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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3565114" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter One-sixty-eight, “Threats and Intruders”, Thursday, June 15th, 8:00 P.M. Ruby says, "Boy, I am really enjoying this show." The house lights then lower and the curtain opens for the second act. When the curtain goes up for the second short intermission Ruby stands from her seat to stretch her long legs. Finding Ms. Alcott unoccupied she again speaks to the woman. Ruby smiles easily, "Ms. Alcott, I hate to disturb you, but it appears my friend is a big fan of yours and would like to meet you. Do you have a moment?" Miss Alcott is introduced to Jane and the two of them engage in a long discussion of the novel Little Women and its sequels. While that is going on Ruby notices a man approach Nana's husband James and whisper something into his ear. He appears to be momentarily bothered by what the man says to him. Richard also notices this interchange. Ruby tries to casually overhear what is being said but the conversation was too short for her to have caught the specifics.) Ruby looks to James, and takes a step away from Jane and Ms. Alcott's discussion. "Is everything alright?" "Oh yes, everything is fine," he replies. Ruby has not known him for very long but senses that he is not being entirely honest. Richard makes eye contact with Ruby and she gathers that he too is concerned. The house lights flicker, indicating that the final act of the play will soon be starting. As the lights go down Ruby squeezes past Jane. "Janie, why don't you take my seat and I'll sit next to Richard." She doesn't wait for a response, she just plops into Jane's seat. Leaning over to Richard she whispers in his ear, "Did you hear what was said? What do you think is going on?" Richard replies, "He said something to James about 'after the play', whatever that means. I think I'll keep a close eye on our friend." He replies, “Who? James or the guy who is bothering him? You think James is up to something?" Richard says, "James appears to be genuine, I doubt your Grandmother would have married him otherwise. It was that other Gentleman who I am concerned about. He went back up to the balcony so I can't point him out to you now, but there was something about him that bothered me." Ruby nods her head. "Let me know what I should do to help. Maybe this has something to do with that box he won at auction." Ruby leans back in her chair. This time she keeps an eye on her surroundings while watching the show. Distracted by a potential problem the third act seems to fly by with breakneck speed and the house lights go up following the final curtain call. James helps Nana to her feet as Richard helps up both Ruby and Jane. "Well, wasn't that fine," Nana states. "Yes, it was, Nana. What a very good choice. And I like the lesson too: You should never wish for things that happen to not have happened. They always happen for a reason." Ruby smiles, "It makes us who we are." Ruby turns her back to the stage and scans the emptying room, particularly looking up to the balconies or to see if she finds the man from earlier. The five make their way down the aisle and out towards Main Street. James appears anxious to leave and heads to the curb in search of the carriage that he had asked to come for them at the end of the play. Ruby hooks her arm through Richard's and tries to look casual. "So family, are we heading home now? I believe Janie has some things to talk to me about." James says, "Where is that carriage? It was supposed to be here now." His gaze shifts towards a pair of men approaching. One is nicely dressed in a suit and Ruby believes he was the one she saw inside earlier. The other is taller and more muscular, dressed in blue jeans and a cotton work shirt. Ruby glances quickly at Richard, making eye contact. Then she pretends to not see the men, stepping between them and James. She says loudly, "Well, we certainly should complain about that carriage being late!" Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Parker," the man says as he nears. "Your driver was called away for another fare, he asked for me to apologize and say he would be back in short order for you." Richard doesn't take his eyes off the pair and says, "Well then, we will be a short while. Jane, why don't you take Mrs. Parker back inside the theater then. We'll come get you when the carriage arrives." James looks to his wife and says, "Yes, that is a good idea. Get yourselves something to drink while we wait." Ruby is momentarily unsure of what to do, stay with Richard or go with her grandmother and Jane. It seemed that Richard wanted her to stay with him and maybe she could be of help if there was trouble. Ruby announces, "I think I'll stay outside where the air is fresh. You two go in and enjoy that drink." Jane and Nana head back inside. The men approach James and the better dressed one says, "May I have a word with you in private?" Richard says, "Go right ahead, Ruby and I will be nearby when you're through." Richard then jestures to Ruby for them to move further away. She gives Richard an "Are you sure?" look but heads off to the side with him anyway. When they find a spot she leans up against the wall. Trying not to be paranoid she whispers in Richard's ear, "Should I check them for magic?" Richard replies, "Yes, you do that, while I practice the fine art of lip reading." "A mighty fine thing to know. Us women like it when a man is obsessed with our lips," she says, her own full lips turning up into a smile. She starts concentrating, using her special skills with detecting magic. She starts off by looking across the street as to not look too suspicious, before she turns her gaze to James and the two men. She detects no magic from either of the men by James but does detect several magical items on James....his shoes, a ballpoint pen, his watch fob and his wedding ring. Richard softly mutters "He saying something about the box...a final offer...Oh, he's threatening James, he says that he'll burn down the house to destroy the documents." Ruby's concentration is broken and she starts taking some steps forward. She looks back at James with stormy eyes, "Let's go." Richard says "Wait...James is telling them that burning the house won't accomplish their goal, that he has the documents at another location." Ruby can read uncertainty on the face of the man threatening James, unsure if he is being truthful or not. Ruby reluctantly listens to Richard and leans tentatively back against the building. She keeps a steady eye on the two men and waits Richard says, "He told James they would come around tomorrow to get the documents, otherwise James won't like the consequences." The large man then moves closer to the pair, blocking Richard's view of the lips. "That's it." Ruby pulls herself off the wall. "I'm not waiting anymore." She starts meandering over to James and says loudly in a sweet voice, "Now gentlemen, I'm not sure what business you have with James but I don't get to visit too often so surely you don't want to keep him too long with business, do you?" She stands smiling and looking up at the men from under her eyelashes, even though her eyes are still stormy. Until tomorrow," the man states. He and the larger man turn to walk away. "Good night gentlemen," Ruby continues in her fake sweet voice. "Now where is that carriage?" Ruby looks up and down the street like she is searching for something. She then looks back to James and says quietly, "Is everything alright?" James plasters a phony smile on his face and says, "Oh yes, everything is fine dear. Why don't you go and get Jane and your Grandmother. Our carriage should be back at any moment." "James... if there is something wrong I hope you will confide in Richard while I'm inside. He's a good listener I've discovered and a good friend." With that Ruby heads inside to find Nana and Jane. She strides over to them smiling, "Ladies, time to go!" Ruby returns with the other two women. James notices the carriage up the street heading in their direction. Ruby smiles at Richard and James, "Did you two have a nice chat while we were gone?" Richard answers, "He said we'd talk back at the house." She sidles up to Richard and again speaks softly, "Should we try to follow those guys or something?" Richard replies, "No, they've already hopped another carriage up the Street." Ruby nods. "Alright then. Let's get home." Once the carriage arrives she hops up with the others for the ride. As they ride back to the house Ruby asks Richard, "What time is our train for Rochester leaving tomorrow?" Richard replies, "Noon, we can sleep in." The carriage drops them off and they head inside. The expression on James's face changes from one of passive worry to active concern once they are inside. He says, "Something is different." Nana looks around and says "I believe you are correct dear, nothing in this room appears to be missing but things appear to have been moved. We should check the rest of the house." Ruby states, "What if there is someone still in here? We'd all better be careful. Maybe we should split up into two groups, we," Ruby waves at Jane and Richard, "Don't really know where anything would be to start with to notice something out of place." "Then we should stick together," Nana says. They go room by room, finding items misarranged elsewhere but nothing appears to be missing. They carefully check to make sure that nobody else is in the building. Nana then whispers to Ruby "Why don't you get Jane and Richard to go elsewhere in the house and I can use some of my....talents...to confirm that nobody else is here and then secure the doors." "Okay Nana." Ruby does as she is told, bringing Richard and Jane into the palor. She pours them all a drink of wine while they wait for Nana to return. They spend twenty minutes chatting, mostly small talk although Ruby senses that both Jane and Richard are very concerned. Nana comes in to get them and says, "Please join James and myself in the front hallway." They enter the room to see that a hidden panel has been removed from the wall revealing a small chamber beneath the main staircase. James says, "We were successful this time, they didn't find what they were looking for, but they may be back." Ruby, Jane and Richard see that the four-foot square chamber is lined with shelves along the far wall and is filled with a number of valuables, some pottery of assorted sizes, statues of silver, gold and jewels, several paintings all of them looking old and based upon the clothing and backgrounds on the canvases appear to be from a variety of different cultures, and lastly the wooden crate with stacks of papers inside it. Ruby's eyes widen as she gazes at the valuables inside the secret spot, "Oh Nana, what will you do? About these people I mean? They are serious about getting this back. What can we do to help?" Nana says, "Well, it's dangerous, it could put you at risk....but would you consider taking it with you when you leave tomorrow?" James interjects "No dear, that would not right, it is too much a danger to Ruby. She wouldn't be able to defend herself like we could" Jane laughs and says, "If you think that maybe you should hear some more of Ruby's stories of what she's been doing during the last half year!" Ruby doesn't even pause before replying, "Of course I'll take it with me, don't give it a second thought. And Jane is right, I can defend myself and I have a place in Promise City that NO ONE can get to. I've been through much danger and I'm still here. But what about you, if they still think it's here..." Nana replies, "We can deal with that. There are.....ways to communicate information....provided it is truthful. Errors of omission, such as where the items are now, need not enter into the conversation." James says, "Exactly, I'll get my lawyers involved in the meanwhile and convince my rivals that I might be willing to consider selling and that the items have been put into safe keeping in the meanwhile. I'll then involve myself with another unrelated project during which they can watch me all they want and still discover nothing further about these documents." "I won't tell you exactly where it will be, then you can answer honestly you don't know. But you can trust me when I say, it will be safe. I just worry about you. I couldn't bare it if something happened to you." "What about whatever they are trying to hide? I may have some friends who would be interested in looking at what's there. Would that be helpful to you? If not I can just keep it safe. Besides," Ruby smiles, "This means eventually you'll have to come to visit me to get it!" James says, "Involving your friends could put them at risk, if the people after this manage to track it to you. But yes, I would be willing to let people who you trust look at this, maybe they will be able to find whatever it is that has thus far escaped my notice." "Alright," Ruby nods, "I'll see what we can find when I get home." "Do you think there anything else we can do tonight?" Nana says, "No. There doors are all secured and we have set our house alarm. We should all be safe for the night." "Alright, good." Ruby stares at her grandmother for a long moment before suddenly stepping forward and hugging her tightly. "It's going to be okay Nana." She steps away. "Janie, do you still want to start tonight? Showing me what you need to show me?" Jane says, "Let everybody get settled in for the night first, then we can start." "Absolutely. I just wanted to check if you still wanted to do it, you know, after all the excitement of the evening." Ruby heads to the side table and pulls a decanter with a dark liquid in it, guessing it's bourbon. "I think I need a drink, one of my favorites. Nana... James... Richard... would you like one too or are you going to bed now? It is getting late." She pours herself and Jane generous glasses and waits for a reply, gently swirling the contents of the bottle as she does.</blockquote>

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