orchid blossom
Explorer
Silver Moon said:
I believe, according to the last update, that this information needs to be updated.
"Ballots & Bullets" (TSR Module BH3) Concluded!
- Thread starter Silver Moon
- Start date
I believe, according to the last update, that this information needs to be updated.
baradtgnome
First Post
Silver Moon said:
As an interesting side note, I was in Skagway Alaska this summer and Soapy Smith is still the most loved/hated man in Skagway history. Apparently he moved to Alaska following the gold rush like many others, especially since his welcome in Colorado was long worn out. Finally having enough of his cons, vigilantes (more likely a disgruntled victim of said cons) shot and killed the infamous Mr. Smith. He was so 'popular' that they refused to bury him in the official town cemetary, he is actually buried a few yards away.
Soapy is quite a tourist draw. I even had lunch in a small diner called Soapy Smiths way up in Fairbanks. He may be dead, but it appears that unwary tourists still give up their money in his name.
Silver Moon
Adventurer
Great story Barad, I love the way that real history interconnected with our fiction. The post has been updated Orchid. On to the next chapter:
Chapter Two-hundred-nine, “Conspiracy Theory“, Saturday, June 17th, 12:00 P.M.
Ruby comments, "I am, really sorry. I shouldn't have treated you like that, you deserve better." He replies, "Ruby, I know that you are concerned. You left a note with the hotel clerk at the Grand Hotel in Tombstone." He then selectively quotes it from memory stating "Please try to see me George. I would very much like to know that you are alright after that dreadful night. I am asking that you meet me alone, so just the two of us can talk."
He moves closer and takes her hands in his. He looks down at her, into her eyes and says, "Ruby, I did not receive that note until three weeks after you wrote it. It was placed with other possessions shipped to me that I had left behind there. But it told me what I needed to know, that you were sorry for what had transpired and that you wanted to see me again." Ruby looks up at him, grips his hands in hers and smiles softly through her tears. "George, all I ever wanted is to know that someone truly cares about me. Not because of how I look, but who I am. So many men have said they love me and it wasn't true, said they cared but only wanted one thing. I need for you to know me for you to say you really care about me."
He replies, "Of course I care about you Ruby. I have for nearly six years, the trip to Promise City merely reinforced that fact. Ruby, you were being manipulated and controlled by your business partner, that was obvious, I would not hold that against you. You may recall that at the time all that I asked of him was to give you time alone to think things through, and he would not allow it. But he is not here now, it is just us, and we can spend as much time as you need for the two of us to become reacquainted with one another." She releases one of his hands and instead places it on George's face. "You are so sweet and no matter what happens I don't deserve you as a friend." She leaves her hand there over long, his face smooth except for his chin beard.
She drops her hand and continues. "You need to understand something about Jake. He wasn't just my business partner, he was my partner-partner. I did love him. I do love him and some part of me always will. I don't mean to say this to hurt you. But I had shut off my feelings for so long that I didn't care about anything, not even myself. Jake got me to change that, so we have to always be grateful to him, for helping me change that." She sighs, "Jake just can't love me like I need to be loved or give me what I need to have, this trip has proven it. He promised me he would always come for me and he didn't." She takes his other hand in hers again. "I would like to, no, I have to tell you the things you need to hear. But... I am scared. Scared of what you will think of me after I do."
He lifts his head up and kisses her on the forehead. "That can wait Ruby, you have been through a lot. We will have plenty of time to talk. But for now we should get back upstairs before your friend Richard starts to worry." Ruby nods her head up and down. "Oh, but I wish we didn't have to go back. All I wanted to do was see you and all everyone else wanted to do was keep me from you." She releases his hands but then throws herself into his arms and hugs him tightly. He was tall, a good amount taller than her which was rare, but she liked it. She fit just right. Feeling safe, she suddenly doesn't want to let him go.
“I know," she whispers, "We have to get back." He states, "We can wait a bit longer....this is nice." Ruby turns her nose to his neck. Breathing him in she says softly, "This isn't exactly how I pictured our first meeting George." She wraps her arms around his neck and stays in the hug, "It feels like nothing can harm us here. I meant what I said, I am lucky to have you as a friend." He hugs her tightly and replies, "I have been and always will be your friend."
George's words make a few more tears fall from Ruby's eyes. She squeezes him, then pulls her face back leaving them only inches apart, staring into each others eyes. Ruby's heart start to pound and she bites her lip as they share the air around them in one of those 'moments'. Her natural instinct is to kiss him, and she wants to as she looks over his face. It was like she was seeing how handsome he was for the first time. She puts both of her hands on his face for a moment then takes a few steps away from him. "We should go back," she says, not really convinced. If something was going to come of this, her and George, no matter how unlikely Ruby wanted it to be different, needed it to be different.
They head back to the elevator together and he pulls the lever for the top floor. He smiles and says, "Thank you for coming to Rochester, despite the risk is has put you in." Ruby leans back against the wall next to George and returns the smile, her heart light. "You're welcome George Eastman. I'd venture a guess that I'm going to get much more out of this than you. And I should be thanking you, putting you in danger that you weren't already in. I did say I was sorry for that and I mean it. Besides, I'm unfortunately used to being in danger as of late. As I said, I have much to tell you about and we'll have as much time as we need to go over it."
The elevator stops at the top floor. Ruby starts bouncing out, stops and kisses George's cheek before continuing to bounce out. "Perhaps a picnic? Yes, I think a picnic would be fun." Ruby reenters the office and goes directly into the back looking for Richard. She still has a sill smile on her face when she finds him. "You should take a tour of the factory, it's amazing!" Ruby chirps. "Did you find out anything interesting in that book Richard?" He looks up from the papers which he has now arranged into a series of five piles. Ruby also notes that four bookmarks are in the journal.
Richard replies, "Yes, I believe that I may have found something. Are either of you familiar with Byzantium Powder?" George replies, "No, but I am familiar with the word Byzantium, that was the an ancient city along the Mediterranean Sea. Roman Emperor Constantine renamed the city after himself, calling in Constantinople. The city is currently known as Istanbul." Richard replies, "Correct, and the powder that I refer to is made from a plant, a type of marsh fern, found only in the vicinity of that city. It is a rather rare commodity with some unique uses."
Ruby states, "I'd like travel to Istanbul one day but otherwise I have no idea. What kind of uses are we talking about?" Richard "The primary use is as an inhibiter of magic." "Hmmm...," She looks to George to gage his reaction to the 'magic' issue. "Why would that be so important to a political party?" Richard asks, "Ruby, what do you know about William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the United States?" Ruby cheeks suddenly turn crimson. She didn't want to look stupid in front of George and for the first time she regrets not paying attention in school. She tries not to look at him when she answers, "Not much. Is there something I should know?"
Richard states, "Harrison was a war hero from the War of 1812, the General who won the Battle of Tippecanoe. The Whigs ran him as their Presidential candidate in 1840. He was the oldest man ever elected President and wished to present himself as a man still with youthful vigor. So he wore no coat of hat at his Presidential inauguration, where he gave a speech that lasted over two hours. It was a cold wet, raw day in early March of 1841 and he caught pneumonia. Doctors and Priests worked diligently for the next month to cure him, but despite all efforts including no small amount of clerical healing magic he died of the illness just thirty days after assuming the Presidency."
She says, "That's pretty sad for him. And silly. Why not just wear a coat!" Ruby thinks for a moment and taps her lips. "If you used some of that stuff...would it keep healing magic from working too?" Richard says, "That's where the clerk's journal comes in handy. It records something with the initials B.P., which I presume could mean the Byzantium Powder being given to a Doctor named Dorian Strathmoore on March 2nd, 1882. That was two days before the inauguration. Doctor Strathmoore was one of the physicians who cared for President Harrison during that month."
George comments, "So you suspect that the President did not die of natural causes but was instead murdered. Even some forty-one years later that revelation would still resonate, it is likely that many of the conspirators may still be alive." Richard says, "Even if they aren't, their children and grandchildren are and this would put quite a blemish on many family reputations." Ruby exclaims, "And that would also explain why they would be so intent on getting this stuff back. If we found out this much information in this third of the papers then who knows what's in the other stuff that Jane has."
Ruby pushes her hair behind her ears. "So what should we do? DO we still try to mail these papers away from us? George, so you know anyone here with affiliations to the Whig party? George says, "That party has long since ceased to be a political force, it's now promiarly Republicans, Democrats and Socialists." Richard says, "Yes, but this is all the more reason why we need to make sure that these documents are out of our possession before Geroge tries to clear our names." Ruby asks, "Why is that Richard? I'm not sure I understand all of what's going on. It's a bit embarrassing really."
Richard states, Because the Pinkerton's are desperate for these things that we have. Once they know exactly where we are they will probably continue to follow us until they have an opportunity to do so. Better we not have them in our possession when that happens. I also wouldn't put it past them to search this building once Eastman identifies himself as your friend, better they not be here at all, even in the mail room." She says, "Alright. How do we go about getting rid of them now?"
Ruby takes a few steps closer to George, standing close to him and looking him in the eye. "George, you said you know people you trust? Can we get out of here without someone spotting us? And where do we go? Are you sure you want to get involved in this danger? Once you do you can't go back." George says, "I know dozens of people who I can trust. And my getting out of here isn't an issue, I own the place and nobody is looking for me. Let's take those things down to the mailroom and get them all packed up for shipping and then I'll go find somebody else to handling the actual mailing."
Ruby nods. "Alright George." They pack up all the papers, leaving them bundled together. Ruby finishes packing up all the belongings that didn't make it into her suitcase the first time. When George isn't looking she stows the photograph of him from Costa Rica in her bag, but puts back the picture of herself on his desk. "Let's go boys," she smiles and leads the way to the elevator.
They make their way downstairs to the mailroom. To keep the Eastman name off the package he ignores the cartons and crates for outgoing mail with the company stamp on them, instead looking over boxes that the previous day's incoming mail came in. He finds one the right size that is stamped with the Wells Fargo Company logo on it. which they then pack and seal. He says, "I'll get a close friend to send this off using Wells Fargo and the carrier, once it gets mixed in with their other mail nobody would even suspect. Who should I address it to, probably not either of your names as the Pinkertons will soon know your true identities if they don't already."
She states, "True, they'll know Richard's name too. Richard, what name do you want to send this to Tucson in? Not Jane's either, they'll probably know her too." Ruby pauses. "You know, there is a chance the Pinkerton's are in on this too, so we have to be careful not to give away too much." "How about we send it to Father Grappini?" Richard suggests. "That sounds like a good plan," Ruby nods. "We'll do that." Ruby lets Richard give George the information.
George says that he will meet them back in his office in an hour or two. "Wait," Ruby grabs his arm before he leaves. In a concerned voice she says, "Where are you going? I don't want you to go somewhere without us. It's dangerous and something could happen to you." George replies, "I am in no danger, I have my driver who is also my bodyguard. I'm going to go visit a friend who owns another factory in town and ask him to mail this for me. Then I will go try to find the Police Commissioner and bring him back here to clear up this mess. Taking the two of you with me now would not be safe for any of us with the newspapers having misidentified the two of you as murderers and thieves."
Ruby lets out the breath she was holding in and nods. "Of course, you're right." She lets go of his arm and puts a small smile on her face. "I didn't know you have a bodyguard! I'm sure you'll be fine." Almost as if she was convincing herself instead of agreeing. She gives him a quick hug, "Take care George and be careful anyway, okay?"
Ruby releases him and watches him leave. She turns to Richard. "I told you we could trust him. Isn't he wonderful? He's a good man." Richard replies, "Well, I will say this about him, he is quite brave. When he thought I was Arthur 'Deadeye' Douglas he didn't hesitate to stand up to me trying to protect you. He's a smart enough man to have figured out that Deadeye would have needed him alive to get ransom, but I was holding a gun in my hand at the time. That man has no small amount of courage."
"Courage," Ruby smiles. "I like that, it's romantic." Her eyes twinkle like a school girls. "You know, he let his cousin boss him around back in Promise City a little bit. Okay, a lot. But he almost doesn't seem like the same man as back then. He isn't the same man it seems." She realizes she is acting silly, so she coughs and changes the subject. "Ahem, right, so what should we do for the next hour? Just kick back and relax? I'm going to worry no matter what we do waiting for him to return."
Chapter Two-hundred-nine, “Conspiracy Theory“, Saturday, June 17th, 12:00 P.M.
Ruby comments, "I am, really sorry. I shouldn't have treated you like that, you deserve better." He replies, "Ruby, I know that you are concerned. You left a note with the hotel clerk at the Grand Hotel in Tombstone." He then selectively quotes it from memory stating "Please try to see me George. I would very much like to know that you are alright after that dreadful night. I am asking that you meet me alone, so just the two of us can talk."
He moves closer and takes her hands in his. He looks down at her, into her eyes and says, "Ruby, I did not receive that note until three weeks after you wrote it. It was placed with other possessions shipped to me that I had left behind there. But it told me what I needed to know, that you were sorry for what had transpired and that you wanted to see me again." Ruby looks up at him, grips his hands in hers and smiles softly through her tears. "George, all I ever wanted is to know that someone truly cares about me. Not because of how I look, but who I am. So many men have said they love me and it wasn't true, said they cared but only wanted one thing. I need for you to know me for you to say you really care about me."
He replies, "Of course I care about you Ruby. I have for nearly six years, the trip to Promise City merely reinforced that fact. Ruby, you were being manipulated and controlled by your business partner, that was obvious, I would not hold that against you. You may recall that at the time all that I asked of him was to give you time alone to think things through, and he would not allow it. But he is not here now, it is just us, and we can spend as much time as you need for the two of us to become reacquainted with one another." She releases one of his hands and instead places it on George's face. "You are so sweet and no matter what happens I don't deserve you as a friend." She leaves her hand there over long, his face smooth except for his chin beard.
She drops her hand and continues. "You need to understand something about Jake. He wasn't just my business partner, he was my partner-partner. I did love him. I do love him and some part of me always will. I don't mean to say this to hurt you. But I had shut off my feelings for so long that I didn't care about anything, not even myself. Jake got me to change that, so we have to always be grateful to him, for helping me change that." She sighs, "Jake just can't love me like I need to be loved or give me what I need to have, this trip has proven it. He promised me he would always come for me and he didn't." She takes his other hand in hers again. "I would like to, no, I have to tell you the things you need to hear. But... I am scared. Scared of what you will think of me after I do."
He lifts his head up and kisses her on the forehead. "That can wait Ruby, you have been through a lot. We will have plenty of time to talk. But for now we should get back upstairs before your friend Richard starts to worry." Ruby nods her head up and down. "Oh, but I wish we didn't have to go back. All I wanted to do was see you and all everyone else wanted to do was keep me from you." She releases his hands but then throws herself into his arms and hugs him tightly. He was tall, a good amount taller than her which was rare, but she liked it. She fit just right. Feeling safe, she suddenly doesn't want to let him go.
“I know," she whispers, "We have to get back." He states, "We can wait a bit longer....this is nice." Ruby turns her nose to his neck. Breathing him in she says softly, "This isn't exactly how I pictured our first meeting George." She wraps her arms around his neck and stays in the hug, "It feels like nothing can harm us here. I meant what I said, I am lucky to have you as a friend." He hugs her tightly and replies, "I have been and always will be your friend."
George's words make a few more tears fall from Ruby's eyes. She squeezes him, then pulls her face back leaving them only inches apart, staring into each others eyes. Ruby's heart start to pound and she bites her lip as they share the air around them in one of those 'moments'. Her natural instinct is to kiss him, and she wants to as she looks over his face. It was like she was seeing how handsome he was for the first time. She puts both of her hands on his face for a moment then takes a few steps away from him. "We should go back," she says, not really convinced. If something was going to come of this, her and George, no matter how unlikely Ruby wanted it to be different, needed it to be different.
They head back to the elevator together and he pulls the lever for the top floor. He smiles and says, "Thank you for coming to Rochester, despite the risk is has put you in." Ruby leans back against the wall next to George and returns the smile, her heart light. "You're welcome George Eastman. I'd venture a guess that I'm going to get much more out of this than you. And I should be thanking you, putting you in danger that you weren't already in. I did say I was sorry for that and I mean it. Besides, I'm unfortunately used to being in danger as of late. As I said, I have much to tell you about and we'll have as much time as we need to go over it."
The elevator stops at the top floor. Ruby starts bouncing out, stops and kisses George's cheek before continuing to bounce out. "Perhaps a picnic? Yes, I think a picnic would be fun." Ruby reenters the office and goes directly into the back looking for Richard. She still has a sill smile on her face when she finds him. "You should take a tour of the factory, it's amazing!" Ruby chirps. "Did you find out anything interesting in that book Richard?" He looks up from the papers which he has now arranged into a series of five piles. Ruby also notes that four bookmarks are in the journal.
Richard replies, "Yes, I believe that I may have found something. Are either of you familiar with Byzantium Powder?" George replies, "No, but I am familiar with the word Byzantium, that was the an ancient city along the Mediterranean Sea. Roman Emperor Constantine renamed the city after himself, calling in Constantinople. The city is currently known as Istanbul." Richard replies, "Correct, and the powder that I refer to is made from a plant, a type of marsh fern, found only in the vicinity of that city. It is a rather rare commodity with some unique uses."
Ruby states, "I'd like travel to Istanbul one day but otherwise I have no idea. What kind of uses are we talking about?" Richard "The primary use is as an inhibiter of magic." "Hmmm...," She looks to George to gage his reaction to the 'magic' issue. "Why would that be so important to a political party?" Richard asks, "Ruby, what do you know about William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the United States?" Ruby cheeks suddenly turn crimson. She didn't want to look stupid in front of George and for the first time she regrets not paying attention in school. She tries not to look at him when she answers, "Not much. Is there something I should know?"
Richard states, "Harrison was a war hero from the War of 1812, the General who won the Battle of Tippecanoe. The Whigs ran him as their Presidential candidate in 1840. He was the oldest man ever elected President and wished to present himself as a man still with youthful vigor. So he wore no coat of hat at his Presidential inauguration, where he gave a speech that lasted over two hours. It was a cold wet, raw day in early March of 1841 and he caught pneumonia. Doctors and Priests worked diligently for the next month to cure him, but despite all efforts including no small amount of clerical healing magic he died of the illness just thirty days after assuming the Presidency."
She says, "That's pretty sad for him. And silly. Why not just wear a coat!" Ruby thinks for a moment and taps her lips. "If you used some of that stuff...would it keep healing magic from working too?" Richard says, "That's where the clerk's journal comes in handy. It records something with the initials B.P., which I presume could mean the Byzantium Powder being given to a Doctor named Dorian Strathmoore on March 2nd, 1882. That was two days before the inauguration. Doctor Strathmoore was one of the physicians who cared for President Harrison during that month."
George comments, "So you suspect that the President did not die of natural causes but was instead murdered. Even some forty-one years later that revelation would still resonate, it is likely that many of the conspirators may still be alive." Richard says, "Even if they aren't, their children and grandchildren are and this would put quite a blemish on many family reputations." Ruby exclaims, "And that would also explain why they would be so intent on getting this stuff back. If we found out this much information in this third of the papers then who knows what's in the other stuff that Jane has."
Ruby pushes her hair behind her ears. "So what should we do? DO we still try to mail these papers away from us? George, so you know anyone here with affiliations to the Whig party? George says, "That party has long since ceased to be a political force, it's now promiarly Republicans, Democrats and Socialists." Richard says, "Yes, but this is all the more reason why we need to make sure that these documents are out of our possession before Geroge tries to clear our names." Ruby asks, "Why is that Richard? I'm not sure I understand all of what's going on. It's a bit embarrassing really."
Richard states, Because the Pinkerton's are desperate for these things that we have. Once they know exactly where we are they will probably continue to follow us until they have an opportunity to do so. Better we not have them in our possession when that happens. I also wouldn't put it past them to search this building once Eastman identifies himself as your friend, better they not be here at all, even in the mail room." She says, "Alright. How do we go about getting rid of them now?"
Ruby takes a few steps closer to George, standing close to him and looking him in the eye. "George, you said you know people you trust? Can we get out of here without someone spotting us? And where do we go? Are you sure you want to get involved in this danger? Once you do you can't go back." George says, "I know dozens of people who I can trust. And my getting out of here isn't an issue, I own the place and nobody is looking for me. Let's take those things down to the mailroom and get them all packed up for shipping and then I'll go find somebody else to handling the actual mailing."
Ruby nods. "Alright George." They pack up all the papers, leaving them bundled together. Ruby finishes packing up all the belongings that didn't make it into her suitcase the first time. When George isn't looking she stows the photograph of him from Costa Rica in her bag, but puts back the picture of herself on his desk. "Let's go boys," she smiles and leads the way to the elevator.
They make their way downstairs to the mailroom. To keep the Eastman name off the package he ignores the cartons and crates for outgoing mail with the company stamp on them, instead looking over boxes that the previous day's incoming mail came in. He finds one the right size that is stamped with the Wells Fargo Company logo on it. which they then pack and seal. He says, "I'll get a close friend to send this off using Wells Fargo and the carrier, once it gets mixed in with their other mail nobody would even suspect. Who should I address it to, probably not either of your names as the Pinkertons will soon know your true identities if they don't already."
She states, "True, they'll know Richard's name too. Richard, what name do you want to send this to Tucson in? Not Jane's either, they'll probably know her too." Ruby pauses. "You know, there is a chance the Pinkerton's are in on this too, so we have to be careful not to give away too much." "How about we send it to Father Grappini?" Richard suggests. "That sounds like a good plan," Ruby nods. "We'll do that." Ruby lets Richard give George the information.
George says that he will meet them back in his office in an hour or two. "Wait," Ruby grabs his arm before he leaves. In a concerned voice she says, "Where are you going? I don't want you to go somewhere without us. It's dangerous and something could happen to you." George replies, "I am in no danger, I have my driver who is also my bodyguard. I'm going to go visit a friend who owns another factory in town and ask him to mail this for me. Then I will go try to find the Police Commissioner and bring him back here to clear up this mess. Taking the two of you with me now would not be safe for any of us with the newspapers having misidentified the two of you as murderers and thieves."
Ruby lets out the breath she was holding in and nods. "Of course, you're right." She lets go of his arm and puts a small smile on her face. "I didn't know you have a bodyguard! I'm sure you'll be fine." Almost as if she was convincing herself instead of agreeing. She gives him a quick hug, "Take care George and be careful anyway, okay?"
Ruby releases him and watches him leave. She turns to Richard. "I told you we could trust him. Isn't he wonderful? He's a good man." Richard replies, "Well, I will say this about him, he is quite brave. When he thought I was Arthur 'Deadeye' Douglas he didn't hesitate to stand up to me trying to protect you. He's a smart enough man to have figured out that Deadeye would have needed him alive to get ransom, but I was holding a gun in my hand at the time. That man has no small amount of courage."
"Courage," Ruby smiles. "I like that, it's romantic." Her eyes twinkle like a school girls. "You know, he let his cousin boss him around back in Promise City a little bit. Okay, a lot. But he almost doesn't seem like the same man as back then. He isn't the same man it seems." She realizes she is acting silly, so she coughs and changes the subject. "Ahem, right, so what should we do for the next hour? Just kick back and relax? I'm going to worry no matter what we do waiting for him to return."
Steve Jung
Explorer
That's pretty interesting, barad. Thanks.baradtgnome said:As an interesting side note, I was in Skagway Alaska this summer and Soapy Smith is still the most loved/hated man in Skagway history. Apparently he moved to Alaska following the gold rush like many others, especially since his welcome in Colorado was long worn out. Finally having enough of his cons, vigilantes (more likely a disgruntled victim of said cons) shot and killed the infamous Mr. Smith. He was so 'popular' that they refused to bury him in the official town cemetary, he is actually buried a few yards away.
Soapy is quite a tourist draw. I even had lunch in a small diner called Soapy Smiths way up in Fairbanks. He may be dead, but it appears that unwary tourists still give up their money in his name.
Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter Two-hundred-ten, “The Tournament Begins“, Saturday, June 17th, 12:00 P.M.
As the clock ticks to the hour of Noon the hostess Darla Peacock calls for everybody to take their places at their respective tables. Jake comments to Katherine , "I would be happy to satisfy your curiosity another time, if you are sure you want to know. Sometimes not knowing is some protection, especially if you hang around with the likes of me." He raises his glass to her, "Thanks again." He takes his seat. Most of the gamblers have drinks from the Lucky Lady, but Adair once more has one of his working girls bring him in two glasses of ice water, although not before a very cautious Jonathan Harker requires a sample from each glass to be poured into other glasses to be checked.
The audience settle into their places, arranging chairs or standing by the tables that they anticipate to have the most exciting games and/or specific participants who they wish to watch. The young waiters and waitresses are kept very busy bringing food and drink orders to those in attendance while Stanley Barker keeps up an ongoing rhythm of light piano tunes in the background that add ambiance to the games and helps muffle the voices from the other tables without being a noticeable distraction to the players.
As the players took their seats Kate brought Conrad's accustomed glass of whiskey at which he would sip for the next several hours, then faded into the background, letting the children do the work and collect the tips unless they became overwhelmed. For her own place Kate sought out Edwin Booth in the crowd. She sees him chatting with the reporter Chumbley and overhears the elder Booth tell the halfling that Conrad is his youngest brother. Kate smiled to herself at hearing Edwin say so easily that Conrad was his brother. Although it wasn't what Conrad had been looking for in many ways being a brother rather than a son was a blessing. It was something that could be more easily brought into both their lives without turning them upside-down.
She would deliver Jake's message once the players were absorbed in the game and there would be less attention on Mr. Van Horne. Unfortunately Van Horne, being one the dealers, never leaves the table during the initial two-and-a-quarter hours so she has no opportunity to do so. She chastised herself for not remembering that Mr. Van Horne would be a dealer today. For some reason she'd thought as host he wouldn't be sitting at any of the tables. Perhaps it was "Momma brain," as Ginnie called it. She would just have to pass the message on at her first opportunity.
During the first two hours the tables run by Job Kane and Cornelius Van Horne tend to be the most volatile. At Kane’s table gambler Brett Maverick takes an early lead, winning most of the hands with Long Branch Saloon gambler Wendell Spaulding winning whichever hands Maverick does not. At a point mid-way to the first scheduled break John Hardin, Willy Spinner and Bat Masterson are all down several hundred dollars from where they began. Van Horne’s table is comparable, with professional gambler Brady Hawkes dominating the game largely at the expense of Twitchy Brooklyn, Victor Muratz and Jefferson Smith.
At Bradford Rhinehardt’s table there is no clear early winner, gamblers Booth and Ivers each with a slight lead, although an early loser has materialized in former Governor Safford who fails to win any of the first dozen hands dealt. Isaac Steven’s table also has rather balanced play, with the notable exceptions of Luke Short who after a few hours is up several hundred most of which had belonged to Joe Cartwright.
The table run by Steven’s sister Marybeth Osborne during the first two hours has experienced some of the most boring poker ever seen, with most participants apparently focused upon studying their opponents style of play and playing very cautiously themselves. Nearly every hand is either being played at the minimum ante or being raised by only a copper coin. By 2:15 P.M. each player is no more than $ 100 higher or lower than when they began.
However, during that time college-boy Hearst has managed to give away so many ‘tells’ that the experienced gamblers at the table are now in a position to capitalize on that at their leisure. The other young man, Roosevelt, has thus far indicated a desire for aggressive play but managed to keep those temptations in check.
Interestingly enough, that table has three Promise City gamblers at it, Jake Cook of the Lucky Lady, Burton Lumley of the Gay Lady and Hamilton Fisk who plays regularly at the Long Branch, but despite the saloons all being across streets from one another these three men have seldom if ever played together. Jake had gotten into one long game with Lumley last January, before either man knew who the other was, and the first two hours of this game are enough to remind Jake of exactly how he defeated Lumley that previous time.
The time goes quickly for Jake, who is indeed enjoying every moment. The music, spectators and even the other tables fade away as he immerses himself in the game. He knows the real sounds of danger: the strained voice, an odd foot step, the click of hammer being pulled back, or the snick of a blade leaving its sheath. Short of any of these sounds, he is not to be distracted. Even the pretentious trappings with which Van Horne has adorned the saloon are of no consequence.
In it for the long haul, he is busy absorbing the others tells and habits. He consciously create false habits for the others to observe, like arranging his cards in certain hands as if it helped him think about a difficult hand. Jake had many styles of play in his bag of tricks. He could grind, bluff, draw conservative or take bold risks. He was comfortable with them all, happy to use the one that worked in each game or hand for that matter. He was so engrossed in the game that often his bourbon grew lonely at his elbow.
The aggressive play continues at Job Kane’s table with Maverick continuing to dominate although Lottie Dano has gotten into the act as well. By evening break time Maverick has increased his starting money by $1,700; Dano has by $900, Spinner and Spaulding are close to even; Masterson is down $800; and Hardin has less than half of what he started with.
Van Horn’s table tells a similar story, with Commodore Duvall having won the final three hands before the break leaving him like Maverick at $1,700 ahead. Moria Stone Enion is up a few hundred. The other four participants are each down between $300 and $1,000.
Forest Morand emerges as the luckiest player at Isaac Stevens table and by break time has dominated the game at the expense of his occasional Lucky Lady opponent Helen Barker. By the break he is up $ 800 while she now has only half of what she began with. Luke short is still up some and Joe Cartwright down some from the early hours of the game.
Rhinehardt’s table had fallen into mediocre play, with all six participants falling into sharing hands and cutting back on larger bets. By break time Safford is still down $500 from his early losses while the remaining players are not far from where they began, with prospector Ned Walters having the largest increase.
Marybeth Osborne’s table begins to show some minor activity as they near the first break with Silver Jake Cook finally putting into play his knowledge of Hearst and Lumbley’s weaknesses. By the time the break is called at 4:30 P.M. he is up around $800; Fisk, Franklin and Roosevelt are each up a few hundred, Lumley is down $600 and Hearst is down around $800.
As much as he would like to share his thoughts with someone at break, Jake does not. No giving away anything. He finally sips at his neglected bourbon while waiting for some food and water. Lumley is just suffering because I am at the table, he thinks to himself. He is better than that. Hearst on the other hand is just easy pickings, even when he did have the cards he made a flat call. I do not want to give too much away this early, but it is a good idea to start building my stack. He remembers everything Red taught him about long haul gaming. After a small amount of food, and a goodly amount of water, Jake makes the obligatory trip to the outhouse and then back to be ready. He stays on his feet the whole time to prevent them from getting uncomfortable from all the sitting.
When the table broke up for dinner, Kate hurried over to Mr. Van Horne and spoke quietly in his ear. "There is some logistics business I'd like to discuss with you somewhere quieter. Do you have a moment?" While he is talking the security men count and gather up the chips while the other four dealers all head upstairs. He replies "Yes, certainly, I have asked Maria to make sure that a meal was waiting for the dealers in a private room upstairs but we could have a chat for a few minutes in another of the upstairs rooms if you would like."
"I'd appreciate it, it won't take but a moment." Kate led the way upstairs and into one of the other private rooms, letting Van Horne close the door behind them. She dropped her voice. "Jake just wanted me to pass on a message. The McCoy's are no longer under Evan Adair's thumb. That Adair does not yet know that the blackmail materials are no longer in his possession, and that Lloyd's of London may be by over the weekend to talk to said gentleman about past misdeeds.
Damned if I know what any of it means, but there it is."
Van Horne replies, "I thank you my dear, and would you please pass on to Mr. Cook that Mr. Adair also mistakenly believes that Frank Lucky, Isaac Steven and Marybeth Osbourne are also willing to do what he wishes. However, I believe that he does not expect us to begin helping him cheat to win until some time tomorrow, so as not to make it too obvious and feels he can get through the first day on his own skill set."
She replies, "Yes, I can do that. Jake trusts you so I will, but I hope to someday understand all this," she said. "Enjoy your dinner. I'll speak to Jake and get back to work. My own dinner will have to wait until the games start again, I'm afraid." Mr. Van Horne politely held the door for her and Kate hurried back downstairs. She found Jake finally enjoying his bourbon. "Care to stretch your legs outside for a moment?" she asked. Jake nods and follows. Kate looked around to make sure no one was close enough to listen then delivered Mr. Van Horne's message, finishing by saying, "Adair believes he can get by today without help, so the big surprises for him shouldn't start until tomorrow."
Jake answers, "Thank you. I trust he will enjoy his surprises." Jake looks around as well before whispering, "I assisted your teacher in lightening the load of a safe deposit box owned by that snake. We discovered he may have been part of a bank robbery including some killings in Britain that Lloyds paid out on. Someone made an anonymous call to the Lloyds office in San Francisco." Jake shrugs and smiles. "It may be quite a show, if those limey's are as good as their reputation."
"My, you have been busy," Kate said, laughing. "This is liable to be your best weekend in a long time. How fortunate for us that some good Samaritan informed the authorities that such a man was in our midst. Can they get here so quickly?" Again, the characteristic Jake shrug. "If they were wise they could have prayed for the speed of Hermes," followed by a the characteristic Jake smirk. "Either that or if they have enough evidence they might telegraph the law here or in the territory asking to have him held. I will be patient and wait for this gift like ambrosia falling from the heavens. I have other pleasure to attend to." Indicating back inside he says, "After you, Katherine."
Kate had proceeded Jake back inside, glad to see him in such a good mood, and equally glad that Evan Adair was likely to have a very bad weekend. All the worse because he expected to have a very good one. The games got started again and she was just thinking of slipping out for her own dinner when Job shouted. She found a spot where she could see, but not be easily seen by others in case of trouble. People make their way back inside. The games resume promptly at 5:00 P.M. and where a few gamblers have not made it back a copper coin is added to the ante from their chip stack. Those players are all back in short order.
Fewer than ten minutes pass, with the first hand still not completed at the table Jake is at, when at another table Job Kane loudly calls out the word “Shenanigans”. Stanley Barkers stops playing the piano as the dealers at each table instruct all of their players to stop playing and to remain quiet. Jeff Mills, Timothy Finnegan and Boston Harker all make their way over towards Job’s table from opposite directions followed by Darla Peacock. The entire saloon quiets down, with no voices louder than a whisper.
Hostess Peacock asks Job “What seems to be the problem?” Job replies, “Mr. Maverick has some concerns about changes in Mr. Hardin’s posture.” She turns towards Maverick waiting for a response. The charming gambler smiles and says “I was just commenting that upon returning from the break Attorney Hardin no longer appears to be able to sit as far back in his chair as he did before, almost as though there was an obstruction of some sort.” Marshall Berg has been standing inside the Lucky Lady near the door. He moves out the door and gestures to Deputy Martin to come in and join him. Jake remains seated and lets the others handle the trouble with Hardin.
Both Finnegan and Mills move up to Hardin from each side while Harker remains across the table behind Maverick and moves his hand to his holstered gun. Miss. Peacock states, “Mr. Hardin, please extend both of your hands out to side and slowly stand.” He hesitates for a minute and Finnegan moves in closer. Hardin then does as instructed. Finnegan reaches over to pat the back of Hardin’s suit jacket and when he touches near the small of the back above the belt exclaims “Feels like a gun.” Boston Harker draws his revolver and points it in Hardin’s direction. Deputy Helen Barker also stands, her pearl-handled revolver now extended in that direction as well. Jeff Mills then grabs and pulls up the coat tails while Finnegan reaches over and extracts the concealed revolver.
Hostess Peacock looks Hardin in the eye and states “I am very disappointed in you sir, your participation in this tournament has now ended. I also have serious concerns about just letting you walk away given your reputation for having a hot temper.” She turns towards Mitchell Berg and says, “Marshal, is there a charge you can hold him on?” Berg replies, “I believe so, I will take him into custody now and discuss charges with you and Mr. Van Horne during your next break.” Berg turns toward the gunslinger and states “Mr. Hardin, Please place both of your hands atop your head and accompany myself and Deputy Martin.” Once they are out the door Darla states “Everybody, resume what you were doing.”
Stanley Barker immediately begins playing the piano, selecting a slightly more lively song than he had been playing before. Deputy Neil Cassidy returns to take the guard role outside with Chester now watching the tournament inside. Once Mr. Hardin had been escorted away, Kate stopped over at the bar and gave them her armbands. "I'm going to get some dinner myself, and I have to play tonight over at the Gay Lady for the play. I'll come back here as soon as it's over." Kate then went to the El Parador and had one of Dorita's good dinners. Afterward she changed into the midnight blue evening dress she'd worn when Mr. Gonzales had taken her to Los Angeles and went to the Gay Lady.
Stanley Barker plays for another hour before having to leave to head over to the Gay Lady for the Romeo and Juliet play, at which time he turns the keyboard over to his student Harry Rote. Nate Caudell arrives wearing a pressed suit and is handed green Lucky Lady arm bands. He joins Michael George at the bar as the second bartender. The Saloon fills up around dinner time, due in part to people getting off work and wanting to see the tournament, and also because word has made it around town that excellent cook Hannah Milford is assisting Maria in the kitchen.
Another “Shenanigans” call rings out at 7:15 PM, this time it is a spectator who is confronted by the security and Hostess Peacock. The man identifies himself as Alan Hart and says he was just traveling through Promise City. They accuse him of being ‘The Signalman’ to one of the gamblers, but they were unable to ascertain who he was signaling to. Even upon threats of prison he denies assisting anybody. The lawmen cart him off to jail and the games resume.
With Hardin gone the play at Job Kane’s table becomes lively as both Ivers and Spinner had been intimidated by the gunman’s presence even with lawman Bat Masterson at the same table. The change however is not in Spinner’s favor as he looses hand-after-hand to the other players with Maverick, Spaulding and Dano winning most for the next two hours followed by two hours of Maverick alone winning nearly every hand. By the 9:30 break Maverick is $ 4,400 ahead of where he began while Spinner has lost 60% of his starting money and Spaulding is down by 40% with Dana and Masterson not much different than when they had begun.
At Bradford Rhinehardt’s table Booth and Ivers have a few excellent hours at Ned Walters expense. Booth’s good fortune then changes when Evan Adair gets on a winning streak for the last ninety minutes, taking seven of eight hands, with Berwind winning the other. By the evening break Adair is up $ 2,200 with Berwind and Ivers each up a few hundred, Booth and Safford each down around $ 500 and Walters at half of what he started the game with.
A winning streak was also present at Isaac Stevens table, Forest Morand winning the vast majority of the hands during the evening session with McNaulty and Thompson each winning enough to keep things interesting. Ever since Hardin’s arrest Helen Barker’s game was decidedly off, her having shifted from ‘gambler-mode’ to ‘deputy-mode’ and she never managed to shift back. Once her husband departs for the play her game deteriorates even further, making her the first player eliminated from the tournament when she goes broke at 8:30 P.M. Barker is far from alone though, with both Joe Cartwright and Luke Short also losing their last chips at that same table during the next hour. By the break Morand has the largest pile up chips in the room, up $ 5,300 from where he started. Thompson is $ 2,200 ahead and McNaulty is $ 1,500 ahead.
Van Horne’s table begins the evening session with Hawks and Duvall dominating the game, Muratz and Enion holding their own and with Brooklyn and Smith on losing streaks. As the evening winds down towards the break Brooklyn washes out. The final hand at that table becomes a high-stake one which Jefferson Smith wins until it is discovered that he has cards up his sleeve. Van Horne calls out “Shenanigans” and Smith is turned over to Deputies Barker and Cassidy. The stack of coins go to the second highest hand, held by Brady Hawkes, who is now almost double what he began with Duvall not far behind and Muratz also well ahead while Moria Enion has lost around one-third of her starting chips.
At the Osborne Table, the evening session began with Willie Hearst on a winning streak, prompting the bets to get higher although still well below the high-stakes betting going on elsewhere in the room. This proves disastrous towards the end for Hearst with him loosing several hands with Roosevelt having become less cautious doing the same. Fisk and Lumley are the primary recipients of those winnings, with Lumley and Fisk each up close to $ 1000 each, Franklin up a little, Cook down a little, and Hearst and Roosevelt each down around $ 1000 each.
As the clock ticks to the hour of Noon the hostess Darla Peacock calls for everybody to take their places at their respective tables. Jake comments to Katherine , "I would be happy to satisfy your curiosity another time, if you are sure you want to know. Sometimes not knowing is some protection, especially if you hang around with the likes of me." He raises his glass to her, "Thanks again." He takes his seat. Most of the gamblers have drinks from the Lucky Lady, but Adair once more has one of his working girls bring him in two glasses of ice water, although not before a very cautious Jonathan Harker requires a sample from each glass to be poured into other glasses to be checked.
The audience settle into their places, arranging chairs or standing by the tables that they anticipate to have the most exciting games and/or specific participants who they wish to watch. The young waiters and waitresses are kept very busy bringing food and drink orders to those in attendance while Stanley Barker keeps up an ongoing rhythm of light piano tunes in the background that add ambiance to the games and helps muffle the voices from the other tables without being a noticeable distraction to the players.
As the players took their seats Kate brought Conrad's accustomed glass of whiskey at which he would sip for the next several hours, then faded into the background, letting the children do the work and collect the tips unless they became overwhelmed. For her own place Kate sought out Edwin Booth in the crowd. She sees him chatting with the reporter Chumbley and overhears the elder Booth tell the halfling that Conrad is his youngest brother. Kate smiled to herself at hearing Edwin say so easily that Conrad was his brother. Although it wasn't what Conrad had been looking for in many ways being a brother rather than a son was a blessing. It was something that could be more easily brought into both their lives without turning them upside-down.
She would deliver Jake's message once the players were absorbed in the game and there would be less attention on Mr. Van Horne. Unfortunately Van Horne, being one the dealers, never leaves the table during the initial two-and-a-quarter hours so she has no opportunity to do so. She chastised herself for not remembering that Mr. Van Horne would be a dealer today. For some reason she'd thought as host he wouldn't be sitting at any of the tables. Perhaps it was "Momma brain," as Ginnie called it. She would just have to pass the message on at her first opportunity.
During the first two hours the tables run by Job Kane and Cornelius Van Horne tend to be the most volatile. At Kane’s table gambler Brett Maverick takes an early lead, winning most of the hands with Long Branch Saloon gambler Wendell Spaulding winning whichever hands Maverick does not. At a point mid-way to the first scheduled break John Hardin, Willy Spinner and Bat Masterson are all down several hundred dollars from where they began. Van Horne’s table is comparable, with professional gambler Brady Hawkes dominating the game largely at the expense of Twitchy Brooklyn, Victor Muratz and Jefferson Smith.
At Bradford Rhinehardt’s table there is no clear early winner, gamblers Booth and Ivers each with a slight lead, although an early loser has materialized in former Governor Safford who fails to win any of the first dozen hands dealt. Isaac Steven’s table also has rather balanced play, with the notable exceptions of Luke Short who after a few hours is up several hundred most of which had belonged to Joe Cartwright.
The table run by Steven’s sister Marybeth Osborne during the first two hours has experienced some of the most boring poker ever seen, with most participants apparently focused upon studying their opponents style of play and playing very cautiously themselves. Nearly every hand is either being played at the minimum ante or being raised by only a copper coin. By 2:15 P.M. each player is no more than $ 100 higher or lower than when they began.
However, during that time college-boy Hearst has managed to give away so many ‘tells’ that the experienced gamblers at the table are now in a position to capitalize on that at their leisure. The other young man, Roosevelt, has thus far indicated a desire for aggressive play but managed to keep those temptations in check.
Interestingly enough, that table has three Promise City gamblers at it, Jake Cook of the Lucky Lady, Burton Lumley of the Gay Lady and Hamilton Fisk who plays regularly at the Long Branch, but despite the saloons all being across streets from one another these three men have seldom if ever played together. Jake had gotten into one long game with Lumley last January, before either man knew who the other was, and the first two hours of this game are enough to remind Jake of exactly how he defeated Lumley that previous time.
The time goes quickly for Jake, who is indeed enjoying every moment. The music, spectators and even the other tables fade away as he immerses himself in the game. He knows the real sounds of danger: the strained voice, an odd foot step, the click of hammer being pulled back, or the snick of a blade leaving its sheath. Short of any of these sounds, he is not to be distracted. Even the pretentious trappings with which Van Horne has adorned the saloon are of no consequence.
In it for the long haul, he is busy absorbing the others tells and habits. He consciously create false habits for the others to observe, like arranging his cards in certain hands as if it helped him think about a difficult hand. Jake had many styles of play in his bag of tricks. He could grind, bluff, draw conservative or take bold risks. He was comfortable with them all, happy to use the one that worked in each game or hand for that matter. He was so engrossed in the game that often his bourbon grew lonely at his elbow.
The aggressive play continues at Job Kane’s table with Maverick continuing to dominate although Lottie Dano has gotten into the act as well. By evening break time Maverick has increased his starting money by $1,700; Dano has by $900, Spinner and Spaulding are close to even; Masterson is down $800; and Hardin has less than half of what he started with.
Van Horn’s table tells a similar story, with Commodore Duvall having won the final three hands before the break leaving him like Maverick at $1,700 ahead. Moria Stone Enion is up a few hundred. The other four participants are each down between $300 and $1,000.
Forest Morand emerges as the luckiest player at Isaac Stevens table and by break time has dominated the game at the expense of his occasional Lucky Lady opponent Helen Barker. By the break he is up $ 800 while she now has only half of what she began with. Luke short is still up some and Joe Cartwright down some from the early hours of the game.
Rhinehardt’s table had fallen into mediocre play, with all six participants falling into sharing hands and cutting back on larger bets. By break time Safford is still down $500 from his early losses while the remaining players are not far from where they began, with prospector Ned Walters having the largest increase.
Marybeth Osborne’s table begins to show some minor activity as they near the first break with Silver Jake Cook finally putting into play his knowledge of Hearst and Lumbley’s weaknesses. By the time the break is called at 4:30 P.M. he is up around $800; Fisk, Franklin and Roosevelt are each up a few hundred, Lumley is down $600 and Hearst is down around $800.
As much as he would like to share his thoughts with someone at break, Jake does not. No giving away anything. He finally sips at his neglected bourbon while waiting for some food and water. Lumley is just suffering because I am at the table, he thinks to himself. He is better than that. Hearst on the other hand is just easy pickings, even when he did have the cards he made a flat call. I do not want to give too much away this early, but it is a good idea to start building my stack. He remembers everything Red taught him about long haul gaming. After a small amount of food, and a goodly amount of water, Jake makes the obligatory trip to the outhouse and then back to be ready. He stays on his feet the whole time to prevent them from getting uncomfortable from all the sitting.
When the table broke up for dinner, Kate hurried over to Mr. Van Horne and spoke quietly in his ear. "There is some logistics business I'd like to discuss with you somewhere quieter. Do you have a moment?" While he is talking the security men count and gather up the chips while the other four dealers all head upstairs. He replies "Yes, certainly, I have asked Maria to make sure that a meal was waiting for the dealers in a private room upstairs but we could have a chat for a few minutes in another of the upstairs rooms if you would like."
"I'd appreciate it, it won't take but a moment." Kate led the way upstairs and into one of the other private rooms, letting Van Horne close the door behind them. She dropped her voice. "Jake just wanted me to pass on a message. The McCoy's are no longer under Evan Adair's thumb. That Adair does not yet know that the blackmail materials are no longer in his possession, and that Lloyd's of London may be by over the weekend to talk to said gentleman about past misdeeds.
Damned if I know what any of it means, but there it is."
Van Horne replies, "I thank you my dear, and would you please pass on to Mr. Cook that Mr. Adair also mistakenly believes that Frank Lucky, Isaac Steven and Marybeth Osbourne are also willing to do what he wishes. However, I believe that he does not expect us to begin helping him cheat to win until some time tomorrow, so as not to make it too obvious and feels he can get through the first day on his own skill set."
She replies, "Yes, I can do that. Jake trusts you so I will, but I hope to someday understand all this," she said. "Enjoy your dinner. I'll speak to Jake and get back to work. My own dinner will have to wait until the games start again, I'm afraid." Mr. Van Horne politely held the door for her and Kate hurried back downstairs. She found Jake finally enjoying his bourbon. "Care to stretch your legs outside for a moment?" she asked. Jake nods and follows. Kate looked around to make sure no one was close enough to listen then delivered Mr. Van Horne's message, finishing by saying, "Adair believes he can get by today without help, so the big surprises for him shouldn't start until tomorrow."
Jake answers, "Thank you. I trust he will enjoy his surprises." Jake looks around as well before whispering, "I assisted your teacher in lightening the load of a safe deposit box owned by that snake. We discovered he may have been part of a bank robbery including some killings in Britain that Lloyds paid out on. Someone made an anonymous call to the Lloyds office in San Francisco." Jake shrugs and smiles. "It may be quite a show, if those limey's are as good as their reputation."
"My, you have been busy," Kate said, laughing. "This is liable to be your best weekend in a long time. How fortunate for us that some good Samaritan informed the authorities that such a man was in our midst. Can they get here so quickly?" Again, the characteristic Jake shrug. "If they were wise they could have prayed for the speed of Hermes," followed by a the characteristic Jake smirk. "Either that or if they have enough evidence they might telegraph the law here or in the territory asking to have him held. I will be patient and wait for this gift like ambrosia falling from the heavens. I have other pleasure to attend to." Indicating back inside he says, "After you, Katherine."
Kate had proceeded Jake back inside, glad to see him in such a good mood, and equally glad that Evan Adair was likely to have a very bad weekend. All the worse because he expected to have a very good one. The games got started again and she was just thinking of slipping out for her own dinner when Job shouted. She found a spot where she could see, but not be easily seen by others in case of trouble. People make their way back inside. The games resume promptly at 5:00 P.M. and where a few gamblers have not made it back a copper coin is added to the ante from their chip stack. Those players are all back in short order.
Fewer than ten minutes pass, with the first hand still not completed at the table Jake is at, when at another table Job Kane loudly calls out the word “Shenanigans”. Stanley Barkers stops playing the piano as the dealers at each table instruct all of their players to stop playing and to remain quiet. Jeff Mills, Timothy Finnegan and Boston Harker all make their way over towards Job’s table from opposite directions followed by Darla Peacock. The entire saloon quiets down, with no voices louder than a whisper.
Hostess Peacock asks Job “What seems to be the problem?” Job replies, “Mr. Maverick has some concerns about changes in Mr. Hardin’s posture.” She turns towards Maverick waiting for a response. The charming gambler smiles and says “I was just commenting that upon returning from the break Attorney Hardin no longer appears to be able to sit as far back in his chair as he did before, almost as though there was an obstruction of some sort.” Marshall Berg has been standing inside the Lucky Lady near the door. He moves out the door and gestures to Deputy Martin to come in and join him. Jake remains seated and lets the others handle the trouble with Hardin.
Both Finnegan and Mills move up to Hardin from each side while Harker remains across the table behind Maverick and moves his hand to his holstered gun. Miss. Peacock states, “Mr. Hardin, please extend both of your hands out to side and slowly stand.” He hesitates for a minute and Finnegan moves in closer. Hardin then does as instructed. Finnegan reaches over to pat the back of Hardin’s suit jacket and when he touches near the small of the back above the belt exclaims “Feels like a gun.” Boston Harker draws his revolver and points it in Hardin’s direction. Deputy Helen Barker also stands, her pearl-handled revolver now extended in that direction as well. Jeff Mills then grabs and pulls up the coat tails while Finnegan reaches over and extracts the concealed revolver.
Hostess Peacock looks Hardin in the eye and states “I am very disappointed in you sir, your participation in this tournament has now ended. I also have serious concerns about just letting you walk away given your reputation for having a hot temper.” She turns towards Mitchell Berg and says, “Marshal, is there a charge you can hold him on?” Berg replies, “I believe so, I will take him into custody now and discuss charges with you and Mr. Van Horne during your next break.” Berg turns toward the gunslinger and states “Mr. Hardin, Please place both of your hands atop your head and accompany myself and Deputy Martin.” Once they are out the door Darla states “Everybody, resume what you were doing.”
Stanley Barker immediately begins playing the piano, selecting a slightly more lively song than he had been playing before. Deputy Neil Cassidy returns to take the guard role outside with Chester now watching the tournament inside. Once Mr. Hardin had been escorted away, Kate stopped over at the bar and gave them her armbands. "I'm going to get some dinner myself, and I have to play tonight over at the Gay Lady for the play. I'll come back here as soon as it's over." Kate then went to the El Parador and had one of Dorita's good dinners. Afterward she changed into the midnight blue evening dress she'd worn when Mr. Gonzales had taken her to Los Angeles and went to the Gay Lady.
Stanley Barker plays for another hour before having to leave to head over to the Gay Lady for the Romeo and Juliet play, at which time he turns the keyboard over to his student Harry Rote. Nate Caudell arrives wearing a pressed suit and is handed green Lucky Lady arm bands. He joins Michael George at the bar as the second bartender. The Saloon fills up around dinner time, due in part to people getting off work and wanting to see the tournament, and also because word has made it around town that excellent cook Hannah Milford is assisting Maria in the kitchen.
Another “Shenanigans” call rings out at 7:15 PM, this time it is a spectator who is confronted by the security and Hostess Peacock. The man identifies himself as Alan Hart and says he was just traveling through Promise City. They accuse him of being ‘The Signalman’ to one of the gamblers, but they were unable to ascertain who he was signaling to. Even upon threats of prison he denies assisting anybody. The lawmen cart him off to jail and the games resume.
With Hardin gone the play at Job Kane’s table becomes lively as both Ivers and Spinner had been intimidated by the gunman’s presence even with lawman Bat Masterson at the same table. The change however is not in Spinner’s favor as he looses hand-after-hand to the other players with Maverick, Spaulding and Dano winning most for the next two hours followed by two hours of Maverick alone winning nearly every hand. By the 9:30 break Maverick is $ 4,400 ahead of where he began while Spinner has lost 60% of his starting money and Spaulding is down by 40% with Dana and Masterson not much different than when they had begun.
At Bradford Rhinehardt’s table Booth and Ivers have a few excellent hours at Ned Walters expense. Booth’s good fortune then changes when Evan Adair gets on a winning streak for the last ninety minutes, taking seven of eight hands, with Berwind winning the other. By the evening break Adair is up $ 2,200 with Berwind and Ivers each up a few hundred, Booth and Safford each down around $ 500 and Walters at half of what he started the game with.
A winning streak was also present at Isaac Stevens table, Forest Morand winning the vast majority of the hands during the evening session with McNaulty and Thompson each winning enough to keep things interesting. Ever since Hardin’s arrest Helen Barker’s game was decidedly off, her having shifted from ‘gambler-mode’ to ‘deputy-mode’ and she never managed to shift back. Once her husband departs for the play her game deteriorates even further, making her the first player eliminated from the tournament when she goes broke at 8:30 P.M. Barker is far from alone though, with both Joe Cartwright and Luke Short also losing their last chips at that same table during the next hour. By the break Morand has the largest pile up chips in the room, up $ 5,300 from where he started. Thompson is $ 2,200 ahead and McNaulty is $ 1,500 ahead.
Van Horne’s table begins the evening session with Hawks and Duvall dominating the game, Muratz and Enion holding their own and with Brooklyn and Smith on losing streaks. As the evening winds down towards the break Brooklyn washes out. The final hand at that table becomes a high-stake one which Jefferson Smith wins until it is discovered that he has cards up his sleeve. Van Horne calls out “Shenanigans” and Smith is turned over to Deputies Barker and Cassidy. The stack of coins go to the second highest hand, held by Brady Hawkes, who is now almost double what he began with Duvall not far behind and Muratz also well ahead while Moria Enion has lost around one-third of her starting chips.
At the Osborne Table, the evening session began with Willie Hearst on a winning streak, prompting the bets to get higher although still well below the high-stakes betting going on elsewhere in the room. This proves disastrous towards the end for Hearst with him loosing several hands with Roosevelt having become less cautious doing the same. Fisk and Lumley are the primary recipients of those winnings, with Lumley and Fisk each up close to $ 1000 each, Franklin up a little, Cook down a little, and Hearst and Roosevelt each down around $ 1000 each.
Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter Two-hundred-eleven, “Evening Break“, Saturday, June 17th, 9:30 P.M.
Van Horne announces the half-hour break. He states “With six players now eliminated we will be consolidating the game to four tables.” He turns to Marybeth Osborne and thanks her for her services, saying she will not be needed for the remainder of the tournament. Jake notes that Adair gives Van Horne a puzzled and slightly angry stare upon hearing that announcement. Van Horne also announces “Copper chips will now be eliminated from play, each players’ current copper chips will converted to bronze chips rounded upward where needed. Minimum ante will become a bronze chip. The copper coins will be for sale at the bar as souvenirs of the tournament for a dime each with a maximum of five sold to a customer.”
Van Horne heads upstairs with the other dealers where another meal has been set out for them while Darla Peacock supervises the security men with counting out and moving each player's chips to the new tables. Of the five gambling tables the large center table is no longer being used for poker and it quickly fills up with spectators wanting the seats close to the action. The tournament's copper poker chips are all brought over to the bar where Ginnie pulls up a barstool behind the bar and starts selling them as collectables to interested patrons.
During the break the photographers and newspapermen corner the more famous gamblers and gunslingers in the room for interviews and pictures. Helen Barker decides she has had enough of poker for the day so heads over to the jail to relieve Marshall Berg on guard duty. Jake's luck had not been very good during the last session. Repeatedly with promising hands he failed to draw the necessary cards. He does not appear worried however, for he knows luck is like the tides; hang on when it goes against you and make the most of it when it is going your way.
Once the tables have been rearranged security man Jonathan Harker catches Jake's attention and pulls him aside. Harker says, "That gambler Jim Franklin who you've been playing with....he has no reflection. He's staying in a room here at the Lucky Lady, where he was last night having arrived after dark. I've asked around to folks who have played with him before and have confirmed that he always rooms at the establishment where the poker games take place and also that he seems to only travel to and from communities hosting games during the night. What do you want me to do?"
"Strange," Jake strokes his chin beard, "you would expect him to be a better poker player, would you not? Considering what he could do. Is there also a reputation of folks turning up dead around places where he has played? Are you aware of any other affliction which eliminates ones reflection? Are you telling me for certain he is... you know... one of them?"
Harker replies, "I don't know for a fact that he is one of those, but once the Romeo and Juliet play is over with next door we can have Tomlinson and O'Hara come over and check, they have other methods. As for his poker playing, I've noticed that his game was going fairly well until the last two hours or so which coincidentally was when we caught that Hart guy giving signals and hauled him off to jail. Hart came in from Denver, the same place that Franklin was last. As for people turning up dead, Franklin usually plays in large wild cities, where bodies would not necessarily be noticed."
Jake exclaims, "Blast, why is it that I cannot have simple problems in my saloon like drunkards and stray cattle." Not expecting an answer he continues. "I saw the priestess Senorita Florencia around. I expect she has ways to tell as well. Hermes, I feel naked without my gun and special rounds." Jake looks about the room and says, "There, I see her. I will see if she can determine his true nature."
Chester takes his place by the door. He hooks his thumbs in his gun-belt and casually leans against the wall. When Harker goes to Jake, Chester looks over, but can't make out what they're saying. He shrugs his shoulders and figures that if it was something important, someone would let him know. Meanwhile, he'd watch over the tables.
Jake approaches the priestess with a broad smile, "Senorita! You look splendid in that outfit." He takes a sniff of the air and continues, "And that perfume..." He leans in provocatively close to smell it and says in a quiet but serious tone, "Por favor Senorita, could I trouble you to determine if the gambler Jim Franklin is one like Mortimer Turner?" Jake quickly withdraws. "That perfume is like it was crafted just for you. I was just telling Jonathon Harker that Promise City is not like any other place with its glamorous women and unbelievable opportunities. It must be the gods, eh Senorita? Perhaps you should speak with him on this topic also, he is quite a conversationalist and has some fascinating views on the topic."
Minerva maintains her composure and laugh lightly at the compliment. She reaches up and touches her hat with one gloved hand and cocks it slightly to one side, batting her eyelashes. "Oh Senor Jake, you and that silver tongue of yours. "she leans in flirtatiously. "Where is this man?" she whispers. Jake changes his position so that he is facing away from Franklin, "Behind me. He was at my table." Jake tips his hat, "I am afraid I must go now, thank you so much for the enlightenment you will bring to my evening."
Minerva seeks out Nakomo and explains to him what may be happening. She then moves to a place in the room where she will not be noticed and focuses her energies. She holds her holy symbol and prays for the gods to detect any evil that may be present in the saloon. The man radiates evil much along the same levels of intensity as the other vampires did. While the spell is in effect Evan Adair walks by and she senses evil from his as well, although not nearly as strong as that of the potential vampire.
She takes a step back when Adair walks by but quickly recovers. She catches Jake's eye and nods briefly before exiting the saloon with Nakomo. “We cannot make a scene in there, It is to crowded. People could get hurt. Go and find that O'Hara girl. I will go back inside and warn who I can. Then I will go home and get some supplies." She plants the smile back on her face, adjusts her hat and nonchalantly walks over to the Gay Lady.
She searches out Katherine and waves her over. “We have a problem in here. It would be best if you got any innocent bystanders out of here without making a scene." Kate stepped outside the Gay Lady to speak with Minerva. The Priestess fills her in on what has transpired. Kate states, "Minerva, don't panic. The man is in a public place, watched on all sides. He's staying in the Lady. And if a player turns up dead the whole tournament is over if not tainted. There's danger but not immediate. If we clear out the place he's going to know something's wrong. The watchers will go home; by 2:30 it will be just the players, and after they're gone just the people staying there. Sometimes patience is better."
Minerva states, "Si, patience and a watchful eye. You be careful. I will be back." Kate says, "I'll head over to the Lady now and keep my eyes open and see you there." As Minerva hurried away Kate sighed and picked up her skirts. Suddenly even the very short walk seemed dangerous. The break was still going on when she arrived and looked around the room. She hesitated, trying to decide where to go.
Minerva finds Deputy Martin and Jeff Mills and warns them as well. "Be prepared. I am going home to get some things that may help. Chester do you still wear the holy symbol that I gave you? I will be back quickly." Chester touches his shirt and says, "Yeah, I do. Why? More of those 'creatures' here? Who is it?" His right hand drops down to his gun. Minerva replies, "I'll explain when I get back. Don't do anything hasty."
Minerva casually makes her way to the door and then runs home as quickly as she is able. When she arrives she grabs the vampire bag from the corner of her room, grateful that Nakomo, in his efficiency did not store it's contents. She double checks to be sure that the stakes and holy water are in the bag and tucking the contents of the bag into her skirts, she loads her revolver with the special rounds that Jake gave her and hurries back to the saloon.
Instead of going straight to Jake, Kate picked up her armbands again and went over to Conrad. "I just thought you'd like to know that I'm back safe," Kate said as he sat finishing up the last of a quick meal. "I hope I'm not distracting you." Conrad replies, "Not at all, I haven't been doing all that well tonight, maybe your presence will improve my luck." She sat down next to him and said, "You're used to playing at a different place, with people whose habits you know well. You can't expect to do as well as you might any other night. "You'll find your stride. By the way, I overheard your elder brother telling our Mr. Chumbley that you're his youngest. I think he might just be a little bit proud of you."
Conrad replies, "Well the feeling is mutual. In some ways I am relieved to find out that I'm not his son. Now he knows I'm not just out for his fortune since I now have no claim to it." Kate says, "I think there's a bigger relief for him. He must have suspected you were closely related or he wouldn't have gone to all the trouble to find out for sure. But if he'd discovered he was your father he might have felt a great deal of guilt, and the relationship between fathers and sons is a complex thing. As a brother on the other hand... you meet more as equals. There is no shirked duty, no guilty feelings, no issues between you that need resolving."
She looked around the room and noted that no one was paying attention to them. "I should get to work, and I need to speak with Jake. Since we have no lucky flowers today," she leaned forward and kissed him quickly, aware that this was not an appropriate place for it. "Bonne chance, mon cher." "Thank you my dear," he replies. Conrad finds his nameplate among the rearragned tables.
Nakomo heads over to the gay lady to find the slayer. He does not want to interrupt the play and so goes to the back of the stage and attempts to make eye contact. Nakomo is left waiting for a while as Act V beings as Shannon's part, Lady Montague, has a major part in the third scene of that act. Fortunately for him the part is her death scene, where she dies from grief over her son's exile, so will not be needed for the remainder of the play. He decides to catch up with her as when she leaves the stage.
The The dealers return to the tables and the players find their name plates and chips at their new tables, the games about to begin. Unlike the previous break, nobody is late returning to the tables this time. Now that the break is ending there are some Lucky Lady personnel changes with Mollie Caudell arriving to pick up her son Melvin and Meghan O’Hara finishing up in the kitchen and heading home with daughters Colleen and Cathleen. Burt Hoover remain on wait staff detail as his guardian Stanley Barker is still over at the Gay Lady helping with the play. Ginnie also remains on waiter detail with her guardian Katherine Kale back among those in the room.
Cornelius Van Horne has for his new grouping of players Berwind, Fisk, Masterson, Morand, Safford and Spaulding. Bradford Rhinehardt’s table is now comprised of Enion, Franklin, Hawks, Hearst, Spinner and Thompson. Dealer Isaac Stevens has for his new players Adair, Dano, Ivers, Lumley, Maverick and Muratz. Interestingly this group of six all did well in the earlier sessions so each begins this session with higher chip totals than at the start of the tournament. This prompts most of the newspapermen to flock to this table, anticipating high-stakes play.
Silver Jake Cook finds himself at the table of dealer Job Kane along with Conrad Booth, Commodore James Duvall, Torvald McNaulty, Theodore Roosevelt and Ned Walters. This puts Jake at a particular advantage already knowing how his business partner Kane deals, playing regularly with Walters, playing occasionally with his Fisk Mountain Mine business partner McNaulty, having played many years ago with Duvall but still remembering how the skilled gambler would approach the game, having played the previous ten hours of the tournament with Roosevelt and finally Conrad Booth with Jake knowing some about how the man plays.
Kate moved over to the bar where Ginnie was busy. She took out her little mirror and looked out at the tables, making sure she knew where people should reflect. A smile at Ginnie and she began to fuss with the girl's hair a bit, handing her the mirror. "There is a vampire in this room," Kate whispered, barely audible even to herself as she happened to bend close to Ginnie's ear. "He's in the tournament so I don't expect trouble, but be careful." She leaned back. "There, perfect."
Lifting the mirror she primped her own hair, looking beyond her own face to the background for the chair that would appear empty. And sure enough, there is no reflection from the man named James Franklin. She tucked it away and told Ginnie quietly which man to watch out for. They both stayed behind the bar until the first hand was over at every table. If anyone had noticed her looking in a mirror she didn't want to make them think it had been used to cheat somehow.
Across the street at the Gay Lady, Nakomo motions to Shannon to come into the wings. "Miss Minerva Sent me. She said t tell you that she believes that there is another one of those evil creatures at the Lady. " "What? Right here at the Gay Lady! I didn't sense any." Shannon exclaims, perhaps a bit too loudly as she receives an icy stare from Josephine Marcus. He states, "No, at the poker tournament! Come on. Let's go. "he says taking her arm impatiently. "There are a lot of people there. Someone could get hurt."
Shannon replies, "Okay, I'll go Nakomo. You stay here until the play gets over and tell Mr. Tomlinson where I've gone. We'll probably be needing his help too." "Fine, but I hope the play is almost over." Nakomo takes a seat in the back. He had already seen the first half of the play. "miss Minerva said their was some lesson about the gods here, so I guess it won't hurt to watch the ending." He scrunches down in his seat and focuses on the play.
The games begin at the various tables and are still in the first hand when Kate sees Shannon O'Hara enter the Lucky Lady. The girl has changed out of her Lady Montague dress into a dress more suitable for an evening in a saloon. She walks around the four gambling tables, looking from person to person. Kate approached Miss O'Hara. Using the same low tone they all used to keep from disturbing the games she asked, "Can I get you anything? If you're interested in the games, may I suggest that table?" she said, nodding toward the one where Franklin sat. "I believe the highest stakes are there."
Shannon replies a little louder, "Nothing just yet Mrs. Kale, I will wait for Mr. Tomlinson. Perhaps a private room might be available on the second floor." She then gestures to the table with Franklin and in a softer voice says, "Above there preferably." "I think that can be arranged. There are some private dining rooms on the second floor. Why don't you follow me? I'm sorry I had to leave the play early tonight, I still haven't managed to see the end," Kate said casually as she led the young woman up the stairs and checked the room that should be above the table.
Shannon surveys the room and states, "Yes, this will do. Go find me as many candles as you can." Shannon then enters the room and begins to quietly move the chairs and table out from the center of the room to along the far wall. Kate states, "Candles? Well, I suppose it will be nice for once to do something more subtly than running in with guns drawn." Kate scoured the other dining rooms and collected the candles in them, the also checked the storage and brought up as many as she could find there. "Let's try not to burn the saloon down," she said as she brought the last in. "What are the candles for?"
Shannon replies, "Watcher Tomlinson knows a spell that will identify how many of the creatures there are as well as any other creatures who they may have control over." Kate says, "I've seen Mother Jimenez do this. I think it also showed people who have been influenced in the past, so you may see an alarming large number of people. I believe when Mother Jimenez did it there were somewhere aren't thirty. I myself had my mind subsumed once, although it's been tried more than once. I am tired of these creatures." Shannon says, "Watcher Tomlinson wiped the influence of those who had been influenced by the others, so they will no longer show up. All this will identify is any new vampires plus anybody they have direct influence over. When you are going up against foes it is usually helpful to know how many of them there are and where they are located."
Kate states, "I couldn't agree more. This isn't something I'd have wished on you, Shannon, but I have to say I'm glad to have some help with all of this. I'm sure Mr. Tomlinson has told you that my friends and I have been dealing with these for the last for months. I won't be able to do it much longer. Is there anything I can do to help? I shouldn't be missing for too long." Shannon replies, "That's fine. Bring Mr. Tomlinson up when he arrives." "Alright," Kate said, taken aback by the short answer. She went quietly back down the stairs and to her work.
Van Horne announces the half-hour break. He states “With six players now eliminated we will be consolidating the game to four tables.” He turns to Marybeth Osborne and thanks her for her services, saying she will not be needed for the remainder of the tournament. Jake notes that Adair gives Van Horne a puzzled and slightly angry stare upon hearing that announcement. Van Horne also announces “Copper chips will now be eliminated from play, each players’ current copper chips will converted to bronze chips rounded upward where needed. Minimum ante will become a bronze chip. The copper coins will be for sale at the bar as souvenirs of the tournament for a dime each with a maximum of five sold to a customer.”
Van Horne heads upstairs with the other dealers where another meal has been set out for them while Darla Peacock supervises the security men with counting out and moving each player's chips to the new tables. Of the five gambling tables the large center table is no longer being used for poker and it quickly fills up with spectators wanting the seats close to the action. The tournament's copper poker chips are all brought over to the bar where Ginnie pulls up a barstool behind the bar and starts selling them as collectables to interested patrons.
During the break the photographers and newspapermen corner the more famous gamblers and gunslingers in the room for interviews and pictures. Helen Barker decides she has had enough of poker for the day so heads over to the jail to relieve Marshall Berg on guard duty. Jake's luck had not been very good during the last session. Repeatedly with promising hands he failed to draw the necessary cards. He does not appear worried however, for he knows luck is like the tides; hang on when it goes against you and make the most of it when it is going your way.
Once the tables have been rearranged security man Jonathan Harker catches Jake's attention and pulls him aside. Harker says, "That gambler Jim Franklin who you've been playing with....he has no reflection. He's staying in a room here at the Lucky Lady, where he was last night having arrived after dark. I've asked around to folks who have played with him before and have confirmed that he always rooms at the establishment where the poker games take place and also that he seems to only travel to and from communities hosting games during the night. What do you want me to do?"
"Strange," Jake strokes his chin beard, "you would expect him to be a better poker player, would you not? Considering what he could do. Is there also a reputation of folks turning up dead around places where he has played? Are you aware of any other affliction which eliminates ones reflection? Are you telling me for certain he is... you know... one of them?"
Harker replies, "I don't know for a fact that he is one of those, but once the Romeo and Juliet play is over with next door we can have Tomlinson and O'Hara come over and check, they have other methods. As for his poker playing, I've noticed that his game was going fairly well until the last two hours or so which coincidentally was when we caught that Hart guy giving signals and hauled him off to jail. Hart came in from Denver, the same place that Franklin was last. As for people turning up dead, Franklin usually plays in large wild cities, where bodies would not necessarily be noticed."
Jake exclaims, "Blast, why is it that I cannot have simple problems in my saloon like drunkards and stray cattle." Not expecting an answer he continues. "I saw the priestess Senorita Florencia around. I expect she has ways to tell as well. Hermes, I feel naked without my gun and special rounds." Jake looks about the room and says, "There, I see her. I will see if she can determine his true nature."
Chester takes his place by the door. He hooks his thumbs in his gun-belt and casually leans against the wall. When Harker goes to Jake, Chester looks over, but can't make out what they're saying. He shrugs his shoulders and figures that if it was something important, someone would let him know. Meanwhile, he'd watch over the tables.
Jake approaches the priestess with a broad smile, "Senorita! You look splendid in that outfit." He takes a sniff of the air and continues, "And that perfume..." He leans in provocatively close to smell it and says in a quiet but serious tone, "Por favor Senorita, could I trouble you to determine if the gambler Jim Franklin is one like Mortimer Turner?" Jake quickly withdraws. "That perfume is like it was crafted just for you. I was just telling Jonathon Harker that Promise City is not like any other place with its glamorous women and unbelievable opportunities. It must be the gods, eh Senorita? Perhaps you should speak with him on this topic also, he is quite a conversationalist and has some fascinating views on the topic."
Minerva maintains her composure and laugh lightly at the compliment. She reaches up and touches her hat with one gloved hand and cocks it slightly to one side, batting her eyelashes. "Oh Senor Jake, you and that silver tongue of yours. "she leans in flirtatiously. "Where is this man?" she whispers. Jake changes his position so that he is facing away from Franklin, "Behind me. He was at my table." Jake tips his hat, "I am afraid I must go now, thank you so much for the enlightenment you will bring to my evening."
Minerva seeks out Nakomo and explains to him what may be happening. She then moves to a place in the room where she will not be noticed and focuses her energies. She holds her holy symbol and prays for the gods to detect any evil that may be present in the saloon. The man radiates evil much along the same levels of intensity as the other vampires did. While the spell is in effect Evan Adair walks by and she senses evil from his as well, although not nearly as strong as that of the potential vampire.
She takes a step back when Adair walks by but quickly recovers. She catches Jake's eye and nods briefly before exiting the saloon with Nakomo. “We cannot make a scene in there, It is to crowded. People could get hurt. Go and find that O'Hara girl. I will go back inside and warn who I can. Then I will go home and get some supplies." She plants the smile back on her face, adjusts her hat and nonchalantly walks over to the Gay Lady.
She searches out Katherine and waves her over. “We have a problem in here. It would be best if you got any innocent bystanders out of here without making a scene." Kate stepped outside the Gay Lady to speak with Minerva. The Priestess fills her in on what has transpired. Kate states, "Minerva, don't panic. The man is in a public place, watched on all sides. He's staying in the Lady. And if a player turns up dead the whole tournament is over if not tainted. There's danger but not immediate. If we clear out the place he's going to know something's wrong. The watchers will go home; by 2:30 it will be just the players, and after they're gone just the people staying there. Sometimes patience is better."
Minerva states, "Si, patience and a watchful eye. You be careful. I will be back." Kate says, "I'll head over to the Lady now and keep my eyes open and see you there." As Minerva hurried away Kate sighed and picked up her skirts. Suddenly even the very short walk seemed dangerous. The break was still going on when she arrived and looked around the room. She hesitated, trying to decide where to go.
Minerva finds Deputy Martin and Jeff Mills and warns them as well. "Be prepared. I am going home to get some things that may help. Chester do you still wear the holy symbol that I gave you? I will be back quickly." Chester touches his shirt and says, "Yeah, I do. Why? More of those 'creatures' here? Who is it?" His right hand drops down to his gun. Minerva replies, "I'll explain when I get back. Don't do anything hasty."
Minerva casually makes her way to the door and then runs home as quickly as she is able. When she arrives she grabs the vampire bag from the corner of her room, grateful that Nakomo, in his efficiency did not store it's contents. She double checks to be sure that the stakes and holy water are in the bag and tucking the contents of the bag into her skirts, she loads her revolver with the special rounds that Jake gave her and hurries back to the saloon.
Instead of going straight to Jake, Kate picked up her armbands again and went over to Conrad. "I just thought you'd like to know that I'm back safe," Kate said as he sat finishing up the last of a quick meal. "I hope I'm not distracting you." Conrad replies, "Not at all, I haven't been doing all that well tonight, maybe your presence will improve my luck." She sat down next to him and said, "You're used to playing at a different place, with people whose habits you know well. You can't expect to do as well as you might any other night. "You'll find your stride. By the way, I overheard your elder brother telling our Mr. Chumbley that you're his youngest. I think he might just be a little bit proud of you."
Conrad replies, "Well the feeling is mutual. In some ways I am relieved to find out that I'm not his son. Now he knows I'm not just out for his fortune since I now have no claim to it." Kate says, "I think there's a bigger relief for him. He must have suspected you were closely related or he wouldn't have gone to all the trouble to find out for sure. But if he'd discovered he was your father he might have felt a great deal of guilt, and the relationship between fathers and sons is a complex thing. As a brother on the other hand... you meet more as equals. There is no shirked duty, no guilty feelings, no issues between you that need resolving."
She looked around the room and noted that no one was paying attention to them. "I should get to work, and I need to speak with Jake. Since we have no lucky flowers today," she leaned forward and kissed him quickly, aware that this was not an appropriate place for it. "Bonne chance, mon cher." "Thank you my dear," he replies. Conrad finds his nameplate among the rearragned tables.
Nakomo heads over to the gay lady to find the slayer. He does not want to interrupt the play and so goes to the back of the stage and attempts to make eye contact. Nakomo is left waiting for a while as Act V beings as Shannon's part, Lady Montague, has a major part in the third scene of that act. Fortunately for him the part is her death scene, where she dies from grief over her son's exile, so will not be needed for the remainder of the play. He decides to catch up with her as when she leaves the stage.
The The dealers return to the tables and the players find their name plates and chips at their new tables, the games about to begin. Unlike the previous break, nobody is late returning to the tables this time. Now that the break is ending there are some Lucky Lady personnel changes with Mollie Caudell arriving to pick up her son Melvin and Meghan O’Hara finishing up in the kitchen and heading home with daughters Colleen and Cathleen. Burt Hoover remain on wait staff detail as his guardian Stanley Barker is still over at the Gay Lady helping with the play. Ginnie also remains on waiter detail with her guardian Katherine Kale back among those in the room.
Cornelius Van Horne has for his new grouping of players Berwind, Fisk, Masterson, Morand, Safford and Spaulding. Bradford Rhinehardt’s table is now comprised of Enion, Franklin, Hawks, Hearst, Spinner and Thompson. Dealer Isaac Stevens has for his new players Adair, Dano, Ivers, Lumley, Maverick and Muratz. Interestingly this group of six all did well in the earlier sessions so each begins this session with higher chip totals than at the start of the tournament. This prompts most of the newspapermen to flock to this table, anticipating high-stakes play.
Silver Jake Cook finds himself at the table of dealer Job Kane along with Conrad Booth, Commodore James Duvall, Torvald McNaulty, Theodore Roosevelt and Ned Walters. This puts Jake at a particular advantage already knowing how his business partner Kane deals, playing regularly with Walters, playing occasionally with his Fisk Mountain Mine business partner McNaulty, having played many years ago with Duvall but still remembering how the skilled gambler would approach the game, having played the previous ten hours of the tournament with Roosevelt and finally Conrad Booth with Jake knowing some about how the man plays.
Kate moved over to the bar where Ginnie was busy. She took out her little mirror and looked out at the tables, making sure she knew where people should reflect. A smile at Ginnie and she began to fuss with the girl's hair a bit, handing her the mirror. "There is a vampire in this room," Kate whispered, barely audible even to herself as she happened to bend close to Ginnie's ear. "He's in the tournament so I don't expect trouble, but be careful." She leaned back. "There, perfect."
Lifting the mirror she primped her own hair, looking beyond her own face to the background for the chair that would appear empty. And sure enough, there is no reflection from the man named James Franklin. She tucked it away and told Ginnie quietly which man to watch out for. They both stayed behind the bar until the first hand was over at every table. If anyone had noticed her looking in a mirror she didn't want to make them think it had been used to cheat somehow.
Across the street at the Gay Lady, Nakomo motions to Shannon to come into the wings. "Miss Minerva Sent me. She said t tell you that she believes that there is another one of those evil creatures at the Lady. " "What? Right here at the Gay Lady! I didn't sense any." Shannon exclaims, perhaps a bit too loudly as she receives an icy stare from Josephine Marcus. He states, "No, at the poker tournament! Come on. Let's go. "he says taking her arm impatiently. "There are a lot of people there. Someone could get hurt."
Shannon replies, "Okay, I'll go Nakomo. You stay here until the play gets over and tell Mr. Tomlinson where I've gone. We'll probably be needing his help too." "Fine, but I hope the play is almost over." Nakomo takes a seat in the back. He had already seen the first half of the play. "miss Minerva said their was some lesson about the gods here, so I guess it won't hurt to watch the ending." He scrunches down in his seat and focuses on the play.
The games begin at the various tables and are still in the first hand when Kate sees Shannon O'Hara enter the Lucky Lady. The girl has changed out of her Lady Montague dress into a dress more suitable for an evening in a saloon. She walks around the four gambling tables, looking from person to person. Kate approached Miss O'Hara. Using the same low tone they all used to keep from disturbing the games she asked, "Can I get you anything? If you're interested in the games, may I suggest that table?" she said, nodding toward the one where Franklin sat. "I believe the highest stakes are there."
Shannon replies a little louder, "Nothing just yet Mrs. Kale, I will wait for Mr. Tomlinson. Perhaps a private room might be available on the second floor." She then gestures to the table with Franklin and in a softer voice says, "Above there preferably." "I think that can be arranged. There are some private dining rooms on the second floor. Why don't you follow me? I'm sorry I had to leave the play early tonight, I still haven't managed to see the end," Kate said casually as she led the young woman up the stairs and checked the room that should be above the table.
Shannon surveys the room and states, "Yes, this will do. Go find me as many candles as you can." Shannon then enters the room and begins to quietly move the chairs and table out from the center of the room to along the far wall. Kate states, "Candles? Well, I suppose it will be nice for once to do something more subtly than running in with guns drawn." Kate scoured the other dining rooms and collected the candles in them, the also checked the storage and brought up as many as she could find there. "Let's try not to burn the saloon down," she said as she brought the last in. "What are the candles for?"
Shannon replies, "Watcher Tomlinson knows a spell that will identify how many of the creatures there are as well as any other creatures who they may have control over." Kate says, "I've seen Mother Jimenez do this. I think it also showed people who have been influenced in the past, so you may see an alarming large number of people. I believe when Mother Jimenez did it there were somewhere aren't thirty. I myself had my mind subsumed once, although it's been tried more than once. I am tired of these creatures." Shannon says, "Watcher Tomlinson wiped the influence of those who had been influenced by the others, so they will no longer show up. All this will identify is any new vampires plus anybody they have direct influence over. When you are going up against foes it is usually helpful to know how many of them there are and where they are located."
Kate states, "I couldn't agree more. This isn't something I'd have wished on you, Shannon, but I have to say I'm glad to have some help with all of this. I'm sure Mr. Tomlinson has told you that my friends and I have been dealing with these for the last for months. I won't be able to do it much longer. Is there anything I can do to help? I shouldn't be missing for too long." Shannon replies, "That's fine. Bring Mr. Tomlinson up when he arrives." "Alright," Kate said, taken aback by the short answer. She went quietly back down the stairs and to her work.
Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter Two-hundred-twelve, “Richard’s Idea“, Saturday, June 17th, 12:30 P.M.
Richard replies, "I would like to learn as much as I can about his business, but need to do so in a way that doesn't invade the man's privacy or trust in us. He gave you a tour, perhaps you can show me around and tell me what he told you, especially about future expansion plans."
"Sure, I can do that. It's pretty amazing." Ruby leads him to the elevator. "Why do you need to know?" He replies, "I see a potential business opportunity." She answers, "Well, it sounds like a good business opportunity to me, Richard. George is very very excited about his plans and better yet, he believes in them." As Ruby shows Richard around she explains to him George's plan for the future as he outlined it for her. She finishes the tour in the same room George finished it for her.
She says, "You have to admit, it would be interesting for all kinds of people to have access to cameras and film. Think of all that would change! And all that business stuff sounds legit, although I don't know much about sharing profits and all that. But it sounded good. Seems to me he has the drive and resources to make it work." Richard smiles and says, "Yes, what I thought was a good business opportunity may turn into a great one. Ruby, you know this Mr. Eastman far better than I do, but my first impression is that he is a rather smart businessman. If he were offered an opportunity to cut his production costs by...say ten-percent, do you think he would jump at that chance?"
She says, "He's not a greedy man and I'm positive he would consider it. You're right about him being a smart business man, he built all this," She waves her arm around, "From nothing. Why, what would you offer? How can you cut the costs?" Richard replies "What would I offer? Significantly reduced cost of materials, integrated production facilities, reduced shipping costs, management services and an opportunity for a bi-coastal direct market presence."
Ruby just blinks at him. "Sounds like you two have something to talk about then. I have no idea what you just said but it sounds very business-y and official. But Richard, I hope you won't keep George talking about business the entire time we're here. I'm planning on stealing him away for a while too." Richard "That sounds fine, a plan is starting to fall into place. Now why don't you tell me a little about this cousin of his who he takes orders from?"
"Ugh!" Ruby rolls her eyes. "Helen Eastman Barker. She's a bit older than George and I. She recognized my name in the paper and called George. I think she got his hopes all up just so they could be crushed again. I mean, I was Jake and she knew it... she's never liked me. She told me to my face, she would never let us be together. She wanted to prove to George how horrible I am. I guess I did help her with that," Ruby says with flushed cheeks, embarrassed. Ruby tells the story of how George came to town and all the details in between, including the whole "murder" and how Helen wouldn't let Ruby track him down. "And that's Helen. She one of the deputies now back in Promise City. She a crack shot with her gun too, Jake's taken some lessons from her."
She finishes with, "I wonder why George let her boss him around, he doesn't seem like he would do that here and now." Richard says, "Okay, it sounds like she is a take charge kind of person. And would it be safe to assume that George would trust her to look after his interests?" Ruby answers, "I suppose so, yes. She seems pretty responsible. Part of the reason she doesn't like me I guess. Why? What are you thinking?" He states, "What am I thinking? Ruby, what do you know about the process of photography? By that I mean the dry-plate photography like Mr. Eastman is specializing in. What I'm says is, do you know what the primary and single most expensive component is in the process?" She exclaims, "Isn't it obvious that I don't know much about business... stuff? I'm not that smart. I never paid attention in school either. For crying out loud, I'm just leaning how to read better!" Her embarrassment shows through, and she calms down a bit. "What is it, paper maybe?"
He says, "No Ruby, the most expensive component in the process is silver. Silver dust, specifically silver nitrate, that is what sticks to the gelatin on the dry plate to capture the image of light and create the negative used to later make the print. Eastman is probably getting his silver from Colorado, from suppliers he has been using for years, and there are probably several middle-men in between, each of whom takes their own share of profit from the transactions. And with his plans for expansion he will be buying much larger quantities in the years to come.
Southeastern Arizona is now emerging as the new silver capital of the world, replacing Colorado in total output. If Eastman had his own operations there he could purchase the silver directly from the stamping mills and complete the process himself. He could also produce enough dry plates there for his customers in California and other western states and territories instead of having to ship them all the way from here in Rochester."
"Oh." Ruby pauses, taking it all in. "Well, that would mean George would have to come out West more often." She smiles at the thought. "Richard, you know a lot about this stuff. Are you wanting to get involved in George's business? Or more to the point, are you thinking of leaving the Three Gods?" I know George will be back any minute, I hope anyway, so if you don't want to talk about it now, I understand. But I'm curious."
Richard replies, "No, I don't plan to leave the Three Gods, but I'm needed there primarily on weekend nights, not during weekdays, which is when the factory's primary operations would occur. The city of Tucson would be the ideal location for Eastman's new manufacturing operations. It is near the silver mines, it has considerable rail access, there is a large population of skilled workers and it has the necessary infrastructure such as electricity, water, telephone and telegraph services to support a plant for a long time to come. He doesn't know me, but he trusts you Ruby, you could act as a reference. And with oversight from a Board of Directors that includes his cousin who lives in the region I'm hoping that he might be agreeable. Yes, this idea is falling nicely into place."
“Ugh! I don't want him to have Helen in his life more than he has to..." Ruby voice trails off. Why should she care about that this much? She continues calmly, "I will speak him if you'd like. I have many things to talk to him about, I can present it to him but I don't want him thinking that is why we came. But Richard, you have proven yourself to me and I will vouch for you." He replies, "Thank you. Let me figure out some more details. We may want to wait until tomorrow for me to suggest the idea to him. As for his cousin, she lives in Promise City, not Tucson, so I would only anticipate her involvement a few times a month for Board Meetings. But from what you've said I think her involvement will be what will get him to agree to the idea."
Ruby laughs. "I could probably get him to agree myself. That boy is crazy over me even though I treated him so poorly. That's why I say he's a good man. And why I want to spend some time this trip making it up to him." She smiles widely, "Think he'll like that, me making it up to him? Now that Jane is on her way home, do we have to get back for anything? I've already missed the play and we're going to miss the tournament."
Richard replies, "At this point I'm seeing all the more reason to stay here, it'll distract those folks following us and our staying away from Jane will help keep her safer. Plus the more time I get to spend with Eastman discussing this idea the better, for all of us!" "You're really into this idea, huh?" Ruby laughs. "I just hope he returns soon, I'm starting to worry. I guess I should be figuring out a way I can get in on all this successful business stuff too. I don't want you stealing all his time from me! I'll wait until he's back safe and then I'll do some scheming of my own. Got any tips for me?" she laughs again. Richard says, "Just continue to be yourself, that appears to be who he wishes to be with."
The smile slowly falls off Ruby's face. "But he doesn't know me, who I am now anyway." She fingers some photographs on the table in front of her but then she smiles again. "I'm going to change that anyway, that's the new point of this trip!" She finds a chair and plops into it, trying not to show the small amount of nervousness she is beginning to feel. "I'm starving. Old cheese just doesn't cut it for breakfast anymore." Richard replies, "He should be back soon. I am certain he knows a place or two in this city that are good to dine at. But before we go to any of them we need to make sure that nobody tries to kill us on sight."
"True. That would ruin our trip and plans," Ruby says seriously before laughing. "I wonder how the play went last night. I'm sad I missed it. And how the tournament will go today. Nothing goes too smoothly at the Lucky, something is bound to go wrong." Richard replies, "Don't be concerned about that, our business partners are resourceful people, they will handle whatever comes their way. Right now it is far more important that things go smoothly here for us. I would not have imagined that we have stumbled into a conspiracy at the highest level, even if it is forty years after-the-fact."
Ruby says, "True. I wonder how this will all come out. Even after we clear our names what do you suppose we do with what we know? We'll have to do something, these people aren't going to stop at one little roadblock." Richard states, "They have no idea that we are actually even involved, just a notion that we might be. And they certainly have no way of knowing that we have deduced what the conspiracy is about." Ruby says, "They know we're involved, or we wouldn't have the Pinkerton's looking for us. Do you really think they think we're Douglas and Clarke?"
Richard says, “Their detectives and hired guns probably do. What their bosses know is another matter. At any rate it would have given them an ample excuse to check our possessions with over a million dollars still missing." Ruby nods. "Well, I'm sure George will straighten all this out. Have you decided you can trust him now?" Richard says, "For the most part. I seldom trust anybody who I first meet completely, that has to be earned over time. Let me say this, he's given me no reason to distrust him." She says, "I understand. I'm not very trusting myself. But I've known George almost my whole life and believe me when I say he's a good man. More trustable than anyone else I know. Anyway, you'll find out for yourself." Ruby smiles as she retreats into her thoughts while she waits for George to return.
They wait another fifteen minutes until the fancy carriage returns. They see that a uniformed policeman is with the driver. Three men exit the carriage, George, one man wearing a Police Commissioner's uniform, and a man in a suit. The three men head toward the factory door while the driver and policeman stay with the carriage. "Okay, they're coming. Let's cross our fingers this goes well." Ruby fluffs her hair and stands, waiting for George to find them. The next few minutes seem to drag on for an eternity. They then here the sound of the elevator, which stops at the floor. They hear the men approach.
Ruby gives a nervous glance to Richard and continues to wait. The men enter. George introduces his friend the Commissioner. The other man is introduced as Horace Stethford, Pinkerton Regional Manager. Ruby steps forward and extends her hand. "Ruby West. It's a pleasure to meet you." Richard extends his hand and says, "Richard Broughton, Miss West's business partner." The Commissioner looks skeptical and asks "And what type of business is it that you two do?"
She replies, "We own a private meeting house together back West. I also own a Saloon in Promise City, Arizona." "A meeting house?" he asks. Richard interjects "Dedicated to the Greek/Roman Gods." That answer seems to satisfy the men. The Commissioner tells the Pinkerton Detective "I've known Mr. Eastman for a few years now, he's one of the very best citizens of this town. I've also met Miss. West's parents on a few social occasions. These aren't the outlaws you are looking for."
"No, outlaw isn't on my resume," Ruby says trying to lighten the moment. "I've known George since I was a child. We're definitely not Deadeye and Clarke." The Commissioner replies, "Certainly not. We will head over to the newspaper office to see about getting a retraction printed in tomorrow's newspaper. In the meanwhile it would be prudent for the two of you to keep a low profile for the remainder of today." Ruby steps over to George and takes his arm. With an easy smile she says, "We plan on it." She gazes up at George, "Right Mr. Eastman?"
George replies "Yes, well gentlemen, I truly do appreciate your assistance in this matter." The Commissioner asks to use the telephone. He tells the person on the other end to send a carriage for him over to the Eastman Factory." George tells Ruby and Richard, "Let me escort these gentlemen back downstairs. I'll come back up to get the two of you once their ride is here." She states, "Alright. Hurry back!" Once the men leave Ruby starts hurriedly gathering their belongings. "That went well."
Richard replies, "Yes it did, Eastman was smart going right to the two top men instead of having to deal with intermediaries.” "Yes, he's very smart. In a way, I'm glad this happened. It's reminded me a few things about George I may have forgotten." The smile again comes unbidden to Ruby's face. "Let's wait by the door, I'm anxious to get out of here." Richard gathers up their luggage. They wait another few minutes until the elevator returns. George is surprised to see them waiting there instead of inside the office. "We're ready!" Ruby chirps. "Can we go now? We're hungry. And tired. And dirty," she blushes.
"Well, let's go then," George states. They take the elevator down and exit the building, George locking things up behind him as they go. They head out to the elaborate carriage where the driver takes the luggage and stows it in the back then opens the door for the three of them to enter. Ruby hops inside and takes a seat facing forward, not really in the middle but not exactly near the window either. She takes in the luxury of the coach, waiting for the others to enter.
They ride for around two miles ending at street on the east side of town with a series of nine houses . The brick and wood buildings on the street are all two-and-three stories tall, most with adjacent carriage houses and well maintained but small lawns, each no more than an acre in size. They have the appearance of being upper-middle-class homes but a far cry from than the upper crust elite that Ruby's parents belong to and the social circuit that she would have assumed George now belonged to as well. They turn into the driveway of one of these houses.
She asks, "Where are we going? Is this where you live George? " He replies, "Yes, this is my home. It isn't much, but is enough for a man living alone. I bought it several years ago, back when my business was still operating out of the third floor of a downtown building. A few months ago I purchased a much larger tract of land over on East Avenue, the entire 900 block in fact, with plans to someday put up a mansion there. But I've been far too busy with the business and other projects to get around to doing that yet."
"What do you mean, it isn't much? It's your own home, right? It looks like a nice neighborhood to me." She strains to look out the window at the houses. "Although, mansions are nice too," she teases. She looks at the handsome man sitting next to her. "So you plan on staying in Rochester forever George?" "Yes, it's my home. Although I do like to travel also." The driver stops in the driveway and opens the doors to the carriage. Richard goes to get the bags but George says, "William will get those, come on inside." Ruby was a little saddened to hear that George wanted to stay in Rochester. Her life had grown way past living in the city, especially with her parents still here but still, it would have been nice to have her friend closer to her. George takes Ruby by the arm and walks her up the front walk with Richard following behind.
Richard replies, "I would like to learn as much as I can about his business, but need to do so in a way that doesn't invade the man's privacy or trust in us. He gave you a tour, perhaps you can show me around and tell me what he told you, especially about future expansion plans."
"Sure, I can do that. It's pretty amazing." Ruby leads him to the elevator. "Why do you need to know?" He replies, "I see a potential business opportunity." She answers, "Well, it sounds like a good business opportunity to me, Richard. George is very very excited about his plans and better yet, he believes in them." As Ruby shows Richard around she explains to him George's plan for the future as he outlined it for her. She finishes the tour in the same room George finished it for her.
She says, "You have to admit, it would be interesting for all kinds of people to have access to cameras and film. Think of all that would change! And all that business stuff sounds legit, although I don't know much about sharing profits and all that. But it sounded good. Seems to me he has the drive and resources to make it work." Richard smiles and says, "Yes, what I thought was a good business opportunity may turn into a great one. Ruby, you know this Mr. Eastman far better than I do, but my first impression is that he is a rather smart businessman. If he were offered an opportunity to cut his production costs by...say ten-percent, do you think he would jump at that chance?"
She says, "He's not a greedy man and I'm positive he would consider it. You're right about him being a smart business man, he built all this," She waves her arm around, "From nothing. Why, what would you offer? How can you cut the costs?" Richard replies "What would I offer? Significantly reduced cost of materials, integrated production facilities, reduced shipping costs, management services and an opportunity for a bi-coastal direct market presence."
Ruby just blinks at him. "Sounds like you two have something to talk about then. I have no idea what you just said but it sounds very business-y and official. But Richard, I hope you won't keep George talking about business the entire time we're here. I'm planning on stealing him away for a while too." Richard "That sounds fine, a plan is starting to fall into place. Now why don't you tell me a little about this cousin of his who he takes orders from?"
"Ugh!" Ruby rolls her eyes. "Helen Eastman Barker. She's a bit older than George and I. She recognized my name in the paper and called George. I think she got his hopes all up just so they could be crushed again. I mean, I was Jake and she knew it... she's never liked me. She told me to my face, she would never let us be together. She wanted to prove to George how horrible I am. I guess I did help her with that," Ruby says with flushed cheeks, embarrassed. Ruby tells the story of how George came to town and all the details in between, including the whole "murder" and how Helen wouldn't let Ruby track him down. "And that's Helen. She one of the deputies now back in Promise City. She a crack shot with her gun too, Jake's taken some lessons from her."
She finishes with, "I wonder why George let her boss him around, he doesn't seem like he would do that here and now." Richard says, "Okay, it sounds like she is a take charge kind of person. And would it be safe to assume that George would trust her to look after his interests?" Ruby answers, "I suppose so, yes. She seems pretty responsible. Part of the reason she doesn't like me I guess. Why? What are you thinking?" He states, "What am I thinking? Ruby, what do you know about the process of photography? By that I mean the dry-plate photography like Mr. Eastman is specializing in. What I'm says is, do you know what the primary and single most expensive component is in the process?" She exclaims, "Isn't it obvious that I don't know much about business... stuff? I'm not that smart. I never paid attention in school either. For crying out loud, I'm just leaning how to read better!" Her embarrassment shows through, and she calms down a bit. "What is it, paper maybe?"
He says, "No Ruby, the most expensive component in the process is silver. Silver dust, specifically silver nitrate, that is what sticks to the gelatin on the dry plate to capture the image of light and create the negative used to later make the print. Eastman is probably getting his silver from Colorado, from suppliers he has been using for years, and there are probably several middle-men in between, each of whom takes their own share of profit from the transactions. And with his plans for expansion he will be buying much larger quantities in the years to come.
Southeastern Arizona is now emerging as the new silver capital of the world, replacing Colorado in total output. If Eastman had his own operations there he could purchase the silver directly from the stamping mills and complete the process himself. He could also produce enough dry plates there for his customers in California and other western states and territories instead of having to ship them all the way from here in Rochester."
"Oh." Ruby pauses, taking it all in. "Well, that would mean George would have to come out West more often." She smiles at the thought. "Richard, you know a lot about this stuff. Are you wanting to get involved in George's business? Or more to the point, are you thinking of leaving the Three Gods?" I know George will be back any minute, I hope anyway, so if you don't want to talk about it now, I understand. But I'm curious."
Richard replies, "No, I don't plan to leave the Three Gods, but I'm needed there primarily on weekend nights, not during weekdays, which is when the factory's primary operations would occur. The city of Tucson would be the ideal location for Eastman's new manufacturing operations. It is near the silver mines, it has considerable rail access, there is a large population of skilled workers and it has the necessary infrastructure such as electricity, water, telephone and telegraph services to support a plant for a long time to come. He doesn't know me, but he trusts you Ruby, you could act as a reference. And with oversight from a Board of Directors that includes his cousin who lives in the region I'm hoping that he might be agreeable. Yes, this idea is falling nicely into place."
“Ugh! I don't want him to have Helen in his life more than he has to..." Ruby voice trails off. Why should she care about that this much? She continues calmly, "I will speak him if you'd like. I have many things to talk to him about, I can present it to him but I don't want him thinking that is why we came. But Richard, you have proven yourself to me and I will vouch for you." He replies, "Thank you. Let me figure out some more details. We may want to wait until tomorrow for me to suggest the idea to him. As for his cousin, she lives in Promise City, not Tucson, so I would only anticipate her involvement a few times a month for Board Meetings. But from what you've said I think her involvement will be what will get him to agree to the idea."
Ruby laughs. "I could probably get him to agree myself. That boy is crazy over me even though I treated him so poorly. That's why I say he's a good man. And why I want to spend some time this trip making it up to him." She smiles widely, "Think he'll like that, me making it up to him? Now that Jane is on her way home, do we have to get back for anything? I've already missed the play and we're going to miss the tournament."
Richard replies, "At this point I'm seeing all the more reason to stay here, it'll distract those folks following us and our staying away from Jane will help keep her safer. Plus the more time I get to spend with Eastman discussing this idea the better, for all of us!" "You're really into this idea, huh?" Ruby laughs. "I just hope he returns soon, I'm starting to worry. I guess I should be figuring out a way I can get in on all this successful business stuff too. I don't want you stealing all his time from me! I'll wait until he's back safe and then I'll do some scheming of my own. Got any tips for me?" she laughs again. Richard says, "Just continue to be yourself, that appears to be who he wishes to be with."
The smile slowly falls off Ruby's face. "But he doesn't know me, who I am now anyway." She fingers some photographs on the table in front of her but then she smiles again. "I'm going to change that anyway, that's the new point of this trip!" She finds a chair and plops into it, trying not to show the small amount of nervousness she is beginning to feel. "I'm starving. Old cheese just doesn't cut it for breakfast anymore." Richard replies, "He should be back soon. I am certain he knows a place or two in this city that are good to dine at. But before we go to any of them we need to make sure that nobody tries to kill us on sight."
"True. That would ruin our trip and plans," Ruby says seriously before laughing. "I wonder how the play went last night. I'm sad I missed it. And how the tournament will go today. Nothing goes too smoothly at the Lucky, something is bound to go wrong." Richard replies, "Don't be concerned about that, our business partners are resourceful people, they will handle whatever comes their way. Right now it is far more important that things go smoothly here for us. I would not have imagined that we have stumbled into a conspiracy at the highest level, even if it is forty years after-the-fact."
Ruby says, "True. I wonder how this will all come out. Even after we clear our names what do you suppose we do with what we know? We'll have to do something, these people aren't going to stop at one little roadblock." Richard states, "They have no idea that we are actually even involved, just a notion that we might be. And they certainly have no way of knowing that we have deduced what the conspiracy is about." Ruby says, "They know we're involved, or we wouldn't have the Pinkerton's looking for us. Do you really think they think we're Douglas and Clarke?"
Richard says, “Their detectives and hired guns probably do. What their bosses know is another matter. At any rate it would have given them an ample excuse to check our possessions with over a million dollars still missing." Ruby nods. "Well, I'm sure George will straighten all this out. Have you decided you can trust him now?" Richard says, "For the most part. I seldom trust anybody who I first meet completely, that has to be earned over time. Let me say this, he's given me no reason to distrust him." She says, "I understand. I'm not very trusting myself. But I've known George almost my whole life and believe me when I say he's a good man. More trustable than anyone else I know. Anyway, you'll find out for yourself." Ruby smiles as she retreats into her thoughts while she waits for George to return.
They wait another fifteen minutes until the fancy carriage returns. They see that a uniformed policeman is with the driver. Three men exit the carriage, George, one man wearing a Police Commissioner's uniform, and a man in a suit. The three men head toward the factory door while the driver and policeman stay with the carriage. "Okay, they're coming. Let's cross our fingers this goes well." Ruby fluffs her hair and stands, waiting for George to find them. The next few minutes seem to drag on for an eternity. They then here the sound of the elevator, which stops at the floor. They hear the men approach.
Ruby gives a nervous glance to Richard and continues to wait. The men enter. George introduces his friend the Commissioner. The other man is introduced as Horace Stethford, Pinkerton Regional Manager. Ruby steps forward and extends her hand. "Ruby West. It's a pleasure to meet you." Richard extends his hand and says, "Richard Broughton, Miss West's business partner." The Commissioner looks skeptical and asks "And what type of business is it that you two do?"
She replies, "We own a private meeting house together back West. I also own a Saloon in Promise City, Arizona." "A meeting house?" he asks. Richard interjects "Dedicated to the Greek/Roman Gods." That answer seems to satisfy the men. The Commissioner tells the Pinkerton Detective "I've known Mr. Eastman for a few years now, he's one of the very best citizens of this town. I've also met Miss. West's parents on a few social occasions. These aren't the outlaws you are looking for."
"No, outlaw isn't on my resume," Ruby says trying to lighten the moment. "I've known George since I was a child. We're definitely not Deadeye and Clarke." The Commissioner replies, "Certainly not. We will head over to the newspaper office to see about getting a retraction printed in tomorrow's newspaper. In the meanwhile it would be prudent for the two of you to keep a low profile for the remainder of today." Ruby steps over to George and takes his arm. With an easy smile she says, "We plan on it." She gazes up at George, "Right Mr. Eastman?"
George replies "Yes, well gentlemen, I truly do appreciate your assistance in this matter." The Commissioner asks to use the telephone. He tells the person on the other end to send a carriage for him over to the Eastman Factory." George tells Ruby and Richard, "Let me escort these gentlemen back downstairs. I'll come back up to get the two of you once their ride is here." She states, "Alright. Hurry back!" Once the men leave Ruby starts hurriedly gathering their belongings. "That went well."
Richard replies, "Yes it did, Eastman was smart going right to the two top men instead of having to deal with intermediaries.” "Yes, he's very smart. In a way, I'm glad this happened. It's reminded me a few things about George I may have forgotten." The smile again comes unbidden to Ruby's face. "Let's wait by the door, I'm anxious to get out of here." Richard gathers up their luggage. They wait another few minutes until the elevator returns. George is surprised to see them waiting there instead of inside the office. "We're ready!" Ruby chirps. "Can we go now? We're hungry. And tired. And dirty," she blushes.
"Well, let's go then," George states. They take the elevator down and exit the building, George locking things up behind him as they go. They head out to the elaborate carriage where the driver takes the luggage and stows it in the back then opens the door for the three of them to enter. Ruby hops inside and takes a seat facing forward, not really in the middle but not exactly near the window either. She takes in the luxury of the coach, waiting for the others to enter.
They ride for around two miles ending at street on the east side of town with a series of nine houses . The brick and wood buildings on the street are all two-and-three stories tall, most with adjacent carriage houses and well maintained but small lawns, each no more than an acre in size. They have the appearance of being upper-middle-class homes but a far cry from than the upper crust elite that Ruby's parents belong to and the social circuit that she would have assumed George now belonged to as well. They turn into the driveway of one of these houses.
She asks, "Where are we going? Is this where you live George? " He replies, "Yes, this is my home. It isn't much, but is enough for a man living alone. I bought it several years ago, back when my business was still operating out of the third floor of a downtown building. A few months ago I purchased a much larger tract of land over on East Avenue, the entire 900 block in fact, with plans to someday put up a mansion there. But I've been far too busy with the business and other projects to get around to doing that yet."
"What do you mean, it isn't much? It's your own home, right? It looks like a nice neighborhood to me." She strains to look out the window at the houses. "Although, mansions are nice too," she teases. She looks at the handsome man sitting next to her. "So you plan on staying in Rochester forever George?" "Yes, it's my home. Although I do like to travel also." The driver stops in the driveway and opens the doors to the carriage. Richard goes to get the bags but George says, "William will get those, come on inside." Ruby was a little saddened to hear that George wanted to stay in Rochester. Her life had grown way past living in the city, especially with her parents still here but still, it would have been nice to have her friend closer to her. George takes Ruby by the arm and walks her up the front walk with Richard following behind.
Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter Two-hundred-thirteen, “Vampire at the Poker Table“, Saturday, June 17th, 10:30 P.M.
Kate kept her eye on what was going on at the tables. At Cornelius Van Horne’s the game favors both Morand and Masterson. At the Rhinehardt table Moria Enion wins three of the first two hands of the night with Franklin and Spinner each also winning a hand. This is a bit of a contrast as Hawkes and Thompson had begun this session with the largest piles of chips. At the table of Dealer Isaac Stevens Adair, Dano and Maverick all get onto hot streaks. Jake Cook seems to be ahead at Job Kane’s table.
Kate was glad to see Jake doing well, but wished to see Conrad doing better. She hadn't told him what was going on, not wanting to distract him. Sometimes she worried about him and what he would do with his future, but now wasn't the time for that. Franklin seemed to be doing well enough, and Kate suspected he really was here just for the tournament. He might have intended to meet up with the others of his kind here, but they were gone. When she was behind the bar again, Kate picked up a silver knife and slipped it in her pocket, just in case.
At the Van Horne table Morand and Masterson continue to dominate with Safford and Spaulding winning just enough to stay close to even, with Fisk doing poorly although not as bad as Berwind who looses half of what he had at the last break. At 11:00 the play has let out as Stanley Barker returns to collect young Mr. Hoover.
Nakomo watches the rest of the play at the Gay Lady. He is unexpectedly moved by the tragic ending but sits stoically hiddng his emotions. "the gods are a harsh lot." he thinks as he makes his way to the back of the stage to intercept Thomlinson. When he finds him he delivers the message and the two of them waste not time getting back to the Lucky Lady, where the seek out the others. Kevin Tomlinson arrives and surveys the room for Shannon O’Hara. Seeing Mr. Tomlinson, Kate took the time to say goodnight and thank you to Burt, then made her way over to the Watcher. "It's nice to see you Mr. Tomlinson. Can I get you something?" She dropped her voice and added. "She's waiting for you upstairs. I can show you."
"I need to get a few things first." He gestures to Thom at the doorway and says "Could you arrange to have Mr. Mills take that duty instead for a few minutes? Mr. Mills knows about the creatures so would allow me to bring in some items inside that your other doorman might not." Kate nodded and went over to speak to Jeff. "Do you think you could replace Thom at the door for a bit?" she asked quietly. "Mr. Tomlinson needs to bring some equipment inside and Thom wouldn't be able to understand to let him. Tell him to get some dinner from Maria or something?"
Jeff replies, "Maria is still over at the play, she went to watch her brother in the top role, but I get what you're saying. I'll have him go get something from Hannah Milford." Mills manages to get to the doorway. Tomlinson reenters the building and Jeff checks the bag, with the two conversing in low tones. Tomlinson then head upstairs. When Kevin Tomlinson arrives not long after Shannon O'Hara enters the Lucky Lady, Chester realizes what kind of trouble they're up against. He shakes his head ruefully. I guess I'm just doomed to see these vampires over and over again.
Jeff relieves Thom, so Chester sidles over to him. He whispers, "Hey Jeff, monster problems?" Jeff says out of the side of his mouth. "Yeah, Chet. Don't look, but Franklin over there is one of them. Kevin is going to figure out if there are more of them around. Keep your eyes open." Chester says, "I always do. Why can't they just leave us alone?" Jeff answers, "This place is a weak spot between the world as we know it and Hades. They're drawn to its power." Chester grunts. "I reckon then, he won't be the last of them to come through."
Bradford Rhinehardt’s table continues to have both Hawkes and Thompson, doing poorly. Moria Enion is doing the best, although the games for both Franklin and Spinner have improved considerably. Stevens Adair, Dano and Maverick continue on their hot streaks while Muratz loses terribly. By 11:30 P.M. Adair’s pile of chips is almost equal to that of Maverick’s. Silver Jake Cook made neither an effort to pull ahead or behind during the previous ninety minutes, but the cards tend to be in his favor with him winning four of the next twelve hands, Roosevelt and Duvall each winning three, Walters and McNaulty each winning one and Booth wining none.
Tomlinson has been upstairs for fifteen minutes when Shannon comes down and surveys the room. She nods to both Chester and Kate to come join them. Kate met Chester's eye, then poured a couple drinks and headed up the stairs with them. " Give me a reason to be running up and down the stairs," she explained when she met Shannon at the top of the stairs. Chester looks back at her and nods his head slightly. He pats his pockets as though looking for something and acts annoyed. He goes to Jeff. "I'm going upstairs. I'll pretend I forgot something in my room."
Jeff replies, "No problem. I can cover for you." Chester walks up the stairs to where the others are waiting.
They open the door and let her in. The room smells parially of lilac plants and partially of vanilla with a faint smoke in the air. The floor has eight lit candles of the floor. One is huge, and letting off far more light that even a candle that size should. Very near that candle are three medium sized candles and one small very faint candle. Two medium candles are a few feet off to the left but a distance apart from one another. The final candle, another very faint one, is by the back end of the room.
There is another knock on the door and Jonathan Harker's voice asks "May I come in?" Tomlinson opens the door and says, "Absolutely, this very much concerns you as well." "Welcome, Mr. Harker," Kate said quietly. "If I remember this correctly, the large candle is centered here, the medium ones are other creatures and the smaller people affected by them?" Tomlinson says, "Close, by my casting it directly above the main target I have consolidated my grounding point and him."
Chester finds the room and knocks on the door. "It's Chester." Tomlinson opens the door and Chester is admitted into the room. . "Welcome, deputy. Come in." Chester asks, "So there's a vampire downstairs?" Tomlinson points to the big candle and says, "This is Franklin. He is thankfully the only vampire in town. The medium sized ones are people under his direct influence, you'll see that there are five of them, two of whom appear to be other gamblers in the tournament.
The final two are people under the influence of a vampire not currently present in town, in fact, given how faintly they glow I would say their master isn't within a thousand miles of here." Kate says, "A thousand miles? Considering where we are the master would have to be either far to the north, or somewhere in the eastern states. Is there something that important that is drawing the attention of these creatures here?"
Tomlinson says, "Franklin and his companions may just be here for the tournament, using his powers to make a fast buck. As to the two faint ones, it's not too hard to figure that out once you know their identities." He points to the far one and says, "Jonathan, that appears to be at your brother's house." Harker replies, "Our house guest....Bernice Turner." Tomlinson says, "Correct, and the faint one from downstairs is Job Kane." "Job?" Kate shook her head. "But we destroyed Mortimer Turner, didn't we? That would leave Colin Turner. We hoped he'd been destroyed in Thomaswell but could never prove it. Once the master is gone, shouldn't the person be free?"
Shannon states, "Turner's last words were that his Uncle Colin would avenge him." Tomlinson says, "Yes, and I had cured Bernice of her prior influence from both Turners, meaning she was re-infected within the last ten days. Kane was probably infected at that same time too. It could have occurred either here or when they were last in Wilcox, so Turner was in the region recently but not now. No matter, Turner is too far away to be a factor tonight and tomorrow morning I can rid them both of his influence. The more immediate problem is Mr. Franklin and his associates." Kate exclaims, "Colin Turner is probably chasing after Ruby. He had a definite obsession with her and she's traveling in the east right now. Thankfully she's not alone, there are people there to protect her.”
Kate continues, “What can we do without destroying the tournament? Don't mistake me, getting rid of this creature is the most important thing, but I don't think we want to introduce a room full of gamblers to the existence of blood-drinking monsters." Chester states, "I know Jake wouldn't like it. It's pretty bold of Franklin to be in a place with mirrors. Someone is going to notice he doesn't have a reflection.” Harker says, "Except the big mirror was destroyed a few days ago and the crowds tend to block the smaller ones that we put up."
Chester says, “ Since he can't cause too much trouble while he's playing, we can wait until he leaves and nab him then." Tomlinson says, "I agree, especially since we know where he's going. There's only one, and we know where he's staying, in a room right down the hall from where we are now. Who are his associates?"
Shannon says, "It was easy to figure out some of them since they are all staying in one place downstairs." She points to the one nearest the big candle and says, "This one is the tall man sitting across from Franklin at the same table." Harker says, "Willy Spinner, he and Franklin both played poorly before but their games have both improved since they were put together. If it wasn't for Miss Enion's superior skills they would be winning that table right now."
She points to the next closest candle and says, "This is the man with the brushy mustache playing with Mr. Stevens." Harker says, "Victor Muratz, he played extremely well during the first grouping of tables, he has nearly $ 5,000 right now." She points to the final candle in the room and says, "This is the auburn haired man leaning against the piano." Harker says, "I don't know his name but he's been around most of the day. He must be another signal man like that Hart guy we arrested."
Shannon points to one of the candles at the right and says, "Which would be him, this candle's location is the town jail." Harker states, "This is making sense, we couldn't figure out which gambler he was sending signals too, as he kept moving around. He was signaling more than one, or perhaps even the other signal man." Tomlinson points to the final candle and says, "We don't know who this is, the location appears to be the Promise City Hotel, probably a guest room."
Kate tried to remember if Edwin Booth was still downstairs observing. "Mr. Booth, Mr. Berwind, and Mr. Roosevelt are staying there, but they're all here at the moment, I believe. I don't know who else is staying there or might be there, but Mr. Van Horne probably knows where all the participants are staying. Can we call Shenanigans on the signal-man, at least? Go downstairs and observe for a while, then call him out?" Chester says, "That'll work. It's one of the things we're supposed to look out for anyway. Kill two birds with one stone."
Harker says, "We don't even have to wait, I'll just clue in either my cousin Boston or Jeff Mills and they can call it out. That should put a crimp in at least Muratz's game for the rest of the evening. Feel like escorting another man off to jail Deputy?" Chester states, "Of course. A walk in the outside air always feels good." Kate adds, "It at least separates the creature from another ally, and each one we can peel away makes our job easier." Harker says, "Okay, Chester and I will go put that into motion while you folks figure out what to do about the others."
Tomlinson says, "If you see Priestess Florencia downstairs send her up, she'll want in on this too." After the door closed behind Chester, Kate said, "We should wait until after the end of the tournament for tonight. Most of the observers and other gamblers will be gone, so there will be less people to see or be hurt. Also the less people who know we are taking care of these kinds of problems, the better. Miss Florencia was going back to her rooms to get her supplies, so I know she will want to help, as will Nakomo. Is there anything I can do for you beside stay out of the way?"
Within five minutes of Chester and Jonathan's return downstairs Boston Harker calls out "Shenanigans" and the man by the piano is taken into custody. He is questioned on the spot by Boston Harker as to which gambler he was sending signals to, but like Mr. Hart earlier in the day he insists he was doing no such thing and does not know what they are talking about. Chester takes the man's arm. "We'll sweat it out of you back at the office. What's your name?" He indicates that he is Carlton Enoch from Denver and emphasizes that he hasn't done anything wrong. The Deputy replies, "We'll be the judge of that. Let's go." Chester escorts Enoch to jail. He unlocks the cell and puts Enoch in with Hart. "There you go. The finest of rooms for you." Chester returns to the Lucky Lady. He keeps watch over the tournament again from his perch by the door.
As the clock reaches the hour of midnight prospector Ned Walters bets and loses his remaining chips. Jake Cook and many others in the room are actually surprised how long the usually poor player has lasted against this caliber of opponents. At that point in time Conrad Booth is down to is final $ 500 when he finally wins a hand bringing him back up to $ 1000. The next hour continues to be dominated by Cook and Duvall with McNaulty and Roosevelt almost broke by the time the clock reaches the hour of 1:00 A.M.
Van Horne’s table tells a similar story, with neither Masterson or Morand not playing particularly well but better than their opponents. At a quarter to one the game finally becomes interesting as the pot grows to several hundred dollars and then over a thousand. Berwind and Spaulding each bet their remaining chips on this hand and Fisk puts in half of what he has left. All three of those men have good hands, a flush for Berwind, a straight for Spaulding and a full house for Fisk, but Masterson manages to take the pot with a quartet of fours.
The reporters soon become disappointed with watching the boring play taking place at Isaac Steven’s table. Each pot tends to rise to amounts ranging from $ 200 to $ 400 however none of the players fall into any sort of streak with all six players winning an equal number of hands. By 1:00 AM both Maverick and Lumbley appear to have done the best during the previous ninety-minutes but not by any significant amount while Mr. Muratz is no longer having the success that he did earlier in the day.
Shortly after midnight the table that the reporters shifted their attention to was the one run by Bradford Rhinehardt. Having spent from 10:00 PM until just before midnight primarily observing his opponents the gambler Brady Hawkes decides to now give Moria Enion a run for her money and the table quickly turns into a duel between the two of them. They all but ignore their other four opponents who all continue to lose hand-after-hand to the two professionals. Both Franklin and Spinner’s games have taken a definite downturn following the forced removal of Mr. Enoch. Chester says to Jeff, "Seems like Enoch was helping more than just Mr. Franklin."
Hawkes continues to take sixty-percent of the hands for the midnight to 1:00 hour with Enion taking the other forty-percent, eliminating Willie Spinner from the game and leaving Franklin, Hearst and Thompson each down to their final few hundred. Rhinehard’s table continues with the competition between Hawkes and Enion. The female gambler now wins sixty-percent of the hands to Haekes’s forty-percent at the exclusion of the other gamblers. Hearst goes broke at 1:30 AM and Thomson is eliminated fifteen minutes later. Jim Franklin bets his last remaining money on the final hand of the night, which he surprisingly wins, ending up with $ 1,100 to the $ 8,300 for Hawkes and $ 8,850 for Enion.
At Van Horne’s table former Governor Safford manages to hit upon a winning streak at the expense of both Fisk and Morand. Fisk is eliminated from the tournament at 2:15 A.M. The evening ends with almost equal piles of chips in front of Masterson, Morand and Safford that appear to be around $ 7,000 plus or minus $ 500.
Over at Isaac Stevens table Burton Lumley goes on a losing streak that becomes exacerbated when both Adair and Ivers keep raising the pot, with Lumley going along in hopes of regaining his previous winnings only to have cards not quite as good as the others. At 2:00 AM he bets very big on a hand of four Queens, only to lose to four Kings held by Ivers. Dano and Muratz also do poorly in the final hour of the game. At 2:15 AM Lumley looses his remaining money. The night ends with Adair at over $ 10,000, Maverick at $ 8,200, Ivers at $ 4,600, Muratz at $ 3,000 and Dano a distant $ 1,900.
Like Steven’s table, Kane’s table evolves into a two-person duel, this one between Silver Jake Cook and Commodore James Duvall. Theodore Roosevelt is eliminated at 1:15 AM, Conrad Booth is eliminated at 2:00 AM and Torvald McNaulty is eliminated at 2:15 AM. Cook wins the final three hands of the night, ending at over $ 11,000 to Duvall’s chip pile of approximately $ 7,500.
Host Cornelius Van Horne declares the games over for the night, to resume at 12:00 noon on Sunday. With thirteen players remaining he states that there will be three tables when they resume. Van Horne thanks Bradford Rhinehardt for his services at the tournament. The large man then says that when they resume each player will be with a dealer who they haven’t played with yet during the tournament. He also declares that bronze chips will be taken out of play and will be available on Sunday for souvenirs at twenty-five cents apiece. The minimum ante when they resume will be a silver poker chip.
Jake stands and stretches as the last hand of his table finishes. The young gambler was pleased with how the night went. He did not have to play too rough, and although he did not count chips he knows he came out at the end of the evening as one of the leaders for the day. He sought out Bradford Rhinehardt.
"Well done there, Master Rhinehardt, very well done. I do not see why Van Horne relieved you for tomorrow but all the better for me. If you were still dealing it would not be proper for me to be seen speaking too much with you." Jake's grin grows broad. "I could not be more pleased. I am in good position and have kept most of my tricks and style to myself. It feels good, Branford, it feels mighty good. There are some fine gamblers here, but I do believe I am capable to take it all. Hermes willing of course."
Bradford replies, "Well Jake, it is good to be back in your life and I wish you luck tomorrow. I too am sorry that I won't be dealing, I could have used the money. The thousand from today will be nice but another thousand for tomorrow would have helped even more."
Bradford sits down at the bar with Jake and has Harry get him a whiskey. The saloon is clearing out and he says, "And since I am no longer dealing I guess I can tell you that of the players who were at my table today three will be a challenge for you tomorrow, Adair, Enion and Hawkes. I wouldn't be surprised if the final comes down to the four of you. As far as pure skill is concerned I would say that Hawkes is the best, he didn't get the nickname of 'The Gambler' for nothing. But he's getting on in years now so that might work against him in a long haul game, I noticed his energy starting to fade after 1:00 AM."
"That is about time when I am just getting going," Jake laughs. They chat for a few minutes and then Jake suggests that he find a quiet place away from the Lucky Lady for a bit, Jake even offers a room at his house down the street. "I have a feeling there is a bit of dangerous work still to do here, and I would not see you harmed over something you have no part in." After he is done with Bradford, Jake gets his weapons back. It feels strangely comforting. He loads his Colt with Pierre's exchanged rounds and then sits at the bar slowly enjoying a bourbon while waiting for the coming storm.
Kate kept her eye on what was going on at the tables. At Cornelius Van Horne’s the game favors both Morand and Masterson. At the Rhinehardt table Moria Enion wins three of the first two hands of the night with Franklin and Spinner each also winning a hand. This is a bit of a contrast as Hawkes and Thompson had begun this session with the largest piles of chips. At the table of Dealer Isaac Stevens Adair, Dano and Maverick all get onto hot streaks. Jake Cook seems to be ahead at Job Kane’s table.
Kate was glad to see Jake doing well, but wished to see Conrad doing better. She hadn't told him what was going on, not wanting to distract him. Sometimes she worried about him and what he would do with his future, but now wasn't the time for that. Franklin seemed to be doing well enough, and Kate suspected he really was here just for the tournament. He might have intended to meet up with the others of his kind here, but they were gone. When she was behind the bar again, Kate picked up a silver knife and slipped it in her pocket, just in case.
At the Van Horne table Morand and Masterson continue to dominate with Safford and Spaulding winning just enough to stay close to even, with Fisk doing poorly although not as bad as Berwind who looses half of what he had at the last break. At 11:00 the play has let out as Stanley Barker returns to collect young Mr. Hoover.
Nakomo watches the rest of the play at the Gay Lady. He is unexpectedly moved by the tragic ending but sits stoically hiddng his emotions. "the gods are a harsh lot." he thinks as he makes his way to the back of the stage to intercept Thomlinson. When he finds him he delivers the message and the two of them waste not time getting back to the Lucky Lady, where the seek out the others. Kevin Tomlinson arrives and surveys the room for Shannon O’Hara. Seeing Mr. Tomlinson, Kate took the time to say goodnight and thank you to Burt, then made her way over to the Watcher. "It's nice to see you Mr. Tomlinson. Can I get you something?" She dropped her voice and added. "She's waiting for you upstairs. I can show you."
"I need to get a few things first." He gestures to Thom at the doorway and says "Could you arrange to have Mr. Mills take that duty instead for a few minutes? Mr. Mills knows about the creatures so would allow me to bring in some items inside that your other doorman might not." Kate nodded and went over to speak to Jeff. "Do you think you could replace Thom at the door for a bit?" she asked quietly. "Mr. Tomlinson needs to bring some equipment inside and Thom wouldn't be able to understand to let him. Tell him to get some dinner from Maria or something?"
Jeff replies, "Maria is still over at the play, she went to watch her brother in the top role, but I get what you're saying. I'll have him go get something from Hannah Milford." Mills manages to get to the doorway. Tomlinson reenters the building and Jeff checks the bag, with the two conversing in low tones. Tomlinson then head upstairs. When Kevin Tomlinson arrives not long after Shannon O'Hara enters the Lucky Lady, Chester realizes what kind of trouble they're up against. He shakes his head ruefully. I guess I'm just doomed to see these vampires over and over again.
Jeff relieves Thom, so Chester sidles over to him. He whispers, "Hey Jeff, monster problems?" Jeff says out of the side of his mouth. "Yeah, Chet. Don't look, but Franklin over there is one of them. Kevin is going to figure out if there are more of them around. Keep your eyes open." Chester says, "I always do. Why can't they just leave us alone?" Jeff answers, "This place is a weak spot between the world as we know it and Hades. They're drawn to its power." Chester grunts. "I reckon then, he won't be the last of them to come through."
Bradford Rhinehardt’s table continues to have both Hawkes and Thompson, doing poorly. Moria Enion is doing the best, although the games for both Franklin and Spinner have improved considerably. Stevens Adair, Dano and Maverick continue on their hot streaks while Muratz loses terribly. By 11:30 P.M. Adair’s pile of chips is almost equal to that of Maverick’s. Silver Jake Cook made neither an effort to pull ahead or behind during the previous ninety minutes, but the cards tend to be in his favor with him winning four of the next twelve hands, Roosevelt and Duvall each winning three, Walters and McNaulty each winning one and Booth wining none.
Tomlinson has been upstairs for fifteen minutes when Shannon comes down and surveys the room. She nods to both Chester and Kate to come join them. Kate met Chester's eye, then poured a couple drinks and headed up the stairs with them. " Give me a reason to be running up and down the stairs," she explained when she met Shannon at the top of the stairs. Chester looks back at her and nods his head slightly. He pats his pockets as though looking for something and acts annoyed. He goes to Jeff. "I'm going upstairs. I'll pretend I forgot something in my room."
Jeff replies, "No problem. I can cover for you." Chester walks up the stairs to where the others are waiting.
They open the door and let her in. The room smells parially of lilac plants and partially of vanilla with a faint smoke in the air. The floor has eight lit candles of the floor. One is huge, and letting off far more light that even a candle that size should. Very near that candle are three medium sized candles and one small very faint candle. Two medium candles are a few feet off to the left but a distance apart from one another. The final candle, another very faint one, is by the back end of the room.
There is another knock on the door and Jonathan Harker's voice asks "May I come in?" Tomlinson opens the door and says, "Absolutely, this very much concerns you as well." "Welcome, Mr. Harker," Kate said quietly. "If I remember this correctly, the large candle is centered here, the medium ones are other creatures and the smaller people affected by them?" Tomlinson says, "Close, by my casting it directly above the main target I have consolidated my grounding point and him."
Chester finds the room and knocks on the door. "It's Chester." Tomlinson opens the door and Chester is admitted into the room. . "Welcome, deputy. Come in." Chester asks, "So there's a vampire downstairs?" Tomlinson points to the big candle and says, "This is Franklin. He is thankfully the only vampire in town. The medium sized ones are people under his direct influence, you'll see that there are five of them, two of whom appear to be other gamblers in the tournament.
The final two are people under the influence of a vampire not currently present in town, in fact, given how faintly they glow I would say their master isn't within a thousand miles of here." Kate says, "A thousand miles? Considering where we are the master would have to be either far to the north, or somewhere in the eastern states. Is there something that important that is drawing the attention of these creatures here?"
Tomlinson says, "Franklin and his companions may just be here for the tournament, using his powers to make a fast buck. As to the two faint ones, it's not too hard to figure that out once you know their identities." He points to the far one and says, "Jonathan, that appears to be at your brother's house." Harker replies, "Our house guest....Bernice Turner." Tomlinson says, "Correct, and the faint one from downstairs is Job Kane." "Job?" Kate shook her head. "But we destroyed Mortimer Turner, didn't we? That would leave Colin Turner. We hoped he'd been destroyed in Thomaswell but could never prove it. Once the master is gone, shouldn't the person be free?"
Shannon states, "Turner's last words were that his Uncle Colin would avenge him." Tomlinson says, "Yes, and I had cured Bernice of her prior influence from both Turners, meaning she was re-infected within the last ten days. Kane was probably infected at that same time too. It could have occurred either here or when they were last in Wilcox, so Turner was in the region recently but not now. No matter, Turner is too far away to be a factor tonight and tomorrow morning I can rid them both of his influence. The more immediate problem is Mr. Franklin and his associates." Kate exclaims, "Colin Turner is probably chasing after Ruby. He had a definite obsession with her and she's traveling in the east right now. Thankfully she's not alone, there are people there to protect her.”
Kate continues, “What can we do without destroying the tournament? Don't mistake me, getting rid of this creature is the most important thing, but I don't think we want to introduce a room full of gamblers to the existence of blood-drinking monsters." Chester states, "I know Jake wouldn't like it. It's pretty bold of Franklin to be in a place with mirrors. Someone is going to notice he doesn't have a reflection.” Harker says, "Except the big mirror was destroyed a few days ago and the crowds tend to block the smaller ones that we put up."
Chester says, “ Since he can't cause too much trouble while he's playing, we can wait until he leaves and nab him then." Tomlinson says, "I agree, especially since we know where he's going. There's only one, and we know where he's staying, in a room right down the hall from where we are now. Who are his associates?"
Shannon says, "It was easy to figure out some of them since they are all staying in one place downstairs." She points to the one nearest the big candle and says, "This one is the tall man sitting across from Franklin at the same table." Harker says, "Willy Spinner, he and Franklin both played poorly before but their games have both improved since they were put together. If it wasn't for Miss Enion's superior skills they would be winning that table right now."
She points to the next closest candle and says, "This is the man with the brushy mustache playing with Mr. Stevens." Harker says, "Victor Muratz, he played extremely well during the first grouping of tables, he has nearly $ 5,000 right now." She points to the final candle in the room and says, "This is the auburn haired man leaning against the piano." Harker says, "I don't know his name but he's been around most of the day. He must be another signal man like that Hart guy we arrested."
Shannon points to one of the candles at the right and says, "Which would be him, this candle's location is the town jail." Harker states, "This is making sense, we couldn't figure out which gambler he was sending signals too, as he kept moving around. He was signaling more than one, or perhaps even the other signal man." Tomlinson points to the final candle and says, "We don't know who this is, the location appears to be the Promise City Hotel, probably a guest room."
Kate tried to remember if Edwin Booth was still downstairs observing. "Mr. Booth, Mr. Berwind, and Mr. Roosevelt are staying there, but they're all here at the moment, I believe. I don't know who else is staying there or might be there, but Mr. Van Horne probably knows where all the participants are staying. Can we call Shenanigans on the signal-man, at least? Go downstairs and observe for a while, then call him out?" Chester says, "That'll work. It's one of the things we're supposed to look out for anyway. Kill two birds with one stone."
Harker says, "We don't even have to wait, I'll just clue in either my cousin Boston or Jeff Mills and they can call it out. That should put a crimp in at least Muratz's game for the rest of the evening. Feel like escorting another man off to jail Deputy?" Chester states, "Of course. A walk in the outside air always feels good." Kate adds, "It at least separates the creature from another ally, and each one we can peel away makes our job easier." Harker says, "Okay, Chester and I will go put that into motion while you folks figure out what to do about the others."
Tomlinson says, "If you see Priestess Florencia downstairs send her up, she'll want in on this too." After the door closed behind Chester, Kate said, "We should wait until after the end of the tournament for tonight. Most of the observers and other gamblers will be gone, so there will be less people to see or be hurt. Also the less people who know we are taking care of these kinds of problems, the better. Miss Florencia was going back to her rooms to get her supplies, so I know she will want to help, as will Nakomo. Is there anything I can do for you beside stay out of the way?"
Within five minutes of Chester and Jonathan's return downstairs Boston Harker calls out "Shenanigans" and the man by the piano is taken into custody. He is questioned on the spot by Boston Harker as to which gambler he was sending signals to, but like Mr. Hart earlier in the day he insists he was doing no such thing and does not know what they are talking about. Chester takes the man's arm. "We'll sweat it out of you back at the office. What's your name?" He indicates that he is Carlton Enoch from Denver and emphasizes that he hasn't done anything wrong. The Deputy replies, "We'll be the judge of that. Let's go." Chester escorts Enoch to jail. He unlocks the cell and puts Enoch in with Hart. "There you go. The finest of rooms for you." Chester returns to the Lucky Lady. He keeps watch over the tournament again from his perch by the door.
As the clock reaches the hour of midnight prospector Ned Walters bets and loses his remaining chips. Jake Cook and many others in the room are actually surprised how long the usually poor player has lasted against this caliber of opponents. At that point in time Conrad Booth is down to is final $ 500 when he finally wins a hand bringing him back up to $ 1000. The next hour continues to be dominated by Cook and Duvall with McNaulty and Roosevelt almost broke by the time the clock reaches the hour of 1:00 A.M.
Van Horne’s table tells a similar story, with neither Masterson or Morand not playing particularly well but better than their opponents. At a quarter to one the game finally becomes interesting as the pot grows to several hundred dollars and then over a thousand. Berwind and Spaulding each bet their remaining chips on this hand and Fisk puts in half of what he has left. All three of those men have good hands, a flush for Berwind, a straight for Spaulding and a full house for Fisk, but Masterson manages to take the pot with a quartet of fours.
The reporters soon become disappointed with watching the boring play taking place at Isaac Steven’s table. Each pot tends to rise to amounts ranging from $ 200 to $ 400 however none of the players fall into any sort of streak with all six players winning an equal number of hands. By 1:00 AM both Maverick and Lumbley appear to have done the best during the previous ninety-minutes but not by any significant amount while Mr. Muratz is no longer having the success that he did earlier in the day.
Shortly after midnight the table that the reporters shifted their attention to was the one run by Bradford Rhinehardt. Having spent from 10:00 PM until just before midnight primarily observing his opponents the gambler Brady Hawkes decides to now give Moria Enion a run for her money and the table quickly turns into a duel between the two of them. They all but ignore their other four opponents who all continue to lose hand-after-hand to the two professionals. Both Franklin and Spinner’s games have taken a definite downturn following the forced removal of Mr. Enoch. Chester says to Jeff, "Seems like Enoch was helping more than just Mr. Franklin."
Hawkes continues to take sixty-percent of the hands for the midnight to 1:00 hour with Enion taking the other forty-percent, eliminating Willie Spinner from the game and leaving Franklin, Hearst and Thompson each down to their final few hundred. Rhinehard’s table continues with the competition between Hawkes and Enion. The female gambler now wins sixty-percent of the hands to Haekes’s forty-percent at the exclusion of the other gamblers. Hearst goes broke at 1:30 AM and Thomson is eliminated fifteen minutes later. Jim Franklin bets his last remaining money on the final hand of the night, which he surprisingly wins, ending up with $ 1,100 to the $ 8,300 for Hawkes and $ 8,850 for Enion.
At Van Horne’s table former Governor Safford manages to hit upon a winning streak at the expense of both Fisk and Morand. Fisk is eliminated from the tournament at 2:15 A.M. The evening ends with almost equal piles of chips in front of Masterson, Morand and Safford that appear to be around $ 7,000 plus or minus $ 500.
Over at Isaac Stevens table Burton Lumley goes on a losing streak that becomes exacerbated when both Adair and Ivers keep raising the pot, with Lumley going along in hopes of regaining his previous winnings only to have cards not quite as good as the others. At 2:00 AM he bets very big on a hand of four Queens, only to lose to four Kings held by Ivers. Dano and Muratz also do poorly in the final hour of the game. At 2:15 AM Lumley looses his remaining money. The night ends with Adair at over $ 10,000, Maverick at $ 8,200, Ivers at $ 4,600, Muratz at $ 3,000 and Dano a distant $ 1,900.
Like Steven’s table, Kane’s table evolves into a two-person duel, this one between Silver Jake Cook and Commodore James Duvall. Theodore Roosevelt is eliminated at 1:15 AM, Conrad Booth is eliminated at 2:00 AM and Torvald McNaulty is eliminated at 2:15 AM. Cook wins the final three hands of the night, ending at over $ 11,000 to Duvall’s chip pile of approximately $ 7,500.
Host Cornelius Van Horne declares the games over for the night, to resume at 12:00 noon on Sunday. With thirteen players remaining he states that there will be three tables when they resume. Van Horne thanks Bradford Rhinehardt for his services at the tournament. The large man then says that when they resume each player will be with a dealer who they haven’t played with yet during the tournament. He also declares that bronze chips will be taken out of play and will be available on Sunday for souvenirs at twenty-five cents apiece. The minimum ante when they resume will be a silver poker chip.
Jake stands and stretches as the last hand of his table finishes. The young gambler was pleased with how the night went. He did not have to play too rough, and although he did not count chips he knows he came out at the end of the evening as one of the leaders for the day. He sought out Bradford Rhinehardt.
"Well done there, Master Rhinehardt, very well done. I do not see why Van Horne relieved you for tomorrow but all the better for me. If you were still dealing it would not be proper for me to be seen speaking too much with you." Jake's grin grows broad. "I could not be more pleased. I am in good position and have kept most of my tricks and style to myself. It feels good, Branford, it feels mighty good. There are some fine gamblers here, but I do believe I am capable to take it all. Hermes willing of course."
Bradford replies, "Well Jake, it is good to be back in your life and I wish you luck tomorrow. I too am sorry that I won't be dealing, I could have used the money. The thousand from today will be nice but another thousand for tomorrow would have helped even more."
Bradford sits down at the bar with Jake and has Harry get him a whiskey. The saloon is clearing out and he says, "And since I am no longer dealing I guess I can tell you that of the players who were at my table today three will be a challenge for you tomorrow, Adair, Enion and Hawkes. I wouldn't be surprised if the final comes down to the four of you. As far as pure skill is concerned I would say that Hawkes is the best, he didn't get the nickname of 'The Gambler' for nothing. But he's getting on in years now so that might work against him in a long haul game, I noticed his energy starting to fade after 1:00 AM."
"That is about time when I am just getting going," Jake laughs. They chat for a few minutes and then Jake suggests that he find a quiet place away from the Lucky Lady for a bit, Jake even offers a room at his house down the street. "I have a feeling there is a bit of dangerous work still to do here, and I would not see you harmed over something you have no part in." After he is done with Bradford, Jake gets his weapons back. It feels strangely comforting. He loads his Colt with Pierre's exchanged rounds and then sits at the bar slowly enjoying a bourbon while waiting for the coming storm.
Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter Two-hundred-fourteen, “Hunting Franklin“, Sunday, June 18th, 2:30 A.M.
Minerva rushes back from her errand. When she does not see Katherine or Chester she climbs the stairs and knocks on the closed door. She is let in and Kate says to Minerva, “I imagine we'll want to take him when he's alone. That would mean letting the Lady clear out first. And we certainly want surprise considering they can just turn to mist and escape. Perhaps we'll want to get into his room and make sure all the windows are latched so he wouldn't have anywhere to go? Thankfully these things very obligingly don't leave bodies behind, we can just have Mr. Van Horne announce that Mr. Franklin withdrew and left."
Kate opened the door and ushered her inside, explaining what the candles on the floor meant and who was who. "We are trying to figure out the best way to destroy the creature. I was suggesting waiting until he retires to his room for the night." Kate heads back downstairs. As the Lucky Lady begins to clear out Kate notices Conrad Booth sitting over at a table with Edwin Booth. Conrad is finishing off the whiskey he was given fourteen hours earlier and as near as Kate can tell he doesn't appear to be the least bit upset over having been eliminated from the tournament. Kate smiled and walked over, taking the empty seat next to him. "And so tomorrow you are Romeo again, I assume? I'm not sure if I should be sorry or congratulate you."
Conrad says "Congratulations are in order my dear, I have no regrets. Did you see? The two biggest winners at this point are Cook and Adair. The last thing I wanted was to be at the final table with the two of them given my employer's expectations in that scenario, better to lose $ 3,000 and maintain my gainful employment at the Long Branch. Plus I outlasted both Fisk and Spaulding, the other two from the Long Branch, so that still make's me the best regular gambler in that establishment.
He then gestures to both Kate and Edwin and says, "The last twenty-four hours have been good. You both survived Mr. Watson's brutal attack and I now have a brother, all this was here tonight was a poker game, nothing to cry about. And as you point out, I will get to play Romeo again tomorrow. My heart really wasn't in it last night for the final two acts given my concerns at the time over the two of you. Tomorrow I'll be able to put everything into it and make it the performance of my life.
"Well then I congratulate you," she said and took his hand. "I still haven't seen the end of the play, I'll be glad to see it with you as Romeo, although I have to say Esteban was doing very well. I wish I had been awake last night when you came by, I was feeling a bit abandoned since none of my friends had come either." Conrad says, "Well my dear, you do not need to ever feel abandoned or alone at night either. I made you a proposal last March, that offer still stands."
"I know," she said, looking down at their joined hands. "But I still need time; I know you understand. That doesn't mean we can't talk about how our lives might fit together." She hadn't realized that she had leaned closer until she looked up and saw Edwin Booth trying to hide a smile. She sat up quickly and said to him, "Will you be watching your brother's performance tomorrow or observing the rest of the tournament?" Edwin replies, "I will definitely be at the play." With a smile he adds, "I did attempt to watch it last night but you may recall that my evening was interrupted." She replies, "I seem to recall that. And after that I recall feeling very strange in the head," she laughed. "That elixir feels very strange. Not like Laudanum or alcohol, but strange nonetheless. I have some business to attend to upstairs before I can go home, it might be quite a while. You don't have to wait for me if you want to get home to rest. Would you like something to eat before you go? I'm sure I can find something in the kitchen yet. Don't worry, I won't be cooking it."
Edwin says he got some food earlier. Conrad says that he is fine as he finishes his drink. Conrad says, "I'll walk my brother back to his hotel and then turn in myself. See you tomorrow my dear." Kate walked the two men to the door and kissed Conrad's cheek. "I will see you tomorrow. Good night." As the two walked away Kate turned back to the saloon. As she crossed the room toward the stairs she took note of who was still downstairs so she could tell those above stairs what the situation was. Hopefully there was some plan on what to do about Franklin by now.
Chester keeps a watch on Franklin. With it being nighttime, Franklin is free to leave the Lucky Lady. He can't let that happen. He asks Jeff, "Go up and see what the plan is. He's not going to stay down here too long. Wait, is there a master key for the rooms?" Jeff says, "I can go, Chet. The tournaments on a break. Hold on." He goes upstairs and is let into the room. "Chet wants to know what the plan is. He's downstairs keeping an eye on Franklin."
Kate went upstairs and knocked softly on the door of the private dining room before opening the door and entering. "It's clearing out downstairs. Do we have any kind of plan here? My suggestions only went as far as waiting for the place to clear out and taking him by surprise in his room. Of course, I find plans tend to fall about after the fight actually starts. Mr. Tomlinson, Miss O'Hara, you're the professionals here, is there anything we should know not to do? Would you rather I fetch Jake before we go over this?" Tomlinson says, "I'm not sure but whatever we do we should start soon. Unless he has somewhere else to go right now he'll be heading upstairs any minute now."
Kate says, "We'll have to be quiet since Franklin isn't the only gambler staying here. If you all wait up in his room we'll have him trapped between two groups, then we do what we have to do. We'll have to keep our eyes open for cross-fire, but otherwise it should work. I'm going to go get Jake, he's better with this kind of thing than I am." Kate slipped back downstairs and found Jake nursing a drink. "We need you upstairs," she said quietly. "We have to decide exactly how we're dealing with this and we have to decide quickly. I have some basic ideas, but they could use some fleshing out, and this is your place after all. I doubt you want us starting it on fire or any such nonsense."
"Yes, I would prefer that we do not burn down the Lady." Then in a loud voice, "Blast!" He drinks the balance of the bourbon and slams the glass on the bar. "I will kick those dogs into next week. Come on, show me what they have done this time." Jake follows Katherine to the stairs and then climbs them. "We cannot thrust him into sun light we do not have, and fire is a bad plan. We need to keep him from escaping. I do not know how he would have moved his coffin into the room upstairs, I wonder what he does for sanctuary. I would have said he is likely to come up here just for appearances except that would make no sense. He needs to be here for the game that starts in daylight hours.
We could check. He could have someone there to protect him or it could be trapped. Either way he would know something is amiss. My best suggestion is we have enough folks in the main room to engage him if he gets warned, and the rest check out his room and wait for him up here. If he comes up, folks follow him up and the action happens in his room or hall. If he tries to run, well then, the action starts when he does." Jake shrugs. "If anyone has a better plan, I am all for it. I trust everyone else involved has the necessary equipment, all I can do is shoot him."
Minerva states, "The last time that we encountered these abominations, Senorita O'Hara armed herself with silver. Do we have any silver handy? I have also brought holy water for all of you. I have a bullet that would put a man to sleep, but these creatures are not men. I do not think that it would work." Nakomo pipes up. "Does anyone have any of Diana's arrows left?" "Si" Minerva responds as she continues to hand out vials of holy water, "Padre Harbrace should have one left but he is in Dos Cabezas."
Tomlinson lowers his voice and says, "I could cast a spell that would permit somebody to fly there and back, but that would still take a couple of hours." Minerva states, "Luna has met the Padre. I could send her. But as you said that would take time. I do not think that we will wait that long." Kate interjects, "I would volunteer to do the flying, but it's unwise for me to do it. Those arrows are very effective though. They're immediately destroyed without a chance to turn to gas.
Jake's plan has good bones. I'd say have Miss O'Hara, Mr. Tomlinson, and Jake check out the room up here. Minerva, Nakomo, Chester and I can go downstairs to follow him up. We have business here or are at least known to be here late, so it won't seem suspicious." "Fine," he states. Jake adjusts the pistol in his holster and heads to the hallway and waits for the others outside the door to the room Franklin is using.
Being a co-owner of the establishment Jake was easily able to get a key to the room which they open and enter. It is a corner room at the end of the second floor addition to building. Both of the windows in the room have been left open and a light June breeze is blowing into the room. The bed is neatly made and atop the bed is an open suitcase with a pair of shoes and clothing neatly folded. No other possessions are visible in the room.
Downstairs, Kate notes that Mr. Franklin is no longer present in the room. Harry says that he left a few minutes earlier, with Jeff Mills following at a distance. "Thank you, Harry." Kate went back to the others. "He's left, Jeff is following, and Chester as well. I hate to split us up any further, but we can't all go following him without being terribly obvious. Perhaps Luna could trail them and let us know what's happening? I fear the thing has gone out to hunt." Kate ran upstairs and brought Jake down, telling him about Franklin leaving.
Jake says, "I know what you are saying, but it will be terribly obvious is someone turns up dead. I cannot condone Jeff Mills being out there all by himself, I am going out after him. We do have a Deputy Marshall that we are assisting after all. Does anyone know where he might go?" Kate says, "I don't know anything about him or where he'd go, unless he might try to break his friends out of jail?" Jake replies, "Mierde. Those that are willing to go out with me spread out and search. Stay in sight of each other and look for Mills or the monster. We will just use hand signals to get attention."
Tomlinson points out that the candles indicated one of his allies was over at the Promise City Hotel. Jake nods, "Let us go there first then." Kate says, "Since we know he's the only vampire in town and we're looking for him it should be safe enough for me to go with you. Someone should stay in case it comes back." Jake says, "Nakomo, stay with Harry and keep an eye on the Saloon. If you see Franklin, send Luna for us. " Chester is downstairs when the others come down. "They just left." Kate tries to stay close to Jake or Kevin Tomlinson as they head out.
Kate says, “It could be just as dangerous to stay behind with Nakomo as to go out with the others.” There was no way to really know where they would encounter the creature again. As soon as she determined to go it seemed she should stay, and vice versa. Finally she determined to go. At least helping to search for the thing it was less likely to sneak up on her. "I'll go with you. I think we should still spread out a bit, but everyone make their way toward the hotel."
Chester says, “OK. I'll check out Fremont St. and the over South St. toward the Hotel. That'll give me a chance to look in at the Marshall's office, too. I'll meet you all at the Hotel." Despite being 3:00 AM there are still several dozen people milling around town given that poker tournament has just ended for the day plus there had been a cast party at the Gay Lady following the successful performance, that has also just broken up.
Chester walks down Main St, then turns onto Fremont. His right hand rests on his pistol grip as his eyes shift back and forth in the darkness. When he reaches the Marshall's office, he opens the door. Deputy Neil Cassidy is now on duty again at the Marshall's Office. John Wesley Hardin is sleeping in a cell with Franklin's two accomplices. Wyatt Earp now shares a cell with Jefferson Soapy Smith. All of the prisoners are sleeping soundly and Helen signals that all is well.
Chester makes it over to the Promise City Hotel. They don't see either Franklin or Jeff Mills in the downstairs restaurant and head to the stairs leading up. They see Jeff standing on the landing near the top steps watching the hallway. He says, "Franklin met a woman in the restaurant and they then came upstairs. She looked to be around forty and was on the plump side, with dark hair tied back in a bun. I've never seen her before now. They've both been inside Room #11 for the last five minutes." "Well we can't do anything right here in the hotel," Kate whispered, "One or two should stay inside, and the rest of us can watch the doors and windows from outside."
Chester visits the front desk of the Hotel. He asks Melissa Smith behind the counter, "Evening, Mrs. Smith. Can you tell me who's staying in room #11? It's for an investigation I'm doing." She checks the register and says "The room is signed out to a Mrs. Isabelle Dyson. Is she somebody you know?" Chester says, "No, I don't know her, but I'd like to ask her a few questions. Can I go up?" Mrs. Smith replies, "It's dreadfully late, Deputy. Can it wait until tomorrow?" Chester states, "I'm afraid not. I'll try not to take too much of her time." She says, "If you say so. If Mrs. Dyson complains, the Marshall will hear about it." "I'll take that chance. Thank you, Mrs. Smith."
"Uh Oh," Jeff states, as the door to room #11 begins to open. Kate quickly hooked her arm through Jeff's and started them both down the stairs. "I appreciate the escort, I know it's late but I'm sure he appreciates us returning it as soon as it was found. I really think I could have gone up alone though. I guess next time I have to tell absolutely everyone when I go somewhere. You really didn't have to send out a search party." There are already too many of them at the bottom of the stairs, and Jake makes quickly and quietly outside where he can be inconspicuous and watch the windows on the side of the hotel where room 11 is located.
Franklin exits room #11 alone and heads towards the stairs, passing the linked-armed Kate and Jeff and paying little to no attention to them as he makes his way down the stairs. He then exits the Promise City Hotel and heads north on Allen Street heading back in the direction of the Lucky Lady Dance Hall and Saloon. Jake notices that Franklin has left the hotel. He stealthily follows the gambler vampire, assuming the Jeff Mills continues to do so as well. Jake carefully begins to close the distance between them.
At the hotel, Chester tips his hat and climbs the stairs to the room. he knocks on the door and says in a low voice, "Mrs. Dyson? Are you decent? My name's Deputy Martin. I'd like to ask you a few questions." The woman opens the door but does not let Chester inside. He hears noises and shadows that indicate that somebody else is also in the room although he cannot see who. Chester whispers, "Mrs. Dyson. If you are in trouble, just nod your head." In a normal voice, he says, "Mrs. Dyson, do you know a man named Jim Franklin?"
The Promise City Hotel is at the northwest corner of South and Allen while the Lucky Lady is on the northwest corner of Main and Allen. Immediately north of the hotel is Doctor James Eaton's Office and north of that is a three-building complex with shared center walls comprised of Kay Kaufman's Cooper Shop, the Western Union Telegraph Office and the Alhambra Saloon. Jeff Mills follows Franklin up Allen Street from a short distance while Jake Cook finds himself in the alleyway off of Allen between the north wall of Eaton's Office and south wall of the Cooper Shop.
Jake turns and sprints behind the Alhambra and up the alley on the east side of that saloon to Main street where he will cross to the center. Enough is enough, he thinks. There is no plan and no clue where his coffin hides. Trusting that the others are coming up Allen street behind Franklin, Jake speaks to him as he comes onto main street. "Puzzling, Mr. Franklin, that you have not enjoyed the fine home cooking of either Hannah Milford or Melissa Smith. Folks around these parts describe their meals as 'to die for'. Perhaps you have more exotic tastes?"
Minerva rushes back from her errand. When she does not see Katherine or Chester she climbs the stairs and knocks on the closed door. She is let in and Kate says to Minerva, “I imagine we'll want to take him when he's alone. That would mean letting the Lady clear out first. And we certainly want surprise considering they can just turn to mist and escape. Perhaps we'll want to get into his room and make sure all the windows are latched so he wouldn't have anywhere to go? Thankfully these things very obligingly don't leave bodies behind, we can just have Mr. Van Horne announce that Mr. Franklin withdrew and left."
Kate opened the door and ushered her inside, explaining what the candles on the floor meant and who was who. "We are trying to figure out the best way to destroy the creature. I was suggesting waiting until he retires to his room for the night." Kate heads back downstairs. As the Lucky Lady begins to clear out Kate notices Conrad Booth sitting over at a table with Edwin Booth. Conrad is finishing off the whiskey he was given fourteen hours earlier and as near as Kate can tell he doesn't appear to be the least bit upset over having been eliminated from the tournament. Kate smiled and walked over, taking the empty seat next to him. "And so tomorrow you are Romeo again, I assume? I'm not sure if I should be sorry or congratulate you."
Conrad says "Congratulations are in order my dear, I have no regrets. Did you see? The two biggest winners at this point are Cook and Adair. The last thing I wanted was to be at the final table with the two of them given my employer's expectations in that scenario, better to lose $ 3,000 and maintain my gainful employment at the Long Branch. Plus I outlasted both Fisk and Spaulding, the other two from the Long Branch, so that still make's me the best regular gambler in that establishment.
He then gestures to both Kate and Edwin and says, "The last twenty-four hours have been good. You both survived Mr. Watson's brutal attack and I now have a brother, all this was here tonight was a poker game, nothing to cry about. And as you point out, I will get to play Romeo again tomorrow. My heart really wasn't in it last night for the final two acts given my concerns at the time over the two of you. Tomorrow I'll be able to put everything into it and make it the performance of my life.
"Well then I congratulate you," she said and took his hand. "I still haven't seen the end of the play, I'll be glad to see it with you as Romeo, although I have to say Esteban was doing very well. I wish I had been awake last night when you came by, I was feeling a bit abandoned since none of my friends had come either." Conrad says, "Well my dear, you do not need to ever feel abandoned or alone at night either. I made you a proposal last March, that offer still stands."
"I know," she said, looking down at their joined hands. "But I still need time; I know you understand. That doesn't mean we can't talk about how our lives might fit together." She hadn't realized that she had leaned closer until she looked up and saw Edwin Booth trying to hide a smile. She sat up quickly and said to him, "Will you be watching your brother's performance tomorrow or observing the rest of the tournament?" Edwin replies, "I will definitely be at the play." With a smile he adds, "I did attempt to watch it last night but you may recall that my evening was interrupted." She replies, "I seem to recall that. And after that I recall feeling very strange in the head," she laughed. "That elixir feels very strange. Not like Laudanum or alcohol, but strange nonetheless. I have some business to attend to upstairs before I can go home, it might be quite a while. You don't have to wait for me if you want to get home to rest. Would you like something to eat before you go? I'm sure I can find something in the kitchen yet. Don't worry, I won't be cooking it."
Edwin says he got some food earlier. Conrad says that he is fine as he finishes his drink. Conrad says, "I'll walk my brother back to his hotel and then turn in myself. See you tomorrow my dear." Kate walked the two men to the door and kissed Conrad's cheek. "I will see you tomorrow. Good night." As the two walked away Kate turned back to the saloon. As she crossed the room toward the stairs she took note of who was still downstairs so she could tell those above stairs what the situation was. Hopefully there was some plan on what to do about Franklin by now.
Chester keeps a watch on Franklin. With it being nighttime, Franklin is free to leave the Lucky Lady. He can't let that happen. He asks Jeff, "Go up and see what the plan is. He's not going to stay down here too long. Wait, is there a master key for the rooms?" Jeff says, "I can go, Chet. The tournaments on a break. Hold on." He goes upstairs and is let into the room. "Chet wants to know what the plan is. He's downstairs keeping an eye on Franklin."
Kate went upstairs and knocked softly on the door of the private dining room before opening the door and entering. "It's clearing out downstairs. Do we have any kind of plan here? My suggestions only went as far as waiting for the place to clear out and taking him by surprise in his room. Of course, I find plans tend to fall about after the fight actually starts. Mr. Tomlinson, Miss O'Hara, you're the professionals here, is there anything we should know not to do? Would you rather I fetch Jake before we go over this?" Tomlinson says, "I'm not sure but whatever we do we should start soon. Unless he has somewhere else to go right now he'll be heading upstairs any minute now."
Kate says, "We'll have to be quiet since Franklin isn't the only gambler staying here. If you all wait up in his room we'll have him trapped between two groups, then we do what we have to do. We'll have to keep our eyes open for cross-fire, but otherwise it should work. I'm going to go get Jake, he's better with this kind of thing than I am." Kate slipped back downstairs and found Jake nursing a drink. "We need you upstairs," she said quietly. "We have to decide exactly how we're dealing with this and we have to decide quickly. I have some basic ideas, but they could use some fleshing out, and this is your place after all. I doubt you want us starting it on fire or any such nonsense."
"Yes, I would prefer that we do not burn down the Lady." Then in a loud voice, "Blast!" He drinks the balance of the bourbon and slams the glass on the bar. "I will kick those dogs into next week. Come on, show me what they have done this time." Jake follows Katherine to the stairs and then climbs them. "We cannot thrust him into sun light we do not have, and fire is a bad plan. We need to keep him from escaping. I do not know how he would have moved his coffin into the room upstairs, I wonder what he does for sanctuary. I would have said he is likely to come up here just for appearances except that would make no sense. He needs to be here for the game that starts in daylight hours.
We could check. He could have someone there to protect him or it could be trapped. Either way he would know something is amiss. My best suggestion is we have enough folks in the main room to engage him if he gets warned, and the rest check out his room and wait for him up here. If he comes up, folks follow him up and the action happens in his room or hall. If he tries to run, well then, the action starts when he does." Jake shrugs. "If anyone has a better plan, I am all for it. I trust everyone else involved has the necessary equipment, all I can do is shoot him."
Minerva states, "The last time that we encountered these abominations, Senorita O'Hara armed herself with silver. Do we have any silver handy? I have also brought holy water for all of you. I have a bullet that would put a man to sleep, but these creatures are not men. I do not think that it would work." Nakomo pipes up. "Does anyone have any of Diana's arrows left?" "Si" Minerva responds as she continues to hand out vials of holy water, "Padre Harbrace should have one left but he is in Dos Cabezas."
Tomlinson lowers his voice and says, "I could cast a spell that would permit somebody to fly there and back, but that would still take a couple of hours." Minerva states, "Luna has met the Padre. I could send her. But as you said that would take time. I do not think that we will wait that long." Kate interjects, "I would volunteer to do the flying, but it's unwise for me to do it. Those arrows are very effective though. They're immediately destroyed without a chance to turn to gas.
Jake's plan has good bones. I'd say have Miss O'Hara, Mr. Tomlinson, and Jake check out the room up here. Minerva, Nakomo, Chester and I can go downstairs to follow him up. We have business here or are at least known to be here late, so it won't seem suspicious." "Fine," he states. Jake adjusts the pistol in his holster and heads to the hallway and waits for the others outside the door to the room Franklin is using.
Being a co-owner of the establishment Jake was easily able to get a key to the room which they open and enter. It is a corner room at the end of the second floor addition to building. Both of the windows in the room have been left open and a light June breeze is blowing into the room. The bed is neatly made and atop the bed is an open suitcase with a pair of shoes and clothing neatly folded. No other possessions are visible in the room.
Downstairs, Kate notes that Mr. Franklin is no longer present in the room. Harry says that he left a few minutes earlier, with Jeff Mills following at a distance. "Thank you, Harry." Kate went back to the others. "He's left, Jeff is following, and Chester as well. I hate to split us up any further, but we can't all go following him without being terribly obvious. Perhaps Luna could trail them and let us know what's happening? I fear the thing has gone out to hunt." Kate ran upstairs and brought Jake down, telling him about Franklin leaving.
Jake says, "I know what you are saying, but it will be terribly obvious is someone turns up dead. I cannot condone Jeff Mills being out there all by himself, I am going out after him. We do have a Deputy Marshall that we are assisting after all. Does anyone know where he might go?" Kate says, "I don't know anything about him or where he'd go, unless he might try to break his friends out of jail?" Jake replies, "Mierde. Those that are willing to go out with me spread out and search. Stay in sight of each other and look for Mills or the monster. We will just use hand signals to get attention."
Tomlinson points out that the candles indicated one of his allies was over at the Promise City Hotel. Jake nods, "Let us go there first then." Kate says, "Since we know he's the only vampire in town and we're looking for him it should be safe enough for me to go with you. Someone should stay in case it comes back." Jake says, "Nakomo, stay with Harry and keep an eye on the Saloon. If you see Franklin, send Luna for us. " Chester is downstairs when the others come down. "They just left." Kate tries to stay close to Jake or Kevin Tomlinson as they head out.
Kate says, “It could be just as dangerous to stay behind with Nakomo as to go out with the others.” There was no way to really know where they would encounter the creature again. As soon as she determined to go it seemed she should stay, and vice versa. Finally she determined to go. At least helping to search for the thing it was less likely to sneak up on her. "I'll go with you. I think we should still spread out a bit, but everyone make their way toward the hotel."
Chester says, “OK. I'll check out Fremont St. and the over South St. toward the Hotel. That'll give me a chance to look in at the Marshall's office, too. I'll meet you all at the Hotel." Despite being 3:00 AM there are still several dozen people milling around town given that poker tournament has just ended for the day plus there had been a cast party at the Gay Lady following the successful performance, that has also just broken up.
Chester walks down Main St, then turns onto Fremont. His right hand rests on his pistol grip as his eyes shift back and forth in the darkness. When he reaches the Marshall's office, he opens the door. Deputy Neil Cassidy is now on duty again at the Marshall's Office. John Wesley Hardin is sleeping in a cell with Franklin's two accomplices. Wyatt Earp now shares a cell with Jefferson Soapy Smith. All of the prisoners are sleeping soundly and Helen signals that all is well.
Chester makes it over to the Promise City Hotel. They don't see either Franklin or Jeff Mills in the downstairs restaurant and head to the stairs leading up. They see Jeff standing on the landing near the top steps watching the hallway. He says, "Franklin met a woman in the restaurant and they then came upstairs. She looked to be around forty and was on the plump side, with dark hair tied back in a bun. I've never seen her before now. They've both been inside Room #11 for the last five minutes." "Well we can't do anything right here in the hotel," Kate whispered, "One or two should stay inside, and the rest of us can watch the doors and windows from outside."
Chester visits the front desk of the Hotel. He asks Melissa Smith behind the counter, "Evening, Mrs. Smith. Can you tell me who's staying in room #11? It's for an investigation I'm doing." She checks the register and says "The room is signed out to a Mrs. Isabelle Dyson. Is she somebody you know?" Chester says, "No, I don't know her, but I'd like to ask her a few questions. Can I go up?" Mrs. Smith replies, "It's dreadfully late, Deputy. Can it wait until tomorrow?" Chester states, "I'm afraid not. I'll try not to take too much of her time." She says, "If you say so. If Mrs. Dyson complains, the Marshall will hear about it." "I'll take that chance. Thank you, Mrs. Smith."
"Uh Oh," Jeff states, as the door to room #11 begins to open. Kate quickly hooked her arm through Jeff's and started them both down the stairs. "I appreciate the escort, I know it's late but I'm sure he appreciates us returning it as soon as it was found. I really think I could have gone up alone though. I guess next time I have to tell absolutely everyone when I go somewhere. You really didn't have to send out a search party." There are already too many of them at the bottom of the stairs, and Jake makes quickly and quietly outside where he can be inconspicuous and watch the windows on the side of the hotel where room 11 is located.
Franklin exits room #11 alone and heads towards the stairs, passing the linked-armed Kate and Jeff and paying little to no attention to them as he makes his way down the stairs. He then exits the Promise City Hotel and heads north on Allen Street heading back in the direction of the Lucky Lady Dance Hall and Saloon. Jake notices that Franklin has left the hotel. He stealthily follows the gambler vampire, assuming the Jeff Mills continues to do so as well. Jake carefully begins to close the distance between them.
At the hotel, Chester tips his hat and climbs the stairs to the room. he knocks on the door and says in a low voice, "Mrs. Dyson? Are you decent? My name's Deputy Martin. I'd like to ask you a few questions." The woman opens the door but does not let Chester inside. He hears noises and shadows that indicate that somebody else is also in the room although he cannot see who. Chester whispers, "Mrs. Dyson. If you are in trouble, just nod your head." In a normal voice, he says, "Mrs. Dyson, do you know a man named Jim Franklin?"
The Promise City Hotel is at the northwest corner of South and Allen while the Lucky Lady is on the northwest corner of Main and Allen. Immediately north of the hotel is Doctor James Eaton's Office and north of that is a three-building complex with shared center walls comprised of Kay Kaufman's Cooper Shop, the Western Union Telegraph Office and the Alhambra Saloon. Jeff Mills follows Franklin up Allen Street from a short distance while Jake Cook finds himself in the alleyway off of Allen between the north wall of Eaton's Office and south wall of the Cooper Shop.
Jake turns and sprints behind the Alhambra and up the alley on the east side of that saloon to Main street where he will cross to the center. Enough is enough, he thinks. There is no plan and no clue where his coffin hides. Trusting that the others are coming up Allen street behind Franklin, Jake speaks to him as he comes onto main street. "Puzzling, Mr. Franklin, that you have not enjoyed the fine home cooking of either Hannah Milford or Melissa Smith. Folks around these parts describe their meals as 'to die for'. Perhaps you have more exotic tastes?"
Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter Two-hundred-fifteen, “The Eastman Home“, Saturday, June 17th, 2:00 P.M.
Ruby grasps George's arm and as they enter his home she takes a good look around. "Are we going to get the tour?" He leads them on a tour of the house. It has a total of fifteen rooms, five on each of the three floors. The first floor consists of a sitting room, a formal dining room, a causal dining room, a study and a combination kitchen/pantry. The second floor has the master bedroom, a guest bedroom, a library, an office/workroom and bathroom with marble tiled floors and ceramic bathtub with both hot and cold faucets. The third floor has two more guest bedrooms, two rooms that he says belongs to his servants and another bathroom that is less elaborate than the one on the second floor.
"I'll take this room!" Ruby chirps, pointing to the guest room next to George's. Then her cheeks turn pink at her obviousness, "If that's okay..." George replies, "That is fine." The man William is coming up the stairs now with the bags so George directs him which bag goes in which guest room. Ruby says, "So... what should we do first George? What about tonight? I hope we didn't mess up any of your plans for this weekend." George gives her a surprised look and says, "Plans? Ruby, your being here with me is better than anything that I might have ever planned."
Ruby smiles sweetly at George. "Well, good. I like to hear that. I guess I should take a bath and then we can all have some lunch together?" He replies, "Good, enjoy your bath. It will take a little while to get something ready. I'll have to send William out to get some food. My cook is away for the weekend and she only left enough food for the two of us to get by. What type of food would you like? I can telephone ahead to a restaurant so that it will be ready when William arrives to get it."
"Oh, I'm sorry. We should have called ahead with our food needs before becoming fugitives," Ruby teases. "Why don't you surprise us for lunch and dinner? I love surprises. And I'm not too picky about what I eat, I like everything. Of course, I looovveee chocolate," she smiles. She lightly kisses both George and Richard on the cheek before heading into her room. "Enjoy your little chat!" she calls out over her shoulder. Once inside her room she hums to herself while she prepares for her bath.
The next two hours fly by as Ruby is lost in her thoughts. She bathes, enjoying the running water in the tub she continually turns the hot water on to heat up the bath water. After her bath she takes her time getting ready, dressing and doing her hair, applying a light layer of makeup and accessories. Her cherished ruby ring still adorns her finger, but it's on her right hand and not her left. Feeling dressed and confident she breezes downstairs, looking for the boys. "Hello?" she calls out, "Where is everyone? I'm starving!"
She sees William dining alone in the informal dining room and reading a newspaper while he eats. He doesn't get up but instead gestures towards the formal dining room and says "They await you in there young lady." As she approaches the room she takes in a variety of aromas. She sees Richard and George have both changed into fresh suits. They welcome her into the room and George holds out a chair for her to sit. The table is set for the three of them, with a dozen covered silver platters and bowls in the center of the table. A wine holder has two chilled bottles of wine in it.
Ruby pulls her dress out and sits. "Thank you George. This all smells wonderful, what did you do? All this just for lunch?" There is a smile on Ruby's face as she gazes over the covered platters covering the table. George says, "Well, I wanted to make sure there were enough leftovers for the icebox to sustain us through the weekend, I'm not expecting Al and Rosey to be back until some time on Monday." "So we'll be all alone all weekend, huh?" He replies, "Not completely alone, William will be here too."
Ruby nods towards the food. "This is exciting then! What did you get?" She starts pulling covers off the food, curious as to what is underneath. He begins to remove the metal lids to the containers and he describes each dish "For the soup you have a choice of New England Clam Chowder or Minestrone, a fresh garden salad, main dish choices are roast duck, beef tenderloins and butter-fried-mackerel. Side dish choices are a cheese-pasta, corn-on-the-cob, and sweet peas mixed with pearl onions. The rolls are still hot, with a choice of wheat rolls or corn rolls. And make sure you save room for the dessert, which is in the ice box, chocolate ice cream with strawberries and cream.
Ruby's eyes widen. "This is wonderful George! Thank you! We certainly won't starve this weekend." Ruby stands. "What would you like to have?" She doesn't wait for his response, she just starts making him a plate. "You sit," she orders, "You did all this, the least I can do is make your plate." She puts the covers back on everything and spoons out some soup and salad for everyone to start with. "George, after lunch I'd like you and I to talk, just the two of us. Is that okay with you? I would wait, but I have some things to say and it's weighing on my mind. If we get it out of the way then we can enjoy our time together."
She keeps her eyes averted as she speaks to him, even as her rosy cheeks give away her nervousness. She returns to her seat to begin her lunch. Richard says, "I have some reading to do up in my room for after lunch, you two can have the first two floors of the house to yourself then provided that William agrees." George says, "I'm sure that he won't mind having a few hours off." Ruby nods, and gulps to herself. "That works." She is quiet as they eat lunch, not paying attention to Richard and George's discussions. Suddenly she was very nervous about talking to George and being truthful but now there was no turning back. She is lost in her thoughts, trying to think of the best way to break the news of her past.
Lunch flies by without a word from Ruby. Richard had apparently brought up the subject of his Tucson factory idea with George while Ruby took her bath. They continue the discussion during the meal. George shows some enthusiasm to becoming more directly involved with the acquisition and processing of silver, saying that he needs to talk to his geologists and scientific staff about possible refinements to the process to better enhance photography. If there are indeed improvements that could be obtained it would be worthwhile to take over the ownership of that aspect as well.
George is up front with Richard that he has no intentions of entering into a business arrangement with a person who he just met, but that he will give the idea serious consideration and won't rule it out either at this point in time. Ruby finally pipes up. "And that's why you do so well for yourself George, you know your business. You'll find over time that Richard is reliable and will make a good partner for you but it's good to find that out for yourself." Ruby stands from the table. "Excuse me for just a minute gentlemen. George, I'll be right back and we can have our talk." She nods at both of them before heading upstairs to the bathroom.
Ruby stands in the bathroom staring at herself for moments, trying not to get too worked up. She smoothes her hair and dress and takes a few deep breathes before heading back downstairs into the sitting room. She takes a seat but sits on the edge of the chair, obviously uncomfortable and waits for George. She waits for around twenty minutes, during which time she notices several of the photographs mounted on the walls. Most have been taken on his travels but she notices a few taken in the Rochester area, including one of the beach where she threw the ring into the water five years ago.
She smiles as she lightly runs a finger over the picture of the beach and recalls that day, the day she gave up her ring and George professed his love for her. But the memory also makes her heart race and a warm flush comes over her. She suddenly realizes the summer day is hot and humid, and having been in the West for a while she isn't used to the humidity. She removes her more formal jacket, leaving a white, low squared necked short sleeved blouse to go along with her pale peach colored skirt. She wished she could remove the shirt and her skirt too and just lay around in her undergarments. She holds her long hair off her damp neck and considers putting it up as she gazes at the picture.
The quiet is broken up by an odd ringing sound. it takes her a minute to figure out where in the room it is coming from, until she sees a Bell Telephone on a table in the adjacent hallway. She hears the sound of footsteps approaching and it is William rather than George. William picks up the telephone receiver and states, "Eastman residence. Yes sir, he is here. Information on..... Well I am sorry sir but I am not at liberty to say. If you will please stay on the line I will go and get him sir." William then sets the receiver down on the table beside the phone. Ruby just waits and wonders what is taking George so long to join her. And of course, who is on the phone.
George now begins to approach. Ruby sees that he has changed his wardrobe, now attired in a silk shirt and a gold and silver patterned vest with matching bow tie. A wrapped present is in his hands. William steps away from the table with the telephone is says in a hushed voice that won't be heard on the other end of the telephone, but that Ruby with her deep-rooted curiosity manages to pick up "Sir, Mr. William West is on the Bell Telephone. He is seeking further information about his daughter."
Ruby gulps and her heart begins to pound even more than she thought possible. Not wanting to make like she was eavesdropping she stays put, holding her breath, waiting to hear what George will say. Keeping his voice low as well George says to William, "Tell him I can not come to the telephone right now or in the immediate future. But please let him know that I have learned that the man in the newspaper photograph with her was somebody other than Deadeye Douglas and that she is in no immediate danger."
Ruby steps into the hallway and approaches George, pretending she didn't notice the call. She takes him by the arm and leads him into the sitting room. "While I was waiting I was looking at your photographs, they're lovely. I especially love the one of our beach. Perhaps you and I can take a trip there this weekend?" His eyes light up in alarm at her suggestion and he then says, "Perhaps we could but not today, not until after that newspaper retraction is printed."
William enters the room and says, "I passed on your message sir. He appeared impatient and wishes for you to call him at your earliest convenience." George replies, "Thank you William. You may take the remainder of the day off." "Thank you sir," William states and heads away. George looks back at Ruby and says, "That was your father on the telephone. He called this morning after seeing the newspaper, anticipating that Deadeye Douglas would be getting in touch with either or both of us with ransom demands. All that William told him now was that the man wasn't Douglas and that you are safe. He does not know that you are here with me."
Ruby keeps hold of George's arm and she looks up at him with concern. "I'd, uh, like to keep it that way, at least for now. It's important to me that I not have problems with them, I don't think I am ready to see them yet, you understand, don't you George?" She gulps. "Besides, I don't know how long I will even be welcome here so it doesn't make sense to get their hopes up of seeing me."
George says, "I understand, I know that things between you and them were rather tense. Today's paper came as much as a surprise to him as to me. We both figured that the only reason Douglas would have brought you here was to get money from us. I'm glad that it was all just a case of mistaken identity. I didn't want to call him until after I had spoken with you, but since he called I thought it best to at least relieve his fears. To be honest, I'm not sure if he was more worried about your safety or just that the supposed kidnapping might cost him money."
Ruby smiles sadly. "You know them better than you think. I'm quite certain they would be upset about having to spend a penny on me that didn't directly benefit them. And to be honest with you, I'd rather die from Douglas's hand than be in any kind of debt to them." Ruby shakes her head, her hair swinging around. "Enough of that for now. I appreciate you handling that with discretion." Her sweet smile returns. "What's in the box, if I might be so bold to ask?"
He hands it to her and says, "A present for you. Open it." "Me?" she says surprised, while taking the box. "George, I...I..." She doesn't finish her sentence. Instead she looks down at the beautifully wrapped box in her hands, pausing only for a moment before opening it, curiously looking inside. She removes from the box a gold gown. It is in the low-cut decollete style with the upper shawl of in ivory shade with dried violet flowers. A matching floral headpiece and bracelet comes with it.
http://www.fashion-era.com/images/Victorians/berthamrbx20.jpg
"Oh my gods... this is beautiful. Where did you get it?" she asks, pulling it out of the box. He replies, "I purchased it for you at a dress shop in Pennsylvania on my journey back here from Arizona. It was made by a French designer whose family immigrated to the United States back during the French Revolution. I hope that I got the sizes correctly."
Ruby holds the gown to her chest. "It looks like it will fit perfectly. And you've had it all this time..." She pauses only a moment before clearing her throat. "Well, you'll have to take me somewhere fabulous so I can wear it for you. Thank you, it's very sweet of you." She stands on her toes and kisses his cheek quickly before lovingly placing it back inside the box, keeping her attentions on the dress and not him. She sighs to herself. Let's just get this over with and see what happens...
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small black box, one that George knows well. She stands before him, reaches her hand out, palm up with the box with the diamond ring in it and says, "I believe this belongs to you. You need to take it back." She only lets her eyes meet his at the very last moment. He takes the box without protest and replies, "I understand. There are a lot of mixed emotions regarding the circumstances when I gave that to you. I will take this back for now, but please understand that between now and when you decide to leave I may very well offer it to you again. For now why don't we just continue to get to know each other again without having to worry about possible futures, the present suits me just fine."
Ruby nods and trying to make light says, "Well, if I am going to wear a ring on my finger for the rest of my life it should be perfect, right? That is the most beautiful diamond I have ever seen but I much prefer silver. Or platinum really." She regrets her words as soon as they leave her mouth. She clears her throat again. "I'm sorry George, I'm just nervous. The ring is beautiful." She fidgets and takes a few steps away from him, wringing her hands together. "It's not the future I'm worried about, it's the past and we need to talk about it now."
She reluctantly says, "Do you have any idea what it was like being a 15 year old girl out on my own?" He replies, "Not entirely, but I do understand taking on adult responsibilities at a young age. My father died when I was very young and I had to drop out of school at age fourteen to work and support my mother and two siblings. From the next four years I worked menial jobs for minimum wages. Only in 1872, when I was eighteen and took a job at Rochester Savings Bank, did things finally begin to change. Your family is impressed by my family's wealth, but it wasn't inherited, I earned it all myself through hard work and innovation during the last decade."
Ruby smiles at him. "You've worked very hard for what you have, you deserve it and should be proud." She paces around, "Me, on the other hand, I don't have much to my name, only the things I have been working hard for in the last half a year. Before that, things were very... difficult. And I made some bad choices and did things I'm not proud of. Things that could affect you if you were to decide to stay... my friend... and someone cared enough to go digging. I have been trying to change, I really have, I don't want to go back to living like that ever again... and I won't... but I can't lie anymore and act like it never happened. Not to my friends and most especially not to you."
Ruby steps close to George for a moment and stares into his eyes. She holds his gaze intensely before stepping back from him. She breaks their gaze by holding George's wallet up between them, the wallet she just effortlessly stole from his pocket. "You remember that I was always good with my hands, right? And that I was good at this," she offers him back his wallet. Her cheeks flush and burn, her embarrassment much more than she thought it would be. He replies, "Ruby, During my visits to Santo Domingo I saw a great deal. The Spanish colonial leaders lived like kings and the expense of the majority of the population. Tens of thousands of people had to do what they could to get by.
When I was there I must have had my pocket picked and wallet stolen two dozen times. I didn't mind, I just learned to only keep a small amount of money in it. The boys and girls who robbed it were not evil, only poor, to the point of starvation. If I had just handed them money they would have taken it, but it would have cost them their pride, instead they felt they had earned it, albeit through criminal actions. Ruby, you did what you had to in order to get by. I understand that fully. But those days are now behind you."
"Yes, and I'm very glad they are." Ruby let out the breathe she didn't even know she was holding.
"I'm... I'm really happy to hear you say that. I should have known better, you are a good man and very understanding at that. I want you to know whatever it is you want to know. So you tell me... how much do you want to know? I'll tell you anything." She looks at him nervously, waiting for his answer. He states, "You can tell me whatever you are comfortable talking about. Things that you are uncomfortable with you can keep buried, I don't care about those times Ruby. As far as I am concerned our present relationship began this morning when I opened the door to my office and saw you there, every thing prior to that is irrelevant."
Ruby couldn't believe this was going so well. There was no point in forcing information on the man he didn't care about, and it seemed he was being truthful with her. There was still more and the time might come when he did need to hear what she had done. But for now... she had offered to be honest and he, a good and honest man, wanted her no matter what was in her past. She fans her face, "My, it's very hot today. I'm not used to this weather!" Her normal smile starts to return, "Aren't you hot in that suit? Don't worry about being formal for me. If it was up to me we'd be sitting in our underwear!" Her cheeks quickly flush again. "Uh...I just meant it's hot out... Oh! You're making me crazy!" she blurts out.
Changing the subject she quickly continues, "So, how do you feel about magic?" He replies, "I wholeheartedly support the use of clerical magic." Ruby hesitantly continues in a soft voice keeping her eyes averted from his again. "What about the other kind of magic?" He replies, "Other magic is illegal, I seek to find technological means to accomplish the same result rather than to be dependent upon the arcane. And I've actually had more success with photograph image transfer than the French, who have sought to use magic to accomplish it. I realize that your spending time so near the Mexican border you would have been exposed to some from those Mexican wizards, but I would advise you to not attempt to dabble with such wizardry." Ruby gulps. Who knew this was going to be more of an issue than her past?
Ruby grasps George's arm and as they enter his home she takes a good look around. "Are we going to get the tour?" He leads them on a tour of the house. It has a total of fifteen rooms, five on each of the three floors. The first floor consists of a sitting room, a formal dining room, a causal dining room, a study and a combination kitchen/pantry. The second floor has the master bedroom, a guest bedroom, a library, an office/workroom and bathroom with marble tiled floors and ceramic bathtub with both hot and cold faucets. The third floor has two more guest bedrooms, two rooms that he says belongs to his servants and another bathroom that is less elaborate than the one on the second floor.
"I'll take this room!" Ruby chirps, pointing to the guest room next to George's. Then her cheeks turn pink at her obviousness, "If that's okay..." George replies, "That is fine." The man William is coming up the stairs now with the bags so George directs him which bag goes in which guest room. Ruby says, "So... what should we do first George? What about tonight? I hope we didn't mess up any of your plans for this weekend." George gives her a surprised look and says, "Plans? Ruby, your being here with me is better than anything that I might have ever planned."
Ruby smiles sweetly at George. "Well, good. I like to hear that. I guess I should take a bath and then we can all have some lunch together?" He replies, "Good, enjoy your bath. It will take a little while to get something ready. I'll have to send William out to get some food. My cook is away for the weekend and she only left enough food for the two of us to get by. What type of food would you like? I can telephone ahead to a restaurant so that it will be ready when William arrives to get it."
"Oh, I'm sorry. We should have called ahead with our food needs before becoming fugitives," Ruby teases. "Why don't you surprise us for lunch and dinner? I love surprises. And I'm not too picky about what I eat, I like everything. Of course, I looovveee chocolate," she smiles. She lightly kisses both George and Richard on the cheek before heading into her room. "Enjoy your little chat!" she calls out over her shoulder. Once inside her room she hums to herself while she prepares for her bath.
The next two hours fly by as Ruby is lost in her thoughts. She bathes, enjoying the running water in the tub she continually turns the hot water on to heat up the bath water. After her bath she takes her time getting ready, dressing and doing her hair, applying a light layer of makeup and accessories. Her cherished ruby ring still adorns her finger, but it's on her right hand and not her left. Feeling dressed and confident she breezes downstairs, looking for the boys. "Hello?" she calls out, "Where is everyone? I'm starving!"
She sees William dining alone in the informal dining room and reading a newspaper while he eats. He doesn't get up but instead gestures towards the formal dining room and says "They await you in there young lady." As she approaches the room she takes in a variety of aromas. She sees Richard and George have both changed into fresh suits. They welcome her into the room and George holds out a chair for her to sit. The table is set for the three of them, with a dozen covered silver platters and bowls in the center of the table. A wine holder has two chilled bottles of wine in it.
Ruby pulls her dress out and sits. "Thank you George. This all smells wonderful, what did you do? All this just for lunch?" There is a smile on Ruby's face as she gazes over the covered platters covering the table. George says, "Well, I wanted to make sure there were enough leftovers for the icebox to sustain us through the weekend, I'm not expecting Al and Rosey to be back until some time on Monday." "So we'll be all alone all weekend, huh?" He replies, "Not completely alone, William will be here too."
Ruby nods towards the food. "This is exciting then! What did you get?" She starts pulling covers off the food, curious as to what is underneath. He begins to remove the metal lids to the containers and he describes each dish "For the soup you have a choice of New England Clam Chowder or Minestrone, a fresh garden salad, main dish choices are roast duck, beef tenderloins and butter-fried-mackerel. Side dish choices are a cheese-pasta, corn-on-the-cob, and sweet peas mixed with pearl onions. The rolls are still hot, with a choice of wheat rolls or corn rolls. And make sure you save room for the dessert, which is in the ice box, chocolate ice cream with strawberries and cream.
Ruby's eyes widen. "This is wonderful George! Thank you! We certainly won't starve this weekend." Ruby stands. "What would you like to have?" She doesn't wait for his response, she just starts making him a plate. "You sit," she orders, "You did all this, the least I can do is make your plate." She puts the covers back on everything and spoons out some soup and salad for everyone to start with. "George, after lunch I'd like you and I to talk, just the two of us. Is that okay with you? I would wait, but I have some things to say and it's weighing on my mind. If we get it out of the way then we can enjoy our time together."
She keeps her eyes averted as she speaks to him, even as her rosy cheeks give away her nervousness. She returns to her seat to begin her lunch. Richard says, "I have some reading to do up in my room for after lunch, you two can have the first two floors of the house to yourself then provided that William agrees." George says, "I'm sure that he won't mind having a few hours off." Ruby nods, and gulps to herself. "That works." She is quiet as they eat lunch, not paying attention to Richard and George's discussions. Suddenly she was very nervous about talking to George and being truthful but now there was no turning back. She is lost in her thoughts, trying to think of the best way to break the news of her past.
Lunch flies by without a word from Ruby. Richard had apparently brought up the subject of his Tucson factory idea with George while Ruby took her bath. They continue the discussion during the meal. George shows some enthusiasm to becoming more directly involved with the acquisition and processing of silver, saying that he needs to talk to his geologists and scientific staff about possible refinements to the process to better enhance photography. If there are indeed improvements that could be obtained it would be worthwhile to take over the ownership of that aspect as well.
George is up front with Richard that he has no intentions of entering into a business arrangement with a person who he just met, but that he will give the idea serious consideration and won't rule it out either at this point in time. Ruby finally pipes up. "And that's why you do so well for yourself George, you know your business. You'll find over time that Richard is reliable and will make a good partner for you but it's good to find that out for yourself." Ruby stands from the table. "Excuse me for just a minute gentlemen. George, I'll be right back and we can have our talk." She nods at both of them before heading upstairs to the bathroom.
Ruby stands in the bathroom staring at herself for moments, trying not to get too worked up. She smoothes her hair and dress and takes a few deep breathes before heading back downstairs into the sitting room. She takes a seat but sits on the edge of the chair, obviously uncomfortable and waits for George. She waits for around twenty minutes, during which time she notices several of the photographs mounted on the walls. Most have been taken on his travels but she notices a few taken in the Rochester area, including one of the beach where she threw the ring into the water five years ago.
She smiles as she lightly runs a finger over the picture of the beach and recalls that day, the day she gave up her ring and George professed his love for her. But the memory also makes her heart race and a warm flush comes over her. She suddenly realizes the summer day is hot and humid, and having been in the West for a while she isn't used to the humidity. She removes her more formal jacket, leaving a white, low squared necked short sleeved blouse to go along with her pale peach colored skirt. She wished she could remove the shirt and her skirt too and just lay around in her undergarments. She holds her long hair off her damp neck and considers putting it up as she gazes at the picture.
The quiet is broken up by an odd ringing sound. it takes her a minute to figure out where in the room it is coming from, until she sees a Bell Telephone on a table in the adjacent hallway. She hears the sound of footsteps approaching and it is William rather than George. William picks up the telephone receiver and states, "Eastman residence. Yes sir, he is here. Information on..... Well I am sorry sir but I am not at liberty to say. If you will please stay on the line I will go and get him sir." William then sets the receiver down on the table beside the phone. Ruby just waits and wonders what is taking George so long to join her. And of course, who is on the phone.
George now begins to approach. Ruby sees that he has changed his wardrobe, now attired in a silk shirt and a gold and silver patterned vest with matching bow tie. A wrapped present is in his hands. William steps away from the table with the telephone is says in a hushed voice that won't be heard on the other end of the telephone, but that Ruby with her deep-rooted curiosity manages to pick up "Sir, Mr. William West is on the Bell Telephone. He is seeking further information about his daughter."
Ruby gulps and her heart begins to pound even more than she thought possible. Not wanting to make like she was eavesdropping she stays put, holding her breath, waiting to hear what George will say. Keeping his voice low as well George says to William, "Tell him I can not come to the telephone right now or in the immediate future. But please let him know that I have learned that the man in the newspaper photograph with her was somebody other than Deadeye Douglas and that she is in no immediate danger."
Ruby steps into the hallway and approaches George, pretending she didn't notice the call. She takes him by the arm and leads him into the sitting room. "While I was waiting I was looking at your photographs, they're lovely. I especially love the one of our beach. Perhaps you and I can take a trip there this weekend?" His eyes light up in alarm at her suggestion and he then says, "Perhaps we could but not today, not until after that newspaper retraction is printed."
William enters the room and says, "I passed on your message sir. He appeared impatient and wishes for you to call him at your earliest convenience." George replies, "Thank you William. You may take the remainder of the day off." "Thank you sir," William states and heads away. George looks back at Ruby and says, "That was your father on the telephone. He called this morning after seeing the newspaper, anticipating that Deadeye Douglas would be getting in touch with either or both of us with ransom demands. All that William told him now was that the man wasn't Douglas and that you are safe. He does not know that you are here with me."
Ruby keeps hold of George's arm and she looks up at him with concern. "I'd, uh, like to keep it that way, at least for now. It's important to me that I not have problems with them, I don't think I am ready to see them yet, you understand, don't you George?" She gulps. "Besides, I don't know how long I will even be welcome here so it doesn't make sense to get their hopes up of seeing me."
George says, "I understand, I know that things between you and them were rather tense. Today's paper came as much as a surprise to him as to me. We both figured that the only reason Douglas would have brought you here was to get money from us. I'm glad that it was all just a case of mistaken identity. I didn't want to call him until after I had spoken with you, but since he called I thought it best to at least relieve his fears. To be honest, I'm not sure if he was more worried about your safety or just that the supposed kidnapping might cost him money."
Ruby smiles sadly. "You know them better than you think. I'm quite certain they would be upset about having to spend a penny on me that didn't directly benefit them. And to be honest with you, I'd rather die from Douglas's hand than be in any kind of debt to them." Ruby shakes her head, her hair swinging around. "Enough of that for now. I appreciate you handling that with discretion." Her sweet smile returns. "What's in the box, if I might be so bold to ask?"
He hands it to her and says, "A present for you. Open it." "Me?" she says surprised, while taking the box. "George, I...I..." She doesn't finish her sentence. Instead she looks down at the beautifully wrapped box in her hands, pausing only for a moment before opening it, curiously looking inside. She removes from the box a gold gown. It is in the low-cut decollete style with the upper shawl of in ivory shade with dried violet flowers. A matching floral headpiece and bracelet comes with it.
http://www.fashion-era.com/images/Victorians/berthamrbx20.jpg
"Oh my gods... this is beautiful. Where did you get it?" she asks, pulling it out of the box. He replies, "I purchased it for you at a dress shop in Pennsylvania on my journey back here from Arizona. It was made by a French designer whose family immigrated to the United States back during the French Revolution. I hope that I got the sizes correctly."
Ruby holds the gown to her chest. "It looks like it will fit perfectly. And you've had it all this time..." She pauses only a moment before clearing her throat. "Well, you'll have to take me somewhere fabulous so I can wear it for you. Thank you, it's very sweet of you." She stands on her toes and kisses his cheek quickly before lovingly placing it back inside the box, keeping her attentions on the dress and not him. She sighs to herself. Let's just get this over with and see what happens...
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small black box, one that George knows well. She stands before him, reaches her hand out, palm up with the box with the diamond ring in it and says, "I believe this belongs to you. You need to take it back." She only lets her eyes meet his at the very last moment. He takes the box without protest and replies, "I understand. There are a lot of mixed emotions regarding the circumstances when I gave that to you. I will take this back for now, but please understand that between now and when you decide to leave I may very well offer it to you again. For now why don't we just continue to get to know each other again without having to worry about possible futures, the present suits me just fine."
Ruby nods and trying to make light says, "Well, if I am going to wear a ring on my finger for the rest of my life it should be perfect, right? That is the most beautiful diamond I have ever seen but I much prefer silver. Or platinum really." She regrets her words as soon as they leave her mouth. She clears her throat again. "I'm sorry George, I'm just nervous. The ring is beautiful." She fidgets and takes a few steps away from him, wringing her hands together. "It's not the future I'm worried about, it's the past and we need to talk about it now."
She reluctantly says, "Do you have any idea what it was like being a 15 year old girl out on my own?" He replies, "Not entirely, but I do understand taking on adult responsibilities at a young age. My father died when I was very young and I had to drop out of school at age fourteen to work and support my mother and two siblings. From the next four years I worked menial jobs for minimum wages. Only in 1872, when I was eighteen and took a job at Rochester Savings Bank, did things finally begin to change. Your family is impressed by my family's wealth, but it wasn't inherited, I earned it all myself through hard work and innovation during the last decade."
Ruby smiles at him. "You've worked very hard for what you have, you deserve it and should be proud." She paces around, "Me, on the other hand, I don't have much to my name, only the things I have been working hard for in the last half a year. Before that, things were very... difficult. And I made some bad choices and did things I'm not proud of. Things that could affect you if you were to decide to stay... my friend... and someone cared enough to go digging. I have been trying to change, I really have, I don't want to go back to living like that ever again... and I won't... but I can't lie anymore and act like it never happened. Not to my friends and most especially not to you."
Ruby steps close to George for a moment and stares into his eyes. She holds his gaze intensely before stepping back from him. She breaks their gaze by holding George's wallet up between them, the wallet she just effortlessly stole from his pocket. "You remember that I was always good with my hands, right? And that I was good at this," she offers him back his wallet. Her cheeks flush and burn, her embarrassment much more than she thought it would be. He replies, "Ruby, During my visits to Santo Domingo I saw a great deal. The Spanish colonial leaders lived like kings and the expense of the majority of the population. Tens of thousands of people had to do what they could to get by.
When I was there I must have had my pocket picked and wallet stolen two dozen times. I didn't mind, I just learned to only keep a small amount of money in it. The boys and girls who robbed it were not evil, only poor, to the point of starvation. If I had just handed them money they would have taken it, but it would have cost them their pride, instead they felt they had earned it, albeit through criminal actions. Ruby, you did what you had to in order to get by. I understand that fully. But those days are now behind you."
"Yes, and I'm very glad they are." Ruby let out the breathe she didn't even know she was holding.
"I'm... I'm really happy to hear you say that. I should have known better, you are a good man and very understanding at that. I want you to know whatever it is you want to know. So you tell me... how much do you want to know? I'll tell you anything." She looks at him nervously, waiting for his answer. He states, "You can tell me whatever you are comfortable talking about. Things that you are uncomfortable with you can keep buried, I don't care about those times Ruby. As far as I am concerned our present relationship began this morning when I opened the door to my office and saw you there, every thing prior to that is irrelevant."
Ruby couldn't believe this was going so well. There was no point in forcing information on the man he didn't care about, and it seemed he was being truthful with her. There was still more and the time might come when he did need to hear what she had done. But for now... she had offered to be honest and he, a good and honest man, wanted her no matter what was in her past. She fans her face, "My, it's very hot today. I'm not used to this weather!" Her normal smile starts to return, "Aren't you hot in that suit? Don't worry about being formal for me. If it was up to me we'd be sitting in our underwear!" Her cheeks quickly flush again. "Uh...I just meant it's hot out... Oh! You're making me crazy!" she blurts out.
Changing the subject she quickly continues, "So, how do you feel about magic?" He replies, "I wholeheartedly support the use of clerical magic." Ruby hesitantly continues in a soft voice keeping her eyes averted from his again. "What about the other kind of magic?" He replies, "Other magic is illegal, I seek to find technological means to accomplish the same result rather than to be dependent upon the arcane. And I've actually had more success with photograph image transfer than the French, who have sought to use magic to accomplish it. I realize that your spending time so near the Mexican border you would have been exposed to some from those Mexican wizards, but I would advise you to not attempt to dabble with such wizardry." Ruby gulps. Who knew this was going to be more of an issue than her past?
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