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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3131723" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Ninety-four, “Bar Talk”, Wednesday June 7th , 1882, 5:00 P.M. Nakomo sits in the offered chair at the Marshal’s Office and politely accepts the glass of lemonade. He appears a bit uncomfortable, not having yet learned to trust people in authority. " I've been very busy and Miss Minerva has only recently given me permission to go about town on my own..." he says sipping the lemonade. "but I really like being here. I am washing tables at the saloon for Mr. Cook and helping Miss Minerva at the church and I am in school now" he becomes more animated. "and I got to play in the baseball game. We won. It was great!"Berg replies, "Yes, I heard about that. Good job young man." That chat for a few minutes more until Tim Gorch comes by with a ladder. He puts it up on the side of the building and the three climb up to the flat wood and tin roof.   Gorch says, "A roof like this should have cost around $ 500 right, which is what I heard you paid, but whoever was hired cheated you. The tin sheets are only a fraction as thick as they should be and were made of too many separate sheets that were poorly welded together. See all of those splits and cracks, that's where the dust and dirt is leaking in from. The wood underneath looks okay, but you need new tin sheeting for the whole thing. I can get you the materials for cost, around $ 200, if you can find enough volunteers for the labor."  Berg says "I was hoping you could show this young man how to do what needs done. He's strong and willing." Gorch says, "Yeah, I could do that."  Nakomo, scrambles up the ladder after Gorch.  Gorch and Berg spend the next half-hour with him showing the boy how to first sweep off a section while being careful of whoever might be below, then how remove the bad sheet of tin and prep the area for the new sheet. He tells the boy to be careful, wear a hat, work gloves if he has them, and to bring lots of water up with him as the metal reflects the sun so it makes for hot work.Jake is standing at the bar with Michael George. He seems to be dividing his time between Michael, watching Darla's table, reading Chumbley's newspaper and greeting his regular poker players. When he spots Katherine he folds the paper and stuffs it under the bar. With a pat on Michael's arm he leaves him to greet Katherine. He waves to his table, "I will be over in a minute.  Good evening Katherine, you are looking lovely tonight."Kate looked down at the plain dress she was wearing. "It must be the good day I had. I saw in the paper you had a nice load of ore come in from your mine. And you have a new faro dealer. Your business investment seem to be doing well for you."  She motioned slightly with her head toward and empty table and started walking over. After looking around to see if Al Brower was there she took a seat. "I walked into something very interesting today, over at Drover's Restaurant. I went over to do some business for the ranch and Mrs. Blake seemed nervous. Then her husband came out of the back with Al Brower and Pierre Jacquet. They had some papers that looked an awful lot like blueprints. And they all looked terribly embarrassed to see me standing there.  I feel like a bit of a heel sitting here and telling you other people's business, but it looked to me like you might have some competition before long. As far as I'm concerned there's room for everyone, but I thought you might like to know.""Hmmm," Jake says and then, "that fits in with Drover wanting to borrow Jeff Mills a while back. I had not figured on Al and Pierre. No Matter," he slaps the table lightly. "Good luck to them. I have no desire to make the saloon any bigger. Let them be the biggest hotel in town, as you say there should be plenty of business to go around. Thanks for the low down. You should not feel guilty, it is not like I am going to do anything to harm them." Jake glances back at his table waiting for him, "Except maybe a little healthy competition. Perhaps Adair will take notice of them and leave me be a while. Though I doubt that." Jake rises. "I suppose they could have some other idea in mind, I will keep my ears open. They were receptive to your overture?""Yes. The Blake's have a livery and I have horses, it makes good sense. I talked to Mr. Brower the day of the wedding as well and he was perfectly friendly.   I can't say I understand why they were so embarrassed. I suppose it doesn't really matter."  Kate looked up at Jake from her chair. "You have your game to run, and I have... plans. But I don't see enough of you lately. We'll need to fix that."  Jake starts to speak but is interrupted by Job. Job Kane arrives and joins them in the conversation. He tells Jake "Mr. Tomlinson and his friend Mr. Harker are still away in Wilcox and didn't return on today's stagecoach as Isby had anticipated them doing. I'll take the stage up there tomorrow morning and begin by checking for those men before I go to see Bernice. I'm thinking of asking my cousin Al to join me for this trip instead of going alone. You can probably spare her now that we've got Mr. George here to bartend and help out."Jake states, "Of course Job, anyway I can help. We will be fine here." He makes a quick glance back to Katherine before he adds, "Just do not forget that your AND their real reason for being there is secret."  Kate says, "I'm not a bouncer, but I can come in as well if you need me." She looked at Job and added. "And be very careful. Secrets have a way of... biting. If you're not prepared.""We should be fine with Big Thom and Michael. Since I made Clarisse full time Chet is always here too," Jake chuckles. "I am still looking for a manager for the place, or at least someone to run the hotel operations. Since I will be seeing more of you, we can talk about that later." Jake smirks, tips his hat and makes his way to his table.   Kate shook her head and stood up. "Have a safe trip Job. Come back soon. I'm glad you're not heading off alone."  She said good-night and walked quickly back to her house. Ginnie was there at the moment, raiding the kitchen before heading away to the Lady to bus tables and "manage" for the night. Kate reminded her to make sure someone walked her home before Ginnie ran off. Upstairs she pulled out another of the new dresses from Boston. It was a dark red dress trimmed in black lace with a slightly daring neckline. Instead of replant her hair Kate added a carved comb. For the first time in a long while she went through her jewelry and put on earrings and a pendant necklace, even following that up with a bit of perfume. She wasn't sure if Conrad was going to pick her up or if she was supposed to meet him. For the moment she went downstairs and got a book to read while she waited for her escortThe players at Jakes table are Al Brower, Tempel Morand, Henry Weller, Don Wainright, Alfredo Garcia and a newcomer to town, Slim Whitman. Jake introduces Slim around and starts the game. Although it comes up several times, Jake uses his particular brand of humor to keep the conversation away from the upcoming election. He also carefully avoids making any comments about Tempel being a younger brother, knowing the man is sensitive to that topic. During the night they learn that Slim is just passing through, making some sort of delivery. Too bad, Jake thinks to himself, the mans face is as easy to read as a book. Jake was happy to see the usually outclassed Alfredo take a big hand away from Slim. Wednesday night passes uneventfully, with Jake noting that Don Wainright has improved his poker playing over the last couple of months. Finally as the game closed up and everyone was leaving Jake made the private comment that he was biting his lip over, "Good night Al, and good luck on that new partnership. I am pleased to see you getting out of your depression by throwing yourself into something constructive." Jake then patted him brotherly like on the should and went about pretending to help close up the Lucky Lady as Al Brower briefly looked startled and confused before recovering. He waved at Jake and left. With years of practice, Jake was quite good at appearing to be productive without actually doing anything that could be called real work. Somehow, most people who knew Jake fairly well just accepted the fact and rather enjoyed having him around while they worked. Though no wizard, that was the magic of Silver Jake Cook.Over at the El Parador a voice states, "My, don't you look lovely. That's a new color for you isn't it?" Conrad's voice exclaims as he walks through the doorway.   She replies, "I did have a red dress I was going to wear to the festival, but someone talked me into a costume instead. Maman was insistent about new clothes when we were there, even though they won't fit very long." She set the book down, slipping a little piece of paper in to mark her place.  "I won't be able to stay too late, I'm afraid."Conrad replies, "Every minute that you are with me will receive my fond appreciation. And your mother is right, the new clothing is a good idea. You'll fit into them again in the future. Shall we go?"  They stepped outside and Kate locked up the house then took his arm. "I admit, I am looking forward to playing the piano somewhere my style of playing is appreciated. Not that they don't at the Lady, but the atmosphere is different there."They enter the Long Branch Saloon. It is fairly crowded for a Wednesday night although most of the patrons Kate does not recognize, assuming them to be miners or ranch hands who don't frequent either the El Parador or Lucky Lady. Among the people who she does recognize are Boston Harker of the Breakheart Mine, Dick Hammer who runs the watch and jewelry store next door to the Lucky Lady and Hamilton Fisk who is playing cards with two other men at one of the tables. Kate Higgins greets her with a smile and says, "Nice of you to join us this evening Mrs. Kale."She says, "Thank you. After stealing your dealer away so many times I thought I ought to let him steal me for once. And a little variety is nice now and then."    Kate Higgins gestures to a table with four men at it and says, "Conrad, why don't you deal for them.”  He leads Kate over to the table and makes introductions. “Hello Gentlemen, may I introduce you to Mrs. Katherine Kale. She owns the Hoover Memorial School here in town and also has a ranch a mile to the south. Katherine, this is Mr. Timothy 'Jim' Courtright, formerly the Marshall of Fort Worth, Texas. Mr. Tobias Priddie who co-owns the Lucky Deuce Mine, Mr. Justin Boyer who owns the Gila Belle Mine and Mr. Carlton Azmuss who works for the Western Union Company."Kate said, "A pleasure to meet you gentlemen. I haven't had much opportunity to meet many of the mine owners in town. Marshall, Mr. Azmuss, I hope you won't mind my sitting with you."  Azmuss replies, "Not at all young lady, please have yourself a seat."  Conrad quickly explains the style of poker he will be playing this evening. He deals out the cards and the game begins. Both mine owners are aggressive players while Azmuss and Courtright are rather cautious." Azmuss asks Courtright what he's doing in town. The Texan replies, "Bounty hunting. Several of the New Douglas Gang have friends and acquaintances in the Promise City/Galeyville area. I'm guessing that they may make their way back here to hide out."  Kate rubbed her hand where one of the Douglas Gang had shot her in January. "I'd prefer not to see them again. That Gang almost killed two of my friends and as much as I'd like to see them behind bars, I'd prefer just to not see them at all."Courtright replies, "Well, if I have my way they will all be behind bars and I will be a rich man. The bounty on that bunch is substantial after that robbery they did."  Kate replies, "I should imagine so. They made off with a fairly ridiculous amount of money if I remember correctly. I don't know if they would come back here. Nothing but bad memories. Not only did a couple of them get shot they only got a hundred or so in real money. The rest was dummy cash.”He states, "But this is also where they have friends who will help them hide. Right now they need to keep a low profile, as strangers they would stand out most places they go, so I expect them to reenter their previous lives, which took place here for most of them."   She comments, “Hunting bounties must be an interesting profession, although I don't suppose the waiting is amusing."   He says, "It's more interesting than being a Marshall, that job is rather boring most of the time."  Kate laughed lightly. "Obviously you've never been Marshall in Promise City. I'm friends with the lawmen here, and it's not quiet very often." She continued to chat with the bounty hunter for another minute or two, then turned to Mr. Azmuss and said, "I hope your work is going well. It will be lovely to have an office here. I often send telegrams to my family in Boston."  He tells Kate, "Well, I'm here to supervise the installation of the lines. We've got them about forty-percent done from Tombstone. I came out here to see about hiring a crew to start from this direction too, otherwise we might not finish in time for the election."  She answers, "I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding hands to help. We're anxious to be closer connected to the rest of the world. It's law that it must be finished before we can hold the election, isn't it?"He replies, "It's the law that all incorporated communities must be able to communicate with the Territorial capital of Prescott, be it from telegraph, telephone or some other technological means. If we don't quite finish by election day we'll have to hire our own version of the Pony Express with riders continuously available to cover the gap and telegraph operators at both ends of that line. That would be rather expensive to maintain, better to just have it completed by that date. I don't think this issue has come up before, usually the railroads are what cause a town to grow large enough to be incorporated, and the telegraph lines are always built simultaneous to the railroads."  "A large number of successful mines seems to have the same effect," Kate said, smiling at the mine owners. Hopefully it won't be long before the train makes it here as well." Kate let the conversation go on without her for a bit after that, not wanting to be a distraction from Conrad's game. Still she smiled and paid close attention as the gentlemen talked and offered comments when they seemed appropriate. She also kept her eyes open, watching each player as well as Conrad and trying to see the tells that Jake had talked about.As they're walking home Chester asks Clarisse, "So how's being a headline singer at the most popular saloon in the county?"   She says, "You're very sweet for saying so. It's very nice. Now I don't have to rush from one place to the other. I can concentrate on singing. I hope Miss Marcus works out for the Comique. How was your day?"  He replies, "Not bad. Still having trouble finding Claude Buckley's killer. And I need to get the twenty-five signatures on my petition to run for Marshall. Politics ain't easy."Clarisse replies, "Getting the signatures should not be difficult, you just need to find the  registered voters who support you and haven't already signed a petition for another Marshal candidate. Between the two places where you've lived, the Lucky Lady and the El Parador, you should be able to accomplish that."Chester snorts. "I know, I know. I have a bad feeling about getting on the Law and Order ticket. I had some words with Ashley King at the wedding. Having him on the ticket will better their chances of getting in. That'll make it easier for them to push me aside. If that happens, then I'll have to run on my own. Marshall Berg's still behind me, what else do I need?"   Clarisse says, "You have my support, what else do you need my dear than that?" They arrive at the Double Eagle Boarding House and she gives him a long kiss goodnight.Chester and Clarisse stay in the moment for a while. When they release each other, he says, "How could I forget? There's nothing like the support of a good woman. And you my dear, are that in spades. I'll see you tomorrow, OK. Sleep well." He waits until she waves goodnight from her window, then leaves.  On the way back to the Lucky Lady, he thinks about setting up a meeting with Wyatt Earp.By the time Chester returns the poker games have broken it. Thom looks tired so Chester tells him to head upstairs to bed, that he'll lock up. It turns out to quiet for the next half hour, with only five remaining customers all but one of whom eventually finish up their drinks and head out. The remaining customer is a tall thin man with gray mutton-chops, a balding hairline and wearing tattered wool coat that appears several sizes too big for him. The man is slowly nursing a drink from a tankard of beer, having just a sip every five minutes or so. He appears to be waiting for something or someone.Chester gets a drink from Harry and walks over to the man. Sitting down on a stool, he says, "How are you doing? I'm Chester. What's your name?"  The man replies in a Southern accent. "I am Thomas Neville Waul, I practice law in Texas. I was hoping to meet with Mr. Jeffrey Mills about a legal matter. Are you expecting him back anytime soon." Chester recognizes the man's name but can't immediately place where he has heard it before.Jake, unburdened by concentrating on cleanup up the room, overheard the conversation and says from across the room, "You are not likely to find Jeff here tonight. He has been spending most of his time lately on civic matters." Jake walks across the room. The mans name meant nothing to him. "I am Jake Cook, one of the owners here. Is Jeff in some sort of trouble? Or are you just looking for him to tell him his great aunt passed and left him a pile of antique tea cups?"Waul replies, "Well, that's really a confidential matter between myself and Mr. Mills. If you believe that he will be here tomorrow I can return then."   "I am certain we can locate him and let him know you are asking after him. Sure, come on back tomorrow night." Jake glances to Chet to gauge his reaction.   Chester finishes his drink. He says, "Have a good night, Mr. Waul. Where are you stopping? Maybe Jeff can leave you a note there."  Waul replies, "Staying with some friends. I'll stop back tomorrow." The man departs."Chet my friend, the man will not say what he wants or where he can be reached. Not a promising sign." Jake leans up against the bar. "I think we ought to warn Jeff to be cautious with this one. Unless he knows what it is all about. You think this guy might be a bounty hunter or something?"  Chester stews over just where he knows the name from. Finally, he snaps his fingers. "Now I know where I'd heard that name. Waul was a general during the War of Rebellion. He fought in Arkansas. One of my old fort commanders faced his troops, then. This must have something to do with Jeff's old problem.""I should have kept talking to him, maybe it would have been distracting. Of course, I don't have the kind of talents that can truly distract a dedicated gambler," she laughed. "I'm not sure I'd want them anyway.  Poker is difficult to follow. I understand a little bit, Ruby taught me, but what's going on at the table is too much for me to keep up with."  "I wish these people would one day realize that the war is over." Jake shakes his head. "Nothing else to do but let Jeff know. Good night Chet."  Chester slaps Jake on the back. "I know. I know. We better find Jeff before Waul does."An hour passes at the Long Branch until Conrad calls for a break. During that time he has done poorly, down somewhere between sixty and sixty-five dollars by Kate's estimate. Both Azmuss and Priddle have dropped out, with Courtright being the most ahead and Boyer a little ahead.  Everyone rose from the table to stretch and walk a bit. When the players were out of earshot Kate said quietly to Conrad, "Maybe I should go. I don't seem to be lucky for you after all."  "Nonsense my dear, let's step outside for some fresh air. Then you can take up the keyboards when we return, I'm sure that your beautiful music will inspire me."  Once they are outside, and out of earshot of those inside he exclaims, "Damn, that Courtright is good. Thankfully I won't have to play him again tonight, I gave Kate Higgins the signal to switch the dealers around and she agreed."Conrad and Kate return back inside and he walks her over to the piano. He then goes back to his table and acts surprised when Kate Higgins announces a dealer change and has him change places with Norm Wilkie.  Kate smiled, then turned to the keyboard. She started with a fairly challenging classical piece, then varied her selections between other classical pieces and many of the pretty folk songs she had learned over the years. She wasn't certain what kind of reception her music would receive her, but she enjoyed making it none the less.Time passes as Kate becomes lost to the keyboards, playing song after song without interruption. When she finally stops there is applause from a few scattered places in the room. Conrad is sitting in a chair nearby watching her. "That was wonderful my dear. My game ended ten minutes ago. Shall I walk you home?"  "Oh," Kate said, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose track of time like that. I'd be glad of your company, it's late to be walking out alone, I'm sure." She let her hand linger reverently on the instrument for another moment or two. "I miss having a piano at home."Conrad replies, "And where in your home would you put one? Your school takes up most of the first floor and I'm not sure that the second floor would support the weight of one....plus I for one wouldn't want to be the one to carry it up the stairs."   Wistfully she answered, "I don't know, but why ruin a perfectly lovely daydream with logic?" Her gaze was far away for a moment before it floated back to earth and disappeared between a more sensible expression. "Perhaps I'll have to add on to the house before too long."He walks her back and says, "Or have another school building built. I believe you once said that you were only doing this until the town decided to step up and establish one on their own. Depending upon what comes of this election that may very well happen."   She says, "That when I thought it was only my own livelihood that depended on it. Now there's Mrs. O'Hara and Mrs. Caudell to consider and we can still offer subjects that wouldn't be offered in a public school. And after it was dedicated to Niles... I couldn't just abandon it. Another building would be something to consider. After the baby comes it could be inconvenient to have him crying upstairs while there are lessons down."Conrad replies, "That is a good half-year away, no point in worrying about it now. And there's no reason why a new building can't carry the name of the good Mr. Hoover as well. I will say this, that one room school house that you have now would actually make a good concert room, it has lots of seating and the sound carries well."  "Are you sure you weren't sent here to tempt me?" she laughed. "Truthfully, the schoolroom wouldn't be a bad place to put a piano. It would still be in my home and I could use it as part of music lessons. Sound does carry well in that room. I would love to hear choir there."  They arrived at her back door. "Thank you for inviting me. I hope your night improved."  Conrad replies, "I'm here alone with you now, I can't think of a better improvement than that." He leans in to give her a goodnight kiss.  Kate lifted her face to meet him and kissed him tenderly and lingered against him for a moment. "Enjoy it while you can. Tomorrow we'll have three rambunctious girls with us."He takes her hand and gives it a kiss as well, adding "Until tomorrow my dear" He waits until she has let herself inside and locked the door before he turns south on East Street and off towards his own home.  Kate knew she should go to bed. She had a nice contented feeling that should have induced her to sleep but instead she got ready for bed and stayed up to write Maggie a nice, chatty letter. It had been months since Maggie left and it was probably time to speak to Mr. Gonzales about taking her to visit.</blockquote>

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