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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3278478" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter One-hundred-thirty “Conrad’s Anger“, Sunday June 11th, 1882, 1:00 P.M. Once Wyatt Earp has rode away Kate rides back to the ranch she sees a now awakened Conrad Booth standing near the front of her house with a stern look on his face. With a little anger in her voice he says, "Katherine! What do you think you are you doing giving shelter to that murderer? His brother murdered your husband, he should be last person on earth who you assist, and doing so could get you killed!"Kate slid down off the horse and tied it to the porch. "In the house," she grated quietly and walked past. Inside, she pulled off her duster and gloves and tossed them over a chair. "How do you refuse a madman, Conrad?" she said, spinning around to face him. "Once we'd even seen him, do you think any of us would still be breathing if we'd sent him packing? I'm not going to defend him, he's insane. But he knew nothing of what Morgan did until after his brother was dead, but he still feels the guilt. And that guilt has brought us some measure of protection from him, I'm not about to set him off in a rage. From what he said today, he won't be back here." Kate kept pacing off her angry energy, the words flying like daggers from her mouth.Conrad pauses before replying. He says, "Katherine, I care for you, I love you, I wouldn't want to see anything bad happen to you. I know this, that man is indeed insane and any contact you have with him brings danger. What do you think he would have done if he saw me here? He knows that I gamble at the same saloon as Fisk."She replies, "That would be why we left you peacefully sleeping in the house. You really think he doesn't know we're involved, or that he'd be surprised to see you here? He lived here, don't forget, I think he knows that you're not friendly with Fisk. Bad things happen to me every day. Some days it's just bad news, some days it's someone trying to blow up my house! The only way to make it stop would be to leave here and I'm not doing that. Earp won't return here again, so much the better. I'd prefer never to see him again."  Kate looked down and saw her hands starting to shake. She'd been trying to keep herself together all day and that self-control was crumbling. "You act as if I welcomed him."   Conrad replies, "Katherine, I don't know what to think! I woke up and looked outside to see Sonoma helping that killer up onto a horse, and not just any horse but one that I've seen out here many times before. What was I supposed to think?"Kate picked up the water pitcher and tried to pour a glass, but it slipped out of her hand and shattered. "Damn it," she muttered. "I don't know, maybe that we're trying to walk a line here that doesn't get us killed by either side? That we're in a position we don't want to be in and we're making the best of it we can?"Conrad exclaims, "Giving that murderer shelter? Giving him a horse? That's the best of it that you can? I'm starting to think you are as insane as Earp is. Well, I for one am not going to sit by and watch you and your partners throw away everything you've worked for in order to help some homicidal maniac!" Conrad stands up and marches towards the door.Kate raises her voice sharply and replies, "He bought the horse, and he doesn't stay here. He only came here to pass on information, then left.   You're taking over my life now? You'll overthrow the decisions we've made together just because you think you're right? We don't want to help him, we just don't want to be dead. You think the law will treat any of us kindly after you tell them? Leslie's just looking for a reason to put me at the business end of a noose, and Berg's too honorable to make an exception even if he understands. You'll force us all to flee our home. If you're going to the law, this is the last time you'll ever see me.   Don't do this. Secrecy is all that's kept us safe."Conrad raises his voice and replies, "I wasn't going to the law, do you think I'm an idiot? I'm heading back to town to inform your teacher about this. I don't have the power to protect you myself but he does, and I doubt he will just stand by and let his granddaughter and favorite student get themselves killed or imprisoned."Kate's shoulders relaxed a bit and the angry edge left her voice. "I don't think you're an idiot, I think you're angry and scared. What makes you think my teacher doesn't already know?"  He replies, "I think that if he knew the extent of your involvement he would have already taken action to keep that murderer away from this ranch. When you regain your senses you'll realize that I am right about this. And if you don't and decide to never speak to me again, well, I can live with that content in the knowledge that my actions have kept you safe." He exits the room and heads towards the corral to get a horse.Kate grabbed her duster and gloves and pulled them on while she followed him out the door. She leapt onto her horse still tied to the porch and pulled the reins free. Meribel felt her rider's emotions, and her steps were energetic as they rode over to the corral and waited for Conrad to be ready.   Conrad gets a horse from the corral saddled up. He starts to ride away from the ranch, a determined look on his face, without saying anything further to Kate.Kate quickly caught up and considering passing him by and leaving him in her dust, but that wasn't the idea here. She didn't need to get there first, but she certainly wasn't letting him go "tell" on her without being there to fill in the very large holes in what he knew.   It was only a short mile back to town and they were soon riding up to the El Parador. Conrad ties his horse up to the front rail outside of the El Parador rather than putting it in the stable. He walks up to the bar and asks Pedro is Manuel Gonzales is around, that he needs to see him right away. Pedro pops his head into the kitchen and asks Dorita to go upstairs and get him.  Kate followed Conrad's example and tied her horse up out front. Once inside, she stood at the bottom of the stairs and waited to greet her teacher, and incidentally prevent them from talking without her present.Manuel Gonzales arrives and notes the seriousness on both Conrad and Kate's faces. Conrad says, "I have a serious matter to discuss with you Sir, would you accompany me next door to my home?" Manuel looks towards Kate to gage the reaction on her face. Conrad adds, "This concerns the safety of your Great Granddaughter Sonoma." Gonzales takes Kate's hand and says, "Yes, we will go with you."  "Thank you, Grandfather," Kate said softly, squeezing his hand. They headed out the door together toward Conrad's house, which Kate had not entered since January when they'd put their money in his safe.   Once the door is shut Conrad exclaims in a slightly raised voice and with no small amount of hand gestures, "Sir, Katherine took me with her out to the ranch today. I was tired due in part to our trip to Brooklyn early this morning and asked if I could take a nap. I slept for fifty-three minutes. When I awoke I looked out the window to see an amazing sight, namely your Great Granddaughter Sonoma escorting the fugitive Wyatt Earp out of Flint's Cave, where he had apparently been staying, and giving him one of the horses from the ranch. Thankfully I did not see a brand on that horse but I recognized it as one that I had seen there several times before and it is possible that somebody else could too. When I spoke to Katherine she has indicated that Earp has been there before. She does not expect him to return, but what is to stop him? He is far too dangerous a man to be assisting, especially with the new Sheriff Deputies actively engaged in looking for him. I have tried to talk some sense into Katherine about this, but she does not wish to listen."Kate exclaims, "I did listen, I'm just not convinced doing anything different would be better. The horse belongs to Earp, he bought it for $200. And he isn't staying in the cave. Sonoma, Flint and I went together to talk to him and tell him that it wasn't safe for him or us for him to be on our land. He said he only came because he had information to pass on and couldn't find Jake. Apparently Earp's been talking to more than just myself. When he first came to the ranch I wasn't there, and Flint and Sonoma felt it was safer to board his horse than refuse him. We've only seen him a couple times since. And it's usually been about bringing us information rather than hiding himself. The man is unstable, whenever we see him we shoo him on as soon as possible, but we aren't going to bring his wrath down on us by making him think we might turn on him."Conrad says nothing further. Gonzales is silent for a while and then says, "You are both correct. Bringing on the wrath of a madman would be foolish, but continuing to assist him is equally dangerous. And I would no longer trust him to not return, he is desperate and alone so will keep using the few people who have helped him in the past. I think that I should relocate to the ranch myself. Being Sonoma's Great Grandfather it would not seem odd for me to be there. If he should return I will make it known to him that he is putting the owners in danger and to please move on. He clearly is unaware that I am a wizard or he would have sought out myself rather than Madge last month, so he would not perceive me as a threat. But if he does refuse my request then I may have to teach him the danger of underestimating me.   As for any information he might have, if he sought out Cook before he can do so again, I have no doubt that our good Mr. Cook's instinct for self-preservation will kick in before he is in any potentially fatal danger."Kate walked over and kissed her teacher on the forehead. "I'll warn Jake that Earp might seek him out more often, however often it was to begin with.  Up until Leslie started looking for him it seemed safe enough just to chase him off when he came around. He seemed anxious not to distress me; one of the times he came he explained that he hadn't known what Morgan had done until after his brother was dead. His guilt seemed to be enough to keep him from staying around the ranch for long. But if he is growing more desperate, as you believe, that may not hold for long.  Please don't risk yourself overmuch getting rid of him, I don't want to lose my teacher. And thank you for not screaming at me about what's already done and over."Gonzales says with a smile, "You thank me too soon my little bird. I will obviously discuss this with Sonoma, Flint and Naki-Yai and may indeed have cause to yell at the four of you once I determine all of the facts regarding this."  Kate answers, "Perhaps, but you won't do it today, when I've already had enough to deal with." He turns towards Conrad and says, "And thank you sir for bringing this to my attention and for accompanying me this morning as well. I look forward to your upcoming performance as well as an opportunity to become acquainted with your sire."   Kate asks, "Are you ready to go, Grandfather? I should go change and then head over to the Lady unless you need me for anything else?"Conrad holds the door open in silence while he wait for the two of them to depart.  She took the old elf's arm and walked out with him, saying nothing. Once they were off the porch and onto the street she said, "I'll have to stable Meribel and apparently the horse Conrad rode as well. Then I'm going over to Laurie Gilson's and over to let Jake in on what I know. I hope you won't mind if I come up later for some peace and quiet? Unless you're going to leave right away, then I guess I hope you won't mind if I hide in your rooms for a while."Gonzales replies, "I will leave in a couple of hours, I wish to be there by the time it is dark. But it will take me a while to pack, I may be there for several days and I have a few experiments in progress that I will need to brief Ginnie on how to maintain until I return."  "Sometimes I'm jealous of Ginnie, she gets to spend so much time with you. I'll be happy when this election business is over and everything settles down and I can focus on my own lessons. It's Sunday night so I don't have to work, maybe I'll come back out," Kate sighed. "I don't know if I could sleep in the house tonight."   The older man replies, "Whatever you decide is best, I'll find you before I leave either way." With that he leaves her to tend to the horses and heads into the El Parador.Kate sighed and took the horses into the stable, making sure they were comfortable and had plenty to eat and drink before going back to her house to collect a clean dress. She avoided looking at the broken window. She would have to talk to the Wainwrights about getting it fixed. She took a long soak in one of Laurie Gilson's quiet rooms, trying to regain the self-control she'd so recently lost. Her own behavior was nothing to be proud of, but she was still rankled by her argument with Conrad. The sensible part of her knew that he was frightened for her and probably nearly as stressed as she was. The rest of her was still angry and disappointed. She'd hoped to go back into the house, have a cup of tea, and take some comfort in some quiet time alone with Conrad. Instead that source of comfort had been another attack, the worse because she had doubted the decisions herself. Another hour passes for Jake sitting casually on the porch until he sees a pair of women approaching, who he recognizes as Sandra Wainwright whose husband Don is one of his regular players accompanied by the actress Josephine Marcus.  Jake nods his head and touches the brim of his hat as the pair approach, "Good day to you."   Josephine says, "Good day to you Mr. Cook, may we join you? We wished to talk to you about the play.""Certainly," Jake says with trademark broad smile but inwardly groans, "let us go inside where there are enough chairs." He leads them in thinking, I figured that was what these women wanted. Next she is going to ask me about Ruby. Meirde.  They sit down and Josephine describes the play, how the cast has been working very hard to make it an excellent production. Sandra talks about what she has put together for musicians and the music that will be part of the play. Josephine then says, "I have a very big favor to ask of you. I would like to have the actors and musicians do full dress rehearsals on Wednesday and Thursday, and would like to do these at the venues where we will be performing. Would it be possible for you to close your saloon to the public for a few hours on one of those afternoons for us to rehearse there?""Close the saloon?" Jake gives an audible hmmmmm and then looks to Sandra for a quick second, all for show. If that is all she wants I am getting off easy. "Well it is for the good of the town. You can have Wednesday afternoon. Will you be done by five o'clock?"Josephine says, "Oh yes, and we'll wait until your lunch crowd departs before we begin." Sandra says, "Thank you so very much for letting us have the premiere there on Friday night. While you won't be able to play poker that night you should do very well on food and drink orders. And the play will be something that your customers will be talking about for weeks.""Yes, well, I do not think we come out ahead money wise but we are part of the town. Here and there we do our part. Sad to say some folks do not recognize that. Either that or no matter what we do it will not be enough." After Jake ends his own little bit of acting he finishes with, "Do not be worried about that just keeping working on making the play the best it can be. Good luck to you.... Errr, what do they say? Break a leg?"   Josephine says, "Yes, that is indeed the expression. Thank you Mr. Cook." The two ladies depart.Jake sits a while longer on the porch, outward appearances that he is lazing the day away. His mind however is not relaxing. Ideas are raised and discarded, various possibilities are weighed, odds considered until finally a decidedly evil smile crosses his lips.  Rising slowly he takes a tour of the devastation around town. Outside of Seawells, he uses his singular talent of palming items to gather a bit of charcoaled wood and dirt in his handkerchief. He makes a few more stops before he finishes his tour and returns home. Soon he finds himself sitting at his desk, Kitty Trent's handwriting sample retrieved from the safe is laying flat in front of him. He is busily practicing her flowing script again on scrap paper, smooth lines returning to him from previous practice. When he feels he has it right, he begins on a clean sheet. Pleased with his work, Jake strolls over to the Marshals office. After some time Jake convinces them to show him the dead bodies. He once again employs his singular ability to palm items. This time to place the note, lightly smeared with burnt wood charcoal and dirt across the top fold that would have barely protruded, into a pocket. After shaking his head and admitting he does not know them, he brushes his hand across the pocket forcing the paper to make a slight sound. Clumsily, he attempts to remove it as if he was trying to do so unseen but with certainty he will be captured in the act.Mitchell Berg says "What is that you have there Cook?"   "Have?" He hides his hand partially behind his leg. "Have?" Seeing that Berg is staring at his hand his holds up the piece of paper. "Oh, you mean this. Seems to have been in his pocket. Thought I would take a look, being the curious type and all..." Jake starts to unfold the note.  "I'll take that," Berg states. "This is a law enforcement matter Cook, so unless you're interested in wearing a Deputy's badge again I'd suggest you go on your way.""Me? A deputies badge?" Jake laughs. "You sure know how to hurt a guy." He hands Berg the note.  Jake says with a grin, "You sure you do not want my advice on the matter?" He receives a stern look from Berg. "Fine. When this is all over you must tell me what it said. Being a curious guy and all." An additional stern look and Jake says, "Yes, I am going." And lets himself out.Again, Jake walks home but just stands in front of the building for a minute before turning and making his way back to the porch of the Lucky Lady. He gets a bourbon and relaxes with his feet up on the railing content to wait for Tony Lucky to arrive for the next part of his subterfuge.It is soon the dinner hour and there are around fifteen patrons at the Lucky Lady. Jake takes a look inside and sees Tony Lucky sitting with his cousin Frank Lucky and one of his semi-regular players, a miner by the name of Mike "Bubba" Pyle. They apparently came in by way of the side door and are eating an early supper together.   Jake walks over to the table. "So did I hear correctly, this is your cousin Frank? Welcome." The man looks up and says, "Yes sir, Frank Lucky. I was on my way to Texas and decided to stop off along the way and visit with my cousin." Jake replies, "Glad to see you are all fine. Nasty business this morning. Could have been very bad if the fire team had not gotten things under control."  Frank says, "Indeed it was, very impressive. Am I to understand that the man who headed up that fire team works as the head of security for you here?" "Yes, that would be Jeff Mills. We were fortunate that they never got to our place. I must say though, that if someone's saloon had to be damaged, it could not have happened to a nicer guy. I can just see Adair fuming over it now, and no idea who did it. The lawmen certainly will not tell him what they know, that Berg is tight lipped and dedicated to the rules. While I was over at the Marshall's office they found a note on one of the hooded riders dead body. Looked to be woman's handwriting from the glimpse I saw. But you know straight laced Berg, he shooed me out of there straight away before I could get a good look. I bet old Adair would pay a pretty penny to get his hands on that note." Jake shrugs. "You will not catch me helping that snake find out anything. I say let the lawmen do their job and he can just sit tight and sweat it out."Tony makes no comments to what Jake has just told him. He instead asks, "So Jake, when are we going to sit down and talk about this upcoming tournament? Will I get to keep my usual twenty-percent from my players or are you planning some other payment arrangement?"Jake replies, "No Tony, this is not regular poker play. The tournament is Van Horne's and we will for the most part go by his rules. He will be deciding on the dealers, and is quite particular. He has a number of them coming in from out of town. I myself will likely pay the entrance fee and be a contestant. I do not know yet what Job will be doing, but I believe that Van Horne will ask him to be one of the dealers. Being a player, I will exempt myself from these decisions so that it is all on the up and up. Honestly Tony, I do not feel you have the experience to handle this and will not be recommending you. I expect that Van Horne will feel the same way."Tony says, "Well then I guess I'll go ask him myself then, I heard he took a room upstairs." Frank says, "Can I come with you? I can vouch for how good a dealer you were back East and some of the tournaments you participated in there." Tony says, "Sure Frank, let's go up and see the big man."  "That is the great thing about America, it is a free country. Go ahead and speak with him. Just do not misrepresent my opinion." Jake leaves them and goes to see Maria about supper. "How about a little something special tonight Maria? I am feeling like I deserve it." While he is eating alone Jake trusts that he embarrassed Tony Lucky just enough to make sure that both his greed and his pride made certain that Adair got the information.Twenty minutes after heading upstairs Tony returns, with a bit of a smile on his face. He tells Jake "Okay, I talked to the guy. He hasn't decided yet on who his dealers will be, he says he needs to wait and see exactly how many people show up to play. He says that he's wants me as one of the dealers but might need me even more for security detail, since as the gambler with the most seniority here I know better than anybody how to spot cheaters around this place. At any rate, he's promised I'll make more than I would have on a regular Saturday night either way. He also hired Frank here to help with security too!  I'll see you later Jake, I have a few errands to take care of before my game tonight. I'll be back at the usual time." He and his cousin depart.Inwardly, Jake laughs. That is exactly what I would have done if I was not intentionally pissing off Tony Lucky. He takes his time and savors the fine meal Maria's prepared for him. I wonder if 'Frank' will be upset when someone kills Mr. Tony Lucky over the dangerous game he is playing. Jake smiles throughout his meal.</blockquote>

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