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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3835056" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred-thirteen, “Vampire at the Poker Table“, Saturday, June 17th, 10:30 P.M. Kate kept her eye on what was going on at the tables. At Cornelius Van Horne’s the game favors both Morand and Masterson. At the Rhinehardt table Moria Enion wins three of the first two hands of the night with Franklin and Spinner each also winning a hand. This is a bit of a contrast as Hawkes and Thompson had begun this session with the largest piles of chips. At the table of Dealer Isaac Stevens Adair, Dano and Maverick all get onto hot streaks. Jake Cook seems to be ahead at Job Kane’s table. Kate was glad to see Jake doing well, but wished to see Conrad doing better. She hadn't told him what was going on, not wanting to distract him. Sometimes she worried about him and what he would do with his future, but now wasn't the time for that. Franklin seemed to be doing well enough, and Kate suspected he really was here just for the tournament. He might have intended to meet up with the others of his kind here, but they were gone. When she was behind the bar again, Kate picked up a silver knife and slipped it in her pocket, just in case. At the Van Horne table Morand and Masterson continue to dominate with Safford and Spaulding winning just enough to stay close to even, with Fisk doing poorly although not as bad as Berwind who looses half of what he had at the last break. At 11:00 the play has let out as Stanley Barker returns to collect young Mr. Hoover. Nakomo watches the rest of the play at the Gay Lady. He is unexpectedly moved by the tragic ending but sits stoically hiddng his emotions. "the gods are a harsh lot." he thinks as he makes his way to the back of the stage to intercept Thomlinson. When he finds him he delivers the message and the two of them waste not time getting back to the Lucky Lady, where the seek out the others. Kevin Tomlinson arrives and surveys the room for Shannon O’Hara. Seeing Mr. Tomlinson, Kate took the time to say goodnight and thank you to Burt, then made her way over to the Watcher. "It's nice to see you Mr. Tomlinson. Can I get you something?" She dropped her voice and added. "She's waiting for you upstairs. I can show you." "I need to get a few things first." He gestures to Thom at the doorway and says "Could you arrange to have Mr. Mills take that duty instead for a few minutes? Mr. Mills knows about the creatures so would allow me to bring in some items inside that your other doorman might not." Kate nodded and went over to speak to Jeff. "Do you think you could replace Thom at the door for a bit?" she asked quietly. "Mr. Tomlinson needs to bring some equipment inside and Thom wouldn't be able to understand to let him. Tell him to get some dinner from Maria or something?" Jeff replies, "Maria is still over at the play, she went to watch her brother in the top role, but I get what you're saying. I'll have him go get something from Hannah Milford." Mills manages to get to the doorway. Tomlinson reenters the building and Jeff checks the bag, with the two conversing in low tones. Tomlinson then head upstairs. When Kevin Tomlinson arrives not long after Shannon O'Hara enters the Lucky Lady, Chester realizes what kind of trouble they're up against. He shakes his head ruefully. I guess I'm just doomed to see these vampires over and over again. Jeff relieves Thom, so Chester sidles over to him. He whispers, "Hey Jeff, monster problems?" Jeff says out of the side of his mouth. "Yeah, Chet. Don't look, but Franklin over there is one of them. Kevin is going to figure out if there are more of them around. Keep your eyes open." Chester says, "I always do. Why can't they just leave us alone?" Jeff answers, "This place is a weak spot between the world as we know it and Hades. They're drawn to its power." Chester grunts. "I reckon then, he won't be the last of them to come through." Bradford Rhinehardt’s table continues to have both Hawkes and Thompson, doing poorly. Moria Enion is doing the best, although the games for both Franklin and Spinner have improved considerably. Stevens Adair, Dano and Maverick continue on their hot streaks while Muratz loses terribly. By 11:30 P.M. Adair’s pile of chips is almost equal to that of Maverick’s. Silver Jake Cook made neither an effort to pull ahead or behind during the previous ninety minutes, but the cards tend to be in his favor with him winning four of the next twelve hands, Roosevelt and Duvall each winning three, Walters and McNaulty each winning one and Booth wining none. Tomlinson has been upstairs for fifteen minutes when Shannon comes down and surveys the room. She nods to both Chester and Kate to come join them. Kate met Chester's eye, then poured a couple drinks and headed up the stairs with them. " Give me a reason to be running up and down the stairs," she explained when she met Shannon at the top of the stairs. Chester looks back at her and nods his head slightly. He pats his pockets as though looking for something and acts annoyed. He goes to Jeff. "I'm going upstairs. I'll pretend I forgot something in my room." Jeff replies, "No problem. I can cover for you." Chester walks up the stairs to where the others are waiting. They open the door and let her in. The room smells parially of lilac plants and partially of vanilla with a faint smoke in the air. The floor has eight lit candles of the floor. One is huge, and letting off far more light that even a candle that size should. Very near that candle are three medium sized candles and one small very faint candle. Two medium candles are a few feet off to the left but a distance apart from one another. The final candle, another very faint one, is by the back end of the room. There is another knock on the door and Jonathan Harker's voice asks "May I come in?" Tomlinson opens the door and says, "Absolutely, this very much concerns you as well." "Welcome, Mr. Harker," Kate said quietly. "If I remember this correctly, the large candle is centered here, the medium ones are other creatures and the smaller people affected by them?" Tomlinson says, "Close, by my casting it directly above the main target I have consolidated my grounding point and him." Chester finds the room and knocks on the door. "It's Chester." Tomlinson opens the door and Chester is admitted into the room. . "Welcome, deputy. Come in." Chester asks, "So there's a vampire downstairs?" Tomlinson points to the big candle and says, "This is Franklin. He is thankfully the only vampire in town. The medium sized ones are people under his direct influence, you'll see that there are five of them, two of whom appear to be other gamblers in the tournament. The final two are people under the influence of a vampire not currently present in town, in fact, given how faintly they glow I would say their master isn't within a thousand miles of here." Kate says, "A thousand miles? Considering where we are the master would have to be either far to the north, or somewhere in the eastern states. Is there something that important that is drawing the attention of these creatures here?" Tomlinson says, "Franklin and his companions may just be here for the tournament, using his powers to make a fast buck. As to the two faint ones, it's not too hard to figure that out once you know their identities." He points to the far one and says, "Jonathan, that appears to be at your brother's house." Harker replies, "Our house guest....Bernice Turner." Tomlinson says, "Correct, and the faint one from downstairs is Job Kane." "Job?" Kate shook her head. "But we destroyed Mortimer Turner, didn't we? That would leave Colin Turner. We hoped he'd been destroyed in Thomaswell but could never prove it. Once the master is gone, shouldn't the person be free?" Shannon states, "Turner's last words were that his Uncle Colin would avenge him." Tomlinson says, "Yes, and I had cured Bernice of her prior influence from both Turners, meaning she was re-infected within the last ten days. Kane was probably infected at that same time too. It could have occurred either here or when they were last in Wilcox, so Turner was in the region recently but not now. No matter, Turner is too far away to be a factor tonight and tomorrow morning I can rid them both of his influence. The more immediate problem is Mr. Franklin and his associates." Kate exclaims, "Colin Turner is probably chasing after Ruby. He had a definite obsession with her and she's traveling in the east right now. Thankfully she's not alone, there are people there to protect her.” Kate continues, “What can we do without destroying the tournament? Don't mistake me, getting rid of this creature is the most important thing, but I don't think we want to introduce a room full of gamblers to the existence of blood-drinking monsters." Chester states, "I know Jake wouldn't like it. It's pretty bold of Franklin to be in a place with mirrors. Someone is going to notice he doesn't have a reflection.” Harker says, "Except the big mirror was destroyed a few days ago and the crowds tend to block the smaller ones that we put up." Chester says, “ Since he can't cause too much trouble while he's playing, we can wait until he leaves and nab him then." Tomlinson says, "I agree, especially since we know where he's going. There's only one, and we know where he's staying, in a room right down the hall from where we are now. Who are his associates?" Shannon says, "It was easy to figure out some of them since they are all staying in one place downstairs." She points to the one nearest the big candle and says, "This one is the tall man sitting across from Franklin at the same table." Harker says, "Willy Spinner, he and Franklin both played poorly before but their games have both improved since they were put together. If it wasn't for Miss Enion's superior skills they would be winning that table right now." She points to the next closest candle and says, "This is the man with the brushy mustache playing with Mr. Stevens." Harker says, "Victor Muratz, he played extremely well during the first grouping of tables, he has nearly $ 5,000 right now." She points to the final candle in the room and says, "This is the auburn haired man leaning against the piano." Harker says, "I don't know his name but he's been around most of the day. He must be another signal man like that Hart guy we arrested." Shannon points to one of the candles at the right and says, "Which would be him, this candle's location is the town jail." Harker states, "This is making sense, we couldn't figure out which gambler he was sending signals too, as he kept moving around. He was signaling more than one, or perhaps even the other signal man." Tomlinson points to the final candle and says, "We don't know who this is, the location appears to be the Promise City Hotel, probably a guest room." Kate tried to remember if Edwin Booth was still downstairs observing. "Mr. Booth, Mr. Berwind, and Mr. Roosevelt are staying there, but they're all here at the moment, I believe. I don't know who else is staying there or might be there, but Mr. Van Horne probably knows where all the participants are staying. Can we call Shenanigans on the signal-man, at least? Go downstairs and observe for a while, then call him out?" Chester says, "That'll work. It's one of the things we're supposed to look out for anyway. Kill two birds with one stone." Harker says, "We don't even have to wait, I'll just clue in either my cousin Boston or Jeff Mills and they can call it out. That should put a crimp in at least Muratz's game for the rest of the evening. Feel like escorting another man off to jail Deputy?" Chester states, "Of course. A walk in the outside air always feels good." Kate adds, "It at least separates the creature from another ally, and each one we can peel away makes our job easier." Harker says, "Okay, Chester and I will go put that into motion while you folks figure out what to do about the others." Tomlinson says, "If you see Priestess Florencia downstairs send her up, she'll want in on this too." After the door closed behind Chester, Kate said, "We should wait until after the end of the tournament for tonight. Most of the observers and other gamblers will be gone, so there will be less people to see or be hurt. Also the less people who know we are taking care of these kinds of problems, the better. Miss Florencia was going back to her rooms to get her supplies, so I know she will want to help, as will Nakomo. Is there anything I can do for you beside stay out of the way?" Within five minutes of Chester and Jonathan's return downstairs Boston Harker calls out "Shenanigans" and the man by the piano is taken into custody. He is questioned on the spot by Boston Harker as to which gambler he was sending signals to, but like Mr. Hart earlier in the day he insists he was doing no such thing and does not know what they are talking about. Chester takes the man's arm. "We'll sweat it out of you back at the office. What's your name?" He indicates that he is Carlton Enoch from Denver and emphasizes that he hasn't done anything wrong. The Deputy replies, "We'll be the judge of that. Let's go." Chester escorts Enoch to jail. He unlocks the cell and puts Enoch in with Hart. "There you go. The finest of rooms for you." Chester returns to the Lucky Lady. He keeps watch over the tournament again from his perch by the door. As the clock reaches the hour of midnight prospector Ned Walters bets and loses his remaining chips. Jake Cook and many others in the room are actually surprised how long the usually poor player has lasted against this caliber of opponents. At that point in time Conrad Booth is down to is final $ 500 when he finally wins a hand bringing him back up to $ 1000. The next hour continues to be dominated by Cook and Duvall with McNaulty and Roosevelt almost broke by the time the clock reaches the hour of 1:00 A.M. Van Horne’s table tells a similar story, with neither Masterson or Morand not playing particularly well but better than their opponents. At a quarter to one the game finally becomes interesting as the pot grows to several hundred dollars and then over a thousand. Berwind and Spaulding each bet their remaining chips on this hand and Fisk puts in half of what he has left. All three of those men have good hands, a flush for Berwind, a straight for Spaulding and a full house for Fisk, but Masterson manages to take the pot with a quartet of fours. The reporters soon become disappointed with watching the boring play taking place at Isaac Steven’s table. Each pot tends to rise to amounts ranging from $ 200 to $ 400 however none of the players fall into any sort of streak with all six players winning an equal number of hands. By 1:00 AM both Maverick and Lumbley appear to have done the best during the previous ninety-minutes but not by any significant amount while Mr. Muratz is no longer having the success that he did earlier in the day. Shortly after midnight the table that the reporters shifted their attention to was the one run by Bradford Rhinehardt. Having spent from 10:00 PM until just before midnight primarily observing his opponents the gambler Brady Hawkes decides to now give Moria Enion a run for her money and the table quickly turns into a duel between the two of them. They all but ignore their other four opponents who all continue to lose hand-after-hand to the two professionals. Both Franklin and Spinner’s games have taken a definite downturn following the forced removal of Mr. Enoch. Chester says to Jeff, "Seems like Enoch was helping more than just Mr. Franklin." Hawkes continues to take sixty-percent of the hands for the midnight to 1:00 hour with Enion taking the other forty-percent, eliminating Willie Spinner from the game and leaving Franklin, Hearst and Thompson each down to their final few hundred. Rhinehard’s table continues with the competition between Hawkes and Enion. The female gambler now wins sixty-percent of the hands to Haekes’s forty-percent at the exclusion of the other gamblers. Hearst goes broke at 1:30 AM and Thomson is eliminated fifteen minutes later. Jim Franklin bets his last remaining money on the final hand of the night, which he surprisingly wins, ending up with $ 1,100 to the $ 8,300 for Hawkes and $ 8,850 for Enion. At Van Horne’s table former Governor Safford manages to hit upon a winning streak at the expense of both Fisk and Morand. Fisk is eliminated from the tournament at 2:15 A.M. The evening ends with almost equal piles of chips in front of Masterson, Morand and Safford that appear to be around $ 7,000 plus or minus $ 500. Over at Isaac Stevens table Burton Lumley goes on a losing streak that becomes exacerbated when both Adair and Ivers keep raising the pot, with Lumley going along in hopes of regaining his previous winnings only to have cards not quite as good as the others. At 2:00 AM he bets very big on a hand of four Queens, only to lose to four Kings held by Ivers. Dano and Muratz also do poorly in the final hour of the game. At 2:15 AM Lumley looses his remaining money. The night ends with Adair at over $ 10,000, Maverick at $ 8,200, Ivers at $ 4,600, Muratz at $ 3,000 and Dano a distant $ 1,900. Like Steven’s table, Kane’s table evolves into a two-person duel, this one between Silver Jake Cook and Commodore James Duvall. Theodore Roosevelt is eliminated at 1:15 AM, Conrad Booth is eliminated at 2:00 AM and Torvald McNaulty is eliminated at 2:15 AM. Cook wins the final three hands of the night, ending at over $ 11,000 to Duvall’s chip pile of approximately $ 7,500. Host Cornelius Van Horne declares the games over for the night, to resume at 12:00 noon on Sunday. With thirteen players remaining he states that there will be three tables when they resume. Van Horne thanks Bradford Rhinehardt for his services at the tournament. The large man then says that when they resume each player will be with a dealer who they haven’t played with yet during the tournament. He also declares that bronze chips will be taken out of play and will be available on Sunday for souvenirs at twenty-five cents apiece. The minimum ante when they resume will be a silver poker chip. Jake stands and stretches as the last hand of his table finishes. The young gambler was pleased with how the night went. He did not have to play too rough, and although he did not count chips he knows he came out at the end of the evening as one of the leaders for the day. He sought out Bradford Rhinehardt. "Well done there, Master Rhinehardt, very well done. I do not see why Van Horne relieved you for tomorrow but all the better for me. If you were still dealing it would not be proper for me to be seen speaking too much with you." Jake's grin grows broad. "I could not be more pleased. I am in good position and have kept most of my tricks and style to myself. It feels good, Branford, it feels mighty good. There are some fine gamblers here, but I do believe I am capable to take it all. Hermes willing of course." Bradford replies, "Well Jake, it is good to be back in your life and I wish you luck tomorrow. I too am sorry that I won't be dealing, I could have used the money. The thousand from today will be nice but another thousand for tomorrow would have helped even more." Bradford sits down at the bar with Jake and has Harry get him a whiskey. The saloon is clearing out and he says, "And since I am no longer dealing I guess I can tell you that of the players who were at my table today three will be a challenge for you tomorrow, Adair, Enion and Hawkes. I wouldn't be surprised if the final comes down to the four of you. As far as pure skill is concerned I would say that Hawkes is the best, he didn't get the nickname of 'The Gambler' for nothing. But he's getting on in years now so that might work against him in a long haul game, I noticed his energy starting to fade after 1:00 AM." "That is about time when I am just getting going," Jake laughs. They chat for a few minutes and then Jake suggests that he find a quiet place away from the Lucky Lady for a bit, Jake even offers a room at his house down the street. "I have a feeling there is a bit of dangerous work still to do here, and I would not see you harmed over something you have no part in." After he is done with Bradford, Jake gets his weapons back. It feels strangely comforting. He loads his Colt with Pierre's exchanged rounds and then sits at the bar slowly enjoying a bourbon while waiting for the coming storm.</blockquote>

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