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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3964395" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred-forty-nine, “Town Elections Begin” , Tuesday, June 20th, 12:30 A.M. Jake approaches the bar and refreshed his bourbon. He hands Gonzalez five dollars. "The McCoys seem very pleased to have the tyranny of Adair removed from their lives. That is repayment for the money you spent for the call. A man should pay the debts that he can, makes him feel good." Jake pauses and sips his drink. "They seem like nice folks. It must make you feel good to help them out." Jake pauses again, this time a little longer. "Gracias, Senor." Gonzales says, "From what I've heard they are good folks, the only thing I could never figure out before is why they were working for Adair. It looks like most of the old guard at the Palace is gone, no more Adair, no Nick Karp, no Bob Skull, no Kitty Trent, no Dave Carleen. All that you have left are the McCoys and some of the working girls...oh, and your security man Tim Finnegan also knows the operations there. Good luck with your new investment Mr. Cook." "I will see how fast we can put things right there. Seems only fair we get those good people back to work." Jake shrugs. "Folks may not recognize the town when all is done." He chuckles, pats the 'young' elf on the arm and goes about getting ready for the next round. Once the game starts, Jake switches styles and plays aggressively right from the start. Jake attempts to change the pace of the game, which Hawkes greatly appreciates and Maverick reluctantly goes along with. Unfortunately for both Jake and Maverick they soon realize why Hawkes is known as 'The Gambler', as by 2:30 AM he has increased his fortune by $ 4800 in that seventy-five minute period while Cook is down $ 2800 and Maverick is down $ 2000. Undaunted and still keen play, Jake continues at his best. Although he has not shown signs of fatigue yet, Hawkes did get tired last time and Jake continues to push hard. Hawkes continues to play strong, winning five of the next seven hands with the other two each winning only one, Hawkes moving another $ 3,000 ahead with $ 1,800 having come from Cook and $ 1,200 from Maverick. By 3:15 A.M. Hawkes has amassed a pile of chips totaling $ 26,100, more than the combined total of his two opponents with Cook now down to $ 12,000 and Maverick at $ 10,800. Maverick and Cook catch each other's eyes when the same thought seems to simultaneously strike them both, that the previous night's fatigue may have all been a ruse to lead them both into a false sense of security tonight. Although he admires the old man's play, Jake is hardly one to give up. He continues on, attempting to shift styles and be somewhat less predictable. He is quite willing to mix it up with some daring play between good hands and some carefully chosen bluffs. He has not given up winning the tournament, but is keenly aware that second place is better than third. Hawkes wins two more hands and then there is a noticeable change in his posture and attention span, as the adrenaline rush that has been holding him for a few hours finally wears off. He loses every hand for the next half hour and when dealer Isaac Stevens calls for a five-minute outhouse break Hawkes actually falls asleep at the table. All Jake can do is laugh and shake his head at Hawkes. He takes the outhouse break, followed by some coffee with a bourbon kicker. Mr. Hawkes apparent lapse is just enough to have the reverse affect on Silver Jake Cook. There is a short debate as to whether to wake up Hawkes or to just put in his ante per hand. Maverick says, "Cook, remind me to never find myself in this situation. I'll be like my Pappy, and hang up the cards when I reach that time. Then again, my Pappy decided that the thing to do upon retirement was to marry a young southern belle, whose family then tried to murder him, so maybe I'll go a different route." Jake chuckles at that. "If you ask me, he only traded one game of chance for another. Marriage is the only game of chance I know of where both people can lose." They have Hostess Peacock discreetly wake him with her pretending to ask for a drink order and the game resumes. "Oh he didn't actually marry her, they just got engaged. It seems there was still an old Louisiana law on the books that said if a betrothed person died before the wedding the fiancé would inherit the fortune. But my brother Bart and I were able to trick them into revealing their plan, as I very much resemble my father greatly and a family friend was good at make-up." Two blocks to the east, Kate awakens and she senses movement. It is still dark outside and her magical light has gone out, but enough moonlight is coming though the windows for her to see that Conrad is searching in the dark for his clothing. "My dear?" she asked in a sleepy voice as she sat up. A moment later she cast a simple spell and a blue ball of light hovered in the center of the room. "I hate to think of waking in the morning without you here." He replies softly "And I hate to go, but it is nearly 5:00 A.M. Ginnie will awaken before either one of us and the building will then fill with teachers and students since this is a school day. It is best for you that I leave before the sun makes its way over the horizon." "I know." She slipped out of bed and pulled her pale blue dressing gown over her shoulders. "I think you may become fond of the ranch house; there would be no need to sneak out in the middle of the night there." Kate crossed the room in her bare feet and began buttoning his shirt as he pulled on his jacket. "I'll go down with you," she said softly. "Okay, let's be quiet." He finishes dressing and they head downstairs. She walks him to the back door. Kate kissed him one last time, a sleepy, content sort of kiss that was oddly tempting in its own way. "I wish I was going to get as much sleep as you will; I'll have to be up in a couple hours. Good night, my dear Conrad," she said and touched his face. "I love you." "I love you too," he replies as he walks away into the night. Kate closed and locked the door behind him. Even though he was hurrying away through the night she could still feel his presence hanging through the house, as if they could never be completely separated from one another again. When she reached her room she didn't bother putting on a nightgown or fixing her hair, climbing straight in to fall back asleep with the fading scent of his cologne tickling her nose. The sun rose not long after, and Kate didn't resist its call. What sleep she'd gotten had been more like a nap, which was probably better than sleeping half a night anyway. It took her longer than usual to fix her hair, pulling a brush through to untangle all the knots that had formed with her hair loose all night. She dressed simply and went downstairs and had breakfast with Ginnie. If the young girl had noticed anything she wasn't saying it, and the two had a simple breakfast before heading into the schoolroom to begin a very new day. At the Lucky Lady, the poker game resumes although from that point until the official break at 6:15 AM the barely conscious Hawkes only manages to win two hands. When Isaac Stevens had begun dealing for this session Van Horne had retired to upstairs to rest. He returns just before the break to get some coffee and survey the situation. Once the last hand is played he declares a forty-five minute break, that they will resume at 7:00 AM with him as the dealer. He states that they the ante now be $ 500 and that the $ 100 gold chips will now be retired, with the platinum chips now being the sole coins used, and that the gold coins will be available for sale at the bar for $ 5 each. Hawkes rises and heads out the door. Jonathan and Boston Harker count out money, converting the gold chips to platinum and rounding upward where needed. The coin count to resume now has Jake Cook back with a marginal lead with $ 17,500, Maverick at $ 16,500 and Hawkes slightly back at $ 15,000. At break, Jake orders up some breakfast to be ready in twenty minutes. He takes the intervening time to head back home, cleanup and change. He is pleased that his laundry is waiting for him, so he has another clean poker outfit to change into. Breakfast, coffee, and a short stroll to stretch his legs and clear his mind. No short naps for him, he has been awake for sixteen hours and has plenty of vigor and enthusiasm to go. When the time comes to start, Jake is waiting cheerfully. Not long before 7:00 AM Brett Maverick walks through the door. It appears that he has spent most of the break over at Johnson’s Barber and Baths as his hair is still wet from the bath, he is freshly shaved and is attired in new clothing. He has in his hand a boxed breakfast from one of the restaurants in town which he sits and proceeds to eat at an adjacent table to the one set up for the game As the 7:00 AM hour is reached Brady Hawkes is still absent. Cornelius Van Horne cracks open the seal on a fresh package of playing cards and begins the game promptly on time with the two players present, putting a $ 500 coin into the ante from Mr. Hawkes pile. Cook wins the initial hand. Hawkes is still absent for the second hand which is won by Maverick, now putting them each $ 500 ahead with the new totals of $ 14,000 for Hawkes, $ 17,000 for Maverick and $ 18,000 for Cook. Jake says aloud to no one in particular, "I wonder if Mr. Hawkes is returning. Would be a shame to finish without him. I expect he hoped to have won the game before the Earp trial finished. He must be concerned for his friend, but it is questionable how he would hold out travelling today and further exacerbating his lack of proper rest." He shrugs. "Time will tell." Hawkes finally arrives. He is still attired in the same suit and vest as before but now has on a fresh shirt. He also appears less fatigued and Jake notes that young Gonzales gives the man close scrutiny to determine that magic was not responsible. Just as Hawkes sits down the short bespeckled Walter O’Reilly of the Promise City Restaurant enters the building with an empty mug and large pot of steaming coffee that he puts before Hawkes along with a china sugar cup. Hawkes pours a mug of the coffee, which has a much thicker consistency than Jake would normally drink and a very strong aroma and then stirs in two heaping spoonfuls of sugar. Now that all players are present Van Horne announces that the next break will be at noon, provided that the game is still going on then. Jake nods and motions for them to begin again. On the way into the schoolroom Ginnie looks at Kate and says, "So when's the wedding? And by the way, it took you long enough." Kate stumbled a bit and turned bright red, then pulled Ginnie back into the kitchen. "I, I... I'm sorry to have disturbed you last night," Kate stammered. "Any wedding will happen sometime in the future. For now we're content as we are." Ginnie mutters, "Took you long enough. It doesn't bother me personally, but as a school teacher you might want to want to be careful in the future." "He was gone long before the sun came up, Ginnie," she said, still red-faced with embarrassment. Kate stayed in the kitchen for a few more minutes until her face returned to its normal color. She'd known full-well last night that Ginnie might realize what was going on. And while they'd been as discrete as possible the girl was right; her house wasn't the best place for them to meet. But those thoughts weren't for now. This morning she still felt wonderful and went out into the schoolroom humming under her breath. Meghan and Mollie arrived not long after Kate finally pulled herself together enough to enter the schoolroom, and the day began much like any other. After the students were settled Kate told them all together that this morning would be a little different, as each of the teachers would be leaving for a little while to cast their votes. Judge Isby, Kevin Tomlinson and Nate Cuadell arrive early at the Promise City Town Hall to set it up for the town election. They have with them the ballot box, made of thick wood with an iron padlock fastened over the latch, with a slot on top to insert the ballots. They fasten to the front door the sample ballot and directions for voting that had appeared in the previous day's Promise City Mirror except for Evan Adair and Prosper McCoy whose names still appear but have been crossed out. The ballot reads: Straight Ticket (either vote for one or vote for individual candidates) _____Freedom Party _____Law and Order Party _____Unity Party: (straight ticket voters stop here) Mayor (vote for one): _____Frank Condon (Law & Order) _____Hamiliton Fisk (Freedom) _____Emery Shaw (Unity) Town Marshal (vote for one): _____Hank Hill (Independent) _____Moss Johnson (Law & Order) _____Chester Martin (Unity) Town Council (vote for no more than five): _____Vera Blake (Unity) _____Morgan Condon (Law & Order) _____Zebadiah Cook (Law & Order) _____Tector Driscoll (Freedom) _____James Eaton (Law & Order) _____Manuel Escobar (Unity) _____Estaban Fuente (Independent) _____Vidkin Gerhardtsohn (Unity) _____Tim Gorch (Freedom) _____Kate Higgins (Freedom) _____Judge Lacy (Unity) _____Steve Lord (Freedom) _____Burton Lumley (Independent) _____Calvin Oldfield (Law & Order) _____Jeremiah Peck (Independent) _____Joseph Riser (Unity) _____Elihu Upton (Independent) _____Dennis Winston (Law & Order)</blockquote>

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