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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2814903" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Fourteen, “Three Gods Meeting Hall”, Thursday, May 25th, 1882, 3:00 P.M Jake takes his bourbon and escorts Ruby away from the bar. "Here I am Mr. Jacob, no S. The staff of the previous establishment was instructed to treat me like a partner. The partners here are Mr. Alistair, whom you have just met, Mr. Van Horne, who you know, and a Mr. Patrick, who you met at the festival dressed as a leprechaun or some such nonsense." Jake clears his throat and says with a wink, "Of course you know that deep down inside the three of them are very much alike. I do not believe any of the staff knows that. I do not know what the arrangements are with this new building," he says sweeping his hand around, "nor do I know what the Priestess Boag knows. So until Red lets us know what is going on play along and enjoy the ride." He takes a sip of the Kentucky Bourbon and savors it a moment before speaking again. "I was just thinking that if you composed a note, one of these fine gentlemen would run it over to the telegraph office. The note could be from Chief Golden Eagle and sent to Senor Gonzalez, or someone who could get a note to him. Maybe even Nanuet," Jake adds tapping his lips. "Either way you decide. The note might suggest that the Chief needs to see the teacher in Tucson immediately to tell them some good news, or that his cousin Dancing Warbler was ill, or some other such thing. Whatever you do keep it clever and in words that someone else will not know or suspect. The note will make it on the next stage to Promise City, when ever that is. Pick a time and a location to meet here in Tucson, and we can just check that spot every day at that time until we leave. Seems to me that might allow us to let your teacher know about our little encounter on the train." Jake shrugs. "Or wait until some other inspiration strikes you. As soon as I can speak with Red privately, I will let him know about Earp and we can determine if he would like to invite us to stay here with him or not. If Earp was serious, he will be on the next train back to Tombstone and it should not matter either way. In the mean time, I hope dinner comes soon. I am hungry and Red usually sets a fine table." Ruby rubs her lips as she ponders all Jake just said. "You mean we're not staying here?" she says in a disappointed tone of voice. He replies, "Be optimistic woman. I would be surprised if Red did not wish us to be here. I am sure we will work something out. We have to let him know about Earp and make sure he has no worries about that." Ruby again sips at her whiskey and ponders. "Alright darling I will. I am very optimistic that you will keep me entertained and happy no matter where we are." A smile comes to her face. "You can always sate me with kisses baby. Feel free to start anytime," she giggles. Ruby secures some paper and a pen from Mr. Grappini and begins to write. It is obvious that she is careful in her choice of words, stopping frequently to tap her lips. Once she is done she neatly folds the paper and returns it to the bartender. “Could you please have someone bring this right away to the telegraph office? It is of the utmost importance. It is to be telegraphed to Tombstone then put on the stage to Promise City and then delivered.” A very shapely young brunette woman of around twenty, wearing a white gown with silver jewelry and belt approaches Jake and Ruby. She says, "Good evening, I am Sophonisba. I have been asked to escort you upstairs". She leads them over to the corner of the room towards the kitchen door, but instead of entering through it she touches a panel on the side wall instead, which reveals a hidden door that opens into the five-foot wide hallway between the room and exterior wall. A staircase up is to their right and she leads them up to the fourth floor. The staircase ends in an interior L-shaped five-foot wide corridor running twelve feet east to west opposite the stairs and thirty-five feet north to south. They see a door at the very end of the long section and two more doors on the side wall of that corridor. The shorter section has two doors on one side and one on the other. She leads them to the single door of the shorter section, which she holds open. Inside is a twenty-by-thirty foot dining room in the building's interior. A long and wide rectangular oak table is at the center of the room, with two seats on the shorter ends and four seats on each side. Patrick O'Brien is seated at the far end of the table with Jane Boag on the side seat adjacent to it. Place settings have been put out at the chair alongside his and the seat adjacent to it and opposite Jane. Patrick and Jane both stand and welcome their guests. As soon as Ruby sees Jane and Patrick she lets go of Jake and runs over to them, hugging each of them tightly in return. "I'm so excited to see you, I couldn't wait to come and visit!" She hugs them both again then finally settles down but the twinkle of happiness stays in her eyes. The woman Sophonisba is assisted by an older man in bringing the food over to the table. The food is on fancy trays and has been conveyed up to the top floor via a dumbwaiter inside the wall where the shorter corridor outside would have ended. After all of the food has been served the man and woman both depart, shutting the doors behind them. Patrick says, "Eat up everybody and I will answer all of your questions." "This place looks great," she beams, "I can't wait to see the rest. It's amazing. We saw the main part downstairs with the gambling and the stage, what else do you offer?" She takes the seat across from Jane leaving the closer seat for Jake. She stops suddenly. "Oh, excuse my manners," a blush comes to her cheeks, "How have you been, besides busy that is?" Jake just chuckles to himself as Ruby goes on about being Ruby, which pleases him to no end. He eats while listening to what they have to say. Jane says, "Busy seems to cover it. I'm glad you like the place." Red says, "It was a good collaboration, her ideas and my money. You've already seen the majority of the place, the lobby occupies almost thirty percent of the cubic footage and the meeting hall roughly another twenty-five percent. The back section of the first floor is mostly the kitchen with the food pantry above it and wine cellar below it. The third floor is for employees to reside. Only select guests are allowed onto that level. This top floor is exclusively for the Partners and guests are not allowed unless accompanied by one of the Partners." Ruby finally begins eating some of the feast before them. "And how many partners are there, Mr. Patrick?" she asks curiously. Red replies, "Either ten or twelve depending upon how you look at things. The four senior partners each own fifteen percent of the operation. Those four are Jane, Mr. Allister, Mr. Van Horne and myself, Mr. Michael Patrick. Of course, three of those four are all me, but only those here in the room know that for a fact, although I think that my friend Richard may also suspect. There are eight junior partners, each of whom owns a five percent share. They consist of five of the six men who worked for me before at the Water Hole Saloon, my two main card dealers Isaac Stevens and his sister Marybeth Osborne, and the final partner is my boy Jacob here." Ruby raises her eyebrows and looks at Jake, speechless. Jake nearly chokes on a bite of food before attempting to compose himself. "I will say that I would jump at the chance to invest with you, I just do not recall wiring you any money. What do I owe you for my share partner?" Red's voice slips into his Irish brogue and he says, "Jacob me boy, ye is like a son to me. You don't owe me anything other than a thank you, after all, it was your example that convinced me to change my lifestyle to establishing some roots. But if it really bothers you I'll take a five percent share in either of your Promise City businesses and we can call it even." Ruby coughs a little, her eyes still wide. She stumbles over her words, "What example would that be, that inspired you to change your ways, whatever they were before?" Red states, "Ruby, dear Ruby, I had never intended for Tucson to be anything more than a safe house for me to rest between long-term runs as Van Horne. I had already maximized my winnings in six Arizona communities and was going to now expand into New Mexico. But you two, your happiness....and the chance to speak to Jane. I had stuck close to my plan, never let on as Van Horne that I ever knew Jane's mother....the only woman who I ever truly loved. We both played out our respective roles under Adair's roof and it was nearly the ruin of both of us. This place, this Three Gods Meeting House, it's our destiny." "Well, thank you father," Jake teases. "Seriously, that is most generous. I accept gladly, but let me think on how I appease my guilt." Jake has a drink and then says, "Uh, speaking of guilt. I saw Wyatt Earp on the train today. Well, that is not exactly correct, I did not see him." Jake then relates the pertinent details of the Earp story. "I do not think he would bother to follow us, and he probably got back on the train headed to Tombstone. The man is clearly Hades bent on his revenge and not thinking clearly, therefore a danger to everyone involved. If I thought that he was a real risk to you we would not have come. I just wanted to make certain you knew about it. If you are at all concerned, we will go back to the hotel and make some other arrangements. We checked in at the Arizona Arms earlier and made a few stops before coming here." Red laughs and says, "Ah, you had concerns about an invisible gunslinger following you in. Not to worry, there's a reason why the lobby is designed as it is. Some of those stained glass panels are enchanted and will react a certain way if anybody invisible were to try to enter the building. Richard would have noticed had that been the case." Jane says, "The Arizona Arms you say? Not the best place but not the worst. How many nights did you get the room for?" Jake laughs out loud and motions for Red to not say anything, "Somebody taught me long ago never to pay for more than one night in advance. Just in case you need to leave out an upper story window. Besides, at a dollar a night I think I can afford to not worry about it." Ruby is quiet for a moment. She continues softly but does not look at Jake, "I believe in destiny too. I guess there is a reason why we had to struggle so much to get to where we are now." The smile slowly comes back to her face. "This place really is great. I guess I got lucky, you know, shacking up with one of the partners," she laughs. Red says, "Well, this was all Jane's idea. She gets to show the proper respect to the gods but being a Meeting House rather than a Church we are free of the restrictions and supervision of churches. That is just as well, as our priests for each of the three gods have been ordained but none are presently recognized as active priests by the official Greek-Roman hierarchy. We are also officially a Private Club, for members only. That prevents us from having to admit just anybody inside and also waives us from having to adhere to any Tucson laws regarding public saloons and gambling establishments. We have a number of different levels of membership, the six main ones being Friday night only, Saturday night only, Weekend nights only, Any night, Any afternoon and night and Unrestricted hours. You Ruby will be listed in that last category." A wide smile creeps across Ruby's face, set off by her rosy cheeks and glittering eyes. "Thanks Red, thanks Janie, it really means a lot to me." She looks back down to her plate, the smile firmly entrenched on her face. She says, "So Red, can we stay here please? The other place is nice and all but I'd much rather stay here with you and Jane... and it's much nicer here. Pleeaaassse," Ruby pleads, giving Red her wide doe eyed look and dazzling smile, "And what are we doing tonight?" Red answers, "Of course you can stay here. I assume that Mr. Cooke will be willing to let you share his room, but if not you can always use mine." Jane hits his arm. He exclaims, "Owwww, I meant one that I wasn't using, I do have three." Jane says, "Weeknights are quiet, maybe two or three dozen people tops. If you'd like we can just spend time in the Meeting Hall and perhaps play some games of chance. Or we could just sit under the stars, drink and chat among the four us. Red and I have put some comfortable furniture up on the roof for quiet nights. Tomorrow night things will be busier, around one hundred to one-hundred fifty patrons. You and I can rehearse to perform them. Saturday's are the busiest, upwards to three hundred. After midnight, when it's officially the Holy day, we have services for the gods." Ruby laughs, "Now Red, if I had only met you before I met Mr. Cook, things might have been different. Lucky for him I already made a promise that I plan on keeping or you might have had a chance of stealing me away." "I think stargazing and alone time sounds perfect. We don't get too many quiet times anymore at home. And Jane, I'd love to perform with you, that would be fun. Tomorrow we can practice and maybe even shop. You must know some good shops around here. What are the services like? I mean, do you worship all three gods at the same time? She says, "No, we alternate. I usually let Father Blackstone begin with a short sermon and prayers and then take donations to Hermes. Those who have won at the tables usually give generously and those who haven't also contribute to perhaps have the god's graces the next time. One-third of the money raised in the offerings goes to the Tucson Greek/Roman Church, another third goes to the Meeting House and the final third goes into a trust that we three priests administer as we see fit. Mister Grappini then gives a sermon to Dionysus, accompanied by complimentary wine to all present and a number of toasts. He selects the wine for each service and his sermon includes a history of that particular wine. By then it is usually around 1:00 A.M. I then take to the stage, beginning my service with a dance. I alternate between the veil dance that I performed in Promise City and two others that are equally enticing. I then preach of Aphrodite. My three assistants and I then each select a member of the audience who we feel deserves to further experience the love of the Goddess and we head upstairs for the private services. A final collection is then taken by the other two priests and the services end. The Meeting Hall remains open for another hour after that." Ruby replies, "That sounds like a service I could sit though. Maybe you'll let us, well, me, help? We have a lot to be grateful for, especially from those gods in particular." Jane says, "If you would like you can rehearse with my assistants and participate in the service. I would, however, suggest that the member of the audience who you select to bring upstairs afterwards be Mr. Cook." "I'll consider it," Ruby says with a straight face, trying not to laugh. "I will try to be extra deserving so the pretty red haired assistant picks me," says Jake with a smirk while talking to Red. "Maybe even put a little something extra in the offering bucket." Jake adroitly moves his chair just enough to put him out of Ruby's arm reach and adds, "Oh, dear, I hope the wrong assistant does not get my offering from the bucket. How embarrassing would that be!" Ruby's lips also rise into a smirk. "Yes, I can see how that might be embarrassing for you. I, on the other hand, believe I will have no trouble finding another interested companion for the evening, that is, if your offering ends up in the wrong...bucket, Mr. Cook. So perhaps you ought to mind where you put your extra some things." "Well then, I expect I will have to be extra deserving AND extra mindful as always." Jake smiles neutrally and wipes his lips with the white linen napkin. "I am going to go get our luggage and bring it back here, that way Ruby and Jane can chat some. Then when I return we can retire to the roof. Red, can I talk with you on the way out?" He replies, "Certainly Jacob me boy, but since Mr. Michael Patrick has never set foot outside of this building and won't while his face still has a price on it, I can only walk you as far as the front lobby." He looks back at the ladies and says "Enjoy your chat, we will see the two of you later."</blockquote>

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