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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3826501" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred-eleven, “Evening Break“, Saturday, June 17th, 9:30 P.M. Van Horne announces the half-hour break. He states “With six players now eliminated we will be consolidating the game to four tables.” He turns to Marybeth Osborne and thanks her for her services, saying she will not be needed for the remainder of the tournament. Jake notes that Adair gives Van Horne a puzzled and slightly angry stare upon hearing that announcement. Van Horne also announces “Copper chips will now be eliminated from play, each players’ current copper chips will converted to bronze chips rounded upward where needed. Minimum ante will become a bronze chip. The copper coins will be for sale at the bar as souvenirs of the tournament for a dime each with a maximum of five sold to a customer.” Van Horne heads upstairs with the other dealers where another meal has been set out for them while Darla Peacock supervises the security men with counting out and moving each player's chips to the new tables.   Of the five gambling tables the large center table is no longer being used for poker and it quickly fills up with spectators wanting the seats close to the action. The tournament's copper poker chips are all brought over to the bar where Ginnie pulls up a barstool behind the bar and starts selling them as collectables to interested patrons.   During the break the photographers and newspapermen corner the more famous gamblers and gunslingers in the room for interviews and pictures.    Helen Barker decides she has had enough of poker for the day so heads over to the jail to relieve Marshall Berg on guard duty.   Jake's luck had not been very good during the last session.  Repeatedly with promising hands he failed to draw the necessary cards.  He does not appear worried however, for he knows luck is like the tides; hang on when it goes against you and make the most of it when it is going your way. Once the tables have been rearranged security man Jonathan Harker catches Jake's attention and pulls him aside.   Harker says, "That gambler Jim Franklin who you've been playing with....he has no reflection.   He's staying in a room here at the Lucky Lady, where he was last night having arrived after dark.  I've asked around to folks who have played with him before and have confirmed that he always rooms at the establishment where the poker games take place and also that he seems to only travel to and from communities hosting games during the night.   What do you want me to do?" "Strange," Jake strokes his chin beard, "you would expect him to be a better poker player, would you not?  Considering what he could do.  Is there also a reputation of folks turning up dead around places where he has played?  Are you aware of any other affliction which eliminates ones reflection?  Are you telling me for certain he is... you know... one of them?" Harker replies, "I don't know for a fact that he is one of those, but once the Romeo and Juliet play is over with next door we can have Tomlinson and O'Hara come over and check, they have other methods.    As for his poker playing, I've noticed that his game was going fairly well until the last two hours or so which coincidentally was when we caught that Hart guy giving signals and hauled him off to jail.   Hart came in from Denver, the same place that Franklin was last.   As for people turning up dead, Franklin usually plays in large wild cities, where bodies would not necessarily be noticed." Jake exclaims, "Blast, why is it that I cannot have simple problems in my saloon like drunkards and stray cattle."  Not expecting an answer he continues.  "I saw the priestess Senorita Florencia around.  I expect she has ways to tell as well.  Hermes, I feel naked without my gun and special rounds."   Jake looks about the room and says, "There, I see her.  I will see if she can determine his true nature." Chester takes his place by the door. He hooks his thumbs in his gun-belt and casually leans against the wall. When Harker goes to Jake, Chester looks over, but can't make out what they're saying. He shrugs his shoulders and figures that if it was something important, someone would let him know. Meanwhile, he'd watch over the tables. Jake approaches the priestess with a broad smile, "Senorita!  You look splendid in that outfit."  He takes a sniff of the air and continues, "And that perfume..." He leans in provocatively close to smell it and says in a quiet but serious tone, "Por favor Senorita, could I trouble you to determine if the gambler Jim Franklin is one like Mortimer Turner?"  Jake quickly withdraws.  "That perfume is like it was crafted just for you.  I was just telling Jonathon Harker that Promise City is not like any other place with its glamorous women and unbelievable opportunities.  It must be the gods, eh Senorita?  Perhaps you should speak with him on this topic also, he is quite a conversationalist and has some fascinating views on the topic." Minerva maintains her composure and laugh lightly at the compliment. She reaches up and touches her hat with one gloved hand and cocks it slightly to one side, batting her eyelashes. "Oh Senor Jake, you and that silver tongue of yours. "she leans in flirtatiously. "Where is this man?" she whispers. Jake changes his position so that he is facing away from Franklin, "Behind me.  He was at my table."  Jake tips his hat, "I am afraid I must go now, thank you so much for the enlightenment you will bring to my evening." Minerva seeks out Nakomo and explains to him what may be happening. She then moves to a place in the room where she will not be noticed and focuses her energies. She holds her holy symbol and prays for the gods to detect any evil that may be present in the saloon. The man radiates evil much along the same levels of intensity as the other vampires did.    While the spell is in effect Evan Adair walks by and she senses evil from his as well, although not nearly as strong as that of the potential vampire. She takes a step back when Adair walks by but quickly recovers. She catches Jake's eye and nods briefly before exiting the saloon with Nakomo. “We cannot make a scene in there, It is to crowded. People could get hurt. Go and find that O'Hara girl. I will go back inside and warn who I can. Then I will go home and get some supplies." She plants the smile back on her face, adjusts her hat and nonchalantly walks over to the Gay Lady. She searches out Katherine and waves her over. “We have a problem in here. It would be best if you got any innocent bystanders out of here without making a scene." Kate stepped outside the Gay Lady to speak with Minerva.   The Priestess fills her in on what has transpired. Kate states, "Minerva, don't panic.  The man is in a public place, watched on all sides.  He's staying in the Lady.  And if a player turns up dead the whole tournament is over if not tainted.  There's danger but not immediate.  If we clear out the place he's going to know something's wrong. The watchers will go home; by 2:30 it will be just the players, and after they're gone just the people staying there.  Sometimes patience is better." Minerva states, "Si, patience and a watchful eye. You be careful. I will be back." Kate says, "I'll head over to the Lady now and keep my eyes open and see you there." As Minerva hurried away Kate sighed and picked up her skirts.  Suddenly even the very short walk seemed dangerous.  The break was still going on when she arrived and looked around the room.  She hesitated, trying to decide where to go. Minerva finds Deputy Martin and Jeff Mills and warns them as well. "Be prepared. I am going home to get some things that may help. Chester do you still wear the holy symbol that I gave you? I will be back quickly." Chester touches his shirt and says, "Yeah, I do. Why? More of those 'creatures' here? Who is it?" His right hand drops down to his gun. Minerva replies, "I'll explain when I get back. Don't do anything hasty." Minerva casually makes her way to the door and then runs home as quickly as she is able. When she arrives she grabs the vampire bag from the corner of her room, grateful that Nakomo, in his efficiency did not store it's contents. She double checks to be sure that the stakes and holy water are in the bag and tucking the contents of the bag into her skirts, she loads her revolver with the special rounds that Jake gave her and hurries back to the saloon. Instead of going straight to Jake, Kate picked up her armbands again and went over to Conrad.  "I just thought you'd like to know that I'm back safe," Kate said as he sat finishing up the last of a quick meal.  "I hope I'm not distracting you." Conrad replies, "Not at all, I haven't been doing all that well tonight, maybe your presence will improve my luck." She sat down next to him and said, "You're used to playing at a different place, with people whose habits you know well.  You can't expect to do as well as you might any other night.  "You'll find your stride. By the way, I overheard your elder brother telling our Mr. Chumbley that you're his youngest.  I think he might just be a little bit proud of you." Conrad replies, "Well the feeling is mutual.   In some ways I am relieved to find out that I'm not his son.  Now he knows I'm not just out for his fortune since I now have no claim to it." Kate says, "I think there's a bigger relief for him.  He must have suspected you were closely related or he wouldn't have gone to all the trouble to find out for sure.  But if he'd discovered he was your father he might have felt a great deal of guilt, and the relationship between fathers and sons is a complex thing. As a brother on the other hand... you meet more as equals.  There is no shirked duty, no guilty feelings, no issues between you that need resolving." She looked around the room and noted that no one was paying attention to them.  "I should get to work, and I need to speak with Jake.  Since we have no lucky flowers today," she leaned forward and kissed him quickly, aware that this was not an appropriate place for it.  "Bonne chance, mon cher." "Thank you my dear," he replies.   Conrad finds his nameplate among the rearragned tables.   Nakomo heads over to the gay lady to find the slayer. He does not want to interrupt the play and so goes to the back of the stage and attempts to make eye contact. Nakomo is left waiting for a while as Act V beings as Shannon's part, Lady Montague, has a major part in the third scene of that act.   Fortunately for him the part is her death scene, where she dies from grief over her son's exile, so will not be needed for the remainder of the play.   He decides to catch up with her as when she leaves the stage. The The dealers return to the tables and the players find their name plates and chips at their new tables, the games about to begin.  Unlike the previous break, nobody is late returning to the tables this time. Now that the break is ending there are some Lucky Lady personnel changes with Mollie Caudell arriving to pick up her son Melvin and Meghan O’Hara finishing up in the kitchen and heading home with daughters Colleen and Cathleen.  Burt Hoover remain on wait staff detail as his  guardian Stanley Barker is still over at the Gay Lady helping with the play.  Ginnie also remains on waiter detail with her guardian Katherine Kale back among those in the room. Cornelius Van Horne has for his new grouping of players Berwind, Fisk, Masterson, Morand, Safford and Spaulding.   Bradford Rhinehardt’s table is now comprised of Enion, Franklin, Hawks, Hearst, Spinner and Thompson.   Dealer Isaac Stevens has for his new players Adair, Dano, Ivers, Lumley, Maverick and Muratz.   Interestingly this group of six all did well in the earlier sessions so each begins this session with higher chip totals than at the start of the tournament.  This prompts most of the newspapermen to flock to this table, anticipating high-stakes play.   Silver Jake Cook finds himself at the table of dealer Job Kane along with Conrad Booth, Commodore James Duvall, Torvald McNaulty, Theodore Roosevelt and Ned Walters.   This puts Jake at a particular advantage already knowing how his business partner Kane deals, playing regularly with Walters, playing occasionally with his Fisk Mountain Mine business partner McNaulty, having played many years ago with Duvall but still remembering how the skilled gambler would approach the game, having played the previous ten hours of the tournament with Roosevelt and finally Conrad Booth with Jake knowing some about how the man plays. Kate moved over to the bar where Ginnie was busy.  She took out her little mirror and  looked out at the tables, making sure she knew where people should reflect.  A smile at Ginnie and she began to fuss with the girl's hair a bit, handing her the mirror.  "There is a vampire in this room," Kate whispered, barely audible even to herself as she happened to bend close to Ginnie's ear.  "He's in the tournament so I don't expect trouble, but be careful." She leaned back.  "There, perfect."   Lifting the mirror she primped her own hair, looking beyond her own face to the background for the chair that would appear empty. And sure enough, there is no reflection from the man named James Franklin. She tucked it away and told Ginnie quietly which man to watch out for.  They both stayed behind the bar until the first hand was over at every table.  If anyone had noticed her looking in a mirror she didn't want to make them think it had been used to cheat somehow. Across the street at the Gay Lady, Nakomo motions to Shannon to come into the wings. "Miss Minerva Sent me. She said t tell you that she believes that there is another one of those evil creatures at the Lady. " "What?  Right here at the Gay Lady! I didn't sense any." Shannon exclaims, perhaps a bit too loudly as she receives an icy stare from Josephine Marcus. He states, "No, at the poker tournament! Come on. Let's go. "he says taking her arm impatiently. "There are a lot of people there. Someone could get hurt." Shannon replies, "Okay, I'll go Nakomo.  You stay here until the play gets over and tell Mr. Tomlinson where I've gone.  We'll probably be needing his help too." "Fine, but I hope the play is almost over."  Nakomo takes a seat in the back. He had already seen the first half of the play. "miss Minerva said their was some lesson about the gods here, so I guess it won't hurt to watch the ending." He scrunches down in his seat and focuses on the play. The games begin at the various tables and are still in the first hand when Kate sees Shannon O'Hara enter the Lucky Lady. The girl has changed out of her Lady Montague dress into a dress more suitable for an evening in a saloon. She walks around the four gambling tables, looking from person to person. Kate approached Miss O'Hara. Using the same low tone they all used to keep from disturbing the games she asked, "Can I get you anything? If you're interested in the games, may I suggest that table?" she said, nodding toward the one where Franklin sat. "I believe the highest stakes are there." Shannon replies a little louder, "Nothing just yet Mrs. Kale, I will wait for Mr. Tomlinson. Perhaps a private room might be available on the second floor." She then gestures to the table with Franklin and in a softer voice says, "Above there preferably." "I think that can be arranged. There are some private dining rooms on the second floor. Why don't you follow me? I'm sorry I had to leave the play early tonight, I still haven't managed to see the end," Kate said casually as she led the young woman up the stairs and checked the room that should be above the table. Shannon surveys the room and states, "Yes, this will do. Go find me as many candles as you can." Shannon then enters the room and begins to quietly move the chairs and table out from the center of the room to along the far wall. Kate states, "Candles? Well, I suppose it will be nice for once to do something more subtly than running in with guns drawn." Kate scoured the other dining rooms and collected the candles in them, the also checked the storage and brought up as many as she could find there. "Let's try not to burn the saloon down," she said as she brought the last in. "What are the candles for?" Shannon replies, "Watcher Tomlinson knows a spell that will identify how many of the creatures there are as well as any other creatures who they may have control over." Kate says, "I've seen Mother Jimenez do this. I think it also showed people who have been influenced in the past, so you may see an alarming large number of people. I believe when Mother Jimenez did it there were somewhere aren't thirty. I myself had my mind subsumed once, although it's been tried more than once. I am tired of these creatures." Shannon says, "Watcher Tomlinson wiped the influence of those who had been influenced by the others, so they will no longer show up. All this will identify is any new vampires plus anybody they have direct influence over. When you are going up against foes it is usually helpful to know how many of them there are and where they are located." Kate states, "I couldn't agree more. This isn't something I'd have wished on you, Shannon, but I have to say I'm glad to have some help with all of this. I'm sure Mr. Tomlinson has told you that my friends and I have been dealing with these for the last for months. I won't be able to do it much longer. Is there anything I can do to help? I shouldn't be missing for too long." Shannon replies, "That's fine. Bring Mr. Tomlinson up when he arrives." "Alright," Kate said, taken aback by the short answer. She went quietly back down the stairs and to her work.</blockquote>

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