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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 4000463" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred-fifty-nine, “The Unwanted Rescue of Ruby West” , Wednesday, June 21st, 8:00 A.M. Gonzales begins the spell and the water takes on the appearance of a darkened room. As the light adjusts he and Kate see the image of Ruby lying in bed asleep with George Eastman. Kate's eyes went wide and she quickly turned around, red-faced. There were some things she didn't need to see. She cleared her throat and said, "Ah, she doesn't appear to be in any distress." Gonzales says, "Unless he forced her into this situation. Let's see who else is in the house." He waves his hands and adjusts the scene, going out of that room and scanning the rest of the building. Another man is sleeping upstairs on the third floor and an older couple are eating breakfast together in a small dining room off from the first floor kitchen. Gonzales says, "Okay, the front hallway to the stairs is clear and nobody else appears to be on the second floor. Let's just try to go in quietly, head up the stairs and get her." Kate says, "If they're holding her prisoner enough to make... to make... Well, I think the place would be more heavily guarded. Let's take our chance while we have it and hope they're forgiving if we're wrong." They approach the building from the front door. Gonzales tells Kate "Pretend to knock on the door but don't actually connect, that way if any neighbors are watching it won't look suspicious." He casts another spell on the front door, unfastening the lock. They carefully open the door and quietly enter. Gonzales shuts but doesn't lock the door. They make their way across the room and up the stairs. He finds the bedroom door unlocked and opens it a crack, tossing in a 'Sleep' spell. He whispers to Kate "I tossed it on both of them. There's no point in having Ruby make a commotion and alert the others in the house." Kate says, "Good. She does tend to make a commotion, doesn't she?" Kate opened the door all the way and slipped inside, trying not to really look. She kept her voice to the barest whisper. Kate says, "She's going to need some clothes. I suggest we wake her, gently, otherwise we'll never get her out of the room. Unless you have a way of moving her?" He says, "Grab her that robe and that blanket. I'll cast both Invisibility and Levitate on her, then you should be able to easily guide her out, probably best that I not be poking at her in her present state of attire." Kate answers, "Probably." She grabbed the robe and blanket, and waited while Mr. Gonzales cast the levitate spell. Kate got the robe wrapped around Ruby and tied, then turned her body so she was upright and away from the bed. "Alright, invisibility whenever you're ready, I should be alright with her now." The spell is cast and Ruby vanishes along with the blanket. Gonzales and Kate make their way out the doorway and down the staircase. They exit the building, with him shutting and locking the door behind them. As casually as possible they head down the walk, go next door, and up the drive. Ruby is carefully placed down in the back of the wagon and he casts a Dispel Magic on her to cancel the levitation spell to keep her from floating away. But since a naked woman in the back of a wagon might attract attention he recasts another Invisibility onto her. Kate rides the horse out of the carriage house. Gonzales shuts the door and replaces the padlock. They turn left on the street and begin to ride off back to the southwest the way that they had come. Kate says, "That was just... strange. We should find a place and wake her. I want to make sure of things before we take her back to Promise City. She may not even want to go there, she may prefer Tucson first." Kate began looking for a quiet spot to go with the wagon. "We wouldn't be able to handle her when we returned the wagon anyway. Do you remember any likely spots?" He replies, "Let's just ride back. Once we get off the main streets and into the wooded path we can wake her then." Ruby awakens a short while later, noticing that the bed is shaking. She then realizes the bed is hard as a board and noisy. She opens her eyes and begins to take in her surroundings as Ruby finds herself wrapped in the blanket and in back of a moving wagon going slowly through the streets of Rochester. Two people are sitting up front on the buckboard of the wagon, their backs to her. Her first thoughts are Is this a dream? But the carriage hits a rock and Ruby bounces down hard into the wooden seat she realizes it isn't. She also realizes she has no clothes on so she grasps the blanket to her. Her next thought is that her father has kidnapped her, "You bastard! You finally did it!" which comes out as words spoken in anger while she is sitting up in the back of the cart. She exclaims loudly, "However much he paid you, you're going to sorely regret taking it when I'm through with you!" Kate whipped her head around. "Ruby, honey, hush, or we will get caught by whoever your father sent after you. Pull the robe around you." Ruby was about to start choking the person with the reins but is abruptly interrupted by Kate's voice. "Kate?" The disbelief very evident in her voice. "Katherine Kale, is that you?" Ruby doesn't wait for the answer but instead leans forward in the seat, enough to get a good look at her two kidnappers. "It IS you!" she says loudly, throwing her arms around Kate's neck. "What are you doing here!! I was going to wire you today! Oh, I've missed you so much!" Out of the corner of her eye she finds Mr. Gonzales as Kate's accomplice. "Mr. G? What in Hades is going on!! Why am I in the back of a carriage... naked at that?!?" Kate hurriedly passed the reins to her teacher since Ruby was clamped around her neck. "You're invisible, which is making me look very odd right now," Kate answered low. "I wrapped a robe around you, you shouldn't be... You were going to wire? They'd let you do that?" Ruby exclaims, "Who'd let me do what? Why wouldn't I be able to wire?" She looks back and forth between Kate and Gonzales. Kate says, "We checked in on you last night, Grandpere used a spell. We saw you with your parents and we knew you'd never be in their presence willingly. We'd have come for you last night only he'd used up all his spells." Ruby exclaims, "You were spying on me!?" They can't see her face but it's quiet for a long moment before Ruby burst out laughing. "I wonder how much you've seen? I've been busy the past bunch of days. I did see my parents last night. Oh Kate, I have SO much to tell you, you won't believe it! First tell me, how is everyone in Promise City? I've been dying to know and haven't heard from anyone." Kate says, "Ruby, wait. Are you telling me that your family did not drag you here? Where are you traveling companions? You were so worried they would find you!" Kate continued to keep her voice down and tried to look like she was talking to the driver of the wagon rather than the invisible person in the wagon bed. Ruby sighs. "It's a super long story Kate. Tell me that everyone is alright in Promise City and I'll tell you what happened." Kate says, "Of course everyone's alright there. Everyone you care about, anyway. It's been an eventful couple of weeks. We're almost out of the town. There's a little wooded area we drove through before, lets get there and we can get everything cleared up." Ruby replies, "Okay Kate, that's a good idea. I've just been really worried, you know, before I left things were very unsettled and people were getting hurt... Anyway, I've been dying to know what is going on there." Ruby tries to get a good look at Kate, but sitting in the back of the carriage she really can't. "Anyway, my father did try to take me last night. They came to dinner here... actually, I guess I should start at the beginning. I wanted to see George, to return his ring to him. You know, I didn't... I, uh... I just didn't want to keep it under those circumstances. Anyway, with his help his invited my parents to dinner at his house. And guess what?? I have a brother! He's only three and he's adorable, his name is Benjamin. But my parents made me mad, it's like they sucked the life out of him, just like they tried to do with me. I did exactly what they taught me to do. I blackmailed them!" She laughs. "I guess I'm supposed to see them again tonight." "As for Richard and Jane, that's another really long story. I went to see my grandmother. And her husband had these papers. Well, someone wanted them really bad, bad enough that they lied to the police and told them that I was Mae Clarke, Richard was Deadeye Douglas and Jane was... what's her name. Anyway, we had to divide up the papers and run. Apparently they have to do with the murder of an old President or something. So Jane had to leave, then a day later Richard went after her. George was crucial in helping us straighten it out, Richard and I hid out at his factory and he found us. He's friends with the Police Commissioner so he put himself in danger to help us. I've, uh, been staying with him since this happened. I... well, I didn't want to leave." "All this happened after you left New York City? After you sent your letter?" Kate shook her head, mystified. "And a brother... he would be a lot younger than you... And you're going to see your parents again... You're going to have to give me some more details later, my head is swimming. After what we saw last night... I kept thinking that maybe everything was okay. That you wanted to be here, especially after we found you this morning," she said and blushed. "But so often you've said I was naive, I didn't want to be naive this time and leave you somewhere you didn't want to be." "Oh, Kate," Ruby exclaims and wraps her arms around her neck again. "You're the best friend I've ever had. I'm so glad you're here, no matter what the reason. I have so much to tell you, you just have to stay!" "And I want to hear it," Kate said warmly. "We've covered our absence for today," Mr. Gonzales said, "So we can spend a few hours at least. You'll have to decide if you want to come back with us today, my Golden Eagle. Or go somewhere else, or stay here. And as for spying, I only peeked now and then to be sure you were safe and well. I expected last night only to see you relaxing with your friends." The wagon had moved into the countryside and moved into the forest. Once they were well inside Mr. Gonzales stopped poor Julia and Kate jumped out of the wagon. "Are you decent now, Ruby. I'll drop the invisibility spell on you." "I'm decent," Ruby replies, "The robe is on." In a disappointed tone she says, "You can only stay a few hours? I really need you Kate, so much is going on. And...," she remembers she is in the forest and no one will hear, "Aphrodite says I have to talk to you! She came to me again last night. She told me something would happen today, that I would have to decide." She hops out of the wagon. "Actually, I‘m not totally sure of the land lines, but I think this land belongs to me." With a gesture and a mutter Mr. Gonzales dropped the spell and the flame-haired Ruby suddenly appeared standing next to the wagon. Kate, who had been maddeningly calm until now, threw herself at Ruby and hugged her tight. "Oh, I've missed you too. I've warned Conrad that I might not be back until tomorrow, but we can discuss all that after we talk. There's a lot going on that I may need to be back for. The goddesses have been busy. I've seen Diana at least twice since you went away. I hope you'd have talked to me even without a divine edict!" Kate laughed. She leaned back, still holding on to Ruby's hands. "This land belongs to you?" Ruby returns the tight hug of her friend. "Of course, I've been meaning to get to the telegraph office and wire you, after I figured out I might be staying for a bit. I still have to go anyway. I've been hoping to hear from Jake." Ruby releases Kate and looks at her sadly. "He's... well... he's left me, I guess. I haven't spoken to him since I left Promise City." She continues quickly, changing the subject. "Yes, we're not far from the lake. You know I grew up here, right? I don't believe I ever told you the story of my ring, either of you. Which reminds me..." Without warning she throws herself into Gonzales arms. "I've missed you too, teacher." He hugs her back. "Likewise. It's not the same without my little birds around." After Ruby releases him she says, "Follow me, I'll show you." She begins leading them through the woods. Although she is unsure of the exact path she knows the general direction. "This probably would be better if I had shoes," she jokes. "So now I'll tell you." As they walk Ruby relates the story of her ring, that day in her childhood when she threw it in the lake and George's pledge to find it and to always love her. Kate walked along with her arm through Ruby's. "It's a very sweet story. Mr. Eastman..." She stopped still when they saw the empty lake. "And perhaps a bit too obsessed with finding that ring. We shouldn't stay long, Ruby. If you really were in that house willingly, they'll panic when they find you're missing and raise an alarm." Ruby says, "Maybe obsessed. That's not a bad thing, is it Kate?" She sighs as she looks out over the dry bed. "I have so many things to tell you. I never told you Kate, Mr. Gonzales knows a lot of my story, but I was embarrassed, I didn't want you to know. My point is, there were many times I wished he had found that ring. I mean, just so I wouldn't have been so, well, did the things I did. Like he could have saved me or something." She pauses, then smiles. "And in ways, I wish he found it now. But I guess it may be lost for good," she says wistfully. "I'm having the lake refilled today." "Good. That huge hole in the ground is profoundly unnatural," Kate said with a shiver in her voice. "There's no way to know what you would have done had he found the ring. You may have felt trapped, you may have been happy. Maybe you weren't ready to be saved until now. And there's no reason for you to be embarrassed to tell me anything, you know that. You already told me some things, remember?" Ruby says, "I know I did. But there are a lot of things I haven't told you and... well, I told you in my letter, things I need to tell you. But not today," she laughs. "Well have enough to talk about and not enough time as it is. As for being saved... that hasn't been working out so well for me. I think I have to do the saving myself." Ruby takes her friend's hand and finally gets a good look at her. "Kate, you're positively huge!! And glowing. You look wonderful. And Mr. G. you look great too. I've never been so happy to see you two." "I'm not huge!" Kate said, sliding her hands down her midsection. "I can still lace up my corset. Not for much longer, maybe..." She hugged Ruby again. "The whole trip has been worthwhile, just to hear you say you can save yourself. We should get back before they have the police out after us. You can be more dressed... and we can be more comfortable. The people in that house, Mr. Eastman's house? They'll respect our privacy? That we were there, I mean?" Gonzales says, "You're over-thinking this. Nobody there saw us take you Ruby. And that house had telephone lines running to it. So Ruby, you just need to call back from somewhere and tell them that you were up early and went for a walk and will be back soon." And to Kate he says, "Besides, we can't exactly go right back with her just wearing a man's bathrobe, we'll have to buy some clothes in town for her first." Kate says, "I over think everything, you know that, Grandpere. One of the many reasons I need you." Kate started them back toward the wagon, climbing into the back with Ruby instead of sitting on the buckboard. "We'll get you some clothes and then find a place to talk. Maybe we'll just want to go back out into the country unless we can find someplace that will give us a private room." Ruby says, "George will probably still be sleeping in, we, uh, stayed up late last night." They both detect something they don't normally see on Ruby, a blush. "You have been changing while you've been gone," Kate said and kissed her friend's cheek. The wagon rattled away, back toward the town. Ruby gave directions to a place where they could get her a dress and Mr. Gonzales got Julia going in the right direction.</blockquote>

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