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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3780450" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred, “Assassination Attempt”, Friday, June 16th, 8:30 P.M. Warren Watson draws his revolver which he points in the direction of Edwin Booth. "Get down!" Kate hissed. She grabbed Edwin's arm and pulled, hoping he'd be startled enough that she could pull him out of his seat. The effort lifted her out of her seat, so she lagged behind the man and getting down to the floor herself. Watson fires off his first shot, striking Edwin Booth in the chest a few inches above the heart. As he is firing from a side angle the bullet does not penetrate further into his chest but instead crosses into his left shoulder, exiting from there and flying into Kate's upper right arm where it comes to a stop. Watson takes aim once again as he yells out "Lincoln is Avenged!" Jake hears a gunshot inside his saloon, which breaks his reverie. Without pausing to consider what might be happening, his Colt is in his hand and he takes the five steps through the front door of the Lucky Lady. Kate tried to support Booth's weight with her left arm and shoulder even as blood began to run down her right arm. For once she wasn't armed and casting was out of the question. She grabbed Booth's now empty chair and flung it toward Watson. Minerva hears the gunshot and drawing her pistol from her skirts runs back in the building in time to see Kate fling the chair. Kate's chair toss misses, landing on the floor in between her and Watson as he fires his revolver a second time, striking Edwin Booth in the abdomen, who slumps downward before Kate. The room then fills with light although the house lights are still down. Several women in the audience scream. Deputy Helen Barker has her gun drawn but hasn't found her target yet, her focus at the moment apparently being shielding and protecting her husband. Jake's eyes take a second to adjust and then he sees Watson pointing a revolver, and with Jake's view of the semi-collapsed Edwin Booth blocked by the rows of chairs it appears that Watson is pointing the gun at Kate from point blank range. Minerva prays quickly to her Goddess to stop this maniac. There was nowhere Kate could hide or go to get out of the way, and she couldn't leave Mr. Booth here to be killed. She flung herself toward Watson's knees hoping to knock him off his feet and hopefully drop the gun. Minerva's spell is successful, freezing Watson in place like a statue. Jakes eyes go dark and he points his trusted Colt at Watson, firing a single, expertly aimed round at the man before he can fire at Katherine again. Kate simultaneous tumbles into him, causing the statue to fall at just the wrong moment as both Jake Cook and Helen Barker's shots would have stuck his head had he stayed in place. Instead, both shots continue onward, Jake's traveling to the stage and striking actor Rolf Lawson in the foot, and Helen's traveling four rows back and striking Earl Hogan in the chest. Kate scrambled back to Edwin Booth as she looked for the source of the strange light that had entered the room. Her own arm was screaming with pain but she was in no danger. She ripped off her long glove from her left arm and tried to slow his bleeding. "I need help here!" Emily's Uncle was already up and moving and Humphrey had put his arm around her shoulder and moved protectively between her and the man with the gun. Several things happened at once and the man fell, so Emily dared a glance and saw that someone on the stage had been shot. She listened and looked to make sure the shooting had stopped, then tried to wiggle away from Humphrey to go help. Jake holsters his weapon quickly, seeing the immediate threat removed. Minerva answers Katherine's plea, and arrives quickly at their side. She immediately begins praying to the goddess with one hand upon her necklace. Michael George is now standing atop the bar with his shotgun while Jeff Mills is blocking the door with a revolver in his hand. Biff Johnson picks up Watson's gun and hands it to Deputy Barker who rushes forward. Father Thomas Valdez, who had been sitting in the back row, rushes forward. Job Kane tells him "Thanks for the light spell." Valdez replies, "It wasn't me, clerical light is a different shade than this, a wizard was responsible." Emily notices the woman behind the cello who had also been coordinating the band taps the conductor's wand that she had been using to help direct the band against her cello as she states a few words in what sounds like the Gaelic language. The illumination in the room then begins to fade. She stopped trying to get free to stare at the cellist for a moment. She wasn't sure if anyone else had noticed, but whoever it was had meant to help. It seemed to wrong to point them out. Valdez hurries over to Silverbell Mining Clerk Hogan who appears to be the most seriously wounded of the four who were shot. Elton Hubbard helps move his friend onto the aisle floor as Valdez rips the man's shirt open, causing several of the more modest and/or squeamish women in the room to gasp and avert their eyes. Valdez pulls out a green block of clay from a shirt pocket and places it over the wound and begins an incantation. Kate sees the Edwin Booth is in pain but still very much alive, the wound just above his beltline being the more serious of the two. Conrad Booth leaps from the stage and charges forward. Minerva uses one of the two-and-a-half-inch stones as she calls out an incantation and gold and green light flow from her hands into the abdomen wound. Kate nodded to Minerva gratefully although the other woman was probably too busy to notice. She pulled her hand away from Edwin and pulled off her other glove, wadding it against her arm. "You're going to be fine. Minerva will take good care of you." From up on the stage Josephine Marcus calls out to the room "There will be a thirty minute intermission and then we will resume with the beginning of Act IV." She then orders the actors and musicians to regroup offstage with the exception of the wounded Rolf Larson who is being helped offstage by Don Wainwright and Conrad Booth who is now over beside Kate and Edwin. When she stopped wiggling Humphrey loosened his grip. Emily waited a second, then jumped up and ran up to the stage where the man who had been shot in the foot was carefully getting down. "I can help," she said hopefully looking at the men. "A little at least." Conrad reaches the side of the elder Booth. "He'll be fine," Kate said, looking up at Conrad. "Minerva will take care of it." Minerva finishes the spell as the green and gold swirling spiral draws the metal bullet out of the wound and heals it over. He continues to trickle blood from his wounds by his neck and shoulder. Josephine Marcus comes up to Conrad and says, "He'll be okay. We have a play to do." Conrad turns to her and says, "Get Estaban, I'm staying with him." Kate had thought Edwin Booth to be unconscious at that point but the older man's lips now move and with a struggling voice say "No Conrad, you're a Booth....the show must go on." Kate took his hand in her left, looking up at him with soft eyes. "Go on, my dear. He wants to see you finish the play." Helen Barker takes command of the situation, ordering four men to go fetch a pair of wagons to bring all four wounded over to Doctor Eaton's office, whether they want to go or not. She orders Chester to haul Warren Watson off to jail. She orders Harry Rote to close the bar, that no more drinks are to be served until the play is over. She then tells him to go play the piano. She then orders Clarisse Townsend to go sing until the play is ready to start again. "I'm really well enough, Mrs. Barker," Kate said. "Mr. Booth and Mr. Hogan need the Doctor most." Emily assists Don in getting the man off the stage. The man appears to be in his early twenties, clean shaven except for a medium-length mustache. The man who she is helping mutters, "That idiot Warren, I can't believe he shot me! I have half a mind to quit working for him." "I wouldn't be working for nobody who tried to shoot people, even if it wasn't me," she said. "I'm only a student, but I can do a little healing if you want it." He says, "Hold up Don, let's see what this kid can do. You're Emery's niece aren't you?" Don Wainwright helps him remove the shoe on his foot, and Emily sees that the bullet missed the bones and imbedded itself into the calf muscle. "Yes sir, I am. The bullet missed all your bones, but it's stuck in the muscle here," she said, pointing but not touching. "My healing isn't powerful enough to heal it up all the way, but it might feel better." Nakomo makes his way over to Emily in time to hear the man mutter something about Warren. "Emily, are you o.k.?" he asks Emily nodded enthusiastically. "I wasn't near the shooting, I was just helping a little." She bounced on her toes waiting for Nakomo to briefly talk to the man. Maybe he would understand about the old man Jadito and the grove. The man nods for help from the girl and Emily casts the spell. The bullet remains inside but the bleeding stops and he says, "That does feel a little bit better, thanks kid. Stop by the Comique some time and I'll give you a treat." "I don't think my Uncle will let me in another saloon," Emily said, "but thanks." Nakomo watches Emily's healing technique and comments, "Nice work." "I'm still learning. I'm going to learn more tomorrow." She and Nakomo then helped Mr. Wainwright get the man to the door. Once he was in the wagon the two youths return to the porch. Her voice got faster until the words tumbled over each other. "I went to the grove after school and met Father Valdez and and old elf named Jadito, and he said I'm to learn to be a nature priestss although I really don't know quite what that means... but he's going to come see Uncle tomorrow morning and fix it with him but I guess I'll still have to go to school." Nakomo looks at Emily with new respect. "You are going to be trained by Jadito? I met him once. Nanuet took me to see him. He is very old and, Nanuet says, very wise. He knows a lot about plants. Minerva knows a bit about plants too and Nanuet has taught her some of what Jadito showed him. We have an herb garden in our yard that I tend. School is important. Especially if you are going to serve the gods. There's a lot more to being a priest than knowing how to heal. A lot of stuff can be learned from books too." He pats her shoulder and self-consciously withdraws his hand. "You will be a good priestess." He looks around at the almost empty room. "Doesn't look like there's any point in hanging around here. She says, "They're still going to finish the play, so there's lots to stay for. Father Valdez said something about Diana telling Jadito I was coming. That's kinda scary." Nakomo says "Hardly seems worth staying for. Can't be anymore exciting than what just happened. Maybe I'll come back and watch it again tomorrow. Miss Minerva says it has something to do with going against the Will of the gods and I'll get it when I watch the ending. so far it just seems like another case of people not mindin their own business." he shrugs “About the gods, talkin about you, I mean. It's nothin to be afraid of. Seems like Diana talks to everyone about someone in this town. you'll get used to it." he jokes. Emily replies, "I don't know, Ma always said that gettin' noticed by the gods cuts both ways. Makes you feel kind of important though, and scared. But if it means I get to spend time outside doing what I like I ain't gonna complain! Wish school was outside. What do you mean it seems like Diana talks to everyone here?" He says, “Ya, It would be nice if school were outside, but Mrs. Kale does bring us on field trips and stuff. School is kinda like the gods I guess. It cuts both ways. No point in complainin. Miss Minerva says the gods don't like whiners" He looks at her wondering how much she knows about Mrs. Kale's condition and Diana visiting the church. "It's none o my business who the gods are talking to, so it wouldn't be right for me to say. But it's no secret that the gods talk to Miss Mineva all the time." "They're supposed to talk to her, she's a priestess." Emily shrugged. "Guess I'll find out more tomorrow, no reason to worry on it now. Humphrey was trying to keep me from gettin' up, he looks kinda mad. And Uncle looks worried." Emily returns to her seat. Kate accompanies Edwin Booth as people help the two of them to the doorway and onto one of the two waiting wagons. Helen Barker continued on insisting that Kate go right over her protests. The clerical magic has done wonders but Earl Hogan is still laid down in the back of one wagon and Edwin Booth in the other. Despite the fact that Doctor Eaton's office is only 75 feet south on Allen Street Helen insists that all four be driven there. Kate rides with Edwin while the Comique's gambler Larson rides with Hogan. It wasn't long before the wagons rolled up before Doc Eaton's office. Doctor Eaton is waiting for them at the doorway when they arrive. Someone must have run ahead to warn him since he was ready and waiting. Kate got herself out of the wagon, then helped Edwin. Her eyes met Doctor Eaton's. "I didn't think I'd see you again so soon," she said dryly. Kate helped get the more seriously injured into the Doctor's office, trying to ignore the sharp pain in her own arm. Edwin Booth was getting around alright, thanks to Minerva's spell. There was little hope she would be able to return and see the rest of the play, but since she would be there tomorrow and Sunday that was of little matter. She only regretted not seeing Conrad finish the show. She found a chair to rest in and waited to be told what to do, still holding the glove to her arm. Eaton checked each of the four, concluding that Edwin's shoulder wound was the worst of the four at the moment. He cleans the wound and then works carefully to check the path of the bullet before sticking the entry and exit areas. He then checks Minerva's work on the abdomen wound before moving on to his next patient, Katherine Kale. "It's not bad, but the bullet is still in there," Kate said calmly. "I hope you can still pry the glove off. Is Mr. Hogan alright?" Eaton replies, "I will check him afterwards but it appears that Father Valdez did an excellent job with him. I'm going to give you an elixir to numb the pain before I remove that bullet." Kate dropped her voice. "It won't hurt the baby? Of course it won't, you wouldn't give me anything that would. I just don't like taking drugs of any kind, I suppose." Once the elixir is in her system Kate feels relaxed, similar to the effect of alcohol but without the confusion that accompanies drinking. She watches as he uses a scalpel to cut into her arm but does not actually feel the cut. He skillfully removes the bullet, makes sure the muscle tissue is set to heal, and stitches the arm back up. "I'd help you with the others, but I wouldn't trust myself just now. You're very good at what you do." Kate sighed and looked down at her dress. "I need to get home. How long will the elixir last?" He replies, "I will get somebody to take you home, you shouldn't be out and about by yourself with the elixir in your system as you could hurt yourself without realizing it." He moves on to help Mr. Larson with his foot. "Thank you." Kate got up and moved over to sit next to Edwin Booth. "I should have guessed about Watson when he was drunk during that second intermission. I'm sorry." Edwin replies, "It is not your fault my dear, how could you have known that the man had a gun with him, or that he would use it in some misguided attempt to avenge my brother's actions." She replies, "I couldn't. I knew his opinions, I just didn't realize he was willing to kill over them. I'm afraid I'm rather naive that way." Kate took a deep breath and sighed. She was rubbing her arm but couldn't feel it. "This elixir is very strange. You told Conrad he was a Booth." Edwin replies, "So I did. Well, it is the name that he has been going by has it not? Perhaps we should do that test sooner rather than later, I imagine that diminutive reporter will be asking me a number of questions in his story about this shooting and I'm sure that my relation to your Mr. Booth will be among them." Kate answers, "Yes, sooner would be better now. What you said will give him hope of your acceptance and if that's not to be; better to have it out at once. Mr. Chumbley is very persistent, he'll be after me as well but I can at least say that any relation between you is not my story to tell. You might be stuck her longer than you planned as well since your testimony will be needed for a trial." He adds, "And staying possibly for these wounds to heal as well." Doctor Eaton has been finished removing the bullet from the other man's foot and stitched it up. He puts an ointment over the wound and tells the Comque's gambler to hold his hand on a cloth over it. Eaton then walks over to Booth and says, "The best thing for that shoulder and upper chest wound will be for you to take the pressure from the arm off of it. I'll fix you up a sling for you to wear for the next few days." Booth looks to Kate and says, "Well then, it appears that this misfortune now favors me. If the Doctor says I can't use my arm I won't be able to play poker, so I will save the $ 3,000 I would have surely lost in the tournament. I had not transferred the funding to Mr. Van Horne's bank account yet and I doubt he will hold me to it now under the circumstances." Kate says, “You'll look like my brother Henry did when he was here, only he hurt his arm in a fire in Tombstone. I think Mr. Van Horne will understand. Seems you'll have some free time tomorrow then. Although you may still want to observe." He replies, "I will, especially if that test turns positive. Do you think that your Mr. Booth might be available mid-to-late morning for us to work on that?" She answers, He usually rises pretty late in the morning and takes his meals at the El Parador. It's right next to his house. If you go to the Cantina in the morning you're likely to meet him, or you could just go to the house. If you go to the Cantina, be prepared for a lady named Dorita. She's not afraid to say whatever she thinks, nor is she afraid of bullying you into eating breakfast. Something I needed badly when I came here." Booth suggests, "Why don't I meet you at your house and we can walk to his house together. Say around 11:00 AM" "You want me to be there?" she asked, surprised. "I'm to give a riding lesson in the morning, but I can arrange to be back earlier than I'd originally planned. The lesson is for my houseguest, whom I haven't spent enough time with, so I don't want to cancel it altogether." He replies, "Well then, I will see you at that time young lady." Grant Keebler arrives to escort Kate back to her home. "I'll be ready. Thank you, Doctor." Kate got herself up and over to Grant who gave her his arm to lean on. "Let's go home, Grant. I suppose Dorita knows what happened now. Are you under orders not to let me leave the house again?" she said with a little laugh. Grant says, "I have no such orders but Dorita does want me to see you home safely. She says that you can see the rest of the play with her on Sunday afternoon at the Town Hall." "That's sweet. I'll be there anyway, I'm to play at the intermissions but I don't get to spend enough time with Dorita. You know, I can't feel your arm. It's very strange." Kate continued to talk in a rambling way on the short walk back to the house. Grant sees her safely through the door.</blockquote>

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