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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 4042309" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred-sixty-eight, “Ruby’s Decision“, Wednesday, June 21st, 4:45 P.M. George returns and has everyone gather back together in the dining room to tell what he discovered. He states, "A man meeting the description that you gave for Colin Turner arrived by train in the middle of the night on Saturday. He had with him two other men and two large crates that were approximately coffin-sized. One of the rail-yard workers recalls getting a cart for him, which Turner and one of the men used to depart carrying only one of the crates. Nobody saw what became of the other man and the remaining crate, the most likely explanation being that they stayed only a short while at the depot and then left on another train, as there were four other trains that came through that night. Turner was not seen at the train station again although the horse and wagon that he borrowed were returned to the rail-yard livery before Sunday dawn. Ruby sighs. "So there is no way we can kill him by using his coffin. We'd have to be dead on with that arrow." She looks knowingly at Nanuet. She snaps out of it suddenly. "George! Do you have any silver dust at your factory? Kate had a good idea but we need silver dust." George says, I have silver dust at the factory, why would you need that? Kate replies, "Vampires can change the form of their bodies, and one way is to become a cloud of mist. They are vulnerable to sliver, so I thought if he does go to mist silver dust blown into the cloud might harm him." Kate then suggests, "He might have sent the second coffin on somewhere to create his next hiding spot. Turner's been here long enough to know exactly where Ruby is, and who else lives in this house. We should watch everyone who has been in and out of the house after dark since Sunday. Turner can get into your mind, leave you so no one else can tell. Has anyone been acting strangely?" Ruby says, "I don't think anyone's been acting crazy, except maybe me," she laughs. "But then again, I don't really know anyone here that well." Kate says, "Turner would probably have made a move by now if he had taken hold of someone's mind who lived in this house, so you're probably safe, but keep your eyes open. You and your Grandmother go to the theatre with Mr. Eastman tonight and enjoy yourself. Mr. Gonzales, Nanuet, and I will find someplace nearby to watch from and see if we can't find Turner." "I'm not sure how much enjoying will go on. Not only is the Turner thing a possibility but I also have to face my parents again. But I guess I did okay last time, I should be alright this time." Ruby smiles. "The play is supposed to be great, so maybe. I mean, Turner doesn't have to show up tonight. Still... You'd better keep yourself safe too Kate, all of you. That's not a suggestion either." She turns to George. "Will you take a short rest with me before we have dinner?" George replies, "If you'd like to Ruby we can. I can attest to the fact that nobody in this household has been acting any differently....well, that's not exactly true, I've been acting quite differently due to Ruby's presence. And I had originally planned to have us go out to dinner but I can cancel that reservation and we can eat here if you think that will be safer." Ruby takes George's hand in hers and smiles at him, he was acting so adorable. Nanuet listens to the information given by George and the conversation had by the others then asks, “Any idea where the other trains that came and went that evening where headed to? Not sure if it will help, but I am curious.” He takes out his notebook and says "Yes, I have it here. One was Westbound to London Ontario, with stops along the way at Niagara Falls New York and Hamilton Ontario. Another went southeast to Trenton New Jersey with stops along the way at Elmira New York, Scranton Pennsylvania and Bethlehem Pennsylvania. The other two were Eastbound, both going to Albany New York with stops in Syracuse and Utica." Nanuet takes in the information then continues, “While it would be safer to dine here, I also think that it is best if you try to alter your plans as little as possible. Turner probably knows I am here, but he shouldn't know about Kate, Mr. Gonzalez or Mina. If you suddenly change all your activities then Turner will know something is up. If instead you can go about your normal plans with the rest of us in hiding maybe we can surprise him." George asks, "Alright, so you are suggesting we keep the dinner reservation then?" Ruby suggests, "As for dinner, if we go out we should only go George, Nana and I, because it will be dark and Turner might be watching us go in or out, and the same theory applies for Kate being with us, he'd know something was up. Al is a wonderful cook though and anyone who stays home will not be disappointed by her cooking." Nanuet says, "I wouldn't want you to be out without some protection though. When I suggested that I assumed the same group that would be following you to the theater would be following you to dinner." Ruby says, "Then perhaps it's better for all of us to stay in then. Tomorrow we can all go out to dinner and celebrate being free from Turner's clutches!" Kate says, "Those of us following could just eat ahead of time. Goodness knows, I'm hungry most of the time anyway these days." Ruby states, "Either way I guess. I'll leave it up to those who would stay behind. George, can you send someone to get some silver dust?" He replies, "I will telephone my office and have one of my managers bring a bag of it here." Kate says, "Thank you. And I say keep your dinner plans. We can keep an eye on you, and all it means is an early dinner, to which I do not object." George replies, "Not that early, the play doesn't begin until 8:00 P.M. The dinner reservations aren't until 6:45 so we still have a few hours." "That's settled then. I couldn't wait that long for dinner anyway. I must say Mr. Eastman, you're taking all this rather calmly," Kate said. He replies, "Not at all, I just show it in different ways." She nodded. "I tend to think now, and fall apart once I'm alone, after it's all over, myself," Kate admitted. George excuses himself to go call his operations manager and to see that Alvina makes up an early supper for the ones who will be on guard detail. Ruby hovers near him during his phone call. Kate sighed and sat down next to her teacher. She picked up one of the photo albums Mr. Gonzales had been looking through and began looking through it. There wasn't really anything more to say, just a wait until dinner. "Is it possible for us to be invisible, Grandfather? I have my disguise, but I used it in Thomaswell and Turner might have seen it." The Elf Wizard replies, "I used two of the three invisibility spells that I brought already but have one more. I also have two magical disguises with me, the younger version of myself and the old woman who you met before at the Lucky Lady." Kate says, "I think Nanuet should get the invisibility, and you and I should have the disguises. I also think... if we see Turner and it's a good opportunity, Nanuet should take the shot. Isn't it better to take him when he doesn't even know we're there?" Gonzales says, "Yes, that would work. Katherine, I am afraid that I am out of my element here. I thought this would be a simple rescue mission, had I known we would be taking on the undead I would have taken an entirely different set of spells. This is also out of my league, the only undead I've dealt with before were magically animated bodies created by Necromancers, but naturally occurring undead are a whole different species entirely." Kate says, "Then today I get to be the teacher and take care of you. We've been pretty... chaotic, in our methods. Mostly Jake throwing dynamite, but we've had to do this the hard way a few times. A wooden stake through the heart will kill him, silver weapons will hurt him more than others, and if we try to kill him bit by bit he will turn to mist and float away. It's far better to put that arrow in his back before he even knows we're there." Kate took his hand. "He can't see me, Grandfather. I can't give him any reason to come after me." Gonzales notices a pile of books over on the desk at the far side of the room. He walks over and begins to look through the stack. "This is interesting, these are all magical histories, most of them written in French." He picks up one particular volume and says, "Oh my, I haven't seen this text in over a century." "What is it?" She stood up and went over to look at the books. "Why would Mr. Eastman have these?" Gonzales replies, "I don't know why he has them but this particular book is a history of world magic compiled by the great French wizard Marcel Andre LaPointe. Chapter fourteen is on the Mexican history of magic. I was the primary author of that chapter." She says, "You were? And you don't have a copy yourself? How long ago?" He replies, "Sometime just before the American and French Revolutions. I admired his desire for accuracy, checking with the experts from each continent rather than just passing on rumors and innuendo." Kate looked at the familiar French words. "Didn't Ruby say he was looking into magic? Seems Mr. Eastman doesn't do anything halfway." He says, "Yes, well, there doesn't appear to be anything dangerous here, mostly just informative. Of course, if the authorities were to find these volumes here he could be in quite a bit of trouble. Kate says, "Which means we should be very careful not to attract the attention of any authorities. He mentioned earlier he was friends with the police commissioner, but even a friendship only forgives so much in the face of fear." Kate's eyes moved hungrily over the books. "Over one hundred years ago, then. Would this volume be available in France or Spain?" He replies, "Yes, both. I believe it was translated into twelve different languages." "How can you be so famous and so experienced, and still hide away in a tiny Arizona town?" Kate asked wonderingly. He laughs, I am not famous. I said that I collaborated on that chapter, not that I was given credit. Then again, having your name on a book like this is dangerous, I'm better off remaining unknown." Kate says, "You heard about Miss O'Hara this afternoon, but what you don't know is that Mr. Tomlinson wants to take her to England for training for about a month. She'll get a telegram inviting her to a special class at Oxford. He's afraid that her mother won't approve of the two of them traveling alone, so I may be going with them as a chaperone. Once I arrive... perhaps you could visit and we could track down some of these volumes in France." He says, "Yes, of course I would visit. If anything this journey now has taught me that I should keep closer track of my little birds when they are away." Kate hugged him warmly. "I always feel safer when you're keeping track of me. I'm a troublesome girl, you know. Ginnie and Liam and I are going to need a lot of looking after; the kind only a Grandfather can do. Although I admit, knowing you could be peeking in at me at any time... I'll be tempted to behave myself better." Gonzales replies, "It doesn't have to be 'any time', there is no reason we can't arrange the days of the week and times for my check-ins in advance. As the spell is visual only you could even hold up a notebook with anything you wanted to tell me." Kate says, "It would be comforting to know that I could communicate with you whenever I needed to. I'm sure there are spells for such things, too. Communication, I mean. I'm so far behind, during the next month I want to spend a lot of time studying with you. Yes, I think both of us need to go to France to further our educations. I'm curious about this organization Mr. Tomlinson works for as well, the Watchers. They must have an enormous repository of magical and occult knowledge." Gonzales says, "I have heard of them, but they are not really wizards in the true sense of the word. Most of their magic is clerical, spiritual in nature, rather than the pure arcane type that we practice. But they are greatly respected by those of us in the wizarding circles." Kate exclaims, "You've heard of them before? Did you know about the slayer then as well?" He replies, "No, they keep their secrets quiet." Almost without thinking Kate slid down to sit on the floor in front of her teacher's chair. "Pure arcane type? I've seen Mr. Tomlinson do things that are definitely arcane. And I'm fairly certain her knows about me, although we haven't spoken of it." Gonzales replies, "Then don't. One thing that I know about that group is that they are honorable people and know how to respect a secret. My instinct says that you have nothing to fear from Mr. Tomlinson. All the same, I would appreciate it if you do not tell him about me." Kate says, "I never would. Despite the fact that I've told you about Miss O'Hara, I generally don't tell secrets that aren't my own. I tell you everything because it's so often important that you know, and I know you won't tell others. A girl has to have someone to tell her secrets to." When Mr. Gonzales didn't answer she assumed he was reading something. A moment later she said, "May I tell you a secret now? I wish we could go home. I wanted to be home tonight and I intend to go home tomorrow. I know Ruby wants us to stay, and as much as I love seeing her I want to be where I belong." He closes the book and says, "I agree, we have responsibilities back home. We need to stay tonight due to that vampire and her need to meet with her parents but we can come up with an alternative plan for tomorrow which will include at least the two of us returning home." When George is done with his telephone call she asks, "Will you rest with me now?" He replies, "Yes, we have time since we won't be eating with the others." "Let's go now then so we can get a proper rest." Ruby takes his hand and leads him upstairs, excusing them from anyone they bump into. Once upstairs Ruby lets her hair down, undresses to her undergarments and climbs into bed. She says, "A lot has happened today, it's already been a very emotional day and tonight may be a long night. I just need some... well, I just want your arms around me. I still have so much to say to you." He removes his suit jacket and tie but keeps on his dress shirt and pants and lies down beside her, wrapping has arms around her waist. Ruby snuggles closer to him, pressing her nose against his neck. "I'm really glad you haven't run yet George, in whatever way running might be. Tonight you may see a lot of things, things that before a few days ago you didn't really understand or even ever see before. I just hope you don't get overwhelmed." He replies, "You overwhelm me every day, everything else is secondary." Ruby lifts her face to George and kisses him softly. "Something else. The flowers... you like them?" He replies, "Yes, those roses are beautiful. It was a nice surprise to wake up to." She says, "For me too. And I should tell you now that I'm not sure their beauty will ever fade. They are from the Goddess Aphrodite." "What?" he exclaims. Ruby replies, "I told you I dreamed of her last night?" Ruby runs a finger across his face. "It's not the first time, see this?" She stops running her finger and holds up her hand, showing him the small, pink heart shaped scar on her palm. "I had a dream once, and in the dream she gave me this. When I woke up I really had it. It seems she has a special interest in me." George looks over at the vase and says, "It appears that your belief about the roses never fading, is incorrect, two have already started to lose their petals." Ruby glances over. While all four plants were long stem red roses she now recalls from the dream that when each person held them the stems went down to the waist, and yet all four people holding them were of different heights. Looking at the vase she sees that the missing petals are from the longest and shortest of the roses, the ones that had been held in the dream by Roger and Jane. Ruby blinks a couple of times. "Well, I guess I was wrong. I hope you don't think I'm crazy telling you all this. I know things are very crazy with everything that is going on today but I just feel you need to know... Would you hear the truth from me George?" "Yes, always," is his reply. Ruby pulls back slightly so she is looking in his eyes. She hopes to find love and contentment there looking back at her, along with a man with an open mind and heart. She says, "When I left Promise City I was at a crossroads. I knew something wasn't right with Jake, yet we were still together. My whole trip, I did a lot of thinking about what would make me happy. I wrote to him and he never wrote me back. It only confirmed that my thoughts were correct. Then I came here, and saw you. And things just... I don't know... happened. I was so nervous and excited to see you and it was just this wave of craziness that swept over me." She slides her palm onto his warm face and smiles. "It's been wonderful. But I don't think I fell in love with you." His face takes on an odd expression and he says, "What...what do you feel towards me?" She smiles softly. "I didn't fall in love with you in just these few days. I think I've always loved you, and just not been ready for it. So this trip made me remember something I should have never forgotten. This morning I got a telegraph from Jake. It put a final end to something that was already ended. I can't lie, I was upset. Jake did something for me, helped me start on a different path I guess you could say. So I, we, have to always be grateful to him. Because he put me on the path that would lead me to you. Those flowers, each one represented someone who loves me. Just today I sent letters to two of them, that may be why their flowers are dying. Jake's will die now too. But one will remain. Yours." He breaks apart from her rather abruptly and stands, looking at the flowers, as a petal falls from the third rose. He walks over to the dresser cabinet and opens a drawer, removing from it a familiar box. He then walks back towards the bed and knells down on one knee. He open the box containing the ring and says, "Ruby West, will you marry me?" Ruby sits up in the bed, her face unreadable. Thoughts swirl in and out of her mind, how she feels about him, how Kate said not to say yes right away, the problems of distance and how she still feels her home is Promise City. One final thought pushes the other away. The goddesses words sing though her head, Learn to follow your heart. She closes her eyes and silences her mind, listening to what her heart tells her. She opens her eyes and smiles at George. She leans forward, half off the bed, and kisses him gently. She locks eyes with his and whispers a soft, "Yes." Across the room, the remaining petals all drop from the other three roses and the stems being to wilt. The fourth flower is now covered in a bright light which Ruby initially thinks is the setting sun shining on it until she realizes that the window in George's room faces east instead of west and it is the rose itself that is casting the light. Ruby smiles, "Look at the rose, George. It's beautiful." “All that I see is you," is George's reply. He then adds, "Please, put on the ring, I want to see it on you." Ruby playfully extends her ring finger to George. "That's your job Mr. Eastman," she teases. He removes the ring from the box and places it on her finger. He says, "We should dress and head back downstairs, people will start to wonder where we are." She says sternly, "George, we haven't been up here all that long... besides...," her frown turns to a smile and she screams, "We're getting married!!" She tackles him to the floor, kissing him all over. He embraces her and they collapse onto the bed.</blockquote>

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