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"Revenge, Renewal and the Promise of a New Year" (Boot Hill/D&D)
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1817060" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-six, “Mr. and Mrs. Cookie”, January 6th, 1882: </strong> </p><p></p><p>"Let's take a short walk on the west side of town. We can enjoy the sun setting for a few minutes while you tell me what else I need to know. Then we can bury your pretty bauble and I can go see Mr. Baxter" </p><p></p><p>He leads her outside of town on the west side looking for a low traffic spot to lose the green filled ball. He tries hard not to laugh out loud over the turn of events. I hope her newfound euphoria doesn't last too long, for now I'll just enjoy the walk. If she's like this too long it could get down right embarrassing.</p><p></p><p>“You know you have a really nice smile, I never noticed before.” Ruby gets lost in thought for a moment then continues. “The west side sounds perfect. I would love to see the sun set. I bet it will be beautiful...” </p><p></p><p>As they walk Ruby gives Jake a wonderfully happy version of how they all met on the stagecoach, agreed to help O’Dell and Nanuet, got into the gun fight and killed three men (“And I didn’t even know I could shoot that well!”), and blamed it on Arcade’s Gang by giving Chumbley a fake story (“Which worked out great cause that is how we met you!”). </p><p></p><p>She also gives him all the information that Chumbley gave her about Tom Kale but she seems much less concerned about doing anything about it and much more concerned with smiling and saying “hi” to everyone she passes. </p><p></p><p>When they get outside of town she takes the green fluid filled ball out of her pocket and places in on the ground. “How’s that? It should be fine here. Now let’s go find Mr. Baxter!” Ruby turns on her heel and starts to walk away. "Oh look the sun is starting to set!"</p><p></p><p>Jake quickly digs in his heel behind some sagebrush away from any walking paths, gently puts the globe in the hole and covers it up with the loose dirt. He hurries to catch up with Ruby. "Let's stop in at the Lone Star and freshen up before we go looking for Mr. Baxter." Hard to believe this woman shot down some desperadoes’ only days ago. "Oh, what the hell..", He says resigning himself to Ruby's meandering pace he even offers some flowers off a stubby looking early blooming plant he can't name. Eventually steering her to the Lone Star. </p><p></p><p>"You go clean up first, and I'll meet you here", He says to her. After she is out of ear shot he buys a bottle of whiskey and three glasses from Maggie, only telling her "I need these to help Katherine. I'll explain another time. By the way, have you seen her? No? Hmmm." He thinks for a minute, then asks, "Do you have anything less potent like sarsaparilla for someone who shouldn't be drinking that I can get?" He gets the bottle and rushes to clean up and meet Ruby back in the main room. </p><p></p><p>Jake sees Ruby coming back, still enjoying her rejuvenated state and says under his breath, "I ought to leave her here with Maggie. But what the hell, this will be interesting." As she arrives and before she can wander around the room and visit with everyone Jake puts his arm in hers, says "Let's go sunshine." and is out the door. "Ruby, please let me do most of the talking first and listen carefully to what Mr. Baxter says and does. After I am done with my questions, I'll take off my hat so you will know it is your turn. Remember, you are our secret weapon, shhhh." I must be loco thinks Jake. </p><p></p><p>Well Jake, these flowers are just lovely and I’m going to put them in my hair tonight so everyone can enjoy their beauty.” Ruby lets Jake take her back to the Lone Star where she gets cleaned up. She takes her time, putting the flowers in her hair very carefully while humming to herself. When she is satisfied she comes downstairs to see Jake waiting patiently. He offers his arm and guides her to find Mr. Baxter. He first steers them to the newspaperman's office. He isn't in but the typesetter says to check the Gay Lady Dance Hall and Saloon. They find him there. "Hello Mr. Baxter, mind if we sit with you for a few minutes?"</p><p></p><p>“Of course he doesn’t mind, after all he is a gentleman, right Mr. Baxter?” Ruby says as she sits. “Oh and by the way, sorry about that little misunderstanding last night. It was just very crazy and I know you didn’t mean to accuse Katherine and myself of being harlots” Ruby says happily with a big smile on her face. “And I know that is all behind us now." She pauses a bit and just as Baxter, who is looking at her like she is nuts, is about to speak she says, "Oh by the way, do you like my flowers? Jake here picked them himself.”</p><p></p><p>"Err, they're beautiful, as you are," Baxter states. He then turns back towards Jake and says "So, what did happen there last night Mr.Cookie, right?" "Cook. Actually I came here to listen to you. I was more than a little surprised" lied Jake with a practiced ease, "that Mr. Earp treated you so shabbily. I would have thought your position in town would carry more respect with the law officers." </p><p></p><p>"I'm fairly new here in Promise City, and well, after seeing how difficult the law officers can be..." Jake pauses for dramatic effect. "I mean, who better to find out information about how to stay on the right side of the law officers than the man with all the information?" He holds up a bottle of whiskey "I'm pouring as long as you are talking. Tell me what you know about our friendly law officers. Afterwards you can ask me questions."</p><p></p><p>Baxter replies, “Well, Marshall Hollister was a great man who knew how to lay down the law. Terrible shame what happened to him. These Earps are nothing but trouble, big shots who like to push around the honest folk. Now you sir strike me as someone who would be far more suited to the job of Marshalling than someone like him. </p><p></p><p>Can't say I can blame the Merchants Association for hiring someone like Morgan Earp though, given how much trouble that Arcade's Gang caused around here. They was the scum of the earth that bunch. Of course it was the Promise City Vigilance Committee who really spearheaded that hiring."</p><p></p><p>"Oh, my Mr. Baxter, I'm not nearly courageous enough to be a Marshall here or anywhere. Who is the Promise City Vigilance Committee?" Baxter replies "That Committee is made up of four of the town leaders, the town doctor Jim Eaton, the town's most aggressive lawyer Hamilton Fisk, Bill Watkins who runs the Great Western Boarding House and Frank Condon who owns Condon's Bank. Condon lost a fortune when the James Gang showed up last summer and blamed Arcade's Gang. They figure with the Earps in town that gang won't come back. </p><p></p><p>Jake asks "And what about our Sheriff and his deputies?" Baxter says "Oh, they're okay but have too much land to watch and not enough manpower. The County Sheriff Johnny Behan is over in Tombstone and I don't think he's ever even crossed the Dragoon Mountains. He has somewhere between six and eight deputies, but usually only assigns one or two to the eastern half of the county. Deputy Colin Hunter is here in Promise City. Deputy Billy Breakenridge used to be in Galeyville but that town's gone downhill. Breakenridge also got hurt pretty bad in Tombstone last October and hasn't been back in these parts since. Another Deputy, John Lawhead Wiley has been around as of late helping Deputy Hunter." </p><p></p><p>Jake says "Last night you mentioned connections Earp has to Tombstone, what about that?" Once again Jake quickly fabricates a story, "I also overheard from some folks hanging around the saloon that the Earps are not fond of Easterners, even to the point of senseless violence. They even claimed that they had something to do with the death of an easterner named Kale, Thomas Kale maybe. I'm a little nervous about that being an easterner myself. Is there any truth to that?" Baxter replies "Fraid I don't know much about that. Tombstone ain't my turf. They already have two newspapers there. The two folks that Wyatt has killed here so far weren't easterners, they was local guys."</p><p></p><p>"We'll that's a relief," says Jake taking off his hat and wiping his brow. "I figured that the tales those folks were spinning were a load of cattle dung. But it pays to make sure when you own life could be on the line, now doesn't it." Jake punctuates that by dropping his hat on the table and pouring the newspaperman another refill. Baxter finishes the drink and Jake pours again. Baxter's words begin to become slurred and he starts to tell them about the family of his typesetter and how he finds the man's wife to be cute. He then adds "But not nearly as cute as your wife here Mr. Cookie," as he points to Ruby. </p><p></p><p>Ruby starts to protest the thought of being tied down but then realizes, even in her happy and optimistic state, that getting hit on by Baxter would not be a pleasant experience. "Well I certainly appreciate the compliment Mr. Baxter. And I'm sure my husband here, Mr. Cookie, appreciates it too." Ruby gives Jake the "please go with it look". Jake nods and smiles smugly. He is looking at Ruby expectantly.</p><p></p><p>Ruby pushes Baxter's drink closer it him. "So, if you wanted to get some information in Tombstone, the kind of information people didn't want to share, where would you look? I'm sure a well-informed, smart man like you has some kind of connections..." Ruby smiles at him sweetly. </p><p></p><p>As she waits for him to get himself together and answer her she leans over to Jake and whispers "What else did you want to know? I think Mr. Baxter has been as helpful as he is going to be. Besides, I bet it's just delightful outside and we're missing it!" Jake shrugs his shoulders, and then nods agreement. He whispers back, "Excuse us when you are done with him."</p><p></p><p>Baxter replies to Ruby’s question, "Only one I really know there is a Texas gal named Kate Fisher. She goes by the name Big Nose Kate. She's runs a fancy hotel and saloon in town. Went there to get the story on the shootout in October where Doc Holliday was shot, but since he was her boyfriend she was still mighty upset and didn't really want to talk about it."</p><p></p><p>“Well, Mr. Baxter, you have been very helpful to us and we appreciate it. Now you’ll have to excuse us we have a very busy night ahead of us. Right, Jake?” "Mr. Baxter, it seems I need to accompany Ruby right now. I'm sure we'll talk again soon." Jake stands, reaches across and tops off Parker Baxter's glass. "You are a giant among newspaper men, sir. Thank you for all your help." Jake caps the bottle, puts his arm through Ruby's and sweeps her out the door. </p><p></p><p>"Yes he certainly is a giant among newspaper men, at least when Chumbley is around. You can tell Katherine that the hangover he is going to have tomorrow is some small revenge for his thoughtless behavior last night." Jake is steering Ruby towards the Lone Star, and as he is speaking about Katherine his light hearted manner changes to a more sober expression on his face. "I'm suddenly feeling uncomfortable about Katherine being out with that Flint guy. I still don't understand why she and Al went out alone with him. How well do you really know that Al woman anyway?"</p><p></p><p>"Well," Ruby says thoughtfully, "I don't really know Al all that well but I'm sure she's a nice lady. And I don't know why Katherine went out with that Flint guy either. He seemed grumpy. Hey, but everyone has a bad day I guess." </p><p></p><p>And Jake continues, "OK, so let's say I put aside my surprise that you gunned down those men. I still don't understand how you and Katherine got involved with those two gun slingers, Al and who was it... Black Zak? I don't see how their argument with the miners interested you two?" </p><p></p><p>Ruby furrows her brow. "And the reason we got involved in that gunfight escapes me right now. But I'm quite sure it was a good reason. Al and O'Dell it was. Nice guy. Funny. Don't we have to go see your friend tonight? I'd like to meet him." </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Al, Katherine and Nanuet ride into towards Promise City. They enter from the east side of town and are riding down Main Street and about to turn left onto Fremont Street when they see Jake and Ruby a block away coming out of The Gay Lady Variety Hall and Saloon crossing Allen street and the Lone Star Saloon on the corner. The three ride towards them with Katherine calling out their names.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 1817060, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter Twenty-six, “Mr. and Mrs. Cookie”, January 6th, 1882: [/B] "Let's take a short walk on the west side of town. We can enjoy the sun setting for a few minutes while you tell me what else I need to know. Then we can bury your pretty bauble and I can go see Mr. Baxter" He leads her outside of town on the west side looking for a low traffic spot to lose the green filled ball. He tries hard not to laugh out loud over the turn of events. I hope her newfound euphoria doesn't last too long, for now I'll just enjoy the walk. If she's like this too long it could get down right embarrassing. “You know you have a really nice smile, I never noticed before.” Ruby gets lost in thought for a moment then continues. “The west side sounds perfect. I would love to see the sun set. I bet it will be beautiful...” As they walk Ruby gives Jake a wonderfully happy version of how they all met on the stagecoach, agreed to help O’Dell and Nanuet, got into the gun fight and killed three men (“And I didn’t even know I could shoot that well!”), and blamed it on Arcade’s Gang by giving Chumbley a fake story (“Which worked out great cause that is how we met you!”). She also gives him all the information that Chumbley gave her about Tom Kale but she seems much less concerned about doing anything about it and much more concerned with smiling and saying “hi” to everyone she passes. When they get outside of town she takes the green fluid filled ball out of her pocket and places in on the ground. “How’s that? It should be fine here. Now let’s go find Mr. Baxter!” Ruby turns on her heel and starts to walk away. "Oh look the sun is starting to set!" Jake quickly digs in his heel behind some sagebrush away from any walking paths, gently puts the globe in the hole and covers it up with the loose dirt. He hurries to catch up with Ruby. "Let's stop in at the Lone Star and freshen up before we go looking for Mr. Baxter." Hard to believe this woman shot down some desperadoes’ only days ago. "Oh, what the hell..", He says resigning himself to Ruby's meandering pace he even offers some flowers off a stubby looking early blooming plant he can't name. Eventually steering her to the Lone Star. "You go clean up first, and I'll meet you here", He says to her. After she is out of ear shot he buys a bottle of whiskey and three glasses from Maggie, only telling her "I need these to help Katherine. I'll explain another time. By the way, have you seen her? No? Hmmm." He thinks for a minute, then asks, "Do you have anything less potent like sarsaparilla for someone who shouldn't be drinking that I can get?" He gets the bottle and rushes to clean up and meet Ruby back in the main room. Jake sees Ruby coming back, still enjoying her rejuvenated state and says under his breath, "I ought to leave her here with Maggie. But what the hell, this will be interesting." As she arrives and before she can wander around the room and visit with everyone Jake puts his arm in hers, says "Let's go sunshine." and is out the door. "Ruby, please let me do most of the talking first and listen carefully to what Mr. Baxter says and does. After I am done with my questions, I'll take off my hat so you will know it is your turn. Remember, you are our secret weapon, shhhh." I must be loco thinks Jake. Well Jake, these flowers are just lovely and I’m going to put them in my hair tonight so everyone can enjoy their beauty.” Ruby lets Jake take her back to the Lone Star where she gets cleaned up. She takes her time, putting the flowers in her hair very carefully while humming to herself. When she is satisfied she comes downstairs to see Jake waiting patiently. He offers his arm and guides her to find Mr. Baxter. He first steers them to the newspaperman's office. He isn't in but the typesetter says to check the Gay Lady Dance Hall and Saloon. They find him there. "Hello Mr. Baxter, mind if we sit with you for a few minutes?" “Of course he doesn’t mind, after all he is a gentleman, right Mr. Baxter?” Ruby says as she sits. “Oh and by the way, sorry about that little misunderstanding last night. It was just very crazy and I know you didn’t mean to accuse Katherine and myself of being harlots” Ruby says happily with a big smile on her face. “And I know that is all behind us now." She pauses a bit and just as Baxter, who is looking at her like she is nuts, is about to speak she says, "Oh by the way, do you like my flowers? Jake here picked them himself.” "Err, they're beautiful, as you are," Baxter states. He then turns back towards Jake and says "So, what did happen there last night Mr.Cookie, right?" "Cook. Actually I came here to listen to you. I was more than a little surprised" lied Jake with a practiced ease, "that Mr. Earp treated you so shabbily. I would have thought your position in town would carry more respect with the law officers." "I'm fairly new here in Promise City, and well, after seeing how difficult the law officers can be..." Jake pauses for dramatic effect. "I mean, who better to find out information about how to stay on the right side of the law officers than the man with all the information?" He holds up a bottle of whiskey "I'm pouring as long as you are talking. Tell me what you know about our friendly law officers. Afterwards you can ask me questions." Baxter replies, “Well, Marshall Hollister was a great man who knew how to lay down the law. Terrible shame what happened to him. These Earps are nothing but trouble, big shots who like to push around the honest folk. Now you sir strike me as someone who would be far more suited to the job of Marshalling than someone like him. Can't say I can blame the Merchants Association for hiring someone like Morgan Earp though, given how much trouble that Arcade's Gang caused around here. They was the scum of the earth that bunch. Of course it was the Promise City Vigilance Committee who really spearheaded that hiring." "Oh, my Mr. Baxter, I'm not nearly courageous enough to be a Marshall here or anywhere. Who is the Promise City Vigilance Committee?" Baxter replies "That Committee is made up of four of the town leaders, the town doctor Jim Eaton, the town's most aggressive lawyer Hamilton Fisk, Bill Watkins who runs the Great Western Boarding House and Frank Condon who owns Condon's Bank. Condon lost a fortune when the James Gang showed up last summer and blamed Arcade's Gang. They figure with the Earps in town that gang won't come back. Jake asks "And what about our Sheriff and his deputies?" Baxter says "Oh, they're okay but have too much land to watch and not enough manpower. The County Sheriff Johnny Behan is over in Tombstone and I don't think he's ever even crossed the Dragoon Mountains. He has somewhere between six and eight deputies, but usually only assigns one or two to the eastern half of the county. Deputy Colin Hunter is here in Promise City. Deputy Billy Breakenridge used to be in Galeyville but that town's gone downhill. Breakenridge also got hurt pretty bad in Tombstone last October and hasn't been back in these parts since. Another Deputy, John Lawhead Wiley has been around as of late helping Deputy Hunter." Jake says "Last night you mentioned connections Earp has to Tombstone, what about that?" Once again Jake quickly fabricates a story, "I also overheard from some folks hanging around the saloon that the Earps are not fond of Easterners, even to the point of senseless violence. They even claimed that they had something to do with the death of an easterner named Kale, Thomas Kale maybe. I'm a little nervous about that being an easterner myself. Is there any truth to that?" Baxter replies "Fraid I don't know much about that. Tombstone ain't my turf. They already have two newspapers there. The two folks that Wyatt has killed here so far weren't easterners, they was local guys." "We'll that's a relief," says Jake taking off his hat and wiping his brow. "I figured that the tales those folks were spinning were a load of cattle dung. But it pays to make sure when you own life could be on the line, now doesn't it." Jake punctuates that by dropping his hat on the table and pouring the newspaperman another refill. Baxter finishes the drink and Jake pours again. Baxter's words begin to become slurred and he starts to tell them about the family of his typesetter and how he finds the man's wife to be cute. He then adds "But not nearly as cute as your wife here Mr. Cookie," as he points to Ruby. Ruby starts to protest the thought of being tied down but then realizes, even in her happy and optimistic state, that getting hit on by Baxter would not be a pleasant experience. "Well I certainly appreciate the compliment Mr. Baxter. And I'm sure my husband here, Mr. Cookie, appreciates it too." Ruby gives Jake the "please go with it look". Jake nods and smiles smugly. He is looking at Ruby expectantly. Ruby pushes Baxter's drink closer it him. "So, if you wanted to get some information in Tombstone, the kind of information people didn't want to share, where would you look? I'm sure a well-informed, smart man like you has some kind of connections..." Ruby smiles at him sweetly. As she waits for him to get himself together and answer her she leans over to Jake and whispers "What else did you want to know? I think Mr. Baxter has been as helpful as he is going to be. Besides, I bet it's just delightful outside and we're missing it!" Jake shrugs his shoulders, and then nods agreement. He whispers back, "Excuse us when you are done with him." Baxter replies to Ruby’s question, "Only one I really know there is a Texas gal named Kate Fisher. She goes by the name Big Nose Kate. She's runs a fancy hotel and saloon in town. Went there to get the story on the shootout in October where Doc Holliday was shot, but since he was her boyfriend she was still mighty upset and didn't really want to talk about it." “Well, Mr. Baxter, you have been very helpful to us and we appreciate it. Now you’ll have to excuse us we have a very busy night ahead of us. Right, Jake?” "Mr. Baxter, it seems I need to accompany Ruby right now. I'm sure we'll talk again soon." Jake stands, reaches across and tops off Parker Baxter's glass. "You are a giant among newspaper men, sir. Thank you for all your help." Jake caps the bottle, puts his arm through Ruby's and sweeps her out the door. "Yes he certainly is a giant among newspaper men, at least when Chumbley is around. You can tell Katherine that the hangover he is going to have tomorrow is some small revenge for his thoughtless behavior last night." Jake is steering Ruby towards the Lone Star, and as he is speaking about Katherine his light hearted manner changes to a more sober expression on his face. "I'm suddenly feeling uncomfortable about Katherine being out with that Flint guy. I still don't understand why she and Al went out alone with him. How well do you really know that Al woman anyway?" "Well," Ruby says thoughtfully, "I don't really know Al all that well but I'm sure she's a nice lady. And I don't know why Katherine went out with that Flint guy either. He seemed grumpy. Hey, but everyone has a bad day I guess." And Jake continues, "OK, so let's say I put aside my surprise that you gunned down those men. I still don't understand how you and Katherine got involved with those two gun slingers, Al and who was it... Black Zak? I don't see how their argument with the miners interested you two?" Ruby furrows her brow. "And the reason we got involved in that gunfight escapes me right now. But I'm quite sure it was a good reason. Al and O'Dell it was. Nice guy. Funny. Don't we have to go see your friend tonight? I'd like to meet him." Meanwhile, Al, Katherine and Nanuet ride into towards Promise City. They enter from the east side of town and are riding down Main Street and about to turn left onto Fremont Street when they see Jake and Ruby a block away coming out of The Gay Lady Variety Hall and Saloon crossing Allen street and the Lone Star Saloon on the corner. The three ride towards them with Katherine calling out their names. [/QUOTE]
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