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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3056935" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Seventy-eight, “Brunch Guests”, Sunday June 4th , 1882, 8:30 A.M. Sunday morning rolls around and as usual the new Promise City Church of Olympus is around two-thirds filled. Minerva does notice that her usual critics, the Promise City Vigilance Committee, are surprisingly not in attendance this morning. Normally they sit in the back row with their arms crossed and scowls on their faces throughout the service, but this morning they are nowhere to be seen.Minerva notices the conspicuous absence of the Vigilance Committee with a mild sense of unease but decides to leave their fate in the hands of the gods. She finishes her sermon with her mind half on the wedding that she is to perform at sunset.   Sitting with Clarisse, Chester notes the absence of the Vigilance Committee. He nudges her and says, "Where do you think they went? They're not ones for missing Sunday services. Something must be up."Clarisse replies, "They're having their own service over at the Town Hall building. Mrs. King found another priest who they find more acceptable."    Chester says, "Now well, that's interesting. Doesn't Priestess Florencia have the backing of the national church? She's on good terms with the Archbishop. How did they find a priest to come here and risk stepping on toes?"Clarisse replies, "He is no longer practicing, some sort of falling out with the Church hierarchy. He's been prospecting for gold and silver in the hills for the last five years. He was short on money so Anse King talked him into preaching again for a stipend."  Chester gives a low whistle. "That's a dreadfully drastic step to take. They're taking a big chance that the church won't cut them off completely. It just creates more trouble for the town." He shakes his head. "What do you think?"Clarisse replies, "I'm here with you aren't I? Miss. Florencia has some odd ways about her, but the Bishop did declare her the town's spiritual leader. Our place is here with her."  Chester says in mock surprise, "You mean you're not here because of my rugged good looks?" He kisses her on the cheek. "I'm grateful for you being here. It means a lot to me. Good riddance to the Vigilance Committee."She replies, "Oh no Chet, they are good people. Some of them are a bit myopic in their outlooks and miss the big picture, but they all mean well. They have the best interests of this town at heart, unlike those cattle rustlers who you have had so much trouble with."   He says, “They have a mighty funny way of showing it. You're right, though. Perhaps, I'm not giving them enough credit. We have the shared goal of civilizing the area." Chester sighs. "But, I'll keep any thoughts about them to myself. I don't want you to think that I'm being unfair to them." Kate woke Sunday morning and paddled lazily around her house. There was no place she had to be, nothing she absolutely had to do. She spent an hour just sitting in the parlor reading, not even bothering to put on more than her dressing gown. It was well past nine when she finally made herself presentable and wandered over to the El Parador looking for breakfast.  Kate arrives downstairs to see Chumbley and Sydney Sue dining together. She notices that the only employee present is the handyman Grant Keebler. Grant approaches Kate and says, "Dorita left scrambled eggs and sausages simmering on the stove. Is that acceptable? Otherwise I could cook you up some tasty toast."  "Sounds like your cooking skills are about as sophisticated as mine," she laughed. "Eggs and sausage are fine. Where has Dorita gone off to? It's unusual for her to be out, not that she doesn't deserve some time to herself."Grant says, "There is an Elvan service taking place this morning over at Mr. Valdez's church that they have all gone off to attend. It is a preparation ritual to welcome the gods of peace, love and fertility that is performed in advance of a wood Elvan wedding."  She smiled. "How lovely that sounds. It will be nice to see people get married for no other reason than loving each other. It's rarer than it should be.  I'll take the eggs. Did Mr. Gonzales go too?"He replies, "Yes, actually, nearly every wood elf within thirty miles is in attendance. And afterwards Pedro plans to make sure that any of them who haven't registered to vote yet go and do so."   "Excellent," Kate laughed. "I registered yesterday, myself. It wasn't long ago he didn't believe he'd be able to vote."   She chatted for another couple moments, then let Grant go. He brought out the egg a few moments later and Kate enjoyed the quiet breakfastJake is up early Sunday, at least for Jake, and has breakfast at the Promise City Hotel. He then walks over to the Lucky Lady because he does not know what else to do with himself.  When Jake arrives he finds the only one present other than Thom to be Judge Isby's assistant and clerk Kevin Tomlinson who is sitting at one of the tables and drinking a cup up coffee. Thom points and says, "Mr. Jake, that man want to talk to you or Mr. Job."  Thanks Thom, looks like I lose." Jake chuckles and leaves a perplexed Thom at the door. "Morning," He says to Tomlinson and takes a seat at his table.   Tomlinson sits up straight and says in his crisp English accent, "Good morning Mr. Cook. I have heard that you might be able to rent out private dining rooms on your second floor? Would it be possible for me to rent one for later this morning for a private brunch?"  "Yes, of course you can. It will take a little extra effort on short notice but I am sure we can manage." Jake looks at him curiously, "May I ask what this is about?"   Tomlinson locks eyes with Jake and replies, "Nolan Edwards."  Jake replies, "Nolan Edwards? Now there is a name I had not expected to hear again. You say that and expect some reaction from me Mr. Tomlinson." Jake keeps his poker face, but remains pleasant. "Yes, I met a man who used that name. Perhaps you should speak more plainly."Tomlinson says, "Not in a public room. I realize that we are nearly alone now, but people could enter at any moment. I have a business associate in the same line of work as Mr. Edwards worked.  He has some questions for you, as do I. Any of your friends who joined you in New Mexico are also welcome to join us for the brunch." With that Tomlinson stands and prepares to depart."Whoa, there partner," Jake says but does not stand. "You presume too much. Do not toy with me about this, it is far too personal." Jake slaps the table with one hand. "Come upstairs and pick out the room you would like to use," Jake then stands and walks to the stairs.  They head upstairs together. Tomlinson sees a room with a rectangular table with eight chairs and says, "Yes, this would be acceptable.""Fine. Who do you want me to invite? Oh, and what precautions will you take about being overheard or seen in here? If you are truly dealing with what Edwards was after, walls and doors are no barrier," Jake says rather ominously.  Tomlinson replies, "The room will be properly secured, nobody other than those present will have any knowledge of what is being said or who is present. I would suggest that you at least bring Deputy Martin to the brunch, as he is the only law enforcement officer in town that is aware of the nature of this threat."Jake exclaims, "Hermes! Tomlinson, what does everyone know? Is everyone who came to New Mexico known and what we were about?"    He replies, "Nobody knows except for myself and my associate, who has just come here directly from Thomaswell. My associate's cousin lives here in town but hasn't been informed of any of this, nor has Judge Isby. That is one reason I wanted a private room here. Your associates all have business here in this building so their coming and going won't be seen as unusual. My associate and I will arrive and leave separately. Discretion is the key too maintaining a low profile.""Blast." Jake scuffs his foot along the floor. "Fine, I will tell the others of your cryptic offer of brunch." Jake starts walking away and adds, "I will be here either way."   Tomlinson leaves a $ 20 on the table and says, "Very good sir, please arrange for appropriate quantities of food. I will see you shortly."   After her breakfast Kate again found herself at a loss. She had intended to see her teacher here, but it seemed that wasn't going to be possible. There was always the ranch, but she had planned to get there around noon today and that was hours away yet. Conrad would still be asleep and Ginnie was already off on her own business.  Her feet took their own path over to the Lucky Lady where she sat down and played, wandering on the piano keys, making it up as she went along.In the main room Jake encounters Katherine at the piano. He gives her a brief summary of Tomlinson's conversation with him. "Join us at your pleasure. I will understand if you decide to pass on the opportunity. I have to go locate the others." Jake tips his hat and heads out.  He attempts to locate Maria to arrange the food but she is nowhere to be found.  Since he cannot locate her he makes other arrangements with the Promise City Hotel.  Melissa Smith agrees to have the food delivered in around an hour. Jake then goes looking for Minerva and Chester.The worship service ends and Minerva heads to the back of the church to greet her parishoners and wish them a good day as they leave the church..  Mr. Franjoluppi smiles and thanks her for her recent advice.   She replies, "You are quite welcome, Senor Franjolupi. How are you faring?"  He states, "Very good, thank you Priestess. Good luck today with the wedding, it should be a joyous occasion!""Si," she looks beyond them toward the sun. "the gods are smiling upon us all today." She continues to greet her parishoners until Chester and Clarisse near the exit. "Buenas Dias! Deputy, Senorita Townsend."   Chester says, "Morning to you too, Priestess. Wonderful service as always."  Clarisse adds, "It's good to see you again, priestess. How are you?"  She replies, "I am doing quite well. Did you enjoy the service? I noticed that there were a few more vacant seats today than usual."Clarisse replies, "Yes, I did, priestess. Your sermon was very insightful. It will give us much to think about. I don't know about the empty seats."   Chester says, "Priestess, the Vigilance Committee is going to services with another priest. He's some miner they hired."   She replies, "A miner priest? How odd. Well we cannot force others to worship as we do now can we?" She smiles and shrugs her shoulders in dismissal. "They will return to the flock when they have seen the error of their ways."Jake finds Minerva, Chester and Clarisse outside the church. "Chet, got a minute?" He pulls the lawman away from his girl and the priestess. Jake quickly explains the situation, "Come to brunch in about an hour but leave Clarisse somewhere."   "OK. Odd that this comes up now, though. I'll be there. See you later."   After Chet leaves with Clarisse, Jake waits for Minerva to finish greeting her flock.  She states, "Hola, Senor Cook. What brings you to the church of Olympus so early in the day?""It is early." Jake looks around, "Tomlinson came to see me this morning and mentioned Nolan Edwards." Jake then tells the rest of their conversation. "Thought you might want to come along. Your choice though." Jake tips his hat, "See you in an hour."    "The priestess's eyes go wide at the mention of Nolan Edwards. "Si, I will be there." She hurries home and changes out of her robes. "Nakomo I have some business to attend to before the wedding. I will be back in a couple of hours." She rushes over to the Lucky Lady Praying to the gods as she goes.  Jake goes back to his house, straps on his long barreled Colt, puts his special ammunition on his belt and then walks leisurely back to the Lucky Lady to wait for Tomlinson and his friend.Kate stayed at the piano after Jake left, wishing he hadn't run off, necessary as it was. There was no question she would be there, if only to find out if she needed to pack up and leave town before news of what she was could spread. Considering the manner, she doubted that was the case.   The thought that more of those monsters might show up was something else she didn't want to consider. There was danger enough without that.  When Jake finally returned Kate went to wait with him. "He didn't give you any clue?" she asked.  Jake answers, "He was evasive. If it was not so serious a matter I would have sent him packing."   Kate replies, "I don't like that he said Judge Isby knows nothing of it. Why would he feel the need to tell you that? We didn't do anything wrong in Thomaswell. You and Chester were deputized." Kate stopped. She laid her hands in her lap, feeling very small. "The sooner this is over the better."   "I suppose you could assume he was threatening. I did not take it that way. I just do not like being manipulated or kept in the dark." Jake paces back and forth a few times. "I suppose we will find out soon."Clarisse spends the next hour of the morning telling Chester about the goings-on in her sewing circle. When brunch time comes, he excuses himself and heads for the Lucky Lady.  The food has already been delivered are brought upstairs by Kate and Jake. Jake comes back downstairs and greets both Minerva and Chester as they arrive, sending them upstairs. Kevin Tomlinson arrives next carrying a satchel similar to a doctor's bag. He tells Jake "A Brit named Jonathan will be arriving soon. We can then begin the brunch."  Tomlinson reaches the upstairs room and says hello to the three in the room. He then removes three candles which he places on the table inside small iron candleholders. He then lights the candles, placing a glass plate between them which he pours a liquid into that resembles white wine.   Kate gestured to the candles. "Very pretty, Mr. Tomlinson. What is their purpose?"  Tomlinson replies, "Protection from the undead."     "It's broad daylight," Kate said, confused. "But I suppose you will explain when we're all here. I apologize. I'm sure you understand the mystery has me a bit on edge."  Chester asks, "Kevin, what's with all the secrecy?"    "All will be explained momentarily," Tomlinson states.Downstairs, a well-dressed man in a European-style dark wool-blend three-piece suit arrives. The man also has on a gold silk ascot with a diamond pin, a silk top hat, and white gloves. He says in a London accent "Hello Sir, I am here for a private brunch."   "You are Mr. Charles then?" Jake says with a pleasant smile and an extended hand.   The man shakes Jake's hand and says, "Harker actually, shall we?"  "Yes, we shall," he replies in nearly British accent and points towards the stairs. He follows the man up the stairs.Jake soon arrives with the well dressed gentleman who introduces himself to the others as Jonathan Harker. Once the door is shut Tomlinson says, "I apologize for the informality of this but I will need for us to all join hand while I state an incantation to ward away evil and the undead."Kate held out one hand to Jake and one to Chester. She watched and listened carefully, trying to decipher whether this was clerical or arcane magic.  Jake shrugs and takes the offered hands. Chester shakes Harker's hand before joining hands. "Afternoon, Mr. Harker. What brings you here?"  Harker replies, “Please do as instructed Sir.”  As the incantation is going on the candles flicker and the liquid within the plate darkens to a deep crimson before fading back to the light amber color. Tomlinson gestures for everybody around the table to take a seat.   Jonathan Harker says, "What we have to tell you now is very secretive, it is imperative that you not share this information with anybody outside of this room."   Kevin Tomlinson says, "You have all had experience dealing with the undead, specifically vampires. You met Mr. Nolan Edwards and from what Jonathan was able to deduce from his interviews in Thomaswell, were instrumental in ridding the world of the creature who was responsible for killing him and turning him into a monstrosity." Harker says, "Mr. Tomlinson and I have dedicated our lives to ridding the world of creatures such as those who you came up against. Many years back I joined this fight against the King of all vampires, Count Vlad Dracula of Wallachia, who has been terrorizing Europe since the mid-fifteenth century. He....he tried to take my fiance Wilhelmina Murry from me. We destroyed him, or so I thought, but in reality he merely fled England and returned to his homeland. Since that time I have been tracking down him and his kin."Jake nods, "So what is the specific threat to Promise City?"  Tomlinson says, "Vampires sir, one in particular. I believed him dead but I was mistaken. I fear that your saloon may be in danger, as your partner Job Kane is currently having an ongoing relationship with this vampire's wife." Harker interjects, "Ex-wife actually, Mortimer Turner is technically deceased."Kate states, "Would he be related to a Colin Turner? He was the Vampire we were hunting down that led us to Thomaswell. He.... had developed an obsession with a friend of ours, Miss West."  Jake just shakes his head over Harker's focus on the pointless topic of the state of their marriage. "So Mortimer was Colin's Uncle or something?"  Tomlinson states, "Colin Turner claimed to be Mortimer Turner's Uncle. In actuality the relation goes much further back, he was the man's Great, Great, Great, Great Uncle. Colin was also Mortimer's sire, that is, the vampire who turned him into a member of the undead." Harker says, "Yes, Colin Turner killed his only living relative. The pair then began to influence the good people of Wilcox, bringing them under their spell and draining many of the citizens of blood, but not enough to cause death."  Chester asks, "Where can we find this Mortimer Turner? Is this why you're with Judge Isby, Kevin?"  Tomlinson says, "I was sent here from London to America to investigate the situation in Wilcox. I belong to an order who are devoted to tracking and combating malevolent supernatural entities, vampires in particular.   We are known as The Watchers Council.”</blockquote>

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