Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3783565" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred-one, “Rooftop Escape”, Saturday, June 17th, 3:30 A.M.The door to Ruby's room suddenly opens. Richard enters the room, a lit candle in one hand and a lock pick in the other. He carefully and quietly shuts the door with himself on the inside. Ruby sits straight up, holding the sheet over herself. She raises an eyebrow. "Richard, what in Hades are you doing?" He says in a voice little more than a whisper but communicating urgency, "We have to go Ruby. The men who threatened your Grandparents are in this hotel looking for us right now.""Really?" Ruby blinks a few times, letting the news sink in. "They must mean business." Ruby gets out of bed, taking the sheet with her, leaving Roger naked. "What about our stuff?" she whispers, then stops short. "Wait, What about Jane?" she says, much more concerned than a moment earlier. He replies, "I sent Jane up to the roof with our luggage, they're still searching the lower floors. They have the hotel manager with them and are claiming to be Pinkerton Detectives and have said that we are the fugitive bank robbers Deadeye Douglas and Mae Clark." "Oh for.... We don't look anything like them!" Ruby blurts out, her outburst waking Roger.Roger starts to wake us, saying, "Huh? What is he doing here?" As she begins to gather her clothing she talks to Roger. "Sweetie, it's been a wonderful time but it seems like I have a bit of trouble following me and I have to leave. Which really makes me mad because I was enjoying myself." "Huh? What? Where are you going in the middle of the night?" a confused and naked Roger asks. Ruby sits on the edge of the bed. She throws the sheet over Roger, leaving herself naked as she pulls on her stockings."I don't know where we're going. But someone is after me... us, and we can't stay. They think we have something they want." Ruby pulls her corset over her head and starts tugging at the ribbons. "Help me out," she says, looking at Roger over her shoulder expectantly. "They lied downstairs and told management that we're outlaws." Before Roger can interrupt Ruby continues. "Obviously we're not. But they're a bit crazy, as you can see."Richard opens the door and looks outside into the hallway. He turns back and says, "The hallway is clear Ruby but I can hear them coming. Take your stuff, you can finish dressing on the roof. Let's get to the staircase while we still can." "Sorry Roger. It was real nice time. I guess I don't have a minute to get your address so I can write...If you ever make it to Promise City, come and visit me at the Lucky Lady!" Ruby plants a hard kiss on Roger's lips. She stands, and in her undergarments with her fine gown and shoes in hand, she follows Richard.They hurry up the stairs for two floor and then climb a metal ladder going up to a trapdoor in the roof. The trapdoor is open, and Jane is standing there with a revolver, watching to make sure they weren't followed as Richard pulls the trapdoor up behind them and locks it into place. Although it is the month of June, Ruby has become accustomed now to the Arizona temperatures which are a good twenty degrees warmer, so finds it a bit brisk standing around in her underwear. Ruby shivers at the cool night air. "What do we do now?" she asks quietly, as she tries to find the top of her dress so she can get into it.Richard goes over to his luggage and opens his suitcase. He folds over the inside flap and turns a switch inside, causing one side to fall open revealing a hidden compartment. From that he takes out a finely woven woolen cloth one-and-a-half by two-feet wide with gold and red patterns on it and what appears to be Arabic writing. He sets it down and states an Arabic word. Although it appeared to be just a single piece of heavy cloth he now unfolds it once across and once to the side, making it a four-by-three foot rug. He says, "This is a magical flying carpet, we can use it to get away. I can only carry one passenger with me at a time so we will need to take two trips."Ruby'e eyes widen. "Holy s...." She stops herself from continuing as she stares at the carpet. Could it really be what he said it was? As far as she knew, Richard didn't lie so it must be. "Er, take Jane first. That way I can get my dress on. But hurry up. I don't want to get caught here, and half-naked no less!"He says, "Okay, Jane, hand Ruby the gun." He puts his and Jane's suitcases on the carpet and tells her to sit on her case as a chair as he does so with the other. He states some Arabic words and the rug begins to levitate upward into the air. The front lip of the carpet curls upward and back towards him and he grabs onto it like a handle and says another word in Arabic. Ruby watches as the two sail away, not unlike a sailboat across a lake, although it is only a cushion of air that they are on.Ruby finishes the curse she began earlier as they sail away. She shakes her head, she would have time to marvel at this later. Right now she needed to get dressed. Gun in hand she fumbles with her shoes until she gets them on, then begins fussing with her gown. Ruby redresses and is on the roof for twenty minutes looking at the quiet city below, the only sound being the water from the river cascading over the water-break. She then hears some pounding on the trap door to the roof from the other side.She quickly glances around the roof, looking for somewhere to hide. The only possible hiding places are behind the two chimneys, one twenty feet away from the trap door the other fifty feet from it. Ruby quietly makes her way to the chimney that is twenty feet away from the trapdoor. She hides in the shadows opposite the door as best she can and listens to see if she can hear what is being said on the other side.The trapdoor swings up and open despite having been locked from this side. Ruby sees a man climb up onto the roof. He is tall and muscular, wearing a dark suit, and has a revolver tucked into his belt. A second man is starting to climb up behind him. Ruby flattens herself against the chimney. She whispers the words to the spell that will make herself invisible, hoping the men climbing up made enough noise to cover her casting.The second man has a shotgun strapped to his back. Once on the roof he un-straps it and holds in in his hands. They start to walk around the roof, looking down. They then approach the far chimney and approach it from both sides, making sure nobody is behind it. One points to the second chimney as Ruby pulls back to keep from being seen. Ruby then hears the sounds of them walking in that direction. Ruby holds her breath and stays very very still, hoping they don't have the ability to detect magic or see invisibility.The men go around both sides of the chimney but seeing nothing continue on back to the trapdoor. The man with the shotgun re-straps it to his back and the two climb back down the ladder, pulling the trapdoor shut behind them. Ruby quietly lets her breath out but stays plastered against the chimney. Only after some time has gone by will she peek around the chimney to double check that everything is okay.She appears to be alone on the roof, although with the lock to the trapdoor now broken it could easily open up again without a second's hesitation. Ruby stays hidden and invisible behind the chimney as long as she can, waiting until she sees Richard return to dispel her invisibility. She has been atop the roof for close to an hour before she sees movement in the air to the west a quarter mile away. As it gets closer she can make out that it is Richard atop the flying carpet."Finally!" When Richard gets close she steps away from the chimney and waits for him to land. Richard slows and watches the roof from a distance, not becoming closer until he spots Ruby after she cancels the invisibility. Ruby shivers and rubs her arms, not used to the cold night air as she waits impatiently for Richard to get close. She does watch the carpet with wonder, but doesn't speak, she just waits. Richard lands shortly before her and says, "Good, you're still safe!""Yeah, but what too you so long! I'm freezing! And those guys did come up here...," She glances over to the door. "We should get out of here quickly." "Yes," he replies. He places her suitcase atop the carpet and sits upon it, instructing her stand behind him with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. The carpet then levitates up into the air. As they begin to fly away he says, "I'm sorry it took so long to get back. A 4:15 train was leaving for Buffalo and it seemed like a good idea to get Jane and the other two bags on it. The Pinkertons have the train depot staked out too, with photographs of the three of us, but I had one magical disguise which Jane is now using. She's traveling with Lieutenant Laughlin."Ruby does grip Richard tightly as instructed. As the carpet takes off she presses up against him, feeling a little unsteady flying to high up in the air. He smelled good, and his cool and confident demeanor was... attractive to her. Stop that you silly girl! She shakes her head and grips him tighter. "This is really cool!" she comments once she dares to peek over the edge. "So Jane is gone, will she be safe? What are we going to do?" The tone of her voice turns stern, "I'm not leaving here without seeing George."He replies, "Jane will be safe for now, the Lieutenant will see to that. The sailors have to report to their ship tomorrow but it won't be actually shipping out until Monday at dawn. If we haven't contacted them by sunset on Sunday he promises to get her on a westbound train or ferry. She'll then notify the Three Gods Meeting House by telegram of her whereabouts until she makes it home." "At least Jane will be okay," Ruby comments.The carpet gains some altitude and he says, "As for what we will do, if the Pinkertons think we've given them the slip they'll start checking other hotels in the city. We should probably find somewhere to hide out until at least daylight and get some rest. Perhaps one of the factory buildings, it's now the weekend so they should be unoccupied until Monday morning." Ruby sighs, "A warehouse? Ugh. Why can't we go to George's house?" Richard replies, "Well, for a number of reasons. First of all, it is now 4:30 in the morning, so I doubt anybody will be awake there. Secondly, neither of us are in any kind of shape to deal with trouble at the moment. Thirdly, last night while you were having fun I made some inquiries. Care to guess where your Mr. Eastman was last evening?"A whole rash of thoughts flooded Ruby's mind but she couldn't focus on just one answer, couldn't... or wouldn't. She finally states, "I don't know, where was he?" Richard replies, "Dining at the Rochester home of his friends William and Alma West. And I also found out that both the West Mansion and Eastman Mansion have Bell telephones installed at their locations." Ruby let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in. Had she really been nervous he was with another woman? "My parents, huh? I didn't know he kept in such close contact with them."She is quiet for a moment. "I guess that means they're here. I am surprised they aren't traveling or on Long Island." "Richard, I really want to see him. I need to. But my parents... I mean, I'm old enough that I shouldn't be worried about them, right? Still... Maybe as much as I've told George he doesn't know me, perhaps I don't know him either. Let's go to his factory. If for some reason we get caught, he won't press charges." At least I don't think he will. "That sounds like as good a location as any," Richard says and he turns the carpet towards the northwest.Ruby is quiet as she continues to hold on to Richard. They quietly sail over the dark city. Ruby never dreamed she would be seeing the city like this. She tries to take it all in but her mind kept wandering to George. She wished she could sneak off and go to him. When did it all get so complicated to see a friend? Once they are close Ruby points the factory she had seen earlier to Richard. "It's that big one," she smiles and points. "Seems George has done very well for himself."They land on the vast roof, which has six chimneys and two large air vents. In the center of the roof is a small brick building that may house a way down. There are also two trap-door style bulkheads towards both the northeast and southwest corners of the building. Ruby goes to the closest trap door and takes a look at it, looking to see if it's locked and how complicated the lock might be. It appears to be latched shut from the other side."Richard, it's latched from the other side. I don't think I can do anything to get it open from here." Ruby double checks the hinges, to see if she can do something with them. If not, she'll check the brick building in the center of the roof. Ruby has no difficulty picking the locked door on the rooftop building. Inside are various electrical boxes and switches on one wall. On the southwestern corner of the room is a three foot square opening without a floor and a metal ladder against the wall going down."Richard, over here!" Ruby calls out before heading down the metal ladder. She goes slowly to try to let her eye adjust to the light. Richard finds a box of candles on a shelf near the electrical boxes and lights one. He shuts the door behind him and they descend down the stairs. They make their way slowly and as quietly as they can. Ruby lets Richard carry the last piece of luggage while they descend. Finally she asks as she continues to climb down, "So I guess now is a good time to find out how exactly you're 300 years old."They are in a vast room filled with cartons and wooden crates. He softly says "Let's wait until we are somewhere smaller, voices carry in large rooms and there may be a night guard." He then says, "Let's try to find Mr. Eastman's Office, it should be somewhere on this top floor." Ruby nods. She hadn't even thought about there being a night guard. She keeps her eyes wide open and moving, and looks for what might be considered George's office.They pass by a number of offices with names and titles on the door. When they near one corner of the building they see one that has "George Eastman, President" on the door. It is locked but Ruby has no difficulty picking t. Inside is a lobby-style room with a leather-covered couch and several leather-covered chairs. The walls are covered with framed photographs from various places around the world. Also in the room is a large desk with the nameplate "Horace Mayweather, Executive Secretary" atop it. Another door leads off from the wall behind the desk to a corner office, presumably Geroge's.“Now that we've found the office, I presume you're going to go exploring around the factory?" she says to Richard. He replies, “No, I have no interest in seeing machinery to make dry photographic plates. Plus I wouldn't want to risk accidentally harming anything, those plates are rather fragile." She walks over to framed pictures and looks at each one. After that she wanders to the room that she guesses is George's and enters.The room is around twice the size of the outer office. The most prominent feature is the large mahogany desk and leather bound chair over near the corner windows, affording a view of both the main street outside and of the large carriage house where executives and managers of the company would park their carriages during the day. Elsewhere in the room are plush velvet chairs and like the outer room, the walls are lined with photographs, although each of these has a gold nameplate beneath stating what the photograph is of. On the wall behind his desk is a downtown Rochester scene which the plate reads is the building that housed the third floor office of his initial business.Along the adjacent wall are photographs of Geroge's parents and one of him in the harbor near Santo Domingo. Ruby wanders around the office, looking at the photographs and out the window before she ends at the desk. Ruby then notices two framed photographs on his desk. One is of the thirteen-year-old Constance Grace West. The other is a more recent photograph of Ruby, a candid shot taken from a distance, of her sitting upon the porch swing of the Lucky Lady back in Promise City.Surprised at the photos, Ruby fall back into the chair at the desk with a plop. She reaches out for the photographs, first looking at the recent one, then finally picking up the one of her 13 year old self. She leans back in the chair and runs her fingers over the picture. "A lot has happened since this was taken," she say out loud but in a quiet voice. She pulls her feet up under herself and just gazes at the younger her, letting herself remember some of the fun things her and George did when they were together as children and young adults.While Ruby is looking at the photograph Richard walks around the room looking at the walls. He heads over to a wall switch with three switches on it. He flicks the first and an electric light begins to come on in the room. He immediately shuts it off before the electrical filament actually provides any degree of illumination. A second switch causes a wall panel to slide aside revealing an enclosed liquor cabinet with bottles and glasses. He flicks that switch back, with the panel going back into place.He then tries the third switch and another wall panel, this one lower and wider slides back revealing an alcove with a twin-sized rollaway bed inside which then rolls out into the room. He says, "I'm not surprised. One of the newspaper articles indicated that he often spending nights here at the factory working on new projects. I will go rest on the couch in the outer office Ruby and you can have the bed." "I... I didn't know he did that." She pauses. "Do you still have that article? I'd like to read it some time." She stands and stretches her arms up over her head. "I AM tired. I guess we can save our gabbing for another time. I think I should go to sleep. Good night Richard."Once Richard is gone Ruby strips off her dress, leaving just her undergarments on. She figured Richard already saw everything, he shouldn't mind. She goes over to the wall behind the desk and gazes at the picture of George in Santo Domingo with a small smile. She glances over her shoulder to see if Richard was watching. When she thinks he isn't, she pulls the picture off the wall. Ruby then lies in the bed. She lays on her side with her head on one arm, the other holds the pictures of George and herself. She sniffs the pillow, wondering what George smells like. She takes a final long look at the pictures in her hands before closing her eyes and wishing for sleep.</blockquote>

Verification