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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2814893" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Eleven, “Afternoon in Tombstone”, Thursday, May 25th, 1882, 11:15 A.M. As the Stagecoach comes to a stop in Tombstone Kate says, “"We'll have plenty of time to get the horses stabled and get to the train station. Conrad, would you like to meet us there at noon to pick up the buggies?" Conrad indicates he will initially go off with Chumbley and Angela but will reconnect with Kate at the train station at noon. The diminutive newspaperman is elated with their early arrival, giving him almost three hours to get things taken care of. The three are dropped off in front of the Wells Fargo Office and head off. Kate and Ginnie lead the three horses down to the O.K. Corral to see to getting them fed and boarded for the short term. Chester and Clarisse walk his horse down there as well to be boarded. Chuck offers to drive Jake and Ruby down to the train depot, as he has to drive to the end of Allen Street anyway to have enough room to turn the stagecoach around. Ruby quickly said goodbye to Kate, Conrad, Ginnie, Chester and Clarisse before they all went running off to opposite directions. She asks Josie if she will be all right and instructs her to return with Conrad if she can. Ruby informs her that she left a note for Mr. Lacey to gather the names of those who participated in the festival sword fighting, whom he thinks might be good for and interested in doing the play, if she returns to Promise City and wants to keep herself busy. She hugs her friend before she hurries off, hoping she was not about to get bad news. When they arrive at the Depot they discover that the next train to Tucson leaves at 12:45 P.M., giving them over an hour to go and get a bite to eat. Once at the station Jake and Ruby purchase their train tickets for Tucson. "So," Ruby comments, now wide eyed and excited, "I guess we're officially on vacation. I can't wait to get to Tucson." "It feels good." When no one is nearby he says quietly, "Did you ever notice Angela's ears? That young lady is not a purebred either. I would say Promise City's newspaper editorials would be decidedly biased. Probably be an angry hornets nest when we get back. Heh, good thing we are going." "No, why would I look at Angela's ears?" Ruby asks innocently. "Anyway, I haven't looked and don't care who is whole, half, quarter or tiny bit breed of anything." She shrugs. "But you're right. I bet Chumbley is going to have lots of fun voicing his...uh, voice. Annoying as it is. How does such a small guy have such a loud mouth? Now," she presses up against him, "What should we do with our time before we leave? Enjoy a nice casual stay-out-of-trouble lunch? Or go check in with the Earps, like I know you are dying to?" Jake replies, "You perhaps chose your words carefully. Being anywhere near any Earps could lead to dying. No, I have no desire to be connected to them at this time. Lunch and we are on our way." Ruby jumps up a little and squeals, "Yay! We really are on vacation!" She takes Jake by the hand and drags him to the nearest decent looking place for food. They chat about nothing important as they eat, but also keep their ears open for rumors of the Earp situation. Just a few minutes before noon the train is seen arriving from the distance. Instead of stopping at the station it goes through to the turnaround and then comes back facing out before the passengers and freight are offloaded. Kate sees a group of ten young men, her two brothers among them, staring out the windows and pointing at the town. "Look Ginnie, there they are," Kate sang out and hopped off the bench. She waved until Phil spotted her and jammed Henry in the ribs with his elbow. Their eyes got a little wider, taking her in. Kate gave them the same smile and cocked hip she would have wearing a new dress instead of leathers, pulled off her had, and waved again. The train has now come to a complete stop and the passenger door open. Frederick Seagram is among the first passengers out the door and walks quickly towards Kate with his arms outstretched for a hug. Before he gets to her Phillip rushes by him and hugs her first. "What's this all about, little brother? Did you miss me that much?" she asked, squeezing back and smiling over his shoulder at her father. As the other Seagram exit the train, followed by Pickering and his Students, Frederick calls out "Henry, Mark and Tristin, you three help me to get everybody's luggage. Ah, Mr. Booth, come with me to the Freight Car, I've been babysitting your new transports." Conrad joins Seagram and the three young men as they go to the baggage and freight cars. The two buggies have been secured in place with the wheels blocked and covered with tarps to prevent them from shifting or being damaged in transit. The conductor calls for two railroad workers to help get the buggies unloaded. Ginnie anxiously watches on. Chester tells Clarisse, "Let's go to the Grand Hotel and check in. I need to stop by the Marshall's Office, but after that the day is ours. How's that sound?" "Alright, I guess." She wags her finger at him. "But make that meeting short, you hear?" Chester tips his hat. "Yes, Miss Townsend." He kisses her and they check in to the hotel. "Good morning, we'd like two rooms, please. We'd prefer them next to each other." After dropping off his and Clarisse's bags, Chester emerges and walks over to the Marshall's Office. The Marshall's Office, located on the second floor of the Crystal Palace Saloon building, is locked and dark, as are the Judge's Office and Sheriff's Office. When he heads downstairs the bartender looks up and says "They're all over at church for Warren Earp's Funeral". He looks up at the clock, which reads a quarter until noon, and says, "Should be getting over pretty soon." Chester says, "OK. Mind if I wait here for the Marshall?" The bartender replies, "Be my guest. Want anything to drink?" "Yeah. A beer would be fine. Do you know if they found Wyatt's body yet? News over in Promise City said they haven't." The Bartender says, "Nope, Behan and Leslie are still out looking for him. Doubt they'll catch him though, he's too smart for the lot of them." Chester comments, "Oh, so he's still alive, then. If Wyatt is smart he'll leave the area. It's getting too hot for him here. Eventually he'll make a mistake and they catch him." The bartender replies to Chester, "Not him, he's like a cat, has nine lives. Did you hear about his shootout at Iron Springs in late March? He marched headfirst across the creek with all of those outlaws shooting at him and not a one of them hit. Around the same time he got into another shootout somewhere between here and Promise City with over a dozen of them outlaws, shot down Billy Claibourne then, and not one bullet struck Wyatt." "I hadn't heard about Iron Springs. I guess the gods are looking out for him. Not surprised about Claibourne, though." Chester takes a long pull of his beer to hide a smile. Especially since Wyatt was nowhere near Claibourne when he got shot down. Chester says, "What do you think about Wyatt's hunting down the remaining Cowboys? They must be running scared." The bartender tells Chester, "I think they're all either dead or in jail at this point. Don't imagine there are too many more on their kill list. Damn shame them going and getting themselves all blown up just when the job is done." Chester says, "I hear you. But that's when things go wrong; near the end of your job. When you can see the finish line, you tend to hurry things. I guess that's what happened out there. Damn shame." The bartender pours Chester another drink and says, "It's on the house, you being a lawman and all," and gestures to Chester's pocket. The star-shaped badge had been tucked into his shirt pocket but there is enough of an outline of it though the shirt for the observant barkeep to have noticed. Chester replies, "Thanks. I'm a Deputy Marshall over in Promise City. What's your name? I'm Chester." He extends his hand. The bartender shakes it and says “Richard Denning, call me Rich. Not that I am though." Chester groans at the old joke. "Glad to meet you anyway, Rich”. Rich then asks, "You a friend of the Earps, or of Behan?" Chester replies, "Neither actually. I don't know the Sheriff and I've only met Wyatt a couple times. I do have to admire the Earps for going after the Cowboys. They've been a big problem. I'm here to ask Virgil a couple questions. How well do you know him?" Rich answers, "Pretty well what with his office upstairs. He never spent much time in that room until after he was shot last December, spends even more time there since Morgan died. I feel sorry for him loosing Warren now too." Chester replies, “The Earps have given a lot for the area. No family should bear that much." Rich agrees. Before they left for the train station, Kate made sure to find out of the buggies could also be kept there, or if there was someplace else in town to board them. Once that business was finished, they two walked together to the train station. It felt strange to walk the streets of Tombstone in her riding leathers with the duster flapping behind her. They arrived with some time to spare, so sat down on the bench by the door to wait. "Go ahead Ginnie, you know how to stay out from underfoot. Henry?" she called. When he looked back she nodded to Ginnie. Kate hugged her mother and guided her a bit out of the crowd. "What are you wearing, Jacqueline?" the older woman asked. She answers, "Riding clothes, Maman. You can't ride from Promise City to Tombstone in a dress." Mrs. Seagram says, "It doesn't hide anything." Kate replies, "No, but it also allows me to move like I need to. Don't worry, Maman. No one's looking at me anyway." She turned to Professor Pickering. "Professor, how nice to see you." Pickering replies, "And you as well my dear. Since you lived here for some time perhaps you could recommend a good restaurant for my students and I to eat at, we have two hours until our stagecoach departs for Promise City." "The Grand Hotel has a fine restaurant attached to it." Kate explained how to get there, and then went on. "When you get to Promise City, ask for directions to the Promise City hotel. I checked ahead for you. They have enough room for all of you tonight, although you may have to double up tomorrow night. There are other places in town, so tomorrow you could look for more rooms if you didn't want to share." Pickering says, "They can share. Once we finally stop we're going to stay put for a bit. Boys, go bring the bags over to the Wells Fargo Office and we'll find this Grand Hotel." They head off. Conrad is busy supervising the unloading of the buggies. He tells them that he's made arrangements for the men from the O.K. Corral to come and get them within the hour so to put them near the street but to watch them closely until the men arrive for them. He then heads back to Kate and the Seagrams and says, "Let's go get you folks checked into your hotel and then find us a nice restaurant too." "I hope they'll have some room for Ginnie and I as well. We don't have a room yet." Kate took her brother Henry's arm as they walked. "You might not have heard on the train about what happened..." She went on to explain about Warren Earp and Wyatt. "There are reporters all over, I imagine. I thought I'd better come fetch you with all this going on." As they pass by the Roman/Greek Church they see a large crowd up front next to a hearse wagon. Several photographers have set up tripods with their cameras outside. "I see what you mean," Henry states. Phillip says, "Too bad Tuck.." "Shut up Phil," Frederick forcefully exclaims, cutting off the boy in mid-sentence. Kate's eyes had gone wide when Phil began talking. Some of the sparkle faded from her face and Henry slipped his arm around her waist. "Let's find the hotel. It's not a good idea to linger in these crowds. Keep your eyes open for pickpockets, too." The Seagram family arrives at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. They only have one extra room available. Seagram says, "Looks like we'll be sharing too. I'm sure Philip won't mind rooming with Mr. Booth. You can stay with your mother Katie and I'll room with Henry." They are given the keys and bring their luggage upstairs to drop off. Kate went upstairs with her mother and stowed their things. "We'll have to get a cot for Ginnie." Amelie was tucking her things away with her mouth twisted a bit. "Maman, it's not the east. Except for the Grand Hotel the accommodations don't get better, and a friend of the Earps owns the Grand Hotel. It's not a good idea to stay there, although I personally like Miss Hugley." "I'm just tired, my dear," her mother answered. "And I suppose a bit spoiled these days." "Just try to relax. You never realize how tiring it is to be proper all the time until it's not so important anymore. Come, let's go meet the boys and get something to eat." After their lunch Ruby and Jake arrive back at the train station with just enough time. They hop on the train and take two seats near the back of the car. They slouch down in their seats, Ruby's giggles are the only thing seen or heard from the other passengers. Josie hurries into the church where the funeral is being held. She slides into the last pew, trying to spot who is in the crowd, looking specifically for two men, Wyatt Earp or Johnny Behan. Neither Earp or Behan are present. Warren's Casket is closed, with a photograph resting on top. The service is nearly over by the time that she has arrived. The Priest says some closing words and the pallbearers move forward. Josie recognizes all six of them from her previous time spent in Tombstone as friends of the Earps. Virgil Earp looks as though he's aged a decade in the last few days. The pallbearers carry the casket past them followed by Virgil. As soon as they get outside the various photographers begins taking pictures of the procession. Josie tries to catch Virgil's eye as he passes. Once the procession and photographers are out of sight she exits the church, following the procession. Virgil does not notice her. The procession heads towards the train depot. A hand then rests itself upon her shoulder. She looks and nobody is here. "Quiet darling," Wyatt's voice softly states. Josie goes rigid at the touch but immediately softens as she hears the voice. She fights the tears that want to fall then remembers she just walked out of a funeral. She wipes at her eyes and as she covers her face she whispers, "Thank the gods you're alive. Can we go somewhere?" Wyatt replies, "No, I have a train to catch. I haven't been able to speak to Virgil yet, he hasn't been alone. I need to let him know that I'm alive before he leaves Tucson for California. I'll take the next train back from Tucson so I'll be back in less than four hours. Just tell me where to find you." "I will go get a room at Brown's. Meet me there love." Josie wants nothing more than to embrace Wyatt and let out all the tension she has been holding in since finding out the terrible news but she keeps her head down. "I am so sorry..." she begins to sob for real. Wyatt Earp squeezes her shoulder and softly says, "Later then". She then hears his footsteps moving away from her. Josie waits a few moments before she does as she said she would. She hurries to Brown's and gets a room, and waits for Wyatt to return to her. Several passengers seated on the desert side of the train get up and walk over to now look out the Tombstone side windows of the train. Short flashes of light seem to be coming from outside that side of the train as well. "Oohhh, what's that?" Ruby crawls over Jake, leaving him a good look at her rear end and strains to see out the window, looking for the source of entertainment. Ruby sees a group of fifty-to-sixty people all attired in black are approaching the train station. A horse drawn wagon has a casket atop it. Walking next to the wagon is Virgil Earp. The only thing disturbing the solemnest of the occasion are five photographers who keep taking flash pictures of the procession. "That's pretty rude." Ruby slides back into her seat and shrugs. "I guess I wouldn't mind photographers at my funeral. It would mean I'm famous," she smirks. She is quiet for a moment. "I wonder if they're bringing Warren on the train?" Ruby's question is answered as six pallbearers, one of whom Ruby recognizes as John Clum, carry the casket up onto the train and to the opened freight car. The freight car door is then shut and locked. Most of the men, including Clum, then climb down the steps from the Depot but Virgil Earp and two of his companions load some suitcases into the baggage car and then head towards one of the passenger cars, not the one that Ruby and Jake are in with the foldable tables between opposite facing bench seats but the other car with just the upright seats facing forward. One of the photographer’s attempts to enter that car as well but an icy stare from Virgil prompts the man to enter Jake and Ruby's car instead. "Well, that is that. I hope it isn't going to cause any trouble for this train. I'll be mighty angry if your vacation gets ruined." She eyes the photographer. "Excuse me, Sir? You were at the Earp funeral?" He replies, "Yes Ma'am, Foster Kreighan, Denver Post Gazette. I was covering a story in Prescott and got down here as soon as I received the telegram. Should sell a ton of papers. Do you know the Earps?" Ruby starts to open her mouth but feels a pinch on her backside and quickly stops her train of thought. "Oh, uh, I guess just as much as anyone who lived under their jurisdiction. Hey, have they found Wyatt yet?" He answers, "Nope, should be anytime now. I think I'll take the train back here tonight in case word comes down about that." Ruby looks at him curiously, "What do you mean, anytime now? Do they think he's dead too?" The photographer tells Ruby, "If he's not he will be, word around Prescott is that the President will be sending in several battalions of soldiers to hunt him down." The train begins to pull away from the station and he says, "Excuse me, I guess I should find a seat." His eyes dart to the empty bench opposite Ruby and Jake but one look from Jake dissuades him, and he heads further down the car. As the train pulls away Ruby takes one last glance back at the community of Tombstone. From the train she sees the train depot, then the O.K. corral, the Grand Hotel and the dress shop run by the Frenchman. The train then passes by the hills with the stamping mill above and the town is soon out of sight. Little does she realize she will never look upon Tombstone like this again.</blockquote>

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