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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1983489" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 83, “Merchants and Doctors”, January 10, 1882:Nanuet looks over the list of supplies. "This should be easy enough to get this stuff. As for Curly Bill, that might be an issue, since in order to collect the bounty I believe we have to go to Texas. We can talk about that later, I don't want you to be late for the trial. I don't think I will be joining you though, my presence there won't do anyone any good. I will clean myself up and go and visit Flint today and see how things are going there." Nanuet heads inside the El Parador and asks if there is a room available since he has been staying in the grove for a while. He pays for the room and spends the next hour or so cleaning himself up, organizing his belongings, mending his clothes and sharpening his knives. He makes his way downstairs and waits for Sonoma to return.Ruby turns and hurries back to the El Parador. She grabs another clean dress, leaves the riding outfit, takes the green dress and hurries to the bathhouse. She tries to quickly take a bath but she is so dirty it takes longer than expected to get clean. After that she heads over to Kelly’s Dry Goods and Tailors. She walks in and sees a woman behind the counter. “Hello, Ma’am. I’m here to do some shopping and I need this dress altered. Do you have time?” “Of course,” she answers. “Let me see what you have, dear.” Ruby shows her the green dress. “Well, go and try it on.” Ruby does and is practically smothered by the neckline. “I need this altered, and the faster the better. I want this thing off, “she pulls at the bustle,” and I want this cut off," she points to the extra material on the neck. "Actually, let’s just make this off the shoulder, shall we? So take most of the sleeve off too. And take it up from the floor a bit, maybe to the ankle?” She looks up at the woman, who is looking at her like she is crazy. “What?”Mary Kelly looks at Ruby and says "So, the only thing you like about this dress is the color? I have other dresses that might be more to your liking." She takes her into a back room where around a dozen dance-hall-girl style dresses are on display, some with low cut necklines, and others fastened high on one side of the skirt to display leg. All of them are the same light-ivory off-white color but Mary says that she has dyes and can have them made in any color that Ruby would like.  Ruby's eyes are wide with excitement. "Oh these are beautiful! Yes I would like to buy a few, and any color I want, huh?" Ruby look though the dresses. "But can you fix up the green one too? I do like the color." Ruby pauses, "On second thought, forget the dress. I know someone who will love it just as it is." Ruby chooses three dresses of different styles and gives Mary some instructions for them. "I also need some new undergarments. I need something, uh... pretty." Mary laughs. "I have just what you need." Mary brings her over to a different section of the store. Ruby chooses what she needs with a smile on her face. "So what do I owe you and when will it be ready?" She charges Ruby $ 35 for everything and says that the dresses should be ready by Wednesday at 5:00 PM.Kate reached the Great Western Boarding House.  There were only a couple people left eating breakfast at this late hour, and a man in an apron quickly approached her. "Good morning," she said quietly. "I'm Mrs. Kale. I've come to check on the Deputy Marshall." She is taken up to his room. Wyatt Earp and Doc Eaton are there. The Doc looks to Katherine and says "It looks like a priest already got to him first, otherwise he probably wouldn't have made it back to town. Care to tell me about that?" The Doc says "Wyatt, you can go get going, you have prisoners to deal with. I think he'll be okay, he's primarily recovering from shock I think. I'll let him sleep for another 20 minutes, then I'll have to give him an elixir to get him up to testify at the trial in another half hour. I have to testify as well so I'll walk him over there."Kate says, "We were lucky to have been given a gift that could perform healing without the presence of a priest. We used it to heal the Marshall's wounds. Which is why I was so concerned about his lapsing back into unconsciousness. He woke when we healed him, looked up at me and said 'I'm sorry' and passed out again.  I am also planning on going to the trial. I'm not certain if my testimony will be needed, but it seems best to go just in case. I'll walk over with you if you don't mind."Eaton waits until it is almost time for the trial to administer the ointment to Morgan Earp. The glass vial has a strong alcohol smell to it. The Doctor holds back Morgan's head and pours the liquid down his through. Morgan starts to choke and then spits some of it out before opening his eyes. He stares at the Doctor and realizes where he is. "Thanks Doc, I.." he then sees Katherine and his eyes go wide.  The Doctor says "Mrs. Kale helped get you back here. You owe her and her friends your life." Eaton then turns to Katherine and says "If you'll excuse us for a few minutes I'll get him presentable for court.""I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle your patient, doctor. I'll wait downstairs, of course. Good to see you awake Marshall, you've had a rough morning." Kate left, being sure to shut the door quietly behind her. For a moment she considered standing at the door to see what she could hear, but that would be abominably rude. What was it about her that bothered, no shook Morgan Earp so? She paused just for a moment to see if any bits of conversation would pass through the wood, and then went downstairs to wait for the gentlemen.Ruby next heads over to Frye's Harness shop. She wants to buy some pants and she wants them tight so they either have to make them or alter them. Mr. Frye laughs. He has several pairs of leather pants but based upon what she wants suggests a pair in light tan. They look to be a little big. He tells her to sit in a bathtub while wearing the pants for a good hour and then to wear them until they are dry. That will shrink them to exactly fit her shapely form and the lighter color is close enough to flesh tone to make any man take a second glance.Well, that might look a bit silly sitting in a tub with pants on, but it will be well worth the trouble in the end, I'm sure." Ruby glances around. "I think I'll also take a holster for my gun. There won't be anywhere to hide it once I'm done with these pants." She chooses one that will fit and puts it with her new pants. "Thank you Mr. Frye and I'm sure we'll do business again in the future, especially if the pants do their job," she smiles as she pays him. Duncan Frye also suggests that she come back later wearing whatever she normally uses as a coat, shawl or poncho as well as with her gun, and he'll custom design her shoulder holster so that she can carry it concealed that way."Coat? I don't have one. I normally wear dresses, well, until I got here I did anyway." Ruby laughs at the thought of wearing a shawl while crawling though caves and climbing under coaches. "So I'd better get one of those too." She picks out a short leather jacket that won't impede her movement. "Something like this? If you can do it quickly, why don't you measure me now for that holster?" Shopping is so distracting she thinks, and more fun than a trial. Sure I won't miss much.Frye measures her arm and shoulder dimensions and asks her what type of gun she uses. He then goes to a desk drawer and unlocks it, and takes out some a wooden dummy guns and asks her to find one of the same size. He then has her demonstrate to him exactly how she draws. Somewhat embarrassed he tries to tactfully explain that her ample bosom would make what he has in stock for coats probably not work well, so he would have to custom make one for her. He then takes out some wooden dummy derringers as well as several different knives and asks if she has one for a back-up weapon. Since he is going to be custom making the coat for her anyway he says that he will be willing to build in a knife sheathe as well as a derringer holster right into a coat. He'll also add some extra padding to whichever side doesn't have the shoulder holster on it so that the bulge from the weapon will not be obvious. Lastly, he asks if there were anything else she'd like built into the coat, such as small inside pockets for specific items.“Well, Mr. Frye, you certainly know what you are doing. Sure, you can put in a spot for a dagger and a derringer. That would be helpful. And somewhere I can keep my money so no one can get to it. Oh and my keys too! If you can make a few small pockets, I’m sure they’ll come in handy eventually.” She looks at the man. “This is going to be the best jacket ever. Now I apologize but I really have to run!” She hurries out the door, then pops her head back in, “Oh when will it be ready?” He replies "Probably by Friday, but stop in on Thursday for a final fitting." After his answer she says, “Thanks, see you then!” Ruby heads over in the direction of the Comique Variety Hall and Saloon. She sees that the door the saloon is currently propped open. The adjacent Pierre’s Gunshop & Hardware store has a closed sign on it. Two doors further down the street the front doors two the Lone Star then open up. Maggie holds open the door as Tom Whipple, Jeff Mills, Tony Lucky, Al Brower, Pierre Jaquet and two other men all exit the building carrying chairs and barstools. Maggie tells Ruby “When Judge Isby holds court at the Comique it can get rather crowded so they borrow all the chairs from our Saloon and the Alhambra across the street.” Ruby sees Judge Lacey standing by the doorway to the Comique, dressed in the same suit he wore when he presented her with flowers. He gives her a broad smile and tells her “Once Judge Isby enters the building it officially becomes a courthouse instead of a saloon so I’ll be able to attend and still keep my promise to my late wife.”“Judge, it’s nice to see someone who keeps his promises. It’s a rare quality to find these days. How refreshing. I’ll see you inside then?” Ruby gives him a final smile as she starts to walk inside the Comique. Out of the corner of her eye she sees two boys playing nearby. One is a human who looks to be around six or seven and the other is a wood elf who appears to be a little younger. She hears them calling each other Ritchie and Manuel. She approaches them. "How would you two like to make a dollar today?" she asks, still smiling. "Do you know where Condon's Bank is?" They nod. "Well, I might need to fetch someone from there. How about you wait here during the trial that is going to happen soon and if I need you I'll come out and let you know. Even if I don't need you to go, if you wait here the dollar is yours after the trial. Deal?" She extends her hand to the boys. They eagerly shake hands with her. "Here is what you will do if you need to go..." She leans over and whispers to the boys. When she is done giving them instructions she asks them if they understand and they both answer "Yes Ma'am." "Very well, you behave out here while you are waiting," she winks, and then makes her way inside.Ruby enters the Comique and sees that all but one table has been moved to the far back wall where they have been stacked atop each other to open up as much space as possible. The chairs from the three saloons have been set up in the room as seven rows with ten chairs in each row, five on each side of a center aisle. The room is already starting to fill up with people. A man heads up to the bartender standing at the bar to order a drink. The bartender replies “Sorry, Judge Isby does not permit eating and drinking in his court. We’ll start serving again as soon as court is adjourned.” Doc Eaton assists Morgan Earp out the door and downstairs to the dining room of the Great Western Boarding House. Peg Watkins, the wife of the house’s owner has been sitting with Katherine until now, which has been a tad uncomfortable since Watkins has been talking about wanting to “civilize” the town and put restrictions on all Saloons. Katherine decided not to mention her living at one saloon and working at another. Morgan looks to be physically fine. Watkins has him a mug of coffee, which he happily accepts and drinks. Katherine joins the men. Morgan had physically leaned against Eaton going down the stairs but insists on walking on his own outside, saying he’d lose respect from the eyes of the town if he was seen needing help. The three of them make the short walk north one block to the Comique. Ruby sees Katherine enter along with Doc Eaton and Morgan Earp. Earp heads over to the stage and walks up the steps to. He then sits down on a single chair that had been placed there. Eaton takes an open seat in the front row. Chumbley and Parker Baxter are also both in the front row but on opposite sides, notebooks and pens in hand.   Katherine sees Flossie McKenna sitting in a chair along the side wall of the building. The two chairs next to her are presently empty. Ruby has taken a seat closer to the front of the room and appears to be saving two seats beside her. For a moment Kate considered going over and sitting next to Flossie, but she was certain the rumors were already flying about Tom because of Saturday night. If she were to sit next to Flossie the room would expect a catfight. Perhaps after the trial when the people were up and mingling about she could work her way over to the singer. Katherine worked her way up to Ruby, sat down beside her, and took her friends hand. "I'm so glad you're alright. Mr. Morand's people told us you'd all arrived safely." She leaned over and kissed Ruby's cheek but kept hold of her hand. "Kate!" was Ruby's enthusiastic reply. She threw her arms around Katherine’s neck and gave her a huge hug. “Is everything ok? What happened to you? Are you alright? I was so worried,” Ruby sighed a breath of relief and smiled. “I’m glad you are here.”"Yes Ruby, I'm fine. There was no more shooting after we were separated. I tended to the Marshall with Mr. Morand and Mr. Seawell, and Nanuet came back and used one of the stones to heal Mr. Earp's wounds. It was the strangest thing, Ruby," she whispered. "He healed just like he should, but when he woke he just moaned 'I'm sorry,' to me and passed out. The only reason he's awake now is because the Doctor gave him some kind of medicine.  But we all made it back alright. I don't know how you managed to stop that coach, but I'm glad you did."“That is strange about Morgan Earp,” Ruby says slowly. “He must have been very wounded to have passed out again. Maybe our friend Nanuet can’t heal every wound. Sounds like you saved his life Kate. Let’s hope he appreciates it. As for our coach ride, I’m not sure you want to know but it involved lots of praying and lots of luck. I had to climb under the stupid thing while it was moving. Believe me, my arms and legs are killing me! Jake’s clothes got ruined so I did some shopping. I’ve been meaning to anyway.” “You know, Earp told me yesterday not to worry about Job’s sentence. He said even if he was found guilty the Judge always offers his sentence as jail time or a fine.” "That's a relief. No matter what the Judge decides, Job has been in jail long enough. He's not dangerous." "So, you've been shopping? A much pleasanter way to go with your day than riding under stagecoaches. You should get some sleep after this is over. And a good long soak to ease your muscles." "Yes, it was about time I got some proper riding clothes of my own so I don't need to tear up someone's else's," Ruby laughs. She looks at Katherine quizzically. "I did have a bath Kate, can't you tell?" She puts her hand to her hair. "I think that was the dirtiest I've ever been. I suppose I'll need some help with the leftovers knots later." Ruby looks around at the crowd building in the room. "Sleep would be nice..." then she suddenly remembers, "Oh, but I'm having lunch with Judge Lacey today! Right after the trial. We're going to the Promise City Hotel."Kate replies, "I didn't mean a bath for getting clean, I meant one for feeling better. Don't worry, I'll help get the knots out of your hair.  I saw Judge Lacey on Sunday at the Cafe. He looked very disappointed. I'm glad you're making it up to him."</blockquote>

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