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Message: <blockquote data-quote="orchid blossom" data-source="post: 2819560" data-attributes="member: 12815">Jacky O'Neil wakes from his slumber.  He stretches, then heads towards the wash basin in his room and pours some fresh water in and begins cleaning up.  He takes his time getting ready for the evening.  He debates shaving but decides that can wait for another day.  He puts his clothes on and heads downstairs to the dining room.  Seeing the Ruby and Jake dining at one table and Maddie sitting alone he decides to leave the couple alone and talk with the loner.   "Good evening ma'am.  Maddie I believe it was correct?  I see your sitting alone and I just figured it didn't seem right for us to dine alone when we can share each other's company.  Do you mind if I join you?”Maddie jumped when O’Neil spoke, surprised out of her thoughts.  "Mr. O’Neil, you surprised me.  Of course I don't mind.  Please sit.  I haven't felt very well today, I guess I'm just a bit tired and distracted.  Perhaps you can provide a more pleasant distraction.""Well I can certainly try.  I am not sure of your ailments, but perhaps a good meal will help ease your symptoms.  Maria here is a good cook, even if you don't care all that much for Mexican food.  As for a distraction, there isn't much for me to offer but conversation, perhaps a silly card trick or two," he says with a laugh."I love Mexican food.  I asked Maria to cook whatever she enjoys cooking most and I expect to have a wonderful dinner.  Better than breakfast anyway."  She leaned forward to whisper and shuddered.  "Once I saw the cook licking her fingers this morning I couldn't enjoy a bite. I only had a headache today.  I saw the doctor and he gave me something to help me rest while it passed.  It's mostly gone now, thankfully.  I suppose it is just worry that is ailing me.  The family I was to meet never seems to have been here, and with the rumors in this town.... "  She stopped and shook her head with a smile.  "I'm sure none of that interests you.  Perhaps I need to see those card tricks after all.  Or I need a fun night out.  I saw you in Greely's last night and you seemed to be having a good time.""Believe me when I tell you I've seen worse things done to food that I've had to eat,” O’Neil says.  “But you don't want to hear those stories either.  I'm glad to hear that your headache has passed, perhaps then you might want to join me at Greely's again tonight.  In the meantime while we are waiting for food I'll entertain." O'Neil uses some slight of hand to have a deck of cards appear in what was an empty hand just previously.  He does a half a dozen intricate tricks with the cards to entertain Maddie as they wait for their food.Maddie blushed prettily.  "I'd be glad to join you over at Greely's, never let it be said I turned down an offer from a handsome man.  But you know, eventually we'll have to tell a few stories, or we'll run out of things to talk about."  She watched as O’Neil deftly did tricks with cards, making a note of how dexterous he was with his hands."I am sure I can think of a story or two that would be appropriate.  The Gods know I have enough of them." They finished their meal continuing with small talk.  O'Neil makes it a point to look Maddie in the eyes as he speaks.  She notes that he is a well spoken, eloquent man and that he knows how to handle himself around women.  Jacky eats a light meal as this is his first meal after waking.  When it looks as though the meal is coming to a close O'Neil formalizes his prior invitation.  "So, shall we meet in the hotel lobby in say one hour from now and head over to Greely's from there?  Gives me a chance to make myself a bit more presentable.""More presentable?  My dear sir, I cannot imagine how you could improve.  I on the other hand could certainly use a bit of time to make myself ready for an evening out.  An hour it is."  She smiled and stood up, peeking back over her shoulder as she left the dining room. Back upstairs in her room, Kate got herself into a different dress.  As herself, this one was modest, but with Maddie's larger attributes it showed a rather generous amount of bosom.  Well, Ruby wouldn't think so, but it was much more than Kate would usually show.  She styled the blonde hair so it hung loose down her back with only the front pulled away from her face and twisted up.  To finish she even added earrings and tied a black velvet ribbon around her throat.   While she got ready she tried to think of ways to get the man to open up and perhaps tell her more than he's planned.  But without knowing exactly what she was fishing for, it was hard to think of anything definite.  Once it had been nearly an hour she locked up her room and went downstairs to the lobby to meet her escort.O'Neil chuckles to himself in regard to Maddie's comments, thinking that he just rolled out of bed, splashed some water on his face, put some clothes on and stumbled down to the dining room. "Good, I will see you in an hour."*       *       *After his talk with Ruby, Chester walks over to the sheriff's office. Chester knocks on the door. "Sheriff? It's me, Mr. Martin." Wilson calls out, "Come on in, the doors open." When Chester enters, the sheriff adds, "What's on your mind?" Chester says, "Sheriff, it looks like you're going to need some more help. I'm a deputy marshall for Promise City. It's not an accident that I'm here either. Me and some friends of friends are here in Thomaswell to hunt down Colin Turner. He's killed a couple people in our town and we've tracked him back here. One of the worst things is that some of those he's killed can turn into monsters like him. That's why we've been so curious about him and his victims. If you want our help, you can deputize me and Mr. Jacobs. What do you say?"Sheriff Wilson rubs his chin.  "You know Mr. Martin, I could use some help.  I just don't know how the people of the town would feel if I went ahead and deputized strangers who have been in town for a day.  Let me talk to some of the folks and see if I can get a feeling for what the people think.  They just might be scared enough to let it happen.  Tell you what, I will give you an answer tomorrow morning, just stop by and we can talk about it then.  I certainly do appreciate the offer for help though.""You're welcome. That's all we're asking, a chance to help. After what he did in Promise City, he can't be allowed to live. I'll see you later, Sheriff." Minerva and Nanuet stroll back to the hotel and return to their room to freshen up before dinner. When they return downstairs they notice Maddie and Senor O'Neil flirting with one another at a corner table but opt to leave Maddie alone to work her charms on O'Neil. They eat and head to the saloon in search of a man with a limp.*       *       *A few minutes after taking the orders Maria returns with bread and butter for the tables. About 20 minutes after the original order Maria brings out a bottle of red wine for Jake and Ruby and pours them each a glass.  She tells them that their food will be out in only a moment and then she checks on the other tables to see if they need anything else before their food is ready as well.  A few moments after that everyone is served.  The food itself is of fair quality but it has been prepared skillfully and overall is good.  Maria is attentive and does what she can to fulfill the diners needs."Por favor, Senora."  Jake stops her.  "You mentioned you were the new cook.  What happened to the last one?"  Ruby pokes at the food with her fork while Jake speaks to the cook. She finishes off her glass of wine and eyes the bottle."Her family pack up and leave town senor.  They were afraid of the blood monster."Ruby keeps her head down playing with her food but moves her eyes to the woman. "So, does everyone in this town know about this monster?""Some people won't admit that such a monster exists, but that is what I believe, and that is what Ana believed before she left with her family," Maria says, then returns to the kitchen.Ruby picks at the label until the corner comes loose. Then she slowly pulls the label off and drops it on the table before pouring herself another glass. She pushes the food around with her fork before eating a few bites. She glances over at Jacky O'Neil a few times and even smiles at the memory of their earlier conversation."Not hungry?  It was not the best we have ever had but she tried.  So skip on to dessert."  Jake lightly taps the label that is resting on the table with his knife.  "Starting a collection?""No, just bored," Ruby sighs. "And I guess I wasn't as hungry as I thought I was. But the wine is good. But won't be as good as whatever they have at Greely's." Finally she looks up at Jake. "Baby, how long we will have to stay here before we can go home? I mean, what if you never find anything else? Will we have to stay forever?""We only arrived yesterday, have a little patience."  Jake then smirks, "Besides between the meals here and the hotel rate we will either have stomach distress or be broke soon.  If you are done, how about some fresh air?""Patience! You know I don't have any patience. Ugh." She pushes the plate away from her. "I'm done. But have that cook send the dessert up to our room for later. I bet I'll be hungry then and need some satisfaction." She returns Jake's smirk. "Ok, let's go for a walk." Ruby stands and grabs the half empty bottle of wine. She walks out and waits for Jake to talk to the cook. Once outside she hooks her arm through his. "Let's see what's in this dirty little town." They wander around the streets, not finding anything interesting. Finally Ruby announces, "Let's go see the statue then find that well. I have a wish to make."Ruby and Jake make their way out to the west end of town where their conversation with Colleen had taken place earlier that day.  There are benches and an old, disused, lichen covered statue of Thomas Wilkes, the town founder, sitting atop a foundation of brick and mortar, glaring away at anybody visiting the monument.  The Whitaker house sits eerily on top of a hill further to the west, a lone path leading up to the residence.Ruby squints her eyes and starts to search the statue over, beginning casually then becoming more serious. She only stops to take small sips from the bottle of wine.The statue is fairly unremarkable, being of a mediocre quality of workmanship.  It appears to have been untouched for quite some time since the lichens growing on it appear to be undisturbed.  The pedestal seems to be a little odd being of brick and mortar rather than just stone as most statue pedestals are.Ruby reaches up to her hair and discreetly pulls her small dagger out. She uses it to check the mortar, to try to gauge how old and crumbly it is. "Do you think this looks odd?" she asks Jake as she pokes around.  The mortar is fairly old, probably 50 years or more.  It crumbles fairly easily.  With a little work the bricks could be pried loose. Whether because she is bored, fuzzy headed or just curious, Ruby does start to pry off some bricks."Having a statue at all in a dead end town is odd.  I was going to donate a statue to Minerva's church but thought better of it.  Around here where do you get material or a sculptor?"  Jake mimics the statue pose.  "How do I look?  What a stupid pose."   Ruby laughs at Jake's joke. "Yeah, it is a stupid pose on a stupid statue in a stupid town." She stops poking around and looks up skeptically, "You were going to donate a statue to the church?"Jake thinks about what he just said and looks to where the statue is looking, just in case it is telling him something.  He then takes the back of his gun and taps the statue, so see if it is solid or hollow while Ruby digs in the mortor.  "The base would be a good place to hide something.  What in Hades would old Thomas be keeping secret?"Ruby says simply, "A very valuable 1st edition Hoyle's Book of Cards."Eventually Ruby gets a few bricks pried loose.  Before she can get enough down to cause too much structural damage to the pedestal she realizes that the pedestal is just a hollow wall of bricks and mortar.  Inside the hollow structure on the ground lies what appears to be a wooden door or cap of some kind."Ya, well I figured I would contribute something."  He looks on with interest at her work on the bricks to let that topic die. "Now that is unusual."  Jake looks around to see if anyone if watching them.  He tests the statue to see how it is attached to the pedestal.  "Can you tell if it is secured or locked?" "Well, it looks like the statue is just sitting on top of this pedestal. I can't really see inside to tell if it's locked or secured but if I pull off more bricks to look the whole thing might collapse."Jake offers his hand down to Ruby.  "Come up here Constance you will ruin your pretty dress."  Then in a lower voice, "We should come back here with some help and see what is beyond yon portal.  You are not exactly dressed for going underground."Ruby takes Jake's hand and lets him pull her up off the ground and to him. She rests her hands on his chest as she stands close and looks up at him. She whispers, "Gods, I had forgotten how much I hate that name and most especially you calling me it. This has been my punishment for...," she momentarily furrows her brows as she ponders, "...Well for something." "Sorry my love, next time pick a different false first name.  I suppose we will just have to be more formal in public, Mrs Jacobs.""Don't be sorry," Ruby giggles, "I just wasn't prepared to go undercover. Besides unfortunately that isn't a false first name." Ruby rolls her eyes then giggles again. "I don't mind being Mrs. Jacobs but people might get suspicious if that is all you call me."She stays close as she continues to talk, "But you are right, I am not dressed to go adventuring but rather for celebrating which is what I planned to do with my evening. We can come back another time after you've had time to figure out how not to let that huge statue fall and crush us. And when we're not saddled down with a ridiculous amount of explosive gunpower." She raises an eyebrow at Jake's arsenal and laughs. "And we have everyone else with us." "If we are going exploring then it seems to me a ridiculous amount of gunpowder is just the thing,” Jake says.  “Maybe Chet or Nanuet has an idea about shoring up the pedestal or moving the statue.  I am sure we can come up with something.""I am sure someone that is not me will come up with some fabulous and clever idea to get us down there when you are ready. But not tonight. Now take me to Greely's and get me drunk so you can have your way with me later." Ruby smiles and her eyes twinkle, it's obvious that some of her previous cares and worries have floated away. Ruby accuentates her next statement, "Please darling husband.""How can I refuse the wiles of such a charming and seductive woman?"  Jake offers her his arm.  "May I escort you to Greely's then?"You did this morning, she thinks to herself but her smile stays put. "You are quite right, it's impossible so don't bother trying. Ruby loops her arm through her lovers. "Yes, let's get to Greely's.</blockquote>

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