"Revenge, Renewal and the Promise of a New Year" (Boot Hill/D&D)

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 80, “Runaway Stage”, January 10th, 1882:

As they ride off after the escaping bandits Chester says to Sanoma "Nice of you to join us, Miss Sanoma. I could use a good song. Nanuet, do you think we can slow down, my horse for one is getting tired. Of course we don't want to lose those bandits."

Nanuet calls out to Maska and feels her presence close by. Then he sees her ahead moving to intercept the half dozen riders he was following. There is mayhem among the riders as Maska jumps up and attempts to knock the rider furthest back in the group from his horse. The six horses panic at being attacked by a wolf and the horse bitten falls to the ground throwing its rider. Nanuet, Chester and Sanoma are now close enough to see the men ahead.

Chester charges in, yelling a battle cry. He fires his revolver in his left hand just like they taught him to in the Army. He thinks to himself, “Didn't think I'd need to fight from horseback ever again. I guess I'll need to practice shooting left-handed. I wish I had my saber. Would've come in handy about now.” Nanuet fires at the man his wolf unsaddled and then directs Maska to attack the remaining riders as he rides on. Hearing Chester's cry he is inspired to loose one of his own.

Chesters first two shots miss and the enemies begin to scatter in various directions rather than firing back. Chester's next shot hits one of the outlaws directly in the heart and he falls back in the saddle. The one that Nanuet's wolf companion had brought down is likewise now dead, hit by Nanuet's shot. The remaining four outlaws attempt to ride through whatever small trees and rocks there are for cover as they head off southeast, west, northwest and north. The ex-soldier reins in his horse. "Now what? There are only 3 of us."

Nanuet calls for Maska again as he now heads back towards the wagon. "Chester, they scattered! Lets get back to the others!" Chester says, "Right behind you." He holsters his weapon to take the reins with both hands.

Meanwhile, back on the rapidly speeding runaway stagecoach, Ruby decides to see if there is any mechanical way that the coach can be slowed or stopped. MacNaulty says, "Gee, if this thing is going to crash I should probably get rid of my twenty sticks of dynamite first." Ruby turns her head and slowly shakes it. "Not sure that is going to make a difference."

Further up the mountain, "Jump, damn it, jump!" Kate muttered under her breath while still looking for Morgan Earp's wound. None of the magics she had learned so far could do anything to stop that coach. Where was Nanuet? They would be needing him. Morand leads the horse team over to where Katherine, Seawell and Earp are. While Katherine tends to the Deputy Marsalll Seawell and Morand fire their rifles up at the remaining six outlaws. One is wounded and he and his companions turn and ride off.

Ruby pokes her head down at the undercarriage and wheels and realizes that any attempt to disable the wheels will just result in the carriage rolling over. She does deduce however that if the could remove the center floorboard of the carriage she could then use some long metal rods, the length of rifle barrels, to manage to turn the front wheels left or right in a possible attempt to turn the wagon in either direction.

She explains what she has in mind. Jake comments “"If this doesn't work grab some seating material and jump." Jake hangs out the door of the stagecoach before Ruby can stop him and uses his body weight to push his leg against the front wheel protected by the coat. "Jake!" Ruby practically screams. "Get in here!" She says to MacNaulty, "Get him, we're going to need him." She pulls her dagger out of her hair (her nifty hair clip) and starts working on getting the floorboard up, alternating between precise movements with the dagger and smashing it with the heel of her boot. "Allow me" MacNaulty says, and the dwarf uses his superior strength and natural desire to cause destruction to rapidly get the board removed. "Now what?" he asks.

"Get him..." Ruby nods towards Jake. She takes his rifle and empties it quickly. "And then get back here and hold on to me." "Jake was right about crazy," she says to herself as she take the rifle and tries to get underneath.

Ruby manages to get completely under the carriage, now traveling at a speed beyond what this form of transportation was ever meant to travel. She manages to get both rifles positioned in place to turn the wheels but also requires MacNaulty to reach down and apply pressure with his strong arms to actually make them move.

She has Jake head up to the front window of the carriage to direct them. They soon reach the bottom of the hill and he has them make a gradual right turn, avoiding the hill in front of them and then turning left again to avoid a series of boulders.

The stagecoach soon reaches and gets onto the main road into Promise City and begins to slow down, but is still going way too fast to jump from. They enter the town from the northeast, passing the buildings on the back side of East Street. Jake realizes that they'll never make the wide turn onto Main Street so has them bank to the left up the small hill east of town. This slows them enough that they then turn back right and roll down onto Main Street as the stage finally begins to slow, as people quickly move out of the way of the horseless carriage.

When the wagon finally stops Jake hops down and quickly rolls under the wagon. "You look beautiful anywhere." He says to Ruby and gives her a kiss. Then he rolls out and stands up and begins collecting up his weapons from the stagecoach. Ruby rolls her very dirty and beat up body out from underneath the coach. Her legs, and especially her arms, are shaking from holding herself underneath the coach so she wouldn't hit the ground, so she just sits there, with her head in her hands.

Back up on the mountain, Kate is amazed that the stagecoach did not crash but instead steered around the hill and continued on beyond her range of sight. Realizing that there is nothing she can do to help them she decides to focus on the more immediate concern. "Mr. Morand, let's get those horses unharnessed. You and Mr. Seawell can ride them down. I think I can handle the Marshall if you gentlemen lead the two free horses down." Kate finished binding Earp's wounds with the ruins of yet another shirt. Didn't I say next time I was going to bring bandages? At least this time the armor spell hid the state of her clothing.

Katherine wasn't sure what to do. She desperately wanted to get down the mountain and check on Jake and Ruby, but she didn't want to leave Nanuet, Sonoma, and Mr. Martin behind. The problem soon solved itself as she saw the trio farther down the mountain making thier way back to the city. "Let's go, gentlemen." She said once they had the horses separated. "The Marshall needs attention. Once we get back to the El Parador take him up to my room, second door on the right, and get Nanuet. This man needs to give testimony this morning, so we have to make sure his recovery is quick."

Nanuet, who was galloping back to the aid of his companions after scattering the other group, arrived just in time to see the coach make it's way back into town. Realizing that he will never catch up to it he scans the area and sees Kate tending to a wounded man. As he rides closer he notices it is the Marshall. He quickly dismounts and snatches one of the larger medallions off of his necklace. He places it in the Marshall's hand and says the word that will activate it. "Anyone else hurt Ms. Kate? I guess we will need to head down back to town to find out for sure.”

"We're all fine, thankfully. As soon as the Marshall is ready we'll get down there and check. The townspeople will be able to help them much sooner than we can," she said, trying to convince herself. The light of Nanuet's healing magic moved over the Marshall's body, forcing bullets out and healing the wounds. A few moments later Earp's eyes opened. "Welcome back, Marshall," Kate said, unknotting the blood-soaked bandages. He looks up at her, moans "I'm sorry" and then passes out again.

"Marshall? Marshall?" Katherine gently shook the man's shoulders. The wounds were healed, he should have been just fine. "I don't understand," she said, looking up at the men and fanning Earp's face. "Sorry for what?" "No idea" Seawell says. Morand states "We should get him back to town. We could probably make some sort of makeshift mat using the harnesses that a pair of horses could pull to get him back to town."

Nanuet is familiar with what Morand is suggesting, as Indians have used triangular horse-drawn wooden stretchers to carry their wounded. They find some sapplings and use the harnesses as well as some twigs, sticks, and some of the burlap and straw along the mountainside to make a padded area for him to rest. They then begin the journey back to town.

Jake notices that they have rolled the entire 700-foot length of Main Street before coming to rest against a red brick building at the end of the street. Pine Creek is just a short distance away and he sees a metal pipe from the stream moving up to the stamping mill. He then looks a the sign on the door of the brick building which reads "Silverbell Mining Company" which is Chester's employer.

A small crowd starts to gather, including the pregnant young woman who had been selling Baxter's newspapers. She has a notebook and pen in hand and begins to write down informatiion as Deputy Sheriff Colin Hunter walks up and starts to ask Jake and MacNaulty questions. Doctor Eaton walks up to Ruby and asks if she needs any medical attention.

The woman reporter asks Torvald who they all are. With a big grin on his face the dwarf says "We're three of the most resourceful people on the plant. My name's MacNaulty and you'll probably be hearing more about me in the next few days. That's Miss West over there, she sings at one of the nicer Saloons in town. And that man over there is Jake Cook, who I am proud to say is my business agent."

Jake sits on the ground next to Ruby. "There has got to be an easier way for a business agent to acquire clients." He lays his rifle and shotgun on the ground next to him and expels some breath that he can see in the cold morning air with a loud 'whew'. He puts an arm around Ruby, "I think you could use a nice warm bath." She answers, “Or a really strong drink…” Ruby pushes her face into Jake’s shoulder. “But a warm bath sounds nice.” Jake can still feel her shaking as she whispers, “You saved Sanoma’s life. I would have killed her I know it.” "We'll I grant you that you are a damn fine shot. Not too many seem to get away when you take aim." He answers her quietly. "But it worked out. Your ought to settle down before you start lookin' too deep."

"Sure, Jake, you're right. Better not to think about it." Ruby says the words but is not sure she believes them. She stands up a bit unsteadily. "Sorry about your clothes, they are a bit, um, dirty, I'll have to clean them. I think I will have that bath... " she says to herself while feeling her knotty hair. She looks over to Jake, "You know, I wasn't sure we were going to make it off that thing..."

He relies, "Heh, our clothes could be in worse shape." He gets up and puts the two guns over his shoulder, although using the one rifle as a lever has caused the barrel to be bent and dented so it might not ever be usable again. "We'll laugh about it later." He doesn't sound convinced. "Busy day ahead still. Are you going to be all right? Want me to get you somewhere before I go meet with the miners and our fine Mr. Fisk?" "No, I'm sure I'll be fine, I always am." Ruby sighs. "I might get my horse and try to find Katherine. I hope she's ok. You still want me to get you for the trial?"

A short while later Chester arrives in town. He decides that the horse he is on is a good one and that he'll keep it. Chester rides up to the coach. "You folks alright? What happened to the team?" He sees Ruby sitting on the ground. "Miss West, you look like you've seen a ghost. Take my coat." He wraps the frock coat around her shivering shoulders. “Thanks Mr. Martin,” she says with a sigh, “I think I almost saw my own ghost this morning.” He says, "You're welcome, Miss.” Looking up at Chester Jake says "Got you here in time for work." The wiry man laughs and doffs his hat. "That you did, sir. My thanks."

Chester waits until Deputy Hunter is finished with MacNaulty, then goes up to speak with the dwarf. "Mr. MacNaulty, it appears you had quite a ride. Why do I only see the three of you. Where is everybody else? Do you know why we got the attention of so many bandits?"

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 81, “Chester’s Job”, January 10th, 1882:

Chester is about to head over to his job when the Silverbell Mining Company clerk Earl Hogan spots him, as this man is among the people standing around the carriage. He gets Chester’s attention and says, “You’re late! I don’t allow that young man, consider yourself fired.”

"What?" Chester pulls out his pocket watch and checks the time. It shows 8:40. "Please, Mr. Hogan. It won't happen again. Bandits on the road attacked us. Marshall Earp was there." He spins around looking for Earp. "He can explain. Please, I need this job." Hogan replies, "Sorry, son. The Marshall isn't paying you. The mine needs reliable workers. Being late on your second day shows me you're not." He thinks to himself “Damn! Now what am I going to do?”

A familiar voice speaks up from behind Chester and says, “Can’t hold a civilian job either can you Martin? People like you never change.” Chester turns to see the same five U.S. Army soldiers who had stopped by the Lone Star the previous evening. Three are human, one is a half-ogre and another is an ogre. Of the four enlisted, a human is a Sergeant, the half-ogre is a Corporal and the other two are Privates. Chester has never met any of the enlisted men before.

Unfortunately the human officer leading this group who has just spoken to Chester is known all too well. Lieutenant Oscar Gamble had held the rank of Sergeant back when Chester had the misfortune of serving under him. The man had taken an instant disliking to Chester and was one of the main reasons behind Chester’s decision to leave the military.

Ruby overhears the Sergeant talking to Chester. Before Jake can speak she puts her fingers to his lips to keep him quiet and nods her head towards them. Jake does turn and listen to what the Lieutenant is saying. His eyes start to narrow and he clenches his fist. He whispers to Ruby, "Something about that bastard just rubs me the wrong way, and I'm tired folks being taken advantage of today." He looks to Chester and waits for his response.

Chester recognized the voice and replied. "Good morning, Sergeant." Chester makes a show of looking at Gamble's shoulder boards. Insincerely, he states, "Oh, I'm sorry--Lieutenant. Congratulations on your promotion. What do you want?" "Nothing from the likes of you," Gamble states, adding "Martin, why don't you do this whole County a favor and just leave."

Jake tells Ruby "That soldier boy doesn't deserve that crap. Go with it if I start something." Ruby grabs his arm and hisses, "Jake, don't!" "Stop it." He shakes her hand off. "I'm not going to shoot him. Just create a scene. It'll be fine." Ruby has her doubts. Ruby crosses her arms and leans up against the nearest building, close but not too close, and says to herself, "Ok Jake, I guess we'll see just how good you are..."

The dwarf Torvald MacNaulty walks right up to the Lieutenant and says "You listen here solider-boy, this young man has spent the morning helping to fight outlaws, something that YOU should have been out doing instead. We killed us a lot of bad guys but I don't think we got all of them. So why don't you stop harassing these honest citizens and go make yourself useful!"

"Lieutenant" Jake steps up into the middle of the crowd. "You were his commanding officer? Ah, I see what's happening here." Jake turns and points to Chester Martin. "That man in an act of courage and selflessness leapt from a speeding stagecoach onto a horse and displayed astounding skills in riding and shooting. Now you just don't wake up one day with those skills. You only learn them from you commanding officer. You are to be congratulated sir, that one of your men road fearlessly into overwhelming odds and most certainly saved some innocent lives today."

Jake pauses a second so the crowd an look at Chester. "If you have done your job only half as well with these others that are with you then those outlaws you are after for trying to rob the mail stagecoach have much to fear. I expect you'll have them in custody any day now. Bravo, sir, Bravo."

He turns back to Chester. "You sir, don't fall for that. The Lieutenant must certainly need brave and skilled soldiers to combat these outlaws. You don't need to go back to the Army for employment. However Silverbell's loss is my gain, and before they change their mind and scramble to hire you back I need a man just like you for they rest of this week." Jake takes out $20 and puts it in Chester's hand. "And I'll pay in advance before any of these others steal you away." Jake laughs a little laugh. "Anybody looking to hire you after that ought to move quickly, I think there is going to be some competition."

Since bullies tend to change their tune when the target of their behavior is defended the Lieutenant backs off. He talks briefly to Deputy Sheriff Hunter, who essentially just relays the information that Jake and Seawell had told them, and then orders his troops to go mount up. They head off in the direction of Drover's Livery, where their horses are stabled.

Jake realizes that he only has fifteen minutes until his scheduled 9:00 AM meeting at Attorney Berg's office. There's no time for a bath, but he at least needs a clean shirt. He debates whether he has time to go back to the El Parador for it or if he should just buy one at Judge Lacey's store, next door to Berg's.

MacNaulty is also all dirty and greasy from the ride to town but doesn't seem the least bit concerned about his appearance. Despite Jake's comment to Ruby about looking beautiful, her clothing is an absolute mess and probably beyond repair, her face is covered with dirt and axle grease, and her hair looks like something a bird made a nest in. Ruby smiles to herself. Jake was good, not that she expected any less. She reached up to her hair, sighed and figured she would go take that bath.

As they had prepared to leave the hill Sanoma comes up behind Nanuet as he's prepping the sling for Earp "I'm going to quietly check out the area I'll meet you back in town" The others leave. Kate rode worriedly alongside the litter, keeping an eye on Earp. There was no reason for him to have passed out again, and no matter how strangely he might act toward her, he seemed a good sort of man.

The strange calmness that had settled on her during the attack was fading, leaving her worried and out-of-sorts. Her hands began to shake as she remembered that beams of light hitting the brigands. Especially the one that had fallen when she and Nanuet combined their fire on him. She swallowed against the sudden sickness in her stomach and focused her eyes on the Marshall as someone she could help rather than harm.

Kate sniffled and wiped her eyes just before they rode back into town. They were the first tears she'd shed in the last few months that weren't for Tom. She wanted to be back at the El Parador, in Mr. Gonzales' rooms. Not to learn, just to sit with no one to disturb her but the old wood elf. She shook her head. There was too much left to do to be wishing for quiet. "Should be take him to the doctor?" she asked.

Katherine Kale, Patrick Seawell, Zack Morand and Nanuet continue on towards the town hauling the liter with Morgan Earp. It takes them a good half-hour to exit the mountain. They then reach the main road for the remaining half-mile to town. The very first series of buildings in town from the main road is the Morand Cartage Company and Zack has them stop for a few minutes to drop off the horse team.

Morand is told by some of his employees about the location and condition of the carriage as well as a brief explanation of how it got there. He comes back to the others exclaiming, “Your friends are all safe. Don’t ask me how, but even without horses they still managed to get the stage to town. They apparently took a leisurely ride down Main Street and then got the thing to stop without killing any body or damaging anything.” Kate nodded and sighed. "Thank goodness."

On the other side of town Jake says, "Chester, now you need to earn that money. Come with me." Jake says in a friendly way to the ex-soldier. He hands him the shotgun and the twisted metal that was the rifle. "Ah, do something with that..."

Chester says, "Thanks for that back there. Gamble never liked me much and the feeling's mutual. Dealing with folks like him helped drive me out of the service." He grabs the weapons, "What did you do to these? Try to dig a hole?" He looks over at Ruby leaning against the wall. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. That will never do." He walks over and takes her hand and gently pulls her along with him to Lacey's store.

"Mornin' Mr. Lacey. I need a clean shirt that fits me pronto. And the lady needs some riding clothes. Hmmm, and the most alluring dress you can get your hands on. I think she'd look good in green." Jake hands him a $100 bill. "We'll settle up later, I'm kind of in a rush." He quickly changes and starts to rush out the door calling to Ruby, "go and get that bath." And as he heads towards his meeting, "Come on Chester, keep up." Judge Lacey appears to be a bit surprised by Ruby's appearance but doesn't comment.

"Hi Judge, how are you today? Now me, I'm having a particularly bad start to this day..." Ruby says smiling though the grime, trying to pat down her hair. "But I did tell you I needed to make some purchases, so here I am." Judge Lacey holds up the bill Jake handed him and replies "Well, your friend indicated that he was paying for you so it sounds like a shopping spree is in order. This could go a long way."

Ruby claps her hands together and smiles. "Oh I like to shop." She starts speaking to herself, "I need that riding outfit, leather pants are a must, and some new dresses, hum, Jake likes green..." She glances over at Mr. Lacey. "Are you still mad at me Mr. Lacey? I was looking forward to that lunch..." Her willingness to take him up on his shopping spree suggestion appears to have improved his mood. He says "Well Miss West, the more I think about it, a man of my advanced years dining with someone as young as you would look rather silly, don't you think?"

She replies, “Look to who? Do you really care what everyone else thinks? I don’t know how old you are Mr. Lacey but I didn’t know there were rules on who you could be friends with… I’ll leave it up to you then…” She pats him on the hand before she starts walking around the store looking for anything that might spark her interest. She calls from down one of the aisles, “Do you have a green dress, Mr. Lacey?”

He tells her to wait and goes into the backroom. He returns with a box containing a fancy teal green dress that he then arranges over a mannequin. http://www.fashion-era.com/images/Crinsbustles/seabustle35.jpg
"How does this look to you he asks?" He then says "Well, If you are still interested we could go to lunch today. I was planning to lock up the store to attend the court hearings, so I don't think it would matter much if I get back a little later to open up. We could dine at the Promise City Hotel and Cafe."

“Oh the color is beautiful. Oh but how will it look on me? I think I should try it on.” She tries on the dress and while it is way too loose and high necked she figures she can take it to the tailor. "What do you think?' she says twirling around. It will look wonderful on you," he replies. “Sure, lunch today sounds great,” as she piles the dress on the counter. “I am also going to the court hearings so I will see you there.” He smiles and says "I've always enjoyed a good court hearing. My Grandfather served on the New York State Supreme Court. I practically grew up in a courthouse." She looks over all her choices, “How did I do?” she says with a big smile. He replies "Looks like around $ 45, counting you friend's shirt. So, what else would you like to buy?"

Jake and Chester arrive at Mitchell Berg's place. He asks Chester to wait outside and act as guard for himself and the miners. "Look pleasantly deadly." Jake tells him, leaving a puzzled Chester Martin standing on the porch. Pleasantly deadly? What does he mean by that? Plum loco. I knew my first impression was right. Chester shakes his head at the thought. Well, I have nothing else better to do.

Hamilton Fisk is already present, seated around a table where some other chairs have been placed. Berg slides some papers over for Jake to read. MacNaulty enters a few minutes later and Jake detects the smell of whiskey on the dwarf's breath. Patrick Seawell isn't present yet.

Across town, Zack Morand, Nanuet and Seawell transfer Morgan Earp on the liter over to the back of a regular wagon. Zack says they will ride over to the Great Western Boarding House (which is across the street from the El Parador) where Morgan and his brother Wyatt Earp reside.

"We'll ride along with you, it's on our way. I know you gentlemen have places to be this morning. I'll go in the El Parador and make myself presentable, than I'll come back over and check on the Marshall. I hope he'll be recovered enough for the trial today."

They traveled the short distance and Kate and Nanuet put up their new horses in the stable. She seemed to be collecting horses lately. A ride out to Flint's might be a good idea. Perhaps she could rent some room from him for the extra animals. While hidden in the stable she dropped the protective spell. They then went inside the El Parador, and Kate headed for her room to get cleaned up and put on some proper clothes.

The wagon with the Deputy Marshall stops on the street outside of the large three-story clapboard structure and Morand heads inside. He quickly returns with six men, including Wyatt Earp. Wyatt orders four of the men to help to carry Morgan up to his room and tells the other one to go fetch Doc Eaton.

While the men are carrying him inside those out on the street hear a grandfather clock inside the building chime nine times. Seawell excuses himself saying, “I have to go. I’m late for a meeting. Morand says “Wait for me, I need to have a word or two with Fisk as well.” The two men rush off.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 82, “The Fisk Mountain Mine,” January 10, 1882:

Kate went up to her room and closed the door. She quickly got out of her riding clothes, pulled out a soft gray dress and laid it across her bed. The braid in her hair had kept it from getting tangled, but she still brushed it carefully before pinning it up.

Tom had always called her his little dove when she wore the Grey. Strange how Mr. Gonzales also referred to her as a bird, although he did not refer exclusively to her that way. She buttoned the ruffled white blouse, pulled on the jacket and buttoned it snugly around her waist. She then reached back into the pocket of her riding jacket to pull out the slim metal rod.

Katherine closed her eyes as she felt the smooth rod in her hand. It seemed so harmless. Just a piece of metal. Jake had warned her that she would need a way to stop trouble, and he was right. But it frightened her how easily she had used it. There had been no other option, but that didn't ease her mind.

She walked over to Tom's picture and ran her finger along the frame. "What do you think of me now?" She sighed and went to Mr. Gonzales room. As she returned the rod she explained that she could not stay now, but would return after the court sessions to just talk, if he didn't mind. Then she went downstairs on her way to check on the Marshall.

Kate arrives in the lobby of the El Parador and is surprised to see two familiar faces, namely Adam and Ben Cartwright. Ben Cartwright looks to be in excellent health and has a sparkle in his eye that wasn’t present before. They stand and approach her, Ben saying, "I wanted to say goodbye. We'll be heading out from the Lazy S Ranch later this morning. I wanted to personally thank you for your assistance and invite to you visit my Ponderosa if you’re ever in the area of Virginia City.” Kate answers, "You're very kind, thank you. I'm not certain how much assisting I really did, but things came out well in the end. Keep your eyes open. We've seen the two that got away since, and they are holding grudges."

Adam says to Katherine, “There’s still one more thing that the Apache would like from you. That Knowles guy told them that Curly Bill Brocius was wanted and that his body would be worth some money. They sent it back with us. We didn’t think riding into town with a body was a really good idea so we left it out with your dwarven friend.

Here’s a list from the Apache of supplies they’d like you to buy for them with whatever you get for the body.” Adam hands over a list, which reads: “Salt; Steel sewing needles; Steel hunting knifes or knife blades; Metal nails; Copper tubing, Iron frying pans; Ammunition for Springfield Army rifles.” She says, "This shouldn't be any trouble, although I don't know where we'd have to take the body to get the reward. Did they ask for anyone specific to bring these things out? I know they are very careful with who they allow on their land."

He answers, “They said that your Indian friend, Nantucket I believe, would take care of that. Kate laughed softly. "Nanuet, yes. I'll take care of these things as soon as I can. There's no need to wait until we take the body in. I have some money, and if we get more than I expect I can make further purchases to match the difference later." She offered her hand to Ben and then Adam. "Safe journey to you. It was a great pleasure to meet you; one I hope to have repeated." Kate exchanged a few more pleasantries with Ben and Adam Cartwright and saw them on their way before she hurried across the street to the Great Western Boarding House. She went inside and looked for the proprietors.

Nanuet intercepts Kate and the Cartwrights after he is finished taking care of the horses. After the morning's ride he was very thorough with their care. "Greetings again Cartwright men, and Ms. Kate." He holds up his right hand in a greeting. "What brings you back here to Promise City, and Miss Kate, where is everybody heading?" Ben Cartwright replies "We're on our way back to the Lazy S Ranch and then on to Nevada. We just came to say goodbye." Adam adds, "The Apache have one more task for you to do. I've explained it to Mrs. Kale. It was nice meeting you Nanuet." Kate says, "They'd like us to use the reward money for Bill Brocius to get them some supplies." Kate handed Nanuet the list. "It shouldn't be any trouble. I'm going over to check on Marshall Earp just now. You're welcome to accompany me."

Back at Lacey’s store Ruby asks, "So you never answered my question then, are you a judge or did they just name you after your grandfather?"

He says, “My Grandfather was indeed a Judge. My father was impressed with the degree of respect people gave to him when they heard his name and decided to name me that. Personally I’m glad that he did since it has helped my career as a merchant. When they hear the name ‘Judge’ people automatically assume that I am an honest man and will give them a fair deal, which is true so I don’t mind them thinking that.

So I named my son Judge for the same reason. He’s a really good boy, makes a father proud. A few years ago he settled down in a logging town up in northern California. Last year the town had grown so big enough that they decided to incorporate and needed a judge. The town elders approached my boy and offered him the job due to his prior experience. He explained that he had never been a judge before, it was only his name. They pointed out that he didn’t have to tell them that and his doing so was a testament to his honesty, so they gave him the job anyway.” She replies, “"That is an impressive story. You must be so proud to have such an honorable son."

Ruby says, "$45 huh? Do you maybe have a nice hat to match the dress? Or maybe a black one will do. What do you think? Also, I'd like to get something nice for my friend, the one who left the money. Any ideas?" He says, "Well, I usually suggest books but I'm not sure if he is a reader. I know, he's a gambler right? Just a minute." He picks up a large metal box that was hidden under the counter. He takes out a key ring and unlocks the box. He then opens the lid. Ruby can see that it is filled with jewelry of various kinds as well as other items made of silver and gold.

He takes out a small metal silver case, five inches-by-three-and-a-half-inches-by-one inch. He opens the lid and she sees that the inside is lined with red velvet. "Made to hold a deck of cards" his is comment. He then adds "Feel free to look though this box for anything that might look good on you. We'll spend that hundred in no time."

Ruby doesn’t have to look long at the card case. “I’ll take this for sure,” she says rubbing her hand across it. Ruby does look through the box to see if there is anything she would like. She is used to men giving her meaningless jewelry and for once she would like to get something that was special. “Forget thinking like that,” she tells herself as she shakes her head. “No that’s all, Mr. Lacey. And I have to get going, as you can tell I have to get a bath before the trial.”

Lacey charges her an even $ 60 for the purchases, even though Ruby is sure that the silver case is probably worth more than $ 15. He hands her the change and says that he will see her at the courthouse. “Thanks, Mr. Lacey.” She picks up the packages and stops at the door. Looking over her shoulder she smiles at him, “And I can’t wait for lunch.”

Next door at the lawyer’s office, Berg slides some papers over for Jake to read. Jake hands Berg the documents the two miners had signed giving him agent rights. He then concentrates on reading the document that Berg gave him to satisfy that his instructions were followed clearly. While reading he says to Fisk, "You are a fortunate man, Mr. Fisk. I had the opportunity to see the claim this morning. I believe you will be very pleased with it's output."

Jake pauses to read some more. "Unfortunately, Marshal Morgan Earp was not as lucky this morning. But he is a strong man perhaps he'll survive his wounds." Again Jake pauses to read without comment. Then, "Heh, I'll bet Wyatt is hopping mad already. I feel sorry for whoever cause this mornings little problem." He continues to read while watching for any reaction from Fisk out of the corner of his eye.

The door to Berg's Law Office suddenly bursts open and Zack Morand enters followed by Patrick Seawell. That Zack is angry is obvious based upon the look on his face although anyone who missed that would know from how hard he slams the door shut behind him. He marches over to Fisk and says in loud voice, “Fisk, you’re the only one other than the Marshall and those on the stagecoach who knew about the early morning run out the mine site. All of us were nearly killed and the damage to my company’s equipment will cost several hundred dollars in repairs.”

Fisk begins to state that he has no idea what Morand is talking about. Morand interrupts him and says, “I’m sure that a snake like you has already covered your tracks. I may not be able to prove that you were responsible but I know it in my gut. The Morand Cartage Company has no interest in working directly for you and I’ll make sure that no other cartage company in the county will either. We’re a pretty tight bunch.”

He turns and starts to head towards the door, then stops and looks at Jake, Seawell and MacNaulty and says, “You guys on the other hand I’ll be more than happy to work for.” He stops and ponders for a minute. Instead of leaving he then walks back to the table and takes a seat, commenting "Maybe I'll stick around a bit longer if you don't mind Mr. Cook."

Jake says, "Mr. Fisk, Mr. Berg, if you will excuse us for a moment I would like to talk to Misters McNaulty, Seawell and Morand outside. We seem to be at an impasse of sorts. I'd like to see if there is still any possibility of an agreement of the parties today." Jake pushes his chair back and leads them outside, being careful to close the door behind him.

As the group leaves the office, they see Chester standing at attention like a sentry. Gamely, since he's trying to handle the rifle and the shotgun. "Meeting over yet?" He calls out cheerfully.

Jake asks Morand for a quote to move the ore working for someone other than Fisk, and to include enough extra for security. Morand says that they normally charge $ 4 per 100 pounds for every 50 miles traveled. Based on that and estimating one ton per wagonload of ore, that would be $ 16 per ten-mile round trip, but adds that this particular road is rougher which would be harder on the equipment and with the need for added security you'd almost have to double that estimate.

Next he asks Seawell and McNaulty to estimate what percentage of costs the transportation would be relative to what is left after processing. Jake explains in other words, what percentage ownership of the mine is break even of the costs.

MacNaulty does some quick math. Figuring a very conservative one-percent yield to the ore, that would mean twenty pounds of silver per load, which at SilverBell's pricing would still be around $ 800 per load after processing and assaying costs. Each of the four miners would therefore get $ 80 per load and Fisk would get $ 480. Transportation and security costs would therefore amount to around 4% of the total. Seawell says that he estimates the percentage yield to be much higher so that transportation cost percentage being a fixed cost per load would be much lower.

Jake asks if they would they be interested in proposing transferring additional share of Fisk's ownership to the four of them, any one of them or a new partner?” They like the idea. Morand says that as tempting as becoming a mine owner is he meant what he said about not partnering with Fisk so he'll pass on being a part owner. But he does like the idea of steady work for his business. MacNaulty says he would not be opposed to Jake becoming a partner but he'd have to give some serious thought to anybody else. Seawell indicates that he'd actually rather have somebody new than increase his own share if that meant he didn't have to personally worry about the headache of security, as the paranoia of the last three days is something he'd rather not have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Meanwhile, Chester just stands there on guard taking all of this information in.

Jake leads Misters McNaulty, Seawell and Morand back into the office. "As things stand there is no deal. I am sorely disappointed. No one appears willing to take on the risks of transportation." Jake shifts in his chair and looks at Fisk. "I have a proposal Mr. Fisk to start the silver ore flowing. You sell me a nine- percent share of the mining rights for a dollar and the contract stipulates I am responsible for transportation. You retain majority ownership at fifty-one percent and are free from the headaches of operation. That starts the ore moving today, everyone goes to work immediately, and gets you a step closer to your larger aspirations." Jake pauses for dramatic effect. "Unless you think it is wiser to hold on these negotiations and we can all help Marshall Wyatt Earp with the investigation."

Fisk says, "Nine percent appears to be rather steep just for transporting the ore." Morand speaks up next and says, "Not really, we were just discussing this outside."

He then repeats what he and MacNaulty had discussed almost verbatim, except that he halves the yield to one-half of one percent, which then has the effect of reducing the dollar estimates by half and raising the transportation and security estimates to 8%. He says "So what Mr. Cook is essentially suggesting is that he retain only 1% for himself as a management fee. He might not even get that if today's trip is any estimate of the security problems we might encounter." Fisk remains silent.

"Mr. Fisk," Jake looks him eye to eye. "I am making an offer to relieve you of a significant risk. Of course at a cost. I believe it is a minimum cost given the risks involved. And of course all of you would have another person who would be interested and active in keeping the ore flowing. I think all of you wish to see the ore flowing, and good working relationship among the partners. I know you are all troubled by today’s events, but I think getting an agreement signed will be a good distraction and will take steps to build a fine working relationship. Do we have an agreement Mr. Fisk?"

Fisk still hesitates and says "Nine percent still seems steep to me. Maybe I should get my own geologist to estimate these ore yields."

Seawell then speaks up "Mr. Fisk. Let me refresh your memory. I am Patrick Seawell and my father is Colonel Charles Seawell. That name may mean nothing to you, but ask Elton Hubbard about him, he is well known in the mining industry. My father served with the United States Army Corps of Engineers for over thirty years, retiring a few years back with the title of Chief Geologist of the United States.

Mr. Fisk, I was born on an Army base in California shortly after the California Gold Rush. My father's job was to assess and estimate the potential of finding precious metals on U.S. Government Land in order to determine a fair price. He was very good at what he did and taught me everything he knew. I lived for two decades in California learning everything there was to know about finding gold followed by another decade in Nevada helping my father to find silver.

I was the one who chose Fisk Mountain as the best site in this area for silver and I have now been proven right. In fact, I was the one last Friday who discovered this vein, otherwise we would not be sitting here. The reason that I tell you all this is that I've heard that you are a gambling man, and I'd like you to now prove it."

"I don't know what you're getting at," Fisk Comments.

Seawell states "Well, about two months back, when we still hadn't found anything on your mountain I began spending all my free time investigating other potential sites in the Dos Cabezas and Chiricahua Mountains. It took a while but I found this." He reaches into his pocket and removes a piece of granite, tossing it across the table then says "Mr. Fisk, those sparkles you see aren't silver, they're gold, a more valuable commodity than silver." He then takes a canvas bag out and passes it over as well. "Inside that bag are processed gold nuggets from that site certified by the County Assay Officer Joe Reiser. They are valued at $ 50. You may keep those Mr. Fisk, they belong to you. When I checked the County Claims Office I discovered that the place where I found them was another plot of land that is owned by you."

Fisk just examines the slip and says "So what. I bought the land that I thought would valuable to me. You just proved me right." Seawell states, "Yes, and according to the claims office you've bought up over a hundred plots of land totaling close to a thousand acres. I can assure you that without my help it will probably take most of your life and a considerable investment for you to ever find the gold.

What I am proposing is this. I am so confident of this new claim that I'm willing to sign over my entire claim in the Fisk Mountain mine to Mr. Cook here for his transportation and security services, provided that you are willing to sign over half of your interest in Fisk Mountain to my other three partners. That would still leave you with a 30% share of the profit . That would be $ 120 in your pocket for every wagonload of ore processed from that mine with an investment of time from you of absolutely nothing. You and I will then go fifty-fifty on the new claim that I found. Sure, you can try to find it yourself, but I'm offering you 50% of something rather than your 100% of nothing. So I'll repeat Mr. Cook's question, do we have an agreement Mr. Fisk?"

"Well that is an unexpected opportunity." Jake says to no one in particular. "I am still willing to take on the transportation responsibility with those terms. I doubt that Mr. Seawell is going to offer those same terms again. Time for a bold move. Cut the cards Mr. Fisk."

Fisk looks at Seawell and says "How do I know this isn't just a trick to cheat me out of half my share? You could be planning to get a kickback from your friends." Seawell replies, "Have Mr. Berg draw up papers stating that neither me or my heirs will ever collect one cent from the Fisk Mountain mine. I'll be happy to sign it."

Fisk then says "And how would the costs related to the new mine be divided?" Seawell replies "Same as the other, except we should probably reverse which one is responsible for extraction and which is responsible for transportation, since the cartage people won't work with you. The stamping and assaying costs would be evenly split based upon our percentage."

Fisk thinks for a minute and says "I don't agree to fifty-percent each. You miners were willing to take forty. I'll agree to that for the new mine." Seawell says "I suppose I should try to compromise at forty-five percent for myself, but I'm not an overly greedy person, so I'll take the forty."

Seawell then turns to Berg and says "Draw up all the papers based upon that effect." Berg says "How do I draw up papers for the new mine without knowing the location." Seawell says "Draw up tentative papers just specifying it as a Fisk-owned property. I'll reveal the actual location only after Fisk signs the tentative agreement in Judge Isby's presence. "

Berg says "It looks like I have a lot of paperwork to draw up. Plan on all everyone meeting back here today at the close of business, say 4:30 PM, for the signing. I'll arrange for Judge Isby to be present as well as the Deputy Sheriff as a witness."

Seawell adds "Oh, and while we're specific clauses about people and their heirs not inheriting anything, please make sure that the new mine agreement explicitly states that Mr. Fisk and his heirs will never be permitted to own any of my forty-percent share." With that everyone gets up and leaves. Jake looks at the clock on Berg's wall and sees that it is 9:35 AM, still leaving him ample time to get to Condon's Bank.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 83, “Merchants and Doctors”, January 10, 1882:

Nanuet looks over the list of supplies. "This should be easy enough to get this stuff. As for Curly Bill, that might be an issue, since in order to collect the bounty I believe we have to go to Texas. We can talk about that later, I don't want you to be late for the trial. I don't think I will be joining you though, my presence there won't do anyone any good. I will clean myself up and go and visit Flint today and see how things are going there."

Nanuet heads inside the El Parador and asks if there is a room available since he has been staying in the grove for a while. He pays for the room and spends the next hour or so cleaning himself up, organizing his belongings, mending his clothes and sharpening his knives. He makes his way downstairs and waits for Sonoma to return.

Ruby turns and hurries back to the El Parador. She grabs another clean dress, leaves the riding outfit, takes the green dress and hurries to the bathhouse. She tries to quickly take a bath but she is so dirty it takes longer than expected to get clean.

After that she heads over to Kelly’s Dry Goods and Tailors. She walks in and sees a woman behind the counter. “Hello, Ma’am. I’m here to do some shopping and I need this dress altered. Do you have time?”
“Of course,” she answers. “Let me see what you have, dear.” Ruby shows her the green dress. “Well, go and try it on.” Ruby does and is practically smothered by the neckline. “I need this altered, and the faster the better. I want this thing off, “she pulls at the bustle,” and I want this cut off," she points to the extra material on the neck. "Actually, let’s just make this off the shoulder, shall we? So take most of the sleeve off too. And take it up from the floor a bit, maybe to the ankle?” She looks up at the woman, who is looking at her like she is crazy. “What?”

Mary Kelly looks at Ruby and says "So, the only thing you like about this dress is the color? I have other dresses that might be more to your liking." She takes her into a back room where around a dozen dance-hall-girl style dresses are on display, some with low cut necklines, and others fastened high on one side of the skirt to display leg. All of them are the same light-ivory off-white color but Mary says that she has dyes and can have them made in any color that Ruby would like. Ruby's eyes are wide with excitement. "Oh these are beautiful! Yes I would like to buy a few, and any color I want, huh?" Ruby look though the dresses. "But can you fix up the green one too? I do like the color." Ruby pauses, "On second thought, forget the dress. I know someone who will love it just as it is."

Ruby chooses three dresses of different styles and gives Mary some instructions for them. "I also need some new undergarments. I need something, uh... pretty." Mary laughs. "I have just what you need." Mary brings her over to a different section of the store. Ruby chooses what she needs with a smile on her face. "So what do I owe you and when will it be ready?" She charges Ruby $ 35 for everything and says that the dresses should be ready by Wednesday at 5:00 PM.

Kate reached the Great Western Boarding House. There were only a couple people left eating breakfast at this late hour, and a man in an apron quickly approached her. "Good morning," she said quietly. "I'm Mrs. Kale. I've come to check on the Deputy Marshall." She is taken up to his room. Wyatt Earp and Doc Eaton are there. The Doc looks to Katherine and says "It looks like a priest already got to him first, otherwise he probably wouldn't have made it back to town. Care to tell me about that?"

The Doc says "Wyatt, you can go get going, you have prisoners to deal with. I think he'll be okay, he's primarily recovering from shock I think. I'll let him sleep for another 20 minutes, then I'll have to give him an elixir to get him up to testify at the trial in another half hour. I have to testify as well so I'll walk him over there."

Kate says, "We were lucky to have been given a gift that could perform healing without the presence of a priest. We used it to heal the Marshall's wounds. Which is why I was so concerned about his lapsing back into unconsciousness. He woke when we healed him, looked up at me and said 'I'm sorry' and passed out again. I am also planning on going to the trial. I'm not certain if my testimony will be needed, but it seems best to go just in case. I'll walk over with you if you don't mind."

Eaton waits until it is almost time for the trial to administer the ointment to Morgan Earp. The glass vial has a strong alcohol smell to it. The Doctor holds back Morgan's head and pours the liquid down his through. Morgan starts to choke and then spits some of it out before opening his eyes. He stares at the Doctor and realizes where he is. "Thanks Doc, I.." he then sees Katherine and his eyes go wide. The Doctor says "Mrs. Kale helped get you back here. You owe her and her friends your life." Eaton then turns to Katherine and says "If you'll excuse us for a few minutes I'll get him presentable for court."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle your patient, doctor. I'll wait downstairs, of course. Good to see you awake Marshall, you've had a rough morning."

Kate left, being sure to shut the door quietly behind her. For a moment she considered standing at the door to see what she could hear, but that would be abominably rude. What was it about her that bothered, no shook Morgan Earp so? She paused just for a moment to see if any bits of conversation would pass through the wood, and then went downstairs to wait for the gentlemen.

Ruby next heads over to Frye's Harness shop. She wants to buy some pants and she wants them tight so they either have to make them or alter them. Mr. Frye laughs. He has several pairs of leather pants but based upon what she wants suggests a pair in light tan. They look to be a little big. He tells her to sit in a bathtub while wearing the pants for a good hour and then to wear them until they are dry. That will shrink them to exactly fit her shapely form and the lighter color is close enough to flesh tone to make any man take a second glance.

Well, that might look a bit silly sitting in a tub with pants on, but it will be well worth the trouble in the end, I'm sure." Ruby glances around. "I think I'll also take a holster for my gun. There won't be anywhere to hide it once I'm done with these pants."

She chooses one that will fit and puts it with her new pants. "Thank you Mr. Frye and I'm sure we'll do business again in the future, especially if the pants do their job," she smiles as she pays him. Duncan Frye also suggests that she come back later wearing whatever she normally uses as a coat, shawl or poncho as well as with her gun, and he'll custom design her shoulder holster so that she can carry it concealed that way.

"Coat? I don't have one. I normally wear dresses, well, until I got here I did anyway." Ruby laughs at the thought of wearing a shawl while crawling though caves and climbing under coaches. "So I'd better get one of those too." She picks out a short leather jacket that won't impede her movement. "Something like this? If you can do it quickly, why don't you measure me now for that holster?" Shopping is so distracting she thinks, and more fun than a trial. Sure I won't miss much.

Frye measures her arm and shoulder dimensions and asks her what type of gun she uses. He then goes to a desk drawer and unlocks it, and takes out some a wooden dummy guns and asks her to find one of the same size. He then has her demonstrate to him exactly how she draws.

Somewhat embarrassed he tries to tactfully explain that her ample bosom would make what he has in stock for coats probably not work well, so he would have to custom make one for her.

He then takes out some wooden dummy derringers as well as several different knives and asks if she has one for a back-up weapon. Since he is going to be custom making the coat for her anyway he says that he will be willing to build in a knife sheathe as well as a derringer holster right into a coat. He'll also add some extra padding to whichever side doesn't have the shoulder holster on it so that the bulge from the weapon will not be obvious. Lastly, he asks if there were anything else she'd like built into the coat, such as small inside pockets for specific items.

“Well, Mr. Frye, you certainly know what you are doing. Sure, you can put in a spot for a dagger and a derringer. That would be helpful. And somewhere I can keep my money so no one can get to it. Oh and my keys too! If you can make a few small pockets, I’m sure they’ll come in handy eventually.” She looks at the man. “This is going to be the best jacket ever. Now I apologize but I really have to run!” She hurries out the door, then pops her head back in, “Oh when will it be ready?” He replies "Probably by Friday, but stop in on Thursday for a final fitting." After his answer she says, “Thanks, see you then!”

Ruby heads over in the direction of the Comique Variety Hall and Saloon. She sees that the door the saloon is currently propped open. The adjacent Pierre’s Gunshop & Hardware store has a closed sign on it. Two doors further down the street the front doors two the Lone Star then open up. Maggie holds open the door as Tom Whipple, Jeff Mills, Tony Lucky, Al Brower, Pierre Jaquet and two other men all exit the building carrying chairs and barstools.

Maggie tells Ruby “When Judge Isby holds court at the Comique it can get rather crowded so they borrow all the chairs from our Saloon and the Alhambra across the street.” Ruby sees Judge Lacey standing by the doorway to the Comique, dressed in the same suit he wore when he presented her with flowers. He gives her a broad smile and tells her “Once Judge Isby enters the building it officially becomes a courthouse instead of a saloon so I’ll be able to attend and still keep my promise to my late wife.”

“Judge, it’s nice to see someone who keeps his promises. It’s a rare quality to find these days. How refreshing. I’ll see you inside then?” Ruby gives him a final smile as she starts to walk inside the Comique.

Out of the corner of her eye she sees two boys playing nearby. One is a human who looks to be around six or seven and the other is a wood elf who appears to be a little younger. She hears them calling each other Ritchie and Manuel. She approaches them. "How would you two like to make a dollar today?" she asks, still smiling. "Do you know where Condon's Bank is?" They nod. "Well, I might need to fetch someone from there. How about you wait here during the trial that is going to happen soon and if I need you I'll come out and let you know. Even if I don't need you to go, if you wait here the dollar is yours after the trial. Deal?"

She extends her hand to the boys. They eagerly shake hands with her. "Here is what you will do if you need to go..." She leans over and whispers to the boys. When she is done giving them instructions she asks them if they understand and they both answer "Yes Ma'am." "Very well, you behave out here while you are waiting," she winks, and then makes her way inside.

Ruby enters the Comique and sees that all but one table has been moved to the far back wall where they have been stacked atop each other to open up as much space as possible. The chairs from the three saloons have been set up in the room as seven rows with ten chairs in each row, five on each side of a center aisle. The room is already starting to fill up with people. A man heads up to the bartender standing at the bar to order a drink. The bartender replies “Sorry, Judge Isby does not permit eating and drinking in his court. We’ll start serving again as soon as court is adjourned.”

Doc Eaton assists Morgan Earp out the door and downstairs to the dining room of the Great Western Boarding House. Peg Watkins, the wife of the house’s owner has been sitting with Katherine until now, which has been a tad uncomfortable since Watkins has been talking about wanting to “civilize” the town and put restrictions on all Saloons. Katherine decided not to mention her living at one saloon and working at another.

Morgan looks to be physically fine. Watkins has him a mug of coffee, which he happily accepts and drinks. Katherine joins the men. Morgan had physically leaned against Eaton going down the stairs but insists on walking on his own outside, saying he’d lose respect from the eyes of the town if he was seen needing help. The three of them make the short walk north one block to the Comique.

Ruby sees Katherine enter along with Doc Eaton and Morgan Earp. Earp heads over to the stage and walks up the steps to. He then sits down on a single chair that had been placed there. Eaton takes an open seat in the front row. Chumbley and Parker Baxter are also both in the front row but on opposite sides, notebooks and pens in hand.

Katherine sees Flossie McKenna sitting in a chair along the side wall of the building. The two chairs next to her are presently empty. Ruby has taken a seat closer to the front of the room and appears to be saving two seats beside her. For a moment Kate considered going over and sitting next to Flossie, but she was certain the rumors were already flying about Tom because of Saturday night. If she were to sit next to Flossie the room would expect a catfight. Perhaps after the trial when the people were up and mingling about she could work her way over to the singer.

Katherine worked her way up to Ruby, sat down beside her, and took her friends hand. "I'm so glad you're alright. Mr. Morand's people told us you'd all arrived safely." She leaned over and kissed Ruby's cheek but kept hold of her hand. "Kate!" was Ruby's enthusiastic reply. She threw her arms around Katherine’s neck and gave her a huge hug. “Is everything ok? What happened to you? Are you alright? I was so worried,” Ruby sighed a breath of relief and smiled. “I’m glad you are here.”

"Yes Ruby, I'm fine. There was no more shooting after we were separated. I tended to the Marshall with Mr. Morand and Mr. Seawell, and Nanuet came back and used one of the stones to heal Mr. Earp's wounds. It was the strangest thing, Ruby," she whispered. "He healed just like he should, but when he woke he just moaned 'I'm sorry,' to me and passed out. The only reason he's awake now is because the Doctor gave him some kind of medicine. But we all made it back alright. I don't know how you managed to stop that coach, but I'm glad you did."

“That is strange about Morgan Earp,” Ruby says slowly. “He must have been very wounded to have passed out again. Maybe our friend Nanuet can’t heal every wound. Sounds like you saved his life Kate. Let’s hope he appreciates it. As for our coach ride, I’m not sure you want to know but it involved lots of praying and lots of luck. I had to climb under the stupid thing while it was moving. Believe me, my arms and legs are killing me! Jake’s clothes got ruined so I did some shopping. I’ve been meaning to anyway.”

“You know, Earp told me yesterday not to worry about Job’s sentence. He said even if he was found guilty the Judge always offers his sentence as jail time or a fine.” "That's a relief. No matter what the Judge decides, Job has been in jail long enough. He's not dangerous."

"So, you've been shopping? A much pleasanter way to go with your day than riding under stagecoaches. You should get some sleep after this is over. And a good long soak to ease your muscles." "Yes, it was about time I got some proper riding clothes of my own so I don't need to tear up someone's else's," Ruby laughs. She looks at Katherine quizzically. "I did have a bath Kate, can't you tell?" She puts her hand to her hair. "I think that was the dirtiest I've ever been. I suppose I'll need some help with the leftovers knots later." Ruby looks around at the crowd building in the room. "Sleep would be nice..." then she suddenly remembers, "Oh, but I'm having lunch with Judge Lacey today! Right after the trial. We're going to the Promise City Hotel."

Kate replies, "I didn't mean a bath for getting clean, I meant one for feeling better. Don't worry, I'll help get the knots out of your hair. I saw Judge Lacey on Sunday at the Cafe. He looked very disappointed. I'm glad you're making it up to him."

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 84, “Declaration of War”, January 10, 1882:

In reference to Lacey’s disappointment Ruby replies, "He was huh? Poor guy. Well, I'm sure he'll enjoy his lunch today," she says winking. "Besides I already made it up to him, I spent lots of Jake's money in his store."

The room soon fills up and before long all eighty chairs a filled with another dozen people standing along the back wall. Maggie takes a seat beside Katherine and the man on the other side of her gets up to let Tom take the seat next to Maggie. Katherine and Ruby recognize around one-third of the people in the room, most by face rather than by name. The town’s two lawyers, Hamilton Fisk and Mitchell Berg are both present, seated on opposite sides of the room.

Evan Adair arrives with his girl Kitty on one arm and the strumpet Suzie Foreman. They walk to the front of the room and three men seated in the first row give up their seats to the three. Unlike the previous times that they had seen these women they both are dressed in conservative high-collared formal clothing.

Wyatt Earp arrives. Wyatt has his gun drawn on the three prisoners, Job Kane, Marvin Keach and Dudley Yeats, whose hands are shackled together. Maggie mutters “How embarrassing. Marshall Hollister wouldn’t use restraints or firearms on prisoners unless it was absolutely necessary.” The prisoners are gestured to sit down on the edge of the dancehall stage. Morgan Earp takes out his revolver and points in the direction of the prisoners' backs.

Meanwhile, back at the El Parador Nanuet is seated and waiting for Sonoma. The miner Patrick Seawell enters the building, looks around, and then comes down and sits with Nanuet. Seawell says, "You look better than when I saw you last. I was looking for that Mexican woman you rode out to the mining site with. Would you know where she is?"

No, I actually don't know where she is. She said she would meet me back in town. What is your business with her if you don't mind asking? He replies, "Actually, business is what I wish to talk about. It looks like I'll be severing ties with my former mining partners. I spoke to the carriage driver from this morning, Zack Morand, about forming a new partnership with his family. They own a large cattle ranch in the area and have the money to invest in the new venture. I just need to talk to the family patriarch to finalize the deal.

So once we get the business established we'll need some places to mine. I found what I think is a promising spot up in the Dos Cabezas Mountains, but a family of wood elves who raise sheep there currently owns the land. I'm willing to pay them a very fair price for the land, but when I tried talking to them around a month ago I discovered that they don't speak English, and I don't speak either Elvish or Spanish. So I would like to hire your friend as a translator."

He replies, “Sounds like an interesting proposition, but I can't speak for her. Like I said, she is supposed to meet me here back in town. I can give her a message if you'd like. Where can I tell her to look for you if she is interested?” Seawell answers, I'll just check in back here. I've got several more things to take care of in town today, but I'll be around. He then departs.

Over at the bank, following the introduction by Chester shakes Condon's hand. "Good morning, Mr. Condon. I'm Chester Martin. Mr. Cook has told me what a wonderful boss you are. I hope I can live up to his confidence in me. AS far as my qualifications go, I served in the United States Army with the Fifth Cavalry out of Fort McPherson, Nebraska for five years." Condon answers, "Well. I guess you can stick around for now, seeing as how I'll be short-handed. Do you have your own weapons?" "Yes, sir. A revolver and a repeating rifle. Plus a couple which used to be longarms." He holds up the bent rifle. "I'm not sure what happened to this." Chester and Jake continue to have a dull day at the bank. It isn't as busy as Monday had been. Condon isn't all that sure about Chester and is keeping an eye on both of them.

Back at the Comique, Deputy Sheriff Colin Hunter steps into the room and announces, “All rise for Judge Nathan Isby.” Hunter holds the door as a tall man wearing a black robe over a dark suit enters the building. Isby looks to be in his early forties, with dark hair that is starting to gray on his sideburns and long droopy mustache. He has a square-shaped face with a chiseled jaw and walks with a slight limp. Ruby and Katherine both notice Judge Lacey enter after and take a place standing along the back wall. Isby walks over behind a table that has been set up near the stage. He says, “You may all be seated.” Everyone in the room except for Colin Hunter sits down. Hunter remains standing near the table and acts the part of bailiff.

Isby taps the proceedings into order with the gavel and announces, “On today, this tenth day of January, Eighteen-eighty-two, and ten-thirty in the morning, the Seventh Circuit Court of Southeastern Arizona Territory is called into session. The Seventh Circuit Court serves eastern and Chochise and Graham Counties and holds court in the communities of Clifton, Safford, Promise City and Wilcox. All rulings made by myself, Judge Nathan Isby, are final unless appealed to the Territorial Governor within five days of today’s date.

Colin Hunter states, “When each witness is called that are to come forward and swear to the Gods of Rome and Greece that they will speak truthfully. Each witness is to then state their full legal name, current place of residence and occupation.” Isby then reads from a paper before him “The first case is the Town of Promise City vs. Kane and Keach. The charges are levied against both Job Kane and Marvin Keach for disturbing the peace and the discharge of firearms within a public structure. Testimony will be heard on this case in the following order: Deputy Marshall Morgan Earp, Mr. Thomas Whipple, Miss. Suzanne Foreman, Mr. Jake Cook, Mrs. Thomas Kale, Miss. Ruby West, Doctor James Eaton and lastly from both of the accused. Are all of those parties present in this courtroom today?”

Ruby stands up and faces the judge. "I am here, your Honor, Miss Ruby West. Mr. Cook is not presently here but will be soon." She excuses herself for a moment and goes out the door. The boys are still there playing nicely just like she said. "Ok boys, remember what I told you? Go get Mr. Cook, fast as you can."

That is all she has to say, they take off running down the street. As Jake is doing his normal guard duty he notices two small boys run up to the bank doors. They stop, leaning in the doorway, trying to catch their breath. When they look up and see him they nudge each other and slowly walk up to him.

“You Silver Jake Cook?” they ask. “Miss Ruby sent us. She said to look for the most handsome man in the bank. And she said you would be wearing a lucky black hat and if we were good maybe you would let us touch it. She’s gonna give us a whole dollar when we give you the message and bring you back.” The other boy interrupts the first, “We’re supposed to bring you back to the Comique for the trial, they need you there.” Then the first boy interrupts again, “And she said if we was fast bringing you back we could get a kiss too, so you’d better hurry and get ready. She sure is pretty Mr. Jake, is she your girl?” The two boys elbow each other and laugh.

"Hold on a moment boys." Jake gets Morgan Condon’s attention. "They are looking for me at the court house. Do you want Mr. Martin to stay?" Condon agrees to let Jake leave, but he and Chester also notice him strapping on his own sidearm. Chester says, "Mr. Condon, if it'll make you feel any better, you can hold my Spencer and I'll just have my six-gun." Just being careful" he replies, adding "Deadeye Douglas of the Douglas Gang was seen in the area a few days ago. Can't go taking any chances."

Jake then follows the boys back to the court house, thinking about what the boy asked him. "Let's hurry so you can get that kiss. Let me tell you they are something special." Before he goes in he narrows his eyes at the boys and rests his hand on his revolver. "It's ok if you kiss her, but not too long. Right?" And he goes inside trying to hold in his laugh.

Ruby sees Jake walk in so she waves him over to their seats. She gets up and walks past him, “I guess the boys did their job?’” she says winking at him. “Excuse me for a minute I have to go pay up.” She squeezes down the aisle and stands in the doorway. Manuel and Ritchie are standing there waiting excitedly. “Here is your dollar boys, you did a great job.” She hands them a dollar. “Don’t spend it too fast now.”

She stands there looking at them with wide smiles on their faces. Ritchie finally gets up the nerve to ask, “Miss Ruby did we get here fast enough?” “Oh I did promise you kisses, didn’t I? Well, yes, you got here very fast. Who’s first?” Manuel steps forward and Ruby leans down and gives him a kiss on the lips, then does the same for Ritchie. The boys stand there with big dumb smiles on their faces. She tussles their hair and starts walking away. “See you around boys.” She winks at them and makes her way back to her seat. She smiles as she takes a seat between Jake and Katherine. “Did I miss anything?”

Morgan Earp is still on the stand giving a quick recounting of what he was told following his arrival at the Lone Star the previous Thursday. Ruby notes that while testifying he looks at the judge and the accused but avoids making eye contact with the rest of the audience.

Tom Whipple is the next to testify. He tells of renting the room to Miss Foreman while not being aware of her line of work. He explains that Job Kane, an employee of his establishment, went upstairs to ask Miss. Foreman to leave. He says that after the shooting began three of his other employees Jake Cook, Katherine Kale and Ruby West, headed upstairs and the shooting stopped. Shortly thereafter they returned.”

Suzie Foreman is the next one called to the stand. She testifies “I was a new arrival in town last Thursday and the Lone Star was the first establishment that I went too. I spoke to Mr. Whipple and explained to him what my profession was. He agreed to let me use the room and said that he required twenty percent of whatever monies I brought in.” Tom loudly exclaims, “That’s not true! She’s lying!”

The Judge pounds the gavel and tells him “Sir, you have already had an opportunity to speak. If you have anything further to add you will be granted an opportunity at the conclusion of all scheduled testimony, otherwise you will hold your tongue or be removed from the premises.” Ruby notes that both Evan Adair and his girl Kitty have slight grins on their faces while the Judge delivers the reprimand to Tom.

Miss Foreman continues her testimony and in response to Tom’s remarks says, “I am new to this town and I have absolutely no reason to lie. Mr. Keach was my third customer that evening. There had been no objections raised up until that point about my profession. In fact, Tom Whipple had given me friendly nods and smiles all evening, which I took as his approval. But I’ve been told since then that he flirts with and seeks favors from all of his female employees.”

Katherine hears Flossie gasp at that accusation, with a sad expression on her face as tears then well up in her eyes. Ruby notices that Tom and Maggie Whipple are both beat red with anger and are using every ounce of self-restraint that they can muster to keep from another outburst. Several people are now talking and gossiping throughout the room and the word ‘Tomcat’ is stated more than once.

Katherine reached over and took Maggie's hand. "They can say what they want, but they can't make it true," she whispered helplessly. "And from looking at Flossie, I think she still cares for Tom. But Maggie, they all know about Saturday night. Evan Adair would have made sure of it. When I give my testimony I may be asked about Tom, and I can't lie. He didn't do anything but it will still look bad."

The Judge hits his gavel and calls for the room to come back to order. He turns to the witness and says, “Miss Foreman, Mr. Whipple is not the one on trial here today. Please just explain in your own words what transpired in the upstairs room between Mr. Kane and Mr. Keach.”

She says “Job Kane barged into my room unannounced, pointed a revolver at myself and Mr. Keach and then threatened us both with bodily harm. Mr. Keach surrendered and then began to get dressed. That is when Mr. Kane started firing his gun at us. Mr. Keach fired back only in self-defense. The others then arrived at the door and ordered both men to drop their weapons. Mr. Keach was happy to oblige, but Mr. Kane was still out for blood and needed further convincing before he lowered his.”

She concludes by stating, “After it was all over the men headed downstairs and I remained behind with the two women. Miss. West pulled me aside out of earshot of her friend Mrs. Kale and indicated that she had initiated the entire confrontation between the two men. I believe her quote to me was “I don’t want or need any competition from the likes of you. Any soliciting at the Lone Star will be done by me.” A number of people in the audience begin talking to each other as both newspapermen are writing frantically. Katherine notices that Judge Lacey leaves the building, an expression of sadness on his face. As the noise level the room increases Judge Isby again pounds his gavel to restore order.

Ruby stands up, obviously extremely angry. She yells, "You lying... Your ass of a boss is just mad because he couldn't have me, I wouldn't come to the Palace and sell myself like you!" Judge Isby slams his gavel and loudly declares "Miss West. You are scheduled to testify shortly and will be given that opportunity. If you speak out-of-turn again I will have you taken into custody and charged with contempt of court! Be seated and be silent young woman!"

Katherine could see that Ruby was about to speak again. She reached up, grabbed hold of her sleeved, and yanked Ruby back into her seat. "You'll have your chance. And shouting isn't helping your case," she whispered. "There should be enough testimony from others to prove she's lying." She stole a glance over at Evan Adair. Suzie Forman hadn't disparaged herself or Jake, only Ruby. Ruby was probably right, he was holding grudges over Ruby's refusal to work for him, and he was doing everything he could to destroy her.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 85, “Judge Isby's Court”, January 10, 1882:

Jake takes off his hat and nods his head, "Your Honor." and takes his place. He swears in looking solemn. "Jacob Cook, El Parador Cantina here in Promise City, recently took employment with Condon's Bank as a guard. Not more than five minutes before the shooting, I heard Tom here" Jake points to Tom Whipple, "tell me he asked Job to talk to the occupants of that room, and ask them to leave. I sat in for Job at his poker table to deal for the rest of the night. Next thing I know I hear gun shots and I need a new deck of cards, as a bullet had put a hole in the card I was holding."

"So I run up the stairs and peek into the room and see Job trying to get cover behind a dresser and Mr. Keach behind the bed. Mr. Keach then takes a shot at me. I didn’t even have a gun in my hand!” Jake holds out his empty hands to emphasize. “So from out in the hall way I ask him if he wants to talk instead of shooting, and he shoots at me a second time! Lucky for me Job Kane is a pretty good shot and shot him in the arm that was pointing the gun in my direction. I’d say that this man is lucky, a less brave man than Job Kane would have shot him dead instead of just taking out his gun arm.” Jake stops and nods towards Job.

"After the shooting I did see Miss Foreman inside. I can't confirm her line of work or any discussions she may have had with others, but whatever she does for a living didn't require her to wear any clothes." This draws some quiet laughter from the crowd. "I didn’t see or hear what happened before, but I can tell you I have no respect for a man who takes shots at unarmed folk just trying to help. I would seriously doubt their words." Jake finishes talking and looks at the judge for approval before he returns to his seat.

Kate suddenly dreaded her turn on the stand. After Jake's testimony Kate took the witness seat on the stage and spoke in a quiet but clear voice that carried to the back of the room. "I am Mrs. Thomas Kale, Katherine Jacqueline, maiden name Seagram. I reside at the El Parador Hotel and Cantina, and am currently employed as a Pianist and Waitress at the Lone Star Dance Hall and Saloon."

"I noticed Mr. Kane go upstairs and Mr. Cook sat down to run his table. A moment later Mr. Cook held up a playing card with a hole through it. He then went upstairs as well. Another shot rang out and Miss West and I ran upstairs. From the hallway I could see Mr. Cook crouched by the door, and in the room Miss Foreman standing in the closet covering her with a sheet.

A shot hit the doorjamb near Mr. Cook’s head, and I heard a shot from inside the room, and then pained moaning. The shooting was over at that point and Mr. Cook went inside the room and helped Mr. Kane bring Mr. Keach out. Miss West and I then went into the room. I asked Miss West to keep an eye on Miss Foreman while I checked her clothes for weapons. Miss Foreman remained in the closet and Miss West by the room's outer door until I returned her clothing. She got herself dressed, and Miss West and I escorted her downstairs."

Ruby steps forward to the stand and gets sworn in. When asked her full legal name, place of residence and occupation she replies, “Constance Grace West, the El Parador Cantina and currently a singer,” she shoots Adair and Susie a dirty glance, “At the Lone Star Saloon.” She looks at the Judge’s raised eyebrows and says, “You can thank my mother for the name,” she says rolling her eyes.

“I was singing that night and from the stage I noticed Jake go upstairs. We heard a gun shot come from up there so Katherine and I ran up to see what was going on. We heard another shot, which hit the doorframe as we got up there, saw Jake at the door, heard another shot, the one that hit Mr. Keach, and could see her,” nodding towards Suzie, “In the closet in a sheet.”

“I asked what happened and Keach said Job tried to kill him and Job said he was trying to give the message from Tom Whipple that they had to leave and Mr. Keach pulled his gun so Job shot at him. They took Keach downstairs and asked us to take care of her, so Kate, uh, Katherine, checked her clothes to make sure she didn’t have a weapon, let her get dressed and brought her downstairs. I was never alone with her, none the less had time to tell her I orchestrated the whole thing.”

“We took her downstairs and as we did we past Job, who was heading up to get his stuff for his jail stay. He gave us some money to get him food and books, which we bought from Judge Lacey and delivered to him the next day. And for the record…” she looks right at Baxter, “Mr. Adair offered me a job working at his Saloon and I refused him because I don’t do that sort of thing so now he’s mad about it and making Suzie Forman tell lies about me! Only the lowest kind of person would do something like that.”

Doctor Eaton is the next to testify and he discusses the nature of the injuries to Mr. Keach. He says that the charge for medical supplies and services comes to $ 6.00, which Mr. Keach was unable to pay. Marvin Keach is asked to testify next. He has very little to say, stating that he was drunk at the time and has very little memory of what happened. He does add, “What I do remember was exactly what she said” and points to Suzie Foreman.

Job Kane gives his account of what happened which conforms to Jake’s testimony. He states that neither Tom or Maggie Whipple approves of prostitution nor Job then challenges anyone in the room to think of a single instance where Tom Whipple ever solicited the services from a prostitute. “Tomcat doesn’t need to go to ‘em, he keeps ‘em under his roof,” a mineworker near the back of the room blurts out.

Isby pounds the gavel and demands again that order be restore. The Judge then orders Colin Hunter to take the man who had just spoken up into custody to be tried for Contempt of Court following the other two trials. Hunter puts shackles on the man’s wrist and has him sit on the stage beside the three accused. Job resumes his testimony. He explains how his first shots were just warning shots and how he only hit Keach’s gun hand after the man began to fire towards the doorway after Jake arrived.

Judge Isby asks if any of the previous witnesses have anything further to add. Tom Whipple considers talking but then declines. The Judge then asks if anybody else present in the courtroom has anything else relevant to add to the case. The Judge makes his ruling. He finds that Keach was only acting in self-defense so dismisses the weapons charge but still finds him guilty of disturbing the peace. He orders Keach to serve two-weeks in the town jail, less time already served, which can be further reduced by payment of a fine assessed at $ 5.00 per day of reduced sentence.

He declares that Kane is guilty of the charges. The Judge chides Kane for acting so recklessly, stating that Keach was both drunk and surprised so could be possibly excused for his poor lapse in judgment, but that Kane was under no such impairment. He sentences Kane to one year of incarceration in the Arizona Territorial Prison, reduced by time served. He states that the prison time can be further reduced through payment of a fine assessed at $ 10.00 per day. Job Kane is also ordered to pay Doctor Eaton for Keach’s medical bill. The Judge then declares a ten-minute recess until the next trial. Most people in the room apparently decide to stay for the next trail although Evan Adair and his two women depart.

Ruby is fuming over the events that have just transpired. She was trying to push her way out to the aisle to confront Adair but was stopped by Jake and Katherine. "Oh he's going to regret this day..." she says out loud to no one.

Judge Isby calls the court back to order. The only named witnesses to the next trail are Wyatt Earp, Pamela Yeats, Doc Eaton and the accused, Dudley Yeats. In addition to charges of disturbing the peace and the discharge of firearms within a public structure he is also charged with the more serious crime of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer.

The first three witnesses give an account similar to that printed in the newspaper. When Yeats takes the stand he emphasizes that he meant no physical harm to the Marshall, that he was distraught and only wanted to be left alone. He points out that none of his shots hit the Marshall. The Judge makes the rhetorical comment, “So your main defense is that you are a poor marksman?”

The Judge rules that Yeats is guilty and sentences the man to five years incarceration in the Arizona Territorial Prison, reduced by time served. He states that prison time can be reduced through payment of a fine of $ 10.00 per day (although the likelihood that Yeats would have $18,200 to pay it is somewhere between slim and none).

Pamela Yeats hurries over to Mitchel Berg and quickly talks to him. Attorney Berg stands and says “Judge Isby. I will be filing an appeal of that ruling with the Governor. I request that Mr. Yeats be incarcerated locally until a decision on the appeal is made.” Isby says “Granted.”

Isby then turns around and asks Sheriff Hunter “Is your jail fixed yet?” Hunter replies “No, we’re still waiting for a new iron grate for the window.” Isby turns to Wyatt Earp and says, “Today’s stagecoach already left so it looks like you get to keep him another night Marshall. You may bill the Territory for that expense. Tomorrow the Sheriff’s office will bring him over to the Cochise County Jail in Tombstone.” The Judge calls for another ten-minute recess before the final trial. More people leave but most stay around for the next trial.

Jake goes quickly over to Berg after the second trial. "Mr. Berg, seems like Job Kane got a rather severe sentence. Is this Judge always this..." Jake pauses for a second "Harsh?" "Is there a reasonable possibility for an appeal do you think? And would you take on his case?".

Berg replies to Jake's question, "You think that was harsh? From 'Hanging Nate' Isby? Isby likes civilized prim-and-proper law abiding citizens. What he dislikes are spontaneous people such as gamblers, saloonkeepers and saloon girls. And he absolutely hates any interruptions to his court. Your friend Ruby's outburst probably added six months to Kane's sentence.

Look, Kane has the money for to pay the fine, which I'm sure Isby knew. Now if Kane had been smart he would have hired me from the onset. My fee would have only cost him $ 20 and I could have stopped that trollop from shooting off her mouth. File that lesson for future reference Mr. Cook, from what I've seen and heard about you so far I wouldn't be surprised if you find yourself in Isby's court at some point."

Kate was surprised by Job's sentence until she heard the sentence for Mr. Yeats. Still, three thousand dollars. Could Job have that much? He was a gambler, and Katherine had seen Jake just last night bring in about $200. Perhaps Job could cover the fine. She tried to catch Job's eye after his sentence was read. He had proven her instincts about him true by his defense of Maggie and Tom. She smiled toward him and he gave a bit of a shrug. After the second trial Kate walked toward the prisoners and addressed Wyatt Earp. "Is it permitted to speak to the prisoners?" Earp says, "No, but this should be over fairly soon. I think that Isby is about to resume."

Jake doesn't wait for the third trial and heads back over to the bank. Jake thanks Morgan Condon for allowing him to go over to court and asks him if he wants Chester to hang around.

The third trial begins, the defendant being the man who had made the comment in court about Tom Whipple. Isby asks the man to identify himself and to state his case. The man is identified as Marcus Foote, a worker at the Gila Belle Mine who resides in a tent east of the town.

Marcus’s defense is that he was responding to a direct question asked of everyone in the audience by Job Kane. Judge Isby says, “Yes, and if your comment had been a genuine answer to his question I would have allowed it. What you blurted out was not. Since I was present no further witnesses are necessary. I find you guilty of Contempt of Court and sentence you to a week in the town jail.”

“Hey, don’t I get an option of a fine?” Foote yells out. Isby replies, “I wasn’t going to allow one because I think that a week of sitting in jail will help teach you when to shut up. But if you insist on the option of a fine I will accommodate that request. Your jail time can be reduced through payment of a fine assessed at $ 10,000 per day of reduced sentence. Foote blurts out “That’s not fair, they only got $ 5 and $ 10 a day fines.” Isby replies, “Very well. I change my previous ruling. Your sentence for Contempt of Court is now two weeks in the town jail. Is there anything further?” Foote finally remains silent.

The Judge asks everyone present if there is any other business to be brought before the court. Hearing no other business, Judge Isby states that he will be in Promise City until Saturday and that any further legal business can be brought to him during regular business hours at the Courthouse. He then dismisses the court.

The bar immediately opens up and starts serving drinks while Warren Watson starts playing the piano and Al Brower, Pierre Jaquet and one other man begins moving the tables back and the Alhambra and Lone Star chairs over near the door. Brower stops Flossie to ask her to do something but reconsiders when he sees that she is on the verge of tears, and tells her to take her time and come back whenever she’s up to it. A third man, apparently the Comique’s bouncer, approaches the gambler Conrad Booth and says, “We’re a saloon again, and you’re still barred from here, so get out before I throw you out.”

Once the court business was over, Kate turned to Maggie. "I'm sorry this was so horrible." She gave Maggie a hug. "I'll walk back to the Lone Star with you if you like. Then I'll go see if Job can afford to pay his way out, or if he needs any help. Are you going to be alright?" Maggie replies "I'm alright. It's Flossie
who I am concerned about. Did you see how upset she was?

"I would speak to her, but we haven't been introduced. Imagine what she would think if a strange woman approached her and asked about her personal life. But perhaps I can stop in to hear her before I come in to work and introduce myself. Seems she needs a friend as much as you do."

The four accused and the three lawmen are still over by the stage. Marvin Keach asks permission to check with a few of his friends in the room for the $ 45 to pay his fine. Job Kane indicates that he also has the money to pay the fine and asks Deputy Sheriff Colin Hunter to accompany him over to the First National Bank of Promise City to transfer the money to the Arizona Territory’s account. Wyatt and Morgan Earp unshackle Keach and Kane while shackling Dudley Yeats and Marcus Foote together to bring them back to the town jail. Wyatt tells Job “Stop by later to pick up your things.”

Ruby calms down and sighs at this new turn of events. She remembers her lunch with Judge Lacey but doesn't see him around so she says goodbye to Kate, mentioning she will see her at the Cantina after lunch and goes looking for the Judge back at the General Store.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 86, “Seawell's Request”, January 10, 1882:

Over at the bank, Danby Jones comes in to take everyone's lunch order. Condon instructs him to also get something for "Jake's friend Chester." When Danby goes by Jake he whispers "Good thinking Silver Dollar, we could use a good lookout and an extra gun if we run into trouble."

Ruby arrives at Lacey’s store. It is open but there are currently no customers inside, as at least a third of the town were at the trial. Lacey is inside over near the back counter and he looks to be upset about something. He has also changed out of the suit and back into his regular clothes. She approaches him slowly, "Judge? I see you opened your store. I thought we were going to lunch today?" He looks up and says, "I don't think that is such a good idea. Forget I ever asked."

Ruby knows the answer but she asks anyway, "Why is it all of a sudden not a good idea?" He says "Miss West. We're from very different worlds. Your world revolves around Saloon life and I've sworn to never set foot in one. You should be with people your own age, like that young man who bought you all those clothes, not with a tired and worn out old man like me."

"Alright, Mr. Lacey, have it your way," she turns to walk out, "I was hoping you'd have more sense than to believe the lies that were told about me today."

Ruby walked out without looking back. She had hoped Mr. Lacey wouldn't believe the lies, but he did, and that would mean every no good loser in town would too and she was going to have to constantly be fighting them off and watching every ally she walked down. Now that she thought about it neither Kate nor Jake had said anything to her before they left. Maybe they believed it too?

As she walked back and passed the Lone Star she decided to sit for a minute to clear her head. She saw the two boys who had helped her earlier, still playing. It must be nice to have not a care in the world...

Kate picked up a chair and walked with Maggie back to the Lone Star, where Ruby was sitting dejectedly. She set down the chair and walked over to her friend. "I saw Judge Lacey leave the trial," she said putting her arms around Ruby. "I wouldn't have thought he would be so foolish."

"I don't care about Mr. Lacey. Well, in a way I do, the fact that he would believe her without asking me. And now everyone is going to think I'm a prostitute." Ruby sighs, "You don't think that, do you Kate? You don't believe her?"

"Why in the world would I?" she answered surprised. "I know better. I was with you in that room upstairs, remember? I know you didn't say a word to Suzie Foreman, and I know that you aren't a prostitute. I know you don't disapprove of the profession," Kate said with a little grin. "But I know you don't practice it either."

Ruby looked relieved. "Well, everyone else seems to think it's true. And I didn't get to talk to you or Jake afterwards. Jake took off pretty quickly, actually. Maybe I should go talk to him?" she said to herself. "I don't care how people choose to make a living. But I do think it's a dangerous life and now certain people might think they have a right to.. well, you know." Ruby shakes her head. " I can never ever stay out of trouble."

"Believe me, Kate, I am going to make him pay for this. Was it that important that I work there? Or the fact that he couldn't buy me?" Ruby smiles, "Or maybe it was the slap. Evan Adair is the kind of man who is used to getting his own way. What's worse, he thought he had you. I doubt he hears the word no often, especially in public accompanied by a slap," Kate laughed. "I doubt losing me gave him any pain. He may also be losing business with you here. The extra people in the Lone Star must be coming from somewhere."

"No one gets to have me, Kate," Ruby says slowly. "And if you are wise you'll stick to that rule too." Kate answers, "I couldn't do that Ruby, it's a lonely way to live. Sometimes it hurts to give yourself to someone, but I for one think it's worth it." She pulled out her handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. "Sometimes it hurts a great deal."

Ruby put her arm around Kate. "Maybe you're right about that, I don't know. You were lucky to find someone who was worthy of you, I doubt I will ever be so lucky." Ruby smiles at her friend. Ruby glances at the boys. "Aren't those kids cute? I sent them to get Jake." Ruby explains what happened with them. "I was just thinking how nice it would be to not have these worries all the time." "Anyway, are you hungry, it's time for lunch? Any plans for this afternoon?" "No particular plans, except to go see Mr. Gonzales. What did you have in mind?"

Ruby replies, "Let's go see Jake at the bank. I didn't get to tell him about my shopping experience today. And then we can eat and see Mr. Gonzales, how does that sound?" Ruby glances at Katherine to make sure she is recovered. She was sorry to keep reminding her friend of her pain.

Katherine and Ruby head over to Condon's Bank. Ruby smiles at Ritchie and Manuel as she passes them, and they giggle. The ladies walk into the bank and approach a very bored looking Jake. "You know," Ruby says smiling, "I could have walked right in here and robbed this place and you would have never known it, you're practically asleep!"

He replies, "I'm sure the sunlight that follows you where ever you go would have gotten my attention even if the angels singing hadn't." Then quietly, "Go easy on the robbery jokes here, they are a bit jumpy." “Jake, you’re just silly…,” she said blushing but anyone could tell she really loved the compliment. Jake says, "I have some business after I get done here, how about we all meet for dinner again?"

Kate smiled at Jake and then turned to Chester. "Mr. Martin, it's good to see you safe and sound." Chester answers, "Thank you. I'm glad to see you made it back OK as well. What about the others with you? Was the Marshall hurt badly?" "He was, although he's recovered now. We were lucky enough to have the means to heal him quickly with us. I take it you decided mining wasn't the employment for you?"

"As far as mining is concerned, Mr. Hogan decided I wasn't reliable enough for the Silverbell. Luckily Mr. Cook took pity on me, so here I am." She answers, "Hardly pity, I'm sure. Sometimes it takes time to find your proper place. It's just as well for you that yours isn't in a mine."

Sonoma rides to the El Parador, dusty but none the worse for wear. She finds Nanuet waiting for her and pulls him out back as she begins to stable her horse. She says, “I stripped the bodies and hid the weapons to go back for later. Each of the bandits had a new $20 bill. The Army is out there checking out the scene and they were heading to the mine that Jake seems to know the miners from. Let me get cleaned up and we can check with Jake to see if anyone has taken that kind of money out of the bank while he was on watch that he can remember. This was an attack that someone paid for and knew about and I'm not sure who that might be but I have an idea and it could be trouble for all of us.”

Patrick Seawell enters the El Parador and heads towards the table with Sonoma and Nanuet. Nanuet tells here "He was looking for you earlier." She replies "Well, I needed to find him as well, to inform him that soldiers are heading towards his mine."

He sits with them and she passes on the information about the soldiers. He says "Well, it is no longer my mine but I would not worry. The soldiers are looking for the outlaws, not the legitimate mine owners. Both Ralph Elliott and Humphrey Lewis are still at the site and will be able to talk to the soldiers. If anything, they will add further protection."

"What do you want of me?" Sonoma asks. Seawell relays what he had said to Nanuet earlier, of finding a promising mine site near the town of Dos Cabezas. Sonoma says "And you are so certain of this place that you gave up your other proven mine?"

He replies "I gave it up because Ralph Elliott had cut us a bad deal. We were responsible for the cost of extracting the ore, which is halfway up a sheer cliff. I suspected there was silver there from day one, but spent the first the first four months trying to find an easier and cheaper way to get at it. It could wind up costing forty-percent of the ore's worth just to get it out of the mountain, in which case my partners and I would have been working for nothing. So I told Fisk about another potential mine and got him to give up half his claim in the other mine to my partners, so now they will be assured of a chance to make some money.

But after this morning I don't trust Fisk and so I've found other partners instead, the family of the stagecoach driver from this morning. Now we need to find us some mine sites and the land with the wood elf sheep farmers looks very promising."

She says "This may be a harder negotiation than you suspect. The elvan people do not see land as you do. They may already know of the silver, gold or other precious metals on the land but don't care. Would they have to move? To leave their home? To move their flocks."

He replies, "They own half the side of a mountain. The area where I suspect the metals will be found is on one-third of their grazing lands but not near the house. It is that section of the mountain that I wish to purchase. I am willing to give them a very fair price for it." "How much is it worth?" she asks.

He replies, "The current owners purchased it over a century ago for around fifty dollars. With the silver that has been found in the region they could probably get twenty times that, around $ 1,000, from just about anyone. Based on the potential I see in it I'd value it closer to $ 8,000. If we actually find silver it would be worth far more, but there's no guarantee that I'm right about the metals being there."

She replies "They will be mistrustful. How will I be able to assure them that you are being honest with them?" He replies "You are familiar with my partners, the Morand family. They were the first Anglos to settle in this region and have always treated the native population fairly. They employ those of high elf and wood elf blood on their ranch and hire native druids to help birth their calves and foals. I believe that a woman named Morgana who once lived here once worked for them in that capacity."

Sonoma replies "I know of her and of this family. You have chosen your partners wisely. But I sense that you are impatient, you are trying to hide it but you are, why?" He replies "I am impatient. Within the next few days word will leak out about both potential mines, the Fisk Mountain mine to the northeast and the other mine I told Fisk of, which is closer to where the elves live. Over half of the land in those mountains is currently unclaimed but that will soon change. Speculators will buy up every available acre. You already saw this morning how some people react to greed."

She replies, "I will help you. The elves would be in potential danger if somebody else suspects their land has value. You wish to take some of their grazing land. Would there be adjacent unsold lands that you could get to exchange with them?" He replies "Most likely. I was only looking for precious metals before, but I could also identify fertile pasturelands. I will need to revisit the County Claims Office and see what is available in that area and then scout it out. We could do that together."

"How do you know so much of the land?" she asks. He then explains some of his background. She says "You should refrain from telling elves about your affiliation with the Army. Most native people do not trust soldiers, with good reason." He says "My father and I were in the army, but we were not fighters, we were geologists." He then tells her and Nanuet about the science of geology. After hearing this she says "Then you also know where to find water, that is information that the farmers would need."

She then says "And would you and your mining partners be willing to purchase their lamb and mutton meat? Elves are long lived. They may care more for having a long term supply to sell their flock than anything else."

He replies "I'm sure that something could be worked out. Miners need to eat. Your friends Jake and Katherine seem to be affiliated with one of the restaurants in town and your own parents own this one, so I would probably also be able to find them other customers for their lamb and mutton."

Seawell suggests that they leave in the morning as there is still danger from the people who attacked the stagecoach earlier. She says "Then we should leave now, when they are not expecting us." Seawell says "Your friend Jake Cook has arranged for papers to be signed this afternoon which should eliminate the danger to us. I will not be leaving this town until those papers are signed." She turns and looks to Nanuet to find out what he is thinking.

Nanuet thinks silently for a moment. "Mr. Seawell, no papers will protect you from bad people or bullets but if you are insistent on waiting until tomorrow then that is when we should go. If you both allow me too, I will accompany you on this trip."

"Sonoma, I had some plans today anyway, I want to visit Flint at his mine, or excuse me, ranch. It is up to you whether or not you choose to accompany me. I waited until you returned so that I was sure that you were safe. I will be leaving shortly. After we talk with Jake about your discovery of course."

Seawell replies "After what we went through today you can accompany me anywhere. I am totally impressed with what you did for Deputy Marshall Earp. And as for the bad men, from what I've heard of the Earps they're not likely to just let this one pass by unanswered."

Nanuet nods in regards to the comments about what he did for the Marshall. "Well, since my people do not sleep I will be ready before the sun if need be." Seawell asks how early in the morning the two will be ready to move out on Wednesday. He leaves some money on the table for the beer that Sonoma brought for him as well as a very generous tip and departs.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 87, “The Bank Withdrawal”, January 10, 1882:

After that he takes Sonoma by the hand and the two head towards the bank to look for Jake. They enter the bank and receive stares from the patrons. Nanuet looks uneasy and tries to find Jake very quickly. He notices that Ruby and Kate are there also. "Excuse me Jake, and ladies. Sonoma found out some interesting information that we think you might want to know about the men this morning. Do you have a minute to talk?"

Jake steers Nanuet outside, and nods to the others to move out as well. "Can you make it quick? Condon is a bit antsy today and... well never mind that now. I'll tell you later." He looks expectantly at Nanuet. "Yeah, I wasn't sure if coming here and having this discussion would be the best idea, couldn't hurt to stop by anyway. See you at the El Parador for a late supper?" Jake exclaims, “Whoa! I didn't mean to chase you off. Just keep it quick. And yes, I was hoping to see you all for dinner."

Nanuet slinks out of the room very aware of the eyes that are on him. "Well, I think I am going to head over to see Flint now." Nanuet says to whomever will listen as he stands outside the bank. "If anyone wants to come along you are more than welcome." Nanuet waits for a reply about whether or not anyone wants to come, then heads back to the El Parador to grab his belongings, mostly his knives and rifle, and heads out to see Flint.

Kate says, "I've been wanting to go out and see Flint. I've been rethinking what you said about seeing if I could partner in his ranch. And I wanted to ask him about coming out tomorrow. What do you think Ruby? We could make a quick trip and then come back and see Mr. Gonzales, and meet everyone for dinner later."

Ruby thought it over. “It’s never a quick trip around here. But sure, we can do that. Just give me a moment.” Ruby runs back into the bank and pulls out some money. “I’d like to make a deposit please!” Ruby deposits $400 into the bank and runs back out. "I'm ready!"

Katherine, Ruby and Sonoma return to the El Parador and prepare for their journey to Pete's Ranch, a mile to the southeast. Ruby gets changed into her brand new riding outfit and plans to wait downstairs for everyone else to get ready, but of course they are all waiting for her instead. 'Shall we ride?" she says walking out to the stable. They make their way to their horses and start the ride to Flint's.

Jones returns with lunch for everybody at the bank and then departs. Morgan Condon arrives and talks to his brother. He then comes over to Jake and Chester and asks them to alternate eating, that he wants one of the on alert at all times. He also checks his watch. "You are obviously worried about something in particular, care to share that with me?" Asks Jake. "Them" Condon states as six armed men walk though the front door of the bank. Jake looks quickly while reaching to draw his gun.

Jake recognizes three of the men and Chester recognizes two. Accompanying the miner Patrick Seawell are Zack Morand, Tempel Morand and three other men who also bear a strong resemblance to Zack and Tempel. One is older and Jake presumes him to be the family patriarch Forest Morand. They approach Frank Condon who heads into his private office with Forest and Zack.

Seawell tells Jake “New business venture. Zack said he wasn’t interested in partnering with Fisk on a mine, he didn’t say he wasn’t interested in owning one. The Fisk gold mine site wasn’t the only prospective site that I came upon and the Morands have the capital to make this work. They’re also decent people to work with.”

"I never got a chance to thank you for your part in those negotiations." Jake says to Seawell. "I know you have your own motivations, but thanks anyway. I was also liked the younger Morand, and if his older brother is anything like them you have some good partners. Let me know if you need any help, I have a feeling you are going to be successful and I wouldn't hesitate to work with folks whose word I could trust."

He replies, "I think we will too. My other former partners will probably angry at me for keeping the location of other potential sites to myself but I had my reasons, which I think they may understand once I explain it to them.

And on that subject, I’ve got a suggestion for you. Fisk needs me alive too much now to risk hurting me but I’m still worried about my former partners. Once everything is signed later this afternoon they should be safe. Since you’ll now be in charge of the security, once the paperwork is done you should get some guards out to the site so that Elliott and Lewis can come to town, preferable with a few bodyguards just in case Fisk hasn't gotten the message to his cronies. I’d like to have a congratulatory drink this evening if possible with all four of you and also explain to them exactly what I did today so they’ll be no hard feelings between us.”

"Even though I only have security for transportation I can make arrangements to get the others back here tonight." Jake says to him. "I don't see how they can arrange to have a security presence at the mine tonight on such short notice. I haven't been in town long enough to know who to recommend without spending some time asking around." He replies, “Well, I really can't arrange something, since as of 4:30 PM I'll be signing away everything to do with that mine. You might want to check with those soldiers who were around town earlier, that sounds like their job anyway.”

Morgan Condon has Jake accompany him into the vault. They shut the vault doors and he has Jake help him remove the floorboards and get at all of the real money. Condon explains “The Morands are withdrawing $ 25,000 from their account. Unfortunately that exceeds the bank’s cash on hand but that since they’re just moving it over to the First National Bank of Promise City the manager there will take a promissory note from me for the difference.

Don’t worry about solvency issues though, we could always call in some loans if we have too. Heck, people have a lot of confidence in this bank. My brother told me that only this morning a woman opened up a new account with $ 400.” They get all eight bags of paper currency stored under the floorboards. "Now what?" Asks Jake.

Condon answers, “Now you and that Chester guy should accompany them over to the other bank. Let them carry the money, you guys handle the firearms. And Jake, I want you to personally carry the promissory note to give to the other bank manager, Paul Stevens.” They exit the vault with the money. Condon sits down at his desk and writes out the note and places it within a leather folder. Each of the four younger Morands takes two of the moneybags. Zack says to Jake “Are you ready?”

Chester looks over at the bags and gives a low whistle. That many bags mean lots of money. I'd love to know where they're going, but I don't want to seem nosey. He grips his rifle a little tighter. "In a minute. Chester, take a look up and down the street just to be sure it looks ok." He steps out of the front door to the bank. Looking carefully left and right, Chester makes a mental note of anything unusual. He retreats back into the bank. "I don't see anything odd." After Chester gives the all clear Jake says "Ready." Chester whispers to Jake, "What's going on? Isn't Mr. Condon worried about both of us leaving the bank?"

They have to travel a mere 125 feet north from Condon’s Bank to the First National Bank, a 25x25 foot single-story brick and stone building at the northeast corner of Main and Front Streets. The walk up Front is uneventful and Jake takes a very cautious look out onto Main Street.

What he sees is very reassuring. Deputy Sheriff Colin Hunter is standing outside of the Sheriff’s Office on the southeast corner. Morgan Earp is eighty feet away to the right, standing outside of the front door of Peacock’s Saloon on the north side of Main Street. Wyatt Earp is around a hundred feet west on the south side of Main Street leaning along to the fence to Cassidy’s Lumberyard. None of the three lawmen appear to be doing anything other than standing around although Jake notices that their eyes are taking in everything and their weapon hands are within inches of their revolvers. Zack Morand says to Jake, “My older brother believes in being cautious, especially after what happened to us this morning.”

They arrive at the bank and are quickly ushered inside by Mr. Stevens who then puts a “Closed” sign on the bank door, which he then locks. An armed guard is also standing right inside the door. Forest Morand and Paul Stevens sit down at a table and discuss business arrangements. Stevens and Morand each sign some papers. Stevens then counts out all of the money, which takes a considerable amount of time. The bank vault is then opened up and the bank guard brings the money inside. Stevens then reopens the bank.

Jake gives the note to Paul Stevens as requested. "Anything else gentlemen?" "All set" Stevens states. Seawell and the Morands depart the bank. Seawell tells Jake "See you in around three hours." Jake and Chester return to the bank and to their now cold uneaten lunches.

The remainder of the afternoon goes relatively uneventfully. At around a quarter to three Danby Jones returns and asks Frank about painting. Frank says "Not today, but you can sweep up while you're here."
When Danby gets near Jake he whispers "I brought the extra keys with me. Both brothers are around now so it's a great the time for you to make the switch. With the bank closed tomorrow it'll be a while before they discover that we've cleaned out the vault." Jake just shakes his head no at Jones. He says quietly, "I already told you, not me." Jake wraps up his cold lunch and tosses it away.

A discouraged Jones leaves the bank. Things are uneventful after that. The bank closes promptly at 3:00 and all of the day's counting is completed by 3:30 as both Condon brothers are around to assist.

Frank approaches Chester and hands him $ 2.25 saying, "I didn't know it when the day began but it turned out that we did need two guards today. Well done Mr. Martin. On a regular day we'll probably only need one though, but it never hurts to have a trained back up. Drop by on Thursday before the bank opens up and we'll give you a proper orientation." He replies, "Thanks, Mr. Condon. I'll be here then."

During a quiet moment Jake corners Chester. "How did it feel to guard the transfer of twenty-five thousand dollars?" Chester's eyes widen. "Is that what this was all about? If you'd told me that earlier, I would've been really nervous."

"If the deal goes as I hope this afternoon, there may be an opportunity for some guard work hauling ore from the mine. As a matter of fact, we'll need someone to run the security detail. Would you be interested?" Jake says to him. "I'm not offering you the job, at least not yet. But you handled yourself well today, and that counts for a lot." Chester answers, "That's funny. I'm getting real popular today. Mr. Condon wants me to come back Thursday for guard orientation as a back up to you. But security for a mine? Hopefully this one is more understanding about ambushes." He winks.

Jake is careful to watch that Jones does not attempt any switch today. After they leave the bank Jake says to Chester. "If things go well with my 4:30 appointment I may need some help in getting those miners back from the mine. Things are pretty fluid right now, so if you can be flexible I'd appreciate it. We may need some other help as well, see what you can figure out. I'd sure like to take advantage of those federal troops or even the local law." Chester answers, "I'm not sure what I can do. You probably noticed Lt. Gamble has it in for me. So help from the Army isn't likely."

Jake stops and is lost in thought. "You did good today. If you are willing to take it as it comes, we should be able to make sure you have a job. I think that the Condon brothers are OK with you, but there may be other or better opportunities." Chester says, "I think I need to learn to be flexible. Thanks for the offer."
Jake snaps his fingers and pats Chester on the shoulder. "I got to run. Meet me at Berg's office at 4:30. Stay out of trouble." Chester smiles, "I'll try, Mr. Cook. But it won't be easy." Jake runs off to see Morgan Earp.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 88, “Meanwhile, back at the ranch….”, January 10th, 1882:

Kate enjoyed the quiet mile out to Flint's claim. Meribel's lively step showed how glad she was to be out of the stable. If she hadn't known better, Kate would have thought Meribel was a bit unhappy when she'd come in on the stallion this morning. She took a deep breath and savored the smells of horses and fresh air, and the freedom of again being out of skirts and into proper riding clothes.

The quartet arrives at Pete's Ranch. It appears that Flint has been very busy during the three days since they saw him last. Most of the fence posts on the twenty acres still have ropes for railings, but he has managed to cut down enough saplings and small trees for temporary wooden rails connecting the tops of the posts. He has also separated the horses from the cattle into separate pens.

He welcomes the four of them. He says "The Deputy Sheriff was out here Sunday and identified the brands on some of the animals which he took. The others are all apparently from outside of the county so unless somebody actually comes here looking I get to keep them. I have sixteen cows and eight horses at this point. This includes two horses that were dropped off here a few hours ago by an Apache warrior."

Kate says, "That sounds like a good start. We got a lead on selling the wagon, hopefully it won't be much longer and we can get you your supplies. I wondered if you'd mind if I came out tomorrow to give someone some riding lessons? He'd also be giving me some shooting lessons." "Sure, no problem," Flint comments, then adds "Would this be anyone that I know?" She says, “Jake Cook, you met him on Saturday. I'm sure you remember."

He then says "I've got something for you over in the cave but I think you'll need something to transport it back on. It's Curley Bill's Body and he was a rather large man." Kate says, "Yes, the Cartwright's stopped by on their way out of town. We'd have to go to Texas for the bounty. I'm not sure where we'd keep the body until we could do that. I'm inclined not to bother myself. But I'm fairly certain I'm in the minority in that opinion."

Ruby kicked at the dirt, not paying attention to their conversation. "You going to build a house out here or something? You can't live in a tent forever..." Flint says, "I don't live in a tent, that was Pete's. I live in the cave." Ruby says, "Ok, well, you can't live in a cave forever either...” Flint answers, "Sure I can. Dwarves have done that for thousands of years. Caves are better than houses. They don't rot and fall apart nearly as easily. Unfortunately they are somewhat damp, so I guess I'll have to build some type of structure to store hay in."

"What about if you have guests?" Ruby laughs. "I guess you're not thinking of that." She pauses. "Looks like you've done a great job so far, you should be proud of yourself." "Yes, you have." Kate smiled over at Ruby, then looked back toward Flint. "You'll need at least one large barn for the horses and the hay. Probably some kind of open structure with a roof as well, although I don't imagine there's that much rain here. You don't have to deal with weather so cold that the animals will need to be inside." Kate looked around.

"Flint, what would you think if I offered to partner with you? Not a large part of the ranch of course, it's yours. But I enjoy working with horses, and I think I could help you. I'd also like to build a house to live in. I can't live in a hotel forever. I don't need any kind of answer now, but consider it. I must do something with myself, after all." Ruby raises her eyebrow at Katherine. "I didn't know you were thinking of leaving Promise City..." Kate can tell Ruby is bothered by the idea.

Flint comments "Mrs. Kale, I don't know the first thing about horses. I recall you saying that you and your late husband worked with them and that was why you came out here to begin with. I would be more than happy to have you help me with that, I barely know how to ride. I will probably also need to hire at least one more person who knows something about cattle too.

As for building houses, barns and guestrooms, I don't think that's my priority at the moment. My biggest needs are more fence rails so I don't lose my livestock. Probably some guard dogs too, although maybe not since most ranchers around here need to guard against the Apache, who actually seem to be helping me out. I have noticed that all of the cattle are female so I guess getting a bull might be a good idea, but that will definitely have to wait until stronger fencing is in.

Kate says, "I wouldn't call one mile out of town leaving, Ruby. And you'd be welcome to come with me, if you wanted. Or to visit, just as you wish." "Anything that needs a horse ride to get to is leaving Kate. And in case you haven't noticed I'm not exactly a country kind of girl." Ruby pauses pulling on her new shirt. "But I suppose you would need to get on with your life. You're right, you can't live in a hotel forever." Ruby finds a spot near a tree and plops down.

Kate nodded to Flint and left him talking with Nanuet and Sonoma. She sat down next to Ruby. "Would you miss me so much, just one mile away? Even with the money we just got, I can't live on it forever, and I can't live on a waitress's salary. The only real skill I have that will support me here is working with horses. You know I would be in Promise City almost every day for my lessons with Mr. Gonzales. But this is all speculation, and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon."

"Of course I would! Who else could I talk about boys to?" Ruby smiles. "I know you'll be moving on eventually and I will too, maybe sooner rather then later, especially with what happened today. I can't tell you what to do and it sounds like a good idea to me. You should absolutely take up the opportunity. And maybe you can give me some riding lessons too. Can never be good enough at jumping out of stages," she laughs. Kate answers, "I hope it's later. You're not the kind of girl to let a lie rule her life. And how can you make Adair pay if you leave?

Perhaps I could live in town and ride out to the ranch. It is only a mile, after all. Right now, I have no plans to leave Promise City. If I were to leave, I would go back to Boston. If I'm going to stay out west I want to stay near Tom." She paused. "You just let me know if you want a few pointers on riding and we'll do that."

"It's not so easy to live with people thinking you're a harlot Kate. I won't have the protection like the girls at the Palace do. I have to find a way to make people understand it's not true although it's probably too late. As for Adair, he will pay. I have to have some time to think it over though. As we have learned he really is a villain." Ruby looks around, "It looks like Nanuet and Flint are having a good visit. Nanuet's been wanting to see how Flint was all week. He told me he wanted to see how he could help. He is a very nice man, that Indian."

Kate says, "Flint, I wouldn't expect outbuildings and a house up here right away. But you should be aware of what you'll eventually need. It would be some time I think before I was ready to move out of the city. Let's say this. I'll come out a couple days a week to help you with the horses and teach you to train and care for them. After you get the first necessary improvements made to the land, we can discuss me putting down capital and perhaps the building of a small house on the land."

Katherine takes a look at the two newest horses, which the Apache had brought in just a few hours ago. They resemble some of the animals that belonged to some of the recently deceased outlaws from the morning's stagecoach incident.

Sonoma has spent the visit not with the dwarf but instead riding her pony around the twenty acres and looking it over carefully. She rides back and joins the others. Nanuet and Flint appear to have concluded their conversations and are rejoined by Ruby and Katherine. Ruby asks, "Sonoma, were you looking for something or just having a ride?" She replies, “You know horses, I know a little about farming. Twenty acres is about enough for the herd he has, but unless he adds more land or rotates the cattle with sheep and seeds he's going to run out of grazing land fairly quickly.”

Kate nodded. "When I mentioned ranching to him, I was thinking of horses rather than cattle. In fact, I was thinking of buying the land from him and raising the horses myself, I never thought he'd take to the idea. Is any of the land adjacent to this available?" She replies "I don't know, but the County maintains a land claims office in town, right next door to the Marshall's Office. The County Recorder, Dennis Winston, occasionally comes over to the El Parador for a meal after he closes it up at 6:00 P.M. We should be back in town well before then, so you could check.

This land shouldn't be wanted by anything else. It's good grazing land but apparently not very productive for mining. This close to Apache land other ranchers wouldn't be interested either but you and Flint seem to have a good relationship with the Indians. For cattle you'll need at least 200 acres. You might be able to get away with slightly less if you rotate sheep through, but 20 acres isn't going to get you very far if you're breeding."

Kate replies, "I'll go as soon as we get back to town. If most people find the land undesirable I might be able to get a better price for it. The difficulty is, I don't really know how much an acre should cost. I'm a little out of my depth here." Sonoma suggest that she ask Flint what he and his friend paid. Katherine does so and he replies, "It went for $ 100 an acre, but that was due to the steam. Water is valuable in this region. I could probably get adjacent lands for a third of that price.”

"One hundred an acre?" Kate choked. "At three acres per hundred dollars, even if I invested everything I have I could only double the current acreage. And I would be left with nothing in pocket. I didn't realize land was that costly." Katherine explains what Sonoma said about the acreage and the need to either rotate animals or crops, or to expand. "I had thought more land would be the answer, but 200 acres is far out of reach. The money from the wagon could buy a few more acres, but still..."

Nanuet kneels on one knee as he plays with a handful of soil. He looks up at Kate. "Well, I have worked as a rancher a bit myself. It's how I learned English and white man customs, paid my way when I was after my revenge. I wouldn't mind putting in my share of the money and partnering with you. My heritage might force me to be a silent partner, but I have no trouble with that."

"But I do have trouble with that," Kate said fiercely. "If you make an investment here, you have every right to have just as much say as anyone else. Now, if you would rather be in the background for your own comfort, that’s one thing. I'd be proud to be partners with you.” Nanuet stammers "Well.... I... I...” He kicks at the dirt. "You are right.,” he says, with some fire showing in his eyes now. "My money should be as good as anyone else’s. I am interested in being a partner and would like to join you in this affair. We will see if the land is available and how much we can afford." Nanuet stands a little taller and seems to be proud of his decision.

"I'd be pleased to have you.” She turns to the dwarf and says, “Flint, this gives you someone who knows something about horses, and someone who knows about ranching. Maybe between us we can get this ranch up and running. I think it's time to be getting back to Promise City. I have a few other things to do this afternoon. Is everyone ready? Flint, I'll let you know when I come back tomorrow if any of the adjacent land is available. If it's not, the question of funds is moot anyway."

Nanuet replies, "Yeah, I am ready I guess. I need to do a bit of shopping for myself and need to work on finishing up the details of getting that wagon sold. Maybe since Jake seems to be friendly with the buyers he could handle that? I will have to speak with him about that later." Nanuet finds Sonoma and saddles up, they head back to town, deep in conversation with one another. Kate rode just out of earshot from Nanuet and Sonoma to give them a little privacy and smiled. She needed something to do beside wait tables, and perhaps this was it.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 89 “Baths and Bullies”, January 10th, 1882:

When they arrive at the El Parador Ruby says to Kate, "I'll go grab my pants and meet you in your room." Ruby runs back to her room and grabs the leather pants and the green dress. She gets to Kate's room and tries the door as she says, "Kate, it's me..." The door is open and Ruby enters. Kate gives her a quizzical look and Ruby smiles.

"So I told you I went shopping today? Jake was there and he told Mr. Lacey to get me the most alluring dress he had, in green preferably. So Mr. Lacey came out with this dress." Ruby takes the dress out of the box and puts it on Katherine's bed. "And I just love the color. But as you can see this isn't exactly my style, so I figured I would take it to the tailor. But when I got there the lady laughed at me when I told her all the alterations I wanted and she showed me her selection of dresses, which was just amazing and much more my style. So I was going to have this one altered anyway but then I realized something," she pauses to look at Kate, "This dress would be absolutely stunning on you and so I'm giving it to you."

"Ruby, it's lovely," Katherine answered, trailing her hand along the fabric. "Thank you. But are you sure Jake won't mind? He didn't intend to buy me a gift, after all."

"It's not from Jake, it's from me. I'll give him his change, after all he only bought a shirt. I intended to anyway." But come on try it on, I want to see how the color will look on you. Then we can take it to the tailors after we soak."

Kate hesitated for a moment, shy about changing her clothes in front of Ruby. Changing out of her riding clothes would leave her no coverage whatsoever. But the allure of a new gown won her over, and she quickly began to change. "I took that box of jewels to Mr. Gonzales," she said as she pulled a clean shift over her head. "We discovered something very interesting. The elf who owned those jewels is on his way here, to the El Parador. He should arrive tomorrow. President de Sucre. His face is on some of those foreign bills we found from 1826. Mr. Gonzales was shocked, to say the least."

"How does Mr. Gonzales know he's coming here?" Ruby asked with a frown. "And why would he be coming here to Promise City?" Ruby completely ignores Katherine's discomfort and helps her with the dress pulling at it here and there. "Wow Kate, take a look, I was right..." Ruby pulls Kate over to the mirror, standing behind her.

"He used a spell to locate the owner of the box and his destination. It'll be a relief to return it. I haven't felt right having it." Kate looked in the mirror. The color certainly did flatter her, but without a full-length mirror it was hard to tell. "It will need some alterations, I think it's a little too big."

"It will look better once we bring it to Mary Kelly. I'm sure you're used to having your clothes fit right anyway. A spell, huh? That is interesting, I didn't know there was a spell to do that. Anyway, are you ready? Let's go get these pants to fit," Ruby says smiling.

She was glad to be going out and to put off seeing Mr. Gonzales for a couple more hours. A lot of her energy today had gone to avoiding thinking about this mornings adventure and the men who hadn't lived through it. Kate quickly changed back into the gray dress and carefully folded the teal back into its box. "I could use a bath."

Katherine, Ruby and Sonoma, who had returned by the time they were leaving, made their way to Gilson's bathhouse. A few minutes later they were soaking, Ruby for the second time that day. This time, she was still wearing clothes, soaking in her newly acquired leather pants in an effort to shrink them to conform to her shape. Kate paid the extra money to have good soap and a scented bath and sank in gratefully. Each day seemed busier than the last, and the bath was a refuge in some ways. Unfortunately, it allowed her to think about the ride out with the miners this morning.

Before this, magic had been a wondrous thing. And it still was, but to have used it to kill a man gave her chills. To have killed a man at all made her sick to her stomach and gnawed at her mind. Many people found solace and forgiveness in their gods, but Katherine had not followed any god since she was a small child. She grabbed the washcloth and began to scrub. Sonoma was quietly taking her bath, listening to Ruby and Kate's conversation.

Katherine is surprised to hear Maggie Whipple's voice speak from the other side of the doorway to the bathhouse room she is in "Katherine, Ruby, are you in there?" "Yes we are Maggie." Ruby was guessing Maggie was here to discuss her new "profession." Maggie's voice exclaims in a somewhat excited voice, "I thought I saw you come in here! Please see me when you're finished up. I'll wait for you out back." Ruby says, "Maggie, I have to stay in here for an hour... why don't you just come in?"

Maggie comes into the room with Ruby. She seems a bit startled and says "I think you forgot to take off your pants." She then leans close to Ruby's ear and whispers "Wonderful news. Tom and Flossie are engaged!" She then says a little louder "Where's Katherine, I want to tell her too." Ruby laughs. "I didn't forget, Maggie. I'm, uh, fitting them. But I wouldn't suppose you would know anything about that." "Now, Kate is right over there, so tell us, what happened with Tom and Flossie? That's wonderful news!"

"I'm here Maggie, what is it? Do you need something?" Kate leaned over and began to pull a towel over to cover herself. "Sshhh" Maggie whispers to Ruby "Not so loud. Laurie Gilson is in the front room and I don't want her to hear.

It was actually Katherine's idea, sort of. She commented about Flossie needing a friend, which got me thinking. I saw her rent a buggy at Drover's Livery and knew where she used to go to think when she got upset. So I tracked down Tom and told him to borrow a horse and ride out there. He came back an hour later engaged. Oh, I have to tell Katherine. I'll see you tonight at the Saloon." She hurries out of the room and barges into the room where Katherine is soaking in the tub.

Kate grabbed the towel and pulled it over herself as her face slowly turned crimson. "Maggie!" Then she got a good look at her friend's face. "What's happened? You look wonderful." "Yeah but..." Maggie hurries out of the room before Ruby can finish asking her question about how they are going to deal with the whole Tom and Maggie being married situation. “Oh Katherine, I’ve never seen my brother happier. He proposed marriage to Flossie and she accepted. Tom feels that he can now show father that he can now stand on his own in that our Lone Star is successful.

Tom’s idea is that he and Flossie will return with father to Denver. He will ask Cousin Teddy to stay on and take over his share of the Lone Star here in Promise City and Teddy’s girl Alexis could replace Flossie over at the Comique. Alexis is one of the top performers at Father’s Lone Star in Denver. Once they’re gone I’ll then be able to petition Judge Isby for a divorce on the grounds that Tom abandoned me.” Kate exclaims, :Maggie, that's wonderful news! And you look happy too. I'd hug you if I weren't soaking wet. Do you think your father will approve?"

Maggie whispers back "Sshhh, keep your voice down. We don't want Laurie Gilson to hear. I don't know if father will approve or not but we'll know soon enough. The stage from Tombstone should be arriving in an hour or two and I expect him to be on it." "Oh, I'm sorry. What's your father like Maggie? The only thing I know is that he wanted you to keep lying, and I'm guessing that's not all there is about him. But we'll meet him tonight, hmm?" Maggie says that her father is "a force to be reckoned with" but that he is a "good and deeply religious man".

"I'm occasionally a force to be reckoned with myself. He might not be very fond of me though. I haven't been to church since my wedding. And before that not since I was, oh, about five years old. Maybe we should keep that to ourselves."

Ruby whines from the other bath "Kate... is an hour up yet?" "Nearly Ruby. About another ten minutes!" she replies. Once the ten minutes have passed Kate lets Ruby know time is up and Maggie brings her a dry towel before leaving. Kate leaves her wet hair down to dry and a few minutes later she and Ruby are on their way to Mary Kelly's and Sonoma is returning to the El Parador. Neither Ruby or Kate mentioned their talk with Maggie to Sonoma but they both realized it would have been possible for her to hear the news.

Jake walks over to the Marshall's office, stops in the doorway and looks inside. Jake sees that Wyatt Earp is inside, with a prisoner in each cell. Wyatt appears to be reading a book. Jake raps on the doorframe. "Sorry to interrupt your reading', I was just wondering how Morgan was doing." Wyatt says "Pretty good. He's had a very busy day that started rather early, so I sent him home to rest.

I want to thank you and your friends for what you did for him Mr. Cook. The doctor said he had received some sort of priestly healing long before he ever got to town, otherwise he would not have survived. I'm also not sure how you managed to get the stage to town without horses, and suspect that wizard magic was somehow involved. Given what you did for my brother I've decided to not investigate that any further. But be careful in the future, most folks around here are not as lenient about the use of wizard magics as I am.

"Heh," Jake laughs, "It wasn't any wizard magic, but thanks for that consideration. I got a rifle barrel that got bent like a mesquite branch steering the undercarriage. As much as I'm a bit shy o' wizardry seems that would have been safer than what we did. I'll show you the gun if you don't believe me." Jake looks along the front porch to make certain no one is coming up on him and then says to Wyatt, "Can we talk confidentially?"

"Not with them listening" Wyatt says, gesturing to the two prisoners. "Let's take a walk outside." Wyatt and Jake leave, and he locks the door to the Marshall's Office behind him. They start to walk north on Fremont Street and then east along Main. Wyatt stops at the corral fence to the Bar "H' Stables, where the horse sounds obscure their conversation.

"I have no doubts that you and Morgan will be doing what you can to set things aright with those who shot him. I'm just wondering if I have any information that may be helpful, or might be able to offer any help doing things that might be a bit unseemly for a Marshall to do. I got a business venture at stake, not to mention I don't want end my career any time soon with a spot on boot hill." Jake looks him straight in the eye and lies. "Or I'll mind my business if you think that is best"

Wyatt Earp laughs "Unseemly for a Marshall! Mr. Cook, those outlaws shot a lawman. There's nothing I could do to them that Judge Isby wouldn't consider justified. As for information, Morgan thought he heard somebody say something about Billy Claibourne. I've suspected him and the Clanton Clan to be part of the Cowboy gang for a while now but haven't been able to prove. Any information you have about that would be appreciated."

"Did you talk to the Cartwrights or their friends after the rustler incident a few days back? I understand that Billy Claibourne was there and got away, as well as guy named Dell." Jake continues. "And the attempted stagecoach robbery Sunday, hard to say conclusively but men who were dressed similarly to Frank Leslie, Billy Claibourne and that Dell guy were seen with bandanas over their faces. And one of the ladies saw Billy Claibourne among the outlaws today." Earp thanks Jake for the information.

"One more thing." Jake asks Wyatt before they head back. "Morand and some of the others felt setup. If that was the case, then your brother and the rest of us walked into a trap, not just outlaws preying on travelers. You buy into that?" Earp replies "Not yet, but I'll talk to Morand about it." Earp heads back to his office.

Jake heads over to the Cantina and out back to the wagon full of ore just to check on things The ore wagon is fine. The workers at Brown's IceHouse have been alternating guarding the wagon along with the El Parador's handyman Grant Keebler. Keebler had tossed some buckets, a stepladder and some other assorted odds and ends on top of the tarp to keep people from thinking that the wagon contained anything of value.

As Chester is making his way across town he almost collides with the half-ogre cavalry Sargent. The ogre pushes him back with both hands and says "Outta my way you Army deserter." Chester shoots back in Giant, "Are you going to believe Gamble? If that's true, why didn't he arrest me we you saw me, then. I got my discharge fair and square. How's it feel serving under a man who enjoys killing, sergeant? I got so disgusted by it that, yes, I left the service. What're going to do about that?" The half-ogre pushes Chester back again and calls him a coward.

The half-ogre counters "So you admit that you don't have the stomach for soldiering. Gamble is a great man. You were in the Army and now you're not, I don't care what is says on your papers, I call you a deserter. Gamble told you to get out of town. You should.” Chester answers, “Bah! Gamble's a bully. If that's who you consider a great mna, I'm glad I got out when I did. I can go anywhere I want. Instead of hassling me, you should look into bandits on the roads around here. The hills are just crawling wit' them." Chester snaps off a perfect salute, then shoulders past the half-ogre.

Jake heads over in the direction of Berg's and encounters Chester along the way in some sort of a standoff with the half-ogre soldier. Chester gives the ogre a salute and walks away, only to be shoved from behind by the brute.