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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3997371" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred-fifty-eight, “Kate and Manuel to the Rescue!” , Wednesday, June 21st, 4:30 A.M. Kate slept hard and no time seemed to pass before she was up again. The sun hadn't yet crossed the horizon when she dressed, putting on the violet day dress she'd worn in New York City with the thought that finery would add to any attempts she might have to make to intimidate Ruby's family. She finished by putting her hair in an elaborate up-do and made her way to her teacher's rooms at the El Parador. As she makes her way through the El Parador lobby she notes that Manuel Escobar's son Enrico is cuddled into the corner with a female wood elf who has been around town since Anita Ramirez's wedding but hasn't been formally introduced to yet. They appear to both be asleep and somebody has draped a blanket over them. The clock in the Cantina now reads 4:45 AM. Kate shook her head and passed as quietly as she could. It must have been a good party after she left. Her feet went easily up the familiar stairs until she reached Mr. Gonzales mundane room. She made sure there was no one in the hallway before opening it and going on inside, then into the magical rooms. She hears Gonzales busy inside of his workroom. She went into the room, careful to make enough noise that she wouldn't startle him. "Good morning, Grandfather. I hope you got enough sleep. Enrico Escobar is still downstairs asleep with some young lady I don't know. It must have been some party down there." He says, "Dorita outdid herself. She figured since it was the last night before any of the new Town Council's restrictions that she needed to make the most of it." He then says, "I have packed a satchel with a number of different things and have studied a variety of spells, not knowing exactly what we will need." Kate says, "I don't have that many choices, it didn't take long for me to study what we needed. I'm sorry to have missed the big party. But there are three saloon owners on the council, I doubt the restrictions will be severe. Mostly noise restrictions, I imagine." He answers, “Yes, but Dorita is one to be skeptical. Besides, Manny Escobar making it onto the Council, and with the highest number of votes, was reason enough for a party. I'm not surprised that his son overindulged. Most likely his parents headed home before he passed out, otherwise they would probably not have left him here." She says, "Hmm, probably not. Well, someone put a blanket over them and they look comfortable enough. I considered waking them, but it seemed a bit cruel. Just because we're up before the sun doesn't mean everyone else has to be." He says, "We'll be leaving here at 5:00 AM which means that it will be arriving at around 7:00 AM in Rochester. The sun will be up and people may be about, so we'll have to be alert when we arrive. However, where we are going is now posted as private property and with the lake drained there won't be any fishermen or hunters around, so it should be deserted. Still, be on alert. Are you ready?" She nodded. "I'm ready. And I'll keep my eyes open." Kate stepped over to the brazier. "I think this is the first time just the two of us have traveled. It seems strange." He says, "We will be a trio very soon." He gets the brazier set up and the powder. They follow the usual routine as he sprinkles the powder in the flame and holds out his hands. She grasps his hands and they disappear. They arrive in the middle of a forest. The temperature is fifteen degrees cooler than it was in Arizona and the sun is just starting to shine down. Their arrival startles a nearby white-tailed deer that quickly scampers off. Gonzales says "Good, that deer wouldn't have been here if any other people were around." "Oh, sometimes I miss trees," Kate said, looking up at the new spring leaves above the with the sun just coming up. "But I don't miss the cold. I should have brought a shawl. Do you which way to go now?" He says, "Yes, we're going to that store we viewed last night. The owner knows me as Miguel Perez. He believes that my son-in-law is humans so we'll say that you are my son-in-law's sister. What name would you like to be introduced as?" She says, "Hmm, how about Elizabeth Elliot? I might actually be able to remember it, and if I don't answer to it for some reason I can just pretend I really go by one of the ten other nicknames people use for Elizabeth." He says, "Okay, but my son-in-law has the last name of Brothers, so you can be Elizabeth Elliot Brothers or Elizabeth Brothers Elliot depending upon what you want your marital status to be." She says, "Oh, just Brothers is fine. I'm finally getting used to being unmarried again, so I'll be a single girl. I didn't realize I didn't need a last name too. I'll save that one for another time." They make their way to the shop and enter. It is a standard county general store, perhaps a little dustier than Kate is used to, but otherwise not that different than the one owned by Judge Lacey in Promise City. The owner looks up from reading a newspaper and exclaims, "Miguel! It is good to see you again! I was afraid that after the trouble with the Sheriff I wouldn't be seeing you again." Miguel replies, "No, just haven't been in this area lately Mal. I was hoping that you could help us out, oh, this is Elizabeth Brothers, my son-in-law's sister." The man replies, "What can I do for you?" Miguel says, "We're stranded. We were camped over near Round Pond last night and have business today in the city, expect that worthless son-in-law of mine never came to pick us up. He's probably off fishing somewhere and lost track of the time. I was wondering if you could give us a ride into town." The store owner replies, "Sorry, I'm afraid not. Today will be a busy day for a change. They're planning to drill down until they hit water and refill the lake. Lots of folks are coming to watch so I should do pretty good business." Miguel says, "Good, and with the Lake filled you might get some fishermen again." The owner replies, "Only if Eastman allows it, he hasn't taken down the signs telling people to stay away yet, and may not." Miguel says, "Well, if you're going to be here and not using your horse and wagon perhaps we could rent them from you." The store owner smiles and says, "I could probably arrange that. How does $ 5 sound?" Miguel says, "I was thinking more like $ 2." Haynes replies, "Split the difference then and say $ 4.50." Miguel answers, "How is that splitting the difference? The mid-point would be $ 3.50." Haynes replies, "Because they're my horse and wagon, that's why. Okay, I'll be generous, let's say $ 4 but I want them back by sunset." "Deal," says Miguel, and he hands over four $ 1 coins. Kate had stood back, her eyes cast down and her hands twisted together below her waist. "My brother is not so very bad. Surely we may even return the wagon early, for he will surely come for us, Sir, and pay you back the cost of renting it," she said innocently with hardly a hint of her own accent. Miguel says, "You always make excuses for him. Come now Elizabeth, we will be late if we keep dallying." Malachi Haynes leads them outside and over to his 'barn', which is no more than a falling-apart tin extension onto the rear of the house. Inside is a wagon and a makeshift horse stall with a draft horse that Kate quickly examines. She determine the mare's age to be in the early-thirties which is older than most draft animals live to. She initially questions if hauling the two of them a few miles might be too much effort for this ancient beast. But once he has the wagon hooked up the animal acts like it is anxious to go. Haynes says "You all take good care of Julia. There's a bag of oats in the wagon, be sure to feed her once you reach where you're going." Kate says, "I will be sure to, Sir. She is doing us a great favor, thank you, Sir." She climbed awkwardly into the wagon with Miguel's help, and felt odd not to take the reins herself. Instead she casts her head shyly toward the ground and folded her hands in her lap. When her companion sat she whispered, "Julia is ancient, don't push her too hard." Gonzales replies, "We're on no timetable, as you indicated before, Ruby's life isn't at risk her, just her patience. Then again, with an impatient Ruby the lives of everybody else may be at risk." Kate stifled a chuckle. "We're here on a mission of mercy for more than just Ruby, then." The cart was going slowly forward, leaving Malachi Hayes behind. "There's no real hurry. They're discussing the school situation in the first council meeting today, and I'd hoped to talk to Doctor Eaton before then. Since I wasn't sure what to say anyway, it doesn't really matter. It seems dishonest to let them make decisions without knowing my condition, and yet I don't want them to know. The Doctor already knows and I have to wonder if he will mention it." She shrugged. "It doesn't really matter." Gonzales replies, 'Sure it matters, but I think your secrets are safe with the Doctor until you decide to share them on your own. He has knows for quite some time now and hasn't spread the information around." As they speak they continue traveling north at a leisurely pace on the country road. Kate says, "This is a rather nice ride, isn't it? I forget sometimes how much I love country like this. I just don't understand why I seem to want to do everything the hard way. I'd thought no one would ever believe the truth, and then Diana took care of that, but I still want to keep things quiet when there is really no reason to. I have these pictures in my mind of the faithful suddenly refusing to leave me alone," she said, shaking her head. "I'd have to flee to the ranch in self-defense." Gonzales replies, "Don't borrow trouble. If the Goddess herself chose to tell others of the special gift who are we to object to that." Kate says, "I've been strenuously objecting to the will of the gods most of my life. It's a hard habit to break." They rode quietly for a few minutes, Julie walking along contentedly and not showing any strain in pulling the two of them and the wagon. "Do we have any kind of plan when we arrive at this house?" As they ride into the city Gonzales replies, “Having this horse and wagon instead of just getting a ride into town as I had planned complicates things. Last night from the aerial view that house was on a residential street with other houses of similar construction on two-to-four acre lots. We’ll take a ride down that Street first to see if we can find a safe location to leave the horse and wagon.” Kate says, "That sounds reasonable. I gather the need for a second identity was only because your friend knew you as someone else. When we arrive at the house where Ruby is I assume we are just going to knock and ask to see her. Is that correct?" He says, "I'm not sure. When we are close I will do a scry again to determine exactly where Ruby is, and who else might be in the house. If either of her parents or Eastman are there we might have to take a more aggressive approach." Kate says, "Surely at least one of them will be there. Ruby would take being left alone as a chance to leave if she is there against her will. More aggressive how? You wouldn't harm anyone I know, and magic isn't a good idea." He replies, "There are a number of non-lethal spells available. Sleep, Hold Person, Levitate, Web, and a few others up my sleeve. We will have to play this one by ear. What I don't want to do is just go up to the door and cost us our element of surprise if we have to break her out of there." Kate says, "Sleep usually works quite well, and can be passed off as something else. I will follow your lead in this, as in everything," she said, trying to smile away nervousness. "And I shall try not to make too many mistakes, as in everything." He says, "Relax, the only one who I am worried about is Eastman. The Wests have never met either of us before, so would not know who we are. A key to this will be to make whatever we do look natural if at all possible. As for following my lead, don't hesitate to come up with your own suggestions, experience has shown you to be quite resourceful." She says, "Have no fear of my hesitation, I've grown too impulsive lately to hold back for long, Grandfather. And I have found many occasions to make a spell look as natural as possible. Sometimes I wonder what I got myself into, learning all this magic, but I wouldn't have it any other way." "Good," and with a smile he adds "I hope you still feel that way when the two of are get caught and are burned for being witches." Kate says, "If I expected that I wouldn't be here, I have someone else to protect, you know. I don't expect Diana to come down in a blaze of glory to save me, although I enjoy imagining the picture. We'll be well enough." Kate was quiet for a moment. "It will be fine," she said again as if to convince herself. They reach another road at the end of this road, this one being wider with actual traffic on it. They see they are on the outskirts of the city, with church steeples and the large mill buildings a few miles to the northeast. She took her cue from Mr. Gonzales and tried not to worry overmuch. The sun was full up now and warming the air, which was pleasant with the moisture that was lacking in Arizona. "Are there nothing but churches and mills here?" Kate asked lightly. "It looks like a busy city. How much farther do you think we have to go?" Gonzales replies, "Rochester is currently the twenty-first largest city in the United States. During the last decade it has become far more than just a mill community, with over a dozen large manufacturing facilities having risen up, including that of the aforementioned George Eastman." "We used to hear some terrible things about mills and factories. Beside his obsession with Ruby, Mr. Eastman seemed a good man. I hope his factory is a better place. I wish I'd paid more attention to my father's business, I might know better. In some ways it's as new a city as those out west, I imagine." They continue on into more crowded neighborhoods. It is still fairly early in the morning and there are not that many people about. Kate sees that a trolley is running along a track a few blocks to the north. Gonzales continues to navigate they through the streets, based upon the scry from the previous night. Kate notes that it looks quite different from the view from the ground by day than from above by night. She says, "How will we find a place to sneak a look at Ruby? It's a great deal more crowded than it looked last night, although I suppose there are less people running around in the darkness." The reach the end of the street. The houses are neatly laid out on both sides, five on the left and four on the right. Gonzales points to a horse drawn wagon along the side of the street half-way up and says, “Stop here, we’re in luck.” She sees a man in work clothes carrying a metal rack with empty bottles returning to the truck from one of the houses. He says, “That’s a milkman, he’s delivering milk. Let’s just watch for a few minutes.” Kate watched, but she wasn't sure what for. "How are we in luck?" They wait and see that he has delivered milk to the first six house, he then skips the seventh and continues to deliver to the eighth and ninth before riding to the end of the street and turning left. Gonzales says, “Ride to the house that got no delivery and head to the carriage house at the end of that drive. Act like we belong there. If anybody stops to question us we’ll say we were hired by the grounds man. If that cover doesn’t work we’ll just pretend we got the address wrong and apologize.” Kate says, "I'm rather overdressed to be a hired girl of any kind, but I doubt that would really be noticed." She clicked her tongue to Julia and the horse started toward the drive. "Why do you think the house that got no delivery would be the one we want?" He replies, "It isn't, it is adjacent to the one we want and the owners do not appear to be home. With some luck we will be able to secure the animal and wagon there, survey the situation, and plan our approach." She says, "My head is thick as mud this morning, Grandpere. I understand." Sitting up straight and confident Kate directed the horse up the empty drive. They enter the drive. The drapes on all of the house windows are drawn. They proceed down the driveway and Kate notices the carriage house door is closed with a padlock over the door latch. Gonzales exits and goes to the lock. He then casts a spell and the padlock opens. He removes the lock, telling Kate have the horse walk around in the driveway and then help him back the wagon inside, as they will want to be facing out if they have to make a quick exit. Feeling more in her element Kate did as instructed, lining the wagon up with the end straight toward the open carriage house door. Another click of the tongue and Julia began to walk slowly backward, a bit surprised but perfectly willing. Once inside he says, “Okay, why don’t you feed the horse. I’ll fetch some water for it from the well.” Next he hands her a rack and some gardening tools stacked along the far wall and says, “Let’s go do some gardening, that should elevate suspicions of any neighbors who saw us arrive. There is a birdbath in the side yard that I can cast my Reflecting Pool spell into for another scry of Ruby’s exact whereabouts at the moment.” "You want me to destroy some poor woman's flowerbeds? I'll feed the horse and then set about it. I really should have worn something else." Kate got Julia's feedbag and gave her the oats, taking a moment to rub the old mare's nose. "You're a good old girl, you should be out in some green pasture taking your ease." Once the mare had eaten enough she removed the bag so she would be able to drink and went into the gardens to attempt to look useful while not destroying anything.</blockquote>

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