but if I wait up all night I will be useless tomorrow. Louise, you can stay with me tonight. I'll walk Conrad out and then I'll be up. Do you need me for anything more, Mr. Austin?" He replies that he does not.</p><p></p><p>Finding her teacher did not need her, Kate walked out onto the porch of the El Parador with Conrad. "Thank you for the evening. The costume, the dancing... I felt safe with you even before you proved it was justified. Despite everything else, I think I will sleep well tonight." He kisses her hand and then turns in for the night.</p><p></p><p>Jake contemplates going after the man on the roof across the street but instead just watches carefully with his gun out until it seems like the crisis has passed and the others carry the priest away. He stows his gun away under his waist coat and helps Ruby stand. As he walks over to retrieve the wig from his costume he says to her, "I came up closer to the stage because I couldn't hear your singing." "Singing?" Ruby furrows her brows together. "Oh I get it, you're mad. Well what are you mad about Jacob Cook?" Ruby eyebrow is raised as she leans up against the now deserted stage.</p><p></p><p>Jake shakes the dust out of the costume wig and looks up at Ruby. "My girl told me to rest assured, she won't dance, only sing. And if I was there, she'll only be singing to me." Ruby crosses her arms across her chest. "And my man told me to do what I thought was right and to not show anything that wouldn't be hidden by a skimpy dance hall dress." Ruby looks Jake in the eyes as he dusts himself off and her face softens. "I ASKED you what I should do. You didn't tell me not to dance. You didn't ask me not to dance."</p><p></p><p>Jake steps very close to her and looks her in the eyes. He says in a quiet yet emotional voice, "I did not want you to do this thing, but it was not my choice to make. It was your choice to make. I didn't tell you what to do, I only told you how I felt." He puts his hand to his chin in a familiar gesture but only stokes it once when his hand discovers that his beard is missing. "You want to know why I am angry? You assured me of your own free will that you would not dance and then made me stand there and watch you dance with a great smile upon your face. This was not a lark or a weak moment Ruby, you planned this."</p><p></p><p>Jake looks down at his feet for a moment before looking back to her. He touches her lips with his index finger. "It is better not to ask me what I want and then give assurances if you intend to disregard them like you would a plump beggar." Jake sighs. "I'm feeling like a jackass and I need to get out of this getup." He turns and walks towards the Lucky Lady.</p><p></p><p>Ruby stays where she is, pondering. When she looks up Jake is walking away from her so she picks up the white robe so it doesn’t drag and runs to catch up. “I did say I wouldn’t dance, that’s true.” She grabs his arm, forcing him to stop walking. “But I really didn’t know you didn’t want me to. Dance that is. You never just tell me how you feel. You say things but then they mean something different than I thought they meant, I don’t understand what you tell me.”</p><p></p><p>She turns Jake so they are looking at each other again. “Dancing is what I’ve done for so long, I just don’t see anything wrong with it.” She looks away from his gaze and down to her feet. “Besides, I did it for you anyway. For us.” "You did this for me?" Jake's eyes narrow again. "How do you reconcile that after you asked me about it and then told me you wouldn't? You did feel all the attention from the crowd though didn't you? All the desire rushing in? Did you bask in the glory? Was it exhilarating? Is Aphrodite sated now? Of course next time more will be needed. Each time it will take more to satisfy. What will more be like?"</p><p></p><p>Jake's voice now becomes monotone bereft of emotion. "I'm sure with all that attention and raw emotion focused on you it would be easy to miss a man in the crowd who did not have the same feelings. I'm sure the hurt and betrayal were washed away by the flood of hunger and lust." Jake puts his hands on his face and rubs his eyes. A heavy sigh escapes his lips. "Look," he removes his hands from his face and his eyes have lost the hard anger in them, "I thought I said plainly how I felt. I can try to do better however I don't want to tell you what to do. I will not strangle that which I love. Part of what draws me to you is the free spirit and fire that lives within you. I don't own you. I don't want a puppet." He sighs again. "Do what you will, but give me no more empty assurances."</p><p></p><p>Ruby stands in front of Jake, wide eyed and helpless. Then her face drops and tears start welling in her eyes. “I’m sorry, baby, I’m really really sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you or betray you…I just…I thought if I didn't show.. you know... if I didn't show what you said not to show it would be ok..." She goes to reach for Jake but pulls her hand back before she touches him. "If I don’t do what she wants then she will take you away from me… and I can’t live without you… I only want to make you happy.”</p><p></p><p>The tears are streaming down Ruby’s face even though she isn’t crying. Embarrassed, she wipes at the wet trail on her face before turning and running back to the Lucky Lady. She pushes her way blindly through the crowd and runs up the stairs. She throws herself on the floor next to the bed and sobs with her head down. Motionless, Jake watches her run to the saloon. He continues to stand in the street for a minute before he turns his gaze to the town around him. He looks at the buildings and the few residents of Promise City that are on the street as if contemplating them for the first time. He shrugs and walks slowly back to the Lucky Lady.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 3385175, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter 233, “Gunmen on the Roofs” , Sunday, April 2nd , 1882, 12:30 AM[/B] Ruby starts to turn slowly to face the crowd with a smile. To the extreme disappointment of almost all of the men in the crowd, they can see as Ruby turns that her long hair has been arranged now so that it is covering anything of interest, as even less can be seen with her hair blocking her than with the scarves on. She was about to curtsey and exit the stage when she notices an extremely red-faced Jake and as she motions for him to meet her at the side of the stage Nanuet bolts through the crowd as she turns around and then jumps up onto the stage blocking the view of the leering men and tries to shove Ruby off towards the side of the stage. "Ruby what are you doing?" he exclaims! “I was dancing, what in Hades are you doing?” she asks in a peeved tone, covering her chest with her arms. "You call that dancing? Flashing everybody your chest like that?" Nanuet says before he realizes she purposely covered her breasts with her hair. He then comments, "Heh, now I see. Didn't make too many fans there did I?" Meanwhile, Katherine had reached a point mid-way between Cook’s General Store on the north side and the Long Branch Saloon on the south side. She turns her head to avert her eyes from her friend’s nudity and since the man on the roof is now within the fifty-foot range of her spell she sees him taking aim at her friend from what for him will be considered point-blank range. "Sonoma, the corner of the Deputy Sheriff's office, on the roof. Shooting at Ruby," she whispered urgently even as she pulled her pistol and the wand from her purse. All eyes were glued to Ruby, no one would see. She lifted the pistol, hiding the wand against it. She aimed the missile for the man's gun hand. A large fist strike's Kate's hand from her right side, knocking it downward. She manages to still hold onto both the gun and the wand as the hand grabs onto her wrist. The man is between 280 and 300 pounds in weight and stands six-foot-four. The bearded man is dressed in a leather coat and vest and wool/cotton pants, with cowboy boots and a large cowboy hat. He reeks of the smell of cattle and grumbles in a Texas accent "Drop the gun woman." Meanwhile, Sonoma has cast her scroll spell onto the roof. The man becomes temporarily visible and then drops down flat onto the roof before anybody else can see him. The crowd was focused upon the confrontation between the dancer and the western-attired Indian and fails to see him, with only Sonoma and Minerva getting a brief glimpse of him. Minerva indeed notices the man on the roof just as he crouches down. "Meirde she says and quickly makes her way toward the stage where Nanuet and Jake are. Still covering her chest Ruby stomps off the steps without her robe. "What, you didn't trust me? And besides, I am a grown woman and in case you haven't noticed, I've done this before." "Look, I didn't know. You fooled me like you fooled all the rest of Promise City. Ruby I didn't know, I am sorry. I should have left earlier like I was going to. Now I messed up everything." Nanuet says following her off the stage. "It's fine. Although all these men are going to think I was really going to show them something." Ruby glances around, "Where is Jake, he looked like something was wrong." She furrows her brows, "And where is Jane?" She looks around but doesn't see the petite priestess. She looks back at Nanuet, "Uh, I need something to wear." She heads back on stage a bit embarrassed to grab her robe. Jake is still seething as he starts to walk towards the side of stage, changes his mind and starts to climb the stage to retrieve Ruby's discarded white covering. Minerva grabs Jake's arm. "Man on the roof!" He looks towards the Sheriff's roof top and sees nothing. He quickly looks around at the other roofs and crowd, scanning for guns or trouble while he unbuttons his waist coat and without being seen draws his short barrel Colt "Nanuet get down!" Minerva hisses as she stands below the stage and continues scanning the roof. "Has anyone seen Katherine?" Ruby finds Jake looking a little ticked off retrieving her robe for her so she waits on the edge of the stage. He doesn't come immediately over, pausing mid stage. so she starts walking out. "What, are you getting stage fright?" she asks as she moves towards him. Jake flings the covering to Ruby and hisses, "Get down we have company." "What?" Ruby looks around the empty stage and seeing no one gathers that Jake is being paranoid again. She holds the robe up to her chest as she starts walking to the edge of the stage again. As she walks she slides the robe back on. Once it's on she pulls her hair out from inside the robe and looks back to Jake. "What is your problem?" Jake continues to scan for enemies. Nobody appears to be on the roofs in the area of the dance floor and he glances further down the street. He then spots a man lying on the roof of a building seventy-five feet away, on the flat one-story roof of the brick building between Wainwright's Store and Cassidy Lumber. The man has a rifle pointed at the main stage that he and Ruby are both now standing on. For a moment Kate considered resisting, but there was no way she could break that grip. Very slowly she moved her fingers from the pistol, trying to keep the wand in her hand even as it fell to the ground. "Now, let go," she grated at him. Conrad had heard Kate alert Sonoma and saw her reach from the gun. He too had looked towards the roof and had not expected the man to charge forward. His immediate reaction was to step backwards from the charging behemoth of a man. The man then grabbed at Kate's wrist and was physically hurting her. Something inside of Conrad snapped. This man was hurting Kate. While the man was distracted by Kate's releasing her gun, creating an even greater danger since that made the man now armed, Conrad acted. With a quick fluid motion he reached for the sword worn to the side of the costume and drew it, raising it high above his head and then lowering it towards the man's arm. Earlier that day, following the failed book exchange where Deputy Martin was seriously injured, Conrad had come to the realization that the Cowboy Gang was a very real threat to Katherine. He needed to protect her at the ball but was unsure of exactly how. Furthermore, the costume that he had chosen had nowhere on it that a gun could be concealed. It then occurred to him that the costume included an ornamental sword. Conrad visited the town's blacksmith, Henry Weller, and asked if he knew of anybody in town who might possess a real sword. Weller suggested Judge Lacey. Lacey indeed owned two, a cavalry saber and a traditional European longsword, both of which he had used during the Civil War. Conrad convinced Lacey to loan him the longsword and sheathe, and then had Weller spend the next hour sharpening the sword's edge to its fullest potential. The brute now before Kate screams out in pain as his hand is cleanly severed half-way between the wrist and elbow as the sword slices through it. Kate stifled a scream as blood splattered over her arm and dress. Even so she reacted quickly and grabbed her pistol. She then looked around to see how much attention they had drawn. Nanuet hears the man whose hand Conrad has just cut off scream out in pain and pushes back Ruby and Jake to see what is going on as Jake dives at Ruby aiming to tackle her down to the ground and hollers, "Gunmen on the roofs!" Nanuet hears the warnings from Minerva and Jake and drops flat to the ground. He immediately begins scanning the rooftops. While the man screaming and a handful of people seeing why created some level of disturbance, Jake's screaming "Gunmen on the roofs!" from the main stage has the effect of creating total pandemonium. People begin to run and scatter in all directions, most charging through the doors of whatever the nearest open building happens to be. They fall off the stage with Jake landing on top of Ruby with an "Oof." "Why honey, if you wanted me that badly you could have said so!" Ruby jokes at a very bad time as she tries to push the two of them up. "Ooww." She then adds, "I didn't see anyone and I don't have a gun hidden under here." Jake wraps one arm around her gets her up and away from the stage towards the shadows of a porch. "One on the sherriff's roof and a rifle on the house next Cassidy's. There is likely more." He pushes her to crawl away from the stage and keeps his body between her and it. A rifle fires, followed shortly thereafter by a second rifle shot and then a third. Nanuet deduces the direction of the first shot, looking west and sees the distant roof as the second and third shots are fired from the rifleman lying on it. Jake looks up at the stage sees the second and third bullets fly across the stage, nowhere near him or Ruby but twenty feet away, and out towards the dance floor. The shots cause people to scream as they scurry about in all directions. Ruby, Jake and Nanuet now see the bloody body of the Greek Arch-Bishop lying face down on the dance floor, apparently the targeted recipient of the rifleman as there are two blood stains on his back where bullets apparently struck. Nanuet stays low and tries to stay behind cover as he makes his way over to the priest. He tries to drag him behind the closest cover before checking him over. Nanuet is able to get the priest closer to the stage where it makes an effective wall to block the shooter on the other side. The Priest is still alive despite the two bullet wounds. One bullet entered below his shoulder and exited out the front. The other entered the center back closer to the lungs and is still inside. Minerva notices Nanuet beside the Greek/Roman priest. "Meirda! Baby what in Hades is going on?? Why can't these bastards leave us alone??" Ruby crawls in the direction that Jake pushes her. She sees the priest, "They shot the priest too? Maybe we should check on him?" Then she watches as the Indian pulls him to safety. "Good, Nanuet's got him." Jake stays very close but pushes her butt and says, "Come on keep going." Her emotions are still high from the dance but the feelings of love were quickly turning into feelings of hate. "What are we going to do?" she whispers back to him as she crawls. "I need a weapon." As they crawl people are running all over the place and they try not to get trampled. "Where are all the freaking heroes around here?" She looks back at Jake, "Besides you that is, you're mine." Crouching low Minerva makes her way over to Nanuet and the Bishop. "Is he alive? Your Excellency can you speak? Nanuet we must heal him and get him to safety. How serious is it?" She draws her pistol out from under her gown and continues to scan the area. The Priest in no longer conscious. The shoulder wound does not appear to be fatal but the other one is very serious. Nanuet replies, "He is alive, but unconscious. I have the necklace under my shirt." Nanuet quickly pulls out the necklace. "Minerva please help me, we should do this together and call on both of our gods." They use a lesser stone, but one of the speckled ones so they can heal the priest together. The bleeding stops and the wound looks better although the bullet remains inside of him. The dance floor is now totally cleared except for Nanuet and Minerva over by the priest, and the screaming and crying man in the center holding the stump where his hand and lower arm were. Most people have run elsewhere. Deputy Rodriguez had carefully made his way down the street to where the rifleman had been. Deputy Barker had run upstairs at the Long Branch and climbed the pull-ladder up to the third floor roof in order to scan all of the other rooftops. Mr. Austin and Louise had helped Conrad get Kate back to the El Parador. Chester shields Clarisse from the maddening rush of people. He pushes his way through the crowd, almost carrying her. They make their way to the Gay Lady. Chester says to Clarisse, "Stay here. I have to see what's going on. I'll be back to get you. I love you." She clutches his arm. "I love you too. Don't do anything foolish." Chester tears the eye-patch off. "I'll be as careful as I always am." He pins his badge on his shirt, draws his pistol, and rushes back outside. He tells the fleeing people to go home. He goes over to the crying man on the dance floor. "What happened? Who was shooting?" Seeing the bloody stump, Chester pulls the sash from his waist and ties it around the wrist in a makeshift tourniquet. When Minerva and Nanuet look up they see that Doctor James Eaton is beside them, along with two of his Vigilance Committee companion. He kneels down and examines the wound. He looks at Nanuet and Minerva and says, "Thank you. You got to him in time. But he still has a bullet in him. He should be able to now survive being moved." He looks up at Zeb Cook and Derik Avery and says "Help me get this man to my office, I need to operate." As Doc Eaton is busy operating on the Priest, Deputy Eduardo Rodriguez comes up to Chester and says that he will take the man with the amputated hand to Thomas Valdez for healing. After the surgeon took the priest away Nanuet gets up and just wanders away aimlessly. His face is expressionless and his eyes are a blank stare Back at the El Parador, Kate stared at her reddened wrist as she was firmly set in a chair and poured a large brandy . Her hands shook as she lifted the glass and took a sip. "Are the others alright? They weren't really after us, were they? Only to keep us out of the way, they wanted the Priests." She looked at the spattered blood up and down her arm, then touched her face and found the wetness there too. "Could I get something to wash this off, please?" Mr. Austin says, "Probably. They shot that senior priest and they may have believed that Ruby was actually that Aphrodite Priestess given the comments that she with her dance." Dorita brings over a wet compress to wipe off Kate's clothes while Austin discreetly casts a Clean Cantrip to remove the blood. "Thank you," Kate said, giving Dorita a warm glance. "Perhaps it's a good thing the other priests weren't there. Is someone helping the Arch-Bishop? Is he alive?" Kate looked at Conrad who was sitting next to her. "I'm alright. You made sure of that." She took another sip of the brandy. "I feel I should be out there helping." He replies, "You did fine, you've helped enough. According to Sonoma you probably saved Ruby's life. I think I need some of that brandy myself." "I think we could all use some, except Louise. She doesn't drink, you know," she said, slipping her arm around Louise's waist to hug her. "I guess I got to see your swordplay after all," Kate said to Conrad. "Where in the world did you get that sword?" Conrad replies, "It belongs to Judge Lacey. The incident with the books earlier, when Chester got hurt, made me realize that I needed to be able to protect you tonight. The costume didn't really have any place for a gun to be concealed, but it had an ornamental sword. I was able to convince Lacey to let me have a real one instead. The real thanks however goes to our blacksmith Henry Weller for turning it into the sharpest blade in the county." "And here I thought it was my job to protect you," Kate said with a warm look that would have been better saved for a private moment. "You have changed, Conrad." Conrad replies, "Due to you my dear. I believe that somebody told you long ago that you have a transformational effect on people." Then with a mischievous grin he says "If you don't believe me ask your friend Mr. Austin, he appears to have transformed completely in just a few hours." She laughed and finished the brandy. "While this helps, I think the best thing is sleep. We haven't heard back from the trackers yet, but if I wait up all night I will be useless tomorrow. Louise, you can stay with me tonight. I'll walk Conrad out and then I'll be up. Do you need me for anything more, Mr. Austin?" He replies that he does not. Finding her teacher did not need her, Kate walked out onto the porch of the El Parador with Conrad. "Thank you for the evening. The costume, the dancing... I felt safe with you even before you proved it was justified. Despite everything else, I think I will sleep well tonight." He kisses her hand and then turns in for the night. Jake contemplates going after the man on the roof across the street but instead just watches carefully with his gun out until it seems like the crisis has passed and the others carry the priest away. He stows his gun away under his waist coat and helps Ruby stand. As he walks over to retrieve the wig from his costume he says to her, "I came up closer to the stage because I couldn't hear your singing." "Singing?" Ruby furrows her brows together. "Oh I get it, you're mad. Well what are you mad about Jacob Cook?" Ruby eyebrow is raised as she leans up against the now deserted stage. Jake shakes the dust out of the costume wig and looks up at Ruby. "My girl told me to rest assured, she won't dance, only sing. And if I was there, she'll only be singing to me." Ruby crosses her arms across her chest. "And my man told me to do what I thought was right and to not show anything that wouldn't be hidden by a skimpy dance hall dress." Ruby looks Jake in the eyes as he dusts himself off and her face softens. "I ASKED you what I should do. You didn't tell me not to dance. You didn't ask me not to dance." Jake steps very close to her and looks her in the eyes. He says in a quiet yet emotional voice, "I did not want you to do this thing, but it was not my choice to make. It was your choice to make. I didn't tell you what to do, I only told you how I felt." He puts his hand to his chin in a familiar gesture but only stokes it once when his hand discovers that his beard is missing. "You want to know why I am angry? You assured me of your own free will that you would not dance and then made me stand there and watch you dance with a great smile upon your face. This was not a lark or a weak moment Ruby, you planned this." Jake looks down at his feet for a moment before looking back to her. He touches her lips with his index finger. "It is better not to ask me what I want and then give assurances if you intend to disregard them like you would a plump beggar." Jake sighs. "I'm feeling like a jackass and I need to get out of this getup." He turns and walks towards the Lucky Lady. Ruby stays where she is, pondering. When she looks up Jake is walking away from her so she picks up the white robe so it doesn’t drag and runs to catch up. “I did say I wouldn’t dance, that’s true.” She grabs his arm, forcing him to stop walking. “But I really didn’t know you didn’t want me to. Dance that is. You never just tell me how you feel. You say things but then they mean something different than I thought they meant, I don’t understand what you tell me.” She turns Jake so they are looking at each other again. “Dancing is what I’ve done for so long, I just don’t see anything wrong with it.” She looks away from his gaze and down to her feet. “Besides, I did it for you anyway. For us.” "You did this for me?" Jake's eyes narrow again. "How do you reconcile that after you asked me about it and then told me you wouldn't? You did feel all the attention from the crowd though didn't you? All the desire rushing in? Did you bask in the glory? Was it exhilarating? Is Aphrodite sated now? Of course next time more will be needed. Each time it will take more to satisfy. What will more be like?" Jake's voice now becomes monotone bereft of emotion. "I'm sure with all that attention and raw emotion focused on you it would be easy to miss a man in the crowd who did not have the same feelings. I'm sure the hurt and betrayal were washed away by the flood of hunger and lust." Jake puts his hands on his face and rubs his eyes. A heavy sigh escapes his lips. "Look," he removes his hands from his face and his eyes have lost the hard anger in them, "I thought I said plainly how I felt. I can try to do better however I don't want to tell you what to do. I will not strangle that which I love. Part of what draws me to you is the free spirit and fire that lives within you. I don't own you. I don't want a puppet." He sighs again. "Do what you will, but give me no more empty assurances." Ruby stands in front of Jake, wide eyed and helpless. Then her face drops and tears start welling in her eyes. “I’m sorry, baby, I’m really really sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you or betray you…I just…I thought if I didn't show.. you know... if I didn't show what you said not to show it would be ok..." She goes to reach for Jake but pulls her hand back before she touches him. "If I don’t do what she wants then she will take you away from me… and I can’t live without you… I only want to make you happy.” The tears are streaming down Ruby’s face even though she isn’t crying. Embarrassed, she wipes at the wet trail on her face before turning and running back to the Lucky Lady. She pushes her way blindly through the crowd and runs up the stairs. She throws herself on the floor next to the bed and sobs with her head down. Motionless, Jake watches her run to the saloon. He continues to stand in the street for a minute before he turns his gaze to the town around him. He looks at the buildings and the few residents of Promise City that are on the street as if contemplating them for the first time. He shrugs and walks slowly back to the Lucky Lady. [/QUOTE]
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