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

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Thirty-eight, “Opening Shots”, January 7th, 1882:

Nanuet and the two men in the room then see the butt end of a gun held by two male hands move out from the other side of the door and club Knowles on the head.

Out in hallway, Ruby and Katherine see Jake club the man who came out of the door. The man stumbles and falls, then catches himself and attempts to stand while reaching for the gun in his belt. He is looking towards Jake but with the door open there is now sufficient light for him to see both women as well. Inside the room, the man with the shotgun raises it up and points it towards Nanuet.

Knowles stands and reaches for the gun in his belt. Jake turns the shotgun around rapidly and points the business end at the staggering man and says quickly and quietly, "Move to the wall, both hands on your head, I can't miss at this range." Kate slides up to the door and peeks inside.

For a split second she is torn being staying here and making sure Knowles is taken care of and jumping into the room to help Nanuet. Then Jake brings the shotgun around on the man he just struck and Kate slips in the door with Tom's pistol pointed steady at the man still reaching for his weapon. "I wouldn't," she says coldly. "Move your hands away from that weapon very slowly. And let's be quiet about it, shall we? We wouldn't want any interruptions."

Nanuet lets out a whooping war cry as he tells Kate to "Get back!” He lunges through the doorway back outside the room pushing Katherine before him and trying to close the doorway. "He had a shotgun drawn on me” Nanuet exclaims, “I had no weapons in hand." The man with the shotgun follows Nanuet's move but does not fire. Nanuet suspects that the only reason the man waited was because his own friend is standing outside of the doorway and would have also been hit.

The other man in the room does let off a shot from his revolver, which would have hit Kate square in the head if Nanuet had not tackled her. Nanuet begins to turn to close the doorway when he realizes that he had knocked Kate into Knowles, causing the man to loose his footing and fall backwards, tumbling onto an then off of the bridge. Both of the man's hands are seen sticking up through the illusionary floor, one grabbing onto the wooden bridge and other grabbing the ledge. Nanuet says ""Jake, that's our guy Knowles." "There goes our surprise," Ruby says with a smile.

She walks over to the bridge and peers down. "Is this guy really worth saving?" "The sound of gunshots was what I was trying to avoid. Two armed against one unarmed seemed like pretty poor odds." Kate said. "Geronimo wants Knowles, I think we have to save him."

She pressed herself against the wall on one side of the door and kept her eyes on it, waiting for the two men to come out. "You get Knowles, I got the door" says Jake swinging the door two thirds of the way closed and getting behind it. "I'm gonna miss this hat." he says to no one in particular, crouches down and drops the hat over the top of the shotgun. He cautiously moves the hat into the remaining opening without risking the tip of the shotgun. "Darn it Ruby, think of something for us to do next!" Nanuet has reached the edge of the shelf and lies down and grasps his hands down and over Knowles wrists.

They hear someone inside the room says "Go wake up Curley Bill, we need.." His words are then cut off as the sound of a shotgun going off sounds. Jake sees his hat disintegrate into close to nothing. The impact of the blast strikes the mostly closed door with such force that it flies open. Jake moves his foot quickly to stop it but the swing is too fast and he has to pull the foot back to keep it out of the potential line of fire.

Ruby has to move back to keep the door from striking her. Kate also has to move, to the side to keep those in the room from seeing her. She then gasps when she realizes that most of Nanuet's body is visible through the doorway and a potential target to those in the room.

In response to the expected shotgun blast Jake immediately puts his shotgun through the opening and with a quick look for a target and then opens fire. He then ducks back drawing his Colt and cocking it. Jake hears the sound of something falling on the floor in the room. It then becomes silent. The door remains wide open, opened almost the full way and nearly against the wall over on Kate's side of the door . Kate lunged for the door and threw it back toward Jake. "They can see him," she said urgently. The door didn't close all the way, leaving a few inches for Jake to look through.

All very quickly Jake grabs some shotgun shells out of his pocket this his left hand and throws them to the floor near Katherine, and kicks the shotgun over to her, "Load it, it may still come in handy." all while peeking through the opening. "Katherine Kale, I do declare that you are getting pretty good at this whole gun fighting thing." He pushes the door open a few more inches with his boot, does a quick in and out peek for a target.

"You obviously haven't seen me shoot." Kate grabbed the shells and the shotgun. She'd seen them loaded before, so it only took her a few moments to figure out how it worked. The shells went quickly inside and she laid it back on the floor to slide back over to Jake.

Jake peers in the room and sees it pretty much as Nanuet had, except that there aren't any men sitting at the table, although one with a very badly wounded right arm and hand is rushing back towards that direction. A shotgun is lying on the floor in the section of the "X" between the door and the table. The room’s shape prevents him from seeing what is actually down the sections of the room to the left and right of the table. Jake raise his revolver, steadies it quickly with his left hand and shoots.

The bullet strikes the man and he falls dead onto the table. A man yells "FRANK" and the jumps out from the corridor on Jake's right of the table. He has a single action revolver in his hand and fires. Jake initial thought is that the man is either a phenomenal shot or just got very lucky as the bullet strikes the gambler in his gun arm between the wrist and elbow. Jake's hand grows numb causing him to drop the gun as blood begins to squirt from the wound.

"Jake!" Kate took Tom's pistol and looked through the crack between the slightly open door and the wall. "Stay back," she told Jake. She got sight of the shooter and shot through the crack. The shot strikes the wall just beside his head, forcing the man to move back to the side hallway and out of sight. Right after shooting she dove past the door and over to Jake and pulled out a handkerchief. It was obvious it wasn't going to be enough. She began to rip a strip of fabric off her shirt to bind it on.

Oh crap!" Ruby also ran over to Jake. When she saw how much he was bleeding she got scared. All the earlier ideas she had about not trusting him went out the window. She was actually more concerned about him then she had been about anyone but herself in a long time.

She saw that Katherine was doing what she could but it wasn't enough. "Nanuet, do you have any kind of healing skills?" she said trying not to show panic. As she said this she leaned down and picked up the loaded shotgun. "At least help Katherine get him closer to the wall." She patted her own gun in her pocket and peeked in the door. Not seeing anyone she runs into the room.... Nanuet turns to answers Ruby as he sees her dash into the room. "Where is she going?" he says! Nanuet heaves and pulls Knowles out of the canyon and onto the cliff.

It is thirty feet to the table in the center of the room. Ruby reaches it and sees a man lying across it with a bullet hole in his back and a mangled and bleeding arm dangling off the table. He is still breathing but at the rate he is bleeding will not do so for much longer. From the table she can now see down all four corridors, the room being in the shape of a +, each wall thirty feet from the center, and all apparently ending in a passageway covered over by a blanket on a wooden rod as a makeshift door. She hears noises from the doorway to her left, of a man talking softly to somebody else.

Nanuet says, "Katherine, keep an eye on Knowles, I can heal Jake." Nanuet waits for Katherine to respond before going over to Jake and unclasping the necklace. He looks over the wound, attempting to determine the best stone. He says a prayer and receives the knowledge that one of the two-inch long stones would be sufficient for this wound. He use then using that knowledge pulls off the third stone one the necklace and places it in Jake's hand. "You'll be better in a moment friend." Nanuet then raises his arms to the ceiling, tilts his head back and says "Da' nzho".

The light from the spell that Ruby had cast has disappeared and the ledge area has become dark again, the only light coming from the partially opened door into the room. It therefore becomes obvious to all when the necklace around Nanuet's neck begins to glow a bright silver-goldish color. Jake’s clutched fist then begins to glow as well, this being a bright turquoise light that shines out from the cracks between his fingers. Jake, Katherine and the man named Knowles all watch in amazement as the blood flowing down Jake’s arm stops and reverses direction, flowing back into his body.

A water-like stream of turquoise light then flows up the arm and washes over the wound. The arm glows brightly and then begins to fade in all except for one spot that glows bright green. They watch with awe as the metal bullet is forced out of Jake’s body and falls to the floor. The hole where it exited then healing over and leaving a very small scar, the only evidence that he had even been wounded. Jake opens his first where the stone had been to find it is also gone with only a few flakes or turquoise dust remaining. He wiggles his fingers and then flexes his arm, finding that it feels as vibrant and alive as it has ever been.

Ruby pushes the mostly dead man off the table with her foot, the fall to the floor proving fatal for him. "Sorry," she whispers to him, unapologetically. Then she turns it over so it's facing the left-hand passageway where the noise is coming from.

Nanuet retrieves his rifle and bandoleer from Jake, who had held the weapons since he had first started his way up the path to this cave. He looks around and sees that the situation is under control and heads into the room looking for Ruby, making sure to close the door behind him. He notices the body and the overturned table near the center of the room and dashes for that area, keeping low as he runs. Once he is at the table he spots Ruby near the door. He waves to her in hopes that she knows he has her back. He looks over his shoulder quickly and checks that the rifle is loaded before taking aim at the doorway where Ruby is standing.

"Mr. Knowles, you are a lucky man." says Jake. "The lady here is going to keep an eye on you, keep you safe from harm." Jake begins to remove any weapons he has visible and to search him for hidden ones. "However, if you are impolite to her in any manner she will blow your head off, are we clear? Now be a nice man and kneel down facing the wall with your hands on your head. There that's good." He winks to Katherine, cracks the door back open and heads inside.

Looking for instructions or indications from Nanuet and Ruby on where they could use help. As he gets closer, he picks up the shotgun that was dropped by the man who killed his hat and loads it with shells from his pocket. Ruby is by the makeshift curtain being used as a door and Nanuet is behind the table when the curtain is drawn back from the side opposite where Ruby is standing and a rifle barrel sticks out points out towards the table. The person can apparently see part of Nanuet because he fires a shot into the table. The table is thick and well made and the bullet does not go through. Jake is halfway between the door and the table when the shot goes off.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Thirty-nine, “The Death of Curly Bill Brocius”, January 7th, 1882:

Jake had slipped through the door and Kate tried hard not to think about the fact that she was alone out here and prayed the walls were thick enough to block the sounds of gunfire.

Nanuet wipes some sweat from his brow, swallows and winks at Jake who apparently has him covered now. "Keep an eye on him, while I watch Ruby." he says. Nanuet tries to find a spot that will offer him a little more cover where he can still see Ruby and fire behind the curtain that she is near if necessary.

"Listen," Ruby says bluffing, "I've already had to kill about seven men today and that's normally my per day limit so you might as well come out now before I have to make a new limit..." as she says this she points the shotgun right at the curtain she is standing in front of. Okay, I'm coming out" the man states. The rifle begins to lower. Jake turns and fires one of the barrels of the shotgun to where he thinks the body holding the rifle is standing and then moves to the wall to make a return shot difficult. A second voice from further back in the room behind the curtain says "It's a trick. Told you not to trust these Earps."

Ruby sticks the shotgun through the curtain and fires. The rifle crashes to the floor along with the sound of a body dropping. Do I sound like an Earp?" Ruby says as she pumps the shotgun. She pulls the curtain down. It might be foolish as it is giving her cover but without seeing her enemy she could be shot with no chance of getting out of the way.

As the curtain goes down two shots thunder from the back corner of the room that the opponent is in. The shots fly out into the room, one striking the ceiling for a thunderous explosion and the other hitting the table, causing the table to split in half and also burst into flame. Neither Jake or Nanuet are physically hurt by this, but Nanuet looses his footing and falls back against the wall. Ruby sees the other man near the curtain lying dead on floor, her shotgun blast having made a mess of his torso. "Want some more of that you witch" the male voice yells out.

Kate tries to ignore the shots coming from behind the door. She had no way of knowing who fired them, or who might have gotten hit. Knowles is her task now. She just hoped she wasn't the last one here when the shooting stopped. Knowles says to Kate "Lady, I ain't gonna cause no trouble here. I recognized that necklace your shaman had on. I don't want any Apache medicine man placing any curses on me." She replies, “How comforting. I think I'll keep an eye on you anyway, just in case. There seem to be all sorts of surprises around here."

"Is that all you got?" she says trying to feign some confidence. She knew that if anyone had been hit by either of those massive blasts there would be no hope for them surviving. Ruby hopes the shooter has to reload and she takes the opportunity to empty Jake's shotgun into the back corner. Then she drops the shotgun, pulls out her pistol and tries to get up against a wall with the hardest angle for the shooter to get her. Then she starts praying.

Immediately after firing the shot into the back corner she hears the voice say "Owww". The voice then repeats her own line of "Is that all you got?" Simultaneous to her yelling this she did hear some snapping and clicking sounds that may have been the sounds of him reloading his weapon. "I'd better not let him get another shot off," thinks Ruby. "That and I must be absolutely crazy..."

She moves up into the room until she sees whoever is there. She doesn't think, she just moves. A large barefoot man with a hairy chest wearing only a pair of blue jeans is crouched in the far corner of the room holding in both hands a type of firearm best described as a hand-cannon. The dresser is partially destroyed by her prior shotgun blast, leaving his upper chest and head exposed and one of his legs is bleeding. She has the advantage over him as he has just finished reloading.

She fires first, the shot hitting his chest two inches below the Adam's apple. His mouth drops open and his hands shake as he fires back. Ruby watches the man go down, surprised that she hit him. When did she become such a desperado? But he still manages to get off a shot before dying. It goes high, hitting the ceiling five feet above her head with a loud explosion that causes her to drop to the floor beneath a shower of falling stones. And with that her eyes roll up and she passes out.

Jake rolls over to the corner and points his shotgun into the carnage that Ruby has been shooting into. Quickly when he is satisfied that section of the cavern is quiet he will listen for any activity behind the other curtains and look for motion of them, shadows moving or tell tale feet below them. Both men in the room who she shot appear to be dead. Ruby is covered in rubble and also is not moving.

As soon as he realizes that Ruby is hurt he hurries over, kneels, puts his shotgun down next to him and starts removing the fallen rubble from her. Quietly, "Nanuet, check the other curtains". Jake while working positions himself to keep his sidearm clear. Nanuet goes down the other two hallways and uses the rifle to move the curtains aside. Both rooms appear to be currently unoccupied and each of these rooms has two beds in it. One of these rooms has rugs and wall hangings of Native American designs, specifically the Cherokee tribe.

Jake clears the rubble off of Ruby looking for evidence of gunshot wounds. He finds none, although she in bleeding from several cuts and scratches on her face and neck. He is busy surveying the cuts and does not notice when her eyes then blink open as she sees him lying over her with a look of concern on his face. Ruby smiles up at Jake. “Jake, I didn’t know you cared…. Owww…” She says as she winces in pain as he is looking her over.

Nanuet comes back to the area where Ruby and Jake are amid the rubble. Before speaking he checks to make sure the man she was firing at is dead. "The rest of the room seems empty. How is she doing?" Nanuet looks Ruby over and takes another stone, one of the inch-and-a-half long ones sensing that her injury is less severe than Jake's was, off the necklace placing it in her hand and saying the command word. Ruby feels a tingling sensation come over her. The healing spell acts similar to the other, with the blood from the cuts and scratches on her faces receding back into her body and then sealing over, leaving behind no evidence of the injuries. When it stops she suddenly feels better. She uses Jake’s help to get up, just in case. When she feels her legs are steady underneath her she lets go. She pats her body all over to make sure it’s all still there.

“I think we’d better keep this one around,” as she points to Nanuet. “Nanuet, that is amazing. How can you do that? I feel great and I think I almost just lost my head. And Jake’s arm looks pretty good too.” Nanuet smiles at Ruby and says "A gift from a friend. Unfortunately it runs out, so let's try to stay healthy if we can." She replies,"Must be a good friend Nanuet." The elf then states, "Lets check on Katherine and see how she is doing then search this room. I am sure we can find some useful stuff."

"Alright, up, but keep those hands behind your head," Kate told Knowles after Nanuet gave her the all clear. "We're going back in the room now. I'll be right behind you. I'll tell you when to stop. We'll find you a nice, new place to sit. Let's go." Kate watched him rise and then followed him back through the door. She was grateful the man couldn't see her face when they walked into the room. She swallowed hard to keep from throwing up. "Where do you want him?" Nanuet heads over to Katherine and Harvey Knowles, and starts patting him down looking for any weapons hidden or otherwise. Ruby walks over to Katherine. She still has some blood on her but no signs of any cuts. She wipes her face on her sleeve. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm okay. Only one man shot at me, and Nanuet pushed me out of the way. I'm so sorry I got you involved in all this. I didn't think... Well I didn't think it would be like this." Her eyes moved around the room again and then back to Ruby's blood-stained clothes, and her stomach went queasy again. "I think the question is are you okay?"

She turns back to Katherine. "I'm ok. That big hairy bastard would have tried to kill all of us I think, luckily I got him first. I'm really not that good with a gun..." Ruby contemplates for a moment. "Nanuet has been very helpful to have around. We have to hang onto him."

"Listen Katherine, these days you have to be careful what you get yourself into. And a gal has to be able to defend herself, you never know when you're going to get into trouble. But there was some reason why we ended up here and we're gonna find out what it is." She wipes some more blood off her face and onto her other sleeve. "I don't think what's his name is going to want these clothes back though."

"After this, I think staying out of trouble will become my new profession. Getting my friends shot at isn't really working for me. So whatever reason we ended up here for had better be a damn good one." She gives Ruby a small smile and says very quietly "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here. Even if I could hit the broadside of a barn, I don't think I could...." She gives Ruby's hand a squeeze. "Thank you."

Kate lets her eyes move around the room again, and this time her stomach stays in place. She begins to record the details of the place in her mind when she notices something. "Oh, look, books," she says and moves trance like over to the bookcases as she tries to straighten out her now torn clothes.

Looking at all of the bookcases she does a rough count and concludes that there are between 500 and 600 books, most of them bound in fine leather with gold lettering. She also soon discovers that roughly 60% of them are in Spanish, 15% are in French, another 10% are in Latin, 10% are in Greek and only 5% are written in English. The books in English are all European history.

Once he feels he has found anything that might cause trouble Nanuet has Knowles sit against the wall. "Now, tell us all about these cattle you have Mr. Knowles." He replies, “Down in the lower caves with the rest of the men, think we have around eighty or so." He then gestures to the body lying on the floor near the table and says "You going to do that to me too?" Ruby overhears KNowles statement as she is talking to Katherine. She interjects, "No, I'm going to do that to you if you don't behave yourself and answer all of my companions questions..."

Nanuet continues to grill Knowles: "We aren't sure yet, depends on if I like the answers you give me. I want to know more about the cattle, everything you know. Where did you get them from and who brought them here for starters. Someone mentioned re-branding the cattle, I want to know about that as well. Feel free to throw in any details you think we might like to hear." Ruby adds from where she is standing... "Like what dealings you have with the Earps for example..."

Knowles goes into detail. "The operation is run, make that was run, by Curley Bill Brocius. Two of his main assistants were Tom and Frank McLaury" and he grestures to the other two men lying dead in the room. He then goes on in detail how Brocius was a cattle rustler from Texas who fled when the Texas Rangers came close to catching him. Shortly after his arrival in the area Curley Bill shot and killed Fred White, the Marshall of Tombstone, but he claimed the gun went off by accident and actually managed to get acquitted for the killing.

He then made the mountains near Galeyville the base. For the past six months this location was perfect because Arcade's Gang had managed to convince both the U.S. Army and the County Sheriff to stay out of the mountains, so they had little fear of being apprehended. For the past few months the law hadn't even bothered going into Galeyville, so Brocius was able to go there with impunity."

Knowles then describes in details of the operation. How they have literally hundreds of men working for them on and off, operating in a 300 mile radius, all the way from El Paso, Texas, up to Albuquerque, New Mexico, across to Flagstaff, Arizona, down to San Diego, California, and all of northwestern Mexico. There's no specific hierarcy for the group, nicknamed "The Cowboys", those who Curley Bill trusts would just be sent to go out and find what they could and bring them back.

He says that the cave below has a branding operation, with brands consisting of various lines, curves, symbols, letters and numbers used to alter existing brands on the cattle into something entirely different. Nanuet notices that Knowles makes no mention of the Apache during any of his discourse. He does look up at Ruby and say "Dealings with the Earps! We thought YOU were the Earps."

Ruby looks around the room. "Does anyone in here besides this guy think I'm stupid? What was said was told you not to trust these Earps. That would mean there had been some kind of dealings going on. What?" The man says "The Earps are the enemy, always have been. How do I know what any of them said! You had me outside with a gun to my head." Jake calls Ruby over to where they are both out of earshot of Katherine and says "I think that Curley Bill was actually making that comment to his friend about the Earps in reference to us. At that point you had just talked the guy by the curtain into surrendering and then I shot at him."

Nanuet asks, "We tracked some cattle from Promise City, about 50 head or so. Who was on that operation Knowles replies, "Tom and Frank McLaury were on that one, seems that some fool cattlemen from Nevada went right by the McLaury ranch up near Tombsone with all of them well fed cows. Seemed to them like too good a thing for them to pass up. So they rounded up some friends from Promise city, Gifford something-or-other and another guy called Pinto Joe."

Nanuet asks, “And just how did you get yourself through the Apache territory?" That comment gives him reason to pause. He then eyes Nanuet with suspition and says "Hold on a minute, you said something about having a message from Geronimo. I think you're lying to me."

Nanuet asks, "And how many men do you have in the lower caverns now?" Knowles states, "I ain't answering any more questions. I've always trusted Indians to speak the truth with me, but you ain't. So I'm done talkin' " Nanuet laughs "OK Knowles, as you please. Geronimo will have plenty to say to you I think. And you have a lot to think about between now and when you have the chance to speak with him." Nanuet suggests that Knowles be tied up while they discuss their plans. Kate pulled herself away from the books and moved over to help secure Knowles. They tied him securely and included a gag, since he was no longer as cooperative.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Forty, “We’ve got to get out of this place!”, January 7th, 1882:

Kate then moved back over to Nanuet and out of Knowles earshot. "We came out here to retrieve the Cartwright's cattle, find the men who took them, and deliver Knowles to Geronimo. We have Knowles, but he still hasn't told us how many men he has down there. Getting the cattle could be difficult. Two of the men who took them are dead, and we don't know if the other two are here or not. At least we have names for them. It might be time to take Knowles down and let the Cartwrights know what we found. Otherwise we go down there and get the cattle, but I don't know how we'd do that."

Well, we should certainly let the Cartwrights and Flint know what we found. They need to make a decision about how to handle the situation with their cattle. I will help them do what they need to do, but it is their call. Hopefully they have been doing more than just waiting for us.” And that question is immediately answered as everybody hears what sounds like dynamite exploding and the entire mountain shakes.

Ruby looks around quickly to see if there is any evidence of collapse. "We'd better get out of here and I would say the quicker the better..." She pauses and looks at Katherine, "Just in case." Kate takes a last, longing look at all the books on the shelves. "Flint. We should have known better. If these books all get buried and lost I'm going to be very upset."

While the rest of his friends were questioning Knowles, Jake was taking his time searching through the room looking for valuables or useful items. He does a quick check of the dead bodies as well. He is curious about the pistol Mclaury used to shoot him, and takes it with him. He also picks up a rifle and ammo, and looks around for a double action revolver with holster.

When he hears the explosion, he walks over to the rack where the hats and coats are hanging. Unfortunately the coat rack was beside the door and was caught it the same shotgun blast that hit his own hat. The five hats remain, but all have at least a few holes shot in them, as does one of the coats. The amazing thing is that the other coat, a brown leather duster, doesn't have a mark on it despite having been closer to the blast than some of the hats. Jake takes a hat anyway, as it is only temporary and best not to be in the desert sun without one. "Hmm, isn't that interesting." He says when he notices the jacket is unharmed and takes that as well.

Jake turns to his companions and swings the shotgun and rifle over his shoulder, his pockets bulging with shells. "Ready when you are." The others are ready to leave as well, although Katherine clearly has plans to return for the library. As they are moving he says, "Too bad they are blowing them up, I was just coming up with an idea to even the odds with the rest of them rustlers."

While they are heading out of caves Jake’s falls in next to Katherine, to pretending to help keep an eye on Knowles. "Hey Lady" he says quietly, "don't be so hard on yourself because you think you got us into this. Nanuet was going to do this with or without you. And he did save my a..., bacon last night. We all came of our own free will. Don't think the world revolves around you." He says in mock sternness. "Besides, If I hadn't come I would have missed that whole tough gal outlaw thing you had going. I'm impressed." Suddenly Kate smiled. "Are you suggesting it doesn't revolve around me?" she teased. "Tough gal outlaw, hmm? I'm starting to fit right in."

They reach the mouth of the cave and hear the sounds of rifle fire coming from the caves below. There is then another loud explosion and the mountain shakes again. Checking the other cave, they find the trio who they tied up are gone with the ropes all cut. Jake shakes his head. "We probably should have gotten some of our other folks up here right away. No looking back...” He quickly puts on the jacket instead of carrying it. He reloads the shotgun, his Colt Peacemaker, and checks to make sure the rifle is loaded. "I guess the time for fast talking our way out is past."

He walks over to Knowles, cocks the rifle and put the barrel point of the rifle to the man's neck. "Now listen here, and listen carefully. Geronimo did send a message for you with Nanuet. And that message is he wanted you to come and see him. And he also asked Nanuet to bring you back to him alive. So you need to understand that the Indian has not lied to you. Me on the other hand, I'm not to be trusted. And I've never met Geronimo. And I don't give a mules ass about whether you survive this or not. Now the only thing keeping me from pulling this trigger is because I like Nanuet. However, I think getting you out will put his life in danger. so I'm thinking I will pull this trigger and let him off the hook. Now fast, tell me something valuable about how we ALL get out of here alive without the rustlers shooting us as we go down the mountain and change my mind about your value and the wisdom of Geronimo and Nanuet."

Knowles says that he does know of another way down, back in the tunnel using the first side tunnel to the left off from it. He says that before they established their headquarters in the end care they had checked out all the other tunnels. That tunnel loops around through the mountain and comes out on the cattle trail a short distance below the lower caves. He says that Curly Bill didn't care much for that particular exit as sections of it are only around three feet wide and five feet high which was a very tight squeeze for a big man like him, but he still wanted to keep it maintained and accessible in case of an emergency.

"That sounds like our way out," Kate says coming up next to Jake. "If we can make it through before this mountain comes down on our heads. " "How long will it take us to go through the tunnel?" she asks Knowles. Ruby comments “What happens if we get there and it's already collapsed, we might get trapped inside. And what if this guy is lying and it takes us right into the rest of the rustlers? But it's better than being picked off one at a time going down the mountain..."

Nanuet says, "I vote for the tunnel, and then we come back around and see what kind of trouble our friends are in. I'll go first because I can see better in the dark, but Mr. Knowles here will be right behind me. And Jake, if you happen to get an itch on that trigger finger of yours, try not to scratch it too fast. Of course, that is if we all agree."

Jake says,"All right, I guess it is the tunnel. I suspect we'll need a lantern or two." Jake surveys the accumulated pile of weapons around them and frowns. "Someone give me a hand with this stuff." Nanuet replies,"As long as we have some light, maybe Ruby should go first since she has the keenest eyes and the light will spoil my infravision. I will help Jake carry the stuff. Ms. Katherine, if you don't mind continuing to keep an eye on our new friend..."

Ruby makes sure all her weapons are reloaded, her pistol and the handy shotgun. "Do we have some light?" "All set" Katherine states and lights the lantern. Then she will start down the tunnel, moving as fast as she can while still looking for traps and listening for noise.

They make their way back down the main tunnel and into the side tunnel. The tunnel is irregularly shaped with many hills and gullies along the way. They soon realize that carrying the boxload of shells for the hand-cannon is not only very difficult but also very dangerous as there is a change it could spill and possibly detonate. Jake finds a out of the way crevice to hide the box in. He takes out four shells out of the case first to fill the empty spaces inside the carry case, which Nanuet then puts back over his shoulder. The box is then covered over with rocks and dirt to make it less obvious.

They continue onward, coming upon a section that the wooden support beams have recently collapse. There is still enough room for person to crawl through, but it takes time. After that they continue onward as the tunnel curves down and two the left. They see light ahead and reach an exit that has been camouflaged with shrubs and branches, which are quickly moved out of the way. Kate kept her attention focused on Knowles as they passed beneath the mountain. She had been fine in the larger tunnels, but this small cramped area made her feel as if the entire weight of the mountain was resting on her shoulders. She followed Ruby through the tunnel, her pistol in one hand and a lantern in the other. They finally came out of a concealed entrance onto a dirt road. They exit onto a eight-food wide dirt road where they hear a series of gunshots coming from higher up the mountain a few hundred feet away.

The sound of gunfire was clear a bit further up the mountain. They had gotten out, but now their companions were above and in need of help. "We should get up there, but can we trust Knowles to behave?" Kate asked quickly as the sound of a wagon racing down the road came to her. "Or maybe we should just get out of the road," she finished, her voice nervous.

Jake quickly drops the extra weapons he was carrying but holds onto the shotgun and clambers up the rocks nearest to the road, the closer the better, to attain a height of 10-15 feet. He then crouches and looks up the road. Kate took her cue from Jake and used her pistol to wave Knowles to the side of the road. She got him behind an outcropping and told him to crouch down. She then stood in front of him so he wouldn't be seen by anyone in the wagon, while still trying to keep herself relatively hidden.

Ruby considers throwing a big branch into the road but doesn't think she has enough time. She gets off the road, next to Kate, and finds a good spot where she can see the road and also keep an eye on Knowles. She also takes the time to find where Jake and Nanuet are hiding, just in case.

Jake is the first to see the wagon, which is a type of heavy freight wagon common to mining towns. A team of 6 horses is pulling it and it appears to be going at top speed, which is probably a bit too dangerous for a curving mountain road. It has a drivers and one other man up in the front and five more men in the back of the wagon. All except for the driver have weapons in their hands and are looking out in all directions.

As they near begin to near one of the men in the back spots Jake atop the rock and takes a shot at him, which doesn't even come close. The driver makes no attempt to stop the rig. They also can now hear the sound of two more horses coming from up the road. From Jake's higher vantagepoint he makes out one to be somebody he doesn't know who points a revolver behind him and fires. Around sixty feet behind him is Heath Barkely on another horse who ducks his head down. Shots also continue to ring out higher up the mountain.

The wagon is now almost up to where the others are. As a trained singer Ruby knows a lot about breathing and vocalizing and recognizes in the very first millisecond of Knowles mouth and chest movements that he is about to shout.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Forty-one, “A Wagon Load of Outlaws!”, January 7th, 1882:

Ruby reacts quickly by coming up behind Knowles and covering his mouth with her hand as she grapples him to the ground. After a struggle she gets him down and she sits in top of him. Then she points her gun at his head. "Something you wanted to say?" He can tell by her eyes that she will have no problem killing him. Nanuet takes advantage of the fact that Katherine's dress is already torn, and he rips off another piece and works on gagging Knowles so that he won't be able to yell. "This man just saved your life," Ruby says to Knowles, pointing at Nanuet. 'You'd better thank him later."

Then she turns to Katherine who has a look of astonishment on her face at the fact that Nanuet just ripped her shirt even more. Smiling she says, "Don't worry we'll get you a new one." I have others, that's not what I'm worried about," she said, laying her hand over the now large hole in her shirt. The sheer undershirt wasn't hiding anything. Pointing to Knowles Ruby says, "Keep an eye on this guy..." She also positions herself and takes a shot with the shotgun, aiming for the men in the wagon with the weapons. Kate’s other hand still held the pistol steady toward Knowles. He must have figured out by now that she was not any kind of "Tough gal outlaw." She prayed he wouldn't try to call her bluff.

Jake takes out a stick of dynamite and lays it behind him. He quickly drops to the ground and aims the shotgun resting on the rock at the driver and fires both barrels when the wagon is about 50' away. Jake's first shot misses the driver but manages to strike the three men on the left hand side of the back of the wagon. He hits one squarely in the chest and arm that man slumping over into the wagon bed. The two wounded are both rather badly hurt on their left sides and arms. The other two men in the back of the wagon shoot in Jake's general direction but the shots miss him and bounce off of the large rock. His second shotgun blast misses, in part due to his movement to keep from being shot.

The major advantage that this has is that the foes are focused on where Jake is and none see Ruby and Nanuet as they prepare to fire. Ruby's shotgun blast manages to hit both men on the right side of the rear of the wagon straight on, killing them both. Nanuet fires at the driver, however his inexperience and the fact that the vehicle is moving have a combined detrimental effect and he misses. However, his shot does strike the other armed man up front in the buckboard who tumbles off of the rig and then gets run over by both left wagon wheels. Nanuet screams a war cry, lifting the rifle over his head and shakes it up and down with vigor. He then reloads his rifle and moves in the direction of the wagon, trying to keep cover from any returning fire.

One of the other men who Jake had hit now slumps over into the wagon, leaving only the driver and one wounded one in the back and the driver. The driver uses his whip to have the horse move onward and past the people shooting at him. The man in the back aims his rifle at Nanuet and fires. The bullet goes through Nanuet's right leg but he winces through the pain and temporarily remains standing.

Jake drops the shotgun after dodging and firing the second shot. He quickly gets back on his feet and leaps into the moving wagon bed from his location above the road. His Peacemaker then flashes out of his holster and shoots the last rustler standing who is holding a rifle. The startled and wounded man was not expecting somebody to leap down into his midst and in unprepared for the shot right between his eyes.

The driver still hasn't noticed Jake yet. Although tempted to shoot him in the back, Jake pulls the hammer on his pistol and sticks it in the drivers back and says loudly, "stop this rig now, nice and easy. I ain't saying please and I ain't asking twice." He keeps a hair trigger incase the driver tries something funny, and hopes for his sake he doesn't hit a big bump.

Nanuet winces, grits his teeth and falls. He begins reaching for his necklace when he hears another rider coming. He makes a quick decision and tries to roll and drag himself behind some cover before using yet another stone from the necklace on himself. The would looks to be clean and didn't hit any veins or bones so he decides that the other 1.5" stone will be sufficient.

The wagon begins to slow to a stop at a point around 80 feet beyond the party. Nanuet, Ruby and Katherine then hear another rider approaching. It is another rustler who is riding at a full gallop and takes aim with his revolver at Jake up ahead. Ruby quickly tries to get the rider in her sight and she shoots at him with her pistol. If necessary she will step out into the road to get a better shot. Katherine has the same thought as Ruby. She sets her foot down squarely on Knowles stomach to keep him down and peeks around the corner. Once she spots the rider she takes a shot with Tom's pistol and immediately turns back to Knowles. Ruby and Katherine both shoot at the rider as he goes by them, both missing.

Nanuet decides to wait until after the rider has gone by to start the incantation. Seeing that Knowles is well wedged between Ruby, herself and Nanuet, Kate reaches out and slips her hands under Nanuet's arms, trying to help him pull himself back. He reaches for another one of the stones on the necklace before she can rip another piece off her shirt for bandages. The rider takes a shot at Jake, which also misses, but does get his attention. Ruby starts to step out into the road for a better shot when she hears another horse approaching rapidly. She glances back and sees that it is an ally, Heath Barkley.

She turns back and steadies her aim at the rustler who has started to slow his horse as he nears the now stopped wagon around 120 feet away. "That's a mistake, I'm not done with you yet" she says to herself as she squeezes off a shot. A circle of red appears on his back. Meanwhile, Nanuet casts the spell to activate the stone and then feels much better. Things suddenly get quiet, with no further gunshots higher up the mountain.

'Why am I always surrounded' Jake thinks to himself while quickly turning to shoot the man on the horse who shot at him. Jake shot is on the mark and the man falls back and off of the horse. However, while Jake had turned around the driver decided to make a break for the nearest cover, jumping from the wagon and towards some boulders off to the side of the road. Heath is still riding hard and is almost up to the wagon. Jake pivots at the sound of the driver hitting the ground and fans his pistol before he can get away. Jake's shots miss but Heath's is on target and the man is dropped onto the roadway.

"A pleasure to see you Mr. Barkley." Jake says while surveying the bodies in the wagon to make certain that none of them are a risk to him. He waves down the road to the others that he is fine. "Heath, will you gather up that loose horse, I may need it." He then goes about putting the brake on the wagon, reloading his Colt and checking the fallen rustlers for signs of life. "I think we'll need this wagon before we are through today." He says to no one in particular, mounts the horse and rides back to the others.

Kate took a few deep breaths as everything got quiet. She tried not to think of the sheer numbers of people who must be dead and dying. Jake, Ruby, and Nanuet were all right, but they had no idea about the Cartwrights. She grabbed Knowles' arm and pulled him up. "How are the others?" she asked Barkley.

Heath replies "They were fine when I left them. We had waited for you on the trail and then three guys came down from the direction where you went. We exchanged fire and got one, the other two found themselves some better cover and kept shooting back. Flint figured you were all dead and was afraid that the gunshots would alert the others in the cave and catch us in a crossfire. He and I went off to try to keep those guys pinned down in the cave. We got there just in time, as they were coming out. I kept them occupied while Flint then climbed up and around and made it inside. The dynamite blasts started soon after that."

"When the cave mouth appeared to be clear I rushed over to help support Flint. I looked in the cave and just saw a bunch of dead men and horses covered with rubble. The dust inside was settling and people inside started shooting out at me so I had to find cover. We kept exchanging shots, and then my brother Nick and the Cartwrights came up from the other trail to help out. Two guys then made a break out of the cave on horseback. I shot one and grabbed his horse and followed the other one down here."

"You've had quite a busy morning," Kate said dryly. "Speaking of horses..." Kate pointed toward the loose horse Jake had mentioned and Heath ran off to collect it. She stopped to make sure Nanuet was alright before she stepped out to talk to Jake "From what Heath says, everything should be quiet up there now, looks like the shootings over," she gave Jake a little smile. Immediately after she says that there is another series of a dozen or so gunshots further up the hill followed by the sound of back-to-back dynamite explosions. It then gets quiet again.

Kate says, "How nice of you to find me a wagon. There are a few hundred things I'd like from that cave up there." She took a few steps over, unthinkingly pulled Knowles around behind her. "You're alright, yes?" He looks back up at her, his lip quivering as he says "Y..Y...Yes, Please don't hurt me." "I wasn't talking to you, but it's good to know," she began to turn back to Jake when she realized something was wrong. "How did you get that gag off?" She was getting tired of having this guy tied to her apron strings. The least he could do was stay quiet. She was about to replace the gag when she looked more closely at him. His eyes were wide with absolute terror. "I'm not going to hurt you, just stay quiet," she sighed. Kate turned her eyes back up the mountain. "Well, we know Flint is still alright. We need to get up there though. I wish we had our horses."

Got you a wagon?" The rest of Jake’s thought is interrupted by the burst of gunfire and earth shaking blasts. "I wonder if there is going to be any cattle left when Flint is through. Stew meat all around tonight folks!" He notices Heath doesn't find that funny.

As Jake admires Katherine’s new attire, he also notices her considerable embarrassment. He removes the jacket and takes off his button shirt and puts the jacket back on. "Here," He says to her handing her this shirt "not that I'm not admiring the view but being beet red every time anyone looks at you can't be good for a body." She'd been trying to ignore the tattered state of her shirt and the blush that came each time someone looked at her, but obviously she hadn't been succeeding. "Thank you," she said, slipping it over her head, glad that since she was already red she couldn't get any redder as Jake undressed.

Jake climbs up the rocks and picks up the stick of dynamite he dropped, "Don't want no prairie dog blowing himself up." He also retrieves the weapons he dropped earlier and reloads the shotgun.

"Hermes take me for a fool, but I haven't been able to hold on to a prisoner all day. We keep having to shoot 'em when they try and run away. You will be polite enough to be different Mr. Knowles?" He looks around at the carnage and says, "You think they need help up there or should we clean up here? And what in Hades are we going to do with all these bodies?" Kate replies "Well Flint seems to working on a fairly large pile of rubble, I imagine we could put them there."

Heath helps Jake off load the five bodies from the back of the wagon, Jake discreetly checking and emptying the pockets as he does so and less discreetly leaving the gunbelts and other visible weapons in the wagon. While Heath is preoccupied Ruby does likewise with the body of the rustler lying in the road.

 

[Silver Moon]

Interlude One: "The Whaling Ship"

Approximately 800 northwest of Promise City....

Captain John Keenan sailed the whaling ship James Allen into the port of San Francisco. The small two-masted square-rigged ship of a style known as a Bark was coming to the end of a long Antarctic journey. The vessel was old, having been built nearly forty years before. In that time the highly prized north pacific sperm whales had become scare, hunted to the point where the remaining ones had fled both north and south. Most whalers chose to follow them north, but Keenan decided upon a southerly trek for the most recent trip.

His decision proved successful, finding the home for a large school of sperm whales along the Antarctic’s Bellingshausen Sea. The twelve adults and twenty-six calves that the Allen’s crew took in were all sold for a fair price in Argentina at the port of San Julien where they were to then be processed and the various oils and ivory loaded onto ships of the British merchant fleet that made the port their home.

The Allen had then sailed back around Cape Horn, with a port of call planned for Santiago, Peru to take on supplies and cargo for the long voyage home. But before that they had another trip to make, back at the inhospitable southern continent. Eight days later they sailed into the inlet between Charcot Island and the peninsula known as Palmerland, a voyage only possible by ship during the peak of the southern hemisphere’s summer.

The ship docked and then picked up a group of seven very unusual passengers. Five of these were of races exclusive to Antarctica, the only humans to ever lay eyes on these creatures being the hardiest of whalers who dared venture this close. The first three stood nine feet tall and their bodies were covered with a thick fur. Their oversized heads had threatening looks and the wide mouths showed dozens of yellowed fangs. “Bugbear” was the term that the first whalers had named them, although the name itself did not do justice to these creatures.

They were followed by two even larger creatures, towering a full fifteen-feet in height. Other than the size, these giant creatures looked far more like humans than their shorter furry companions, with thick wind-blown hides beneath the heavy fur coats they wore as clothing.

The first of the final two was the human man who had befriended these unusual races, teaching himself the language and customs of these creatures. He was rugged-looking in his own manner, standing nearly seven-feet tall and weighing over 300-pounds of solid muscle. A hunter by trade, he sought adventure on all of the continents. With him was a female ogress and it was said that she had been with the hunter for nearly twenty-years, having first met on an African safari. Keenan was uncertain what their actual relationship was and he dared not to ask.

The trip to north had begun without incident. When they made port in Santiago the hunter used the time to send both telegrams and to utilize magical means of communication to contact associates of his in the civilized world. At the port of Managua, Nicaragua the hunter received a response from one. He informed Keenan that a lucrative and challenging job lie ahead for him and that the Captain would receive a $ 400 bonus if he made port in San Francisco within ten days.

Keenan pushed his ship and crew with all he could to make that deadline despite a severe storm that attempted to heed their progress along the majority of the Mexican coastline. Keenan was proud of his old vessel and the punishment she was able to withstand. He guessed that she still had a number of good years left in her and was correct in that assessment, as another dozen years would pass until she was to meet her fate of running aground upon a rocky shoal along the Alaskan coast.

They arrived in port with a day to spare and the hunter happily paid the promised amount. The hunter and his six unusual companions departed the ship, receiving unusual looks from everyone near the docks. The port’s customs officials were busy searching the coats of the hundreds of Chinese immigrants, trying to find illegal opium being smuggled into the country. But these officials let the hunter and his companions pass by them without stopping, none of the humans daring to even pose a question to them. The hunter went directly to one of the finest grand hotels of the city where one of the many dining rooms had been prepared in advance for him and his entourage to stay in during their brief respite in the city.

End of Interlude.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Forty-two, “Clean Up at the Caves”, January 7th, 1882:

They ride back up the mountain with the wagon and both riding horses. They find a scene that looks like it came from a war. A dirty and dusty Flint is standing near the entrance to the cave, a grin from ear to ear with an equally dusty but unhurt Al standing beside him. Near where they are the bodies of three horses and their riders, with a good-sized crater in the dirt between them.

A similar scene of carnage is just inside the cave, with bodies of men, horses and cattle all about and part of the cave having collapsed. Hoss Cartwright comes out from the back of the cave and announces "Most of the herd is alright, these cows were just the ones that were in the branding area." His brothers come from other sections of the cave and say, "Looks like that crazy dwarf got them all." Adam notices the prisoner and says, "I assume that's Knowles. When you send him off to the Apache tell him to inform the Indians about the twenty so dead cows and horses are up here. They could probably make good use the meat and the hides."

Jake takes Nanuet aside privately and says, "I don't know if the Cartwrights really need our help or not with their cattle, but we could put a lot of meat in the back of that wagon there and take it to Geronimo with Knowles. The Indians can come and get the rest if they want. We grab as much of the valuables and weapons as we can and take with us, I'm sure the scavengers are going to clear out the rest in no time. If we do that could we make it back in town for Ruby's evening performance?" And keep on the good side of Geronimo thinks Jake, I'm certain we are gonna cross paths again.

Jake suggests his idea. Al points out that the Apache have clearly been watching this place, and most likely still are, so it shouldn't take much for either Knowles or Nanuet to alert them to just come and get the meat. She points out that as long as the Apache know it is safe there is no reason for them to stay away. They especially have nothing to fear from the Cartwrights, since the Apache are still holding their father.

Ruby finds a nearby rock and slips behind it. She grabs hold of it then she starts hyperventilating. She had killed more men today then she had, maybe ever. She preferred the slip in and rob them blind while they're not looking method to killing people. Distraction suited her fine and she was good at it. She had no problem killing someone if it was her or them but this was just crazy. She was feeling a bit out of control at the situation, including what was going on back in town. She wanted to get out of this place, not linger and she wanted to free herself of the ropes that felt like they were tightening around her.

Katherine didn't want to look at the bodies anymore. For some reason it was the horses that bothered her even more than the men. The men at least had a chance to defend themselves. She moved away from the cave opening and began poking around in the rocks. After a few moments she heard a kind of wheezing sound. She turned and saw Ruby clutching a large boulder and breathing erratically. She hurried over and laid her hands of the other woman's shoulders. "Breathe, Ruby honey. You have to slow down and breathe."

Ruby tried to slow down her breathing. She didn’t want Katherine to see her so upset. Now wasn’t a good time to be weak. She needed time to think things over and this wasn’t it. “I’m ok really,” she said pulling away. She knew she wasn’t being very convincing. Now’s a good time for some distraction she thought. “So how about all those books up there?”

"No dear, you're not okay. I'm not okay." She stepped forward and put her arms around the other woman. "But what is there to say? I can't change anything. I should never have even mentioned this to you or Jake. It wasn't your business; I should have left you to sleep this morning away. But you were here, and you did what was necessary Do you hear me? We tried to avoid killing these men, but it didn't work out. And as much as I hate what happened, I'd rather have you and Nanuet and Jake safe and well at the end of the day."

Ruby accepted the hug from Kate. It felt good to know she genuinely cared and Ruby was really starting to care for her too. But with caring came other things. People to answer to. Someone else to think about beside herself. Foolish decisions like running into a room of armed men because she was worried about Jake. If she did decide to leave it wouldn’t be easy that's for sure. With that thought Ruby pulled away from Kate. "Kate we all came here because we wanted too. You didn't put a gun to anyone's head. I just, well, I don't enjoy killing people." Ruby pauses. "Oh forget it. It'll be worth it once we go back up and find something to take home with us. Look at all those books you get to read." Ruby already knew her pockets were full and it had been well worth the trip. "Frankly, I'd be a lot more worried about you if you did enjoy it. You can do what's needed, no one said you had to like it. Someday, if you want to tell me those things you just said to forget, I'll be glad to listen. As you said, for right now there are books to be gathered."

Katherine notices three still-intact wheelbarrows a short distance into the cave, which is just what she'll need to get the library out of the other cave and down the trail to the wagon. Katherine quickly agrees with Al and walks over to the wheelbarrows. "Now gentlemen, there a few things I'd like from the caves above, and these should just do the trick. It will only take a few trips, and the wagon should carry them nicely once we get them down. I'd hate to leave them for Deadeye Douglas to find."

Jake was just trying to figure out how to be somewhere else before this work began, and therefore was not paying much attention to Katherine until she brought up Douglas. He was privately worried that the real Deadeye might show up early as well, but didn't want to alarm folks. As far as he knew the others didn't even know he was coming. A bunch of rustlers was one thing, even if there were more of them than he expected. Running into Deadeye Douglas gang could be serious trouble, and he didn't think that Katherine really understood that. He looked for a reaction in any of the others. And decided that he would suffer the work, this ONE time to get out of here sooner.

Jake comments "Ruby, why don't you come along and search that room more thoroughly. I'm sure that Brocius had more to his name than we found. And Nanuet, on one of these trips lets haul those large shells out." Jake also gives the dynamite back to Flint. "Here you go old timer. The moment has passed, I think it is better that you have these. They are way too tempting for a youngster like me."

Kate was rather surprised at how easily Jake took up the work. She went over to him after he gave Flint the dynamite back. "Thank you," she said. "I know you don't care much for work. I just might forgive you for the way you touched me inside." Jake pauses and steps up close to Katherine and leans in to whisper, "You and I will need a secret signal then. One for give me a hug and talk our way out of this and the different one for don't touch me I'd rather shoot my way out." Jake steps back quickly with a broad smile he can't seem to wipe off his face and heads for the cave, and says without turning around. "I think I'll be getting those books now."

Little Joe Cartwright come out of the cave and asks the group how many bodies were left behind in the upper cave. Nanuet answers "Three" to which Joe replies "Then I think we have a problem. I count twelve bodies here in and around this cave, Adam says you left seven down on the road, and we have the one back on the trail were we were waiting. Add in Knowles here and that comes to 24. The Apache had left 26 rocks." The giddy sense of relief that had been running through Kate drained away at Little Joe's words. "Could they be buried far under the rubble? Far enough that you couldn't see them?"

He points to his mountain of a brother and says, "No, Hoss already moved aside the bigger pieces of rubble to check." Katherine quickly realizes that Hoss's size and strength would make moving the library quick work.
Nanuet tells Jake to go down the trail and check who the Cartwrights shot. He then goes into the cave to check the identity of the bodies, looking specifically for Claiborne and his friends. Jake comes back and confirms that the body belongs to the one known as Jack. Nanuet confirms that Claibourne and Dell are not among the bodies.

"Let's be smart, nobody goes anywhere alone. Stay in groups bigger than two. Flint please stay here with the Ladies while we check this out. Heath, Al, want to come with me?" Jake says as he picks up a rifle and checks to make sure it is loaded and not jammed. Heath says "Those two are at least on foot. Someone should ride down and get our horses. We wouldn't want those two guys to stumble upon them and take them." Al agrees to go with him and gets on the other horse they obtained. The two ride off.

Knowles is told that he is being let go but that his cattle rustling days are over and that he will now be living among the Apache. He seems relived at hearing that information and replies that he has lived with Indian tribes before. He then asks Nanuet if he can go back up to the other cave and retrieve some personal items from his room, items of Native American original that he would want to have with him in a native setting." Nanuet says, "No, you are not going back there. I understand the importance of such items thought so will get them for you."

Little Joe and Flint agree to stay behind and guard Knowles. Hoss, Nick, joins Jake, Ruby, Katherine and Nanuet head back up to the other cave, Hoss, Jake and Nick each pushing one of the wheelbarrows. Kate watched the others with a heavy heart. She didn't feel safe with Flint, and Ruby had already had a hard enough day. Her thoughts were different than Jake’s, and it scared her far more than Claibourne or Dell jumping out at them.

If they had run, they may have gone for help. Or worse, but unlikely, they had run to Promise City to get the sheriff. They could work up a story. She'd seen Claibourne in Tombstone as a delivery man; they might know him as the same in Promise City. The law would have no reason not to believe him. What would they think when they saw this? She was relieved when the plan was changed and she could go with people she trusted. When she had a moment she caught up to Jake and whispered her thoughts to him.

They arrive back at the + shaped room. Katherine heads directly to bookcases and starts to examine the books, asking Hoss and Nick to assist her. Nanuet heads into the side room with the Indian artifacts. Ruby and Jake head into the other side room to look for anything that Curly Bill may have hidden. Ruby stays close to Jake while they search, checking each area together.

Nanuet has filled up a blanket with items and places it atop the first wheelbarrow full of books as he, Nick and Hoss bring the first load down to the wagon. Katherine continues to check the bookcases, finding one where the books stick out a bit. She moves the books and finds an elaborately carved jewelry case behind one with the name "Consuela" written on the lid in gold leaf. "Thank you, Nanuet," Kate said as he came over with his blanket bundle and started away with the wheelbarrow.

Her mind had drifted away from the dangers of the missing men. A plethora of books had a way of doing that. She continued to sort through them, her hands oddly reverent. A few minutes after the men started down she found a carved jewelry case behind a section of books. Suddenly she remembered all the bodies. Who was "Consuela" to one of those men? Had she helped to widow another woman? Kate closed her eyes and took a moment to pull herself back together. She carefully tried to open it.

The box contains four gold rings, three with stones in the center, four pair of gold earrings of various designs, Two gold necklaces, two pair of gold wristlets and a gold and diamond tiara. There is a shelf at the bottom of the box that has three photographs - one of a family photo of two adult wood elves, a teenage girl wood elf and a toddler wood elf boy, all dressed in elaborate clothing. Another is only of the same wood elf girl and she is wearing one of the necklaces in the case. The final one is of the man in the family photo and he is standing beside a wood elf wearing a uniform filled with decorations and medals.

Kate hesitated for a few moments as she looked over the items in the box. It was unlikely anyone would come back for them, but they seemed to be very personal. Almost like a memorial that should be left where she found it. Still, she was curious. She finally decided to take it with them. Perhaps Dorita's grandfather would be able to shed some light on it. Jake sees Katherine staring long at the photograph. "Katherine, just pack it up and take it. We best not hang around here too long. These were not the kind of men who had families like that." He tries to think of something else to say but can't, so he goes back to packing up.

Ruby and Jake continue to search the room. She picks up that he is uncomfortable with her sticking so close so she gives him some space but still stays close enough that they can watch each other. Jake is a bit nervous all of us being in here and not watching the door behind us. He listens with some of his attention for any unusual or tell tale sounds behind them while searching.

The three men return to check in with the others and Nanuet leaves the blanket of items, telling the others not to touch it. They return back for the next load of books. It takes nearly an hour for all of the books to be loaded up. Katherine notes that the beds are made with slot and groove construction and can be easily disassembled. Nick says that makes sense, as they would have needed to have been taken apart to get through the tunnel. She suggests that since there is still room on the wagon that they take them apart to bring the well constructed bed frames back since the Whipples are planning to put another floor of rooms onto the hotel.

At long last Jake and Ruby finally discover a hidden compartment, located behind a rocky section of wall. They find a gold box inside that is 9-inches by 5-inches by 3-inches in size. They look inside and find a small book, around two-dozen pages, written in a language that neither understand. There is also a pile of paper money with pictures of wood elves and fancy buildings depicted on it and writing in Spanish and denominations listed of 100, 500, 1000, 5000 and 10000. They are unsure what country it is from, but it does not look like money from either Mexico or Spain, as they have seen both of those currencies before.

There is room in the rather large wagon for the bed frames, which Hoss has no difficulty in carrying out. They leave the caves and head back to the others. Al and Heath have returned with the other horses. The livestock are brought out of the cave, numbering a total of 68 cows and 7 horses in addition to the two rustler horses already acquired. Al finds a nice saddle for one of the horses, commenting "I'm going to take this back to Galeyville for O'Dell since he gave his last horse to you Ruby." A tarp is tossed into the wagon over the books and bed frames and then tied down securely. The Cartwrights also take all of the assorted branding tools found inside the cave to present to the Sheriff as evidence.

They ride down the mountain trail. At the bottom of the trail they finally untie Knowles and let him go. Nanuet takes him aside and gives him the blanket of items. Knowles looks inside and then has an exchange of words with Nanuet that the others do not hear, but can see that Knowles is upset when Nanuet points and Knowles walks away.

They continue on towards the main road to Galeyville. When they reach the road Al takes the extra horse and bids the others goodbye.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Forty-three, “Taking a Break”, January 7th, 1882:

Nanuet talked with the Apache for some time as the others were finishing up and getting ready to head back to Promise City. They never did find out who killed Flint's partner, but chances are they were dead. Geronimo had some respect for this man Knowles, so he would show him respect also and hand over the Cherokee items that he wanted from the cave. He had decided however to keep the knife and the man's wallet, as trophies. He wouldn't need the money where he was going and he could easily get another knife. They had argued over it but Knowles had no leverage and Nanuet walked away with the items.

A sense of satisfaction came over him. Even though there had been a lot of destruction today, there were a lot of bad people who would no longer be causing trouble now. He spent a few moments reflecting on the morning's events and did a small chant to commemorate the end of the battle. He then returned to his companions looking forward to return to Promise City and begin his task of ambassador. Maybe it would start with a trip by the Marshall’s office to see if any of these men were on those Wanted Posters....

The trip back takes considerable time as the Cartwrights and Barkleys are the only ones with experience herding cattle. It is nearly noontime when they reach a bridge over a stream along the road. The Cartwrights decide to stop to water the cattle and horses and let them graze. Nanuet wanders off by himself.

The Cartwrights get together for a snack lunch and Katherine sits down to join them. Little Joe hands Jake a pouch filled with beef jerky and rolls. Jake takes it and walks along the stream with Ruby sharing the snack and talking. Jake and Ruby slowly walk along the stream together.

Katherine sat with her knees pulled up to her chest. The food seemed dry and tasteless, but she didn't really notice. It had been a long, long morning, and any sense of relief at its ending had long since gone. How had she come to this place? How had she ended up in gunfights, chasing cattle rustlers, standing in what amounted to a mass grave?

The pictures still haunted her. She knew they were unlikely to be family of any of the men there, but they had brought to her that they were men. They had lives of their own and perhaps people somewhere who cared about them. Parents if not wives and children. Would someone else be missing them the way she missed Tom? She lowered her head to her knees and closed her eyes.

After Jake is sure they are earshot of the others he quietly says, "I was more than a little surprised to see you conjuring or whatever you were doing today. Don't often see that." ”Well Jake, it’s not a talent I show to many people. Just a few things I always knew how to do,” she says shrugging. “Actually someone recently offered to teach me more than what I know now. I wasn’t sure you could learn it, thought you had to always know how to do it. Most people are afraid of it anyway so I learned to just keep it to myself.” Jake responds, "Now that doesn't change anything with me, mind you. I was just surprised. I guess I shouldn't be, I have a feeling you will keep doing that to me." Pauses. "Surprise me, that is." Ruby smiles at him. “I didn’t think you would mind too much or I wouldn’t have done it. I have a feeling you have a few surprises up your own sleeve,” she says slyly. “Besides, don’t you like surprises?”

Jake is quiet for a couple of minutes and they keep walking in silence. He starts to say something and then stops. Then finally, "I don't know what you were thinking when you went running in that room all by yourself. If you weren't such a good shot I'd put you over my knee. You scared the crap out of me, um, us." He looks away and says, "Look, I'm not accustomed to having many friends traveling around the way I do. So when I saw you on the floor with all that rock on you, and the blood, well... damn, never mind."

He shakes his head then starts to walk back to the others. Ruby reaches her hand out and grabs his arm stopping him. Her face becomes serious. ‘I was worried, well I was really worried about you, actually. And the others too. After you got shot and you were bleeding so much the only thing I could think of was to stop anyone else from getting to you. So I ran in. I guess I wasn’t really thinking.” She pauses and kicks at some pebbles on the ground. “I’m not used to having friends either, well not ones I can trust, and I’m not used to having people depend on me…” She drifts off into thought for a moment. As she thinks her face starts to lighten. Her worries could wait a little longer.

“So you were worried about me, huh? Good to know.” she says playfully. “As for putting me on your knee, I might actually enjoy that as much as you do.” With that she turns lightly on her heel to start back, her long hair swinging in the wind. Then she stops and turns back to him. “Oh, one more thing Jake. The next time you unbutton my shirt you’d better be buying me a drink first.” As Ruby skips off towards the others Jake says to himself in a low voice, "She did it to me again."

He comes back to the others and talks to Katherine who is tending her horse. "We all have things we do better than others. I'm not good at judging horseflesh or even riding. Think you could pick me out a horse from these others that would be better than the nag from Promise City? Nothing special, just study and maybe a bit smarter. And maybe you could help me judge a good tailor back in town; I'd like some new 'poker' shirts. I like them tailored." She agrees quickly and he thanks her.

He continues. "You had a kinda tough day today. You want my two cents?" She doesn't answer but looks at him and smiles. "In my experience, west of the Mississippi and outside of the biggest towns or cities if you are going to help folks out or stand by them you can't always rely on the local law, lawyers and judges. You have to use other ways. Me, I try to talk it out and when that won't work, I always have the Peacemaker here." Patting his Colt revolver. "Now I ain't saying that all my solutions are what you would call ethical. And for me the Peacemaker really is last resort, although it may not have looked it today. But mostly I just mind my own business. Now you on the other hand have a heart as big as those mountains there." He waves his arm in their direction.

He continues, "And if you are going to keep on jumpin' in and helping folks out at the rate you do, you are gonna need to decide what you are willing to do and not willing to do. And once you make peace with that, you'll feel a whole lot better. And if you don't want to get good at shooting that gun of yours, then you need another way of stoppin' trouble." He kicks some dirt with his boot while he looks down. "I ain't the wisest of men, but I do know that ya gotta know who you are. If you gotta do something you don't like, but you know that you'd do it again if you had to, you can still look yourself in the mirror, still sleep at night." He puts his hand on her arm, "You of all people have should have no shame of looking in the mirror." He lets go or her arm and looks around. "I think that's probably enough wandering scoundrel gambler wisdom for today, huh?" he ends with a smile. He leaves her to go scrounge for a couple of rifle holsters he can add to his saddle.

Jake, wait," Kate said quickly. "You're right about many things. I have to be more than a widow and a barmaid, but I don't know what that is. Someone has offered to teach me to... well, you remember what Ruby did earlier with the lights. Someone believes I could learn to do that as well and perhaps a great deal more. Maybe that's who I am here. If it works out, I'll have options other than this," she said patting the revolver. "But until then, since I seem to have a problem not making other people's business mine, perhaps you'll teach me how to use this better."

She walked over to him and pulled his head down so she could kiss his cheek. "You're not fooling anybody with that scoundrel business you know. You're a good man."

Meanwhile, five miles northeast of Promise City...The four prospectors had awakened early to start loading up the wagon with the ore. They soon realized that this would be a harder task than they had had anticipated. The rockslide made such a mess at the base of the mountain they would not be able to get the wagon nearly as close as they would have liked. They then considered using the aging horses to drag the rocks over to the wagons, but feared that they might get injured on the obstacle course of jagged stones. So the men decided on rolling the silver-encrusted granite stones over to the wagon. They were thankful that it was a cool January day so that they did not have to contend with the typical Arizona heat.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Forty-four, “Pete’s Ranch”, January 7th, 1882:

The group moved on, arriving at Flint's plot of land an hour later. As the cattle were grazing and drinking from the stream Flint comes up to Katherine and says, "Okay, I've thought about what you said yesterday. When you suggested that this might be a good plot of land for ranching.

I was talking to the Cartwrights during lunch. Most of the cattle are theirs but eighteen of them have other brands, and the extra horses aren't theirs either. They plan to talk to the Deputy Sheriff and all, let him know what went down back at the caves, but they plan to move on back to Nevada as soon as the Apache are finished with the old man. The Sheriff may or may not be able to find the owners of the other animals and so the Cartwrights have asked me to keep an eye on them in the meanwhile and I figure the owners of some will never turn up. I've already got place surrounded by posts and the ropes will work until I can put up rails. So how does "Pete's Ranch" sound to you?"

"It sounds just fine, Flint." She smiled and patted the dwarf on the shoulder. "Ranching may not have the big returns of mining, but it's a lot more reliable. I don't know much about cattle, but I'm pretty good with horses. I'd be glad to come out and lend you a hand now and then. In exchange, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me bring my horse out here to train her. I need the room. Oh, and if you don't mind, I'd like to swap out Jake and Nanuet's horses for two of these others. You can keep theirs."

Nanuet chimes in on the Flint's Ranch idea, "And Flint if there is anything I can do to help, let me know. I have a connection with animals myself. More of a spiritual connection I would say, but I have spent my time around horses and know a thing or two. Seems like you have some good animals here."

While everyone is admiring Flint's new ranch, Jake walks over to Nanuet. Jake pulls back his sleeve and holds up his repaired wrist. "You and your spirits do pretty fine work there Indian." He turns it back and forth. "Good as new as far as I can tell. And seeing that my livelihood depends on me having this good arm, I'm mighty appreciative." He pulls his sleeve back down and looks to Nanuet without expression. "It seems to me that you were looking for more than Harvey Knowles, and to bring to justice a murderer. I hope you got all that you needed to today." The gambler gives him a serious looking smile.

Flint calls Nanuet and Jake over to a section of the hill out of sight of the women. He then takes a pouch off his belt and empties it out onto the ground in front of them. It is filled with money, mostly $5 and $ 10 bills, plus around two dozen $ 1 coins and an equal number of other coins. Flint says “I got this off the dead guys back in the cave. I figure they wouldn’t need it anymore. Didn’t want to show it in front of the women, I’m sure they would have found my taking from the dead to be ghoulish.” At that Jake suddenly has a memory of Ruby rifling Tom McLaury’s body and suppresses a laugh. Flint continues, “I figure you should get some of this, take whatever you think is fair.”

Jake looks at Nanuet who is looking back at him. He then turns to Flint and says, "Another man of honor in his own way. I gotta tell you this is getting down right embarrassing." Jake laughs a minute. "So we'll get our share, but why don't you just count it up first. If the local law will let us and the Cartwrights are amenable, maybe you can buy that big ole wagon there with the horses from all of us with some of that money on the ground and we'll call it even. Looks like that might be valuable here on your ranch." Jake looks around and tries not to make a face or laugh. "Of course, there are a couple of conditions..." "Like what?" Says Flint suspiciously.

Jake replies, "Like if I suddenly need a few sticks of dynamite, or we need a quiet place to hide for a bit we know of a friend who might help us out. Of course you'll need to keep enough money to build a shack out here to live in too." Silver Jake Cook, he thinks to himself, you are going soft. Just keep tellin' yourself this is an investment.

Flint counts out the money and says "It comes to $ 94.23, we split that three ways and it's around $31 and change each. Hardly enough for a six-horse rig. You'd get a better deal selling them and the wagon to one of the mines; they can always use a good freight vehicle. My biggest need now is lumber and nails to turn my boundary maker posts and ropes into sturdy rails to hold in this livestock. I'll probably need to build me a barn too, the cave is too damp to store hay in.

Tell you what, take the money here and whatever my share of selling the wagon and horses is and go to Cassidy Lumberyard back in town. Talk directly to the owner, Neil Cassidy, and get however many boards this will cover plus a couple of hundred nails. Ask him to deliver the stuff out here as soon as he can. He should remember the place, we bought all of our wooden posts from him a while back.”

"OK, Flint, you got it." Jake picks up the money and as he and Nanuet turn to go back to the others he puts it in Nanuet's hands. "What's this?" Say the Indian. "We have lots of other stuff. We have plenty. Whatever in this pile was mine is now lumber. After we split stuff up, you take care of Flint." Jake snickers a little. "Something about that little smelly guy, I kinda like him. Maybe it's the dynamite." Jake slaps Nanuet on the back and heads over to talk to the Barkleys.

Ruby sits down next to Katherine. She nods her head in the direction that the men went. "So, what do you think they're talking about? Probably something as boring as heck." She takes a few minutes to ponder. "So, what do you think about Jake? I have to admit I had some doubts about him today, some wavering trust. For a moment I believed that he was the guy they were waiting for. Before today he seemed trustworthy enough. And he has been keeping an eye out for us this week. But there's something about him Kate..." Ruby's voice trails off and she looks lost in her thoughts again.

After a short pause Kate says, "I did too, for a few moments. But then I remembered reading about Deadeye Douglas. There were four in a gang, all brothers. Worked in Nevada, California, and Utah. It seemed very unlikely Jake had been part of that. I'm sure he still has secrets. We've only known him for a week after all. I have to go with my instincts here. I think Jake, as much as he likes to pretend he's a no-account, is a good man. Not overly fond of work, mind you," she laughed, "but I believe we can trust him. What is it that bothers you?”

Ruby replies, "Oh I know he has some secrets. And I think we're a lot alike. And I'm positive he is a scoundrel. I'm not sure if I can trust him; but then again I don't really trust anyone. I'm going to keep my eyes on him. Not like that will be a bad thing," smiling. "It's not that he bothers me Kate, it's... oh forget it!" Ruby pulls up her legs and puts her head in her lap.

"No Ruby, not this time," Kate says very gently. "Tell me what's the matter. Maybe I can't help, but you might feel better after you talk about it." Ruby sighs. “There’s nothing to talk about really. It’s pretty simple. Guys like Jake always get me in trouble. And I know it and they know it but it still happens just the same.”

Kate was quiet for a moment. She had a suspicion that the kind of trouble Jake could get Ruby into was a completely different kind than any other man had. She wasn't sure if this was the time to confront her with it, however. Instead she reached out and stroked Ruby's bright hair. "Sometimes the trouble is worth it," she said softly. Ruby sat there thinking over what Katherine said. Then she saw Jake and Nanuet returning with Flint. "Kate, you won't tell anyone what I said, will you?" "Of course not, dear,” she responds.

Flint bids the group goodbye. The Barkelys and two of the Cartwrights also say goodbye, deciding to get the cattle back to the ranch they are temporarily staying at via the most direct route. Adam Cartwright says he will ride back with the others to town to go talk to the Sheriff. The ride back the remainder to town goes quickly, especially since Jake and Nanuet now have better horses.

Upon reaching the town Adam suggests that they stop first "At that Saloon you folks are working at, that's where you're dropping off the bed frames isn't it?" They arrive by the back door and Ruby knocks on the door. Maggie opens up and is surprised to see them. Adam and Nanuet untie the ropes and remove the tarp covering the items in the back. "What do you have there?" Maggie asks, somewhat confused about what they are doing.

"Bedframes," Kate said gaily. "Nice ones, too. We thought as long as you're adding on, you might appreciate them. These gentlemen were kind enough to help us bring them over. Where would you like us to put them?" Maggie still seemed a bit stunned. Kate suddenly realized what she must look like. Dusty pants with her black hat and Jake’s too-large shirt hanging from her shoulders. She looked at Maggie and gave a quick shrug of her shoulders.

Maggie calls for Tom and when he arrives she says "Look, they've already gone out and picked up bed frames for the new rooms!" Tom shakes his head and laughs, saying "Getting a bit ahead of yourself there aren't you? My father and cousin won't be here until the middle of next week to start the third floor! That's great though, thanks."

He turns to Maggie and says, "I'll get Jeff to help bring them upstairs. We'll put them up in his room for now." Jeff Mills soon arrives and helps Nanuet, Jake and Adam carry them upstairs. While this unloading is going on Maggie notes the intricate carvings on the bed frames and the quality of the wood used for them. Each bed is of slightly different style and design. Maggie then turns to Ruby and Katherine and says, "My, those are really fancy beds. Which ones have you picked out for your rooms?"

"Maggie, you'll be needing those rooms to rent out," Kate answered, a little stunned. They had been very kind to them at the El Parador, and the thought of Tom Whipple under the same roof with her made her a bit uncomfortable. Imagination. It must have been her imagination. "Why expand if you're just going to give them away? I think you should choose one of those frames to use for yourself."

Maggie replies "Oh no, we want all of you to be able to stay right here. We want to be in the Saloon and Dance Hall business, not the hotel business. The only reason that we have one room available for rent now is because Flossie moved out and Tony prefers to live on his own. If we have extra rooms we'll rent them, but our main concern is keeping all the people who work here happy."

While Kate and Maggie are having this conversation neither notice the look of panic that has just crossed Ruby's face. She recovers by the time the men finish getting the frames unloaded. Before leaving Adam retrieves from the front corner of the wagon a fair sized package wrapped in oiled leather and hands it to Maggie. "What's that?" Katherine asks. He replies, "Your dinner tonight. While we were all busy carting the books down to the wagon Little Joe did some butchering to one of the dead cows. What you have there are twenty pounds of the finest steaks you'll ever eat. Enjoy your meal, you've all earned it."

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter Forty-five, “Ruby’s Decision”, January 7th, 1882:

The group rides back to the El Parador. They bring the wagon and horse team around to the stables and also tie up their own horses. Adam again thanks the group and asks, "Do you think the innkeeper would mind if I leave my horse here for now? I need to go see the Sheriff and I have a hunch that this conversation may take a while."

Kate replies, "Considering what's in the back of that wagon, I'm sure it will be fine. We'll see you in a little while." Kate makes sure Meribel is comfortable and has food and water, then she dashes inside the El Parador and up to Manuel Gonzales' room. A few moments after she knocks the door opens. "There's something downstairs you need to see," she says, a wide grin on her face. Kate reaches out and takes the old gentleman’s hand. "Come on."

Nanuet says to Adam "Mind if I come with you? I would like to meet the sheriff and I am interested to hear how this meeting goes. If you give me a few moments I will get myself cleaned up and then we can head over there." Nanuet goes inside hoping that there is a free room now where he can put a few things away and wash up. He enters the El Parador and looks for Sonoma.

"If you don't think you need me I'll just stay here with the wagon" says Jake. After Katherine runs excitedly into the El Parador he says to Ruby, "We have some unusual stuff here. Since you have some knowledge about conjuring or whatever it is, are you able to know if any of this stuff is you know, enchanted?" He takes the knife that he found in Curly Bill's room out and gives to her. "We should take all the valuable or unusual items and get 'em together in somebody’s room and figure out what we got. If it would be more proper, feel free to use my room." He takes of the ragged hat and tosses it into a waste pile in the back. "I'm just looking forward to a little poker and relaxation without guns going off."

Ruby has the dagger in her hand and she is looking at it but she has a faraway look on her face. “Proper?” she says repeating what Jake said to her with a confused look on her face. Um, Ya" Says Jake, "Katherine might have chickens if a bunch of men are seen coming in and out of a woman's room." She looks up at him then she seems to snap out of it. “Um, no I don’t know if this stuff is magic or not but I might know someone who can. Actually Kate knows someone who can.” Ruby looks uncomfortable and she starts biting her lip and looking around. “Uh, let me help you get this stuff to your room.” She tries to quickly gather as much as she can and waits for Jake.

Waiting before he says any more they arrive at his room and he dumps an armload of stuff on his bed. "Girl are you alright? I'd buy you a drink but that last time someone did that in the afternoon.... well it required a visit to the church and all." He tries to make her smile, but he doesn't think it's working. Ruby does half heatedly smile at Jake. "Maybe another time then?" Then she goes right back to being quiet. He takes of his coat and puts it on the bed. "I'd be surprised if there isn't something going on with this." he finishes by pointing to the leather duster he has just laid neatly next to the pile. "If you two are up for it, I'll let you and Katherine figure all this out. Let's go back down stairs and wait for the others."

Manuel Gonzales is amazed beyond belief at the wagonload of books. Sanoma, Pedro and Dorita are excited about it. The handyman Grant Keebler helps maneuver the rig as close to the door as possible. They also round up the musician Estaban Fuente and bartender Estaban Fuente to help unload the books. Ricardo, the 5-year-old son of resident harlot Angelica Huesca even pitches in and helps carry books. They bring all of the books to Manuel's room, and the stacks of books take up every inch of available space.

Once all the heavy labor is done Jake and Katherine both assist Grant with getting the wagon squared away and unhitching the team. Ruby remains somewhat distant and Sanoma attempts to talk to her. Jake and Katherine come inside and decide not to disturb the two bards and sit at a different table. Kate says,"You wanted to see tailors this afternoon, didn't you? I'll go upstairs in a few minutes and make myself presentable, and we can go out and do that."

Dorita is bringing all four food and overhears that. She gives them a stern look, plants her hands on her hips and exclaims "You'll do nothing of the kind. You were out late last night and were up before the rooster. You take a look at your friend over there" and points to Ruby. "She's exhausted and you two don't look much better. This is Saturday night and you'll probably be working having to work at that saloon until at least one-in-the-morning! You need to eat this food and then head upstairs for a siesta!"

Ruby then has a short conversation with Sonoma before she excuses herself. As she walks past Jake and Katherine she gives them each a long look. "Well, um, I'm going to take a nap I think." She looks around the room for a moment. "Where is Nanuet?" Upon hearing he went to the Sheriff's office, "Oh I missed him. Darn it." She gives Katherine and Jake long hugs from behind and small kisses on their cheeks. "I'm really glad everyone is alright from this morning. Ok take care." And she walks away.

Jake orders a whiskey to go with lunch, and Dorita makes a face, but Jake isn't even polite when he insists. He sits back down with Katherine. "She may be a better shot than I am, but she's a lousy liar." He puts his feet up on the table and takes a sip. "I don't know if she is really going to do it though." Katherine gives him the do what look. He replies, "She just said goodbye."

"I hope not," Kate said sadly. "She's the first friend I made here, the only woman. You boys are just fine," she said, giving Jake a little smile, "but girls need another girl now and then. I don't know if I should go talk to her, it might be exactly the wrong thing to do." Kate pushed her plate away. "I'm not hungry."

Kate stayed downstairs with Jake for a few more minutes, then excused herself. She went outside and went for a short walk, circling the block that the El Parador was on. It had been an emotionally exhausting day, but Kate pushed her mind forward. Ruby seemed like the kind of girl who was used to taking care of herself. The way she talked and behaved toward people was outwardly inviting, but in the end she seemed to leave distance between herself and others. Any distance between herself, Jake, Nanuet, and Ruby had been rapidly collapsing. For Kate it was welcome, she'd been lonely for too long. For Ruby though? Perhaps it was best to leave her alone for now. If she was feeling trapped, talking to her would only make it worse.

Jake continues to eat his meal in an unhurried way. He does not reply to Katherine, and eventually she leaves the table. He does not engage any of the others at the El Parador and finishes his meal quietly. He leaves some money on the table and goes outside, stops and looks in the direction of his horse for a moment. He shakes his head and says out loud to no one, "I think I'll go buy a hat." and walks towards the shops in search of a replacement for his destroy black flat brimmed one.”

Adam Cartwright and Nanuet arrive at the Deputy Sheriff’s office. They enter the building and two men are inside. One introduces himself as Deputy Sheriff Colin Hunter and the other as Deputy Sheriff Billy Breckenridge. Nanuet has heard of Breckenridge before. In late October he was in Tombstone and was shot and nearly killed by the late Doc Holliday. The man seems to have recovered.

While Adam describes everything that has taken place Nanuet looks at the various Wanted Posters on the walls. He does not recognize any of the pictures as any of the men back in the cave. There is a $ 500 reward poster for Deadeye Douglas, who has a long beard and mustache and round-shaped face so doesn’t really look that much like Jake.

Nanuet then asks the Deputies specifically about the McLaury brothers. Breckenridge says,“McLaurys were regular Tombstone residents. There were rumors that they were involved with rustling but nothing was ever proven. I’d say that this does warrant an inspection tour of their ranch though... Sheriff Behan will want to know about this too. Today’s stage hasn’t left yet so I’d better go catch it.” He grabs up some stuff and hurries out the door.

Nanuet then asks if there is a bounty on Curly Bill Brochius. Hunter says, “Turns out there is. Didn’t know that until recently. We got this bounty hunter in from Texas who came to hunt down Arcade’s Gang for the reward that Hubbard posted. He also asked about Curly Bill Brochius, seems that there’s a price on his head back in Texas. You’d have to bring the body back there to collect though.”

"Thank your for your quick reaction Sheriff Hunter. We weren't sure if you would be too busy to send someone out right away." Hunter replies, "Not too busy, but I still won't go. Sheriff Behan made a promise to the Apache that he and his deputies would stay out of the hills. I'm not crazy enough to break a promise made to Geronimo and spark another Indian war."

Nanuet then says “I have another question. What would happen to any money or belongings that were found at the scene of the gunfight? If there were items of value there, who has rightful claim over them?” Hunter says, "Well, unless one of the victims makes charges against you I'd say you could keep them. But if I were you I wouldn't want to be too showy with anything that could easily be identified as something of theirs. Rumor is that there were over 100 rustlers working as part of the Cowboy Gang, so the ones you killed are bound to have friends."

Nanuet’s last question is "Any idea how much the bounty is for Curly Bill? Is it worth the trip to Texas to claim it?"
Hunter says, "I have no idea, that bounty hunter didn't say. He said he's staying at the Longbranch Saloon, so you might want to ask him about it. His name's Irby Cole. I think he used to be a lawman over in Texas."

Five miles northeast of Promise City….It was early afternoon by the time the prospector’s wagon was filled. The rocks were then covered over by a tarp. The men’s paranoia had increased throughout the day and they were all now fearful that somebody would attempt to steal their claim. To this end they had now considered that it might be better to hold off on reaching Promise City until dusk, to keep their ore unseen until after the wagonload had been actually delivered to the stamping mill and smelter. Their biggest fear was that they would be riding into town just as the lawyer Fisk was walking by. So once the wagon was all set they decided to take a break and rest for a few hours before setting off to town, timing their arrival for just after dark.

Back at the El Parador, Ruby had made up her mind on the ride back to town. She wasn’t going to let the fact that she had known these people a week change her. She was taking the money and leaving. Sure, she was set up nice with her job at the Lone Star, and it was a change to have someone watching out for her besides herself. But it really was just too much money to ignore. Besides, why should Tom and Maggie trust her to bring in money for them? And now the Whipples wanted her to live with them, like they were her parents or something. To keep an eye on her and keep her close, watch every move she made. She definitely wasn’t going for that.

And what did Katherine, Jake and Nanuet know about her anyway? If they knew the truth they wouldn’t be friends with her so she might as well leave before they figure things out. Ruby had excused herself downstairs. She had said goodbye in her own way and her feelings about that surprised even her.

She looks around at her disordered room, stuff thrown everywhere. Easier to clean up she thinks. She changes her clothes leaving the borrowed, bloodied ones crumpled up on the floor. She starts stuffing her belongings haphazardly into a bag, jamming it in. When she is done she takes one final look around and sighs. It was nice while it lasted.

She walks out of her room and makes sure no one is around. She leaves Kate, Jake and Nanuet each a $100 bill under their door with a kiss mark on it that says Love, Ruby. She also leaves one for the Cantina in an envelope behind the bar. Then she gets on her horse and rides out of town.

 

[Silver Moon]

Interlude Two: “A Veranda in South Carolina”

Meanwhile, approximately 1,900 miles due east of Promise City…..Beauregard Aloysius Dodge sat on the veranda of the main house of his family plantation. Miriam, one of the older ogresses working the plantation, brought him his morning glass of scotch and water, light on the water. He reclined back in the wicker chair and looked out upon the fields of his South Carolina family home. It had been in the Dodge family for eight generations and his would be the last unless he ever got around to first finding a woman who could put up with his bad habits and then fathering a legitimate child.

The workers were out in the fields preparing them for the spring planting. There was barely enough money left to purchase the seed and supplies for the planting but little things like that seldom concerned Dodge. He left the matters of finances and daily operation of the plantation to his overseer Jasper and focused his own thoughts on more weighty matters. Today he was thinking about titles. Most of his contemporaries had titles before their names and Dodge did not.

Many of the titles were ranks held at the end of the Civil War – Captain, Major, Colonel and in one case, General. Dodge was a veteran of the war, but while most soldiers advanced during their careers in the Confederate Army his had gone in the opposite direction. Due to his father’s influence he had begun the war with the rank of Major, but his inability to keep his mouth or fists shut quickly led to a steady string of demotions. General Lee himself had ruled on the final demotion, stripping him down to Private. They threatened to have his imprisoned if there were any further infractions but they never followed through on the threat, in part because every officer who had the misfortune of crossing paths with Dodge was too afraid of the consequences.

While many Confederate soldiers brought a personal slave with them into the war, Beauregard had brought four. His quartet of half-ogres were some of the meanest creatures ever to walk the earth and they swore their undying loyalty to Dodge. He in turn treated them like brothers, which was in fact what they were, having been sired by his father with several of the plantation slaves. Dodge had known that he would never be tossed into a Confederate prison due to fear of how his slaves would react as well as the fear of what Dodge would later do if any harm were to befall his servants while he was locked up.

Private Dodge also had the comfort of knowing that he served a unique job in the Army. He and his slaves had earned a reputation for being able to get a cannon and cannonballs anywhere the army needed it, even to the tops of the highest Appalachian Mountains. Most officers credited this to the exceptional strengths of him and his slaves. The truth was that even in this task he cheated, using magical levitation devices purchased from a New Orleans wizard to do the majority of the work.

Following the war Dodge returned to the Plantation where he made it his job to do did next to nothing, despite his father’s protests. His father was a respected Senator in the state legislature. The man had died of a heart attack five years ago while protesting the election of Rutherford B. Hayes to the United States Presidency when Samuel J. Tilden had actually won the popular vote. Beauregard realized that he could adopt for himself the title of Senator, since he had initially been appointed to finish out his father’s term. But he had only attended one legislative session and at that one he was requested to leave after he had initiated a fistfight on the Senate floor. The details of that incident were well known so he doubted that anyone would recognize that title.

He sat for another hour thinking about titles when Eldo, one of the many house servants who he himself had sired, interrupted his thoughts. “Master Beau, I was in town sir getting supplies. There was some mail for you sir,” the tall half-ogre stated and handed an envelope sealed in wax to the human. Dodge opened it up and read the paper inside and laughed. It was the offer for a very lucrative job, one that would make use of his unique talents.

He told Eldo “Looks like we’re going on a trip. Go fetch Darrold, Travis and Jabby, tell them to start packing. Let Jasper know that he’ll have to run things without me for a while.” “Where are we going Master Beau?” the half-ogre asked. Dodge replied “A place known as the Arizona Territory. We got us some killing to do out there.”

End of Interlude