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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2121321" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 104,  “Catfight”, January 11th, 1882Jake finally shows up at the Cantina. He sees Ruby, Sonoma, & Chester having dinner with four place settings. "I'll be right back down after I clean up." He quickly drops off all but his normal weapons in his room, comes down to cleanup and joins the others at the table. "Did I miss anything important?" Ruby has Sonoma bring Jake out a plate while he is cleaning up. Ruby tries not to laugh as she glances at Sonoma. "Yeah, Nanuet is upstairs asking Mr. Gonzales permission to court Sonoma." She pauses, " And Nanuet gave me a lesson today, it was the most amazing thing!" She glances around the room, "But I guess I should tell you about that later. Oh and I got some information about the er, stuff, I should tell you about that later too. She pauses again. "But I did get my new dresses today, that I can tell you," she says with a smile."Chester says, "Evening, Mr. Cook. Glad to see you made it back alright. We were worried about you and Nanuet, when you didn't left for the hills. Did you find out who was shooting at us?"  Jake answers, "More of those outlaws from this morning. We brought back one that was one wounded from this morning to the Marshall." Jake has a bite of food and doesn't look up. "We made arrangements with a couple others so they won't be bothering us any more." He then looks up and says, "I think that half of those that attacked us this morning met their maker. We did manage to find out that the guy that hired these men over in Galeyville was an hombre named Pinto Joe Weems. We don't know who put him up to it. I expect that he is still out there somewhere." Chester replies, "Do you think this Weems fella will stop gunning for us now? Have you heard of him before?"  Jake says, "I've not heard of him before. But then again, I'm not from around here." Jake has another bite of food. "I don't know if he is still gunning for us." Jake stops eating and looks at Chester. "I'm not inclined to let folks think that they can throw a little money around and intimidate me. We've got ten of the $20 bills he paid out, I'd like to get the other ten or so and then make Weems regret the day he messed with Silver Jake Cook." Jake releases eye contact and has another mouthful of supper. He swallows, has a drink and smiles.   Chester says, "Well, I never did like people shooting at me. If you want my help, you can have it."  “That's mighty brave of you Chester." Jake says with a mysterious little smile. "I'd like your expertise later. We acquired a small cannon, but it is impractical to use because it has no stand or support. I was wondering if you'd care to have a look and perhaps figure out a way to make it useful."  Ruby asks, "How did your lessons go?"  He says, "Lessons were fine. Apparently there is hope for me and horse riding.""Oh, and before I forget, there are a couple of things you ought to know about the bank." Jake looks at Ruby and Sonoma and says in a lowered voice. "Please keep this confidential." Then in a lower voice to Chester. "I'm going to be quitting the bank job soon. Maybe tomorrow morning, depends how Condon takes it. I need to stay on good terms with him, but I don't need the employment. So if he's happy with you, the job's yours. The handy man that works there, Jones, is not to be trusted. I knew him some time ago and he me. Apparently he recommended me to Condon thinking I would help him... let's just say get access to things he shouldn't have." Jake pauses to let Chester absorb what he is saying. "I told Jones I didn't want any part of it, but he has been persistent. So here is my quandary, it would be awkward to go to Condon and tell him the guy who recommended me is not to be trusted. And Jones could have some information on me that might tarnish my reputation in town." Again a pause. "So I can't do anything about Jones. But you should watch him. Make sure he doesn't get close to Condon and steal his keys, and make sure he isn't observing the combination. Even better you should catch him doing something and look good to your new employer. And perhaps get the Condon brothers to better secure their keys on their person. They are frightfully easy to take." Chester and Sonoma look at Jake. "I've only seen it done before." He answers with a smile. Ruby just smiles back at his comment.Sonoma looks at Jake with a "you really believe I'd believe that" look smiles at him and head to the bar to refill the drinks she makes sure she has a good strong one for Nanuet when he returns as she thinks he'll need it.   Upstairs, Nanuet stands outside the door with a look of shock on his face. He says "Thanks... I think" the last part at lower volume. He returns slowly to the table downstairs and notices Jake has now entered. He smiles at Sonoma and says "Well, that is done. How about an answer to my questions?" He pulls up another chair and squeezes in at the table with the others "And if you don't mind, I need a drink. A strong one."Ruby asks, “Jake, where is Kate?"  He answers, “We rode back to town together. I thought she came back here a couple of hours ago." Chester, Jake, Nanuet and Ruby continue to enjoy their meal while Sonoma hands Nanuet the drink that was already at the table.  The quiet conversation is then interrupted by the arrival of the teenage girl seen before, again carrying a large stack of newspapers. She holds one up and yells "Promise City Herald, five cents." They look over and see in large bold type the front-page headline reading "Catfight at the Comique"Ruby gets up and walks over to the girl, taking a dollar out of her bodice. She hands the girl the dollar and grabs the paper, stands right there and reads it. Jake walks over to the pregnant girl, takes another paper and says "She doesn't need change. I wouldn't keep standing here if I were you." He smiles and pushes her along. He returns to the table and hands it to Sonoma. Chester sees the headline and wonders how Ruby will take it.The paper reads:  Things got really nasty at the trial of Job Kane and Marvin Keach, but it wasn’t the defendants that caused it. Observers at the trial instead were treated to a no-holds-barred verbal catfight between entertainers at the Palace Saloon and Lone Star Dance Hall and Saloon. The trouble began when Miss. Suzanne Foreman of Joliet, Illinois took the stand. She described how she arrived in town seeking employment in the oldest profession and found Tom Whipple of the Lone Star happy to hire her in that role. Tom Whipple then interrupted the court proceedings and had to be threatened by the judge to calm down. It should be noted that Whipple was seated beside his wife, whose objections to prostitution are well known and she obviously unaware that he had hired Miss Foreman in that capacity. Whipple was quick to accuse her of lying but when he was later given a chance to speak again under oath he opted not to. Miss Foreman recounted the events of that evening and how one of the gamblers, Job Kane interrupted her and her customer, Keach. It was confusing why a gambler dealt with a potential problem rather than the Lone Star’s bouncer, Jeff Mills, until Ruby West explained it to her. Apparently when Whipple hired West to provide upstairs entertainment for customers she felt it was an exclusive arrangement and saw Miss Foreman as competition. To rectify the situation she manipulated Kane into going upstairs and causing the interruption. Shots were exchanged between Kane and Keach, with Keach becoming injured. Keach later confirmed the events were as Miss Foreman had stated. West had an opportunity to speak in her defense. She supported the story told by her employer Whipple, however since she perjured herself in her opening statement the rest of her testimony was likewise also untrue. She had begun by stating her name as Constance Grace West with no mention of her legal last name of Cookie. The most interesting testimony however was from Jake Cookie, as he was vague about what happened and did not make any attempt to defend his wife’s honor. Then again, what kind of husband permits his wife to engage in prostitution.  One side note to the story. This reporter attempted to locate Mr. and Mrs. Cookie last night for their side of the story, but the couple was too busy initiating a bar brawl at the Gay Lady Variety Hall and Saloon. Ruby throws the paper on the floor and stomps out of the Cantina. "Is it just me or is anyone else thinking that is a bad sign," Jake asks around at the table. Chester replies, "Yes. The question is, should we follow her?"  Jake leisurely gets up and picks up the paper. He reads the article and then examines the paper for the major advertisers. Jake notices that the back page of the newspaper features a full-page advertisement for the Palace Saloon.Ruby frantically paces back and forth on the porch of the Cantina, trying to cool off. Finally she takes out her dagger and jabs it violently into the wood of the railing and then sits, head in hand. After he's read the article and enjoyed the ads, he folds up the paper and strolls outside onto the porch.  Chester thinks, “Better him than me. She's less likely to kill him."  Seeing Ruby sitting there Jake goes over and sits down next to her. He looks at her and says with a straight face, "Bastard spelled my name wrong." "Is that supposed to be funny?" Actually when she thinks about it, it is and she laughs a little.  She says, "Ok, so explain to me then what kind of husband doesn't defend his wife's honor and lets her perjure herself and be a prostitute and can't even remember her name..."Jake answers, "Unless an unusual opportunity presents itself, killing Baxter or Adair will only get you the rope, and Chumbley will just print a story saying you are a murderer too." Jake stares across the street without looking at her. "There are other options however. But they take time, some patience, and some planning. Money doesn't hurt either. Interested?" "I'm listening." Ruby states.  Jake whispers to Ruby, "We start by putting them both out of business." Katherine woke with a stiff neck from sleeping in the chair. She got up and stretched, then changed back into the simple brown dress she'd worn that morning to the land office. She took the braid out of her hair, brushed it, and left it to hang loose behind her back. Then she collected the box of jewels and went to see Mr. Gonzales. He came out the room with the books a few moments after she called out. "Mr. Gonzales, I hope you can help me. I don't know what to do." "And how can I assist you my little sandpiper?" he asks. Kate took a seat, set the box on the table and opened it. "I was out with Jake today, and he said some things that made me think. I made a decision on my own that really should have been made by all of us who went to the rustlers’ caves. It's not only my choice what happens to this box and it's contents.  It is wrong to essentially take this wealth from the others, especially when I shared in the valuables that they found. But it is also wrong to not return this to it's proper owner. By that logic we should also return the books, although I can't imagine how he could carry them away.  Maggie Whipple needs someone to buy into her business, and these jewels could allow me to do that and help her. It seems there is no right choice to be made here, and I don't know what to do anymore. I know you can't tell me what to do, but I'd like to hear what you think."  Manuel says "What I think is that you are getting ahead of yourself here. We know that the man coming here is in one of the photographs. We do not know that he is the rightful owner of the items. Let things take their proper course."Kate nodded and closed the box. "There's something else as well. I was speaking to Mr. Booth last night, I'm sure you know him. He told me he knew a secret of mine, and when I asked what, he said to you and I were, umm, 'having a relationship.' He was teasing of course, but he knew that you were teaching me magic, and cautioned me. He said if others observed 'the way we looked at one another' they would likely think we were involved, and that could cause trouble. He suggested we be more discreet." She shook her head. "As if we've been doing anything indiscreet."The elderly wood elf lets out a loud belly laugh. "Ah, the imaginations that some have."  He regains his composure and says, "I wouldn't worry too much. You have nothing to fear from Mr. Booth. While I would not suggest playing at his card table I feel that he can be trusted otherwise. I am not surprised that he has deduced who and what I am, although if there has been any indiscretion it was probably from me and not you. I have such a comfort level around my family that I sometimes say or do things that others might notice.” She replies, "Oh, I have no fears of Mr. Booth. He was perfectly kind, but he did think such a rumor would be one Evan Adair would enjoy spreading. And I can understand being comfortable around your family, I have been comfortable with them from the first day I stayed here." Kate paused a moment. "You came here from Texas, and sometime in the last two years, yes? Maybe you can help me with something else. It's unlikely, but would you happen to know what the bounty on Curly Bill was? The Apache dug his body out from the caves and want us to collect the it and purchase some supplies. I don't mind doing it, but we just can't travel to Texas now. There's a bounty hunter in town, and I thought I might be able to make arrangements with him, but I can't start any negotiation if I don't know what the bounty is."He replies, “I wouldn't know, but I do know that he had a reputation for Cattle Rustling prior to coming here to Arizona. I believe he was also arrested for attempting to rob a stagecoach and that he later escaped.”  She says, "I have some misgiving about approaching a bounty hunter. I had thought to ask him for 75% of the bounty and then take him to the body and he could take it to Texas and make a profit on the bounty there. But I'm afraid once he knows where the body is he'll decide it's easier to just take it.  Maybe I should consider going. There might be a train from Tombstone. What is the trip to Texas like?"He replies "I think that Texas is wonderful, but I'm biased. It would probably be a very long trip. El Paso Texas isn't far from here, but if the Governor was the one who posted the bounty you would have to go all the way to the Capital of Austin, in southeastern Texas. That would be nearly 900 miles from here.She says, "I can't be gone that long, I'm needed at the Lone Star. How am I going to move a corpse 900 miles? I wish I knew what the bounty was. If it's small enough I'd just go ahead and cover it myself and bury him."  Kate looked over at Mr. Gonzales just a bit desperately. "I have far too much to do, and no idea how to do it."  He answers, "Well you can begin by having your friends help you. I would take you to Austin myself except that it wouldn't be very safe for me. If it were I wouldn't be here in Arizona. And I also don't think you'd like the consequences of my getting killed on your behalf.”  She says, "Indeed I wouldn't. There's no need for you to endanger yourself for this. As for getting help... Usually I would but it was brought to my attention today that my problems are not everyone else's problems. I suppose I have been something of a burden," she finished quietly. He laughs again. "A burden? You're the mortar that has been holding your friends together. Without you they would all be lost." "I think perhaps they prefer to be. I'm the only one who doesn't like being lost," she answers. She walked over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for listening. I'd like to leave the box here for safekeeping if you don't mind. I should go put on a new dress and get ready for work. It's not every day you might meet a President, and I'd say that's an occasion to dress for, wouldn't you?" "Oh indeed. Although you don't need an occasion to look beautiful." He says "Not just the dress though, hold still." He casts and incantation and she can feel her hair moving around. He then lifts up a mirror that wasn't in his hand a moment before and she sees her reflection. Her hair has been rearranged in long curly strands, some of which drape down and others that move up onto the top of her head and fastened with a silver and diamond band. The hair also now has auburn highlights to the darker color. She hasn't seen anything quite like this style it outside of portraits of 18th century French Queens.  Gonzales stokes his chin with his other hand and says "I'm not sure? What do you think?"Kate turned her head, holding her breath. "Fit for a Queen. It's so lovely, professeur aimé. But maybe not fit for a waitress in a Saloon." "Perhaps you're right." He snaps his fingers and her hair instantly rearranges itself back close to its original style and color, although she notes in the mirror that the silver and gold band remains, holding together the hair in the back in a ponytail. He says "They aren't real diamonds but you'd have to be very close to notice.""I should go, Maggie will be here soon, and I still need a dress worthy of this. This will be two days without a lesson. I'll make sure to come up tomorrow." Kate kissed his cheek again. "Thank you."  She left Mr. Gonzales rooms and went back to her own. She unpacked a lovely plum colored dress, a bit too dressy for the Lone Star perhaps, but she wanted to feel pretty. Her mother had always said, the worse you felt on the inside, the more important it was to decorate the outside.</blockquote>

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