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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3951641" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred-forty-four, “The Poker Tournament Resumes” , Monday, June 19th, 5:15 P.M. Kate regretfully left the tub, but the time of quiet relaxation stayed with her. She put on the soft green dress she'd brought with her, the last new one from Boston. This one featured the v-shaped neckline that the dress she'd worn in New York had, and the same sort of white gauze to make it decent. The style was simplicity itself with only a small bustle and no frills or ruffles. Those just served to distract from poor dressmaking anyway. She pinned up some of her damp hair but left most of it to hang loose down her back. Once she was dressed and ready she went over to the Lucky Lady to see how things stood. The tournament is fifteen minutes away from resuming. A single table has been set up for the four remaining participants. The saloon is even more crowded than usual, as there is nothing else newsworthy for the visiting reporters to do while the jury is in their deliberations so they have come to the tournament to cover it. Kate notes a pair of men over near the kitchen door at one of the smaller tables. One is a handsome man of around thirty wearing a light green suit. The other is an older man, maybe around forty-five or so, and about twenty pounds heavier than his companion. What jumps out in Kate's mind is that the two strangers both have guns in their gun belts rather than having checked them at the door. Kate walked casually over to the bar where Jeff Mills was serving drinks and keeping an eye on the door and the other security people. "Jeff, those two men at the table near the kitchen... they're still armed?" Jeff replies, "Yes, they're Federal agents. They've been here in Promise City before, last summer when the James Gang robbed the town they conducted the investigation. They've already spoken to Mr. Van Horne and he's allowed them to keep their weapons." "Federal agents?" Kate looked at them again. "Usually I'm pretty well informed about what's going on, but this time I'm lost. To do with Mr. Earp, perhaps?" Jeff replies, "I imagine, I wasn't going to ask. I've had enough difficulties of my own with the United State government over the years to want to draw their attention to me. As long as they're not here to arrest me I'll give them plenty of distance." She says, "Wise words, I'll do the same. I won't be here long anyway, I have a party to go to at the El Parador. Edwin Booth will be leaving tomorrow and we're giving him a send off." She looked around the room and saw Ginnie hurrying from table to table. "Do you need a hand while I'm here or are you all set?" “All set”, is the reply. Virgil Earp and Bat Masterson enter the Lucky Lady together, checking their guns at the bar, and then heading over to the bar for drinks. Kate stiffened when Virgil Earp came in, but also realized she hadn't left word about how much or where the horses were. Jeff asked the men what they wanted, and as he filled their orders Kate kept talking to Jeff, saying, "I brought a couple horses into town from the ranch, thinking with so many people in town I might be able to sell a few, but I suppose with Drover's here that's not likely. Good animals, probably worth a good $150 apiece. I might just end up trotting them back out to the ranch in the morning." Virgil Earp heads across the room to speak to one of the newspaper reporters. Masterson shifts over to the barstool near Kate. He asks Jeff for a shot from a bottle on the counter behind him. While Jeff's back is turned he casually slides some bills folded together over to Kate. Kate nonchalantly picked up the money and tucked it up her sleeve. As Jeff turned around to bring the shot she added, "Of course, tomorrow is election day so I probably won't be able to get out of town. But Dorita won't mind me taking up a couple stalls for an extra day." Masterson casually heads away from the table and heads over to Virgil Earp. The two depart. Evan Adair arrives with a woman on each arm, the females being Annie Lambert and Fannie Mitchum who both worked upstairs at the Palace. Each has a large glass of ice water in their free hand. Adair takes his place at the table while the ladies pull up chairs behind him. "That man," Kate said, shaking her head. "I've half a mind to get a bigger glass and stand behind him." She smiled again at Jeff and wandered off into the crowd. Chester and Clarisse walk into the Lucky Lady. They come over to Kate. Chester says, "Afternoon, Kate. Did you hear? The jury is deciding Wyatt Earp's fate now. I thought Behan would have called more witnesses." Chester shrugs his shoulders. She replies, "I was there during Mr. Behan's cross-examination. Revealing Mr. Earp's relationship with Miss Marcus seemed to throw him off. And I doubt there were many witnesses he could call if no one really saw anything. I'll just be glad when this is all over." Chester replies, "Me too. Having him in our jail will attract the remaining Cowboy Gang members. If there are any left. I didn't know he told Behan about Miss Marcus. But if it put the Sheriff off-balance, then it was worth, it I guess." Clarisse says, "Hello, Mrs. Kale. How are you?" "Very well, Miss Townsend. Thank you," Kate smiled. "Mrs. Fly was happy to spend some time with your sewing circle before she left for Los Angeles." Clarisse smiles back. "That is wonderful. Mrs. Fly had some very handy tips and was a very good conversationalist. She had nothing but good things to say about you. I'm sorry I didn't see her go." Kate says, “She was a lovely guest to have, I'll miss her." "Clarisse nods and says, "It must be tough. So many of your friends have gone away. But you can still make new ones." She turned to Chester and added, "Let us hope the jury does their duty quickly and we can get him moved, whatever the verdict." Just then Mr. Van Horne entered to get things started. "If you get tired of the tournament, Chester, come over to the El Parador later. There'll be a party there tonight. I won't be here much longer myself. Enjoy yourselves," Kate said with a smile and then moved through the room. He says, "Thanks Kate. We'll see you later." They find a seat with a good view of the table. Chester orders a beer, Clarisse has a water. Her eyes fell on Sandra Wainwright and she hurried over. "Escaping the relations?" she asked quietly. Sandra says "Absolutely. I was almost hoping to have been chosen for that jury just to get out of having to be around them. Thankfully they will be leaving tomorrow." Kate asks, "Did you work out that inheritance mess?" She replies, "Yes, as it wasn't a conflict of interest with his Marshal duties Attorney Berg was able to represent myself and Don. He made sure that a fair settlement was reached." "Good, I'm glad it's all settled and you can get your life back again." Kate paused, then said, "Tomorrow is going to be busy, but maybe in a day or two we can make time for a visit? I need to talk through some things, and I need to look over your music and see what's new." Sandra indicates that would be wonderful, that she has nothing particular planned other than casting her ballot. "Thank you," she answered warmly. "I should get going, I suppose. Vera Blake is having a small gathering that Emery Shaw wanted me to stop by at and then I have to be at the El Parador. Always too much to do. Feel free to come by the Cantina later if you like, it's a party for Estaban if he makes it out of the jury room, and for Edwin Booth no matter what." Still curious about the federal agents, Kate finally decided it was time to go and headed toward Vera Blake's. If nothing else perhaps she could reschedule yet again with Austin Blake to come out to the ranch. When Jake arrived Kate managed to get near him before he sat down and said quietly. "I talked to Job today. Apparently some of his recent decisions weren't of his own free will. Kevin Tomlinson is looking to see if anything can be done legally to reverse them." Jake says, "Thank you. I was going to approach him as I began to suspect the same today." Jake gives her a smirk, "While Tomlinson looks into legal remedies, Jake will examine more creative means. Wish me luck." He leaves her with a broad smile and takes his seat at the table. Brett Maverick arrives promptly at 5:30 P.M. Cornelius Van Horne enters the room. He states "Welcome back to our third consecutive evening of the poker tournament. I anticipate that due to the success we may make this an annual occurrence. As our Hostess Miss Peacock is preoccupied with doing her civic duty I will be acting as Host, so Mr. Isaac Stevens will deal for the indefinite future. Mr. Stevens, you may begin at your leisure." Van Horne announces that they will play for the next four hours, or break earlier if the Earp jury returns sooner with a verdict as he anticipates the reporters would return there and would like to have them present at the tournament as well. The minimum ante is now set at $ 200. The fresh deck of cards is opened and they are dealt out to the players. Kate arrived outside of Drover’s Hotel and hesitated, quite aware the she had not been invited by Mrs. Blake herself. But it was a public place after all. She took a deep breath and went inside. Vera ushers Kate over. Kate sees that all of the Unity Party candidates are present except for Chester. Also present are most of the Wells Fargo and Morand Cartage employees. "You're very kind," Kate said as Vera welcomed her. Usually Kate would have gone right over to Emery Shaw, but tonight she did not, instead seeking out Austin Blake. Blake greets her and states, "Well then, it is nice to see you Mrs. Kale. I trust that you've been rather busy these days, it's been a while." Kate says, "Busier than you could imagine. I'm so sorry about the last time we were supposed to meet. I did send word from Dos Cabezas. I was on ranch business and taken ill; I ended up spending the night there. I suppose if I spent a little more time relaxing I might not have gotten sick in the first place." He replies, "It is not a problem, we've been rather busy ourselves what with Vera's election campaign. Originally Mrs. Barker was going to spend a lot of time helping her but her Deputy duties have taken priority so I've had to pick up the slack." Kate says, "The last two weeks have been busy for the deputies. It's a shame Mrs. Barker was pulled away though, I know she feels very strongly about this election and your wife's candidacy. I'm sure you've been up to the task though. Well, after the elections are over and things have settled again we can try to reschedule our tour. How do you think things will fall out tomorrow? I don't always get a good picture of how the town feels." Austin says, "I think Ashley King's antics may have doomed the Law and Order party but this Earp trial may come back to help them depending upon what the final verdict is. When Chumbley was getting our text for his pre-election edition of the Mirror coming out tonight he let it slip that Frank Condon gave him text for two different advertisements depending upon whether a verdict comes in before press time or not." Kate says, "Let us hope that the verdict doesn't come back before most of the votes have been cast, then. I was there at the end of trial but I didn't get any feeling for which way it would go. In fact, it felt like it was going to be a struggle between the jurors. She then asks, “How about the Liberty Party's chances?" He replies, "Hard to say. Ever since Earp was caught they've had rather large crowds at their headquarters, but most of that was for the free alcohol so it is difficult to say if that will translate into actual votes for their party." "If their hangovers are bad enough maybe they won't show up at all," Kate said lightly. "Although I wouldn't put it past Adair and Fisk to water their drinks. I imagine the crowds are larger since any number of their supporters were once part of the Cowboy Gang." He replies, "Yes, and while Earp was hunting anybody associated with that Gang they stayed away for their own safety, but once he was caught they started to congregate there again." "I don't approve of how he was doing it, but Earp at least kept them away," She sighed. "I know the incorporation is a good thing, and more necessary the more we grow, but it's a bit frightening. A lot of things will change, and one of the things I love about this place is the freedom. Not Fisk and Adair's kind, but I'm sure you know what I mean." "Yes, I know exactly what you mean," he replies. Kris Wagner of Wells Fargo, one of the replacement sponsors for Hoover School, stops by to ask Kate how things at the school are going. Kate chatted with Mr. Wagner for a few minutes, telling him about their recent speakers and how well the students were settling in. She mentioned the new portrait of Mr. Hoover that was now at the school and mentioned that Mr. Stevens daughters had started today. "It's almost time for our next meeting with our sponsors, although I've heard some talk of consolidating schools after the election." Wagner replies, "Yes, but before that happens I was curious if I could take a crack at teaching. I would like to explain to them the principles of operating a business as well as some history about Wells Fargo itself." Kate says, "That would fit in quite well with some plans I have. I want to take the older students to businesses in town so they could see what kind of careers are available here and what's involved in following them. I can't see any reason you couldn't come into the class and talk to the students. What made you think of it, if I may ask?" He replies, "My sons Luke and Jacob told me how much they enjoyed Mr. Caudell's presentation today. Tomorrow will be a rather busy day due to my company having to provide transportation out of town for all of the reporters and tournament participants so I couldn't fit it in then, but how about Wednesday?" She says, "Wednesday would be just fine. I'm sure it will be a thrill for your boys to see their father in the front of the class." He replies, "Well then, I will look forward to it. I might bring Chuck Nevers with me too, since his daughter Gina is enrolled too. He could tell your class some interesting stories from his many years as a driver. Did you know he started out here in the west as a boy back with the Pony Express?" She says, "I didn't. Riding the Pony Express was quite dangerous, was it not?" Wagner replies, "Very, especially for Chuck as he was only eleven at the time. He has some very colorful stories about that." "Well, nothing too colorful on Wednesday, some of the children are still quite young," she said with a smile. "I, on the other hand, would enjoy hearing a few some day soon. Eleven is young to be on your own working." He replies, "Indeed it is, but hardly unusual out here in the west. Our mutual friend Jeff Mills found himself growing up at a very young age as well." "Yes, Jeff has told us his story as well. My girl Ginnie was in a similar situation. She doesn't have to be a grown-up now, but she is so used to caring for herself that I have to allow her a certain amount of independence. She would chafe under the usual rules for a girl her age. It's a foreign thing to me; my life as a young girl was so different." Kate chatted a few more minutes with Mr. Wagner, then moved around the room saying hello to the others there and wishing good luck to everyone tomorrow. They would be expecting her at the El Parador soon, but it would be rude to leave without speaking to Emery. She went over and said, "Thank you for inviting me to drop by, I had a chance to talk to some people I don't often see." Shaw chats with her for a few minutes and then excuses himself, heading back over to talk to some more potential voters. Kate went back over to Vera Blake and thanked her, then excused herself. It was rather nice to walk alone, and she didn't hurry on her way to the El Parador, even stopping in the stables to visit with Meribel for a few moments before she entered the Cantina. Back at the Lucky Lady, Maverick starts out strong and the pots remain high as all four players are not shy about participating. The winning of hands shifts around, with Maverick still dominating and Adair winning slightly more than Cook and Hawkes. By 6:30 PM Maverick is up $ 2500, Adair is up $ 1600, Cook is down $ 1900 and Hawkes is down $ 2200. For the next thirty minutes the losers from the first hour turn the tables on the other two and winning all six hands, with Hawkes taking four and Cook taking the other two. One of the Cook hands included high bets from Maverick and Hawkes and one of the Hawkes hands included high bets from Maverick and Cook.</blockquote>

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