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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3211690" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter One-hundred-fifteen, “Return of the Hunters”, Saturday June 10th, 1882, 11:00 A.M. Nakomo and Minerva leave the meeting and head out to the edge of town to target practice, Nakomo using his Yavapai bow and Minerva employing Edwards Pistol. After several hours both are satisfied that they will be able to hit their target when it becomes necessary. "Remember Nakomo, you must not use Diana's arrows until I instruct you to do so. You are an exceptional shot but you do not have any experience with these creatures. You must hold the arrows in abeyance until the time is right." The two, return home to prepare for the confrontation to come and to pack up the necessary supplies. They return to the Lucky Lady for a late lunch and pick up an newspaper on the way.  Minerva shakes her head when she reads about the growing number of candidates for the upcoming election. "By the gods, It just keeps getting more confusing. How many different view points can their possibly be?"Minerva spends the next half-hour pushing her lunch around her plate as she recounts, in her head, her journey through the Veil of Dreams and the words of the old warrior telling her that she had to make a choice. Why would the gods bring Nanuet into her life so suddenly only to pull him from her grasp with equal speed?”   She sneaks a peek at Nakomo, who is focused on clearing every last morsel of food from his plate and is once again struck by the similarities between him and his cousin Nanuet. “I will have to tell him soon, that Nanuet is not going to return. But how will I answer his questions when I myself do not understand?” She sighs miserably and pushes the plate away. “I will be back in time for the 3:00 stage coach. If I am needed before then, come and get me from the church.” As the saloon doors swing lazily behind her she receives a sharp slap in the face by the force of the afternoon sun. Gritting her teeth against the fist that reaches down from the heavens to grab the air from her lungs she curses Apollo as yet another cruel and harsh god, causing her already foul mood to deepen even further. With leaden steps she makes her way through the thirsty streets in search of the Bishop and some answers. She finds him lighting candles in front of a make shift shrine to Diana in the section of the church where the goddess had so recently bestowed her blessings upon the Eatons and Hilldi and then without a word of apology spoke the words that shattered her own mortal life. "you will have to cherish the memories..." As she gets closer she notices that the statue of Diana, although small, is quite beautiful and exquisitely carved. The Goddess is posed in a running stance, her bow held out before her, while her hair seems to flow behind her in the rich dark wood. The sound of her steps are muted as the young priestess makes her way up the center isle, but the bishop must sense her presence, as he begins speaking without looking up. “Father Harbrace has suggested that we erect a shrine to Diana in this spot. I think it is an excellent idea. But for now this will have to do.” “Why?” she demands.  He turns to her “Once the miracle of Mrs. Kale’s birth becomes known, people from all around will flock to this site, seeking her favor. We must be prepared for the eventuality of it. Having such a small statue just doesn’t show the proper respect.” No, I mean why did the gods… “Her face crumbles in misery. “How can the gods… How could they… “She composes herself, tucking her pain away, and stands defiantly before him. Why should we honor such cruelty? They play with our lives as though we are mere puppets on a string, or clay to be molded at their whim and then crushed and molded again, Costa! Are we here solely for their amusements? Why should we encourage them by building monuments to them and calling out to them in prayer? Is it not better to go unnoticed than to receive the favor of a god? For if there is favor eventually there is disfavor. Tell me! What have I done to earn such pain at their immortal hands?"He is started by the force of her rant and after composing himself says, "Priestess, what has caused you to take this perspective? I realize that your patron deity is Minerva and not Diana, but they are of the same pantheon and should all be honored. What Diana has done for our town is a wonderful thing, and she saved Hilldi's life, how can you discount that?"She says, "I do not discount that, and I am grateful that they saved Hilldi’s life, but I am not fool enough to believe that they have done it out of some altruistic motive. If they have saved Hilldi’s life than it is because they have found a use for her. As for Promise City, how can you say they have done good. They have made a battle ground of this town and have allowed evil to enter. Where is the good in that?" "What has caused me to take this perspective?! I have ALWAYS served the gods. Since I was a child, I have served them and have suffered at the hands of other mortals for doing so, or so I thought. I understood that the gods were busy with greater things and so did not expect them to save me from the cruelty of others, now I wonder if perhaps the gods did not enjoy watching my torment. I watched my father die. Did you know that? Murdered because of MY faith! And now look what they have done! Why would they bind me with another and then take him from me? Then to leave me with one who reminds me so much of him ... How can they be so cruel? Por Favor Costa, Help me to understand their motives, so that I can swallow this bitter pill and serve them once more."Costas replies, "Ah, so that is it. I recall that she stated that the binding was the influence of Aphrodite, who if memory serves, had a Priestess in this town abusing the townsfolk back during the time of the Festival.”   She states, "Are you saying that our love was not real? If that is true than it just confirms what I am saying. That the gods use us as they will without regard for our welfare. "But I do not really believe that." she says placating , realizing that she should not continue in her line of reasoning. What I do not believe, is that our love was false she thinks recalling the protective necklaces that the Yavapai Shaman placed about their necks to guard them from Aphrodite's influence. I will have to seek my answers elsewhere or I will argue myself out of a job.” He says, “You should not blame that on Diana. My interpretation of the responsibilities for the elvan youth are that you two need to work together to help rid this town of evil, and she has given you tools to help accomplish that. I see that as her taking an active role through her followers to rid this town of the evil, she is not letting this war continue into perpetuity so this 'battle ground' of a town will not continue that way."She states, "Perhaps you are right , Costa. I will pray on it. Por favor, forgive my outburst." she says bowing low before him. "I am sure that it was just a result of fatigue, brought on by your hearty training techniques." she jests. Becoming serious once more she changes the subject. "Will you help us to rid this town of it's latest evil? The 'hunters' should be arriving on the 3 o'clock stage. I am on my way there to meet them now.""We all have our assignments. Father Harbrace will directly take on that responsibility. Tomorrow I will speak to your congregation, the future in uncertain but I must do what I can to help prepare your congregation to support those who Diana spoke to. After the service tomorrow I will travel with Father Barnes up to your neighboring town of Dos Cabezas to see about establishing the church there as she called for. Demetrius will accompany Hilldi back to her church where he will install one of her acolytes as the acting priest until I can find another, perhaps the assistant priest in Phoenix, and I will then do something similar for Father Barnes's current congregation. I will then have to return to Wyoming to inform my superior personally of what has transpired."Kate was already at the Lucky Lady when Jake returned there. She went behind the bar and poured a bourbon, then returned to a table with her own glass of water. She set the bourbon down across from her and waited.   "Why thank you Katherine." Jake takes the indicated seat and glass. He sniffs and then tastes the bourbon, "Ah, that is nice. I try to enjoy the little pleasures as they appear. Recognizing that my little pleasures may differ from others." Then smoothly changing topics, "You are quiet. Are you troubled?"She replies, "Mostly only small troubles, for which I'm thankful. I know you'll be denying it but you'll all go looking for those creatures and I can't go with you. You'd rather avoid such things, so would I truth be told, but I don't like leaving all of you to do the work while I sit safe at home."  She took a sip of her water. "The other has to do with the baby, which seems to be something you don't like to discuss."   Jake laughs. "Babies are not something I have any knowledge worth sharing I suppose."Kate says, "I don't have much knowledge either. Which I suppose is why Diana has arranged for Mrs. Eaton to be midwife to me," she said with a raised eyebrow. "All those visiting priests and the Eatons all know now. I hate to sound ungrateful, Diana has done nothing that doesn't serve my best interests, but... I feel events are out of my control. Perhaps I'd become to enamored of the idea of playing the martyr.""When have events been in our control?" Jake ask rhetorically. "At some point everyone was going to figure out you were with child in any case. Whose child were you going to tell them you were carrying? Or were you just going to remain silent on the topic? Now others know the secret you held, but not everyone. If you are fortunate the priests and the Eatons will keep to your best interests." Jake shrugs at that. "Have you decided what you will tell the common rabble?" Jake enjoys another sip of his bourbon. "Me, I have never been very good at being a martyr. No benefit from my view. Fight or run is all I know. As long as I believe we can still resolve our current difficulty I will continue to fight. If things get too out of hand...." He leaves that unfinished. "The gods are a difficult bunch to give advice about. It is hard for me to deny that I may have benefited from them, but I trust them not a whit. I am able to confirm it is unwise to ignore them when they come calling. While we cannot ignore them I attempt to remain beneath their notice and unworthy of their attentions. For while we may call upon them to aid us to shape the world to our needs, the gods usually have other plans."Kate replies, "I didn't plan to tell them anything, it's none of their business who fathered my child. I couldn't go around telling the truth. People would either think it was a lie or that I was crazy. So I was prepared to live with the stigma and let them wonder.  There's no good wondering what Diana's plan is. I just don't want my family to suddenly be the subject of pilgrimages.""I had not considered that to be a possibility." He dwells quietly on that, and considers the profit potential. Dismissing it as too bizarre even for him he changes the subject. "I have been contemplating the current series of evens trying to discern what in Hades is going on. I even went to see Conrad. He has close contact at the saloon with much of Fisk's gang and might have heard something. That and his logic if often helpful. Most of what he said I already knew, but he added a few items." He swishes the contents of his glass around and continues. "What do we have? Buckley is killed leaving Fisk's place. Why would Fisk have him killed right then and there unless he was off to do something Fisk wanted to prevent? It could be unrelated to Fisk, though that seems remote. If it was done to implicate Fisk, it did not work. Finally, secretive clues and witnesses. Then there are the killings at Ordway's mine. Fisk and Thayer seem in cahoots, yet Thayer's man Ordway does not join the town. That seems in conflict with Fisk's wishes. Thayer is broken up after Grove's death in the shoot out implying that he did not know the man was a vampire. Or was it something else? Even if Earp killed Ordway, who killed Hunter and Thayer? The wizard Palmer is unaccounted for in this, but I would have guessed he was in cahoots with Fisk too. Wilson has an item that would need to be set to look like me by a wizard who knows what I looked like. Could have been Palmer. I keep wanting to tie Messier into this but I do not see the connection. If Palmer was in with Wilson and Grove why would they be involved in the killing of Fisk's man Hunter or Groves once close friend Thayer? Even if they did not shoot them they still sucked Hunter dry. It would appear that either the parties involved are not very close to each other and the alliances are of convenience and shift readily or there is another at work here that we have yet to pinpoint. Perhaps both.  So, there you have it. I clearly do not know what in Hades is going on," and punctuates with a drink from the bourbon."You're not alone in that." She took a deep breath and tried to think through it all. "What are Fisk's motives? Safe to say power and money, the order is debatable. What could Buckley have known that would do serious harm to one of those goals? If Fisk knows about the vampires and had planned to use them somehow, Buckley may have been uncomfortable with that idea and threatened to expose it. You and Fisk both have interest in the same mine, yes? The Jake Cook disguise could have had something to do with him trying to scheme in that regard. I doubt that, but I think it does have to do with business dealings. Either trying to sour ones you've built, or trying to fool someone into thinking you were in on something. The other theory is someone used you to scare those vampires into doing what they want; it's entirely possible word of Thomaswell has spread.”  He replies, "I am not so sure about that one. A vampire had the disguise." “The killings of the ranch hands could have been intimidation, to keep bigger players in line. I don't know Jake, we're missing too much information. Next vampire, let him talk before shooting," she said, half-seriously.    "Heh, I cannot promise that," he replies.  "Ugh, how could I have forgotten?" Kate lit the candle on the table and tossed a bit of powder in from a slip of twisted paper she kept in her handbag. "Now that we're private... Earp was at our ranch early this morning, he left when Flint told him there would be town folk there today. Apparently Earp killed Ordway, he says in self-defense. He was following them Wednesday night and shot Ordway after his horse was shot out from under him. Thayer was already up the mountain and he didn't even know Hunter was there. He says he took Ordway's horse and ran, that he didn't kill anyone else."   "Good, that confirms what Chet learned from Earp's girl. If he is lying at least he is lying to everyone."  Kate added, "You know, that vampiric ability to control another's mind would come in very handy to a man like Fisk. That's an angle we've overlooked until now."  "Yes, I have been worried about that and the reverse as well. Who is to say that the vampires are not running the cowboy gang now? Either possibility is equally troubling."Fifteen minutes later Kate and Jake are joined by Father John Harbrace and Minerva. The four head over towards the Morand Cartage Company complex at the northeast corner of the town. Already waiting there for the arrival of the stagecoach are Postmaster Edward Palmer and Western Union employee Dave Melany. The mail and telegrams were rerouted through Wilcox rather than Tombstone back during the fire, and have continued to come in that way as the Wilcox stage gets in a few hours earlier each day. While they are waiting Conrad Booth comes by with a horse drawn buggy driven by one of the O'Hara girls, with Ginnie and the carriage rider's twin walking alongside it. The buggy and girls continue north to the dirt racetrack immediately north of town used during the Festival in March. Conrad stops at Morands and exclaims "Hello Katherine, I'm sorry that I haven't had much time to spend with you lately. Between my job, the play rehearsals and teaching these three girls I haven't had very much free time."  "It's alright, my dear," Kate said with a soft smile. "I've been busy too. We'll have to make some time; or do something special after the play is over."To Jake he says, "And Mr. Cook, I would like to thank you for having your establishment sponsor this upcoming poker tournament. I am looking forward to participating as is my fellow Long Branch gambler Wendall Spaulding."    "My pleasure Mr. Booth, it would be hard to pass up such an opportunity." Unfortunately, Jake thinks, the cheating reputation will resurface and risk a blemish on the tournament.Conrad heads off to the track to instruct the girls. The others wait for another ten minutes until they see the carriage arriving. Jake has a momentary twinge when he sees the vehicle, remember the last time he rode in this specific Concord Coach in January when he almost died in it during a runaway ride down a mountain. The carriage comes to a halt and Cartage Company employee Bud Newkirk moves forward to get the door and help the passengers off. The first off is Jeff Mills. He is followed by Job Kane, who then helps out an attractive woman wearing black clothing who has her blonde hair tied up in a bun at the back of her head. Job notices the others and says, "Hello, I would like to introduce you all to my lady friend Bernice Turner." Following them off are Jonathan Harker and Kevin Tomlinson. Also getting of the stage are a wood elvan couple with a boy who is the human equivalent of around eight. Bud Newkirk climbs up to help driver Liam Murphy unload the luggage. Murphy hands an impatient Eddie Palmer the mailbag and the man hurries off with it. He hands a leather satchel to Dave Melany. The Wells Fargo worker opens it up and scans the headings of around a dozen telegrams. He puts all but one back in the satchel which he slings over his shoulder. He keeps the other in hand as he walks north to the field where he gives it to Conrad Booth."Pleased to meet you Mam," Jake says touching his finger to his hat. "Now I see why he kept you hidden from all of us, sparing everyone from the disappointment that he found you first. Welcome back Job. Once you have Mrs. Turner settled in, we need to talk some business." After speaking with Job and his woman briefly Jake turns to Harker and Tomlinson. "You men must be hungry after your trip. Can I tempt you to the Maria's cooking at the Lucky Lady? A meal there is just what you need after your trip to Wilcox."Job says, "We're going to the Lady as well, I'll be putting Bernice in one of the upstairs rooms if that is alright with you Jake." Tomlinson says, "A good meal would be nice. We have much to discuss."  Jake hesitates to answer Job for a second, "Yes, certainly, do that.  Off to the Lucky Lady then."  Kate says, "Job, I'm glad to see you back safe. It's a pleasure to meet you after hearing so much about you, Mrs. Turner." Kate turned and walked back toward the Lucky Lady with the others, trying to stifle her curiosity about the telegram Conrad had just received.The group head over to the Lady. Being mid-afternoon the place is empty at the moment other than one business transaction, with Harry selling a case of beer to Steve Lord of the Alhambra. Lord leaves, with Thom carrying the case of beer for the man. Harry welcomes Job and Jeff back. Job introduces him to Bernice and asks Harry to come assist him as he goes to show her what is available for rooms upstairs and get it ready. Harry helps with her bag. This leaves the group of Jake Cook, Katherine Kale, Minerva Florencia, Jonathan Harker, John Harbrace, Jeff Mills and Kevin Tomlinson."Why don't go to one of the private rooms on the second floor?" Kate suggested. "We got some advance word of developments in Wilcox, but I'm sure we'd all like to hear it from you. We've learned a few things here we should pass on as well."  They concur with Kate's suggestion. Jeff says he will keep an eye on things downstairs while the other six head upstairs to one of the rooms."Where in Hades is that Chester Martin? He was supposed to meet us here too," Jake grouses. "Probably doing law-man things. He'll get here," Kate said. She stopped and had a word with Maria about bringing up lunch, then followed the others upstairs to the same room they'd used before Mr. Tomlinson and Mr. Harker left for Wilcox.</blockquote>

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