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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2348109" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 120, “The Bank Robbery”, Friday, January 13th, 1882:Gonzales nods in response to Ruby’s apology.  Ruby now notices that Sonoma is also in the room. The young wood elf heads towards the door and says "Talk to my Great Grandfather. He is a good listener. This much anger does not come from nowhere." She then adds "And when you are done with him you may talk to me if you wish. I listen well too." She then departs. Gonzalas says "Come in. Let me get you something to drink, although I think something non-alcoholic would be in order. Have you ever sampled Birch Beer?"She replies, "No I've never had that. I usually drink whiskey." He finds a corked ceramic bottle and pours her some. Ruby tastes the beverage. It doesn't taste like a beer at all but does have an odd flavor. It is also bubbly, like champagne. He says "I've always liked this myself, and you don't have to worry about a hangover in the morning." He then says "My Great Granddaughter speaks from the heart but the truth is that whatever is now bothering you may not be for my ears, although a short break from the rest of the world may indeed be what you need. If you would prefer, rather than talking with me, you might just want to find a book in the library and sit and read until you feel better.""Read?" she repeats back in disbelief, "I'm not Kate. Reading doesn't make me feeling better as a matter of fact that is what started off what is turning out to be the worst day I've had in a long long time."  She looks down to her birch beer. "This stuff is pretty good. It's sweet." Ruby starts talking and barely takes a breath as she tells Mr. Gonzales all about Jake, ending with the letters, and her coming to Promise City and some of the things that happened in her past and things she has done.   Ruby pauses then says finally, "I'm sure you didn't want to hear all that. You know I will admit that Sonoma may be right about some things she said to me, but it still doesn't change what I have to do. I hope you understand and I don't want to leave with you being mad at me."Gonzales ponders this for a minute. He says "So it's basically the letter to the woman in Philadelphia, possibly a current or former wife, that has you upset. First of all, has Jake lied to you? Did he tell you that he wasn't now or ever married? For that matter, did you tell him about all of your past relationships? I believe that he and you should speak about this, although given what I've seen of your temper I would also recommend that you be unarmed when you have that discussion with him, I'd rather not have to clean up any more messes around here.  And my earlier offer to travel still stands. If you wish to go I will take you to where ever you might wish for a destination. We could even travel to Philadelphia if you want to tackle this problem at the source, provided that you first promise me that you will not kill this woman."“I’m not going to shoot Jake,” Ruby says shaking her head. “And I’m not going to kill his who ever she is. I must be an awful person for you to think that.” He replies "If you could see yourself right now, how angry you are at the moment, I think you'd understand. I don't think you are an awful person but at the moment you are not acting all that rational."  Ruby stops to wonder why people think bad things of her before continuing. “Well, tomorrow I’ll be gone and won’t be causing you any more messes or causing any more trouble for anyone.” “No, Jake didn’t tell me he had a wife, and honestly I don’t care if he has ten wives.  But something that important he should have just told me because I trusted him. Ruby pauses and catches herself, “I er, was starting to trust him. I never lied to him about anything. I did actually tell him about the one real relationship I had. I haven’t gotten close enough with anyone since then to have any other relationships.” Ruby smiles a small sad smile. “The thought occurs to me that he might not even be talking to a wife but someone else…” Ruby doesn’t finish this thought. She continues, “But you and I both know that leaving out a truth is just as much a lie as telling one.” Ruby stops to pull her hair off her face. “And I don’t think there is any talking for us to do. I’m not going to believe him anyway and what could he say to change things? Plus he won’t want to talk to me, I’m sure he’s mad I read his letter. I would be. I do owe him a promise though, if he still wants it. No, I am only mad at myself for allowing myself to get close to anyone, and Jake isn’t the only one, he’s just the one who made me realize it.” Gonzales asks, "And are you also mad at yourself for getting close to Kate? She values your friendship and when you calm down I think that you'll realize that the feelings between you two is mutual."  She says, “Yes, I was referring to Kate too. She is going on with her life, with her ranch and her dreams and eventually she’ll tire of me too. Kate has been kind to me, that is true, but you showed me how to use magic, and no matter what happens to me that will always be useful.” Ruby continues, “I don’t want to meet Jake’s wife or whoever she is. He wants to go visit so maybe you can help him out with your offer. That might make him happy.”  He replies "I have no desire to do anything with Mr. Cook. He is not one of my 'little birds' and if he is the cause of you being this upset then I'm not sure if I even like him any more."   She says, “Don’t be mad at Jake, it’s not his fault I snooped in his letters.” Ruby says, “Although I am curious, where were you going to take me that is 800 miles away?”  He answers, "Dallas, Texas." Ruby continues curiously, “What is in Dallas, Texas?” Mr. Gonzales can tell that Ruby doesn’t want to look too interested.   He replies "The original Lone Star Dance Hall and Saloon. Seeing it, and talking to a few people there, would have answered several questions about the Whipple family. But there's little point in going there now since, well....." and he then waves his fingers in a certain way and she then hears her own words in her own voice from twenty minutes earlier stating "I don't care about Maggie or any of the stupid Whipples." Ruby blushes. "I am sorry I said that. I guess I just felt like you didn't care that I said I was leaving. But I understand..." Ruby stops to rub her eyes and takes a deep breath. “I’m going to go to Tombstone and I will take the stage tomorrow morning. Then I will decide in a few days what I will do from there. It won’t be anything different from what I always do. But I do appreciate your offer to help. As I said earlier you have been kind to me, kinder than anyone I have known probably.”  She says, "Thank you, although I still believe that Kate's kindness to you far exceeds mine." Ruby gives him another smile. "Goodbye Mr. Gonzales." Ruby heads back to her room, thinking about her bad behavior. She decides to head to the bank to try and get her money out of there before they close for the day, since they will be closed tomorrow. Ruby walked to the bank lost in her thoughts. She was confused about what she wanted to do and Sonoma’s thoughts echoed in her mind, as did Mr. Gonzales. She had been so mad at those stupid letters and the reason was starting to sink in, as much as she didn’t want to admit it. As she arrives at the bank her thoughts are broken by gunshots. She looks up startled and realizes the shots are coming from inside Condon’s bank. “Poor Chester,” she thinks, “It’s only his first week.” She considers for a moment that she should not get involved but if there was any chance she could help Chester she should do it. He had been very nice to her after the wagon incident. Plus, she did want to get her money and not let some bandits get away with it. She sees the “Closed” sign on the door and shakes her head. She pulls out her gun, preparing it for action. She slowly turns the handle on the door and peeks in.By the time that Nanuet awakens it is after noon. He goes down to the Cantina and Pedro gives him some food to eat. He asks about Sonoma and is told that she is out by the stable.   He heads that direction and finds her caring for one of the horses and talking to herself in Spanish. He does not understand what she is saying but makes out the name 'Ruby' a few times. "Hello Sonoma" he states so as not to startle her. She is happy to see him and gives him an embrace. They start to take a walk together in the alleyway outside of the stable. "What were you talking about?" he asks. She replies "Oh, Ruby got myself and Great Grandfather totally upset, it's a long story." Nanuet looks up and says "Speaking of Ruby...." The two see her marching west on South Street with a very determined look on her face. "Should we stop her?," he asks. She replies "No, but it might be a good idea to follow and see what she is up to." They follow down the street a safe distance back. They then hear gunfire further down the street and see her head up to the door of the bank and cautiously peer through the window.At the first shot, Chester dives into the vault. Neither Deadeye or the other outlaw attempt to stop him, being preoccupied with Jake and Kate. Condon and the two tellers quickly follow Chester into the vault in their attempts to get out of the line of fire. Kate leaps to her feet and is about to vault over he barrier as the man who grazed her yells "The last was a warning shot. Don't make me kill you." She sees his revolver pointing squarely at her head. Deadeye's gun is still trained on the wall where Jake went over and she realizes that he would also be able to take a shot or two at her before she made it fully over the wall. Four feet in front of her she sees the man Pinto slump against the wall holding his wound and moaning. "I know when I'm outnumbered," Kate said as she lowered Tom's pistol.Chester grabs one of the shotguns. Using the vault door as cover, he moves to fire at Deadeye. While Kate  is debating her next move she sees Chester in the vault now with a shotgun. Before he can actually get into a position to fire he first sees the woman Shotgun Sally still lying on the floor and taking aim for a direct shot up at him and the other three in the vault with her own shotgun. Thinking fast and realizing that she'll shoot before he can get his own shotgun raised and pointed, Chester ducks back behind the door, pulling the inside handle of the vault with him to start to shut the vault door. Her shotgun blast goes off, most of it striking the front and side of the metal door but also hitting and wounding Chester on his left side. Kate sees Chester starts to leave and then pulls back, trying to close the vault door as the woman on the floor fires her shotgun, some of the shot hitting Chester. Simultaneous to this, Dudley and Pamela Yeats both scamper across the floor and behind the desk.    Chester thinks “It hurts but he's had worse.”  At least the combination of Chester's body and the metal door managed to totally shield the other three bank employees from the blast. The shot had also hit the door with such force that it was pushed further shut, the door now being open only around three inches. Twelve feet behind Katherine and on the other side of the door Ruby peers around the "closed" sign and through the bars and glass of that comprise a small window on the door. The glass is frosted so she isn't able to get a clear picture of what is going on inside but she does manage to see the vault door moving.  Sally's shotgun blast go off, and a woman standing by the tellers window wearing a dress the same color as one that Kate owns. Two more men are near the bank door but she doesn't know if they are friend or foe.“This doesn’t look very good,” Ruby thinks. “And I HOPE that isn’t Kate. Good thing Jake slept late today.” She sees Sally take a shot at the vault and hit Chester.  She is about to shoot at Sally but then realizes Chester is hurt. Frank yells "Just shut it. Morgan can let us out later!" Chester winces in pain. "Damn. That stings. Mr. Condon, you stay in here. I'm going back out there. Close the door behind me." Louder, he says, "I'm coming out to check on the man you shot. I'm unarmed." Chester leaves the shotgun in the vault. He opens the vault door.Deadeye pulls the door all the way open with his left hand, his Colt still in his right. Shotgun Sally is standing up and pointing the gun inside. "Yeats, get that shotgun and give them the bags." Dudley Yeats is on his feet again and is walking heads towards the vault door holding two large canvas bags with rope tie stings." Douglas tells all four bank employees "All of you fill those with the moneybags as quickly as you can and none of you will get hurt."Ruby realizes that more than one person is hurt. Nanuet had only taught her some simple healing but it would still be better than nothing. So she decides to take a chance.  She quickly picks the lock .  She then  pulls the holster off her leg and drops it next to the door. She sticks her gun far down the front of her dress and hopes no one notices it in the craziness of a gunfight. Chester is standing before the open bank door with his hands in the air. The left side of this shirt and upper end of his pants are ripped up saturated with blood. A woman with a shotgun has Chester covered and another man is walking towards the vault doors holding two large canvas bags. A second man, clean- and neatly dressed, stands near the open back. He is the only one talking and she hears him say "....can and none of you will get hurt." Another woman is on the floor pouring water from a canteen over the face of a very large man lying unconscious on the floor. Another man is sitting on the floor with his back against the teller's window holding his hands over a chest wound and moaning. She is unsure if any of these three are outlaws or bank customers. Then she pushes the door open and walks right in. She sees that it is definitely Kate at the tellers’ window and she had seen Chester walk behind the barrier.  “Er, I’m just here to make a withdrawal…” Ruby says putting her hands up. Looking around she says, “But I think you might have beaten me to it.” She furrows her eyebrows, “I heard my friend is hurt, if you are going to take my money can I at least help him?”  Deadeye pivots around as the door opens and points a Colt revolver directly at Ruby. "Step inside and shut the door" the neatly dressed man exclaims to her. As she enters the room she now sees another outlaw, this one behind the teller's window. He has a gun in one hand, which is pointing downward. He tells his leader "I think the one back here is dead." "Oh, Jake," Kate whispered covering her mouth with her hand. Her vision went blurry as tears filled her eyes, and the taste of blood was sharp in her mouth. She had been holding the pistol two-handed and the handle was becoming slick with blood in her hand. For the first time, the thought of shooting someone did not turn her stomach.Ruby assumes that the person he is talking about is one of the bank tellers. Then she notices a familiar looking hat lying on the floor not far from Kate's feet. It might have fallen off the head of the man with the chest wound but it might also be Jake's lucky hat. The neatly dressed man tells the man behind the counter "Just grab the cash and get out here."Wyatt Earp is sitting in his office watching the clock. He looks at the cold remains of a cup of coffee and decides against it. His stomach begins to rumble and he is glad to break the monotony with lunch. He starts to rise out of his chair when he hears a faint gun shot. Then more, gun shots. He moves quickly to the doorway and stops, remembering that Morgan is in Tombstone. He turns and heads back to grab a rifle and bolts out the door. Once in the street he looks and listens. A shotgun blast brings his attention around to the direction of Condon’s bank. "Not a bank again." he says followed by a curse he runs quickly down the street and sees that troublemaker Ruby West entering the bank some distance ahead of him.Nanuet hears the gunshots from the vicinity of the bank and then sees Ruby enter. "What is she doing?" he says to Sonoma as he begins sprinting towards the building. He sees Ruby step in and as she does she raises her arms over her head. The door closes behind her. As he runs Nanuet begins a prayer to protect himself from anyone who might decide he would make a good target. Sonoma begins to bolt right next to Nanuet, she starts singing as she runs.   “Chester how hurt are you?” Ruby asks. He responds, "Not as hurt as the guy back there," pointing behind the barrier. Ruby is trying to stay calm and walks over towards the teller's wall to look behind the counter, hoping that more than one person has the same hat as Jake. The color drains out of Ruby’s face when she sees it is Jake who is the other injured person, the one who they think is dead.  Katherine turned her head slightly as Ruby entered the bank. It was bad enough Jake and Chester were here and hurt, she didn't want Ruby hurt as well. Still, she was comforted by Ruby's presence. The man behind the counter with him is busy stuffing the paper money from the two teller's cages down into his shirt.  Ruby looks towards the neatly dressed man and says "Let me try to help him. He may still be alive."  Deadeye says "Go ahead but don't try anything." He gestures to the man back there and says "Keep her covered." Rather than taking the long way around to the gate she puts her hands on the counter and jumps over. While this is going on the bank employees finish loading up the moneybags into the two canvas sacks. The large man on the floor wakes up and stands. "Cover the door Mongo" the leader exclaims and the big man picks up a gun on the floor and heads towards the door. Behind the counter Ruby is oblivious to the man pointing a gun at her. She pulls open Jake's shirt and sees where the wounds are and her stomach churns. It hasn’t been too long ago that she had been kissing that spot and now… She had seen wounds like this before and she knows that not too many people can survive it. She puts her hand to her mouth to stop from getting sick but she can’t stop the tears that start falling out of her eyes. Ruby takes Jake’s face in her hands and whispers, “Jake, I know you can hear me, you have to listen to me now, I’m going to sing for you, just listen if you can.” Then she leans in close to his ear and whispers even softer as she continues to cry, “And don’t you think of leaving me damn it, I don’t care of you have a wife or whatever you did in your past, I don’t care, just don’t leave me here alone …” With that Ruby starts to sing softly, the same lullaby she sang to the little bird she healed.Ruby has never attempted anything like this before. She sees a scab form over the open wound and the bleeding temporarily stops. She contemplates casting a second spell when the man near her yells out "She's a priest!." Meanwhile, both canvas bags are now filled with the smaller moneybags. Shotgun Sally continues to cover the four bank employees as Dudley Yeats drags the bags over towards the door. Pamela Yeats and Mongo are both already at the door. Pamela opens the door a crack and throws something out. Eighty feet away Nanuet and Sonoma see a quick flash of multicolored light in front of the door. Nanuet continues running towards the bank and is now thirty feet away from the bank.  As Wyatt Earp gets further down the street he becomes more cautious not hearing any more gun shots. He moves to the same side of street as the bank and stays near the buildings so he can duck for cover if necessary. He cocks the bolt on his rifle as he is about 150' from the bank and sees the cantina owner’s daughter and the Indian headed across the street towards the bank. "What in Hades are they doing'?"Deadeye says "Both of you women, into the vault." Kate moved slowly toward the vault and saw that Ruby wasn't moving. The other woman's shoulders were shaking slightly. "Ruby, honey? Come along now," she said holding out her hand.  “No,” replies Ruby, still crying, “I have to stay here with Jake.” She looks up at Deadeye, waiting rather impatiently, and realizes that something worse could happen to Jake if she stayed then if she went. Shotgun Sally backs up to give Kate room to get into the vault, also telling her "drop that revolver". The man behind the teller's counter exits while still keeping his gun still trained on Ruby and orders her to head towards the vault as well.  She gets up reluctantly and slowly takes Kate’s hand. . She carefully steps over Jake. As Kate guides her into the vault she gives Deadeye the nastiest look she can muster.  Chester stands there helplessly. He clenches and unclenches his fists in apparent fury. Dudley sees this and grips his gun more tightly, ready for any move Chester might make. Chester mutters under his breath, "Pull through. Pull through."  Over by the door the man called Mongo loops each of his arms through the ropes of the canvas bags and flings them up and over his shoulder. Pamela Yeats then fastens some metal clips and leather straps, securing the two bags both together and onto his his leather vest, basically turning the loot into a large canvas backpack. Dudley Yeats peers out the window and says "Uh oh, some Indian and a Mexican girl are heading this way. Deadeye walks more towards the center of the room, pointing his Colt in the general direction of the men in the vault as well as Kate and Ruby. The badly wounded man Pinto looks at him and says "Help me up Deadeye." Douglas replies "Sorry Pinto, that wound's too bad. You need to stay here for the town's Doctor." Pinto pleads "Please Deadeye, they'll hang me." Shotgun Sally goes over towards him and says in a soft voice (that Ruby is now close enough to also hear) "Don't worry Joe, I'll come back for you." Ruby walks quietly to the vault led by Kate. She gets inside and looks quickly around to see what is inside the vault, particularly if there is light and what kind of lock is on the door.  Finally she turns and looks back at Jake. Without taking her eyes off Jake, Ruby asks, "Kate, who shot him?" Katherine held onto Ruby's hand for a few moments after they were locked into the vault. Nothing seemed real. She didn't feel like the same woman who sat with Conrad Booth in the El Parador that morning. She took a deep breath and answered the question Ruby had asked while still outside the vault. "Deadeye shot him." The door to the vault shuts and they hear the locking mechanism spin.</blockquote>

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