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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3121963" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Ninety-two, “Unexpected conversations“, Tuesday June 6th , 1882, 7:00 P.M. Tony Lucky arrives and begins his game. Clarisse Townsend soon arrives to begin her full-time job as singer at the Lucky Lady Dance Hall and Saloon.  Kate shivered a bit when Tony Lucky arrived. "I'm glad I'm only a tavern wench a couple nights a week now. The less time I spend around that man the better." They continued to chat until the meal was nearly gone and Maria was bringing out sweet pastries filled with nuts and honey. "How come the rest of the associations didn't come for drinks tonight? I suppose it didn't seem like much of a meeting."  Shaw says, "With rustlers in the area most of them wanted to get back to their ranches. Their loss, I'll take a quiet dinner with a pretty lady over guarding cows any night."She replies, "It's always a pleasure to have a chance to talk with you, Mr. Shaw. You've been such a help, and I somehow feel free to really speak my mind. That's always a relief.  And I think we know one another well enough to drop the formality. My name is Katherine, or Kate if you prefer."  He answers, "Very well, but you must call me Emery. After meeting your father I'd say that your comfort level with me could have to do with the fact that I may remind you of him. He and I are of similar age and temperament, plus we both fought in the war, put our families as our top priorities, and have grown successful businesses on our own."She says, "Perhaps. You do certainly seem to be cut from the same cloth. Except the German accent.  The difference is sometimes I don't want Papa to see the parts of me that want to lash out at people like Dr. Eaton and Icabod Shackelton. But you'll forgive me my little foibles, won't you?"  He laughs, "Well, since I share the same sentiments I would say that I have to." As they are finishing up the meal Shaw says, "Well, I was thinking of playing some cards this evening. Are Mr. Kane or Mr. Cook expected?"   She replies, "One or the other I'm sure. They wouldn't leave the place with just Mr. Lucky for the night. They both have a stake in the place now, after all.  They usually start around eight o'clock."Other patrons begin to arrive. Tuesday nights are typically not all that busy, but by 8:00 PM there are close to twenty patrons. Back when the building was smaller that would have made the place look full, but with the expanded room it still appears to be half empty.   Job Kane arrives and many of his regulars gather to join him. Emery Shaw heads over to play.  Clarisse takes to the stage and begins to sing her first set of music to the piano playing of Harry Rote.Kate sat and listened to Miss Townsend for a while, at loose ends as to what to do with herself now. Eventually she wandered out of the saloon and back toward the El Parador to listen to the music there.  She heads south on Allen Street. As she is passing by the office of Doctor James Eaton she hears the door open and he calls out, "Mrs. Kale, do you have a minute?"She turned and looked back. "Yes," she said, confusion obvious in her voice. "Is there something I can help you with?"  He says, "Yes, a word with you if that is acceptable, in private."  "Of course." Kate stepped into the Doctor's office and allowed him to close the door behind her. She didn't move far into the room. "How can I help you?"  Doctor Eaton says, "This rivalry between the two schools cannot continue, at least during the next two weeks. We should have a united front against this so-called Freedom Party.""Doctor," Kate said sincerely, "As far as I am concerned there is no rivalry. I may disagree with the philosophies the school is based on but I have no ill wishes toward it. I would far rather be left in peace to educate the children placed into my care.  Two weeks ago there was no school here, now there are two. So much the better. And believe it or not, I find the Freedom Party as vile as you likely do."He states, "I do believe that. I heard a rumor that Adair once tried to set fire to that Saloon you work at. Mrs. Kale, I am glad to hear that you feel this way. Look, I'll work on Shackelton to get him to calm down. Please don't do anything to incite him further. You may want to talk to Miss Townsend too, she has Mrs. King's ear."She says, "I'm afraid you'll have to tell me what it is that incites Mr. Shackelton. My very existence seems to do that. I admit, the day the school opened I quite purposely offended him and I'm not proud of it. Other than that I don't know how I've offended him.  And what would you have Miss Townsend tell Mrs. King? I know the lady's voice carries weight, but I don't know how involved with things she really is."Doctor Eaton says, "She's the financing behind it, just as Cassidy is for your school and Shaw and Morand are for your Cattleman's Association. Money carries weight Mrs. Kale. But as long as her precious Ashley wins as Marshal she should be happy. Look, none of them know we're having this conversation. I would appreciate it if it stays that way."  She says, "I don't think I'd have a chance to tell them, even if I wanted to. I'm glad to find you are perhaps more moderate-minded that I would have guessed.   You didn't say how I could avoid aggravating Mr. Shackelton."He states, "Mrs. Kale, this conversation needs to end now. I am not going to tell you Shackelton's secrets, just stay out of his way and don't let him bait you.  As for my mindset, I was a military man. I saw more death and destruction than you can imagine, but at least a military lifestyle had order. This community, it is chaos incarnate. Drunkenness, lawlessness, murderers being given badges. Mrs. King wishes to introduce civilization and law to this town and I wholeheartedly support that objective."She answers, "I didn't want to know his secrets, just what I could do to avoid crossing him. I will just continue on trying to avoid him.  I would like to see more law here and civilization as well. But there is a balance to be struck between law and individual choices. I just fear Mrs. King's methods may be more extreme than necessary to achieve her goals. But I do not know her personally, so I could be wrong.   I'll be on my way, now, unless there was anything else?"  Eaton says, "No, that is all. I should be getting back to my family. Goodnight Mrs. Kale." "Good night, Doctor," Kate said and slipped back outside. Her thoughts were busy as she finished her interrupted walk to the El Parador. For a moment there she'd had some hope for the Doctor, and perhaps there was still some cause for that.Kate wandered distractedly into the El Parador. She looked to see who was there, and thought briefly of joining the musicians until she remembered that the piano was no longer there, even though it had been temporarily moved back for the wedding reception. With a sigh she sat down to listen for a little while until it was time to go home.  For the two days after the wedding, Jake seemed ill at ease. It seemed to start during the actual wedding celebration and contrary to expectations he left early after giving the happy couple his best wishes. He made appearances at the Lucky Lady and pretended to help with chores but mostly stayed at home sitting on the porch. Sometimes with a cup of black coffee and other times with a glass of whiskey but always just watching the street. He seemed to take no interest in the politics that everyone else found so fascinating and compelling. He would chat amicably with anyone who stopped by but did not prolong conversations or go out on visits with the exception of Al Brower. He and Al spent a good hour or so chatting on Jake's porch. "I'll see you at the Lady Wednesday night Al." Jake gave him a friendly handshake and a warm pat on the arm.  Al bids him a fond goodnight, thanking Jake for listening to his woes about loosing his recent love, Madge Duprey. Al says he will wander back to the Comque to check on how the new temporary singer Josie Marcus. He says that Pierre is currently off in Tombstone looking for a permanent replacement. At around 8:00 PM on Tuesday evening Jake is still sitting on his porch when Miss Darla Peacock joins him. After a few minutes of small talk she says, "Well, we found a buyer for our saloon. The new man from Tombstone, Harlan Porter, plans to open up an Apothecary shop at that location. We'll finalize the purchase tomorrow late morning.”   Jake replies, "Splendid news. Congratulations." She suggests, “Why don't Michael George and I meet with you and your partners tomorrow for lunch to make our plans going forward and decide what type of announcement to put in the newspaper."   "It is a date then, we will see you for lunch at the Lucky Lady," he responds with a smile.   At the mention of the word partners, Jake has a little internal twinge. Ruby is who knows where and Hoover is dead. He decides not to invite the Hoover boy, that would raise too many questions with Peacock. Looks like it is just Jake and Job for lunch with Darla and George.  After Darla Peacock leaves, Jake walks to the saloon and asks Job Kane to meet them for lunch tomorrow as Darla had suggested. Minerva had spent the last few days in training with the other priests. At the end of each day she drags herself home and dutifully swallows the food that Nakomo places in front of her before she tumbles into her lonely bed. Thank the gods for sending Nakomo here. I don't know how I would manage without him.   Luna, sensing her mistress's return, flies through the window, lands on the bed and coo's softly seeking her attention. Minerva smiles weakly and raising her hand scratches the bird between the shoulder blades. "Ah Luna, I know you miss Maska, sorely. I too feel the sharp knife of loneliness in my heart. Some days the pain is unbearable. It seems that they have been gone a long time and I am becoming uneasy." and physically and emotionally exhausted from the days labors she is unable to hold back the tears as she holds her pillow and wishes for Nanuet's safe return.Mornings were taking on a comforting familiarity for Kate. Wake after the sun had fully crossed the horizon, dress and arranger her hair, and go down to the kitchen for breakfast with Ginnie. Sometimes it was just things that could be cut up and eaten, sometimes Kate cooked the few simple things she knew how. Maybe eggs with fried potatoes and bacon. They would eat together and talk about the coming day, and then it was off into the schoolroom to begin the day.Winning the baseball game the day before was great for the self confidence of the entire class. Mollie initiated a discussion at the start of class on the importance of good sportsmanship and other virtues.   Nakomo makes his way to the school. He is a bit nervous but refuses to let it show. He holds his head up high and enters the school. Looking around he notices that many of the students have already gathered. He spies an empty seat near the back of the room and sits.Ginnie slides up to Nakomo "you look like your going to throw up on your shoes relax I figured that you would be a mess so I asked Ma'am Kate if I could give you the entrance exam I'm working on. I'm developing it so I can set the program that will work best for you or any new students that we get as people are likely to be coming and going on and off. You know fill the holes but not make you do things you know how to over and over again. so relax lets head over here I have everything we'll need and no chance to embarrass yourself before you know what your doing. it will also give you some time to see how the school works after all we need to stick together.Nakomo bristles at the implication that he is nervous enough to throw up on his boots but is secretly relieved to see a friendly face.  "I am not going to be sick. I was just waiting for instructions."  He follows her to a spot where he can take the exam. "I hope that this school will be more than reading and writing. That is ALL we did at the white man school I attended before I joined the Yavapai""The school is set up with a lot of reading and writing with math and science too that's what we do in the morning. The afternoon is different from most other schools as there are individual study opportunities. In the morning you'll be placed in a class where your skills lie in that area that's why you'll see lots of different age groups doing the same thing and the kids change groups as they grab the concepts. That's one of the really good thing about having three teachers they each can work on a level and if kids miss a class they don't have to worry as much about not being able to keep up at birthing time or harvest and they can advance as quickly as they get the information. In the afternoon there are classes to help kids if they are having real trouble with something or have missed a bunch of time so they don't fall to far behind. Where I don't think the priestess is going to let you skip school very often you'll likely be able to go in a different direction.   The afternoon is set aside for independent study on specific subjects I've been recently using my time to analyze the astronomical patterns earth power lay lines and correlate the findings with the stone circles that were built centuries ago.”  "Nakomo brightens. " I really like science and math. They didn't teach a lot of science at my old school, but this doctor that I used to hang around, taught me a lot of science, mostly the healing sciences though. Ginnie says, “I have some fairly unorthodox beliefs when it comes to a connection between astronomy and lay lines and magic but for now I'm just working on the functionality of the two in connection and trying to analyze the connection between solar and earth based magic and tapping the conjunction between the two.  I'm sure that if you have a particular interest there will be a way to explore it possibly without tons of reading and writing although I really don't understand why you wouldn't like it.""Huh? the functionality of the two connections?" Nakomo scratches his head in confusion. "and I didn't say that I didn't like reading and writing, just that I was hoping there would be more to this school than just that. Sounds like there is. um, Maybe we should do that test now. He says changing the subject.Hannah Milford brings lunch over for the teachers at noontime and offers then congratulations for the previous day's game.   "Thank you very much, and thank you for this," Kate said gesturing toward the lunch. "I got my eyes opened just a bit yesterday. I've never been much for sport but it really seems to have made the children feel good."Hannah replies, "Yes, it was so good to see all of the children out there playing." She turns to Mollie and says, "And that was amazing Mrs. Caudell, where did you learn to throw a ball like that?" Mollie replies, "Back in North Carolina. My husband's school had a team that I pitched on."  "I imagine having two active boys kept you playing as well," Kate added. "Not many boys are lucky enough to have mothers who get out and play with them like you did."The ladies continued to chat and after a short time Kate asked, "I wonder if you might do us another favor. We'd like to have different kinds of foods for snacks for the children so they can be exposed to foods they aren't used to. I wonder if you might be interested in bringing something in some day? The school foots the bill, of course."Hannah indicates that she would be happy to. Mollie says, "Mrs. Milford, I am not much of a cook myself but I could get you some recipes from my home in North Carolina if you would like to try some of them out on the children." Hannah indicates she would be interested in that.  "Wonderful," Kate smiled. "From the first time we spoke about the school you have been supportive, Mrs. Milford. I'm very grateful, not everyone has been as generous as you."   Hannah departs and the students return for the afternoon session.Wednesday morning Jake is up with the sun, having had no reason to stay up late the previous night. He dresses leisurely, takes breakfast at the El Parador, speaks for a short while with Pedro and then Dorita before getting his horse. Trusting it will give him some focus, he collects up some weapons and heads out to the desert for shooting practice. Afterwards, he cleans and oils his weapons meticulously, changes clothes and arrives at the Lucky Lady ten minutes before noon. He walks towards the bar to get a drink, but changes his mind halfway there instead taking a seat at the back of the saloon to wait for the others. He removes a deck of cards from his silver case and practice some fancy shuffle tricks with them.Job Kane is soon to arrive. Jake notes that his business partner looks tired. Darla Peacock and her fiancé Michael George then arrive and join the two of them. Darla says, "Well, it's done. Peacock's Saloon is no more and our bank accounts are now considerably richer. How would you gentlemen like to proceed with our employment here?"Jake states, "I do not see any reason to wait for the newspaper advertisement, you both can start tonight. We can get Chumbly the words today and it will run in his next edition. Job, Harry and myself will show you all around and how we do things. Probably not much different than you would expect. Michael, you can start at the same time as the other barkeeps every day. Darla, we start the poker games after dinner between seven and eight. If you have players you can begin earlier if you like. Job, anything else?"   Job says, "I think that about covers it. The house gets twenty-percent of your winning. And we will loan you up to $ 200 if there is a night that you fall short and ever need more money for the night. Please don't pass that on to Tony Lucky, that offer doesn't extend to him." Jake says, "Darla have you decided what nights besides Thursday, Friday and Saturday you will personally deal? George, I assume you will work the same nights, you can work more if you care to and increase your earnings."  She replies, "Well since I'm starting on Wednesday let's say Wednesday through Saturday to start. Michael and I haven't been outside of Promise City in over a year so having a few days off in a row will let us finally see things I've always wanted to like the Grand Canyon.""Splendid," Jake replies. "The Lucky Lady is proud to announce that Miss Darla Peacock will be joining the staff as the lead Faro dealer. Miss Peacock is looking forward to seeing her familiar players and greeting new ones. The Lucky Lady is also pleased to welcome Mr. Michael George behind the bar. Stop by and help us welcome them both." Jake taps his lips, "How is that for the newspaper? I figure I can give half pint an interview too for some free publicity.""That would be just fine Mr. Cook," is Darla's response. Maria brings them out lunch, beef tips over rice with chopped carrots on the side and freshly baked bread.   While they are eating the saloon is invaded by priests, as Minerva enters in the company of her Bishop Costas Papandraus, his aide Demitrius Theopopulos, a tall thin human with enough of a point to his ears to suggest some Elvan lineage, and a female dwarf in priest garb. They all have a seat at another table and order lunch. The Bishop asks about wine and Harry Rote is sent over the table where he rattles off their choices and a very good bottle is chosen.The pass lunch with friendly chat. Jake makes an attempt to learn something about George while they do so.    When lunch is done, Darla and Michael excuse themselves and make some polite conversation about seeing them all tonight. Jake eyes the table where Minerva and the other priests are sitting, not sure whether he wants to speak to them or not. Instead he asks Job, "Why are you so tired partner? You look like I usually do in the morning." Jake chuckles. "Except maybe not so hung over."Job says, "It's my woman Bernice. She won't come here and she told me not to go to Wilcox anymore either. Looks like it's over between us."  Jake hesitates a moment, wondering if it is better that his partner does not know, wondering if he is better off losing his woman but staying out of the potential hazards. No, he decides, it goes against the core of his beliefs. "Did Tomlinson or Harker talk to you about the Turner family history? Did they tell you Mortimer Turner may still be alive?"  Job will have to make his own decision."Mortimer...is alive." Job's poker face completely breaks. "Well, I guess that explains it then. She's back with her husband. Honestly Jake, I didn't know. I'm not like Tony, I would have never gone for a married woman."  Jake allows Job to finish. "Nobody is going to compare you to Tony Lucky. So neither Harker or Tomlinson spoke with you after they spoke with me. Mierde." Jake takes a deep breath and then says, "Come upstairs." They find an empty room and close the door. "This is difficult to explain. If Harker and Tomlinson are correct, Mortimer is not really alive, but not really dead in the traditional sense." Looking at Job's confused expression Jake once again mutters, "Mierde." He then grabs a chair and sits on it backwards with his arms folded across the wooded slotted back. "Sit down partner, this is going to take a few minutes." Jake reminds Job of the story of Colin Turner, retells the key points and then goes on to recount what Tomlinson and Harker told him. "So you see, your woman's husband does not fall neatly into a legal category of which I am aware. I do not believe there has been a ruling on whether or not a marriage is still considered intact if your spouse becomes a vampire. I would wager that is not your foremost concern."Job says, "No, it is not. I think I'll head over to the Arizona Territorial Office and talk to Mr. Tomlinson about this. I'd hate to leave with Ruby away too but If I decide to head up to Wilcox for a few days can you cover for me?"  Jake says, "Not to worry, you already did the same for me. Have a care though and avoid doing something rash."  Job sarcastically comments, "Nothing rash? Good idea Jake, I'll follow your example."  "Job, my friend," Jake replies with good humor, "some people are meant to be a good example, I suspect I am just going to settle for being a frightful warning.”</blockquote>

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