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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1874574" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Forty-eight, “The Mystery of the Missing Books”, January 7th, 1882:The women are told to come back again any time by Laurie. They exit the building and see that there is a lot of activity a half block west down the street. A crowd has gathered around a two-story wooden building at the northwest corner of South and Allen streets with the sign "Trail Dust Saloon" hanging out front.  They see Marshall Wyatt Earp standing near the door of the building being talked at by the reporter Parker Baxter. A man carrying a doctor's bag then approaches and is let inside. As they approach the crowd Ruby laughs, "I wonder what happened here? At least it didn't involve us." When Ruby sees Baxter she remembers the last time she saw him. Suddenly a flood of memory comes back to her. She had totally forgotten about the information she found out yesterday about Tom. Katherine could tell Ruby was uncomfortable and gives her a look. Ruby tries to cover her sudden emotion. She puts her hand on Kate's arm. "Um, I forgot to tell you something. Ah, Baxter thinks that Jake and I are married. Mr. and Mrs. Cookie actually. I mean, it's a long story and we don't really have the time right now..." Crap, thinks Ruby. I hope she doesn't think something strange is going on.Kate laughed outright. "I think I'd actually pay money to hear how he come to that conclusion." She ignored Ruby's discomfort. Ruby hadn't confided to her anything about Jake, and she wouldn't assume she was right unless Ruby did. "Of course, Baxter seems to live in his own Whiskey-soaked world."  Ruby replies, "Yes, sometime I'll have to let you in on what happened." As they came up on the crowd Katherine kept her ears open for details of what happened. "Picking up anything, Ruby?"  Ruby tries to listen to the crowd, but she especially wants to overhear what Marshall Earp is telling Baxter. And they hear Wyatt Earp saying "....damned fool. All I asked him about was the money he owed to the Promise City Merchants' Association. Hell Baxter, you belong to that group. Not fair for him to shirk on his dues, cost the rest of you more. Well, the idiot actually decides to pull a gun on me!" Baxter says "But Doc Eaton is here now. You actually let him live?" Earp replies "Damned straight. He owes money to the Merchants' Association. A dead man usually doesn't pay his obligations. My first shot was just to disarm him. I hit his gun hand but he still managed to still get off a shot. Had no choice then but to incapacitate his arm."   Baxter says "So what happens now." Earp says "Well, in most towns shooting at a lawman is a capital offense. But I'm an easy going and generous man. Once the Doc fixes him up I think a month or so in jail might just teach him to respect the law. Of course, it's not really up to me. I'll let Judge Isby make that decision, I'm expecting him to be back in town on Monday.""Well, at least we know Job won't have to sit in jail too much longer," Kate whispered to Ruby. "But Earp seem rather vicious, doesn't he? I wonder who he shot..." Ruby, in her usual directness, asks a man in the crowd "Who got shot?" The man replies "Dudley Yeats, the owner of the Trail Dust Saloon." Ruby and Kate keep walking slowly past the crowd, listening for any other information. Truthfully they were both exhausted and just wanted to get back to the Cantina for a nap. "I can always talk to Baxter later if I need to," thinks Ruby. They get back and go to their rooms. Ruby takes off her dirty dress, leaving it crumpled on the floor again, gets under the covers and falls right asleep. Down the hall Kate pulled off the dress and her corset, and slipped under the covers in just her sheer shift. Her eyes fell on the picture on her bedside table. She picked it up and fell asleep holding it against her heart.Shortly after 6:00 PM there is a knock at each of Ruby and Katherine's doors and Dorita's voice says "Girls, my Grandfather is waiting for you."  Both dress and head over to his room. They knock and the door is opened. "Please come in" he states. They enter the room and are shocked by what they see, as there isn't a single book in sight. Kate eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. Slowly her head turned from one end of the room to the other. "M-M-Mister Gonzales, where are the books?" she stammered, wringing her hands.A female voice from behind them states, "They are in the safest place in town, somewhere that no one can get to them unless they are supposed to be able to get to them.  Sonoma slips in behind the women and closes the door behind her looking at her great grandfather with a smile on her face. "You brought back a huge treasure with you in that wagon you know."Yes, I know," Kate said, taking a few deep breaths. "Although I got a few put upon looks from the men as they hauled them down. Books are always a treasure." She moved further into the room and took a seat. "I had just hoped to, well, it will be difficult for me to read them if they aren't here.""Ahh so my little bird thinks that I have taken her treasures out of her nest" the old man looks at her with a smile on his face. "The books are still here. It is up to you to see if you can find them. Consider this the first part of what I will teach you, you have until I finish the chapter I am reading." And he settles back in a handmade rocking chair covered with a bright woven blanket and picks up the book from his lap.Kate felt better knowing the books were still here, in some sense at least. Kate looked at the old gentleman and his serene countenance. He would watch over his book, but he wouldn't answer questions.  Well, all right. He'd obviously hidden them with magic. They must still be here, but the room had been stuffed to the rafters with them. She thought about how books smelled, the clean scent of paper, the crinkle of pages, the yellowish color and musty aroma of an ancient tome.   She stood up and began to walk around the room, her fingers gently tracing the walls when she could reach them. She looked for anything that had not been in the room before, and then closed her eyes for a moment. "Show me," she thought to herself. She focused every sense and feeling the books.Jake rises leisurely and listens to the relative quiet for a bit before getting out of bed. Before getting dressed he meticulously cleans and oils his Colt then replaces the empty bullet slots on the belt. He dons some clean clothes and examines the pile of items that has been sharing the room with him. He decides to put on the leather duster and carry the items with him in various places on his person until the ladies can take possession and figure out what to do with it. He heads down to the local store to purchase a couple of replacement button down shirts for the one that took a bullet earlier today. He unconsciously examines his wrist again while the purchase is being wrapped up. He then heads back to the cantina to wait for the others to appear, and to listen in on the locals’ conversation. Gun shots meant gossiping and it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what happened earlier. Hopefully it would have nothing to do with him, but Promise City had a strange way of not caring about whether or not you wanted to be involved. He had an uneasy feeling again.  He takes an empty table with his back to a wall and plays with a deck of cards to pass the time.Ruby has no idea what Gonzales is asking Kate to do. How the heck was she supposed to find the books on her own like that? Ruby had more important things on her mind. After their walk had brought back the information about Tom, Ruby knew she needed to do something about it. It has upset her so much the previous day that she drank herself silly. Poor Kate. “Um, Mr. Gonzales, I truly appreciate the offer to teach us, and I really do want to learn but I have something on my mind and I just need to take care of it quickly. I’ll be right back.” Ruby excuses herself and leaves Kate to find the books. She goes to Jake’s room and gets no response at the door. Maybe he was still sleeping? She decided to look downstairs before breaking into his room. She gets downstairs and sees Jake at the table in the corner. She smiles when she sees him playing with his cards. “Hi, Jake. Hope you enjoyed your nap?” She sits down at the table next to him. “Listen; do you remember yesterday when I told you what I found out about Tom? I think we have to go to Tombstone and find out if any of it is true. I don’t want to tell Kate anything until we know something for sure. What do you think?”Though Jake is listening and looking Ruby in the eyes he continues to shuffle the cards and deals out two hands of poker. "I agree. I'm not too happy about getting up early tomorrow, but I guess if we take the stage I can sleep on the way."  Ruby looks at her cards, smiles and say "Maybe your lucky hat rubbed off on me." as she turns over four queens and a ten. "There are times when you should leave things to luck," Jake replies turning over four aces and the jack of spades, "and times when you shouldn't." There is only a hint of a smile on his face. "But the stage won't give us much time there, only an hour. And that would assume that Miss Big Nose and contrary Mr. Earp will be around during that hour." He gathers up the cards and shuffles some more. "You feel lucky?"“You like the Jack of Spades don’t you?” Ruby says while unconsciously touching her bodice.  “I think we’re going to need the sleep on the stage, I’m still pretty tired even after my nap and I’m sure tonight will be busy at the Saloon.” Ruby pauses. “We’ll find them Jake, we have to.” Ruby looks at her cards. “Now we need something to tell Kate. I’m sure she can be entertained with her new books. If she can find them…And Nanuet will look after her I’m sure.” Ruby, smiling, throws down her hand, a full house, queens over eights. “Did I mention queens are my favorite card?” she says slyly, with a gleam in her eye. “Now as for feeling lucky, I’m still here aren’t I? But I have a feeling you make your own luck, Mr. Cooke.”"Well, my little Sandpiper, what have you ascertained?" Gonzales asks of Katherine. She shook her head. "You've hidden them with magic, of course. Illusion seems unlikely, since we would still be tripping over them. So they must be here somehow, but not here. As if there is a door to reach though. But I don't know how to sense them.""Very good," he replies. And although the doorway is indeed magical, it does not require a spell to find and open. However, you must be one with an affinity to use wizard magics. That is why Sonoma can find me in my other home while Dorita and Pedro cannot.”Sonoma states "You thought out the problem well, but you did one thing wrong. You discounted the possibility of others having the knowledge and didn't ask for help. My great grandfather may not have answered questions for you, but you never tried to ask and I was not under any restrictions to assist you in any way. So I could have helped you. The first lesson I was taught is that alone you are alone and are limited by your own mind and skills. Everyone and everything has something to offer if you find a way to ask.""I think my lesson is just a bit different," Kate said with a slight smile. "I did not discount that you would know how to find it, Sonoma. I made an assumption that it was a task I was to complete alone, and assumptions are foolish. When I was in school, asking for help on such an assignment would have been strictly against the rules.   I have always depended on the skills of others to help me, and it is a struggle to stand on my own. When I suddenly found myself alone, I was lost." Her eyes took on a faraway look. "I'm tired of being alone," she whispered.Gonzales continues, “To go to the other place one needs to merely know the correct magical words, one to make it visible, the other to allow it to open. Like everything else in life, without first speaking the correct words you will never find what you seek. Now one secret to any type of magical incantation is to make sure that somebody does not say it by accident and discover your secrets. The key there is pick words in a language unknown to those of the area or that somebody searching would think to use. For example, I would never use words in either English or Spanish, as those are the primary languages of this area. Similarly, if someone were attempting to find a 'magical door' they might try words from the languages of other pro-magic countries, such as French or Portuguese. Now back when I was in Texas I would often use words from either the Gaelic or Russian languages. That would not work for here in Promise City. My granddaughter often has dwarves staying at the Cantina. The dwarven Vikings made homelands of all the north European nations from Iceland to Russia, so those languages could potentially be known and spoken by a guest of the hotel.  I now use a language taught to me by a member of a race that seldom leaves their home so is known by only a few. It is the language spoken by the gnomes who inhabit the Pacific island of Hawaii." He stands and walks to the center of one wall of the room and exclaims "Mahalo Nui Loa". A stone arched doorway appears with a large oaken door in the center of it. The doorknob consists mostly of a large orb that appears to be made of cut crystal or perhaps even a diamond."Oh my," Kate said softly, reaching out to lightly touch the oak. "And this is the door to your other home." She backed up, thinking perhaps he would not want her so close to the door. "The must be more to it than just the words. But you said if someone can stumble upon the right ones, anyone could open it. But for some things just knowing the words would not work, is that correct? For some things you must have the affinity?"He replies, "There are no constants. Some magicial devices could be used by anyone. For example, anyone....or at least anyone could wear that magical protection coat that your associate Jake was wearing when you arrived back this morning tall enough.  Other magical devices can only be used by types of people or in some cases a specific individual. I have placed magical protections on this doorway, but any of my "little birds" would be able to access them just as I can."A half-hour earlier Nanuet had waken from his reverie and ponders the vision. He is excited and nervous about the possibility of being given the powers of a shaman. He had always spent his life alone, since his abilities to form bonds with animals and his skills as a scout had been developed he had been alone. Always alone in the mountains and desert, scouting. Scouting was a lonely job, something he took to and enjoyed up until now. Even when he worked on the ranches he had always been solitary, when he worked guarding the wagons he was alone. Now he had companions and had been through more with them in the last week then he had been through in many years. Being a shaman meant helping and guiding people. It meant no longer being alone. As he ponders that a face enters his thoughts. A young beautiful wood elf, caring and kind. A sweet girl that he thought held some secrets. Some secrets that he wished to discover. Sonoma. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Nanuet left the church and began wandering the outskirts of town. He used his knowledge of the area to head to the best spot where flowers would be growing. He spends the rest of the afternoon picking a bouquet of the best flowers he can find and heads back to the El Parador.  Nanuet enters the El Parador. If anyone looked closely they would see that he was cleaned up, his hair freshly braided, the grime washed from his skin, his fingernails clean. He sees Jake and Ruby playing cards and starts to turn away and takes a step back. He takes a deep breath and walks over to them.   "Everybody feel better now?" he asks, but doesn't wait for a reply. "Have either of you seen Sonoma around? I uh, er, I wanted to see her for a moment."  Dorita sees how he has cleaned himself up and the flowers in his hand. She smiles and says "I believe that my daughter is with her great-grandfather along with your friend Katherine. She may be a while but I will let her know that somebody is waiting for her here. Why don't you have a seat. ""Well, look at you! You took some of my advice I see," Ruby says while looking at the flowers in his hand. "Sonoma is upstairs getting a lesson right now. Whoops, I'm supposed to be there too. I have to run! I'll tell her you were looking for her." Ruby gets up from the table and looks at Jake. "I hope we can finish our game later..." She hurries in the direction of the stairs. "Oh and tell Nanuet what's going on!"  Nanuet smiles weakly at Dorita. "Thank you very much. I will wait right here. There is no rush, I can wait."  Nanuet sits near his friend Jake and pretends to be taking an interest in poker while trying to find a place to wipe the sweat from his hands.   "Oh!" Nanuet says as he spins around trying to talk to Ruby while she is still in the room "Uh I guess I will still just wait here. And thanks for the advice!" he yells after the red headed blur that spurts past him. He looks over at Jake, pulls up a chair and says "She is something else, not sure where she finds her energy." He puts the flowers down and says "So, what is going on, and how do you play this poker game of yours?"  Jake replies “My wise friend, when you figure out where she gets that energy I will be your student." Jake gathers up the cards and just shuffles them without dealing. "I doubt you would concentrate on poker right now, so let me tell you what's going on." Jake shares the story of Marshall Earp's strange behavior, Chumbley's refusal and admittance, plus the names they have to see in Tombstone. "We were wondering if you could help us distract Katherine tomorrow and keep an eye on her while Ruby and I go to Tombstone for the day and see if there is anything to this beyond suspicions. We really don't want to open those deep wounds if there is nothing to it." He stops shuffling for a moment, leans in and looks Nanuet in the eye. "I'll admit that I tend to see the worst side of people frequently enough, and maybe I am just too suspicious." He sits back in his chair and starts to shuffle again and says, "What do you think?"He replies, "I think that the Marshall is a dangerous man, one to keep on our side as much as we can. I think you are doing a good thing by investigating in Tombstone and I will keep Katherine occupied tomorrow, but I will not lie to her. I think I need a drink before Sonoma comes down here."  Nanuet smiles easily for the first time in a while as he tries to get Dorita's attention to have some drinks brought over.  Jake says, "Remember, we are trying to spare Katherine pain. So let me share some Jake wisdom, there is a difference between lying and withholding pertinent truths."</blockquote>

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