"Ballots & Bullets" (TSR Module BH3) Concluded!

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eighty-one, “News of Nanuet”, Sunday June 4th , 1882, 4:45 P.M.

Mother Jiminez joins Conrad Booth and Kate at one of the tables. Jiminez asks Kate, "So, is the baby doing well? I trust that my ring is working as it should." Kate says, "As far as I can tell he's doing well; I'm just beginning to really see any physical signs. I'm not sure exactly how the ring is supposed to work. I've not been sick or overly tired, although my memory is getting a bit spotty and I'm finding myself somewhat emotional. And um...." Kate hesitated, blushing. This was not something to speak of in front of Conrad but her opportunities to speak with Mother Jaminez did not come often. "Desirious."

She replies, "The ring affects the physical body not the mental one, you will still have the emotional swings and thoughts as any woman in your condition. The ring is doing as it should, just as it did for myself and my daughters." She takes a drink of a glass fruit wine that Pedro delivers over to the table.

Mother Jiminez looks back at Kate and states, "I asked because Mr. Gonzales indicated that you also have the protection of the goddess Diana and I was unsure how that would impact the effects of the ring. Roman deities are not my area of expertise and I am not comfortable with how their presence changes the natural order of things. I plan to take a journey away from this place until a time when she chooses to leave my lands alone."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kate said, concern plain on her face. "I don't wish to drive you away with my presence. While we were in Boston I was visited by the goddess. It is my responsibility to see to my safety. I must be careful and keep myself out of harms way if at all possible. Only if I am in an unavoidable situation where I cannot do anything would Diana take any kind of hand.

She made it clear she does not interfere in the minds of mortals, and that she approves of the way I live. Which would include my support of the elves and respecting their traditions, which I fully intend to pass on to my son. Diana is not Aphrodite, she does not seek the unadulterated veneration of the town."

Jaminez states, "Katherine, it is not your presence that would drive me away, it is hers. Diana first arrived here two weeks ago. For reasons that I still cannot comprehend she chose to inflict disease upon the children of this town, one that was resistant to my normal cures. Now she is back in the area again, presently up in the Dos Cabezas Mountains, which is why I feel the need to depart."

Kate states. "I wish you would not, but of course you must do what you believe is right and you are far wiser than I. I cannot imagine why she would have brought measles here. You are certain it was Diana's doing?" Kate asked, pushing down the memories so recently disturbed of a time when the gods were not kind. She did not want to lose the one piece of faith she had regained.

Jiminez says, "Yes I am certain. I am....connected to nature and the well being of the elves of this land. Gods have walked this land before but never those of the Roman pantheon. I am not comfortable around one such as her. I assume that her presence here is related to your condition and after discussing it with Denat", as she gestures to Conrad, "I realized that it was important for you to know before I leave." Kate looked over at Conrad for a moment. "I don't understand," she said finally. "Of course I want to know, but why was it important that I do?" Kate looked back and forth between the two of them. "Unless you think it means there is a threat to me?"

Conrad replies, "You're asking me? Until two months ago I didn't believe that deities existed! Now my teacher tells me that a Roman deity is not up in Olympus but is instead tramping around in the mountains near town. And she just happens to be the same deity who is protecting my...my....gads...I don't even know the proper term to describe our present relationship. Anyway, I felt it best that you know and instead of me messing up the translation I felt it best for my teacher to tell you directly."

Kate reached out and took his hand in hers. "I'm not angry, Conrad, and I don't expect you to have all the answers. Goodness knows I don't have any. I'm sorry, I know this all must be very difficult for you but we need no perfect word for you to know I love you. Having the attention of a Deity is a rather frightening thing, even when the attention has been kind. Mother Jaminez, I hope will not feel you have to stay away long, and if you do I hope the journey is fruitful for you."

She replies, "I have other things to occupy my time. It has been too long since I've last visited my children in Mexico. Goodbye for now Katherine." She then reaches over and with her right hand rubs Conrad's head, playfully rubbing it back and forth to mess up his otherwise neatly combed hair. She states, "And you stay out of trouble Denat." "I will Mother," he replies. He waits until she has left the building before he pulls a metal comb out of his pocket and re-combs his hair back to its normal appearance.

"I have always wanted to do that," Kate said as he combed his hair back into order. "Or tweak your tie, just to see what would happen. What does 'Denat' mean?" He says, "Her nickname for me. It's short for 'Chico De Naturaleza' which in English translates into 'Nature Boy'. She dubbed me that when I first approached her to teach me about plants. Hey, don't laugh, your teacher calls you a 'Little Bird', at least a boy is still human."

"Did I laugh?" Kate smiled fondly and took his hand again, then sighed. "Sometimes I wish I knew a little less. It was so nice to just believe in one of the gods again. Miss Florencia said last night that sometimes the hard things are there to forge us. All of the children recovered... I don't know. As usual, there are more questions than answers." Conrad replies, "My only question for you right now is what time would you like for me to come by your house to escort you to the wedding."

She says, "I'm ready now, I wasn't planning on going back to the house. Of course if you still need to get ready I might as well. I thought I'd give Dorita a hand but then I remembered I really can't cook. A half-hour before the ceremony should be plenty of time." He says, "Well, I have an appointment for twenty-minutes for now for a bath, shave and haircut over at Johnson's Barber and Baths. After all, I'll be in the company of the most beautiful woman in town, I have to look my best."

"Flatterer," she smiled. "I will go home then and primp some more. Perhaps I'll even get a glimpse of my girl today and help her get ready. How did your meeting with your actors go?" He replies, "Very well, due in no small part to the fact that they aren't real actors, so they don't know that they are supposed to be difficult and argumentative to the director and producers of the play. I'm just kidding, not all actors are really like that, just around two-thirds of them."

She says, "Difficult and argumentative? I guess I am already half-way to being an actress. I'm glad it went well; I like to see you so excited about this." He says, "I am. Miss Marcus seems to be a bit distracted though, I would have expected more input from her given how excited she initially was about this event. It must be due to Ruby being away."

"Well, there is..." Kate moved her chair closer to his so she could drop her voice. "From a few things I've heard, I believe she's involved with Wyatt Earp. I imagine she's quite worried. He's still in the area and plans on staying until she leaves." Conrad's eyebrows raise up at that. "My...it is unusual for you to hear a rumor before I did. There has been speculation of him being around what with the rancher's deaths but this is the first time I've heard his name associated with hers. I wouldn't have guessed that....she was engaged to marry his enemy Sheriff Behan."

"Apparently that's changed. I'm sure they're keeping it quiet for safety's sake," Kate continued to whisper. "I think he's seen Jake and... he's the reason I know my ranch is being watched. Thayer's men have been watching us." Conrad replies..."Thayer's men. Interesting, since one of them died a week ago with that mob and another one a few day's back when the Marshall visited Buckley's Ranch. I've also heard a rumor that another man from that ranch, Bronco Madson, is now missing. He stayed late and the Palace Saloon last night after his buddies left and never made it back to the ranch. He eventually left the Palace but his horse is still at Ike Sherman's stable and nobody knows where he's gone to."

"I don't know where it all leads, I just know I don't like being watched. They were watching Ned Phillips place too, and he had livestock stolen last night. I'm hoping they're just interested in the stock. We can do something about that. Murkier motives are harder to deal with. It could be political, in which case the next few weeks could be very messy."

Conrad states, "Under those circumstances it isn't safe for either you or Sonoma to be out there alone. Let me talk to Deputy Martin or Marshall Berg about arranging for more security for your ranch for tonight. You should probably talk to your Cattleman's Association about getting some support starting tomorrow."

"Chester wanted to look into it, but I didn't want them to do something rash because they thought the law had discovered them. It's a good idea for tonight, although I don't know how to explain how I know they were watching. I'd be grateful if you talked to the Marshall. We're talking about hiring on hands, that will help. But it will take a few days. And we need to brand the animals sooner rather than later. I'll try to catch Mr. Shaw tomorrow."

Kate stayed and chatted with Conrad until he left for his appointment. She wandered home thinking over what Mother Jaminez had said. Faith said she should believe what Diana had done was for the best, but most of her life she had doubted and it was a hard habit to break. Back home she searched the pantry and nibbled hoping Ginnie might come home before Conrad arrived. Not that she had anything to discuss, but sometimes her girl seemed like a shadow. Finally she went into a parlor with a plate to nibble from and a book to read and waited for her escort to return.

Jadito has a leisurely stroll down South Street, eventually arriving at the Church of Olympus. He looks around the building and then goes to over to the small house beside it and knocks on the door. Nakomo answers the door and is surprised to see the oldest and most respected member of his tribe standing there. "Hello Nakomo, may I come in," the elderly elf states.

Nakomo gestures for him to enter, stating that Priestess Florencia is taking care of an errand related to the upcoming wedding. She should be back in a few minutes. Jadito nods and says, "I will be attending that wedding. It is good to see a human wanting to marry an elf. I know that you have suffered from being born into such a union but times are changing, albiet slower than I would have liked. You are aware that much of my life has been devoted to the protection of half-elves, that has not changed."

Nakomo replies, "I am glad of it. I know that you tried very hard to get the tribe to accept me. And although some of them were bullies, you really did help. Have you seen my cousin Nanuet?" The elderly Yavaipi states, "No, but I have knowledge of him. He has gone with the Tribal Elders to Prescott. They are attempting to rectify the damage that the others, your former guardians, caused for our tribe."

Nakomo states, "I am sorry for that. I did what I could to stop them." He replies, "I know that you did but some of the elders feel that when you returned from Prescott that you should have told them then what transpired. I do not blame you Nakomo and neither does Nanuet, the others beat you and you were afraid for your life. The elders are not yet ready for you to return and given how poorly they provided for you before, giving guardianship of you to those miscreants, it may be best for you to not return.

I feel that it is important for you to realize that the Yavapai are a great people despite some recent setbacks. I have come here to act as your instructor, to teach you the ways of our people and show you how these need not be in conflict with the ways of the humans but will compliment these." While the two are speaking Priestess Minerva returns from her errands and Nakomo introduces her to the older Indian. Jadito says, "I am honored to meet you Priestess. Nanuet has spoken highly of you to the tribe."

Minerva give a slight curtsie in return. Her eye's light up when Nanuet's name is mentioned. "OH! He is safe. I am so relieved. And what of Nakomo? Is he to return to the Yavapi ?" " No, Senorita, They do not want me." Nakomo says with a mixture of sadness and relief. The priestess is visibly relieved and places her hand on his shoulder. "I am sure that it is not that simple Nakomo. But I am very happy that you are staying here with Nanuet and myself. Very happy!"
She turns to the elder. "When is Nanuet returning?"

Jadito says, "I cannot say. Much damage was caused by the renegades, those relationships need to be repaired. Nanuet is with the Elders from our tribe. They have gone back to the Territorial Capital of Prescott to meet with the Governor. That will take as much time as necessary. I have come here not just as a messenger but to stay. Nakomo needs to be taught the ways of the tribe and I will be his teacher. He is welcome to remain here with you. I will be residing with my friend Father Valdez. Most of our lessons will take place at dawn or dusk, so should not interfere with his other schooling and duties."

Minerva replies, "Your training is most welcome. I have been teaching him the ways of the Church of Olympus as well. Nakomo is a very special young man, quick and eager to learn. My hope is that he will use his education to help peoples of all races and creeds. He has shown an aptitude for the healing arts as well. I am hoping to further his education in that area also, unfortunately the town Doctor does not favor elves."

The elf replies, "But others do, it is commendable that all races are being permitted the opportunity to vote. I registered myself an hour ago. I will leave you now, you have a wedding to prepare for. I will see you at it." "Si, I have registered also. Now I must hurry there is still much to prepare if the gods are to honor this union,” she states.

After he and Ginnie have their talk in the kitchen, Jake wanders around the saloon still restless. He is idly playing with the hammer on his Colt when it occurs to him he should go practice. On the way back home he encounters Ricardo who was handling an errand for him. They speak for a moment, Jake smiles and hands the boy the money. Ricardo runs off to finish the errand.

Jakes collects up some extra ammo and his Swiss rifle, he is already wearing his two Colt pistols, has his horse saddled and rides out to the desert. He follows his routine of making sure he is not followed or watched before he begins. The rifle Shaw gave him was a nice addition to that routine, he could easily shoot anyone close enough to be spying on him. He shoots for a while with his rifle and the long barrel pistol, but it always comes back to his fast draw Colt. He was pleased with the work Pierre had done cleaning and adjusting it.

He never grew weary while practicing with it. Not just shooting it, but drawing the well oiled gun from its slightly oiled holster as if his life depended on it. He made sure he was fast, consistent and mistake free. The regular exercise made his hand strong and steady. He contemplated every aspect drawing and shooting to make it the best he knew how. Shooting a man in front of him. Shooting a man behind him. Shooting the men that surrounded him. Over and over again until he was satisfied, and then one more time. Jake trained like his life depended on it because it had saved his life before and he trusted it would again.

If anyone was watching they might assume Jake enjoyed cutting down a man from the draw. It was not true. Certainly, Silver Jake Cook was a shootist, fast and deadly. He did not enjoy killing another man in a personal test of who was better. However, he liked being shot significantly less and was accepting of killing others to prevent such an unpleasant manifestation of anothers practice.

After practice, Jake spent time cleaning his weapons. Another routine that he followed like a religion. The shooting and focused contemplation that followed while he cleaned left Jake in a better mood than he had been after the 'brunch' with Tomlinson and Harker. That done, he once more made the rounds at the Lucky Lady and returned home to dress for the wedding celebration. He decided to dress for it. Why not?

He was not the first to arrive at the celebration but he made a dashing entrance in his pale yellow silk shirt with a dark maroon scarf, covered by a black vest with diagonal silver threads, dark grey woolen pants in a herringbone pattern all topped off with an ash grey waist coat. The dazzling outfit and his Colt had a disagreement over the Colt's inclusion to the event. The outfit lost, and the Colt 45 caliber United States Army issue single action revolver with the barrel cut short seemed to gloat just a little.

Back at the El Parador Cantina, Dorita and crew are still working hard on the preparations for the wedding. Ricardo arrives and delivers to her a large reddish-gray coffee mug stuffed quite full of brightly colored wild flowers. There is a note nestled among the flowers. The words are penned in smooth and flowing script.

Dear Dorita,
I apologize for the neglect. It is unconscionable that it has been so long since my last social visit. I have long regarded the El Parador as my second home all because of the friendship given by you and Pedro. I do not ask you to be my momma, as you say, just a friend. Here is a small token of my appreciation in my new mug. Since this is my second home, I should have my own. Some days your friend just needs a cup of black coffee.
My most sincere regards,
Jake

Further examining the mug, Dorita finds the name Jake inscribe crudely but neatly in the side of the mug. She also notes that there is a thick layer.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eighty-two, “The Davis Wedding”, Sunday June 4th , 1882, 6:00 P.M.

Chester hustles back to the Lucky Lady. He washes his face and changes into his suit. He leaves his gun belt on the dresser, but tucks a revolver into his waistband at the small of his back. I need to get a derringer. This'll stick out. Can't be helped. He shrugs. Chester walks into the Double Eagle and waves to Clay Milford. "Afternoon, Mr. Milford. Is Clarisse in?" Clay waves back, "Hey, deputy. She's upstairs. You can go on up. She's waiting for you." "Thanks."

He walks upstairs and knocks on Clarisse's door. "Dear, are you there?" She opens the door and pulls him in. "There you are. We're going to be late. At least you're already dressed. let me fix your tie." She straightens out the offending accessory and holds out her arm. "Shall we?" Chester smiles. "You certainly have things well in hand. Let's go have fun."

The majority of the town, a mixture of both races, has gathered in and around the grove alongside the Celtic and Mexican Church run by the half-elf Father Thomas Valdez. The area has been decorated with cloth prints of various Mexican designs as well as some of the more festive of Minerva's tapestries.

Estaban Fuente has assembled a large orchestra comprised of fifteen musicians. Most of the musicians appear to be non-residents wood elves from out of town, however there are also several familiar faces including Pedro Figures, Sonoma Figures, Sandra Wainwright, Warren Watson and Morgana Arcadiam. The orchestra begins with a light Mexican piece featuring guitar and flute but then move into the traditional Roman wedding march.

The groomsmen arrive. They consist of the groom Rufus Davis, his Best Man Peter Lovelace who owns the Rio Grande and the three other groomsmen comprised first of the bride's brothers Carlos and Jose Ramirez and lastly Dooley Wilson, the handyman and bouncer at the Long Branch Saloon.

As the men are coming down the isle Kate feels a sharp pull on her sleeve. She looks down to see a slightly rumpled but freshly washed Ginnie with a small basket of handmade lace in her hands. Kate laid her hand on Ginnie's shoulder and squeezed it lightly. She leaned down a bit and said, "I was afraid you would miss it." Ginnie replies, “It's a party that Dorita has been cooking for there is no way I'm missing it not to mention that a wedding is a great advertisement for my handmade lace.”

"And there are sure to be cookies around somewhere," Kate laughed. "Don't get so wrapped up in business that you forget to have fun." Ginnie replies, But business is fun. I get to play with money that may or may not be mine outthink lots of people and deal with things that I can't totally predict. what isn't fun about that? I swore that I'd never have to depend on anyone but I didn't quite make that happen but I'm never going to be hungry or out of options again for the rest of my life. Who knows if things go as I plan maybe I'll be the youngest self made millionaire in business history.”

The bridal party exits the rear door of the church and make their way across the gardens to join the groomsmen. Each of the women is attired in traditional roman wedding garb - white tunics with silver trim, silver painted sandals and silver belts on all except the bride who is wearing the traditional knotted belt. Each also has a floral wreath interwoven into her hair with a flame-colored veil attached to the bride's. The bride Anita Ramirez is also wearing a hand woven Mexican shawl over her shoulder. The Maid-of-Honor is a young female wood elf who those in town do not recognize. The other members of the wedding party are Peter Lovelace's fiancé Trisha Crichton, Maria Tolucca whose husband Juan works for Neil Cassidy and Hildy Jackson, one of the working girls at the Long Branch Saloon.

At the reach the altar Priestess Minerva begins the ceremony with a traditional blessing, which she states three times, first in English, the in Spanish and lastly in Latin. The orchestra then begins a traditional Central American wedding song, the Song of Joining, which Father Valdez sings the lyrics, sung in the seldom spoken original Elvan language with his rich tenor voice. As he finishes the piece the orchestra begins playing it again, this time considerably louder and at a slightly faster pace as Valdez gestures to the audience and most wood elves present sing along.

Kate looked over at Conrad just a bit helplessly, then just shook her head. "Whatever makes you happy, dear. I hope you won't mind if I depend on you just a little. She then asks, "What does the song say?" He replies "It's a long flowery piece which roughly translates as 'one plus one equals two which is truly one'."

Minerva begins the wedding service. Most present have seen a traditional Greek/Roman wedding before and despite her usual flair to go against the formal structures of the church she actually sticks very close to the usual service. When she finishes speaking Father Valdez steps forward with a short message of his own, which he alternates between English and Spanish. His main message is that their love will prevail over all obstacles as long as they have the support and friendships that the great multitude of those present attest to.

Judge Lacey steps forward, drawing forth from his sheathe the sword which Conrad had worn during the festival. Minerva's rapier is handed to her by Nakomo. The two of them cross swords above the heads of the bride and groom who walk between them. Father Valdez follows them and then ties a simple rope cord to each of their wrists. He tells them to kiss. While their lips are locked Grant Keebler launches a fireworks rocket which flies upward and explodes up in the air which signals the completion of the wedding and start of the reception.

Kate says, "I wonder if people realize what a courageous thing they just did? To love at all takes bravery, to love someone of another race even more so. And to marry when you know one will pass so much sooner than the other.... Love is a wondrous thing," she said and wiped her eyes. A moment later she laughed at herself. "I am getting emotional."

Conrad grasps her hand and says, "That's allowed, we're at a wedding. They're bringing out the food now. I say we go and get something to eat and then hit a dance floor. There will be dancing tonight for the wedding reception at the El Parador, the Comique, the Rio Grande and the Lucky Lady. I suggest we hit all four and see about melting the ceilings above our heads with the heat of our emotions." Kate smiled brightly. "Heated emotions? I'm not the only one then? Let's go eat something, we'll need plenty of energy.”

She adds, How will I ever get up in the morning to teach tomorrow? You don't have to work tonight?" Conrad replies, "How will you get up in the morning? Who says that you have to? Find somebody to give a guest lecture for the first few hours of the morning." Ginnie pops up with a cookie in each hand and a plate tucked in her arm. "Ma'am Kate almost the entire school is here. why don't you just assign an essay on their individual observations of the ceremony and have them compare it to their expectations and personal experiences with weddings and traditions? that should take at least a hour and can be written on the board so you can sleep in if you need to and it should open up some interesting discussions."

"Perhaps I will. We'll see just how late we're out dancing tonight." Kate squeezed Conrad's hand. "Have no fear, I won't let thoughts of tomorrow interrupt our enjoyment of today. Let's get something to eat Ginnie." They started over toward the loaded tables, hands still clasped, to fill plates with Dorita and Maria's good food. Suddenly Kate remembered her teacher's brew from earlier in the day and kept and eye out for him.

Several makeshift tables had been set up, most consisting of boards on sawhorses covered with tablecloths. Once it appears that everybody has plates of food another table is prepared with nearly 200 glasses which are filled from jugs of white whine, Manuel Gonzales being one of the servers. Valdes announces that everybody should get themselves one so that toasts can be made. A platter of individually wrapped enchilada-type food is placed beside it, which Kate assumes to be the Anita-prepared food that she was warned of.

"I'll go get our glasses," Kate said before Conrad could offer. She hurried over to the table where her teacher was pouring. As she picked up two glasses she said, "Anita's not really such a bad cook, is she?" Gonzales replies, "Don't worry, I've put the antidote to her poison in the wine." "Alright Grandfather." She took three of the enchiladas and waved Ginnie over. "For today I think you get to drink just a little wine." She had her carry her own glass back to the table and brought Conrad his with a light laugh.

The old man known as Jonas Creighton, father of Tricia Creighton of the Rio Grande, stands and proposes the first toast to the happy couple. Everyone sips the wine. Father Valdez states as blessing and asks all assembled to eat the traditional wedding meal. People bite into Maria's food, around one third then discreetly spitting it back into their napkins. Another third are less diplomatic and spit it out directly. The remaining third actually attempt to consume the vile food.

Kate managed to choke down about two bites, amazed that whatever this was had ever been food. She no longer doubted the need for Mr. Gonzales' elixir. She set it aside and whispered, "I just can't do that to the baby. You alright?" Conrad's face is slightly green. Gonzales stands and quickly proposes another toast, giving those present to wash the taste down with the healing elixir and resettle their stomachs.

Kate drank generously with the toast and encouraged Conrad to do the same. "I understand this particular wine is excellent for the digestion," she said, nodding toward her teacher. She dropped her voice and said, "He warned me about this, I should have passed it on." Conrad replies, "That’s....okay....I'll live."

More food is brought out and put on other make-shift tables as the people begin to mingle about and chat. Minerva is joined by the Regional Administrator of the Greek/Roman Church, Bishop Costas Papandraus, who last visited the town during the festival. He is accompanied by the Priest Demetrius Theopopulos the chief aide to Bishop Costas Papandraus, who spent a week in town the previous month when Minerva was away at training. Also with them is the Flagstaff Arizona Priest Silas Oraibi Barnes, who is three-quarters human and one-quarter high Elvan. The three have just arrived on the evening stagecoach.

Kate mingled as well, talking with guests she rarely had a chance to visit with, but always returning to Conrad or Ginnie before too much time passed. She enjoyed watching Ginnie scoot through the crowd, popping up here and there leaving no clue where she would appear next.
She was standing with Conrad and her teacher when the priests appeared. Her heart felt tight for a moment. "I should go greet them, they helped us a great deal in March. Would... would one of you go with me?" Conrad replies, "Sure, no reason not to."

The two approach the priests who Minerva has just introduced Nakomo to. The young Indian appears to be somewhat uncomfortable in their presence. Father Barnes then tells Nakomo about being a quarter Native American himself which appears to put the boy more at ease. "Good evening, Nakomo," Kate said with a smile. "I hope you're enjoying yourself."

She then turned to the priests and made a perfect curtsy, putting on her most Bostonian manners. "It is our pleasure to see you again, you Eminence. Father Theopopulos." The Bishop replies, "Mrs. Kale wasn't it?" His assistant Trius says, "Indeed, and I hear that you are now the town's school teacher." "Yes, Mrs. Kale. There are two schools now. Myself and two other ladies teach one, open to all the children in the area. Another was also started only for the human children," she said with a twinge of regret.

"I wanted to say again how grateful I am for your assistance last March." Trius says, "Think nothing of it, you helped to save the Arch Bishop's life." Bishop Papandraus says, "I am surprised that this town has enough children in it to support two schools." "I'm not sure it does, either, but there were those who objected to my plans to teach all races. It's a long story how there came to be two schools, but as the town grows there will be room for many more students.
May I introduce you to Mr. Conrad Booth?" she said, changing the subject. She was quiet as the men greeted each other and exchanged a few pleasantries. Finally she asked, "How long will you be staying in Promise City?"

The Bishop replies, "Until either Friday or Saturday. We will be joined tomorrow by one more Priestess and I will then begin further training of the Priests and Priestesses. I'm afraid I will be monopolizing your friend's time so you will not see much of her this week." Kate says, "Training is important. I hope you will take some time to enjoy our town while you're here. We should let you get back to enjoying yourselves."

Kate curtsied again, then took Conrad's arm and started away. Once they were out of earshot she said, "Thank you, I couldn't and shouldn't snub them, but.... Thank you." He replies "Not a problem, after all, who better to take with you to meet religious people than a non-religious gambler with a reputation for being dishonest and sleeping the mornings away. I'm sure they'll be impressed."

Kate stopped and looked at him quizzically. "I am not ashamed of you, and you should not talk down about yourself like that. The reputation is false, and those who work late, sleep late. I have no desire to impress them. And I have no desire to hide our relationship. I am proud of you and I love you, what anyone else thinks doesn't matter." He replies, "You're right Kate, pay no attention, I guess I was just blowing off steam. I've never been impressed with clergy. Come on, they're bring out the desserts now. Let's find something good to finish off the meal with."

"Save the steam for those ceilings we were planning on melting," she teased. She led him over to the desserts, looking over first one, then the next. "How terrible would it be of me to have two?" She took a plate and added what other little sweet bits she could. "I'm hungry," she said a bit defensively. He says, "Why don't you pick three and we'll share them. Look at the variety, pies, cakes, tarts, cookies and caramelized fruit!"

"Alright." Kate went along the tables and choose the caramelized fruit, since Conrad seemed excited about it, then a peach cobbler and a fruit tart topped with chocolate. A great treat here where it was harder to come by. They sat down together not far from where Meghan O'Hara was sitting with her family and dug into the desserts, Kate trying to not take the lion's share. "And where shall we go dancing first?"

Conrad states, "Probably the Lady, I want to try all four places out and if we save that for later there is a chance it will be busier and they may put you to work. I'm going to be selfish tonight and try to keep you all to myself." She replies, "It's not selfish if I agree. I should mingle a little bit, but after dessert. Then we can go dancing and not think about tomorrow. However long we decide tonight lasts."

Conrad says, "Take as much time as you wish, we should both mingle. There are several people from the Long Branch here including a few in the wedding party, I should spend some time chatting with them as well." "After dessert," Kate said again and handed him a bit of the caramelized fruit. They enjoyed one another's company for a while longer and Kate openly kissed him before they parted ways for a time.

Chester and Clarisse make the rounds of the party, saying hello to those they know. Chester leans in and tells her, "That food was terrible. I've had better vittles on the trail in Nebraska. We've gotten spoiled by Maria and Dorita." She replies, "You shouldn't say things like that at a wedding. It's not nice." She pauses and tries to hide a giggle, "But you're right. I couldn't eat it. Let's go congratulate the happy couple."

Rufus and Anita are currently swarmed by folks so Chester and Clarisse have to wait a few minutes to get to see them. When they finally reach the couple Rufus says, "Well hello Deputy, thank you for attending. I've heard a rumor floating around that you're planning to run for Marshal."

He replies, "Yes sir, I am. I'm running under Emery Shaw's slate. I want to thank you for inviting us to your wedding. It looks like a fine party. Congratulations to you and your lovely wife. So where are you going on your honeymoon?" Davis replies, "Honeymoon? I have a billiard hall to run! Right now the town is packed, I'm not going anywhere! And you should stop by for a game of billiards some time, you might scare off some of my customers but I honestly wouldn't mind attracting a better caliber of clientele."

Chester and Clarisse laugh. "I'll have to take you up on that offer, Mr. Davis. I don't know how to play, though. Is it easy to pick up?" Rufus says, "Nope. just don't play for money until you get good at it. I'm sure someone at the billiard hall can teach you. People will want to get on your good side, especially if you're going to be the new Marshall." They are interrupted by Ashley King who interjects, "Somebody talking about the new Marshall? Here I am! Congratulations on the marriage Mr. Davis!" He vigorously shakes Rufus Davis's hand.

Chester shakes Ashley's hand. "Afternoon, Mr. King. Nice day for a wedding, don't you think?" King states, "Good evening Deputy Martin! It is a very good day indeed for a wedding. I hate to have to interrupt such a nice occasion but could I have a few minutes of your time? In private please." "Sure thing, Mr. King." He turns to Clarisse and Rufus. "Excuse me. I'll be back in a bit." Chester and Ashley find a quiet spot. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Ashley King says, "I want to talk to you about the recent murders. I'm worried about my family's ranch. I thought it was safe for me to move to town with the Cowboy Gang gone, but now I'm worried that I may be in the wrong place. I don't want to leave here, my boy Toby is enjoying getting to play with the other children and this town is good for him, but I worry about our ranch being unprotected.

First the Crazy-8 Ranch owner Buckley gets killed, then one of his men alongside one of Thayer's while you and the Marshall are out there, now another of Thayer's men is missing. And last night the Phillips Ranch got rustled. It sure sounds to me like the Cowboy Gang is back in business. So what can you tell me about this? What have you and Berg found? If I'm going to be the next Town Marshall the sooner I get involved in this investigation the better."

Chester smiles. "What makes you think you're winning this thing? Unless you do win, I can't tell you anything. We're doing everything we can to find out who's doing this. For all we know it's some other gang looking to take advantage of the Cowboys defeat."

King's voice raises and a serious look crosses his face. "Look Martin, I'm not kidding around here. I realize that you lawmen think you can handle this on your own and it's better to keep what you know to yourself. But this is my family and our ranch that we're talking about here. I'm not going to just stand by and do nothing while a bunch of cattle thieves and murderers feel that the Sulfur Springs Valley is easy pickings. I'm won't go running to tell that Chumbley fellow, Hades, I won't even tell the other ranchers. But please let me in on what you've found out!"

Chester composes himself. "And you have to understand that I can't tell everyone about how the investigation is going. If it gets out who we're looking at, then they'll fly the coop or worse. If you want us to patrol your place, we can do that. But handing out information that can get people killed is not going to happen. I'm sorry."

King's face turns red and he exclaims, "Damn You Martin! Do you want to be one of my Deputies or not? I can tell that you're holding out on me! If my ranch gets hit.....if anything happens to my employees...or family....then I'm holding you personally responsible! You may think you're making the right decision, keeping me in the dark, but I'm in a position where I can help and you're preventing that!"

Chester points his finger at Ashley. "You're damn right I'm holding out. You're not the Marshall. And you won't be since I'm going to win. Good day." As Chester walks away King yells out "I hope you realize that'll cost you any chance of support from the Law and Order ticket. Don't expect to get any support from the Cattleman's Association either."

Chester storms over to Clarisse, who's still talking to Rufus and Anita. She excuses herself. She says, "Chester, what's wrong? I've never seen you like this before." He throws up his hands. "It's Ashley King. That fool wanted me to tell him everything that we're doing about the killings. But I can't do that. Just 'cause he thinks that he's going to be the next Marshall, that he should be in the loop. If I go blabbing what we know to everyone who has a 'right' to know, I might as well ask Chumbley to print it in his next edition."

Clarisse states, "Chet, let's go for a walk." She leads him away from the party and they walk northward towards the hills. She holds his hand and leads him up the hill to the east of town, behind Kate's house and school. They reach the top of the hill near the corral where Mogollon Hays has five of the wild mustangs that he caught. She gestures to the animals and says, "Take a look at them Chet. Those animals represent Promise City, wild and untamed but with the potential to be the most beautiful and best behaved creatures around."

She then turns him around, so he is facing west towards Main Street, seeing the town from a perspective he hasn't seen before. "That Chet is the town, and not just any town, it's YOUR town. You have already been put in charge, you are the Deputy Marshall, who has the support of the current Town Marshall for that position. If Mitchell Berg, one of the most ethical and honorable men that I've ever met, feels that the town is safe in your hands who are we to argue? Don't fret over anything Ashley King says. The man isn't half the person you are Chet."

Chester blows out a deep breath. "I know. I know." He pulls her close and kisses her lightly. "Thanks for that. Ashley expects to just throw his family's name in the ring and win. I don't have that. Listen, I don't want to spoil your time. Let's go back." Clarisse says, "Indeed we will, I will be singing at the Lucky Lady for the wedding reception. Stanley Barker and Josie Markus are doing the first hour and then Harry Rote and I have the next. So let's go get some food, mingle with some friends and then make our way over there."

Chester takes Clarisse's arm. "Lead on, Miss Townsend. You always know the right things to say. Let's not talk any more about politics." She laughs. "A capital idea, Deputy Martin. Shall we?" They make their way back to the party. Chester forgets about Ashley King and Claude Buckley and just loses himself in the moment. They keep Helen Barker company while Stanley plays. When it comes time for Clarisse to perform, Chester watches in rapt attention.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eighty-three, “The Wedding Reception”, Sunday June 4th , 1882, 7:30 P.M.

Kate began making the rounds, stopping to talk to Meghan O'Hara for a time about her girls driving the racing carriage. She stopped by the Caudell's as well, then made her way through the crowd to speak to students and parents. After a while she began to look for Mr. Shaw, thinking now was as good a time as any to tell him her worries. Kate spots Emery Shaw and his daughter Ellen over near the side wall of the El Parador where they are chatting with Enrico and Manuel Escobar while the four of them share a plate of fried chicken. Kate made her way through the crowd looking anything but a rancher in her eastern dress with the pristine white parasol held above her head. She smiled and greeted both Escobar men, then Miss Shaw and finally Emery.

"I'm sorry to talk business on such a lovely day, but I'm a little worried after the rustling on Ned Phillips ranch. I'd heard rumors Thayer's men had been watching his ranch, and someone saw them watching ours as well. We're going to hire on hands as soon as possible, but I wondered if you might have any other ideas? Or if any of you might know where we can get some trustworthy people?"

The men exchange glances. Shaw says "I planned to hold a meeting of the Cattleman's Association tomorrow evening, this confirms it. I'll have some of my men head out to your ranch now if you'd like." "I'll go to," Enrico says. His father says, "But Rico, you'll miss the celebration. You and Anita were very close." The younger wood elf replies, "Too close, I'd honestly rather go. This gives me a good excuse."

Kate suddenly wondered if the marriage they were celebrating today was another match made by Aphrodite, but quickly put the thought aside. "I'd appreciate any help, thank you both. Mr. Shaw, I wouldn't want your men to miss the celebration but if there are any willing to go I'll be glad of it. We still need to brand the animals, so if they were taken there would be no way to claim them as ours. We really do need to name the place and get a brand made. Is there more going on than I've heard about, or were you going to call the meeting because of the thefts from Mr. Phillips?"

He says, "That's the main reason. Ned Phillips has reconsidered his decision to not join our group. And I should have an answer by tomorrow regarding our recommendations to the Vigilance Committee." Kate replies, "I'm wondering if what's been happening, the deaths and now the theft.... if it's political rather than the usual cattle rustling. If it is the waters could get very murky."

Shaw says, "You're over-thinking things. Horses and cattle were taken from the Phillips ranch. That had nothing to do with politics, he wasn't even planning to be part of this town. The only thing that the Crazy-8 Ranch, Phillips Ranch and your ranch have in common is that they are all rather isolated with a small number of ranch hands, which works in the favor of rustlers."

Kate says, "You're likely right, it's one of my bad habits. With living in town and opening the school I think I sometimes get things crossed. The best thing we can do now is get people out there to keep rustles away." Enrico says, "I'll leave now. There are a few more of Anita's old boyfriends around who may want to join me. We'll be off soon."

After he heads off his father says out loud to nobody in particular, "Ah, to be young again. Once he has lived as long as me he will not view people so harshly." He turns to Kate and says, "I will speak to Mr. Morand. We can go out to your ranch tomorrow for the branding. Discuss with your partner Sonoma what type of mark you would like to use for now."

Kate says, "I'll talk with her. Thank you so much. I feel all of you are doing so much for us and I have nothing to offer in return. Unless of course you need a well trained horse." Shaw says, "Seems to me you've already played a big hand in helping to drive the rustlers out of the valley. And you'll continue to repay over time, that's what mutual support is all about."

"I suppose I have at that. I always have had trouble minding my own business," she said lightly.
"I'll let you gentlemen get back to enjoying yourselves. Seven o'clock tomorrow night?" Once Kate got the confirmation of the time she moved back out into the crowd, just wandering as it pleased her. She kept an eye out for Sonoma so she could let her know what was happening. She also watched for other friends she hadn't gotten to speak with yet.

Sandra Wainwright approaches Kate. "Hello, I'm so glad you were able to attend. Didn't Anita look lovely? And I've never seen Rufus wear a necktie before!" Kate leaned over impulsively and hugged Sandra. "Anita was beautiful; she looked so happy. What need would Rufus have of a necktie an any other day?" she laughed. "Your music was just lovely, what a pleasure it must have been to play with so many others."

Sandra answers, "I never would have thought it possible. Just a few weeks ago I was afraid of singing in public! And now I'm the musical director for the upcoming play!" "They couldn't have picked a finer director. I'm so excited to attend, and I know Mr. Booth is very eager to get started. There was a meeting today with the actors; were you there for that?"

Sandra says, "Yes I was, it was a good session. Miss. Marcus appeared to be rather distracted so Conrad took charge and helped to explain what the responsibilities are. He says that we have quite a bit to do if we plan to perform on stage in just another twelve days." Kate says, "Twelve days is a very tight schedule, but I imagine Miss Marcus can only stay for so long. I wanted to help but I have so much going on.... Still if there are any little things I can do to help just let me know and I'll be there.”

She adds, “Conrad grew up in the theater, so he knows what he's doing. Do you have complete discretion with the music? What kinds will you use?" Sandra says, "A mixture. Classical pieces as background for most of the dramatic moments, a few light contemporary pieces for the few comic interludes and traditional saloon songs for the intermission." "It sounds wonderful, you're going to do beautifully. And how are you, outside the play? I haven't seen much of you lately. I keep meaning to stop by but I've overscheduled myself."

Sandra says, "Well, you have been keeping yourself very busy as of late so I'm not surprised." She spends the next ten minutes bringing Kate up to date on what has been going in in the lives of her and her husband Donald, mostly talk of his cousin Margaret and her boorish husband coming soon for a visit.

As the dessert tables starts to grow thin Rufus Davis stands up upon a mostly empty table and gets everybody's attention. He exclaims: "It is time for the dancing to begin. The owners of four Promise City Saloons have graciously offered their establishments for this evening and you are all welcome to go to any or all of them. Music and food will be provided for free but you will have to buy your own drinks.

Those of you who enjoy Mexican dances and Spanish music should find your way over to the El Parador where their band will be playing until midnight. Those of you who prefer country and barn dancing should make your way over to the Comqiue where Warren Watson and the Wainwrights will be providing entertainment. Fans of the waltz and other traditional ballroom dances should head over towards the Lucky Lady where Stanley Barker and Harry Rote will be playing piano accompanied by the singing talents of Clarisse Townsend and Josephine Marcus. And if you want a mix of all three styles of music you should make your way over to the Rio Grande, which is where the wedding party will be at."

As an after though he then adds, "Oh, and it would be helpful if each of you could grab a plate or bowl of something from the tables here and bring it to whichever saloon you prefer. Just put the food along the tables set up near the doors. Thank you." Upon hearing that Ginnie wastes no time in picking up a plate full of cookies. Kate laughed as Ginnie snatched up the cookies. Despite the fact that she probably ate too many of them, it was a hint that Ginnie hadn't put childhood entirely behind her.

She squeezed Sandra's arm. "You'll be at the Comique. I'm not sure we'll spend much time there tonight, I don't know anything about country or barn dancing. Still, I'll make sure we at least stop in to hear you. It's good to talk to you again. I'm going to have to make time to do it more often.
Now, I think I need to find my escort," she finished and scanned the crowd.

Kate soon locates Conrad. He says, "I would normally take your arm but we have all been asked to carry plates of food. Why don't you get the almost full cherry cobbler and I will get that plate of roast chicken?" "Are you sure you trust me with it?" she teased, even as she picked up the pan of sweets. "So to the Lucky Lady first?"

"Yes, that's the plan," he states. They pick up the food and make their way the two blocks to the Lucky Lady. When they arrive they see that the main floor has a whole new layout. All of the smaller tables are gone, most likely to rooms upstairs, and the larger tables are all lined up on the south wall on either side of the door and covered with tablecloths for the food to be set on. The entire west wall is lined up with chairs all facing the center of the room and another similar line of chairs is in front of the stage on the east wall. The entire center of the room is open for dancing.

Stanley Barker is already seated at the piano and playing a Mozart piece while his wife Helen sits beside him. Maria Fuente and Thom are busy ushering food brought in to the kitchen to heat up again in the oven. Harry Rote and Alison Caine are both standing behind the bar and filling drink orders.

Kate began to hum along with the music, unconscious of the fact that she was doing so. She managed to keep her mind focused long enough for them to turn over the plates of food to Maria to be heated. "It looks like there's plenty of room," Kate said. "In a little while I'll ask Stanley if he'd like me to play so he and Helen can dance. Perhaps you'll sing for us. For now, shall we dance?"

Conrad says, "See, I was afraid that coming her would have you switch into work mode. I don't mind you playing for the Barkers through, they deserve it. Although from what Rufus Davis said earlier Mr. Rote will be alternating at the piano so I'm sure they will get other opportunities to dance as well." Making music isn't work," Kate said as they stepped onto the floor. "It's pleasure. And more so when I can make music with you. Now, if I should tie on an apron and start serving drinks you can worry."

More people arrive, including Carl Berman and his wife Edith, Kevin and Mary Kelly, Shannon O'Hara in the company of a young miner named Rafe Dobbins, and the rather pregnant newspaperwoman Angelica Young in the company of her husband and typesetter Josiah. "When the Young’s came in Kate said, "Angelica must be having that baby soon. And Shannon has an escort. I just might have to write Phil."

Conrad says, "Don't you dare! That might prompt him to return and I'm not sure I can take any more of his enthusiasm." Stanley completes the Mozart piece and then begins a Strauss Waltz. The various couples take to the dance floor. Maria and Thom bring out the heated up food. She then takes his hands and begins to show the large man how to dance.

"I don't think he'll be coming back for a while, although I wouldn't be surprised to see him here next summer during Harvard's summer break. He's changed a great deal the last few months, I think in a couple more years he'll have calmed down a bit." They stepped into the waltz effortlessly and Kate smiled over his shoulder toward Thom and Maria. "They must be getting along well enough. I've been distracted since we got back from Thomaswell, I haven't paid much attention to Thom."

The dancing continues for the next half hour. Maria returns to the kitchen to cook. Josephine Marcus then arrives and gets on stage to sing a few songs that he and Stanley had rehearsed together. Several people depart as others arrive, including Michael Seawell and his girlfriend Julia Barbeau. "I should say hello to the Colonel. He made acquaintance with Papa, you know."

When the dance ended Kate led Conrad off the floor over to where Mr. Seawell sat with Miss Barbeau. "I hope your operations are going well," she said after the usual greetings. "I haven't seen much of General Pleasants." Seawell replies, "I should say not, he came here to work and has been doing that nearly non-stop. He's been out at the mines day and night, only took enough time to come to town to register to vote. Good man that Pleasants, just what we needed in an Operations Manager!"

"And it leaves you time to pursue other interests," she said slyly. "He does seem one to devote himself to work. I hope we'll see him now and then once everything is settled and operational. We could use someone like him in town during the run-up to the elections. His opinion would carry weight."

Seawell says, "A number of people fit that description and I'm thankful to say many of them work with me. Another one you should talk to in General von Zeppelin. He's brought sixty of his workers up from Mexico, mostly Germans but also some Mexican wood elves. His goal was to have them all in town as of two hours ago to register to vote. I'm guessing that they will comprise between twenty and twenty-five percent of the electorate, which could be enough to sway this election one way or another."

"That's an enormous amount of people," Kate said, surprised. "I might just have to do that, but after tomorrow's Cattleman's meeting. I should have a clearer idea of what's going on after that. Of course if I should happen to meet him before that I'll take my opportunity. I should let you get back to your evening, Mr. Seawell. I hope we'll see you in the Lady a bit more often, and now that I don't work every night I might be able to stop in and see Miss Barbeau."

Michael and Julia both state that would be nice. The music continues and people continue to come and go from the Lucky Lady. Frank Condon arrives in the company of a female wood elf who she has never met before and the two begin dancing. Kate and Conrad were back on the dance floor when Frank Condon came in. "Well, that's nice to see," she said. "Do you know who she is?" Conrad says, "I believe her name is Leila, I'm not sure of her last name. She's a relative of the Ramirez family, a third or fourth cousin from Mexico. She came to town once before, a little over a year ago."

Kate kept any ideas she might have about Mr. Condon and his companion to herself, fully aware that any scenarios were just products of her overactive imagination. "I'm ready to move on when you are. You know, I don't think I've ever been to the Rio Grande. And I promised Sandra I would stop in and hear her play at the Comique." Conrad says, "Very well, let me talk to Mr. Barker about playing one more waltz, then we can call it a night at the Lucky Lady."

"One more waltz?" Kate asked, but Conrad was already on the way over to the piano. She waited for him to return, chatting pleasantly with Shannon O'Hara who had been on her way out with her escort. Stanley takes up the keyboards but Kate is surprised that the classical piece to follow is one that she is unfamiliar with, although about half way through she recognizes enough familiarity to realize that the composer was either Tchaikovsky or one of his close contemporaries, this dance being a faster pace than most waltzes that she knows. Conrad takes the lead and brings her out and about the dance floor, clinging her closely and spinning her around at the end of the song. At the conclusion of the dance he says, "That was from Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin"

"It was lovely," Kate said a little breathlessly. "I've never heard it before; did you request it specifically? Is there something special about it, beside the obvious?" Conrad replies, "There is no special significance other than that there is a different piece of music from the same Opera that I thought would work for the play, so I had Sandra order it. She had to get the entire opera so for the pieces that we're not going to use in the play I gave the music to Stanley and he's been practicing them. I haven't danced to that in years, that was fun."

"Some other lucky woman got to dance with you that time," she smiled. "But tonight you're mine. Come, let's head to the Rio Grande. I want to go to the El Parador last. I'm going to have to get involved in this play somehow, I keep feeling I'm missing out," she said as they started on the way. Conrad says, "Well, if Ruby doesn't come back the part of Juliet would be open." She replies, "I would have thought Miss Marcus would step in if Ruby doesn't come back in time." He states, "I'm sure that she would, but I'm playing Romeo and you'll always be my Juliet."

The Rio Grand Hotel and Cafe is one place that Kate has not been to in town yet, despite it's close proximity to the Lucky Lady as both are at the intersection of Main and Allen Streets. Before heading diagonally across from the northeast corner to the southwest corner Conrad stops on the Lucky Lady porch and stops to tie his shoe. Kate notes that he is actually only pretending to do this, as he actually adjusts a small knife hidden in a sheathe inside his sock. He removes a Derringer from his other sock and slips it up his left sleeve.

Kate waited while Conrad made his adjustments and once he had again taken her arm she whispered, "Is it a such a rough place? If you're not comfortable we could just step over to the Comique." He answers, "Just being careful my dear. The entire wedding party is over at the Rio Grande, including the Rio Grande's owner Peter Lovelace and his fiancé Trish Creighton. They are planning to marry in another month, but she is also having an affair with the bride's brother Jose Ramirez. And he was also in the wedding party and would be over there right now too. I don't think that Lovelace is at all aware of the secret romance but I'd still say there is enough potential for trouble here that I won't walk into that saloon with you unprepared."

Kate stood there for a moment with her mouth hanging open, then quickly shut it. "Jose is a nice man, I wish he would stop acting so much like Juan Gomez. Poor Mr. Lovelace. Somehow I doubt marriage will stop the lady from keeping time with Jose. Hopefully he has the sense to keep his hands to himself at his sister's wedding. I want you to enjoy yourself, not worry all night about my safety. Let's not stay long here. Once we get to the El Parador we know we'll have nothing to worry about. It is very sweet of you, though."

They arrive at the southwest corner of the intersection at the Rio Grande Hotel and Café. It is a 25-by-30 foot single story brick building. It is comprised of the 25-by-20 foot main room and three small 8-by-10 foot rooms in the back that they originally rented out (thus the 'Hotel' name on the sign) but now the rooms are each used by the employees, Peter Lovelace, his fiancé Trish, and her father Jonah. The Rio Grande usually only offers food and drink with no gambling, entertainment, hotel rooms or prostitutes, but on this occasion five members of the wedding band are present providing dance music for all assembled.

Once inside, Kate led Conrad over to where the happy couple sat together. She waited for a moment until another guest left then said, "Congratulations. It was such a lovely ceremony. I hope you'll be blessed with good luck and happiness." Rufus Davis says, "Why thank you Katherine, I am so glad that you were able to attend." He turns to his bride and says, "This is the school teacher who I'm helping sponsor along with Neil and the guys." Anita says, "Yes, I know. She lived at the El Parador for quite some time, my brothers know her well." She says, "I am so glad that you started up that school. It will be several years until we need such a place but it is good to know that half-Elvan children will be welcome there and that children of this town are being taught to be accepting of all races."

Kate replies, "This town needed a school desperately, but if it wasn't for the committee it would be a much less grand undertaking. When the Vigilance Committee set up a free school I thought I was finished, and I must say I far prefer not having to charge tuition. I hope the school will be there to see many generations of children pass through its doors. We all have so much to offer each other, it breaks my heart to see children taught that people who are different from them are inferior. I am infinitely wiser for the time I spent at the El Parador."

Anita says, "Yes, I lived there for a while myself. Rufus's Committee and your school have helped to set the stage for a bright future for this town." Davis laughs and says, "You give us too much credit. We helped to stir the pot, but it was Manny's actions Wednesday morning that have set the stage. If he can get through to Frank Condon then anything is possible." "Mr. Escobar was extraordinary," Kate said admiringly. "We just saw Frank Condon coming into the Lucky Lady with a very lovely wood elvan lady. If it's not too nosy of me to ask, what happened to the man that turned him away from his elvan friends?"

Anita says, "It was a woman who hardened Frank Condon's heart. She was a southern belle who believed in human superiority. He didn't, but he wanted her. She's the one who introduced him to the Watson and King families. But she is gone and Manny has brought him back." Rufus adds, "Of course, all of the people closing their bank accounts the day before he made that decision probably played a factor too."

Kate replies, "I imagine it did. But I can also imagine that after the lady left he was afraid the Elven friends he'd abandoned wouldn't welcome him back. Mr. Escobar's words would have relieved that fear, but Mr. Condon must have been very lonely. It only goes to show, you should never compromise who you are to please someone else. A lesson learned the hard way. I hope we'll see both of you Tuesday afternoon for the baseball game. We seem to have quite a few talented players and I think we stand a good chance of winning."

Rufus says, "Count on several of us Committee members being there." The twins Carlos and Jose Ramirez come over and thank Conrad and Kate for attending both the wedding and reception. They indicate that the party will probably break up at the Rio Grande between nine and ten, at which point they will head back to the El Parador where the festivities will continue for several hours more. Kate assured the brothers that they would be ending their evening at the El Parador as well. "Dorita gives the best parties," Kate added with a smile.

After a short chat with the twins Conrad and Kate moved onto dancing. "Let's just stay for a dance or two and then move on," she suggested. "I'm anxious to get back to the El Parador and we still have the Comique to visit." Conrad and Kate spend another twenty minutes at the Rio Grande and then head over to the Comique Variety Hall and Saloon.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eighty-four, “Conrad’s Reputation”, Sunday June 4th , 1882, 8:30 P.M.

Ginnie spends most of the early evening at the Lady bussing drinks and clearing glasses snatching cookies as she goes. During the evening she shoos Maria out of the kitchen to dance with Thom and beginnings a cooking spree of her own enjoying the time to herself in the kitchen. She spends her kitchen time keeping the tables full of dishes that are just slightly over salted or purposly salty knowing that people who eat salty foods drink more and the bar will make up for any costs from the kitchen.

Morgana surprises many people in town by going from venue to venue and performing vocally and on the piano fitting into every style seamlessly she ends her tour at the El Paridor sitting down at her piano and playing the night away

Conrad and Kate arrive at the Comique Variety Hall and Saloon. Before they even reach the building they can hear the festive county dance music coming from inside. Like the last two saloons, the tables have been placed along the wall by the door to clear space in the single-story stone-and-brick 25-by-30 foot building in order to make room for dancing.

Saloon co-owner Warren is at the piano while Don Wainwright is on the adjacent stage playing his fiddle and Don's wife Sandra is beside him next to a small table holding a variety of instruments, including cowbells, saws, tambourines and wind instruments of varying size. Presently she has a banjo in hand and is strumming away. Kate tells Conrad, "I'm going to have to ask Sandra to teach me some of those other instruments, I would love to be able to play more. If I had the time I could spend all day making music."

They went further inside and Kate watched the dancers for a few minutes. "I don't know this kind of dancing, do you?" Conrad says, "Actually no, but I'm willing to give it a try if you are." Her face colored. "Actually, I wouldn't mind a chance to sit down and nibble at a bit of that food. I'm hungry again." "Very well," Conrad states. Kate notices Al Brower just sitting by himself on a barstool at the far end of the bar, a sad expression on his face.

She and Conrad had a seat with her odd collection of nibbles and listened to the music as she ate again. Even as they talking pleasantly, her eye kept falling on Mr. Brower across the room. When she emptied her plate she excused herself for a moment and approached the downcast man. "It's very generous of you to offer your saloon for the celebration," she began. "It would be nice to see you enjoying it a bit more."

Brower gives a half-hearted smile in reply and says, "I'm sorry, but weddings tend to make me thing of romance and my lady friend walked out on me just last week. I thought I had gotten over her but today has brought back those feelings. And on the subject of romance, let me know if Warren Watson says anything to your boyfriend. He normally doesn't allow him in the Comique but this is a private function and I don't want anybody spoiling your fun."

Kate replies, "I'm sorry. Sadness can sneak up on us at any time, even after we think we put it behind us. You will be well as long as you don't fight the smiles; I can say that from experience.
As for Conrad, I don't imagine we'll stay very long. Neither of us knows these dances but I promised Sandra I would stop in and hear her. If I may ask, why is it that Mr. Watson won't admit him? I know the public reason, of course, but I don't believe it."

Brower says, "The reason is most likely exactly what you heard. Watson is an Illinois Republican. He knew Abe Lincoln personally. There was a while there that he wouldn't even allow any Southerners into the Comique. It took some time for Pierre and I to convince him that wasn't economically viable for the saloon. Anyway, Watson was on Booth's case from the moment that the gambler said he was related to Lincoln's assassin. I can't say for a fact that he was cheating that night, but he did has a suspitiously good game that evening at the table. But Warren says that he saw Booth cheating and I really have to stand beside my business partner."

Kate replies, "I can understand that, but let me tell you something about Conrad and good games. He's been an actor his entire life, he grew up in the theater. You'll see those skills when the play is presented. Acting is a great deal about observation, watching, and understanding what you're seeing. I've heard Jake say poker is about the same thing; he once made the mistake of trying to teach me about it," she laughed.

"I know from experience that Conrad is keenly observant, and rarely have I known his conclusions to be wrong. He has no need of cheating to win at poker. I don't expect you to change your policy or your partner's mind. I guess I'm just a busybody. This rumor has hurt someone I care about and I can't help but try to clear it up just a little. He's a good man but the rumor about cheating has blinded many an eye to that."

Al says, "I can understand you taking that position but you need to understand mine. It doesn't matter what you think, or what I think, it's what the other customers think. A saloon is only as good as its reputation and Pierre and I insist on keeping things honest here." He lowers his voice and adds, "And on the subject of Pierre. I know that you are aware of Pierre's....other talents. That information alone could drastically hurt this saloon's reputation if it is ever confirmed, enough people already suspect just because he is a Frenchman. That means we have to be twice as careful as any other saloon in town. So if a gambler has a reputation for cheating, be it true or false, they can't play here. End of story."

She states, "I told you Mr. Brower, I do not expect you to change your policy or your partner's mind. I'm not here trying to beg you to allow him to play. He's doing just fine over at the Long Branch and not looking to move. The hurt I refer to is personal, my only aim here was to make sure I knew the truth and perhaps soften your personal opinion. I understand business is business," she said mildly.

"I did not know about Mr. Jaquet's talents, I only knew that he had some special items for sale in his store. But my mother is French and I understand that automatic suspicion that comes with that and the measures you need to take. I will keep my silence of course; such things do not offend me."

Al smiles and says, "Yes, I.....know. I was standing near you a week ago during the gunfight." He then says, "Don't worry about my knowing of your secrets little lady..." as he glances around the room to make sure nobody is looking at them right this very moment, especially Conrad. He then says, "Ecrire le verre de surprise à ma main maintenant" as he wiggles the fingers of his right hand. His glass of wine on the bar eighteen inches away rises slightly above the bar and quickly floats over to his hand as he grasps it.

Kate just smiled and shook her head. "I'm going to have to be more careful. Thank heavens yours was a friendly eye. It seems everywhere I turn there is another talented person hiding. Truth be told, it's a relief to have another person who knows. I take such joy in it and there are few I can share that with. It's almost like a secret organization, isn't it?"

He replies, "It is a secret organization and I'm a novice member myself. Pierre taught me a few simple things to protect myself and also identify those who may chose to use arcane magic to cheat at cards. My.....lady friend taught me a few more things, including what I just showed you. Beyond that my abilities are nearly non-existent. I would have never dared to do what you did last week."

He takes a drink of his wine and says, "But that is the real reason that neither Pierre or I will play poker in our own saloon, or go anywhere near the tables while games are in session. Too risky. And if you choose to share this information with Mr. Cook you can assure him that I would never use any special talents at his table."

She replies, "I wouldn't share any information about a fellow without his express permission and I have no personal concerns about you using any talents to cheat. I think you play for enjoyment, and what enjoyment is there in a game with no risk? I'm barely more than a novice myself, but I'm continuing to learn. I've mostly used my skills to defend my friends during the troubles with the Cowboy Gang. You understand now why I was with the posse that went after Ringo. Beside my little bit of medical skill."

He smiles and pats her hand. "Go and enjoy yourself Katherine, you deserve it. I may have mixed feelings about your boyfriends but from what I've seen up until now you have been a good judge of character in choosing friends so perhaps I have underestimated the man." "Boyfriends? I've had more than one?" she laughed. Then she bent down and kissed his cheek. "You enjoy yourself too, just a little bit."

She went back over to Conrad, picking a little more from the tables on the way. "I have heard more sad tales of love than happy ones today. Aphrodite certainly caused a great deal of chaos here." Conrad replies, "It is far better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. You give that Goddess too much credit, from what I've observed people can be quite careless about love just as much on their own."

He says, "We've now spent time at these three saloon, shall we now retire to the one where both of us will always be welcome and spend the rest of the night with our extended family? They know the true meaning of the word love and no deity will dare to interfere with that if they have any common sense at all in their heads." She states, "Oh yes, let's go home. I'm ready to give over my campaign to win over the town for the night." She got up on her toes and kissed him lightly, then laughed. "It's time to concentrate on winning you over."

As they exit the door Conrad laughs out loud "Concentrate on winning me over? And I always thought you looked for a challenge. What's the point of a contest that you've already won!" "I like winning," she grinned. "And I like hearing you laugh. And dancing with you, driving with you, kissing you. Why give up such a pleasant campaign?"

They both hurried toward the El Parador where music was floating out into the street and the lights from the windows were warm and welcoming. "This is more like it," Kate said as they stepped inside. The building is packed, with all but two tables having been taken outside to make room. Estaban Fuente is leading a group of nine musicians, six from the wedding band as well as Juan and Maria Tolucca and also Cole Rixton playing along at the piano. The dance floor is packed with around fifty people dancing to fast paced Mexican music.

The newly arrived couple slipped into the crowd and joined the dance. Kate was still learning these dances, but she managed to stay off Conrad's toes and keep up with the fast pace. "I am going to play that piano at some point tonight," she warned Conrad. "I'd love to hear you sing, too."

With a total of nine musicians individual members have been able to take breaks while the others continue so the band never stops. To Kate it seems like they were only at the El Parador for about half-an hour, forty-five minutes at the most, when she notices people arriving who were at the other saloons, indicating that they have closed. She looks at the clock on the far wall and sees that nearly three hours have now passed by since they entered the Cantina.

Estaban finally reaches a point where he calls for the band to take a break and they all take a bow to a wild round of applause from the patrons. Dorita grabs the working girls from the El Parador and they disappear into the kitchen to prepare more food for the now empty tables near the door.

"Three hours!" Kate said as Conrad found her a chair. Her heart was pounding hard and she noticed how tired her legs were as she stopped actually using them. She had a very odd feeling in her chest as well, but it wasn't physical. A kind of wildness that invaded her spirit every now and then. "This music just does something to you, doesn't it?" He replies, "Yes it does my dear. Did you say that you made alternate arrangements for your school tomorrow morning? I would say that you will probably need them."

"Ginnie's idea was a good one, and it will let me sleep a bit later. There are two other teachers as well and they both probably have better sense then I and will have gotten a decent nights sleep. Right now I doubt whether I'll go to sleep tonight at all!"

Manuel Gonzales arrives through the front door. He comes up behind Kate and Conrad and interjects "Hello, I figured you two may have wandered over this way. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." "Of course not, Grandpere," Kate said delightedly and hugged the elderly elf. "What a lovely night we've had. What have you been up to, coming from someplace else?"

Gonzales replies, "Immediately after the wedding ceremony ended I went out to the ranch making sure things were safe there. Enrico Escobar and some of his friends arrived a while later but I didn't want to just leave them there until after Flint and gotten used to their presence. I just got back. It looks like things are going fine here."

She replies, "Yes, I talked to Mr. Shaw about the rustling last night and Mr. Escobar was there. Apparently he felt there were quite a few jilted gentlemen who might prefer to not celebrate the bride's marriage and took them to look after the ranch instead. They're going to help us get the animals branded tomorrow as well. Everything is going wonderfully here. My dear Conrad has had me all to himself for three hours, but I think you owe me a dance Grandpere." "I wholeheartedly agree," he states as he takes her by both hands and pulls her out to the dance floor.

Kate laughed and squeezed Conrad's hand as her teacher pulled her away. "I feel absolutely wonderful tonight. Almost as if I were drunk, but I haven't touch a drop since your wine at dinner." Gonzales asks, "Do you need me to teach your class in the morning? I could teach the children how to pull a rabbit out of a hat!" "I don't think pulling rabbits out of hats is in the course curriculum," she laughed. "But I might need someone to fill in for me in the morning. Ginnie suggested I leave an assignment on the blackboard and come down a bit later, but a teacher to fill in for me would be better."

Gonzales replies, "Well, I think that I may have learned something in my eight-hundred or so years here to share with them that wouldn't involve arcane magic. And I'm not sure that any of you three regular teachers will be in any shape to teach tomorrow. I stopped by the Lucky Lady first on my way over here, thinking you would be there. Both of your fellow teachers were still dancing the night away with their respective gentlemen and didn't look like they were planning to stop any time soon."

"Respective gentlemen? Does Meghan have a gentleman friend? Here I thought those two had more sense than I. Conrad and I started the evening at the Lucky Lady, but we wanted to end the night here. He was afraid if I stayed there too long they'd put me to work and he wasn't having any of that. We'd all appreciate it if you would fill in for us then, we'll have to think of a way to let them know. So, who was Meghan dancing with?"

He replies, "She was with Shamus O'Hara, her late husband's brother, but if I'm any judge of body language and facial expressions their feels for each other go beyond just that. "Really? I wonder if that has something to do with why she chose to come here. She wouldn't be the first woman to marry into the same family after she lost her husband. Good for her. Oh, you should know Mollie Caudell knows about the baby. I needed some advice, and I knew what Dorita's advice would be."

Gonzales raises his eyebrow and says, "Good for you! I do recall not that long ago that you had serious reservations about the Caudells due to his service in the war. It is good to see you putting aside those prejudices." She replies, "I just needed a chance to see the people, not the war. And considering it was Mollie's warning that told me what the Vigilance Committee was up to with the school she earned my trust. I'm afraid it's going to be a long time before I don't need a bit of time when I meet someone who served the Confederacy.

I couldn't tell her about the ring, so she intends to pull me out of the baseball game after the first inning. Since I don't really want to play I'm not arguing about that. I just needed to know that my new, ah.... desires were normal. Dorita would have just told me that Conrad would be glad to help me with that," she laughed.

Gonzales says in a stern voice, "She would have indeed but I would not. I'm still not sure about that man and I would advise you to not let him think that a physical relationship will soon follow." Kate turned more serious. "You're not? Believe me, as much as my body is telling me otherwise, I know I'm not ready for any such relationship. But what bothers you?"

Gonzales replies, "I don't know, I guess I've just never really cared for him. Not all that different than my feelings towards Mr. Cook. I guess their lifestyles are too dissimilar to mine for me to really understand them." She says, "You don't know him well. Gambling isn't really what he loves. Watch him the next few weeks as his works on the play. Promise City hasn't been kind to him and he's become defensive. He's a good man. He still wants to marry me and.... I think when I'm ready I will likely accept."

Gonzales replies, "Then I would advise you to not be ready for a very long time. I still do not trust that man and find him to be too much of an opportunist. I am also disgusted by how much he has capitalized upon the deaths of Billy the Kid and those James Gang folks who was with him. Maybe it's the old soldier in me but I feel that people should show some respect the dead. A good man died on that day and nothing has been done to memorialize him, if Mr. Booth is truly the man you think he is then why hasn't he done so?"

She was quiet. "I can't answer that Grandpere. Do you really think I've chosen so poorly? I've been so happy, I..." She laid her head against his shoulder for a moment. "Why must everything be complicated?" He wraps his arm around her shoulder and says, "Oh dear, look at what I've done. You've been having a great evening and I've gone and ruined it for you!

Katherine, when it comes to relationships don't pay too much attention to the prattles of an old man. If I had to count the number of failed relationships in my life the number would probably exceed the number of months that you've been alive, so what would I know about it? What I do know is that he has saved your life on more than one occasion, and for that I will always be grateful to him. So go dance with your young man. I'll keep my mouth shut, and I'll let your two other teachers know that they can take the morning off."

She states, "No, I trust your opinion and when I get carried away I need you to tell me. I might wish your opinion was different but it is not. When I first met him my opinion was the same as yours, but he is changing, becoming someone far more generous and kind. And he needs someone to believe in him." She hugged her teacher tight. "I love you. Thank you for helping. I will go back and dance with my young man again."

Conrad is busy chatting in Spanish with Pedro. Kate returns and Conrad gives her an odd look. "Everything alright out at the ranch? You look like you're upset." Kate found a smile. "Everything's fine. Please don't let me interrupt, I might just get a bit to eat and then perhaps we could dance again?"

She laid her hand reassuringly on his arm then left him to talk with Pedro. Just as she said, she filled a plate with the fresh food Dorita had brought out and let her talk with her teacher take its proper place in her mind. Kate had been trusting her own instincts as far as Conrad was concerned for weeks now and whatever was to come tonight was still to be enjoyed. With a full stomach and a few minutes to herself she found a genuine smile and went back to lead her escort out to dance again.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eighty-five, “Clarisse’s Offer”, Sunday June 4th , 1882, 8:30 P.M.

Chester takes Clarisse's arm. "Lead on, Miss Townsend. You always know the right things to say. Let's not talk any more about politics." She laughs. "A capital idea, Deputy Martin. Shall we?" They make their way back to the party. Chester forgets about Ashley King and Claude Buckley and just loses himself in the moment. They keep Helen Barker company while Stanley plays. When it comes time for Clarisse to perform, Chester watches in rapt attention.

The night goes well, with the musicians alternating enough so that Deputies Barker and Martin each have sufficient time to dance with their respective significant others. At around 11:00 PM the musicians finally finish. Job Kane convinces Chester to have a drink with him at the bar while Jake Cook approaches Clarisse.

Jake states, "Good evening Miss Townsend, you look well. Can we speak for a moment, about your employment at the Lucky Lady?" He took her elbow and walked her a few steps away.
Clarisse very nearly panicked right there on the spot. "Please Mr. Cook, I do not know what I-"
Jake cut her off promptly, "No, no, Clarisse it is nothing bad. Unless you feel that paying you more money would be bad?" She swung wildly from one emotion to the other, but to Jake's eyes she did not seem quite in control of either just yet.

He continued quickly with a reassuring smile. "You have come along nicely, you have always had a lovely voice but your performances have become noticeably better. You are much more confident and relaxed. I have noticed that you handle the crowd much better too." Jake watches as her breathing normalizes, but again before she can speak he cuts her off, "There is a catch however."

"A catch?" she said in a quiet voice. "Yes, a small catch." He kept his pleasant smile and engaged her eyes in a non-threatening way. Hermes, he thought to himself, she is like a deer surrounded by hounds. "You see with all the growth at the Lady, it is time for a full time singer." He quickly caught himself, "Another full time singer, Miss West is now an owner, and can pick and choose when to sing or not, and we need a singer for the nights that she chooses not to."

She still looks confused and he states, "So now you can stop running back and forth between the saloons and settle in at the Lady. I will pay you twenty-five percent more per night than you currently make between your two saloon jobs per night. That will make it easier on that Chet of yours too, he will always know where to find you." He watched her pretty and very expressive face mirror her thinking, This woman should never play poker. "See, not so bad. Miss Clarisse Townsend, a full time professional singer at the biggest saloon in Promise City." Instead of answering she hurries over to Chet to ask him his opinion, quickly telling him of Jake's offer.

Chester is sitting at the bar with Job Kane. They're talking about how the operations of the Lucky Lady are going without Niles. Clarisse rushes over. "Chet. You won't believe... I mean, Mr. Cook just..." Chester takes hold of her shoulders. "OK. Just slow down. It sounds like you've got some good news." She takes a deep breath and says, "Mr. Cook just offered me a full-time job here. And he'll give me a raise. No more going back and forth between here and the Comique. Do you think I should take it?"

He replies, "Are you kidding? Of course, you should take it. I know it's a big step, but I know you can do it." Clarisse gives him a big hug. "Thank you, Chet. I have to go tell Julia. She'll be so excited." She pauses, "But, I also have to tell Mr. Brower, Mr. Jaquet, and Mr. Watson. They've been like family to me. I hate to do this to them." "Don't worry, Clarisse. I'm sure they'll understand. This is a big break for you. I'm sure they'll be happy for you. Let's go see Julia. did you give Mr. Cook your answer?"

"Oh. I forgot in all the excitement." She hurries back to Jake. She looks him in the eye and says, "I'll take it, Mr. Cook. Thank you so much." Chester and Clarisse head back to the Double Eagle Boarding House where Julia now has a room. They find her and Michael Seawell sitting respectfully together in the first floor common room.

Clarisse tells her the news as well as her concerns about the Comique. As the Comique's owners also board at the Double Eagle Julia has gotten to know them as well and comments, "They may be upset. When they lost their singer Flossie in January it hurt their business. I have an idea though, Josephine Marcus is also an entertainer. She will be in town for the next two weeks and her evenings are free until that play begins. They could probably get her to perform at the Comique until then, which would give them time to find another singer."

Clarisse puts her hand to her mouth. "Oh no. I hadn't thought of that. Where is Miss Marcus staying? I can ask her myself." Julia says, "She's staying at the Gay Lady, in my old room." Clarisse says, "Oh good. Thank you Julia. I'll see you later." Chester and Clarisse go to the Gay Lady. She asks the bartender, "Is Miss Marcus in? I wish to speak with her."

He says, "I think she's in Miss Townsend. You can go on up." Clarisse says, "Thank you." She turns to Chester, "I should go up alone. I don't want her to feel pressured. Is that alright?" Chester replies, "Sure. I'll have a drink at the bar while I'm waiting. Good luck." Clarisse climbs the stairs up to Julia's old room. Stopping in front of the door, she goes through what she wants to say. *knock, knock* Josephine calls out, "Who is it?"

"It's Clarisse Townsend. I would like to ask you something." "Come in. The door's unlocked." The young woman enters the room. Josephine is sitting at her dressing table. "Miss Townsend. May I call you Clarisse? You can call me Josephine. Have a seat." "Thank you, Josephine. That's kind of you." She sits. "I was wondering if you would consider performing at the Comique the next couple weeks. I've been offered a job singing at the Lucky Lady. I also sang at the Comique and I don't want to leave them short-handed."

Josephine says, "That would be wonderful. Our play rehearsals are all scheduled for later afternoon and early evening since Conrad and several of the others work nights, so my evenings are free. Will you talk to the owners about this first? Please make sure they know I'm planning to move on to Colorado after the play is over."

Conrad and Kate danced for the next half-hour, many of the previous band members also now dancing as the band members from the Rio Grande have now taken their places. Kate cannot recall a time when she's seen Conrad happier. As always, to see someone else's happiness helped Kate recover her own, although the wild spirit that had descended on her earlier had departed for the night. She fairly floated for the floor as they danced in the crowded Cantina. "You're very happy tonight, aren't you?" she said.

He replies, "And why wouldn't I be? This is the longest period of time that we've spent together since our visit to New York a month-and-a-half back. And it is so nice to see you happy as well. Now about the play? What type of role would you like in the production? At this point we are planning three performances, the night of Friday the 16th at the Lucky Lady, the night of Saturday the 17th at the Gay Lady and the afternoon of Sunday the 18th at the Promise City Town Hall."

She states, "I don't really know. I don't have any idea if I can act and I believe you already have an excellent pianist. And with my schedule I'm not sure how much time I can devote to it. I can't even sew to help with costumes," she laughed. "What things need doing?" He replies, "We need a logistics manager, somebody to make sure that everything other than the play itself runs smoothly at each location. I was originally thinking of Laurie Gilson for that role but I think that you would do nicely."

She says, "It would give me the opportunity to interact with people I rarely meet," she said thoughtfully. "So I would have to make sure there were enough seats, proper lighting and such?" Conrad replies, "Yes, normally the producer of the play handles all of those things, which in Josie's case meant Pauline Markham. Josie has no interest in doing any of that, for that matter, she's barely directing leaving most of that to me. Not that I mind."

"I'd like to help, and I think I can take care of the logistics for you, just let me know what's already been done so I don't repeat your work. I know Ruby wanted me to be involved. Will Miss Marcus be able to step in for Ruby if it's necessary? She could likely do the part in her sleep, but..."

He replies, "I just need you to make sure that everything is set at all three locations. The Lady should be a non-issue since you have regular access to it and I believe that your friend Minerva still has a key to the Town Hall building. It's primarily Burton Lumley who you'll have to work things out with for the Gay Lady and he's normally non-cooperative to people who work at other saloons than his, but since he's running for Town Council he might be more helpful than usual."

"Beside the fact of the extra business he'll be getting the night of the show. It's a Saturday night. The fights at the Palace aren't the draw they used to be but they're still hitting the other saloons. And people will attend who wouldn't normally spend their night in a saloon. I'd say he has every reason to be cooperative. If not, well, he's just another person to win over," she smiled. "And you are just the person to win him over," Conrad replies.

The band continues for another hour, finally stopping at midnight. Conrad walks Kate back to her home. There were some things about the location of her home that Kate appreciated a great deal. One of them being that almost no one could see the door to the kitchen and who came or went from it. Standing at that door Kate held Conrad's hand and thanked him for the lovely evening. She lifted her face to kiss him and said again, "I love you."

He returns the kiss, a long deep passionate one. He softly states, "And I love you too. Meeting you is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I....I have invited my mother to come here to see the play. I want to introduce you to her." "Oh." She hesitated, nerves plain on her face. "I'd be pleased to meet her. She's accepted your invitation? I don't imagine she's been here before."

He states, "She hasn't left San Francisco since I was born. She hasn't accepted yet, but I have another week to keep sending her telegrams until she does. It's late and we should each be getting off to bed. Good night darling." "Good night." She released his hand and slipped inside the kitchen, closing the door softly behind her. It was pitch dark in the kitchen, so Kate muttered a short incantation causing a ball of soft blue light to float above and ahead of her. She peeked into Ginnie's room and reassured herself that her girl had gotten home safely, then followed the ball of light to her own room.

After changing and brushing out her hair Kate took out a small key and unlocked one of the drawers of her vanity. She pulled out her journal and found the next blank page, now near the middle of the book. For the next hour she wrote about what had happened that day, as well as penning a letter to Maggie to whom she had not written enough recently. It was one-thirty by the time Katherine climbed into her bed to sleep.

The sun was high by the time Katherine woke in the morning. Dimly from downstairs she heard a burst of children's laughter and smiled. She fairly flew into the simple skirt and blouse she had set out for the day and got her hair twisted up behind her head. Downstairs in the kitchen she made a breakfast of bread, cheese, and fruit. It took quite a bit of it to fill her up but she enjoyed it. Before she went through the door that connected her kitchen to the schoolroom she cracked the door to listen.

Kate hears the rich speaking voice of Manuel Gonzales stating"....another hundred years until the Spanish knocked on our doors and ruined our day with their silly European notions. Although we really shouldn't pin all of the blame on the Spanish, after all Columbus was actually Italian. Plus you shouldn't overlook that the Canadian Maritime Provinces and sections of the Maine coast were actually first visited by the Vikings four centuries before Columbus. Of course, they had the good sense to just visit and not try to live here."

Kate's eyes grew wide and she hurried into the room. "Good morning," she said pleasantly. "How is everyone this morning?" Manuel holds up his hand to keep the children from answering. He then picks up his pointing stick and using it like a conductor's baton leads the children in a multi-verse song of "Good Morning Mrs. Kale" which tells of their happiness to be there and the opportunity to learn. The final verse gives thanks to the Committee for Racial Equality.

Katherine laughed delightedly and clapped even as he face turned red. "Beautiful. I see we'll have to add singing to our days. Did you thank Mr. Gonzales for coming?" He says, "Yes they did. And I'm not quite done. I have one lecture more to go but need the help for a friend for that. If you could watch the class for the next ten minutes or so we will be back then."

"Certainly," she said, curious and a little nervous. Mr. Gonzales then hurried out the door and Kate turned to her class, asking who had attended the wedding yesterday and what they had noticed that was different. She kept up the discussion until Mr. Gonzales returned. Manuel Gonzales returns accompanied by Judge Lacey. Both older men are wearing their military uniforms. Gonzales explains that he served as an Admiral in the Mexican Navy while Lacey tells of serving as a Lieutenant in the United States Army during the Civil War.

Gonzales says, "One goal of this school's sponsors is to promote racial equality. A key obstacle to that is obviously hated between the races. The two largest races within Promise City are those of the human and the wood elf. The greatest conflict between those two races in North American history was the Mexican-American War fought from 1846 to 1848. In order to put that conflict behind us once and for all and show that we can now be friends Lieutenant Lacey and I will now recount for you a balanced perspective of that conflict, why it was fought, and how the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo established a fair and just end to the conflict."

Kate took a seat with her students, aware that this would continue her own education as well as the children's. She was certainly going to have to go through the town and ask experienced people to come in and talk about what they'd learned. Judge Lacey explains that he didn't actually serve in the Mexican-American war, but that he served with a number of soldiers who had and heard their stories first hand. He also says that he followed the accounts almost daily. Manuel Gonzales says that he did serve in the war but that as luck would have it, his fleet did not see any of the major combats.

They begin with explaining the situation in both Mexico and Texas leading up to the war. Kate notes that Gonzales omits any mention of his participation at the Alamo. They then begin a brief account of each major battle. Interestingly enough though, Lacey is the one to describe the Mexican Army movements and perspective while Gonzales explains that of the United States.

A significant portion of the lecture is the Treaty negotiated by representatives of President Polk. It was named for the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo where it was signed. It called for Mexico to cede fifty-five percent of its territory to the United States in exchange for fifteen million dollars in compensation for war-related damage to Mexican property. This included Arizona, California, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado, Nevada and Utah, although it would be another five years until much of this land actually exchanged hands under the Gadsten Purchase which gave more money to Mexico.

The treaty established the Texas border at the Rio Grande. But the key provision emphasized in the lection is Article V, which granted protection for the property and civil rights of Mexican nationals living within land that now became the United States. Gonzales states that he personally was responsible for the wording of that section, one of his proudest accomplishments. This upcoming election and its extending of voting rights to those of all races would probably not have been allowed under the Arizona Territorial Charter otherwise. The lecture ends with the two old soldiers giving each other a firm handshake and thanking each other for their service to their countries. They then turn the class back over to Katherine.

Kate addressed the class, saying, "I'm going to send you out for recess. When you come back in we'll have the first primer class in the front of the room. The rest of you can take the maps to the back of the room and find the areas Mr. Lacey and Mr. Gonzales just told us about including the Gadsten Purchase and the Texas border. Make sure you thank Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Lacey on your way outside. Dismissed."

The children said “thank you” sincerely but hurriedly as they scooped up the toys from the box by the door and ran out to play. When the room was free of children she turned to the men herself. "Thank you both for helping out. That's just the kind of presentation we want the children to see, and you did it beautifully."

Judge Lacey says, "Why thank you Mrs. Kale. I was pleased that Mr. Gonzales asked me to help." Manuel says, "Yes, and it was Mr. Lacey's idea for us to do the presentation in Uniform but to take each other's parts for the description of the war. It is far too easy for a soldier's national pride to show when describing his own army's accomplishments and the last thing we wanted to do was glorify war to the children."

Lacey says, "I can't take the credit for that idea, you can thank Nate Caudell. That was the same format that he and Henry Pleasants used when they taught about the Civil War to his classes back east." "Indeed it was," states Mollie Caudell stepping forward from the adjacent room with Meagan O'Hara. "And how long were you ladies listening in?" Lacey asks. Mollie says, "We arrived somewhere in the middle of 1847. We came in through the kitchen door so as not to interrupt."

Katherine smiled at the other teachers, glad they had arrived so she wouldn't have to take on the whole roomful of children on her own. "It's an excellent strategy, I'm glad you used it. They were wonderful weren't they?" she said to the other ladies. "We'll need to arrange more things like this, including getting Mr. Caudell and General Pleasants here."

Mollie laughs and says, "That may have to wait for a couple of weeks. Henry is working nearly round-the-clock in his new job. It seems that Patrick Seawell was only half right when he said that his father didn't take to retirement. The elder Seawell found doing nothing to be boring but wasn't really looking to work more than part-time. Henry's now picking up the slack. And Nate's now doing two jobs between the Assay Office and helping with the election."

"I think we can wait a while. The school will be here for a long time. We wouldn't want to use up all our resources in the first few weeks." Mr. Gonzales and Judge Lacey said their goodbyes and stepped outside. The sounds of the children's voices saying goodbye drifted through the door before it swung shut. Kate turned to the other ladies and said, "I hope you both had a good night last night. I certainly enjoyed myself."

Meagan O'Hara blushes in response to Kate's question. Mollie says, "Oh yes, Nate and I had a wonderful time. And it was such a beautiful ceremony. I particularly liked the Elvan touches. Until we moved out here I never had any interaction with elves. Back east....well, the descriptions are quite different than how they really are."

Kate states, "When I left Tombstone to come here my friend Nanuet was on the stage. I'd never seen an elf close up before and I admit I was afraid. There was a centaur who walked along with the coach, too. There are so many terrible stories back east. Thank heaven I learned better. So many beautiful things I never would have known. The song during the ceremony was lovely. A friend speaks Elven, but he only told me that it was a long-winded way of saying that the two become one while still remaining individual. Sounds like people who know what marriage is about to me."

Mollie says, "Yes indeed, that is a good description. When Nate met me I was illiterate, barely civilized and not the most honorable person in the world. As my Sergeant he taught me what Southern honor is all about. As my teacher he taught me how to read. As my boyfriend he taught me how to properly interact with regular folk. But despite all those changes he's always let me make my own decisions. At that meeting a week ago he was opposed to me wearing my uniform but he understood and respected my decision to do so."

Kate nodded. "Tom and I had our disagreements too, but he never tried to tell me what to do or think. It's one of the ways to know you have a man worth keeping. Meagan, how was your night?" "Just fine," she replies. She then comments, "The children will be back soon. What is the plan for the rest of the morning and afternoon?" Kate looked at her and smiled but let it pass. "I was planning to tie in the mornings lessons to the presentation. Geography and history..." Kate went on to explain what her thoughts had been, ending with going back to their regular schedule for the afternoon.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eighty-six, “The Opposing Team”, Monday June 5th , 1882, 3:30 P.M.

The students had returned to find three teachers in a cheerful mood ready to get back to the work of the day. The day passed quietly, and near the end Kate made sure all the children were aware of the baseball game set for tomorrow afternoon and told them anyone who wanted to practice was welcome to play in the field beyond the schoolhouse after classes. The children are gone no more than five minutes when Ritchie Baines and Ricardo Huesca return to inform Kate that they can't play in the field right now, that the other team is playing there already.

Kate and Mollie head up to the field and see that a group of three men, eight boys and three girls are indeed playing baseball. The men are James Eaton, Ashley King and Icabond Shackelton. The boys are Eaton's sons Philby and Tad, King's son Troy, Elton Hubbard's grandson Rory, Haywood Smith's son Nickie and three boys who she does not know. The girls are Eaton's daughter Becky and Paul Steven's daughter Jackie and a girl she does not know. Four younger girls including Steven's daughter Agatha are seated with Beth Eaton on the bench by the field watching.

The surprising thing is that the players are all wearing official baseball uniforms. The uniforms are white and maroon and consist of baseball hats, full-length shirts and trousers except for the three girls who also have maroon matching skirts over their trousers. Each shirt has "Promise City School of Moral Values" written on the front and a number and the player's first name stitched onto the back.

The players ignore the fact that they now have a small audience now consisting of around a dozen people including Kate, Mollie and a few of the children from the school. They do stop when Stanley Barker arrives with his photography equipment. Shackelton tells Stanley in an angry tone "You're late!" Barker apologizes, saying "Sorry, these were in the oven and took longer than I thought," producing a metal tin filled with hot toll house cookies which he hands to Shackelton adding, "I thought your players would enjoy them."

The faces of several of younger players light up upon seeing and smelling the treats. Eaton says, "None of those until after the team photograph. We don't want chocolate all over your faces in the picture." The team gets together in the field for the photo in three rows of five, smallest in front and tallest in back as Stanley sets up his equipment.

"Going a little overboard, aren't they?" Kate said to no one in particular. "They must have seriously shortened their school day to manage all this." She turned and looked to the students who had followed with a smile. "Well, they certainly look pretty. Whether or not they can play remains to be seen. There's plenty of room behind the schoolhouse to practice."

Ginnie mutters, “I hate the way new clothing feels all stiff and starched. It might actually give us an advantage if we can make them dive for the ball or the base they’re going to think twice about getting their new clothing dirty. we're going to play ball not prance around like peacocks in Hera's garden.” Kate replies, "You can't be afraid to get dirty if you want to accomplish something. We'll want to make them play as absolutely hard as they can and get those shiny new uniforms very, very dirty. Most importantly is that we all have a good time, and win or lose graciously. It's only a ball game, after all."

The photograph takes a full ten minutes, with Stanley shooting several films. The cookies are then distributed to the players and as Ginnie had anticipated the children are careful eating them so and not to get any stains on the uniforms. "We've wasted enough time here," Kate said. "They sure are being careful about those uniforms." She got everyone started back toward the school and the empty land that lay beyond it. "We might have to have a party of our own after the game tomorrow."

Mollie laughs and says, "Yes indeed, we can celebrate the fact that we don't have to wear uncomfortable uniforms!" Kate replies, "I'm certainly not wearing a skirt over my pants." Once they got back to the schoolhouse Kate went inside and got some boards to use as bases and the children got started with a practice. The O'Hara children, Melvin Caudell, Nakomo, and Ginnie had practiced on Saturday and were almost enough to make a team on their own.

Once they were in the thick of practice Kate noticed something very different from the practice they had observed earlier. Plenty of children's laughter and no angry voices raised. A nice reminder that they had already won. Following the game the three teachers agreed to meet for dinner at the El Parador after they got cleaned up. They get together an hour later, Dorita and Pedro having put several tables together to accommodate the O'Hara clan as well as the others.

Shamus O'Hara also joins them this evening, the first time thus far that he has done so. He explains that he normally dines at the Cochise, the boarding house where he lives at in rooms adjacent to those of Meghan's oldest children Patrick and Shannon. He says that "Tonight Patrick wanted to bring a guest to dinner and the Hooten's would have charged him for the young lady so instead I bowed out and said she could have my portion of the meal."

"That was very kind of you," Kate said. "I'm glad Patrick has had a chance to meet someone. Mine work could leave one too exhausted to spend much time socializing." Shamus says, "Yes, she's one of the Mexican young ladies in town for the wedding. She'll be leaving for home in another couple of days and Patrick wanted to spend some more time with her until then."

"The wedding was just what a lot of us needed. I certainly feel better after an evening of fun." She turned to Meagan and said, "I was thinking of getting Ginnie started learning to drive the buggy soon. Would you still like your girls to learn?" Meghan turns her head towards Colleen and Cathleen and asks, "Well girls, would you like to learn how to use the buggy?" Colleen gives an enthusiastic "Yes" which Cathleen follows up with "Sure...that would be very nice."

Kate smiled over at Cathleen. "It's a handy thing to know how to drive. It's not always convenient to wait for someone to offer to take you somewhere." In a few minutes Dorita arrived at the table, setting down large bowls and platters of food rather than giving each diner their own plate. Kate caught her attention and asked, "Dorita, would it be possible to put together a little something for our students after their game tomorrow? I'd like to have a little party at the school afterward, win or lose."

Dorita smiles and says, "I be happy to. It long time since I throw a party, not since yesterday! Don't worry about lose, you going to win." "Not since yesterday? Dorita, I love you," she laughed. "You're so sure we're going to win?" Dorita reply, "Yes, your team win. I see it."

Kate looked more closely at Dorita, but didn't ask her to clarify in front of all these people. "Well, I see a delicious meal after the game. I wanted to ask as well, we'd like to expose the children to different kinds of foods, so each week we'd like to have snacks brought in daily from different places in Promise City. Would you be interested?" Dorita replies, "Yes, I can do that. You teachers all too skinny."

Kate answers, "You're not exactly round around the middle yourself, Dorita." After Dorita went back to the kitchen and the platters started being passed around the table Kate looked apologetically toward the other teachers. "I was supposed to do that last week, I apologize. I've been a little behind on things lately." Mollie laughs and says, "Well you have been rather busy between the school, the ranch, and the visit from your entire family."

"With my family gone back to Boston things should get easier." The meal moved on with plenty of chatter and laughter. Sitting next to Mollie, Kate asked, "Is your family settling in tolerably well?" "Yes, it is a wonderful town," Mollie states. Nate says, "Indeed it is. I am so glad that Henry suggested it. I believe that we are quite fortunate to have arrived here at this auspicious moment. This is a great opportunity for all of us." Mollie gestures to Melvin whose eyes are wandering between Ginnie, Kathleen and Colleen and says, "And our boy seems to appreciate his classmates." Melvin turns his attention back and says, "And we get to play baseball too!"

"We can keep playing after the game if you like. We have enough students in our school to field two teams and we could pick one afternoon a week to play. Things do seem to be going well for your family, I'm glad I recommended the town to General Pleasants. I'm very glad you're here."

As they are finishing up their Monday night dinner they are greeted by the familiar sight of the halfling newspaperman Chumbley making his way into the Cantina with a stack of the day's newspapers. He calls out, "Promise City Mirror, Hot off the Presses! Only Five Cents!" Kate waved the diminutive man over and dropped a nickel in his hand. "News is plentiful lately, Mr. Chumbley, you must be doing well."

"Oh yes, I never imagined that we would be putting out a daily paper of 12-pages in length. Here you go Mrs. Kale, I'm looking forward to watching your baseball game tomorrow." He hands here the paper and then hurries off to sell more, with Nate Caudell and Shamus O'Hara each purchasing one as well. Kate takes a look at the paper.

The lead story carries the banner headline “Voter Registration Ends” The story states that a total of 271 people have registered to vote. Judge Isby stated that the total is close to his original estimate of 250 which is what he based the requirement of 25 registered voter signatures per candidate petition on as there is no point in a person running for office if at least ten-percent of the town supports them. When asked if he would now raise that requirement to 27 Isby stated, “No, this is close enough, and changing it wouldn’t be fair to new candidates as those already registered only needed 25.”

A related story on page one below that has the headline “Judge Rules of Voter Registration Challenges” The story states that based upon the final voter registration tallies two separate challenges were made, both claiming that the contingency regarding the registration of non-human races being more than 50% of those anticipated had been met and therefore requiring another meeting and re-vote on the racial issue.

The first challenge was from Bill Watkins, who claimed that based upon his checking of the voter rolls the number of wood elves had increased by 54%. Judge Isby reviewed these findings and ruled Watkins tally as incorrect, as he had listed several part-blooded as being full-blooded which the Judge have kept as separate categories. Based upon the Judge’s tally the wood elvan population showed a 46% increase instead. Watkins said that he would appeal this ruling to the Territorial Governor.

The second challenge was from Evan Adair, who claimed that the contingency had been triggered because the town’s halfling population had increased by 100%, from one to two, with the arrival of Sydney Sue. However this was immediately dismissed by Judge Isby as his original pre-registration tally had actually included Sydney Sue since she was listed at that time in the County Claims records as the co-owner of the Liberty Hill Mine.

The final front page story has the headline “Rufus Davis Weds Anita Ramirez”. It has a detailed account of the wedding, reception dinner and evening dancing at the saloons.

An interior story has the headline “Rancher Missing”. It says that Bronco Madson of the Thayer Ranch never returned home follow a night of wine, women and song at the Palace Saloon on Saturday evening. It was assumed that he was drunk and sleeping it off somewhere but as Monday arrived he still hadn’t been seen and his horse is still boarded at the Papago Cash Store corral. Ike Sherman is quoted to say, “He only paid me for the one night. If he doesn’t show up soon I’ll confiscate his saddle and horse for non-payment.”

Two other ranchers from the Thayer Ranch have been killed during the last ten days. When asked for a comment Nick Thayer said, “This is a good example of why new leadership is needed in this town. The present Marshall and his Deputies have been powerless to stop this murder and cattle rustling spree.”

Another story has the headline "Bishop Returns" and mentions the arrival in town of the Regional Deputy Bishop who last visited Promise City during the Festival in March. It says that he will be working with Priestess Florencia and three other Greek/Roman priests during the week and will hold a Prayer Service at sunset on Friday for all who wish to attend.

The remaining interior pages contain advertisements, including a half-page ad that Ginnie has placed for the Lucky Lady. Interior political advertisements include a half-page advertisement for Elihu Upton for Councilman and quarter page advertisements for Burton Lumley, Dennis Winston and Vera Blake for Town Council positions.

The back page is normally reserved as an advertisement for the Palace Saloon but this time is exclusively for the candidates for the Freedom Political Party, giving short complimentary biographies of all seven candidates that mostly emphasize their lives since arriving in Promise City.

Kate comments, "Well, you have to admit, Watkins is persistent. I'm afraid that ruling could fall to what kind of man the territorial governor is." Nate Caudell says, "He's unlikely to overrule Judge Isby, after all, he did put the judge in charge of this election." "He was probably amazed we came to any kind of agreement at all. Judge Isby said he was reluctant about our incorporation because of the factions in town."

Colleen O'Hara exclaims, "That other school's team players act like such snobs! They have those fancy uniforms but are too afraid to get dirty!" Her twin sister Cathleen O'Hara adds, "They annoy me to. I have to agree with you, just not so angrily." Kate asks, "Do you care about fancy uniforms, Colleen? Seems more fun to me to play without worrying about your clothes. Don't think too harshly of the other children. We're all what we're taught to be, and I don't imagine they're hearing 'Just have a good time and be good sports win or lose.'"

Colleen responds "Yeah, I know, but they drive me so crazy to the point I actually feel sorry for them but I'm so annoyed, I mean why of all times did they have to show up to use the field right when we were going to practice?" Kate answers, "Because we have a game tomorrow and they want to win. They're willing to cut into their study time to do that. They're desperate to prove in any way they can that their all-human philosophy is better. All they've proven is to me is they have a poor sense of priorities. We're going to do just fine." Colleen replies "Ok I suppose I'm probably just nervous."

"I could say there's nothing to be nervous about, but you'd be nervous anyway," Kate smiled. "Believe me, I'd love to win tomorrow too. But the only thing it will prove is that we had a better day at baseball." Nate replies, "Any particular reason to be nervous? Melvin, Mollie, you were watching them practice, how were they?" Mollie replies, "Only the kids were practicing not the adults, but all three of their teachers are healthy males who I assume can play."

Melvin says, "They have eleven kids on their team, most of the younger ones except for Doc Eaton's kids don't seem to be very good at all. I think that Troy King knows how to play too but didn't really show it today, he seemed rather nervous. They have three teenage boys on their team who seem to know what they are doing."

Ginnie interjects, "Two of them are brothers, last name Porter, their father ran a store in Tombstone that got burned out. They've relocated here. A lot of their store's stocks were medicines and other apothecary goods so he's sharing Doc Eaton's Office until he gets a store of his own built. And yes, those boys do know how to play." Kate says, "Did they have any pitcher to speak of? I'd be nervous too if I were Troy King. I imagine his family is putting a lot of pressure on him to do well."

Melvin says, "That other teenage boy was pitching. I'm not sure who he is." Shamus O'Hara says, "He's the grandson of Elton Hubbard, the man who owns Breakheart Mine and Silverbell Mining Company. His parents are away on a European vacation so he's here in town for the summer." "Europe, that must be nice; I hope the young man has a good visit. It sounds like they have enough people with skill to give us a challenge, but we have quite a few talented players ourselves and as far as I know they haven't observed our practices."

Melvin says, "We know we have six solid players here. Ma as pitcher, and then us four teenagers (gesturing to himself, Ginnie, Cathleen and Colleen) plus Nakomo! I say we put Nakoma in center field, he could probably cover half the outfield by himself as fast as he runs. We can alternate everybody else in as the catcher and two other outfield spots. The younger ones would only have to be able to toss the ball to Nakomo and he could toss it in for them."

Kate nodded. "I want to include everyone who wants to play, at least for a short time. I don't plan on batting tomorrow at all. I'll do a little catching but I'm going to leave most of it up to all of you. The rules wouldn't require me to bat, would they?" Nate says, "Actually the expectation is for each player to stay in at least an inning, so you'd probably have to bat once when your position comes up in the rotation." Meghan says, "Don't count on me to do much out there either."

Nate says, "Kate, you take the first inning and be lead off batter. That'll give them a nice false sense of security if they strike out our first batter." Mollie says, "Well, I know that Roberto Tolucca wants to pitch too. Why don't we let him pitch the first couple of innings and then I'll take over." Nate says, "Good, if he gives up a few runs that'll also lull them into false confidence." "You give me way too much credit," she replies to her husband. "Isn't that what husbands are for?" Kate smiled.

She continues, "That sounds like a good plan, Mr. Caudell. I'm not so worried I can't hit, but I don't have much muscle. I doubt it would go far. I'm going to be sure to bring my medical bag tomorrow as well in case of any cuts and bruises. I doubt the good Doctor will volunteer to patch up our hurts." Colleen responds "We don't want them to be too confident or we might not be able to overtake them if they pull ahead too much."

Mollie says, "Don't worry Colleen, I'll be pitching by the third inning, sooner if Roberto gets into trouble." Melvin says, "I'll bet they won't be ready for Rocky," referring to the half-ogre student in the school, son of a local miner. Rocky is the human equivalent of 11 but already the size of most adults and very strong. Ginnie says, "He's not all that coordinated, I doubt he can catch well. But he should be able to bat the ball into the next county."

Kate says, "So we'd want him up to bat when we're likely to have runners on base, is that right? If he can hit the ball so far away it would give the runners more time?" Colleen replies "They'll never expect that. It should be fun if everyone plays by the rules." Nate says, "Yes, but once you set the batter rotation you have to then stick with it. But the rotation is by position though, not player, so if you're willing to move people around to different positions you can still mix the order up some."

Meghan says, "Kate, when you say you want everybody to play I hope you weren't meaning our very youngest students. I'd be worried about the three to five year olds out there having baseballs thrown at them by those angry adults on the other team. I might let my Mary and Caitlin play, they're six, but I think that Kellie and Patricia are too young." Colleen says "We should ask them if they want to play an inning and if they want to we should give them a chance."

Kate says, "Oh no, not the very youngest. If they want to participate we can find some little jobs for them to do but I wouldn't let them get out there with those men. You're absolutely right about that Meagan. I just mean anyone who wants a chance to play, whether they're very good or not at least gets to play one inning."

Ginnie says, "Well, Ricardo Huesca is only the human equivalent of five but wild horses couldn't stop that boy from doing something he wanted to do, especially if you let his buddy Ritchie Baines play. You should consider letting him play. He'd be a good outfielder." Kate replies, "Outfield is probably safer. I know Ritchie wants to play, but we might want to see if the other team is going to play fair before we put him in. I'll try to have a word with his mother tonight and see what she thinks."

Colleen states, "I still think you should still let the little kids play." Cathleen adds, "I have to agree that we should give everyone a chance to play if they want to. If you restrict all of the children in the young age groups soon you'd be missing half of your team." Kate says, "We're only talking about the smallest children, girls. Can you imagine putting little Gina in there? She's four. We're not trying to keep them out, but until we know if the other team is going to play rough I don't want to risk the little ones."

Colleen says, "Oh, all right, but if we can we should give them a chance to play. If they start playing now they'll be the stars in a few years. But I understand your reasoning now." Kate answers, "There's no reason we can't have games of our own. We have enough students to field two small teams and I know our students won't play too rough with the little ones. Maybe next year we'll be able to challenge them again and be better prepared; and a little bit older."

Colleen says "Ok I just hoped they could play in a real game because they would enjoy it." Cathleen says "Now that we have everything planned and decided maybe we should all get a good nights sleep. We'll need our strength for the game tomorrow." "And I have a meeting tonight to get to," Kate said as she got up. "It was a lovely dinner, I hope we can do it more often. I'll see most of you in the morning." After a few more goodbyes, Kate gathered her things and walked over to the building that now housed the headquarters of the Cattleman's Association.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eighty-seven, “The Vigilance Committee‘s Response“, Monday June 5th , 1882, 6:30 P.M.

Tuesday morning after breakfast at the El Parador, Chester goes down to the stable. His shift doesn't start until later and Clarisse is busy with her sewing circle. The deputy brushes down Lookout and feeds him a carrot from Dorita's kitchen. "How've you been? Let's go for a ride. You must be bored down here."

He saddles the Morgan and rides out into the desert where no one will interrupt him. While checking his Spencer carbine to make sure only normal rounds are loaded, he sets his sights on a cactus a hundred yards away. He ties his reins to the saddle horn and gets Lookout into a charge. "Yah!" He yells as he fires the rifle at the selected cactus. Five bullets strike the target as they bear down on it. Chester reloads and repeats the exercise a few more times until he hits with all seven bullets.

While Lookout rests, Chester practices with his six guns, firing both together and then one in either hand until he is satisfied. Remounting his horse he picks out another cactus and shoots his Remington with his right and left hand, nodding each time he hits.

By now the sun is at its height and the heat causes the air to shimmer. "Time to come in, I guess." He slowly rides back to town and brings Lookout back to the stable. "That was fun, right?" The horse says nothing as it eats from a bag of oats. Chester removes the saddle and brushes down the horse. Then he visits the bathhouse to wash away the grime and sweat. Feeling suitably refreshed he has lunch with Clarisse at the El Parador. They chat about how their mornings went.

Clarisse visits Josephine’s Marcus again to thank her again for agreeing to fill in for her at the Comique. Oh thank you so much, Josephine. She hugs the other singer before heading back to find Chester and head over to the Comique to talk to the owners. Chester is at the Gay Lady bar to talk to the bartender about the goings-on at the Thayer Ranch. He says, "I don't know where Madson could be. He'll turn up, though. He's probably worried about what Nick Thayer's going to say to him."

He says to Clarisse, "All set?" She says, "Yes. The rehearsals are during the day, so her nights are free. Now I need to convince the owners to accept the deal. Come on." Chester pays for the drink and the pair walk to the Comique. Clarisse says, "I hope they'll let me go to the Lucky Lady full-time. It's a big opportunity for me."

"I hope so too. Having you at the Lucky Lady will make it so I don't have to leave there except to go to work." He grins. "Very funny, Chet. It's short notice, but Josephine is such a good singer." They enter the saloon. Co-owner Warren Watson is playing the piano at the side of the stage. Al Brower is behind the bar. She goes up to him. "Mr. Brower? I wish to speak with you and the other owners, if that's possible."

Al pulls Pierre Jaquet over and gets Watson when he finishes this song. Al smiles and says to Chester and Clarisse, "So, are you here to ask us about using the Comique for your wedding reception like we did with the Davis couple?" Clarisse blushes deeply and Chester looks at the ground. He lifts his head and says, "No, nothing like that. But, I'll let Clarisse talk."

She clears her throat and says, "Mr. Brower, Mr. Jaquet, Mr. Watson, you've been so nice to me these past few months since I came to Promise City. I hate to do this, but Mr. Cook offered me a full-time job singing at the Lucky Lady. It pays more than what I'm making between the two places now. But, I asked Josephine Marcus if she would fill in for me so you can find someone else. She says she could do it for a couple weeks until the play starts. But, then she's leaving town after that. Is it alright if I take the job?"

Watson exclaims "NO, It is not all Right! You work for us!" Al puts his hand on his business partner's arm and says, "Calm down Warren. She's received a better opportunity and it will be safer for her to be in one saloon than two. If we wanted her full time we should have hired her for that. Besides, she's giving us time to find another singer and with half the saloons in Tombstone having burnt to the ground we should be able to find one if we act soon." Pierre says, "A good idea. I'll take the stagecoach there tomorrow."

Clarisse shrinks at Watson's outburst. She stammers, "I'm... I'm sorry... Mr. Watson." Chester is about to say something when Al calms Watson down. Relief fills Clarisse's face as Al and Pierre take her side on the issue. "Thank you, sirs. Mr. Cook just offered the job to me tonight, so I was just as surprised as you are. I really hope you find a singer in Tombstone."

Chester's shift starts soon so he says goodbye to her and moseys over to the Marshall's Office. Eduardo greets Chester at the door and says, "Quiet day so far, Tuesday's usually are. You have duty just until supper time, then Helen will relieve you. Neil's away cutting timber today. Mitch is over at the Arizona Territorial Office meeting with the Judge. Here's a copy of today's newspaper, Chumbley just came by with it. Some pretty interesting stuff, seems another rancher is now missing." Eduardo departs.

"OK. Thanks, Eddie. The bartender at the Gay Lady told me about it." Chester sits at the desk and reads the article about the missing rancher. "First the killings out their, then rustling, now this. What is Sheriff Hunter doing about this? It's outside our area." Eduardo says, "I don't know that he's doing a damned thing, too busy campaigning in town for Marshall and blaming us for everything wrong."

"He's doing a good job of that. Course we're not helping ourselves by getting stuck on Buckley's killing." Chester runs his hands through his hair. "Before I forget, did you find out who left that note under your door?" Eduardo replies, "I think so. There's a wood elf by the name of Federico Valdez Luca who used to round up wild horses out on land where the King's Bar-W Ranch and Oldfield's Circle-R ranch are now located. He still has a cabin near the end of Pine Creek. He wasn't at the wedding but folks saw him in town a few days ago, specially the morning I found that note."

Chester says, "Let's talk to him. But we can't leave the office without someone here. Can he speak English? I should learn Spanish with all the elves living here." Eduardo and Chester's conversation is cut short by the arrival of Timothy Courtright, former City Marshall of Fort Worth, who had last visited the town two days earlier. Chester says, "Hey there, Marshall. Have any luck finding the Douglas Gang?"

Tim Courtright replies, "I have a good lead. The Promise City Mirror had one fact wrong, it said that Elmer Koontz had died from wounds from the bank robbery. He didn't, he was critically wounded and presumed dead, but survived and is still in the area with his brother Brice. I am suspecting that the New Douglas Gang will try to contact them so plan to stick close. I'm told they are currently out at the Rattlesnake Ranch.

I also found out one other piece of information in Galeyville. A person in a bar last night says that Claude Buckley's killer is camped out on a hill a few southeast of here. He said it was the same hill where the Army camped the night before they signed the treaty with the Apache last January. I figured you lawmen would want to know that." Chester replies, "Yeah. That's a great help. Finally, someone helping us, rather than trying to scare us off. Now that is worth leaving the office for. What do you think, Eddie?"

Eduardo says, "Let's go tell Mitch. Thank you Marshall." Courtright departs. Eddie gets the keys and unlocks the gun case, taking out two of the shotguns. He then tosses the key ring to Chet and asks him to get a box of ammunition out of the locked bottom desk drawer.

As he's gathering the ammo, Chester says, "This is the first good news we've had about Buckley's death. Tyche might be favoring us after all." Chester helps Eddie load both shotguns and then loads the sixth cartridge into both of his pistols. "I'm ready. I'll lock up." The deputies walk over to Berg's legal office. They enter the front door. Chester says, "Mitch? Marshall Courtright stopped by and gave us a lead on where Buckley's killer might be. It's the hilltop where the Army and Apaches signed that treaty." Eduardo adds, "And I think I know where the writer of that note is."

Berg says goodbye to the Judge. They head outside and since nobody is around Berg comments, "Okay, one thing at a time. Courtright's reputation is such that the lead sounds promising. I'll go saddle up and the three of us can ride out there together. Chet, swing by the Barkers and let Helen know that she's in charge of the town until we return."

Chester replies, "Gotcha boss. Didn't know you were meeting with the judge. I'll meet you outside the office. Chester rushes to the Barkers' studio. "Afternoon, Helen, Stanley. Can I speak to Helen alone? Official business." Stanley says, "Certainly deputy. I'll go into the darkroom."

When her husband leaves Helen asks, "What's up Chet?" He says, "Courtright gave us a tip about Buckley's killer that we're checking out. then we might go looking for the elf who wrote the note Eddie found. Mitch says that until we get back, you're in charge. OK?" Helen Barker replies, "Okay, I'll have Stanley finish up here and I'll be heading over to the office. Good luck and be -careful Chet."
Chester says with a slight smile, "Aren't I always? Good luck yourself. We won't be long, so any crooks won't take advantage. See you later, Helen."

Chester goes to the stable and saddles Lookout. "Hope you're well-rested. We're going back out." He climbs aboard and trots over to the Marshall's office. "I gave Helen the heads-up. To avoid what happened at the Crazy 8, we need to keep our eyes peeled. We're not going to get rescued again. Our luck isn't that good."

Kate arrives to see a pitcher of Lemonade and a plate of what appear to be Stanley Barker's cookies are on the table in the center of the Cattleman's Association building. As Chairman of this evening's meeting Emery Shaw welcomes each member as they arrive. Kate also notices that Ned Phillips is present as well.

Kate took a cookie from the plate and nibbled at it. The room slowly filled up with other ranchers and Emery Shaw kept smiling and nodding. Finally she went over to Ned Phillips. "Mr. Phillips, I don't think we've met. I'm Mrs. Kale. I was very sorry to read about the problems you had the other night." He replies, "That's why I'm here. I made a mistake not joining your group when I had the chance before. I had thought the rustlers were gone for good."

Kate says, "I think we all hoped for that. But even if the Cowboy Gang were completely gone there never seems to be a shortage of people looking to take what they can get. And the association is about helping each other out in other ways as well."

The Cattlemen’s Association meeting begins. Emery Shaw is the chair for this evening’s meeting. He introduces Ned Phillips to those present who don’t know him yet and states that Ned and his boys have reconsidered joining both this town and the Cattleman’s Association. He told that to Judge Isby yesterday and he and his boys all signed up to vote last night before the registration period ended. I will now call on a vote of the members as to whether to accept Ned’s petition to join our group. All those in favor?

Kate raised her hand in favor of the new member and tried to look discreetly around the room to see who else was in agreement. They unanimously agree. Ned is welcomed to the group. Shaw states, "Our next agenda item concerns cattle rustlers. The Phillips ranch lost several animals a few nights back. The King’s and I have supplied extra men to help guard their ranch since then. Mrs. Kale informs me that suspicious people have also been seen watching her ranch. What made her ranch so inviting to rustlers is that most of her animals were unbranded. You handled that today didn’t you Forest?”

The Morand patriarch says, “Yes sir. We went there today and with help from Flint and Sonoma's help we were able to get all of the animals marked. Five of my men are out guarding the place now. But this is only a short-term solution. " Kate looked to Mr. Shaw and spoke after he nodded. "We plan to hire hands to help with the security, as well as the work. I'm looking into finding trustworthy people. Any suggestions any of you have would be most welcome." Morand says, "We can help you with that Mrs. Kale."

Shaw says, “Okay, but on a related topic, what I think we need most of all is some means of quick communication between the ranches. You said that you had an idea Temple?” The younger Morand says, “Yes sir, our ranch has had friendly Apache working it for decades. Their traditional methods use smoke to communicate across distances during the day and drums at night. Each of our ranches is close enough to the next for that to work. I suggest that we each hire on an Apache that is proficient with this type of communication.”

Anse King stands and says, “I will not allow one of those savages onto my land and any of you who do are fools. They may agree to be cooperative now, but they’ll just be there to spy on where you keep your weapons and valuables for future attacks. And how do you know they’ll be signaling what you ask them to? They can’t be trusted.”

Forest Morand stands and says, “That’s absurd. I’ve had them working my ranch for a decade now and we’ve had no difficulties. They are good honest people who put in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay”

King says, “You are daft! Those heathen live for centuries, they’re just pretending to be friendly. They may not attack for another fifty or one-hundred years so it might not be you who they murder but your great-grandchildren, but one day your family will suffer for it if you show them all of your secrets. They cannot be trusted, ever! Shaw, you remember the days of Cochise. Do you really think this Geronimo is any better?”

Emery Shaw says, “Him personally no, but the Morands have Apache on their ranch who are only peripherally linked to him.” Forest Morand says, “That’s right. They respect him as a leader but have chosen to live their own lives apart from those in the mountains. They also wish to be a part of this community and have registered to vote in the election. Those are the people who we are suggesting for this task, not Geronimo’s warriors."

Kate states, "Our ranch sits almost right on the edge of Apache lands, and they have never been anything but helpful to us. In fact, an Apache woman visits us fairly frequently to help Flint. They've also brought us wild horses, given freely. The Apache who chose to live among humans are choosing to find a way for humans and elves to live peacefully together. They have adapted to many of our ways. Why not adapt ourselves to one of their good ideas?"

"Do what you want but count me out!" King exclaims. "Same with me," Calvin Oldfield echoes. "Sounds too dangerous to me," adds Phillips. Shaw says, "Fine, this group is to discuss ideas. I for one think the idea is sound, and I've had more experience with hostile Apache than any of you. If the specific individuals are ones who the Morands’ trust then I will as well." Kate nodded in agreement and observed the others in the room to see who looked uncomfortable with the idea.

Emery Shaw states, "The final item on the agenda is the Law and Order Party. We had submitted four recommendations to their group, those being:

One, Manuel Escobar as a candidate for Town Council Two, Emery Shaw as a candidate for Town Council Three, Chester Martin as a candidate for Town Marshall Four, Bill Watkins not be on the ticket as we feel he is unelectable.

Unfortunately they have chosen to reject three of those four recommendations. They’ve rejected Deputy Martin’s nomination, Watkins is one of their candidate’s for Town Council, and they have decided to allow our group to choose only one of their Party’s candidates for Town Council, either myself or Mr. Escobar. Apparently they don’t feel the need for as much support from us as I hoped.”

Ashley Shaw speaks up and says, “That’s not true, they’ve agreed to let you pick a candidate. They didn’t have to do that. And they’ve chosen me as the ticket’s candidate for Town Marshall and I’m an active part of the Cattleman’s Association.” How very convenient for them, Kate thought. "What's the next course of action then? Do we try to negotiate further, or throw our support behind individual candidates?"

Shaw says, "I say neither, we put forth our own ticket. I'm guessing that Bill Watkin's name will act as a poison pill to the so-called Law and Order ticket and this town needs another alternative to the Freedom Party."

Anse King says, "That's crap! You'll just split the electorate and the Freedom Party will be swept into office!" Forest Morand says, "Okay King, that's what you need to go back and tell your Vigilance Committee! If they insist on running Ashley here for Marshall I say we accept it. But Watkins has to be off the ticket and both of our Town Council recommendations on it, otherwise we'll draft our own ticket and end any financial support to the Vigilance Committee. That's our final offer."

Anse says, "I didn't see that voted on, and I'm opposed." Emery Shaw says, "As Chair, I'll take Morand's proposal as a motion. Anybody care to second it?" "I'll second that," Kate said. "May I also suggest there are many fine people running independently who might appreciate being part of a slate." The motion is put to a vote and passes with only King and Oldfield opposed. Emery Shaw declares, "Very well. I am calling another meeting for 6:00 P.M. tomorrow. We will need an answer from the Vigilance Committee by that time. Otherwise we WILL draft another ticket at that time. I call this meeting adjourned."

Kate moved to speak with Emery Shaw. "Our school has that baseball game tomorrow in the afternoon. It should be over by six, but we're holding a party for our students afterward. I can sneak out to be here, but I might be a bit late. Is it very terrible of me to hope the Committee refuses? Selfish I suppose, but I'd rather field our own slate."

He replies, "Actually, I hope they accept because based upon our Association's rules that means Anse Shaw chairs tomorrow night's meeting. I'd rather him not have that much control over the possible nomination process." Kate sighed. "And he might not be in a very good mood either. I don't suppose they'll like it very much if the Moral Values school doesn't win the game. I guess whichever way the committee decides I'll just have to look for the silver lining. I think I'll have to ask Sonoma when our turn to chair comes up," she said with a self-deprecating little smile. "I don't much fancy being in charge."

Shaw replies, "Don't be silly, you're fine with public speaking. You teach two dozen students, we're less than half that number." The meeting starts to wrap up and people begin to depart. Yes, less than a dozen full-grown, contentious adults. Instead of voicing that thought she only said good-night and made her way toward the door.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eighty-eight, “Brooklyn“, Monday June 5th , 1882, 6:30 P.M.

It was getting a bit late, but she still had some time to go see her teacher and perhaps get a lesson in. Kate finds Manuel Gonzales in the library sitting in a comfortable chair and reading a book. "Good evening, Grandpere," she said and came into the library. "Are you up to some lessons today or would you rather have some quiet time with your book?" "No, I can take a break," he states as he puts the book down. Kate notes that it is written in Spanish.

He comments, "This is one of the volumes that you had found last January. It's an adventure story, swashbuckling heroes, damsels in distress. Not altogether different than the life you lead." "I?" Kate laughed. "Those days are behind me, let us hope. I'm a western school ma'rm and rancher now. No more desperados who are afraid I know too much looking for me. I don't think I like the idea of being the damsel in distress and I'm not dashing enough to be the hero."

Gonzales says, "Ah, so that's why you picked out the dashing boyfriend instead! Well, I'd say you don't have to worry too much about your ranch at the moment, between Morand and Shaw your ranch is now well protected. Now, what can I do for you this evening?" "We'll take that over ourselves soon enough. It's been a while since we had a good lesson. I'd like to be the student rather than the teacher tonight. Whatever you think will be useful or handy or just plain interesting."

Gonzales says, "Well let's see, I would say we should start with an Alarm spell, it creates an alarm whenever someone or something enters a warded off area. You might need it to help protect your ranch. The beauty of this spell is that it not only can create an audible alarm but also a mental one that will alert you telepathically when you are within a mile of it."

They spend the next ninety minutes with him teaching her the spell and having her practice it. He says, "Okay, enough work, time for something fun. This next spell is called Cat's Grace. It gives you the ability to move gracefully, with the agility of a cat. You may not see the need for the spell now but once you are around six or seven months pregnant and your normal movement is impaired by your condition there will be lots of times where you'll find it handy to have."

"Ah, something truly useful," she laughed. "I would have thought first of something for these weak muscles, but I've learned how to handle not being strong. I'm used to being able to get around easily. I'm not looking forward to the day I have to stop riding, but sacrifices must be made. How does it work?"

He explains how the material component is a pinch of cat fur. Once cast, the spell will give the caster the cat-like agility for one hour per level of experience in arcane wizards magic. It says that it will help both regular movement and reaction reflexes. They spend the next two hours working on the spell.

When they are done he pours them each a glass of grape juice. He says, "I heard about Shackelton's baseball uniforms. Will you and your students feel inferior against them? If you want something similar it could probably be arranged." "Is Shackelton behind them? I thought that would be more Doctor Eaton's doing, or Ashley King. I don't know if I'd want something similar, but the children would probably enjoy it. We were talking just today about how the other team might be afraid to get their new clothes dirty, so we'd want to make them dive and get into the dirt a lot. I wouldn't mind something for them that's really made for playing and getting dirty in. I don't think the children feel inferior, but the older ones realize that's part of the idea of those uniforms in the first place."

Gonzales says, "Well then, figure out exactly what you want and I will try to get them for you. I have some friends who own a clothing warehouse and manufacturing shop in Brooklyn, New York. They've done work for me before on very short notice. New York is a few hours time ahead of us, so if I leave here at dawn I should be able to get something and return by late morning Promise City time. I might need to bring Ginnie along with me to verify sizes. Would you want full uniforms or just a team shirt? Perhaps hats? And what colors were you thinking of?"

She replies, "Hats and shirts for certain. Nothing too showy, so dark blue and white? The dark blue should hide dirt well. You know what, lets go with the pants as well, even for the girls. If they want they can just wear the shirts over their dresses. If we need to use them again we can either order skirts for any girl who wants them or have Mary Kelley make some to match. Thank you Grandpere. The children will feel proud to have uniforms."

Gonzales says, "Okay, they should have numbers in stock so we'll number the uniforms. I doubt they will have time to put on individual names, but if the numbering is in white you could maybe have Mrs. Kelley help with that. She's bound to have white material in stock and probably stencils for letters. Maybe she could actually help with the morning class, each student could cut out their own name and when I arrive with the uniforms they could help to sew them on."

Kate answers, "And it never hurt anyone, boy or girl, to learn to sew a little bit. Even a boy needs a button put back on now and then. That's an excellent idea, Grandpere. Of course, I spent part of today explaining why uniforms weren't important. I'll have to figure out how to explain that we have them now too."

He says, "Just tell them it was a gift from a school supporter and it would be rude to turn down a present. You can also explain that you are planning to take them on field trips in future months and it is easier to keep track of students if they are all in school uniforms, which these could also be used for as well." She replies, "You're right about that, it will be easier to keep track of the children in uniforms. And it would very rude indeed, and quite impossible, to turn down the charming gentleman who is making sure we're well-dressed."

He replies, "Well, I came into some money last month when Arcade's Gang and I fought those French soldiers. It's about time I found something worthwhile to spend it on. Supporting your school is certainly a good cause. I had great fun today teaching them! They're good kids. Let Ginnie know that I expect to see her here at sunrise if not before."

"I will. And may I recommend you spend some of that money and some furniture for this place? You sold it once because you needed money, why not replace it?" Kate hugged her teacher and kissed his cheek. "Good night, Grandpere. Thank you." He replies, "Good, then it's a plan. Well, I guess it's time to call it a night. If I'm heading off early I should get some rest."

The walk home was short, but it was too late to try and see Mary Kelley. She would have to run over in the morning before school started. Instead she went home and joined Ginnie in the parlor where she told her about the plan to get uniforms. They stayed up for a little while, Ginnie studying and Kate reading until their eyes dropped and they both headed off to sleep.

Morning came and Kate was up earlier than usual to see Ginnie off with their teacher. Ginnie arrives at the El Parador about 4:30 am looking for her teacher. "Well hello Ginnie, I trust that you have the sizes for all of the children. Shall we be off?" They head into his workshop and prepare for the journey. Gonzales is wearing an old suit over a worn but clean dress shirt and a plain necktie. The pink powder is sprinkled and he says the incantation.

They arrive in an alleyway in the city of Brooklyn, New York. They head out into a main street which already has considerable hustle and bustle of hundreds of people going to and fro. Based upon the hair, eye and skin color as well as most of the talking going on around them the majority of the people appear to be Italian humans, although there are also quite a number of wood elves speaking Spanish as well.

Gonzales explains that they are in the "Brooklyn garment district, not as fancy as the one across the river in Manhattan but productive none-the-less" She states, “The fancy places always charge more but don't always have the better quality of work. Ginnie's eyes are automatically drawn to the first dump pile she sees looking for cloth scraps to judge the materials that are available.

Gonzales brings her down the street to a large four-story brick building with the sign reading "Garcia Cloths and Sewing". They enter and Ginnie is amazed by what she sees inside. At least 100 women, mostly wood elves, are busy at work using mechanical sewing machines. Tables near the back are filled with bolts of cloth were several dozen women are busy cutting with large shears. Several other sections of the room are separated into sections, in one a dozen women are sewing buttons, in another two dozen women are sewing hems into pants.

Several Wood Elvan men in suits and carrying clipboards are also hurrying about. One stops and asks Gonzales if he can help him. Manuel replies, "Could you please direct me to Pepe Garcia? I am an old friend of his and have a small order for him to fill." The man escorts him and Ginnie up the stairs to an office on the second floor where the windows overlook the street below.

Ginnie watches the treadle machines with fascination. The speed and accuracy of the stitches are amazing. Ginnie remembers spending nights with her mother when she was very small doing piecework sewing buttons like the women are now her fingers itch to get a needle in them as she watches so she pulls out one of her traveling laces so she can work on it as she follows her teacher to the upstairs room.

A wood elvan couple arrives, human equivalent of late thirties. The female yells out "Manny" as she gives him a big hug. "Tani" he exclaims and hugs her back. He turns to the man and says, "I trust you are still taking care of my darling girl Pepe?" He laughs, "Your girl? She and I were married for eighty years before you met her." Gonzales replies, "Yes, but her father had told me of his young beauty half-a-century before that, so I knew of her first." The woman laughs, "But you were too slow to find me, too busy chasing after other women I suppose." "More likely than not," Gonzales replies.

Manuel introduces Tani and Pepe Garcia to Ginnie and explains that they are there to get baseball uniforms for a school team. Pepe replies, "Well then, you came to the right place. We make uniforms for several of the professional teams of the American Association, as well as lots of amateur leagues and schools."

Ginnie states, “It may be a more unusual order than you are used to it's a umm very mixed team. The measurements are here along with the sexes but we're also unconventional as the girls are fine wearing pants that will let them move without tangling in their skirts. the ages range from 4 to adult and we have mixed races too some humans, some elves and a half ogre. We're looking for uniforms that fit but will also allow for growth room.” The entire time Ginnie is talking her fingers are flying with her needle as she builds the lace she is working on.

Pepe leads them up to the third floor to a back storeroom. Along the way he says, "We started making baseball uniforms for the two semi-professional two Brooklyn teams, the New York Mutual and the Eckfords of Brooklyn, but both of those teams closed up in the middle of the last decade. But that business got us noticed and the Pittsburgh Alleghenies began to contract with us.

When the eight-team American Association was formed the Alleghenies became the Pittsburgh Pirates and recommended us. In addition to them we now also make the uniforms for the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Blues, Philadelphia Athletics and Saint Louis Browns. The only teams who wouldn't go with us were the Louisville Colonels and Richmond Virginians, they insisted on getting a southern mill to make theirs.

We also make uniforms for four National League teams, the Buffalo Bisons, Hartford Dark Blues and Troy Trojans and Worcester Ruby Legs. The room is packed with uniforms of various colors. Gonzales says, "Well our team has children as young as three and adult teachers. We were thinking of something in a dark blue with white trim and lettering."

Ginnie exclaims, “Nothing that will be hard to clean. We want the team to be able to get down if they need to and not worry about grass stains or mud. Ginnie fingers one uniform "your workmanship is amazing the double stitched rolled seams will take all sorts of stress and the materials are light but durable." Ginnie turns to her teacher and whispers "I think this is out of the price range you were thinking about workmanship like this is expensive."

Pepe says, "This business would not be here if not for Admiral Gonzales, I would not think of charging." Manuel says, "Ah, but you will because I'm planning to purchase three dozen. I insist that you at least charge me your costs." Tani says, "Cost would be $ 20 per dozen and another $ 10 if you want the team name, number and player name."

Gonzales replies, "Numbers but no names, the students will do that themselves. As for the team name, would your employees be able to stitch this in the next few hours?" He hands them a drawing that he made which is identical to the sign that was made for the Hoover School. Tani says, "We could do that on a new machine, it works off of a stencil block with coded movements. We would have to do those on a separate piece of material but we could then cut them out and stick them onto the fronts of the uniforms."

Ginnie says, “I would love to see how that machine works it sounds a lot like some of the weaving patterns we used for full sheet lace weaving only we used cards that ran the warp threads. It would be nice to be able to show up that all human-only school but the work is very extravagant.”

Tani says "You can watch them being made Ginnie." Gonzales says, "But first let's pick out the uniforms. He shows them the uniforms made for both the Cleveland Blues and the Hartford Dark Blues. They decide they like the Hartford color. He says that they make uniforms for sale to younger fans of that team as well as for two schools in the Hartford area that want to dress like the professional team, so would have in stock enough to fill the order.

Ginnie helps to pick out the sizes. They pick out twenty-four to cover all of the children except for Rocky, who will need an adult size. They then pick out a dozen for the adults, Gonzales explaining that they are also getting uniforms for Rocky, the three teachers, the two coaches and the five sponsors of the school. Ginnie states, “That's a lot of uniforms but we should be able to pass them down if we need to. I just hope that we don't let you down your putting a lot into this and I'd hate to disappoint you.”

Gonzales replies, "Now you're being silly. I'm planning to take the school on several field trips around the territory. These will double as school uniforms for those trips, so we'll look like a united group." Once all the uniforms sizes are picked out Gonzales says to have them numbers 1 to 24 smallest to largest. Of the adult uniforms he asks for the one picked for Rocky to be 25 and the others he designates as 90 to 92 for the teachers, 93 and 94 for the coaches, 95 to 99 for the sponsors and lastly 100 for himself. Ginnie goes to watch them make the patches with the school logo.

Gonzales watches as Ginnie takes it all in her fingers fly with her own needle. He can actually see her breaking down the machines in her mind as she watches the machines work. Someday I'm going to have one of those sewing machines she thinks to herself as she watches the threads become the school's logo. "It would take months for me to sew all of that it's amazing"

They spend most of the morning at the shop while the uniforms are prepared. At one point Gonzales grabs Ginnie to go get a bite to eat. They head down the street stopping at an Italian restaurant where Gonzales orders a large flat dough pie with a tomato sauce and cheese melted on top that is called 'Pizza'. It only takes Ginnie a bite to decide that she likes pizza. The time she has spent at the El Parador has expanded her palate and let her explore with food more. She eats at record speed packing away three pieces without any problem.

They return to the clothing warehouse. The uniforms are all completed, numbered on the back of each shirt with the six-inch diameter logo of the Hoover School on the center of the shirt front. Gonzales is surprised to see that a smaller three-inch diameter patch of the same logo is on each of the hats. Pepe reluctantly takes $ 70 from Manuel for the work. He also purchases a cloth bolt of the same navy blue material for another $ 15. The uniforms are places within two large cloth shopping bags.

He and Ginnie make their way back to the alleyway and he lights up the brazier. The teleportation spell is cast and they return to his workshop. He says to Ginnie, "Okay, it's probably now around 11:00 in the morning here. Shall we go deliver these to the school?" She replies, “We do need to get back but maybe we might be able to come back again some day?? when I have some money to spend on material and I could try pizza again?” He replies, "Sure we can go back there Ginnie, and next time we'll spend a whole day in New York instead of just the morning." They leave the bolt of cloth in the workshop and each pick up one of the bags of uniforms, heading over to the school.

Hours earlier, Kate run her early morning errand to Mary Kelley's. The shop was barely open when she arrived and explained her needs to the seamstress. "I know it's short notice, but might you be able to help?" Mary indicates that she will be happy to help. She will put together what she needs for the class and be along in an hour. When Kate arrives back at the school she is greeted at the door by Caitlin O'Hara who says, "Mrs. Kale, good news, the Covington children (a out-of-town farm family that only attend a few days are week) are in school today. They should be of great help during this afternoon's game!"

"That's wonderful news! I'm glad they're here to get the chance to play, I'm sure they would have been disappointed to miss it. Are you going to be able to study at all today?" Kate smiled at the bouncing girl. "And we have a surprise for you this morning," she teased before the girl bounded off. She gathered Meagan and Mollie and let them in on what Mr. Gonzales was doing this morning, with a few modifications as to exactly when and where it all got started.

"Apparently an anonymous supporter wanted to supply us with uniforms. They're being shipped in from somewhere back east. Mr. Gonzales and Ginnie are going to bring them by later, and Mary Kelley is going to come in and help the children cut out the letters of their names and sew them on the shirts. I think he's been keeping this under his hat for a few days. Hopefully whoever it was thought to get enough for the Covington children too. If not Mary Kelly might be able to get us a couple men’s work shirts that match closely."

Hours later everybody is hard at work when Gonzales and Ginnie enter the room and he announces, "We have them! The finest quality in baseball uniforms. And unlike our opponents these don't just look like what the professionals play in, these are what the professionals play in. None of you have to worry about getting these ripped or dirty, they were made for abuse."

"They certainly were," Mary Kelly said as she pulled one out of the bag and examined the workmanship. These will last years... and the color will hide dirt and stains." Kate was pleasantly surprised that the children remained in their seats although they obviously wanted to get up and look. She and the other teachers also crowded around the bag to see inside. "Beautiful, thank you," Kate said to her own teacher.

"We'll get these handed out so all of you can sew your names on. I'll ask any of you who already sew well to help the others. Girls, there are pants for you as well. If you're really uncomfortable with wearing them, you can just put the shirt over your dress."

Gonzales adds, "And we can have skirts made as well, but not for today. Mrs. Kelly, I also got a bolt of cloth of the exact same material!" "Thank you!" she exclaims. Gonzales suggests to Kate that they have the class line up and distribute them by height. That way when children outgrow them and inherit hand-me-down's from other students they will always be getting a higher number than they had before.

Kate readily agreed and the students were soon lined up along the walls of the room with Rocky far and away the tallest and little Gina down at the end. She hadn't been sure the uniforms were a good idea after trying to convince the students they weren't necessary, but the looks on their faces as each was handed the dark blue cloth banished any lingering doubt. Once all the uniforms were handed out the children returned to their seats and the sewing began.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Eighty-nine, “Wyatt Earp’s Motives“, Tuesday June 6th , 1882, 9:00 A.M.

The trio of Marshall Berg, Deputy Rodriguez and Deputy Martin ride out to the hill. Before they get there, Chester pulls a spyglass from his saddlebag. He scans the summit for any signs of life. Chester sees movement of a horse riding up the incline. He adjusts the spyglass and makes the rider out to be Miss. Josephine Marcus. The then disappears behind some trees near the top of the hill.

He whispers to the others, "I just saw Josephine Marcus riding to the top. What's she doing here? It's odd for a woman to be out here by herself. Mitch? I say we ride up slowly. Don't want to spook whoever's up there with her." He draws his shotgun from the saddle holster. They take their time and move slowly. Chester finds only one set of unique horseshoe tracks besides that of Miss. Marcus's horse. He sees enough of them though to conclude that both she and the other rider have been here before.

They reach the top and hear a horse some 100 feet away along the hilltop. They dismount, with Eddie securing the horses near the top of the incline but below the crest so they won't be seen from the top.

"Looks like she comes up here a lot. So she knows who's camping up here. But who would she want to visit that much? From the tracks it's only her and one other person. How good are you at sneaking up on people? We can sneak up or walk out in the open. I'm for sneaking up." The others decide that sneaking up is the best idea. Since Chester and Eduardo have far more experience with that then Berg he agrees to let them go first.

They make their way over the top of the ridge, staying low and using what little rocks, shrubbery and small trees there are for cover. As they get towards the center of the hilltop they spot the two horses tied up and hear distant voices.

They get closer and see two people lying on a blanket around 45 feet away. Both are fully clothed. Miss. Marcus is lying on her back looking up at the sky and chatting with her companion. He is lying beside her on his stomach and looking down, reading a newspaper while he chats. His head is covered by a cowboy hat so they cannot make out any distinctive facial features. The lawmen notice that he has a gun belt on with a revolver on each side. He also has a long-barreled rifle lying on the group within his reach.

Chester nudges Eduardo and motions back down the hill. They scurry back to Berg. Chester says, "We saw our killer. We couldn't tell who he is, because his face was covered by his hat." Eduardo adds, "If it wasn't for his two revolvers and rifle at his side, they could be any other couple enjoying the weather. Taking him isn't going to be easy. He doesn't look like a man who surrenders."

Berg says, "Okay, how should we handle this. We could just wait here until they decide to leave, assuming that they're going to." Eduardo suggests, "I could probably sneak around from the other side. The ledge isn't as steep there and I'm good at climbing. I can stay just below his line of sight until I'm around twenty feet away."

Chester suggests, "So we take them from two sides? It'll be harder from him to shoot us both. But it's going to be risky. Do you want to take him alive? I don't want to shoot a man in cold blood, but he's already killed one man. We don't want to be more notches on his gun. When they're moving, he'll be more ready for trouble, so if we want to do this here, it should be now."

Berg says, "We don't know for a fact that he's killed anybody. Courtright heard that from somebody in Galeyville, which is not always the most reliable place to get information. Plus we wouldn't want Miss. Marcus to get caught in a crossfire. But if we're doing this I say two directions, maybe even three. Once you two are in position I could start to ride up on my horse as a distraction while you two move in and order him to stay put."

Chester replies, "We have to do this now. How many more chances will we get? Let's hope that with her there, the guy won't want to take the risk that she'd be shot too. As far as taking them, you should come up from the path because your woodcraft isn't so good. It's risky for you because he'll be watching that way. But so is blundering through the brush. Eddie, you can take the overhang route you said before. I can take a route like the third part of a triangle. That way, if there is shooting, we won't catch each other. Agreed?"

Berg agrees. They decide how long it will take for Chet and Eddie to get into position and Berg adds on another ten minutes for an element of safely before beginning his grand entrance.

The plan works as anticipated, with the man first hearing Berg riding up rather than either of the other two, Eddie now 20 feet away and Chet around 35 feet at the closest point he could get to. The man's reactions are good, as he spins himself over and draws one of his revolvers while moving into a kneeling position at the foot of the blanket, positioning himself between Miss. Marcus and the potential threat.

Chester immediately recognizes the man as Wyatt Earp. Eddie does as well, yelling out "Wyatt No!" to his friend just as Berg rides into view. Eddie climbs up and starts to move in. Instead of firing Earp first sees who it is, glancing between Berg and Eddie. He then puts his revolver back in his holster and causally says, "Mighty risky of you sneaking up on me. What can I do for you gentlemen?"

Chester and Eduardo lower their shotguns. Chester says in the same tone, "Well, Wyatt. We heard Claude Buckley's killer was camping up here. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Wyatt Earp stands up. He says, "I would be curious to know who told you that. You mean that somebody told you I was here? You didn't follow Miss Marcus?

All I know about Claude Buckley's killing is what I read in the newspaper and I can prove that to you. I was right here with Miss Marcus when Buckley was killed." She exclaims, "That's true." Earp continues "Today's paper indicates that the town is now full of priests. Find one of them who can be discrete and they can ask her about it in conjunction with a Truthfulness incantation."

Mitchell Berg says, "And why is it that you are up here?" Earp gestures in the direction of the ranch below and says "Last January the owners of that ranch saved my brother's life. I owe them for that. The male partner, Nanuet, has gone out of town so I'm helping keep a protective eye on the place until he's back." Berg replies, "And that's all you are doing? You've given up your quest for vengeance against the Cowboy Gang?"

Earp replies, "The main reason I'm still in the area is to be with Miss. Marcus, she's staying in Promise City for the next two weeks. It's not like I can just ride into town and check into a hotel room. This was as a good a place as any, although now that people know I'm here I'll have to find myself somewhere else. It looks like you were set up, it sounds like they wanted us to shoot each other.

As for the Cowboy Gang, protecting ranch is below will probably bring them to me. Twice now I've seen them scouting this place from that next hill a mile to the south. Both times I followed them when they left. Once they went to then watch the Phillips Ranch, which I read got hit by rustlers. They other time I followed them back to the Crazy-8 Ranch. And it's a good thing I was there then or two of you would now be lying dead on Boot Hill."

Chester says, "So, the Cowboy Gang... wait a minute. You were the one who shot Bryson and Garvin? Thanks for saving our bacon out there. I wish you hadn't gunned down Garvin; he was lowering his rifle. But that's a judgment call.” Earp replies, "I was a good distance off and had already pulled the trigger before he started to lower his rifle. I only fired after they drew on the both of you, didn't see that I had any choice. You'll recall I made no attempt to shoot at the third one there who hadn't threatened you." Chester takes off his hat and scratches his head. "I know. I guess it's more me wishing that it hadn't come down to shooting, but they started it. I was pretty mad at the time, but I realize what happened."

Chester continues, “As far as where we heard where you were camping, someone in Galeyville let that loose.” Josie says, "Somebody must have seen me coming up here on one of my prior visits. I should have been more careful.” Chester says, “Why would a person want us to kill each other rather than doing the job himself? Simpler that way. Anyway, we will get a priest to shake out the truth, if you don't mind. Gotta be complete."

Berg says, "Makes sense, although it might have actually been the bounty hunter Courtright they were actually trying to set up instead of us since he's the one they told." Eddie says, "Mitch, we can't bring Wyatt in. Putting him in jail would be a death sentence since those Cowboys would dynamite the entire city block just to get at him if they knew he was trapped in the town jail."

Berg says, "Well, technically he's a wanted man but those are Federal and County charges, not our jurisdiction. We only have authority to deal with crimes that started in town. So we'll follow the suggestion of having Miss Marcus talk to the priest. If the alibi pans out then we're square. Chet, Eddie and I will stay here with him while you ride into town with the lady. We should be back in an hour or so." "Will do, boss." Chester says to Earp, "Do you know anything about Courtright? Who'd want him dead?"

Earp says, "He's said to be the fastest draw around, presumably even faster than me. Worked as a Marshall in Fort Worth I believe. I've heard different stories of how many men he's killed, number ranges from four to thirteen. It could just be that some Galeyville idiot just wanted him up here for the sport of finding out which of us outdrew the other."

Berg says, "We can discuss that later Deputy. Please get Miss Marcus to town and see to that priest." Chester says, "OK, Marshall. We'll be back soon." He says to Josephine, "Are you ready to head to town?" She replies, "Yes, Deputy. I knew I should have taken more precautions coming out here. What's done is done." She and Chester mount their horses and ride down the hill. Chester asks, "How long have you know he was here? You're lucky it was us finding you and not Sheriff Hunter."

Josie says, "I've known for almost a week. You can't tell anybody, I...I was engaged to Sheriff Behan. If he finds out....well, I'd rather not think about it." They ride back to town and go directly to the church. They find the five priests inside in their studies. He doesn't think that Minerva knows that particular spell and after Minerva Chester knows the Bishop's assistant Demetrius best and asks for him. The three head over to Minerva's house where they can have some privacy and Chester explains what he needs.

Demetrius confirms that he does indeed know the Truthfulness spell. He gets out his holy symbol and begins the incantation. The holy symbol begins to glow and a golden light appears on his hands. He then touches Josie and the light transfers partially to her. He nods to Chester to ask his questions. Chester starts, "Miss Marcus. Were you with Wyatt Earp at when Claude Buckley was killed?"

She replies, "Yes, I was up early that day and rented a horse from Drover's. I rode out there and was there from around 9:00 in the morning until well into the afternoon. Wyatt never left the hill." Chester looks at Brother Demetrius, who nods. He continues, "If Wyatt didn't kill Buckley, do you know who did?" She replies, "No, I don't know many people here in town and don't go looking for trouble." Demetrius nods again.

Chester says, "Did Wyatt shoot Denny Garvin and Gordy Bryson at the Thayer Ranch?" She replies, "He said that he did. I have no reason to doubt it." Demetrius nods again. Chester pauses to prepare his next question, then says, "Why is he staying in the area? Is it to wait for you to get done?" She replies, "Yes." For the first time Demetrius nods back and forth instead of up and down. Chester says casually, "I guess the truth prayer works. What is Wyatt sticking around for, then?" He adds with a harder edge, "What aren't you telling me, Miss Marcus?"

She hesitates. Then she says, "There are some people he wants, three Cowboy Gang members who had a hand in his brother Morgan's death. And he now also wants to find the two wizards who were responsible for his brother Warren's death." Chester says, "Thank you. I know it must be hard for you to reveal his secrets. Who are these people? The cowboys and the wizards?" She hesitates and then says, "The cowboys are Charlie Villars, Bronco Madson and Buckskin Frank Leslie. The wizards are Jacques Dumont and Madge Duprey."

Chester exclaims, "Damn. I can't let him kill them, especially not a Deputy Sheriff. Isn't there some other way? Or is revenge the only thing that keeps him going?" Josie replies, "No, he keeps going for me. Once his brothers have been avenged he and I will have a happy long life together." Demetrius nods again, indicating that she believes that.

Chester asks, "Then why don't you ask him to leave the area? If he keeps going down this path, he's going to end up dead. I know you don't want that. Nemesis will watch over him for only so long." Josie replies, "I have asked him too. He's obsessed. Maybe you can help talk him out of this vendetta, I've been unable to." Chester blows out a breath. He says, "I'll do it. But if you weren't able to, I don't know what I can say. Did you know his brothers well? Maybe they wouldn't have wanted him to spend his life this way."

Josie replies, "They appeared to all be cut from the same cloth with a stubborn streak a mile long. Deputy, do you have to tell Marshall Berg what I told you? I'm afraid he may try to arrest Wyatt and what Eduardo said was true, locking Wyatt up in the town jail would be a death sentence. Those Cowboys would stop at nothing to kill him, lawmen or citizens in the way would just be slaughtered."

Chester states, "Miss Marcus, you're putting me in a corner here. You're right, though. A lot of people could get hurt if the Cowboys found out. You have my word, that I won't tell him. Anyway, I bet the Marshall can figure out that revenge is still on Wyatt's mind. I said I'd talk to Wyatt and I will. Brother Demetrius, I don't have any more questions for Miss Marcus. Thank you. This is under the seal of confession?"

Demetrius says, "Yes, I will keep this in confidence. I will also be in town until Friday or Saturday if either of you need anything further from me. I am good listener if you just wish to talk." Chester says, "Okay, thank you again. Miss Marcus, I'm going back." Josie leaves to head back to her room at the Double Eagle Boarding House and Demetrius heads back to the church.

Chester stops by the office to tell Helen that they found someone on the hill, but they're not sure if he's the killer. He then rides back to the hilltop. Berg gives him a questioning look. Chester says, "She and Wyatt were together when Buckley was shot. And he did shoot Garvin and Bryson at the ranch." Wyatt says, "I told you so. Now can I go?" Berg asks Chester, "Anything else you want to add, Chet?" The deputy replies, "No, sir."

Berg looks at Wyatt. "Well it looks like our business here is concluded. You haven't done anything wrong in Promise City, so I can't take you in. Try to keep it that way." The three lawmen ride back to town. Chester is surprised that Berg doesn't ask him any further questions along the way. The rest of Tuesday is quiet for Chester, with him working until 9:00 PM when Helen comes by to take the first part of the night shift. Chet heads over to the Lucky Lady and watches Clarisse sing until the saloon closes.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Ninety, “Take me out to the ballgame“, Tuesday June 6th , 1882, 12:00 P.M.

Gonzales replies to Ginnie‘s question regarding inquiries about the uniforms, "We be truthful. Say that when I heard about the game I decided to order uniforms from some friends of mine who make uniforms for professional teams. We tell Chumbley that they arrived today in time for the game." Ginnie adds, “Actually the shirts do have tags inside that say they were made in New York by the factory so I guess that does cover it. I just don't trust the close-mindedness of the other team.” Kate says, "If we win they will find any number of excuses why, none of which will be that we played a better game of baseball."

Dorita brings over lunch for the entire school comprised of healthy foods that give high energy to athletes. Not long thereafter Roger Fly and Rufus Davis come by to check on things. They are pleasantly surprised to see all of the children in uniform. Gonzales hands Kate the uniforms for the two men and says, "Why don't you present these." Kate shrugged as she took the uniforms from her teacher. "Mr. Fly, Mr. Davis, although you're not here every day you are most certainly part of the team that makes this school possible. And so you should look the part," Kate said and handed them each their own uniform.

The men are surprised but pleased. Fly says he will go back to his house to change. Gonzales says, "Why not change in the next room instead. I'd like it to be a complete surprise when this entire team walks out of this building and onto the ball field in uniform." "Or you could go on upstairs, there's a spare bedroom at the end of the hall. Well have to get their uniforms to the others without them being seen, were the others going to stop by as well?"

Rufus replies, "Oh yes, we're all planning to be here to support the school." Gonzales says, "If they're not here until the game we can just bring the uniforms with us and they can then go change when they get the chance." Kate adds, "And now we need to try to study until game time."

The gentlemen from the committee stayed and observed the few lessons there was time left for before game time. The children were restless but did their best to focus on them instead of what was going to happen at dismissal time, which did finally arrive. By that time Neil Cassidy had also arrived and was thrilled to get his uniform. Nate Caudell also arrived and was given his for helping coach the team.

The two men head off into the next room to change, with Nate turning back and says, "You don't need to worry about the game being a fair one, Judge Isby has agreed to referee." Kate replies, "Thank heaven for that. I'll feel much better about sending the students out with the Judge in charge. Who's idea was it to ask him?" "It was Kevin Tomlinson's idea," Nate says. "The Judge was more than happy to agree, it seems that he enjoys watching baseball so is familiar with the rules."

"More familiar than I am, I'm certain," Kate laughed. "Of course, it leads me to ask why Kevin Tomlinson was interested, but I tend to forget anyone but those directly involved have much interest in what we're doing." Nate and Neil disappeared into the next room while they got the children ready to go out and play the game. "Don't forget to have fun," she said finally. "And go right ahead and get dirty! That's exactly what these uniforms are for. Is everybody ready?"

The children indicate that they are. The men soon return. Everybody is now dressed in their new uniforms and don their caps. It is now almost game time. The students are lined up single file, smallest in front tallest in back. The three teachers take the lead and file out the door with the twenty-five children following and with the five identically attired men, Nate Caudell, Neil Cassidy, Rufus Davis and Roger Fly and Manuel Gonzales behind them. "We're just like a parade, aren't we?" Kate said to Gina as she walked along holding her hand. As they saw the field Kate was surprised to see so many people there to watch the game.

Kate looked for the teachers of the "Moral Values" school, not wanting to miss their faces as the team came out. The look on both Icabod Shakelton's and Doctor James Eaton's faces are priceless as the Hoover School marches onto the field. Just the sheer number of people in the new blue and white uniforms creates a contrast with thirty-three in the Hoover school colors as opposed to the fifteen comprised of the twelve students and three teachers of their opponents.

Three-year-old Jeeter Smith, the youngest son of the Silver Dollar Restaurant owner Haywood Smith and one of the four non-uniformed youngest members of the other school points and says to his father "Daddy, how come their kids all get uniforms?" "Be quiet son," is the father's response. Both Travis Calhoun and Cole Rixton are with the crowd at the field at look on with surprise. Neil Cassidy walks over to them and hands them their uniforms saying, "Hurry up and go get dressed!" They quickly hurry off to Calhoun's house to change.

Kate couldn't help but feel just a bit smug at the look on Shackelton's and Eaton's faces. It was also a little disappointing since it confirmed in her mind that they'd hoped to intimidate her students with their glory. The last members of their team to receive their uniforms ran off to change looking more like big boys than men and the rest of the team got settled on their bench. Kate stowed her carpetbag full of medical things under the bench and released the long braid of hair twisted behind her head so she could actually put her cap on. Then she approached Judge Isby.

"Thank you for agreeing to referee," she said offering her hand. "I have no doubts we'll have a fair game with you here." "Indeed you will" states the Judge. He calls Kate over as the lead representative of her team and Ashley King steps forward representing the other school.

The Judge states, "There are a number of different sets of rules for baseball, each with slight variances to the other. For today's game we will use standard rules of a nine inning game, three strikes make an out and three outs end each side of the inning. Balls that don't pass the between the first and third base baselines are considered foul and do not count as strikes although if caught by the other team they count as outs."

Ashley asks, "What about the base on balls rule?" Kate looks confused and Ashley says, "Four bad pitches and the player gets the base." Isby says, "Forget it King, today this is children's game! I'm planning to let those kids stand there and try until they've swung three times. For adult games we can deal with strike zones and bases on balls, not for children." Isby then adds, "And I'd also like to see everybody get a chance to play if possible. But remember, once somebody is replaced in the game they can't return." Ashley says, "What about pitcher rotation?" Isby replies, "I expect each pitcher to stay on the mound until they've pitched to all nine positions in the other team's rotation. You can switch off any time after that. Any further questions?"

"I believe I understand. I'll make sure my team understand the rules and we'll be ready to start." She offered a friendly hand to Ashley King. "Good luck to your team," she said sincerely. A smile comes to Ashley's face as he shakes her hand and replies, "And good luck to you too Mrs. Kale. This should be an interesting game."

Judge Isby then takes out a silver dollar and says, "I'm going to flip the coin to see which team either bats or fields first. Why wishes to call it?" Ashley says, "Why the Lady of course should have that honor." Isby flips the coin up into the air. "Thank you. Heads it is." The coin lands tails so Kate loses. Ashley King says "We'll let the Hoover School bat first."

As Kate heads back towards her team she sees Conrad Booth standing into he crowd. She also notices the arrival of Elton Hubbard coming to see his grandson play. And in an uncharacteristically general gesture he has brought both Shamus and Patrick O'Hara with him, allowing them to leave work at the mines an hour early. As they head over to the team Gonzales hands Patrick the final uniform and Nate says, "Go suit up Coach O'Hara, the game is about to start." The young man hurries off.

Kate smiled when she saw Conrad there but couldn't catch his eye. When she returned to the bench repeated what the Judge had said about substitutions and that everyone would get to swing three times rather than getting to take a base after four bad pitches. "All of you probably understand that better than I do." A flutter of nerves hit Kate's stomach as she remembered she was to bat first. Waiting for Judge Isby to start the game was quickly becoming uncomfortable.

Coach Nate Caudell sets up the batting order with Catcher Kate as lead-off batter. He suggests that the five twelve-to-fourteen year olds being the team's best players should plan on playing as much of the game as they are physically able, and plans them for the fourth to seven and ninth place in the batting rotation, with the pitcher as eighth.

That means that Kate will be followed batting by the right and left fielders, positions which will be rotated throughout the game between the eight children in the ages seven-to-eleven age bracket, which includes the half-ogre Rocky who Nate suggests they hold off on until they need him. He asks Kate which two she wants to have start, the remaining players in that group being 11-year-old Joanne Covington, 10-year-old Luke Wagner, 9-year-old Nathan Covington, 10-year-old Hosea Perez, 8-year-old Luis Soares, 7-year-old Consuela Tolucca and 7-year-old Richie Baines. She replies, "Let's start off with Luke and Richie. Once we get a feel for how things are going we can decide who will come next."

The Promise City School of Moral Values takes the field in their nice clean maroon and white uniforms. Icabod Shackelton take the catcher’s position; 15-year old Grant Porter takes 1st Base; 13-year old Barney Porter takes 2nd Base; Ashley King goes to 3rd Base; 9-year old Becky Eaton takes Shortstop; Rory Hubbard Fuller heads to the pitcher's mound; Doctor James Eaton heads out to center field with accompanied by his sons, with 5-year-old Tad Eaton taking right field and 7-year-old Philby Eaton taking left field. The remaining six uniformed members of that team, ranging in age from five to ten, sit on the bench.

Elton Hubbard cheers on his grandson and has a wide smile on his face. Kate glances over at the richest man in Promise City who up until now she has never seen with anything but a dour look on his face. She also immediately realizes where that team got the money for the baseball uniforms.

Nate Caudell says, "Okay Kate, let's start this thing off." "Alright," Kate said with poorly hidden nerves. She took one of the bats and stepped out toward the plate, then carefully held it as she'd been taught on Saturday. As she held it up, it occurred to her that this wasn't so different than playing with her brothers in the gardens back home. They hadn't played baseball, but this wasn't really the first time she'd swung at things with what amounted to a large stick. She firmed up her grip, stepped up, and waited for the first pitch.

The world seems to go in slow motion as the sphere is lobbed in her direction. Kate focuses and concentrates, putting everything she had into the swing. Amazingly the bat makes a connection to the ball, sending it out towards left field. Shortstop Beth Eaton jumps up in an attempt to catch it but the ball is about two inches too high for the girl before it changes its trajectory downward. The outfield was caught unaware of Kate being able to put that much power behind her swing and are too far back to make a catch, the ball bouncing once as Philby Eaton runs forward to grab it.

Kate was almost as shocked as the other team that she had hit. After a seconds pause she dropped the bat and ran toward first base, checking as she neared whether she had time to run for the second. Philby is slow getting to the ball and Kate makes it safely to second base. The Hoover school all cheer.

Luke Wagner steps up to the plate next. He misses on his first two swings but connects on the third. The ball heads straight towards second baseman Barney Porter but he flubs the catch, the ball falling out of his glove. He is still too close for Kate to attempt a run to third base, but Luke manages to safely make it to first base. Richie Baines heads up next but strikes out after three swings.

Melvin Caudell is next up. He allows Rory Hubbard Fuller to throw eleven pitches at him without attempting to swing at any. Shackelton yells, "What are you daft? Lots of those were good." "Just waiting for the right one" Melvin replies On the next pitch Melvin swings with all his might. The ball goes sailing far and long, well beyond where James Eaton is standing and a good twenty feet beyond the poles 400 feet away that Judge Isby put out to mark the Home Run line. Melvin turns to Shackelton and says, "That Sir, was the right one."

Kate jogged around the last two bases, then backed off and waited for Luke and Melvin to finish their runs as well. "Well done," she told them both. "That got us off on the right foot." Cathleen O’Hara strikes out. Colleen O’Hara misses the first pitch, fouls the second, misses the third, and hits the final pitch. The ball bounces along the first base line. the first baseman catches the ball and gets Colleen out on a tag play.

The Hoover School takes the field as the other teams heads up to bat. Roberto Tolucca, age nine, heads out to Pitch for the Hoover School. Ashley King steps up to the plate first. On the second pitch he hits a home run. Icabod Shackelton is next. He is too aggressive and Tolucca manages to strike him out. Grant Porter is next and takes a total of five pitches, two foul balls and three strikes. Barney Porter comes up next and manages another home run. Rory fuller follows and strikes out, the first inning finishing with a score of 3 to 2.

Ginnie is the lead off batter the next inning and strikes out. Nakomo follows and hits a ball way into the outfield. Doctor Eaton manages to field the ball and get it to Ashley King just as Nakomo slides into third. Judge Isby declares the Indian boy safe. Roberto Tolucca is the next batter. He hits it near second and Barney Porter tosses the ball to his brother at first, causing him to be out but in the meanwhile Nakomo made it to home, bring in another run.

They have now gone through the entire rotation and Kate is up again. Kate fouls out the first ball but hits the second. It bounces to short and Beth Eaton then throws it to first but Kate surprisingly has made it to base first. Luke Wagner is up but has been replaced by Nathan Covington, who strikes out, ending the top of the inning.

James Eaton begins the bottom of the second inning with a home run. His son Tad follows him up but strikes out. Philby Eaton manages a base hit. Ashley King steps up to the plate, starting the rotation again. The Hoover School calls for a pitching change, with Mollie Caudell coming in for Roberto. King gets a good laugh at that, as do Shackelton and Eaton. Five minutes later neither King or Shackelton are laughing, as they both strike out ending the second inning, the score now Four to Three in favor of the Hoover School.

Hosea Perez has replaced Richie Baines as the next batter. He manages a single. Melvin follows and also manages a single but Perez gets tagged out at second. Considering that she was trying to teach the children good sportsmanship, Kate did not laugh out loud at Ashley King or the tutor when Mollie struck them out. Cathleen hit it into the outfield but Doctor Eaton caught it making it two outs. Colleen misses the first swing, and hits the second which goes to Tad Eaton who proceeds to drop it. Melvin makes it home and Colleen makes it to third. Ginnie is next up, striking out and ending the top of the inning.

The Porter brothers are the first two batters and Mollie strikes them both out. Beth Eaton is next and hits the ball towards third. The ball is fielded by Colleen who scoops it up and throws a perfect pitch to Melvin who gets it before she reaches the base, ending the inning, the score now 5 to 3. The next inning starts with Mollie striking out and then Nakomo hitting a triple. It is time for Kate to go up again unless she decides to have somebody else come in at this point for her.

Luis Soares heads up to the plate and manages a single. Nakomo is dying to try to run home on that play but the ball is fielded so quickly by Barney Porter that he realizes he would probably be tagged out and the last thing he wants to do is allow the racist Shackelton to get the Indian out. The next batter for the Hoover Team is Consuela Tolucca, who strikes out. Ginnie is up next but she says she's not on her game and suggest that Rocky take her place. This proves to be a wise substitution as the half-ogre strikes the ball further than the previous home runs, bringing in three more runs. Melvin is next and hits a double. Score now 8 to 3, Cathleen strikes, strikes, and is out on a catch.

The bottom of the fourth should have started with the pitcher Rory Fuller up at bat, but Ashley King steps into the batters box instead, apparently now the new pitcher for his team. Mollie takes delight in striking him out. James Eaton follows and manages to hit a triple, as the ball fell into the field that Rocky was covering and he is slow to get to it. Tad Eaton then hits a single which brings his father home, the score now 8 to 4. Philby Eaton then strikes out. Rory Fuller steps in next, indicating that instead of being replaced in the game he and King just switched positions. Mollie strikes him out, ending the fourth inning.

Colleen scores a home run on the first hit. Now relieved of playing duties Kate became a vocal supporter, cheering on each student as they came up to bat and giving Colleen a big smile as she came back home after her home run. Ashley King's first pitch to Mollie is straight towards her head. She manages to duck in time. Isby threatens to throw him out of the game. King claims it was an accident so is allowed to continue but warned that it had better not happen again. He manages to strike her out, but no more pitches come near her head.

Nokomo manages to hit a double. Joanne Covington now goes in as the catcher so it is her place in the lineup. She is struck out. Bert Hoover goes in next and is also struck out, ending the top of the fifth inning. Icabod Shackelton manages a single. Grant Porter then strikes out for the third time in the game. Barney porter hits a single, bringing Shackelton to second. Becky Eaton is then stuck out, followed by Ashley King who takes three very aggressive swings which Mollie successfully pitches around, the inning ending with a score of 9 to 4.

Meagan O'Hara steps up to the plate, cheered on by the children and brother-in-law. She strikes out. Rocky and Melvin both follow and are also struck out by Ashley King. The bottom of the sixth inning goes almost as quick. James Eaton manages a single. Tad and Philby Eaton both strike out. Rory Fuller hits a double but it is thrown to third in time for Colleen to catch and tag Doctor Eaton out, ending the inning with a score of 9 to 4.

Cathleen gets out on the first throw. Colleen gets to second base. Mollie strikes out. Nakomo gets a double, bringing Colleen home. Caitlin O'Hara is the stuck out, ending the top of the inning.
The bottom of the seventh begins with Icabod Shackelton being struck out. Grant Porter is pulled from the game, Barney Porter now moved up to 1st Baseman and next in the rotation. He manages to hit a double.

Ten-year-old Jackie Stevens comes into the game, the first of the six from the bench to do so, as the new 2nd baseman. Mollie manages to strike him out. Becky Eaton should be next in the rotation but her father goes up to the plate instead, apparently now the new shortstop. He hits a triple, bringing Barney Porter Home. Ashley King is up next and Mollie strikes the ball hard to center field just shy of the home run line and is caught by Nakomo, ending the inning with a score of 10 to 5.

Shackleton now in the center field position in the outfield with Jim Eaton at shortstop. Mary O'Hara bunts and successfully makes it to first base due to an error by Barney Porter. Ricardo Huesca is excessively anxious to get into the game and goes in next, striking out. Rocky is next and strikes out. Melvin is next and fouls out on the second pitch with Barney Porter managing to catch it, making the final out.

Shackelton is up first and is struck out. Troy King, age seven, is sent in from the bench to replace Tad Eaton and manages a single. James Eaton switches positions yet again, now taking his son Philby's place. He manages a single but the ball is fielded to second and Cathleen tags Troy King out. Rory Fuller is up next and strikes out ending the 8th inning, the score still 10 to 5.

Cathleen scored a home run on the first pitch. Colleen's first hit got caught. Mollie strikes out yet again. With the rearrangement of the batting order on the other team to have the adults bat sooner two more bench players are in the outfield, namely 9-year-old Langdon Hudson son of the town baker, and 8-year-old Andrew Hamel. This creates an opportunity for Nakomo who hits it between the youngsters and manages to get to third. Jacob Wagner is next to bat and strikes out, ending the top of the 9th inning.

Nate Caudell approaches Kate and says, "The score is now 11 to 5, how big a risk taker are you? We have seven players in uniform including the littlest ones who haven't played yet. Want to send all of them out?" Kate says, "I had no intention of sending the smallest ones out at all, but anyone six or older who hasn't had a chance to play yet, let's send them out." Nate says, "Six and older have all played. How about we send the three five-year-olds into the outfield?" She replies, "That sounds good to me. Thanks."

The Hoover School takes the field, with Sally Covington, Kellie O'Hara and Julia Baines now heading into the outfield. Nakomo takes the position of catcher. Catcher Aime North should be the first batter, but an infuriated Ashley King replaces her. He hits what should be a double but it takes longer than usual for the youthful outfield to get it so he makes it to third before the ball is thrown in.

Barney Porter is next up and hits a single. Jackie Stevens should be next in the rotation but Jim Eaton steps in for him. Mollie manages to strike him out. Andrew Hamel should be next but they send Jim Eaton in yet again. He hits a single which sends home Ashley King. Ashley King comes back to the plate to bat next. He misses the first pitch. The third one is hit as a bounce between 1st and 2nd and starts to roll into the outfield. Kellie O'Hara charges up and grabs it, throwing it to her sister Colleen at third base as Barney Porter runs by it and Jim Eaton is running towards her. Colleen catches the ball and Jim Eaton stops running as Barney Porter continues towards home plate.

Colleen throws the ball to home plate and Nakomo tags a sliding Barney Porter out. He then throws the ball back to third where Jim Eaton is now running towards again. Colleen barely misses the ball as it bounces off of her glove. Eaton rounds third and heads for home. Cathleen picks up the ball and throws it to home.

Her pitch is high and to the right but Nakomo makes a wild leap and manages to catch it but he lands well outside of the baseline as Eaton runs across the plate. King has now rounded third and is charging towards home plate. Nakomo cannot possibly get back there in time to make the tag but sees that Mollie is running in from the pitchers mound. He throws the ball to her and she tags Ashley King before he reaches the plate, ending the game. Final score 11 to 7 with the Hoover School winning!