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

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 71, “Ruby’s Apology”, Monday, January 9th, 1882:

Tom Whipple is busy frying up some chicken and baking some potatoes when Katherine enters the room. He is a little startled by her entry into the kitchen and seems to be uncomfortable in her presence. He says, "Thanks for coming back. I'm sorry for messing things up."

Kate says, "No, don't apologize. You didn't really do anything. I'm not sure why Ruby was so bothered, but I should have come back in after she pulled me out. It was wrong to leave you in the lurch like that. All of this is not my business, I know, but I feel responsible. I want to help if I can. If I’m overstepping my boundaries, I'm sorry. I don't like to see people I care about hurting. If it helps I admire you for giving up so much to protect your sister." Kate tilted her head down and looked up from beneath her lashes. "And I'm flattered you...took an interest in me."

She lifted her head again with a little blush to her cheeks. "Will you listen to my idea?" "Yes Ma'am" is his reply. "Katherine will be fine," she said gently. "I wondered if myself, and perhaps Jake and Ruby, were to buy interests in the business and become it's public face for a while, that you and Maggie could come clean without damaging the business. After the dust settles and people got used to thinking about you as siblings, we would sell our interests back to you.

We could run some ads stating the Lone Star is under new management, and perhaps have some news stories written about how the misunderstanding came about. It does require laying out your personal business, but I'm sure you can see the necessity. Do you think this could work?"

He replies, "Well...Katherine. I don't think that we should be making any drastic changes until I have a chance to discuss this situation with my father. He and my cousin will be arriving tomorrow night. He obviously has a strong interest in our success. I.....at this point I, well, I don't know what to do. Last week everything was going so well and then it all fell apart just as quick. I wish I never came to this awful place. What was I thinking? Two years ago this was no place for a lady and I brought two of them here and subsequently ruined both of their lives."

Kate says, "Nothing has really changed from last week. We had a misunderstanding, and now it's cleared up. Jake and Ruby will be along in a little while, and we'll all get back to our work. What has changed is that you and Maggie are facing the fact that you can't continue to go on like this.

And you listen to me now. Those two ladies came here of their own accord, I'm sure. A place such as this, there have to be a few people like them willing to come and start making it civilized. A series of unfortunate circumstances has caused all of you a great deal of pain, but its not too late to recover. But as you say, you want to talk to your Father before you go any farther, so I'll hold my tongue until then. Please call on me to do anything I can to help." Kate heads back to the El Parador and joins Riley and Chester.

Meanwhile, Ruby gets some fresh food from Dorita, puts in a small box and leaves the Lone Star. She arrives at the Marshall's Office and jail. Wyatt Earp is around and insists on inspecting the food before allowing it to be given to Job Kane. He prods it all with a knife. Job is appreciative of the food and is in a happy mood. He tells Ruby "The Judge got back in town around two hours ago. The trials will be held tomorrow morning a the Comique starting at 10:30 in the morning. It will be nice to finally get out of here and back to my own bed."

Ruby says, “Hey, that is great news! It’ll be nice to have you back, although I guess there might not be room for Jake anymore. Anyway, I’m sure it will be good to get back to your own bed.” She wants to bring up the whole Maggie and Tom thing but while she guesses Job has to know something she isn’t sure how much. She talks to him about some of the other happenings around town and whatever gossip she has heard. “Oh I guess I should get going now. I’ll tell everyone about the trial tomorrow. Can we all come? I’m sure some of us will just show up anyway,” she winks.

He replies “Anyone can come, it's a public trial. The Judge would probably want you all to be there anyway as possible witnesses, since you were at the Lone Star when the shooting happened and were there for the end of it. If you get a chance try to find out where that Suzie Foreman disappeared to, as she'd probably be the main witness at this thing. Don't try to bring her in though, leave that to the Marshall.” Any idea where I should look for her?"

She thanks him and says, “Get a good night’s rest and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ruby walks over to Earp. “So, how does a girl go about getting her gun back? They, uh, confiscated it Saturday night at the Palace Saloon.” Wyatt Earp looks up at her and says, "Oh, you're the one. I didn't get a name. What were you thinking? According to Deacon McCoy you threatened to shoot Adair and then walked over and asked for your gun." He takes out the gun and says "Promise me you that if I give this back you won't head back to the Palace with it and try again."

Ruby smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, I promise I won't." Ruby decides not to add the "as long as he doesn't call me a harlot again" part. "As a matter of fact I'm going to go and apologize. It was just a misunderstanding after all." She waits until he gives her back her gun and she puts it back in it's usual spot. "Thanks Marshall Earp and good night Job, I'll see you tomorrow!"

She heads over to the Cantina and looks around except for Sanoma, who is busy waiting tables. Not seeing anyone else she goes up to her room. She finds the flowers from Jake, which she smells and giggles over. She leaves her guns in a drawer so she isn't tempted and heads over to the Palace Saloon. Ruby arrives at the Palace Saloon but the bouncer McCoy won't let her in, moving to block the door. "I told you to go away Saturday night. You threatened the boss. I don't want to see you here ever again." In the background Ruby notices the harlot Suzie Foreman sitting the lap of a potential customer.

"Listen, I can completely understand why you wouldn't want to let me in. I actually came to apologize to Mr. Adair for the way I acted on Saturday night. I didn't bring any weapons and you can check for yourself if you don't believe me. I can wait here and you can ask Mr. Adair if he'd like to talk to me." McCoy lets her enter the building and calls over the woman named Kitty, who had brought drinks to Adair at the Lone Star on Friday night and had been on Adair's lap on Saturday night. He has Kitty perform a quick search of Ruby to confirm that there are no concealed weapons.

McCoy then calls the bartender to come watch the door while he accompanies Ruby over to the piano, where Adair is playing some fast-paced dance hall tunes and actually playing rather well. McCoy waits until the current song finishes and says "Boss, the young lady here would like to apologize to you for her behavior on Saturday night." He then steps behind Ruby. Adair turns and gives Ruby a stern look, then sizes her up from head to toe. He then looks straight into her eyes and waits for her to speak.

“Mr. Adair, thank you for seeing me. I wanted to explain about Saturday night. I wasn’t…myself you could say. I don’t normally get all worked up like that or take offense so easily.” Ruby takes a big breath in. “I am sorry I slapped you.” She continues slowly, “After all, you were kind enough to offer me a job. But I am not that kind of girl and I don’t plan on becoming one. I can sing and dance, but that’s it. Now I have to apologize for my friend Kate also. She’s not from around here you could say and she doesn’t like being considered a woman of the night.” Ruby pauses to find the right words. “I don’t want you being mad at the Whipples for my behavior is all. I know you like to gamble there.”

He laughs "Gamble there? Why would I want to waste my time in a run down tavern like that run by a pair of old prudes. I was only there to see if your boyfriend was worth stealing, but he couldn't play poker worth a damn. So you claim that you're here to apologize but then you go and insult the fine women who work here. I'll have you know, they make more money in a month than your precious Maggie Whipple makes in a year. So go back to your Lone Star, just don't come crying to me when Old Tomboy comes creeping into your bedroom at night. You high and mighty types make me sick. Now get out before I have you thrown out."

Ruby tries to control her temper. She speaks slowly and with purpose. "Alright Mr. Adair. I had enough apologizing for one night. You won't get the same courtesy again. And one day you will regret some of the things you said, believe me."

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 72, “Fisk,” Monday, January 9th, 1882:

Back at the El Parador, Ralph Elliott comes in for dinner accompanied by another man who Jake hasn't met yet. Ralph waves to Jake but the two do not approach him as he is still seated with Chester and Nanuet. They sit down at another table and order some food from Dorita.

Nanuet remains mostly quiet throughout the supper meal. He does tell them briefly that he spent the day with Sonoma doing chores and shopping, then a picnic. He leaves out a lot of details and tries to melt into the background. Anyone watching him though would notice that he can't keep his eyes off of her and that he watches her every time she passes nearby in the room. Nanuet says that he agrees on the price of the wagon and that he plans on visiting Flint tomorrow just to see exactly what he needs before placing the order. About the Lone Star, he says that he would spend some time there this evening as long as his presence was welcome and wouldn't cause any trouble.

"I'll talk to you two later," Jake says to Nanuet and Chester. He gets up and goes over to the miner and his guest. "Would you like me to join you now? Or would you rather talk late tonight?" Elliott says "Now's fine. This is our other partner, Patrick Seawell. He's the one who actually found the silver vein. Seawell says "Pleased to meet you Mr. Cook. My partners are all getting a bit restless, they'd like to get this ore somewhere other than inside of a wagon. I agree that it was best for you to find out what you could about Fisk before trying to negotiate with him. It would be nice though to get going soon. Fisk is over at the Long Branch Saloon right now having his supper."

Jake says, "Well so far nobody has said he ought right cheats, but neither does anyone seem to trust Mr. Fisk. The lawyer Berg appears to have a good reputation here in town, I suggest you consider seriously retaining him. And he makes a good point about having a third party make up the additional agreements documents." Jake folds his hands on the table in front of him and looks the men in the eyes. "What are you willing to tell Fisk right now about me," Jake pauses only for a second, "and the status of the mine. He is going to know something is up and is no fool. He may already know the ore is in town. He, and I, need to know what latitude I have as your agent."

Elliott says "Well, Berg seems to think the deeds are solid. And they're all now nice and safe inside a lock box in the First National Bank of Promise City. We're anxious to get this ore processed and get some money to get going. You and Berg both noticed that the deeds are silent about how to get the ore from Fisk Mountain to the Breakheart Stamping Mill and Smelter here in town. For latitude as our agent I'd say that it would be best to see if you can get a percentage out of his share to cover the cost of transporting the ore. If we have to pay for the extraction he should have to pay for that part of it."

Jake replies, "I was thinking along the lines of first trying to get him to cover all the costs after extraction. And then give a little. How does the stamping, smelting and assay costs work? Seems to me transportation costs are the smallest portion besides assay aren't they? I've never met Fisk. You'll need to introduce me. Are you ready to tell him you've found ore? I don't see what other choice you have. We really don't want him suspicious, we want him looking forward to being one of the richest men in these parts thanks to your fine work."

Seawell says "That's something I do know about, which is why I wanted to be in on this part of the negotiations. Costs for transportation are low for the mines here in town, which is why the stamping mill and smelter was built here. Five miles is a very long way to travel but this is the closest we could get a stamping mill and smelter anyway. It takes a water source to operate it and where the Pine Creek turns here in town is the closest continuous source of water to Fisk Mountain. Hubbard charges $10 a ton to process the ore, which doesn't sound like much but it adds up. Most ore is less than 1% silver content, although I think ours is a very high grade, probably in the neighborhood of 4 to 5%.

As for the assaying, the County Assay Office charges $ 3 to $ 5 per sample. Hubbard has his own assayer and will buy the ore for $ 3 an ounce, which is less than market price but has the convenience of being right here in town so the Liberty Hill and Lucky Deuce mines use that. The Gila Belle mine hates Hubbard and won't even use his stamping mill and smelter, transporting his ore all the way to Tombstone for processing. That costs him more in the long run due to the transportation even though his ore is high grade has been running between 2 and 3% silver content.”

"Good. When shall we approach Mr. Fisk and advise him of the good news and help him celebrate?" Asks Jake with a crooked smile. The three of them head over to the Long Branch Saloon, which was the very first saloon in town. Kate Higgins owns it. This 30x30 foot three-story brick building is rather luxurious, with all-brass bar fixtures and a crystal chandelier. It has four gambling tables featuring both poker and faro and has a reputation for high-stakes games that are sometimes less than honest. A piano player provides entertainment and there are four prostitutes who work there, otherwise they do not rent out hotel rooms. This establishment requires all patrons to check their guns at the bar.

The room is currently filled with around fifteen patrons, most of whom are having dinner. Jake recognizes Hoss Cartwright, Adam Cartwright and Nick Barkley at one of the table. Seawell leads him over to another table where a man is dining alone. Like Jake, this man has a thin mustache and goatee. Unlike Jake, the man has dark greasy slicked down hair parted in the middle and is thin boarding on malnourished.

Elliott says, "Mr. Fisk, we'd like a word with." The lawyer looks up and apparently does not recognize Elliott and Seawell at first, then he says "Ah, the miners. How goes our claim." Elliott says "Not very good for most of the past half year, then a few days ago we came across some silver. That's what we'd like to talk to you about. This is our associate Jake Cook who we've asked to help with the discussion."

Fisk smiles and says "Ah yes, the good Mr. Cook. My friend Mr. Adair has told me about you. How is it that you've hooked up with these men?" "Serendipity, Mr. Fisk. I am drawn to successful people." Jake replies with a poker face. "May I buy us a round of drinks to celebrate? You and your partners are taking the next steps to becoming truly wealthy men."

Fisk asks them to all take a seat at the table and orders drinks. Jake decides that this lawyer also has a good poker face, not being able to detect any reaction from him. A young women acting as a waitress but dressed as a dancer takes their drink orders. From the corner of Jake's eye he notices the halfling Chumbley enter the Saloon carrying a stack of newspapers.

Seawell begins to briefly describe that they blew out a section of the hill with dynamite and some of the ore looked to contain silver. Elliott then says "Mr. Cook looked over the deeds and indicated that there are a few things not clearly specified so we through that we had best discuss them with you before proceeding any further." Fisk continues to look unemotional about this and nods.

Jake is doing his best to concentrate on Fisk's eyes and attempts to tune out the obnoxious halfling at the door. This becomes almost impossible however as the little man gets closer hawking his papers and yells out the front headline "Johnny Ringo Killed! Shot by Deadeye Douglas." Jake reacts only slightly to Chumbley's shouted headline. "Another outlaw gone. Good riddance."

Jake raises his glass to the other men. "To your new and good fortunes." He takes a drink and smiles at Fisk. "The partners are looking forward to completing the agreements necessary to get the ore processed, and ultimately in all of your pockets. The miners here need to focus their efforts and resources on finding, excavating and extracting the ore from the ground. That leaves the transportation and processing to the other side of the partnership. The agreement would then specify the monitoring, checks and balances that would ensure the profits of all you partners end up squarely in your pockets. That would cover the entire operation from extracting to assaying."

Fisk says "I don't quite get what you mean. The deeds clearly specify that they are responsible for obtaining the ore and I get my share of the processed product. We'll split the costs to process it based upon our shares, unless you're suggesting something else Mr. Cook." Meanwhile Chumbley approaches the table and yells "Tombstone Epitaph, Promise City Edition. Eight Pages, Only Five Cents. Johnny Ringo Shot Dead!"

Jake ignores the bellowing in his ear from the cretin that passes himself as a halfling. Smiling, "Respectfully Mr. Fisk, the contract is quite clear and unambiguous about the miners responsibility for extracting the ore from the ground. Now in order to move this along, we need to agree to the controls to be established to protect all of you. Both in the extraction where the miners are responsible for the cost and your side of the operation. All partners here I believe have significant skills that can be brought to bear to be certain they are minimizing outside costs. This way the maximum profit from the ore, as I said before, arrives in your pockets. Given the unsettled nature of the country side, an expeditious agreement allows you all to assemble the necessary infrastructure to protect your valuable resource."

Fisk says "Ah, well, that's nice Mr. Cook, but I still don't see what you're getting at. The agreements are already in place. They are responsible for getting the ore and we then split proceeds according to the ownership shares after Breakheart finishes processing the ore into silver. If you're talking about the smelting costs those would be divided according to the ownership and just deducted by Breakheart from the payment to us. I can draw up some papers to that effect in the morning. End of story."

"I suggest we use a third party to draw up any additional agreements. As always all parties review and agree to them. It is important to avoid any possible appearance of impropriety. If I may be so bold Mr. Fisk, you should think beyond Promise City. This mine may be the richest in the Promise City area, and that may make you one of the wealthiest men in the territory. A man of your talents may determine he has greater aspirations, perhaps even politics? I am certain the Mitchell Berg will be suitable for drawing up the additional paperwork."

"I think that the miners could be convinced to share the smelting costs if you were to be responsible for the transportation costs. Under those conditions the assaying costs could probably be shared as well. As I said before, you stand to gain much more quickly if the miners focus their attention and resources on extraction." Jake pauses and stares at Fisk.

After a long period of silence Fisk replies, "Well Mr. Cook. If you are intent on using Mr. Berg then he should be present before we finalize any further agreements. Let us all meet back here tomorrow morning at 9:00." Jake looks at the miners and nods getting their agreement to adjourn and stands up. "A pleasure Mr. Fisk, tomorrow then." And they go outside. Seawell tells Jake "That was easy. Too easy. I don't trust him."

Jake replies, “Good. Keep it that way. Let's go to Mitchell Berg's now. Pay him to make up an agreement that I outlined." Jake stops him from interrupting. "Yes I know he hasn't agreed to it yet. So what. Negotiating tactic. It may cost you a bit more to have him work on it tonight, but we need every edge we can." Jake continues to talk on the way to Berg's. "If things get tough in the negotiation tomorrow what is your leverage? Are you willing to delay excavating ore? If we can't come up with leverage besides his public image and greed to get you guys working faster I won't have much to work with."

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 73, “Another night at the Lone Star”, Monday, January 9th, 1882:

Back at the Palace Saloon, Ruby shakes off the bouncer McCoy's arm before it gets to her and she walks out. She makes a quick stop back at the Marshall's office and let's Job know that Suzie Foreman is now staying at the Palace Saloon. She heads back to the Cantina again. She decides to have a drink downstairs and wait to see if anyone shows up before its time to head over to the Lone Star.

Chester comes back into the El Parador accompanied by Riley and they sit down with Ruby. Chester says "Look who I found. He was just wandering around the streets." Riley says "Yeah, I've been busy. I went out into the desert to think and lost track of the time. The strange thing is, meeting you guys has made me more confused than ever. But I didn't have any dreams at all last night. I still don't understand what your Indian friend said, about the centaur being dead and not dead. Back in Kansas they'd lock people up in a sanitarium for talk like that."

Ruby says, "Well around here they lock people up for claiming they dreamed about them even though they never met them... I'm just kidding! I think you need a drink." She waves over Dorita. "If its any consolation Nanuet is a good man and he'll have some kind of answer come morning, I'm sure of it." She turns to Dorita. "We're going to need three whiskey's please." She smiles to herself. Whiskey is not going to taste nearly as nice as Jake's bourbon.

They sit for a while drinking the whiskey and not talking much. Estaban Fuente starts playing some slow classical guitar tunes while Sanoma continues to serve food to the various patrons.

Chester’s ears perk up at the sound of horses outside when he hears a distinctive sound that he has not heard since leaving the United States Army. When the Army moved out west it had among its troops several thousand ex-slave ogres and half-ogres, whose physical size was too burdensome for regular cavalry horses. A special type of horse was bred to accommodate these soldiers that was a cross between the Clydesdale and Morgan breeds but with aspects of other animals, most notably the buffalo, camel and rhinoceros, melded in via the use of powerful clerical magics. The result was a very distinctive animal, unimaginatively called an Ogremount.

The species mostly resembles an oversized horse but with a stronger hide, dark curly hair covering its body, a medium sized horn on its snout, small horns behind the ears and a very unique bellow. The breed has greater stamina than a regular horse but has proven rather difficult to train and discipline. Ogremounts are usually not stabled with regular horses as they will very aggressively attempt to mate with horses (even if gelded) although genetically they are only capable of producing offspring with another Ogremount. So Chester realizes that if an Ogremount is outside that means that soldiers are in Promise City.

Ruby finishes her whiskey. "Gentlemen, I hope you'll excuse me. I had a rather exhausting afternoon and I'd like a short rest before we head to the Lone Star. If anyone needs me I'll be napping." She smiles at them, goes up to her room and hopes to get some rest.

A short while late Jake arrives back too. They chat and decide to give Ruby a while longer to nap, with Katherine heads upstairs to wake her at around a quarter-till-eight. Chatting with the gentlemen helps to bring Katherine's spirits back up after her talk with the Whipples. Quarter-of-eight comes eventually and she goes up and knocks on Ruby's door. "It's almost time to leave," she calls. "Are you awake?"

Chatting with the gentlemen helps to bring Katherine's spirits back up after her talk with the Whipples. Quarter-of-eight comes eventually and she goes up and knocks on Ruby's door. "It's almost time to leave," she calls. "Are you awake?" "No, I'm not awake," comes the sleepy reply. "But you can come in Kate." Ruby drags herself out of bed. Leaning magic was tiring! She gets dressed for the Lone Star as she tries to wake herself up. "How did it go with the Whipples?"

"They're both in pretty bad shape. Mr. Whipple wants to wait and talk to his father, but I'm fairly certain he won't want them to change anything. Neither of them knows what to do. I think they both need a little more time to think and pull themselves together. Maggie said they already tried to get a divorce. Judge Isby just told Tom to stop fooling around and they should work out their differences. So I made another suggestion."

Kate explains about buying part of the Lone Star to Ruby, and why she thinks it might work. "I only spoke for myself, of course," she finished. "What do you think?" Ruby answers, "I think you're absolutely nuts." And then there was silence as Kate looks at her quizzically. Ruby continues, “Why would anyone think that I was honest? Or Jake? We're only here a week!" She pauses, trying to cover her slight slip, "Or you for that matter. I think it is possible that the idea could work but I'm just not sure and it would need the Whipples to want to do it. Why would I want to help them anyway? They don't pay us enough."

Kate exclaims, "Of course not. Why should we help people if they won't pay us for it? How much do I owe you?" Kate looked at Ruby for a moment and shook her head. "I'll see you downstairs." She slipped quickly out the door and went back down to the gentlemen. Ruby rolls her eyes and starts running after Katherine. She catches up with her downstairs.

"Kate! I'm not saying not to help them. But why is it our problem? We're just employees of theirs and as far as I can tell we're made them more successful than they were before, no? Isn't that helping them? I'm not sure they appreciate us enough is all. As for buying their business, well, I don't know anything about that kind of stuff. Better to ask Jake about that." She lowers her voice, almost speaking to herself, "Oh, and that would require me to stick around..." Ruby becomes quiet for a moment.

Then she continues to whisper, "I think Jake could help with the whole divorce thing, you know... he did tell us he was good at paperwork..." Kate says, "You're right, it isn't your problem. It was my presence that brought it all to a head. They were fine until.... I'll speak to Jake later, but I don't think anything will happen until Wednesday at least. Can we just forget this for now, please? I'll be able to think more clearly in the morning."

Ruby answers, "Kate you're a nice person. Don't feel bad, none of this is your fault. I'm sure it'll all work out. But yeah we can forget it for now." Ruby realized she wasn't doing a good job of trying to be different. "Well, it's time for work, we'd better get going or we'll be late."

Riley opts out of going to the Lone Star but Chester decides to join Jake, Ruby and Katherine. The four arrive at 8:00 O'clock. Tony's game has already started and Jake's players start to gather at his table once he arrives. Maggie offers Katherine the chance to accompany Ruby first. "Of course, Maggie." Kate sits down at the piano and set the tip cup on top. She'd had time to think about what Ruby said on the walk over, and once she'd let go of her anger, she could see where Ruby was coming from. It had nothing to do with Katherine or the Whipples. Ruby was still struggling with the fear of becoming attached to one place, and perhaps more, to people.

Kate took a deep breath, smiled at Ruby, and sat down at the piano to play. Ruby will, as usual, keep her eye on Kate and watch for cheating at Jake's table. But different tonight is her singing. Tonight she sings her songs with a bit more passion than usual.

Jake welcomes the players and goes to get some fresh cards. He has greetings for those he knows and introduces new folks around the table. "Shall we get started, we all know why you're here." He gives them a warm smile and begins the ritual of the shuffle and deal. Jake has six players, his two semi-regulars of Al Brower and Neil Cassidy, plus two Monday night regulars who were at Job's table with Jake the previous Monday - the brickyard owner Travis Calhoun and his employee Jeremiah Peck.

There are also two new player at the table. Al introduces one as Alton Boyd, the co-owner of Boyds Cigar Store around the corner on Freemont Street. The other man introduces himself as Cuffee Mann and indicates that he is a ranch hand at the Bar W Ranch, twenty miles due west of Promise City. He is in town on a supply run and renting the room upstairs for the night so decided to try his hand at poker.

Just as the game gets started the Saloon is interrupted by the halfling Chumbley who comes insdie hawking his papers and yelling out "Tombstone Epitaph, Promise City Edition. Johnny Ringo Killed. Shot by Deadeye Douglas. Read all about it, only five cents!"

Kate was thankful she was facing the wall when Chumbley came in. She didn't know who Johnny Ringo was, but she knew how Deadeye Douglas' name got in the news. Apparently Billy Claibourne still believed Jake was Deadeye Douglas, and he was spreading the word. And maybe a description of Jake, Nanuet, Ruby, and herself to go with it.

Chumbley was moving around the room hawking his papers. Kate kept her left hand playing and waved to him quickly with her right. "I'd like one of those please," she said when he came over. "Hold on a moment." Kate played for another minute or so through the rest of the song, then dug into her small purse for a nickel. "Thank you," she smiled as she dropped it in his hand. She put the paper down next to her and went back to playing.

Chumbley sells a dozen papers and then leaves. Ruby finishes up her first set and Maggie takes over for Katherine at the piano, playing some rather simple saloon songs. Ruby and Katherine take a moment to read over the paper before Ruby joins Chester at a table near the stage while Katherine resumes her waitress job.

The paper's lead story is about Ringo being killed by Douglas, but does not have many details other than the fact that Douglas was spotted in Tombstone on Sunday afternoon. Most of Page Two concerns the elimination of the Cowboy Gang, having pretty much the same information as the prior day's Promise City Herald. There is one side story about Sheriff Behan searching the McLaury Ranch and finding some rustled animals including three army mules whose brands of U.S. had been poorly changed to read D.8. There is a story on the back page about the Lone Star altercation between Job Kane and Marvin Keach. It quotes Suzie Foreman, who blames Kane for the entire incident. The overwhelming remainder of the paper is filled with advertisements for various businesses in town including a full page ad for the Alhambra Saloon.

At 9:00 PM Ruby takes to the stage again accompanied by Katherine again and belts out some very passionate and moving tunes, capturing the attention of the patrons everywhere in the room except for Jake's table, where the card game has gotten hot.

Jake has an excellent night for the first two hours, winning nearly every hand. He estimates that he is somewhere between $ 130 and $ 140 ahead for the night at this point. He also notes that while Boyd is a terrible card player he and his business partner Brower have worked out some sort of a system communicated by odd or even bet amounts. As a result Browner's luck has increased as the night has worn on and took over $ 100 in the last hand played.

Unfortunatley Jake and Brower's winnings have been at the expense of Calhoun and Cassidy, the two men that Tom Whipple is seeking to purchase building supplies from. Peck has folded to keep from losing, apparently having very little money to play. Mann likewise has been playing it carefully since betting over $ 50 on a hand where he held a flush only to be beaten out by both Jake and Brower. When Maggie indicated that Ruby could take a break she just nodded "No" and kept going. As it got close to 10:00 PM Maggie approaches Katherine and tries to convince her that they both of them to take a break.

The entire Saloon is then distracted by the abrupt arrival of five U.S. Army soldiers wearing Cavalry insignia on their uniforms who enter the Saloon. Three are human, one is a half-ogre and another is an ogre. Chester has a look of recognition on his face that Jake catches from across the room. Chester does not know the four enlisted men but recognizes the human officer leading this group and wearing the rank of Lieutenant as Oscar Gamble who held the rank of Sergeant back when Chester had the ill fortune of serving under him.

The five march directly up to the bar. Of the four enlisted, one human is a Sergeant, the half-ogre is a Corporal and the other two are Privates. Lieutenant Gamble had glanced around the room as he marched forward but did not appear to have recognized Chester. Chester attempts to eavesdrop on the conversation between Gamble and Whipple and hears the Army Lieutenant say the word "stagecoach". Since the soldiers all still have their backs to him he decides that he'd rather not have a reunion with his former superior so puts a dollar on the table to pay for his drinks and bids the others goodnight.

"This is a good time to have a short break folks." Jake announces. "Refresh your selves, we can pickup again in twenty minutes." Jake takes the opportunity to refresh himself and then searches for someone who bought a copy of Chumbley’s newspaper. Right after she reads the paper, she looks up to Jake, who is apparently on a break. She walks over to him and takes his arm. "Got a moment?"

She walks him away from the crowd of people, into a quiet corner. "Done any reading lately?" She shows him the paper and the reference to Deadeye Douglas being seen in Tombstone on Sunday. "Well I'll be..." Says Jake with a little grin, "Deadeye Douglas was in Tombstone the same time we were."

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 74, “Questioned by the Soldiers”, January 9th, 1882:

Ruby starts to explain to him that it was him, when he puts two fingers on her lips. "I know. Sorry, a little too much Philadelphia sarcasm." Ruby responds by pouting. “I said I was sorry,” laughs Jake.

Ruby says, “Listen, I forgot to tell you earlier. I visited Job today. His trial is tomorrow morning, 10 am I think. He had me track down Susie Forman, which I did. She was at the Palace Saloon. That Adair is a… well, I don’t like him. Anyway, I’m not sure if they want you there or not, to be a witness. I know you have to work. Kate and I are going.” He replies, "Oh I'm sure that Condon can spare me for a short while. Why don't you have somebody send for me when they need my testimony."

Ruby leans in close to Jake and whispers in his ear. “I talked with Mr. Gonzales today, you know, about the stuff we found. That jacket can protect you from bullets and spells. He said he can change the color and wanted to know what you’d like. Not sure how he knew it was for you though.” Jake notices a slight blush on Ruby’s cheek. "Well since he saw me wearing it and told you about it..." Jake gives her a look. "I wouldn't be so surprised." He shakes his head and grins. "Black to match my lucky hat."

She continues, “Kate mentioned that Morgan Earp was acting strange around her. I think we should try to get to Tombstone and talk to Tom’s friend Colby Tucker. He might have an idea about what happened. I don’t want her having a run in with him.” Jake says, "Unless I quit my job at the bank, which I might do, Wednesday is my next day off. Let's talk later tonight about how we do that without getting caught."

Ruby waits a moment, looks around, then kisses Jake. “Oh, I’ve been wanting to do that all day!” "Sorry to keep you waiting. Really." He says looking her in the eyes. Ruby looks back at him and whispers, “Jake, you are just irresistible.” She gives him another kiss. “And if you quit your job at the bank you don’t have to get up so early.” She winks at him. “Alright, until later then…” and she turns to walk back towards the crowd at the bar.

Ruby doesn't get far as the five soldiers march over towards the corner of the room where she and Jake are standing, boxing them in. The Lieutenant looks at Jake and asks "Were you on yesterday afternoon's stagecoach from Tombstone to Promise City?"

Jake says "Good evening Lieutenant." With a slight nod to his head. "What's this all about?" "Please answer the question?" the Lieutenant states. “Damn hard to talk your way out of trouble when you don't know what trouble you are in thinks Jake. "Yes." He says steely eyed and poker faced. The Lieutenant then turns to Ruby and asks "And were you with him?" She replies “Yes.”

Kate kept one eye on the soldiers as she continued to move around the room. She had met many soldiers before, retired of course, when her father's old comrades from the war would come visit him. These men were clearly here on business. Katherine took a few orders and waited for the soldiers to walk away before approaching the bar. Jake and Ruby were tucked away in a corner with her newspaper. Kate hurried over to the bar as the soldiers approached her friends. She quickly gave Tom her drink orders and added in a whisper, "What's happening?" He replies "Robbery investigation."

She answers, “Robbery? What would Jake and Ruby know about a robbery?" But they had disappeared all day on Sunday, and Ruby still hadn't told her what they'd been up to. And Ruby had said the stage had been chased. Kate cursed herself for her peevishness yesterday afternoon. Maybe she'd know what was going on if she'd just swallowed her pride and asked Ruby what they'd been doing.

Across the room the Lieutenant then addresses both Ruby and Jake and says "That stage was carrying the United States mail, which makes the attempted robbery a Federal offense. We've already spoken to the drivers and now interviewing the passengers. Tell us exactly what happened and describe the outlaws? And do you know where we could find the other two passengers from that stage?"

Ruby can see the tension ease out of Jake's hands, though his face is still unreadable. He says, "Certainly, Lieutentant, always willing to help our men in uniform. I was napping when the stage suddenly lurched into an unexpected turn, when I looked out of the window I saw five riders. They had their faces covered so I wouldn't be able to recognize any. And then the drivers were able to keep them at bay with their rifles and outrun them until we reached the Shaw's ranch. That was pretty much it from in the coach."

Jake removes his hat and scratches his head. "You know now that I think back, one of them was wearing a plaid shirt. Just like the one Frank Leslie was wearing when we saw him in Tombstone. Must be a popular weave. Must have been our day for seeing members of the Cowboy gang. Just after seeing him we saw Bill Claibourne and his friend Dell and two others headed down towards the Oriental Saloon. I'm sorry I'm just rambling. I guess I don't have any information you might be able to use. I've seen the other passengers around town, but I'm not certain where they are staying. I didn't ask them."

"Thank you sir." He then turns to Ruby and asks "Do you have anything else to add?" She says, "Oh no, I was too frightened to see what was going on.' She bats her eyelashes, "But I am very impressed with your quick investigation." The five soldiers depart and the entire Saloon seems to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Maggie sits down at the piano and begins to belt out some lively tunes to change the atmosphere back. Tony Lucky's table stops to take a break.

Kate hurried over to Jake and Ruby. "Is everything alright?" she asked anxiously. He answers, "So far." Jake takes his hat off and runs his hand through his hair followed by a heavy sigh. "For a minute there I thought we were in some real trouble. Lucky for us they just wanted us as witnesses." Jake gives a little shiver then puts his hat back on. "I think I have a few too many things going on." He takes a long deep breath and his composed face with a pleasant smile reappears. He reaches out and puts his hand on Katherine’s shoulder, "I'm OK. Thanks." He gives her a gentle squeeze and turns to Ruby. "You good girl?"

She gives him a smile. "I love the way you say that, Jake." Ruby pauses, thinking about Jake's question. Her smile grows wider, "I will be in a minute..." She grabs him and gives him another kiss, ignoring Katherine's embarrassment. "Now, I think it's time for me to sing again..." and she skips off.

Kate chuckled as Ruby ran off toward the stage and turned back to Jake. "I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into," she said, raising an eyebrow. "You can catch me up on whatever happened when I give you those riding lessons Wednesday." Katherine returns to delivering drinks. Jake stands there a few moments watching and listening to Ruby. "I don't know." He says to no one. He rubs the back of his neck, smiles and heads back to the poker table.


Jake's table resumes but with a change in players. Calhoun, Peck and Mann have all moved over to Tony's table instead while two of Tony's players, the owners of the Lucky Deuce mine Tobias Priddie and Efron White, have joined Jake's table. Jake quickly deduces from the conversation that the mine isn't doing all that well, with both owners working the mine themselves along with one hired hand.

The game for the next forty-five minutes has White and Brower alternating on winning hands, with Boyd then taking one. Cassidy almost wins a hand but Brower has just slightly better cards. Cassidy decides to quit and goes over to the bar to chat with Tom. Ruby takes to the stage again and belts out some of the finest songs that anybody present has ever heard her sing. Nobody leaves the Saloon until after she is finished. Maggie then invites Katherine to play one of her classical pieces. Katherine's playing couldn't hold the crowd the way Ruby's impassioned singing had, but then Katherine wasn't really feeling impassioned herself. The intense happiness of earlier had faded, although she still felt much lighter and much more herself than she had for a long time.

Jake's game goes on for another half-hour, with Brower and White finally hitting a dry spell. Of the next six hands, Boyd wins two and Jake wins the other four. Brower and White are both still ahead for the evening and decide to call it quits. Their associates Priddle and Boyd follow their lead and thank Jake for the evening. Jake estimates that he is up $ 220 from where he began the night.

Jake wishes his players a good evening, and heads over to the bar. He gives Tom $44 and gets a whiskey. He finds a seat with his back to a wall and a good view of Ruby and takes it. He doesn't talk to anyone while she finishes up. Ruby finishes her singing and curtsies. As she walks past Kate she says, “Let us know when you’re done!” in a cheery voice.

She stops at the bar, grabs a drink and heads over to Jake, standing right in front of him. “So, how did your lucky hat do for you tonight?” she says with a grin.

He says, "I did very well." Jake is looking up from his chair at Ruby standing over him. "Heh, I'd like to think it wasn't all luck." He pushes his hat back on his head. "I do like this hat, but I don't really believe that is where the luck is coming from." He smiles and takes a sip. "Want to sit for a bit?"

"Absolutely," she smiles. Ruby pulls her hair over her shoulder and plops down on Jake's lap, putting her arms around his neck. "Much better I think... Now where do you think your new found luck is coming from then, if not from your lucky hat?" She's giving him a quizzical look but there is mischief in her eyes. "I think from that red haired saloon singer. You've seen her around? They say she's dangerous though." Jake raises an eyebrow. "I just can't decide when I should be more worried though." Ruby turns her head and gives him a funny look. "When she is pulling her gun or when she is smiling." He grabs her around the waist and gives a little tickle.

Ruby giggles as Jake tickles her. “Oh that red headed saloon singer. I’d be careful if I was you, I heard she’s big trouble. She likes to have her way with the handsome men…” She pulls his hat further back on his head. “And I think you qualify.”

Then very quietly he says, "You still want to go to Tombstone and find Tucker? As much as I hate getting out of bed early, we could take our horses and leave before dawn on Wednesday. Disguise ourselves and go find him. Damn though, I told Katherine I'd go with her on Wednesday. This is all too complicated, I'm not used to having a regular job. You have a better idea?"

She says, “Yes, we need to go see Colby Tucker, don’t you think? If we are going to solve this mystery we do. And now that word is out that someone is looking into it we should do it quickly.” Ruby sighs. “I hate getting up early almost as much as I hate getting shot at. But for her…” she glances over to Katherine who is still tidying up tables, “it’s worth it.” Ruby pretends to be thinking. “Um, maybe if I come and rob that bank of yours they’ll think you’re a lousy guard and fire you. What do you think?” She laughs. “We could ask Mr. Gonzales for some help. He did change Nanuet’s appearance and no one recognized him. We don’t want anymore Deadeye sightings, do we? Although I think we’ll be ok if we don’t get his help. We just need to find Tucker so we don’t have to interact with too many other people. Besides, I like my red hair.”

“Wednesday morning it is, I guess. Hey, where did you tell Katherine you were going to go with her on Wednesday anyway?” Jake detects a slight bit of jealousy from Ruby. He says, "Let's keep things loose, Wednesday might not work." Jake holds Ruby around the waist with his left hand and has a drink with his right. "Let's decide tomorrow night. Oh, Wednesday with Katherine? I promised her lessons..."

Kate helped Maggie clean up while trying to keep her back to Jake and Ruby. Maggie's eyes had nearly popped out of her head when Ruby sat down, and Kate thought Maggie might have put a stop to it if there had been many patrons left in the saloon. Kate tried hard to keep from looking over at what really should have been a private moment. It only took a few minutes to finish cleaning up, and then she had to tell the others she was ready to go. She went behind the bar and got her hat. She kept her eyes down as she pinned it on and said loudly, "I'm ready when you are." Jake comments "... here she comes."

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 75, “The Happy Couple”, January 9th, 1882:

Since Sonoma is busy working and Nanuet feels that his presence would do nothing but cause trouble at the Lone Star he heads out to the outskirts of town and calls Maska. The two companions keep each other company for hours. Nanuet works on teaching Maska some simple tricks, guard, seek and fetch for starters. The progress is remarkable and it is easy to see that Maska is not a typical animal. As the time passes Nanuet realizes how late it is and heads back to town, deciding to check in at the El Parador before heading across the street to spend the night across the street in the Church grove.

As he turns towards town he sees Sanoma sitting in the shadows leaning against a pile of brush. She smiles at the surprised look on his face as she invites Maska over with an outstretched hand and a quick whistle. “I think your underestimating your companions she says with a slight giggle Surprised you didn't I?”

He answers, "I must admit that you did. My attention was elsewhere I guess... thinking about, uh, other things I guess." Nanuet says as his face turns red. "I was just working on some tricks with her, getting to know her a bit. What do you mean about underestimating her? I know she is a special animal, I am just trying to get her on the same page with me, work on some hand signals and reading body language. I have much to learn about women I guess" he says with a chuckle as he puts his arms around Sonoma. "So, what brings you out here?"

She says, You of course. You just spent a lot of time teaching her things that she already knew she spent the time playing with you waiting for you to actually challenge her. She is an animal that chooses to be with someone who will be in dangerous situations. Come to the beginning, knowing what they are in for and prepared for it. You are not training a puppy not to piddle on the carpet. You are working with an intelligent being who may be more ready for the adventures that we are about to meet than you are.”

With that she leans down to Maska and looks straight into her eyes. She says, "Please bring us back a rabbit or two for a late supper we'll be right here when you get back." With that the wolf departs. Sanoma stands up and begins to collect brush from the pile she was leaning against to make a fire. Nanuet stands with his mouth open, shocked at the knowledge that comes from someone so seemingly young.

"You never cease to amaze me Sonoma, I have very, very much to learn about you still. I have spent my life studying animals in the wild, but have never been as intrigued by them as much as you have intrigued me". "No offense meant by that" he stammers as he realizes he was comparing her to animals. "I just mean that you have caught my interest more than anything ever has before." He begins using a nearby branch to rake and shape a spot for a fire and gathering stones to make a ring as he mumbles to himself about being nervous and shy. All the while keeping an eye on this intriguing young wood elf.

She says “I am very young but different worlds make different people. You watched animals as a predator not as a friend, companion and a being with skills and intelligence that you didn't have. I grew up knowing them as part of who I am it gives me a different outlook on them. It's easy to read and trust animals who decide to trust you the difficult part is reading people and trying to see though the levels of walls and lies that they build to protect themselves. I'm still not very good at the people, I can read their body language and know a little bit when to stay away from some one but I have to say that up until now I have always known that there was someone else to keep me safe.”

Nanuet walks over to Sonoma and wraps his arms tightly around her. "I am here now to keep you safe. I will do what I can to protect you, as will our companions I am sure." She says, “The idea of going off to deal with the world scares me a lot I'm not sure that I can do what I need to alone. I know I'll need to prove myself but I've never been any good with a weapon and I usually stay back in a fight at the Cantina I know what I'm going to face but out there.”

He says, "Your great-grandfather is the wisest man I have ever seen. He would not send you out into the world if he did not think that you were ready. Your weapon is not a gun or a knife, but your mind. You have a strong will and power that is unproven if not unbounded. I feel strength in you Sonoma, it is one of the things that draws me to you."

As Nanuet finishes speaking Maska returns with her prey. She senses the moment and leaves the rabbits as she lays down quietly nearby. The embrace ends and the two finish the building of the fire and Nanuet then begins preparing the rabbits. The two wait for the coals to be ready in a contemplative silence as the stars fill the sky in a multitude of brilliant pinpricks of light. The silent moon climbs into the sky and lights the desert landscape around them. The only sound is the crackle of the wood and the beating of two hearts.

Sanoma wraps the rabbit hides into a package. She tosses the bones and scraps from thier late supper to Maska and thanks her for the hunt. She pulls a few turnip tops from her pouch and tosses them out in the area where the rabbits came from. Nanuet hears her whisper "in return for what I have taken from your clan" checks the cold coals and looks at Nanuet "It's getting really late are you ready to go?

Nanuet says, "I was on my way back when you stopped me" Nanuet says laughing. "Your elders taught you well I see, returning something to where you have taken from." The two walk slowly back towards town and ultimately the El Parador.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 76, “Hiring on as Carriage Guards”, January 9th, 1882:

There are only a few patrons still inside and Tony Lucky has left for the night. A man then enters the saloon. The man wore tan pants, a yellow cotton shirt and brown leather vest, and a brown cowboy hat the same shade as the vest. A double-action revolver hung from his belt. Something about him was familiar; he could swear he’d seen the face before. The man speaks briefly to Tom Whipple and then turns and approaches Jake.

As the man got closer Jake looked directly into the man’s eyes for a sense of recognition. One of Jake’s greatest talents was the ability to read a person’s eyes. He could sense emotion and truthfulness just by watching the eye moment. But his talent actually went far deeper than that. Jake had a rare medical circumstance, a specific condition that medical science at some later day would classify as ‘Selective Photographic Memory’. In Jake’s instance the selectivity was limited to the memorization of eyes, specifically each person’s individual retina patterns, which are as unique and distinctive as fingerprints. Jake was not even consciously aware of this talent. Whenever anyone had had spent a half-hour or more at a poker table with Jake he would memorize their eyes and permanently commit the eye pattern to his memory.

In the case of the man now standing before him had eyes told Jake that they had never met before now. The man says “Jake Cook? May I speak with you for a few minutes?” "Ruby, would you wait for me?" Jake let's her up from his lap. She says, "Of course I'll wait for you, I'll wait right here."

He tries to figure out why this man is familiar without success. He stands and says, "I don't believe I know your name." The man says, “My name is Zackery Morand. My nephew Tempel played at your poker table a few nights back. In addition to the Rocking H Ranch my brother owns the Morand Cartage Company here in town, which I manage for him. I was approached a short while ago this evening by Hamilton Fisk about hauling ore for him and was told I should see you as the business agent for the miners.”

Jake answers, Well Zackery, thanks for stopping in. But I think any transportation arrangements are a bit premature. I do appreciated Mr. Fisk’s faith in me to help handle his affairs, but we haven't finalized any legal documents allowing me to make financial commitments for his part of the operation. It just wouldn't be proper." Jake pats the man on the shoulder. "As soon as Mr. Fisk signs the appropriate documents that give that authorization I'd be happy to discuss with you first." Silver Jake Cook gives the man a warm smile.

Jake asks, "Ladies, are you ready?" "Sure thing," Ruby says taking his arm. She looks over her shoulder, "Kate, you coming?" Yes, of course," Kate answered. "Good night, Mr. Whipple," she said and then moved over to Maggie. "Good night, Maggie," she said, giving the other woman a quick hug. "We'll meet your family tomorrow, hmm? Get some rest." Katherine began to head over toward Jake but stopped to wait out of earshot as she saw him still talking with a strange man.

Morand had stopped Jake from leaving and says, “The problem is that Fisk wants a quote from us by 8:45 A.M. tomorrow morning as to what we’ll charge to haul ore from his mountain to the smelter here in town. We do similar work for Justin Boyer over at the Gila Belle Mine, hauling their ore all the way to Tombstone. The thing is, I can’t actually give Fisk a quote until after I’ve driven the route. So I’d like to drive out there at dawn to check out the road and see how long each trip will take. But I’m not sure exactly where his mountain is situated and am afraid that if I have any trouble finding it then I might not make it back to town for the deadline. I also don’t want to get shot as a trespasser. Would either you or one of your miners be available to drive out there with me?”

"Well don't just stand there Zackery, come with us." Jake shakes his head. "I can't leave the ladies standing here all night!" With that Jake leads the four of them out of the Lone Star back to the Cantina. They get back to the Cantina. It is a little before midnight. Things are fairly quiet, but Pedro and a patron at the bar, and Sanoma and Nanuet sitting at one of the tables. "Why don't you stay here Zackery while I go see if I can find the miners."

Jake starts to walk out the door and stops, returning to stand next to the man. "Do you trust Fisk?" Morand replies "Hades No, I wouldn't trust Fisk for one minute, but we can use the business. He's told us the mountain is only a few miles away and wants us to quote him a price sight unseen. I won't do that and neither would my brother. As far as lawyers go, we get Mitchell Berg to do any legal work for the Ranch and Cartage Company.” Jake answers, "Fair enough. I'll try and help you then." Jake leaves to go and see the miners at the wagon.

He tells them what Zackery Morand told him, including what he said about Fisk. He also shares his concerns about what kinds of tricks Fisk could play making them late or perhaps something even more dangerous. "Just how low do you think Fisk would go? Would he risk any violence?" Seawell says that he would expect violence from Fisk. Elliott says "No, not at this point. We surprised him tonight. The fact that he's trying to get quotes for transportation prior to the discussion just shows that he's starting to think it through and figuring out how to play the angles. Let's go talk to this guy." Jake states "He's waiting in the Cantina." Jake leads them around and introduces them all. He let's Morand and the miners talk.

They make arrangements for heading out at dawn. Seawell will go with Morand while Elliott will stay in town with the ore. They express their concern about Fisk maybe resorting to violence. Morand says that the Cartage Company is part of the Promise City Merchants Association, which pays the salaries for the Marshall and Deputy Marshall. He says he will get one of them to come along as well. Jake comments, "Are we all set then, or do you think we need more security beyond the law officer? If you are willing to pay I might be able to find some others to go." Elliott replies "Find them, we'll pay. Better safe than sorry." Morand asks the prospectors a few more questions.

Jake then asks, "If Fisk was to resort to foul play, who might he engage?" Morand says, "Any of a dozen, all he'd have to do was go down to Galeyville. That's where the lowlifes hang out these days. He wouldn't go there at night though, so you probably did good just springing this on him like you did." Jake starts to go over to the table where Nanuet and Sanoma are talking but Ruby intercepts him. "Alright, spill it. What are you up to?"

Jake gives her a sly smile and just motions for her and Katherine to follow. "Nanuet, sorry to interrupt but these men over here could use to hire some extra security tomorrow morning." He quickly tells the major parts of the story of how he met miners and that he is helping them in their negotiations with the less than honorable Mr. Fisk. "Would you be interested in a ride out and back to Fisk mountain in the morning?" Jake pauses and strokes his beard, "Maybe that Chester fellow could use some extra cash too. I might go along for the ride for that matter."

Kate says, "It's good of you to help them, Jake. Sadly, I don't think I'll be of much use to you gentlemen, but I'll be glad to help in the morning before you leave in any way I can. Mr. Martin didn't seem too happy with mine work, I'm sure he'd rather go for a ride in the morning."

Nanuet nods "I will go. I need to get out and about and it never hurts to start the day early. I will be here and ready as sure as the sun will rise." He turns to Sonoma. "Here is a chance to get out of town a bit and stretch your legs. Should only be a few miles, what do you think? Want to come along?"

“Jake, that sounds dangerous,” Ruby says frowning. “Maybe you’d better think about it. I’d be sitting here worried about you, and I mean all of you, the whole time. This Fisk guy sounds shady.” Jake takes her hand and gives it a little squeeze.

He walks over to Morand and Elliot who are still talking. “It looks like we have a couple more people to accompany you tomorrow. You should be all set. See you at dawn gentlemen,” Jake says tipping his hat to Morand and Elliot. He leaves a note with Pedro to give to Chester if he sees him early in the morning. “Ruby, may I walk you upstairs?” She nods to him. They bid Katherine, Nanuet and Sanoma goodnight and head up.

"Ruby girl, this boy still has way too much going on at once. But I have to see it to a close. It won't hurt to have rich miners as friends." He laughs a short laugh. "Hopefully a few more days and I can go back to sleepin' in late on a regular basis. I am accustomed to a bit more sleep than I'm getting." As they are walking he reaches up under her hair and lightly touches the back of her neck. He whispers "But it's early still..."

Jake feels Ruby shiver at his touch on her neck. She turns and looks up at him with a serious look on her face. “Jake…” she starts but for the second time that day Jake stopped her speaking, this time with a kiss. Ruby smiles as Jake opens his door for her. “After you…” Ruby walks past him into the room, grabs his hat, puts in on her head, grabs Jake and shuts the door.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 77, “What did I get myself into now?”, Tuesday, January 10th, 1882, 6:00 A.M.

As the first light of dawn begins to climb over the mountains to the east a six-horse carriage belonging to the Morand Cartage Company pulls up out front. It is similar in style to the Wells Fargo Stage but not nearly as fancy, with straw-filled burlap bags for seat padding. The passenger coach doesn't have any glass over the windows, with simple cloth sting-drawn curtains that can be lowered to keep the dust out. Zack Morand asks Seawell to sit up with him in the front to direct him to the site.

Jake and his companions are dressed and waiting to go, firearms at the ready. Dorita and Manuel are both present to see them off. Dorita hands them a picnic basket full of food for the ride. Pedro gives Katherine a hug and slips a small metal wand into her hand and says "Just in case. It is more accurate than a gun, just focus on who you wish to target and point it in that direction. Just make sure that the Marshall doesn't see you using it." Katherine took the smooth metal and slid it into the pocket of her riding pants. "Thank you, professeur aimé (beloved teacher ). I'll be careful." She kissed her teacher's cheek and went to join the others as Morgan Earp noticed her and climbed out of the coach to sit on top.

“What did I get myself into now?” thinks Ruby as she stands before the coach. “I should be in bed sleeping for hours still.”

Jake had gotten up before the sun to get ready for his little outing. He tried to be quiet but Ruby woke up anyway. She tried to get him to come back to bed, she asked him to stay with her and not go but he insisted it was something he had to do. Ruby knew she would be awake now and so she refused to stay behind. She had to borrow pants and a shirt from him since she still hadn’t had the chance to get some appropriate traveling clothes and the last set she borrowed ended up torn and bloody. “I should replace those when I get a chance, like I ever have time!” she thinks. So she found herself, too huge clothes, tired and hungry, on another adventure that she was sure she was going to regret.

Jake slides his shotgun and rifle on the wagon next to where he is going to sit. Sitting in the back on one of the seats and holding a shotgun is Deputy Marshall Morgan Earp. At the sight of who is coming onto the carriage he very quickly decides to ride up with Morand and Seawell instead. She leaned over and whispered to Jake. "Have I offended him somehow?" she asked, nodding toward the Marshall. "Not that I have noticed. Has he behaved like that before?" He says quietly and gives her a hand up to the wagon. With a small grin, "What kind of fool of a man wouldn't want to sit next to you." He makes eye contact with Ruby. "Laying it on a bit thick this morning, aren't we Jake?" Kate laughed.

Kate dropped her voice again. "When I went to see Job on Sunday. He dropped his coffee when he saw me, not when I came in, when he saw me. Then he tried to tell me that visiting hours were over, when there aren't any special visiting hours. I don't understand."

Jake offers a hand up to Ruby and Sonoma. He checks both revolvers, puts some extra shotgun shells in one pocket of the leather coat he is wearing, and some extra rifle shells in the other. He walks around the outside of the wagon methodically examining it. 'Just in case things get nasty' he thinks to himself, 'work the odds'.

Nanuet comes out with his rifle slung over his back walking his horse. "Mind if I ride alongside? I think I would feel a bit more comfortable, and it's a less bumpy ride anyway." Kate suddenly remembered Storm Goldeneye running alongside the stagecoach on their journey here, barely more than a week ago. She wondered if Nanuet was thinking the same thing. "If I were a bit more awake, I'd join you," she said.

Sonoma looks at the transport and decides that she would also rather ride her own filly instead . Before everyone else can get settled she has a spunky little mare saddled and ready for the trail.

The journey to Fisk Mountain begins uneventfully. The road travels along the valleys between various hills and mountains, this particular area being the foothills of where the Dos Cabezas and Chiricahua Mountain ranges intersect. The regular hills run for the first mile and then the larger mountains begin, a long mountain with a gradual upward slope being just north of the roadway for the second mile of the journey. They then pass a number of smaller but steeper mountains and hills, the road winding around between them.

There is a fair amount of vegetation on the hillsides but no large trees. The final two miles of the journey cross rockier terrain with less vegetation. They finally reach Fisk Mountain, an ugly piece of granite thrusting up to a peak nearly one-thousand feet high, marked with various pockmarks caused by assorted blasting and digging done over the past six months. The stage and mounted elf riders are met by the dwarf Torvald MacNaulty and human Humphrey Lewis, both pointing weapons in the direction of the stage until they see Patrick Seawell with it.

"Well that isn't a very nice welcome, now is it?" Ruby says while stepping off the coach. When she gets down she rubs her backside. "I think you're going to need a better road out here..." Jake gets out and looks around. "Did you learn what you needed Morand?" As he talks to him Jake is watching Earp for any usual behavior or if he is looking anywhere in particular.

Then Jake wanders over to Nanuet, "Did you notice anything unusual on the way out? If I were going to ambush someone going both ways I'd do it on the way back. That way I could watch them and look for weakness and count numbers." After talking with Nanuet Jake goes to talk to the other miners to see if they have noticed anything suspicious, knowing that Torvald thinks everything is suspicious.

Kate jumped down out of the coach and surreptitiously rubbed her backside. "Fichu tour inconfortable” (damn uncomfortable ride) she muttered under her breath, unconsciously aping her mother's habit of talking to herself in French. The trip had thankfully been quiet so far, but Kate kept her eyes moving over the landscape for any hints of ambush. The granite mountain was particularly ugly. Kate wandered about, stretching her legs and waiting for someone to call them back to leave.

The miners haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Torvald insists on going back on the return trip, demanding to be present for the negotiations. Ruby looks around until she spots Morgan Earp. She looks over to Katherine who is talking to Sonoma and she uses the opportunity to walk over to him. "Mr. Earp, I'm so glad you've accompanied us on this trip today. There is something I've been meaning to speak to you about. Would you care to take a small walk? We won't get too far."

He looks her over from head to toe and then says "Fine with me, as long as your boyfriend doesn't get jealous." She replies "Boyfriend? Oh you mean Jake? Well, I don't think he's the jealous kind, Mr. Earp. Let's go..." She takes his arm and starts walking him away from the group a bit. They head off around the far side of the mountain where they are still in sight of the stagecoach and most of the group but out of sight of Katherine, Nanuet and Sonoma.

He says "Look I know what you want to talk about. All I'm going to say at the trial is what I found out after I arrived at the Lone Star. It will be up to Judge Isby as to whether he lets your friend Job go or now. I wouldn't worry though, he almost always gives the sentences as a choice of jail time or a fine, and I know that Kane has the money."

Ruby leans back against some rocks and plays with her hair. "Oh that's good to know.... but not what I wanted to talk to you about..." She waits to see his reaction before continuing. He smiles and says "Really! That's interesting, and you say this Jake guy isn't the jealous type. Should we find somewhere more private?" "What does Jake have to do with us? And here is just fine I think, for now anyway." Ruby gestures to him. "Come and sit down." If he sits too close she will move away a bit.

"So, I wanted to ask your expert advice, being a Marshall and all... I have a friend, and you see there was this situation. Now the story about what happened and what actually did happen don't seem to be the same, as far as I can tell. And I am a curious girl, Mr. Earp. A couple of people were involved in this situation and now I know who they are, even spoke with one of them already, but I'm not sure I should ask the other person what occurred, you know to get his side of the story. I think he knows the truth but he might not be happy to know that I know it. What would a smart man like you do?"

Earp is totally confused at first by her hypothetical question and stops and ponders this for a minute. He says "I'm fairly new to the town myself, but I think I know what you're getting at. Tom Whipple's reputation is fairly well known and I don't think you'd be spreading any rumors by informing Maggie Whipple of any advances he's made to your or your friend. But I don't think that telling her would do you any good either. It's their saloon and people like him don't change. My best advice for you would be to just move on. You and your friends should find another saloon in another town and put the whole Whipple business behind you." “My, you certainly are perceptive, aren’t you?” Ruby raises an eyebrow.

She looks him right in the eyes. “Someone told me you were present the night of Tom Kale’s death. Is that true?” Ruby's comment take's Earp totally by surprise. He recovers and says, "Yeah, I was. Poor guy, was sick when he came out here. Then he got better and called for his wife. Before she arrived he got sick again and died. A crying shame, he was a nice guy. Look, your friend appears to finally be done with mourning, there's no point in getting her upset all over again."

Ruby answers, "Oh I don't figuring on getting her upset, believe me. Thanks for your help. We should probably be getting back." Ruby stands up and starts to walk away, then turns back. "There is one little problem though... it's called a knife in the back... not sure that counts as an illness..."

 

[Silver Moon]

Interlude Seven: The Warlord
Meanwhile, approximately 250 miles to the south…..

Eduardo Ramon de Coahuila had been woken up before dawn by one of his many house servants and informed that one of his ‘enforcers’ needed to speak with him immediately. The Mexican warlord ruled a vast area covering almost 6,000 square miles, with the town of Madera as his base of operations. He was nearing a half-millennia in age, the human equivalent of early-fourties, and had ruled this land for most of that time. While other warlords had opposed the Spanish and were defeated he had acquiesced and collaborated with them and was permitted to rule as their proxy during the centuries of occupation. That enabled him to reassert control again when Spain finally abandoned this landlocked interior region of the country.

The enforcer seeking an audience was a young wood elf by the name of Hosea de Zaragoza. Hosea had quickly risen through the ranks by aggressively eliminating all who opposed him. The warlord was pleased with the man but also smart enough to never turn his back on him. If Hosea wanted him at this early hour then it must be a matter of importance.

Hosea informed his boss that intruders were seen trespassing through his territory. These interlopers were currently going north through the mountainous lands a few hours ride west of Madera. There were only four of them, an elf, two half-elves and a human. All were on rugged warhorses and dressed appropriately for the terrain. A magical scan by one of the warlord’s priests revealed that they had a considerable quantity of magic with them.

The warlord was a greedy man so he vowed not to let these men pass from his land, wanting to claim their magic for his own. However, he was also a man of caution. If this quartet felt that it was safe enough for them to travel in such a small group there was probably a reason. At least one of these men was most likely a powerful spell caster and there was no telling what type of potent magic they carried for protection. So he called for his other enforcers within Madera to be woken up and for them to then assemble all of their most able bodied men.

By the time that the sun shined down on his fortress more than three hundred exceedingly well armed and magically fortified ruffians, led by Hosea and the other enforcers, were moving to the northwest to intercept the quartet. The use of overwhelming force was something that Eduardo Ramon de Coahuila had always depended upon to maintain his rule. He was certain that this vast quantity of men and resources would have no difficulty in stopping and overcoming the trespassers.

He would be very, very wrong.

 

[Silver Moon]

DM’s Note: This style of the next three chapters will be a bit different than those prior it. During the two months of the up to this point (Chapters 9 to 77) we had been doing this as a Play-by-post game, posting whenever we could. On the night of this chapter we started to also do a weekly gaming session where everyone was online simultaneously. The first night of doing this was rather chaotic and confusing, but that tended to add to the scenario this evening rather than detract from it.


Chapter 78, “Ambush”, January 10th, 1882:

Jake has headed around the far side of the mountain to get a look at the silver vein. It is extremely high up and will take some effort to get at, but based upon what he sees from the ground he does see a lot of silver gleaming as sunlight shines down upon it. He comes back around towards the coach. "Zachary Morand," Jake calls out as he comes back from exploring. "Are you ready to go? We should consider heading back."

Morand indicates that he is after checking a mechanical counter fastened to the wheel to get the exact mileage from the town to the mountain. Seawell decides to ride inside on the way back along with his friend MacNaulty, since Morand now knows the route. Sonoma and Nanuet get back on their horses. Jake looks around for Ruby, seeing her a distance off talking to Earp.

Nanuet mentions to Jake that there was a spot about three miles into the journey here that looked ideal for an ambush. A lot of hills trees and rocks. "Be aware when we near that spot, if they are going to do anything, that is where it would be." "OK, Indian." Jake replies. "So besides being on our toes, is there anyway to fool or ambush the ambushers?" He puts his hand on Nanuet's shoulder and looks him in the eye. "Or do we just trust that we are faster than them?"

Jake keeps glancing over at Ruby and Earp. "Nanuet, I was hoping Earp would still be on our side if there was a fight. After talking with that damn fool girl, I'm not so sure." Nanuet laughs "You have a point there. Are we ready to go? Should I break them up and get them back over here?" Nanuet replies as he looks towards the Marshall then back at Jake "Considering our company, I think we should ride straight through, but if you want someone to scout ahead I volunteer." Jake shares the location that Nanuet had suggested. "Me, I always suspect trouble all the time." Jake laughs.

A short distance away there has been a long pause that seems like forever before Morgan Earp tells Ruby "Don't believe everything you hear. Lots of false rumors running around these parts." As he walks away Ruby loudly says to herself, "Funny, you would think you could trust the Earps..." He returns to the stage and climbs up top with Morand. As is his habit Jake will offer a hand up to the ladies and then climb aboard.

Kate got herself back in the coach as Morgan Earp climbed back on top. Everyone seemed to think an attack would come on the way back if it was to come at all. Before anyone else joined her in the coach, she pulled out the slender metal rod Mr. Gonzales had given her and laid it lengthwise against Tom's pistol. Hopefully if she had to use it the pistol would hide it. Chester gets back into the coach after a walk around. He turns to Jake, "So just where are you expecting trouble?" He checks his Spencer and the reloads.

Ruby walks back over to the coach and lets Jake help her in. He rolls his eyes at Ruby and takes a seat facing the back of the wagon. "Lots of folks looking forward," he says to Ruby. She replies, "What does that mean?" "I mean that almost everyone is looking that way," He points behind him towards the horses, "because we are travelling that way. So I'll focus on what is behind us. What did you think I was talking about." He pokes her with his finger and grins. Ruby smiles. "You are smart, Jake. I thought you might be mad at me." She glances over to Kate. "But we can talk about it later."

The stage sets off and they continue back the way they came, riding for two miles first through the rocky area and then along the grassy hills. They then approach the area that Nanuet was concerned about, where there are a number of smaller but steeper mountains and hills, with the road winding around between them.

Nanuet trots to the back of the wagon where he can see everybody. "This is the area I noticed on the way here. If there was to be trouble, this is where it would be. Do we just keep going or do we want to make any kind of plan?" Chester says in a low voice, "Just what did you have in mind?" Jake says, "Want to just slow down for a minute and concentrate on looking up ahead for hidden folks? Everyone keep your eyes peeled."

Nanuet nods and says to Chester, "Just like Jake suggested keeping eyes open or maybe sending someone to higher ground or ahead to get a better look. I think it would be best if we stayed together though." Chester says, "I'm not that good at sneaking around. I'll keep my eyes peeled, then. An ambush will make me late for work." "Not to mention ruining that nice coat of yours with bullets holes" Jake responds with a straight face. It's Ruby's turn to roll her eyes.

Katherine returned Ruby's glance with an absent smile and went back to watching out the window. She was still wondering about the Marshall. She couldn't recall ever meeting him before she came to Promise City, and then all she had done was give her testimony, and she doubted she'd offended him with that.

It didn't really matter if he liked her at all, she supposed, but it seemed very strange. She'd have to ask Ruby later what she'd been talking with him about. Maybe she'd asked him about it. She heard Jake’s command of “keep your eyes peeled.” Kate nodded her head and refocused on watching the landscape.

They ride on, with Sonoma and Nanuet looking carefully around every bend and Morand alert for possible trouble. They travel slower for this mile, exercising caution at every turn. As they near the end of the mile long stretch of the road twisting around the hills things continue to look as they were during the ride out a little more than an hour earlier. The road begins to straighten out and the large mountain looms ahead to the right, running parallel the road most of the journey back to town. A few small hills remain to the left but none are as steep as those of the previous mile. Nanuet is still on full alert, anyone looking at him can tell his focus is fully on the road ahead and the area on either side of the road. "We aren't home yet" he mumbles to himself.

Chester begins to question the wisdom of riding on stagecoaches when it suddenly jerks abruptly to the right and off of the roadway, causing him to slip off of the seat and onto the floor. A rifle shot fires from up above. Chester exclaims "Damn, that was a rifle! Everybody get down! Where'd that come from?" He cocks the hammer on his Spencer, pointing it out the window.

"Get down!" Jake yells as he reaches down to grab his rifle and successfully rolls out of the wagon opposite the mountain. He maintains as much cover of the wagon as he can and looks for a shooter.

Nanuet and Sonoma have to slow as the stagecoach turns and charges in their path. As the stage rides he sees nine men on horseback and wearing bandanas as masks riding out onto he roadway from behind trees and the hillside around five hundred feet ahead of them.

Kate slid herself back along the bench and pushed her head hard against the side of the coach, trying to see out without actually hanging her head out the window. In her hand she held Tom's pistol with the metal rod against it, ready to start shooting if she sees something. It then occurs to her that she actually has no idea what the rod is or does.

Ruby starts actually paying attention and pulls out her gun. She had been thinking about what Earp said to her, trying to cover himself. She looks out the window and hopes she doesn't have to shoot too many people today.

Nanuet yells to Sonoma "Get behind the coach for cover." then spurs his horse to do the same. When he gets behind the wagon he unslings his rifle and looks over his companions to make sure they are OK. The stage has now turned rapidly off of the roadway and is pointing towards the Dos Cabezas Mountains, the pace quickening. MacNaulty looks out the windows on the other side and says, “Five more masked riders are coming up behind us, around 400 feet back.” Morgan Earp’s rifle now fires from up on the stage roof.

Chester sticks his rifle out the window toward the five. He decides that he will fire at the closest when they come within 100 feet. The miner Patrick Seawell grabs his rifle and crouches a bit to protect himself.

Not seeing the shooter from above Jake takes aim at the lead horse rider and fires with his rifle, missing the rider. Then he turns and runs after the coach and grabs the back. Ruby sees Jake running after the coach from behind and grabbing it. "Are you crazy??" she says while moving to the back. She sticks her hands out to help him. "Yes." Jake sticks the rifle in the coach and tries to climb in.

Now that Nanuet has an idea where the coach is heading he yells for the driver to stop. He rides alongside the horses and calms them down. Sonoma’s pony rides in closer to the stagecoach and Katherine sees her waving her hands and saying something. Sonoma then fades out of existence. Katherine can still see an impression of her on the saddle blanket and concludes that she is still present but has magically made herself invisible. She then hears Sonoma’s voice again and the pony also becomes invisible. Nanuet focuses his mind, hoping to reach Maska. He feels that they will need all the help they can get. Their minds connect and he calls her to come quickly.

Morand ignores Nanuet's advice as the stagecoach begins climbing the lower elevation at the beginning of the northern mountain. The miner MacNaulty exclaims, “What is that idiot driver doing, getting off the road and climbing is only slowing us down, those outlaws will catch up in no time.” Seawell looks out the back window and says, “He didn’t have much choice. Five more riders just rode out from the other side of the road so we were surrounded on three sides. It was either stop or head this way.” Chester says "Boy when you people get in trouble, you really do get into it. They must really want us dead."

"We don't do anything halfway," Kate said dryly. Then she focused her mind on the spell she had memorized this morning. She spoke the final words and with a gesture her clothes appeared to change. She now appeared to be dressed in black leather from head to foot, leaving only her face exposed. Chester turns as the words to Kate's spell leave her mouth. "Did you say something?" He stops in surprise, "My, Mrs. Kale. You are full of surprises. How does that help us now?" She replies, "I don't know that it really helps you, Mr. Martin, but it keeps me from getting shot. And I find that helpful."

Chester shifts his aim to the side of the carriage. He speaks out of the side of his mouth, "I didn't mean no offense ma'am. Just curious. Could've used that in the Army." "No offense taken," she says, watching for the outlaws to get close enough for her to try the slim metal rod again. "I hope you'll keep this to yourself, though." He answers, "I must look really trustworthy. That's the second secret I've had to keep since I arrived in Promise City."

Kate tells herself ‘Well, Mr. Gonzales said to use it instead of the pistol, so I'll try it anyway.’ Uncertain of the distance, Kate takes a chance and fires at the men coming up behind the stage. Kate watches as a mystical beam of light shoots forth from the wand. The beam travels for around 200 feet, around half the distance to the nearest outlaw, and then disappears. Looks like I have to wait a little longer on that she thinks. She pulled herself back inside the coach. Just like in the caves, a strange calmness had settled on her.

They continue up the hillside, riding over some small saplings and twisting to avoid the large trees and any boulders lying in their path. Earp continues to fire rifle shots from above. Looking ahead around 200 feet they then see a pair of saddled horses standing off to the side ahead, with two bodies lying on the ground beside them. Seawell comments, “Correction, the outlaws had us surrounded on all four sides, but this one only had a pair, Marshall Earp just cleared us a path.” "A path to where?" yells Nanuet "The path is getting pretty rough!' Chester says "Great work Marshall. I hope the rest are as easy."

After Ruby helped Jake into the coach she picked up his extra shotgun. "You don't mind, do you?" she says with a smile. Jake smiles at Ruby while reaching into his pocket and taking out some shotgun shells. He raises his eyebrows and stuffs them in the shirt pockets of the borrowed shirt she is wearing. He takes off his lucky hat, sticks his gun out the back and begins taking shots at their pursuers. "I better start hitting something, Chester's gonna be late for work."

As the nineteen armed riders following get closer. The five in front are around 300 feet back and the furthest are now 500 feet back. The ones in front start firing their guns at the stagecoach, although it is still at rather extreme range for revolvers. Nanuet tries his best to repeatedly shoot and reload the rifle while riding along side the wagon.

The stage continues to climb. Those inside now notice that the two riderless horses that had been off to the side are now moving parallel to the stage around fifty feet to the right, with the reins pulled up and together and floating in the air before them. Ruby guesses to the best of her ability where the actual riders on the horses to the right of them might be and gets ready to take a shot with Jake's shotgun, trying not to hit the horses.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 79, “Wild Chase up the Mountain”, January 10th, 1882:

“NO!” Jake yells and pushes the shotgun up. The shot goes high, well above the horses and Jake feels heat from the shotgun barrel through the sleeve of his duster where he pushed the shotgun barrel although there are no burns on the jacket. "Um Jake, care to explain..." Ruby says with a raised eyebrow. He says, "I think that's Sonoma pulling the horses." "What?" Ruby says growing pale. Chester mutters to himself, "Does everyone here have some sort of mystical power?" Jake answers, "Hey, soldier. Worry about the bad guys. I could use some help here." "I hear ya." Chester resumes firing out the side, reloading as necessary.

Jake goes back to shooting out the back. Ruby turns her back to the window and slides down onto the floor with the gun in her hand. Kate tells her "Just focus on the ones we can see, Ruby dear, and everything'll be fine." She reached out her hand to pull Ruby up. "We'll have time to be frightened later." Ruby replies, "Frightened? I just almost shot Sonoma...I don't want to shoot anyone that I like."

Nanuet is unsure if it was his shot or one of Earp's from the stagecoach roof, but one of the outlaws is shot in the chest and falls from his horse. Nanuet is confused when he sees the riderless horses and Jake's reaction to Ruby firing the shotgun. He takes a quick scan of the area and looks for Sonoma and realizes that he doesn't see her. He yells out her name, continuing to search for any sign of her. Sonoma’s voice begins to sing back from the direction of the two saddled horses, which are now being led closer to the stagecoach, now around 20 feet off to the side.

Nanuet gets close to the coach and yells "That's Sonoma on the horses, I think she is OK. Worry about the guys chasing us!" Sonoma’s song now has the words "Thank you" and "Dying is Bad" sung into the lyrics. Nanuet slings his rifle back over his shoulder and heads towards Sonoma. "Are you OK? Did you get hurt?" Her lyrics now contain the words "Just shoot the bad guys." He rides towards the carriage and conveys, “Sonoma said ‘Just shoot the bad guys’. Jake laughs loudly, "I like that girl". He keeps shooting his rifle at the lead rider until he needs to reload. "Seawell, you take a try" and give his spot to while he loads. Nanuet decides to do as she wishes, unslings his gun and continues to load and shoot while riding back to about 20 feet from the wagon.

With the sound of new concern in her voice Kate says, "Damn, Jake. Look out there," she said nodding out the window. "That's Billy Claibourne. This is about more than that silver vein." Her left hand is still extended to Ruby. The right takes aim and fires the wand as soon as she thinks that Claibourne is close enough. The beam of light fires across and hits the man who she suspects to be Claiboune. He remains on his horse but drops back a ways.

Most of the enemies have closed to within 200 feet when the stage crosses over the peak of the hill. Jake and Ruby have renewed appreciation for the magical horseshoes that the Wells Fargo team had and wish that the Morand Cartage Company were likewise equipped. They then begin to go down a fairly steep drop and increasing the distance between those behind. Zack Morand works the break lever on the stage, which sends out smoke and sparks.

Nanuet manages to hit one foe in the shoulder and another in the arm. The one struck in the arm drops his revolver. Kate fires at Claibourne again, until he is either out of range, or falls from his horse. She continues firing as long as there are enemies in range of the wand. She remains very calm and steady, going methodically from one to the next. Four of the light beams strike opponents, including the one who Nanuet had hit in the arm. He slumps over either unconscious or dead in the saddle and the horse stops. Another one is shot in the head by Jake and falls from his mount.

Sonoma gets the horses directly alongside the stage and sings "Take them". Chester shouts over the squeal of the brakes, "Who? Us?" Nanuet reslings his rifle and attempts to take the horses from Sonoma. As he approaches he says "What am I to do with these horses, and what happened to just shooting the bad guys?" She sings "Not you, I thought somebody else would want to ride. Never mind then, I'll let them go."

"I'll get them." Ruby stands up, leans out the side and tries to reach for the reins. Sonoma is about to release them when Nanuet yells, "Wait! Ruby is trying to grab then, just some confusion there." Nanuet drops behind the wagon, waits until it passes, then starts riding up along the other side. He tries the rifle once again.

Ruby grabs the reins barely in time as the stage then turns sharply to the right, to go around a sharp drop-off immediately ahead. The stage then goes back up the higher elevations of the mountain, which rises at a steep angle, but the horse team appears to be up to the task of climbing it. Several of the outlaws close to 100 until their horses also reach the steeper area then begin to drop a little further back.

"Kate you probably can ride with that thing and you're good with horses. You should go.." Ruby says still leaning out the window. Kate lets Ruby grab the reins of one, and Kate reaches for the others. I can't believe I'm about to do this. She jumped quickly out of the now slowed coach and onto the unfamiliar animal’s back. Another quick glance to make sure the Marshall's attention was elsewhere, and she looked for another target.

Two shots sail through the back window openings and into the inside of the stage but do not strike anyone. It continues to climb at the steep angle. Six of the outlaws break off from the others and double back, including Claibourne and one of the wounded ones. Nanuet continues to fire, now from the other side of the wagon. He sees the others double back and says, "Should any of us follow them?"

"Chester!" Yells Jake. "You a horse solder? Can you fight better from that thing? Anyone else? Seawell says. "I can shoot and ride." and moves to that side of the coach. Chester says, "Yeah, I used to be in the cavalry. Horseback sounds better than this coach more and more." Chester reaches for the reins of one of the horses. "Hold on, I can take one. Not sure how I can mount up now, though." "You jump," says Ruby trying to not fall out while holding the horse.

Chester successfully lands on the saddle of the other horse. The enemies who turned back and ride off in a direction to circumnavigate around the mountain and cut off the stage on the road while the other ten continue their pursuit. One of these ten gets struck by two of Kate’s light beams simultaneous to a shot from Nanuet’s rife and falls. Chester feels the pace of his horse slow. "Driver, slow down some, the horses are getting tired. Where are we going?" The driver does not reply and continues to focus on his path.

Looking at the six riding away Chester says to Nanuet, "Let's get 'em. Maybe we can find out where they came from." He slings his carbine across his back, grabs the reins with his right hand and draws his revolver with his left. Nanuet looks for a path that he can navigate that will allow him to intercept the half-dozen riders that rode off without passing through those who are still pursuing. Once he finds that path, he motions to Chester to follow and gallops in that direction. Chester follows the Indian, loading a sixth cartridge into his Remington. Nanuet and Chester break off and ride left and down the mountain. Sonoma’s singing accompanies them, keeping pace and riding between them. The remaining enemies stay with the stagecoach.

After Kate and Chester had jumped out, Ruby got back into the coach, picked up the shotgun and sat next to Jake. "They look close enough for me to shoot with this thing yet?" Jake moves aside so they have plenty of room, whoever decides to get on the horses, while wishing he had those riding lessons from Katherine. "Torvald, get that shotgun ready. It's about time." He finishes reloading and starts shooting out the back again.

Jake rethinks the plan and says, "No, wait. You and Torvald get down. When I say now you both get up and shoot both barrels." Jake keeps firing and yells now when the horses are 50 feet back. Ruby took the time to reload while Jake told her to wait. When he yelled now, she quickly double checked to make sure she wasn't going to shoot one of her friends and fired at the closest enemy. A horse and rider then get blown away by Ruby's shotgun blast.

The stagecoach reaches a particular leveled off area that is also filled with rocks. The horse team and stage have the momentum and sail across the area without any hindrance, tossing up dust and rocks behind them, with the four party riders keeping pace. The enemy riders following have to slow and take more carefully or risk injury to their mounts.

The rapid-paced detour through the mountain has started to take a toll on the animals and they are beginning to show some fatigue. Katherine is familiar with animals and wishes that Zack wound turn left and ride back down to the main road. Instead he turns right and climbs even higher. Morand whips the animals to force them onward at the fast pace. "Morand! The horses are nearly spent, they can't keep this up much longer!" Kate shouted up, while taking advantage of the fact that the followers have to slow to take a couple more shots at them.

Kate keeps pace with the stagecoach and keeps firing at the men following. Ruby shoots again at the closest rider. Both Kate and Ruby's shots miss. Kate can now see what Morand was up to, as they near the summit of the mountain. It was a hard climb but she decides that it was probably worth is as they see before them a long flat gradual decline that is mostly clear of obstructions. The plain ahead of them stretches down for around a mile-and-a-half.

She sees fireplace smoke rising from a valley at the base of the mountain around two to three miles distant and realize that is Promise City. The ride down the mountain will bring them most of the way back towards town and the decline should help to keep them ahead of the outlaws.

Ruby reloads the shotgun with the shells from her pocket and shoots, if any enemies seem close enough. They reach the peak to begin the long gradual decline on a straight shot into a valley below. The outlaws are still following, but have fallen back to a distance of around 350 feet. The group that had broken off is nowhere to be seen, nor are Chester or Nanuet in sight any longer.

Jake and Patrick keep shooting their rifles to cover Torvald and Ruby reloading the shotguns. Jake hands her the rest of the shotgun shells in his pocket. Ruby takes the shells and puts them in her pocket. "I think they're too far back now. I hope Nanuet and Chester will be ok, there are a lot of them. This Fisk guy means business, huh?"

While he continues to shoot, Jake counts how many riders are still following, spotting a total of eight remaining around 400 feet back. At the next reload of the rifle Jake asks to trade with Ruby for the shotgun. "They are gonna get close soon, time for more crazy." She gives him the shotgun, which is still loaded, and takes the rifle. "I'm afraid to ask...Please be careful." Jake can see the worry on Ruby's face. Before he does anything, "How far can I shoot with his one?" "Far." He says. "Just keep shooting." He puts some rifle cartridges in her pocket. Ruby does as Jake says and keeps shooting and loading and shooting. The shots manage to drop two of the distant horses and their riders.

The stagecoach crosses the summit it bounces back and hard over the final ledge for a drop of around a foot. As it lands everyone hears the sound of the wooden wagon tongue snapping and cracking. This is the primary mechanism connecting the horse team to the stagecoach’s axle.

Zack Morand, in a heroic effort, manages to still steer the team and stage to area where they need to start the ride down, connected only with by ropes and leather straps. The broken tongue is still being dragged by the horses and scrapes along the ground, starting to slow their forward momentum. The remaining six outlaws slow as they apparently notice that something is wrong with the stagecoach.

Katherine notices that Morgan Earp is lying wounded on the top of the stagecoach and realizes it has been several minutes since he last fired a shot. As the stage hits the drop off he rolls to the side, apparently unconscious, and is about to fall off the stage on her side of it. "Damn!" She shouts. "Some help here!" She maneuvers her horse underneath where Earp is about to fall. Kate guides the horse with her knees and reaches up to try to control his fall and get him on the horse. Seawell is close to that side so puts down his rifle to see how he can help Katherine. Jake watches what the outlaws are doing closely.

Morgan Earp falls. Katherine manages to grab him by his shirt but does not have the strength to hold onto him for long. Seawell opens the door to the carriage and vaults onto the horse behind her and helps to pull Earp up. He sees that Earp is still alive and tells Katherine "You just saved this man's life." "That was the idea," she said grinning. She began to search for Earp's wound, thinking she was about to tear up another shirt.

The stagecoach itself was now picking up speed as it continued on the mountainside and without the wooden stick to keep the team the proper distance from the carriage was almost upon the rear two horses of the team. Morand attempts to apply the hand breaks but pulls on them too hard and they disconnect from the carriage and fall off.

Morand realizes that the stage will soon overtake the horse team and the animals would get caught up in the front wheels and axle and cause the rig to crash. Not seeing any alternative, he takes out his hunting knife and cuts the ropes and straps holding the animals to the carriage. Holding the reins, he then leaps forward and lands on the rigging connection the horses together and tugs the horses off to the side. Jake, Ruby and MacNaulty are still inside the stage see the horse team move off to the side of the road. The runaway stagecoach passes them by.

Ruby feels the coach pick up speed. She looks out the window and sees the situation. She turns to Jake. "I TOLD you we should have stayed in bed today!" She sighs, "Time for one of your crazy ideas..." "Anyone feel like jumping?" Jake asks shrugging his shoulders. "Torvald, take some of that seat material and shove it between the wheels and wagon." Jake does the same and hopes it starts to slow the stagecoach. Jake's brilliant idea just results in shredded burlap and straw covering the mountainside.

Further up the mountain Kate, Seawell and Morand see the stagecoach rapidly moving away from them, realizing that there is little they can do for their three friends and associates on board.