Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2002743" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 87, “The Bank Withdrawal”, January 10, 1882:After that he takes Sonoma by the hand and the two head towards the bank to look for Jake. They enter the bank and receive stares from the patrons. Nanuet looks uneasy and tries to find Jake very quickly. He notices that Ruby and Kate are there also.   "Excuse me Jake, and ladies. Sonoma found out some interesting information that we think you might want to know about the men this morning. Do you have a minute to talk?"Jake steers Nanuet outside, and nods to the others to move out as well. "Can you make it quick? Condon is a bit antsy today and... well never mind that now. I'll tell you later." He looks expectantly at Nanuet. "Yeah, I wasn't sure if coming here and having this discussion would be the best idea, couldn't hurt to stop by anyway. See you at the El Parador for a late supper?"  Jake exclaims, “Whoa! I didn't mean to chase you off. Just keep it quick. And yes, I was hoping to see you all for dinner."Nanuet slinks out of the room very aware of the eyes that are on him. "Well, I think I am going to head over to see Flint now." Nanuet says to whomever will listen as he stands outside the bank. "If anyone wants to come along you are more than welcome." Nanuet waits for a reply about whether or not anyone wants to come, then heads back to the El Parador to grab his belongings, mostly his knives and rifle, and heads out to see Flint.   Kate says, "I've been wanting to go out and see Flint. I've been rethinking what you said about seeing if I could partner in his ranch. And I wanted to ask him about coming out tomorrow. What do you think Ruby? We could make a quick trip and then come back and see Mr. Gonzales, and meet everyone for dinner later."Ruby thought it over. “It’s never a quick trip around here. But sure, we can do that. Just give me a moment.” Ruby runs back into the bank and pulls out some money. “I’d like to make a deposit please!” Ruby deposits $400 into the bank and runs back out. "I'm ready!"Katherine, Ruby and Sonoma return to the El Parador and prepare for their journey to Pete's Ranch, a mile to the southeast. Ruby gets changed into her brand new riding outfit and plans to wait downstairs for everyone else to get ready, but of course they are all waiting for her instead. 'Shall we ride?" she says walking out to the stable. They make their way to their horses and start the ride to Flint's.Jones returns with lunch for everybody at the bank and then departs. Morgan Condon arrives and talks to his brother. He then comes over to Jake and Chester and asks them to alternate eating, that he wants one of the on alert at all times. He also checks his watch. "You are obviously worried about something in particular, care to share that with me?" Asks Jake. "Them" Condon states as six armed men walk though the front door of the bank. Jake looks quickly while reaching to draw his gun.Jake recognizes three of the men and Chester recognizes two. Accompanying the miner Patrick Seawell are Zack Morand, Tempel Morand and three other men who also bear a strong resemblance to Zack and Tempel. One is older and Jake presumes him to be the family patriarch Forest Morand. They approach Frank Condon who heads into his private office with Forest and Zack. Seawell tells Jake “New business venture. Zack said he wasn’t interested in partnering with Fisk on a mine, he didn’t say he wasn’t interested in owning one. The Fisk gold mine site wasn’t the only prospective site that I came upon and the Morands have the capital to make this work. They’re also decent people to work with.”"I never got a chance to thank you for your part in those negotiations." Jake says to Seawell. "I know you have your own motivations, but thanks anyway. I was also liked the younger Morand, and if his older brother is anything like them you have some good partners. Let me know if you need any help, I have a feeling you are going to be successful and I wouldn't hesitate to work with folks whose word I could trust."He replies, "I think we will too. My other former partners will probably angry at me for keeping the location of other potential sites to myself but I had my reasons, which I think they may understand once I explain it to them. And on that subject, I’ve got a suggestion for you. Fisk needs me alive too much now to risk hurting me but I’m still worried about my former partners. Once everything is signed later this afternoon they should be safe. Since you’ll now be in charge of the security, once the paperwork is done you should get some guards out to the site so that Elliott and Lewis can come to town, preferable with a few bodyguards just in case Fisk hasn't gotten the message to his cronies.   I’d like to have a congratulatory drink this evening if possible with all four of you and also explain to them exactly what I did today so they’ll be no hard feelings between us.”"Even though I only have security for transportation I can make arrangements to get the others back here tonight." Jake says to him. "I don't see how they can arrange to have a security presence at the mine tonight on such short notice. I haven't been in town long enough to know who to recommend without spending some time asking around."  He replies, “Well, I really can't arrange something, since as of 4:30 PM I'll be signing away everything to do with that mine. You might want to check with those soldiers who were around town earlier, that sounds like their job anyway.”Morgan Condon has Jake accompany him into the vault. They shut the vault doors and he has Jake help him remove the floorboards and get at all of the real money. Condon explains “The Morands are withdrawing $ 25,000 from their account. Unfortunately that exceeds the bank’s cash on hand but that since they’re just moving it over to the First National Bank of Promise City the manager there will take a promissory note from me for the difference. Don’t worry about solvency issues though, we could always call in some loans if we have too. Heck, people have a lot of confidence in this bank. My brother told me that only this morning a woman opened up a new account with $ 400.” They get all eight bags of paper currency stored under the floorboards. "Now what?" Asks Jake.Condon answers, “Now you and that Chester guy should accompany them over to the other bank. Let them carry the money, you guys handle the firearms. And Jake, I want you to personally carry the promissory note to give to the other bank manager, Paul Stevens.” They exit the vault with the money. Condon sits down at his desk and writes out the note and places it within a leather folder. Each of the four younger Morands takes two of the moneybags. Zack says to Jake “Are you ready?”Chester looks over at the bags and gives a low whistle. That many bags mean lots of money. I'd love to know where they're going, but I don't want to seem nosey. He grips his rifle a little tighter. "In a minute. Chester, take a look up and down the street just to be sure it looks ok."  He steps out of the front door to the bank. Looking carefully left and right, Chester makes a mental note of anything unusual. He retreats back into the bank. "I don't see anything odd."   After Chester gives the all clear Jake says "Ready." Chester whispers to Jake, "What's going on? Isn't Mr. Condon worried about both of us leaving the bank?"They have to travel a mere 125 feet north from Condon’s Bank to the First National Bank, a 25x25 foot single-story brick and stone building at the northeast corner of Main and Front Streets. The walk up Front is uneventful and Jake takes a very cautious look out onto Main Street. What he sees is very reassuring. Deputy Sheriff Colin Hunter is standing outside of the Sheriff’s Office on the southeast corner. Morgan Earp is eighty feet away to the right, standing outside of the front door of Peacock’s Saloon on the north side of Main Street. Wyatt Earp is around a hundred feet west on the south side of Main Street leaning along to the fence to Cassidy’s Lumberyard. None of the three lawmen appear to be doing anything other than standing around although Jake notices that their eyes are taking in everything and their weapon hands are within inches of their revolvers. Zack Morand says to Jake, “My older brother believes in being cautious, especially after what happened to us this morning.” They arrive at the bank and are quickly ushered inside by Mr. Stevens who then puts a “Closed” sign on the bank door, which he then locks. An armed guard is also standing right inside the door. Forest Morand and Paul Stevens sit down at a table and discuss business arrangements. Stevens and Morand each sign some papers. Stevens then counts out all of the money, which takes a considerable amount of time. The bank vault is then opened up and the bank guard brings the money inside. Stevens then reopens the bank.Jake gives the note to Paul Stevens as requested. "Anything else gentlemen?" "All set" Stevens states. Seawell and the Morands depart the bank. Seawell tells Jake "See you in around three hours." Jake and Chester return to the bank and to their now cold uneaten lunches. The remainder of the afternoon goes relatively uneventfully. At around a quarter to three Danby Jones returns and asks Frank about painting. Frank says "Not today, but you can sweep up while you're here." When Danby gets near Jake he whispers "I brought the extra keys with me. Both brothers are around now so it's a great the time for you to make the switch. With the bank closed tomorrow it'll be a while before they discover that we've cleaned out the vault." Jake just shakes his head no at Jones. He says quietly, "I already told you, not me." Jake wraps up his cold lunch and tosses it away.A discouraged Jones leaves the bank. Things are uneventful after that. The bank closes promptly at 3:00 and all of the day's counting is completed by 3:30 as both Condon brothers are around to assist. Frank approaches Chester and hands him $ 2.25 saying, "I didn't know it when the day began but it turned out that we did need two guards today. Well done Mr. Martin. On a regular day we'll probably only need one though, but it never hurts to have a trained back up. Drop by on Thursday before the bank opens up and we'll give you a proper orientation."  He replies, "Thanks, Mr. Condon. I'll be here then." During a quiet moment Jake corners Chester. "How did it feel to guard the transfer of twenty-five thousand dollars?" Chester's eyes widen. "Is that what this was all about? If you'd told me that earlier, I would've been really nervous." "If the deal goes as I hope this afternoon, there may be an opportunity for some guard work hauling ore from the mine. As a matter of fact, we'll need someone to run the security detail. Would you be interested?" Jake says to him. "I'm not offering you the job, at least not yet. But you handled yourself well today, and that counts for a lot."  Chester answers, "That's funny. I'm getting real popular today. Mr. Condon wants me to come back Thursday for guard orientation as a back up to you. But security for a mine? Hopefully this one is more understanding about ambushes." He winks.Jake is careful to watch that Jones does not attempt any switch today. After they leave the bank Jake says to Chester. "If things go well with my 4:30 appointment I may need some help in getting those miners back from the mine. Things are pretty fluid right now, so if you can be flexible I'd appreciate it. We may need some other help as well, see what you can figure out. I'd sure like to take advantage of those federal troops or even the local law."  Chester answers, "I'm not sure what I can do. You probably noticed Lt. Gamble has it in for me. So help from the Army isn't likely." Jake stops and is lost in thought. "You did good today. If you are willing to take it as it comes, we should be able to make sure you have a job. I think that the Condon brothers are OK with you, but there may be other or better opportunities."   Chester says, "I think I need to learn to be flexible. Thanks for the offer." Jake snaps his fingers and pats Chester on the shoulder. "I got to run. Meet me at Berg's office at 4:30. Stay out of trouble." Chester smiles, "I'll try, Mr. Cook. But it won't be easy." Jake runs off to see Morgan Earp.</blockquote>

Verification