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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2814856" data-attributes="member: 8530">Prelude Part E, “Boy’s Night Out”, May 22nd, 1882: It was mid-afternoon and Jake Cook had been abandoned by his ladylove, who has gone off to spend the day and evening with her friends Madge and Josie. He has the night off from duties at the Lucky Lady and wanders over to the El Parador Cantina. The only one present in the room on this Monday afternoon is Pedro Figures, the owner of the establishment. Jake takes a seat at the bar and Pedro pours him a glass of Kentucky Bourbon, Jake’s beverage of choice. "Gracias amigo, éste es justo qué necesito. Thank you friend, this is just what I need Jake pays him for the drink and sips at it with a satisfied sounding, "Ah." Pedro replies, "And what is new in your life Mr. Cook?" "Pedro, Silver Jake Cook has had so much new in his life since coming to Promise City that I am relishing the boring and quiet of the last few days. I do have in mind to visit some friends in Tucson soon and while I am there see about arranging a surprise for Miss West. It will be her Birthday soon, and well..." Jake has another sip of the bourbon. "And you, Pedro, how is life for you?" Pedro says, "The same, life does not change much for me. That is how I like it." Jake notices in his peripheral vision that somebody else is approaching the bar. He turns and sees that it is Manuel Gonzales. "Hello Mr. Cook," the older elf exclaims. "Did I hear you just mentioning something about Ruby's upcoming birthday?" Jake responds, "Si, Senor. Your keen ears did not deceive you." Jake indicates with his hand the spot next to him. "Please join us if you are inclined." "Why thank you sir, Pedro, a glass of the special red wine if you please." Pedro produces a jug with Greek letters on the label. Gonzales says, "These are left over from the Festival, they are from Athens. It seemed appropriate to have them for the Festival. I have donated the jug of white to the Church but opted to keep the red for myself." He then asks, "So, do you have a particular present already picked out for the lady? If not I might be willing to offer a suggestion." Jake replies, "I do have a particular present in mind, Senor, but I do not know if it is attainable. I will need to ask a woman in Tucson about it. However, a man cannot give a woman too many gifts can he?" Jake grins at the elder elf. "I welcome your suggestion." Gonzales says, "Well, what I have in mind is rather complicated to explain. It would be far easier if I could just show you.... But that would require some traveling." "It is mighty late in the day to be starting a journey, how far do we have to go?" Jake sips again at the bourbon and then stops suddenly. "Oh," he says without looking up at the wizard. "Traveling, heh. Using your favorite method I expect?" "I'm afraid so, but if you would like we could return to Tucson instead of here if you wanted to run that other errand. But then we wouldn't be able to come back to Promise City until tomorrow, I can only use the spell twice per day." Jake mulls the prospect of being magicked around three times in two days and finds it displeasing. He had also promised to take Ruby with him to Tucson next time he went. "You are very generous in offering to cart my sorry behind all over on my errands. It may take me some length of time in Tucson, so just show me your suggestion. I will go to Tucson another time via a more mundane way of traveling." The old elf says, "Very well, why don't you go gather together whatever items you might want to bring along to be comfortable and meet me upstairs in my room in a few minutes." Comfortable?" is Jake’s response. The elf explains, “Our destination is a bit cooler than Arizona and we'll probably be there after dark. You'll need a coat." Jake nods. "I will be right along then." He savors another sip of the bourbon before he downs the rest. With a nod and a smile to Pedro Jake heads back to the Lucky Lady. He gathers his hat and duster, some extra cash from the safe, and a variety of extra ammunition for his Colt. He has long ago lost or discarded any other warm weather gear he may have owned so there is nothing else to bring besides a pair of thin riding gloves. He eyes his pile of weapons for a moment, weighing whether or not to bring something extra along. It was not that he did not trust the elder wizard, Jake just liked to have options. In the end with one exception he settled for what he was already wearing: one fast draw Colt Peacemaker, one enchanted dagger in a boot sheath, and one derringer tucked into a small custom made holster inside the back of his trousers. The exception was the hunting knife that Jake has carried since leaving Philadelphia. He threaded that through his belt on the way back to the El Parador, it was best not to keep a wizard waiting. They meet in Gonzales's rather sparse bedroom. The brazier is out but not yet lit and the window is open to prevent the room from filling with smoke. Jake has been through this routine before and stands silently by while Gonzales lights the brazier, adds the pink powder to the flames creating the colored smoke and begins the incantation. The older elf then thrusts out his hands at the appropriate time and Jake grabs them and presses his eyes closed. The incantation continues and their surroundings change. When Gonzales releases his hands Jake can see that they are standing in a forest and the air is around twenty degrees cooler. The trees around look to be mostly oak, elm and maple, many of them rather thick. He hears distant sounds of birds chirping and also the sound of machinery. Through the trees he can see the sun starting to set and concludes based upon the few hours time difference that they are somewhere in the northeastern United States or possibly eastern Canada. Jake opens his eyes and then releases the breath he did not realize he was holding. He looks around carefully, taking in his surroundings and being certain there is no one watching them. Jacob Alistair Cooke was a city boy, the desert had been foreign to him when he first saw it much like this forest was now. Satisfied they are unnoticed and not in any immediate danger he nods to Gonzalez. "Lead on." They travel no more than 200 feet through the woods when they reach a dirt road running northwest to southeast. They walk on it heading southeast until they see a 20x40 foot single story building ahead with a tin roof and wraparound porch with hitching posts out front. The sign outside the building reads "Lakeside General Store - Malachi Haynes Proprietor". They enter the building finding that it is indeed a country general store. Jake takes a quick glance and sees only standard items for such an establishment but nothing in particular that would justify making such a trip. The man behind the counter waves and approaches them. He says to Gonzales "Ah, Mr. Perez, is this the intrepid young fisherman that you told me about?" Gonzales replies, "Indeed it is, Mr. Haynes, may I present to you my son-in-law Jay Brothers." He then says to Jake, "Jay, this is Mal Haynes." Jake immediately thrusts his hand forward with an unabashed grin and a twinkle in his eye. "A pleasure to be meeting you Mr. Haynes." He shakes the man's hand firmly. Inwardly Jake nearly bursts out laughing, Son-in-law AND fisherman! Jake then turns his face towards Senor Gonzalez in an expression of admiration suitable for an adoring son-in-law while thinking, “Perhaps I have underestimated the old bastard's sense of humor.” Gonzales asks "Has there been any change since Thursday night?" Haynes replies, "Yeah, they were working all day Friday and half of Saturday, it's down more than a foot. The searchers are still on the shallow end, ain't none of them made it anywhere near Walter." As they are talking the distant sound of machinery ceases. Haynes says, "Oh oh, you two had better get going along. The workmen always stop off here once they finish their shift." Gonzales asks, "Do you have the equipment?" Haynes says "Yep, follow me." The walk into the back room and Haynes hands both Manuel and Jake each a fishing pole and a small wood handled box containing assorted fishing gear. Haynes then takes the lid off of a pail filled with dirt and scoops an old tin can into it. As he hands it to Jake the gambler can see worms wiggling inside the dirt in the dirty can. Jake raises his eyebrows and accepts the can. Blech, he thinks but nods and says, "Looks like that will do." Jake then turns to Gonzalez and says, "I am ready when you are, dad." Haynes says, "Just leave the equipment by the back door when you're done Miguel." "Thank you sir," Gonzales replies. They exit the store and continue down the road. When the sound of approaching horses is heard in the distance Gonzales ushers himself and Jake off the road and into the woods. From there they travel through the woods for around a quarter of a mile. They emerge from the woods at the bank of what had been an oval-sized lake, approximately three miles long by one mile wide. They are now on the western shore about mid-way along the longest section of the oval. Based upon the cliffside in front of them and evidence of water lines, from where they are northward the lake looks to be around twelve to fifteen feet lower than it normal would be. Looking southward, where the lake had apparently been shallower, most of the lake is gone revealing a dried out bed with sporadic puddles and ponds of standing water. At the furthest end near where the road runs by what had been the southwestern end of the lake, little more than a mile away, are several large metal machines. They look somewhat like oil derricks in appearance. Lanterns have been lit near the machines and around a dozen people are gathered around it. "Once the water is all gone it will not be much challenge to catch the fish," Jake remarks. He looks about and stands with hands on his hips. "So...." He begins and pushes his hat back at an angle, "Do you mind telling me what in Hades is going on? Mr. Haynes obviously knows we are about more than fishing and you seem to have had some reason to be here prior to today." "Actually Haynes believes that we're here for fishing. He is under the impression that we're after Old Walter, an elusive and extremely large wide-mouth bass who has been stealing the bait of fishermen in this lake for the last twenty years." A grin crosses the man's face and he says, "Come along Jay, we've got some work to do." He heads back into the woods, walking twenty feet parallel to the shore of the lake, gesturing for Jake to follow. Jake follows him shaking his head side to side. "Walter is a fish. I should have known, I name all my fish Walter." While following the old wizard Jake mumbles, "And of course, we have work to do." They go another 200 feet until they reach an inlet that is out-of-sight of the distant machinery. Manuel takes the fishing rods from Jake and says, "I may need these for balancing." He uses them as walking sticks to make his way down the steep banking to the lake and walks towards a towering wooden platform that had apparently been a boat dock when the lake was higher. Tethered to the base of one pole near the edge of the present shore is a rowboat. Jake has an easier time moving down the banking and follows to the wooden dock. Pointing down he asks, "Do you have in mind getting in that little boat? Would you like me to get in and move it to the shore down below?" He replies, "Yes, and it's not that little, lots of room for the two of us and the fishing gear." They get closer to the boat and see it is around 10 feet long and four-and-a-half feet wide in the center. It has two oars. On the floor of the center of the boat are two metal buckets, one normal sized the other an oversized oval 3-feet by 18-inches in size. "Allow me then," Jake says and promptly steps off the dock into the air. However instead of falling he merely floats to the boat, the result of the Ring of Levitation on his hand. Looking up with a smirk he asks, "Did you want me to move it to shore or are you going to make a flashy entrance too?" Gonzales laughs and says, "And she told me you were afraid to use magic. Please move it to the shore, I'm getting a bit old for flashy entrances. And we may have a long night ahead of us." Once the boat is in the water they load up the fishing equipment. Gonzales gestures for Jake to do the rowing initially and seats himself in the stern of the boat. Gonzales directs Jake where to row. Once they are in the middle of the northern end of the lake Gonzales takes two wooden three-hooked fishhooks out of his jacket pocket and ties them to the end of the fishing line. He then takes the can of worms out and puts worms onto the end of each hook and drops the lines overboard. "You are after Walter, are you not?" Jake asks but does not seem all that interested in the answer, leaning back into the bow and putting his hands behind his head. Gonzales says, "Indeed, we certainly are. It occurs to me that there is nothing in the world that Miss Ruby would like more for her birthday present than the large mouth bass by the name of Old Walter." Jake chuckles. "It appears that I have much to learn about women, Senor. I would have never guessed than an old fat ornery fish would be so desirable by a young lady with the tastes of Ruby. I am in awe of your wisdom garnered through the ages." "Oh, I'll answer your questions about it but before I do I'm curious what you have deduced yourself." He gestures to the machinery at the opposite end of the lake and says, "Where exactly do you think we are? And what do you think is going on here?" Jake replies, "East someplace by the sun, but other than that I do not know. I had not thought much about the equipment." Jake shrugs. "Did not seem necessary, we do not seem to be in any danger." Gonzales answers, "Ah, but there you are wrong. We are indeed in danger, we are trespassing upon private property and fishing illegally. And if the new owner of this property should catch us I dare say that he will not be happy. When you last met, Mr. George Eastman, Ruby’s former fiancé, he was not at all happy to see you." "Let me explain, after hearing about what transpired in March between the three of you I decided to find out where Mr. Eastman had gone off to, fearing further trouble from him. It appears that he came back to New York and purchased this lake and the land surrounding it. He then began draining the lake. According to Mr. Haynes he is looking for a ring, one that a young girl by the name of Constance Grace West tossed into the lake five years ago and declared that she would marry whoever found it." "I decided that his locating the object would only cause further trouble so I borrowed this," Gonzalez holds up a ring of his own, "from a local miner who occasionally stays at the El Parador. It locates metal. I would check the far shore at night after the workers left but all I detected were old cans as well as fishing hooks and sinkers. Haynes suggested we look further out and began rowing us around at night. I finally detected a ring-shaped object...and it was moving. That's when Haynes filled me in about Old Walter." Jake's eyebrows shoot up at the mention of danger and a dark look comes across his face at the mention of Eastman. The relaxed and jovial mood is instantly banished. “I should have murdered him.” Jake thinks, “I let him be out of respect for Ruby's wishes. Perhaps it is not too late“... When Gonzalez says the word ring, Jake knew exactly what ring he spoke about, Jake knew the story by heart. A flood of painful emotions washes over him as he sits up. Though still listening to the old wizard tell his story, Jake's thoughts race along. A sharp tang of disappointment escapes from his subconscious, a desire he tried to deny, a plan for the future he was not ready to admit now forced its way to realization and then was burst. Though terrified of altering their relationship for fear of mishandling the change and alienating her, though terrified of the concept of marriage itself, the little desire told a different story. Jake Cook who claimed he denied hope, who consistently refused hope and preferred action to wishful thinking did indeed have a hope. In just seconds he recognized that hope, admitted to that hope and saw it shattered like a dropped whiskey glass. When the time came to ask Ruby to marry him, he wanted a quest, needed a quest to prove it was right and he was right for her. It was their fairy tale. He wanted to find the ring, but on his terms, his initiative, his decision when the time was right. Once again he was forced to react to circumstances. The time had not yet arrived for that quest but George Eastman intruded on their relationship again. Once again, he was shown how foolish it was to have hope in fairy tales. Once again, a decision made for him, and the fairy tale stolen. For a moment Jake was torn. He has an instant where he truly understands and feels the pain of deciding between two evils. The decision is obvious, and he knows it immediately. He could no more leave the ring in the lake than he could abandon his Ruby. Eastman must not have the ring. Jake would risk hanging before he would let that man have that ring. He attempts to put aside his bitterness for now. Although Gonzalez had only finished speaking a few seconds ago, he was keenly watching Jake for a response. “He does not trust me and treats me like a child“, Jake thinks as he composes himself and prepares his response. He thinks, “It is less complicated to show me? How about, George Eastman is searching for Ruby's ring and we can get it first. How hard would have that been? I try to be respectful of him to no avail. Have I done some harm to him, is there some retribution he seeks from me and has somehow arranged this painful predicament?” Inwardly Jake sighs, more likely he is just a meddling old man and does not trust the scoundrel Jake Cook. So be it. Jake makes no further attempt to mask the anger, pain and disappointment on his face. "I am once more in your debt, Senor. I regret that I have no fishing skills to contribute. Neither have I brought dynamite to shock the fish to the surface, though while there are other avenues that is probably an ill-advised action all things considered. I know you do not fear Eastman but for whatever it is worth," Jake looks seriously at the old wizard, "I will do what I can to see you come to no discomfort from him or his men while you do this thing for Ruby. It would cause her much suffering if he were to show up in Promise City..." Jake is uncomfortable completing the thought. "You are not one to be unprepared, Senor. I assume you are either a better fisherman than those who have come before you after Walter or more likely have something up your sleeve. You can tell where he is and when he is coming, that is something." "Oh, I can't fish worth a damn. But my 'Sleep' spell will put him to sleep and he will float up to the surface. Of course, that will also stop his gills from moving so I would have to quickly cancel the spell if we want to capture him alive. That's why we have the buckets, the big one to hold him in and the little one to bail in water from the lake. Hopefully the bait will attract him at some point tonight." "Capture him alive? Do you think we will need him as a hostage to get out?" Jake rubs the side of his face and looks around the lake. "I expect that we would have to cut him open to get the ring out. Unless you think he is wearing it on his fin or something." He turns to face Gonzalez. "Seriously now, I have nothing against good old Walter and would be happy to let him live to a ripe old age frustrating local fisherman if we could figure out how to get him to cough up the ring." Gonzales replies, "I never said anything about getting the ring out of him. Goodness, you don't think we're actually going to give Ruby the ring? If we did that then she'd expect at least one of us to marry her! She'd be the death of either one of us. The gift isn't the ring, the present is that we kept it away from Eastman. We can leave it up to Ruby as to what to do with Old Walter. Personally I'd favor just re-releasing him into another lake that Eastman will never find." "At least one of us to marry her?" Jake chuckles despite his dark mood. "This old curmudgeon I used to know by the name of Caleb White used to say, Bigamy is having too many wives. Monogamy is the same."</blockquote>

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