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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2357528" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 121, “The Getaway”, Friday, January 13th, 1882:Ruby wiped her face with her hand, leaving a smear of Jake's blood. "Good to know," she says with no emotion to Kate in response to the information.  It is dark inside the vault but Condon soon manages to light a lantern on the wall. He tells them "Don't worry about the air, I had some thin vents put in here, we should be fine for a while." "What's a while?" Ruby asks.    Condon replies, "A few hours at least. My brother will have us out of here long before then." Ruby's tears are still falling down her face while she speaks. "When do you think your brother will be here? Because I don't want to sit in here while Jake dies out there." Condon replies, "Once he knows that our bank is being robbed I'm sure he'll come right away. Look, there's nothing we can do about it now, we're locked in."Ruby keeps her back to the rest of the men and sits on her feet facing the door. "So how much money did they get?" Condon laughs and says "Very little. Those bags from this vault were all dummies. There were two-dozen stacks of bills in each bag but only the top three bills and bottom bill from each bundle in the top tier and top bills in the second tier were real U.S. currency. The rest were all old Confederate bills. So the dummy bags only had a grand total of around $ 200 total in real money. I had also emptied the teller cages at lunchtime too, so they probably only got around $ 100 from there. That Deadeye Douglas will be real disappointed."Blood was still seeping thick from the wound on Kate’s hand. "Well, that's some comfort at least." Katherine stated.  She began destroying yet another shirt and wrapped a makeshift bandage around her hand. Chester paces back and forth in the vault. He seems to pay no mind to his wounds at this point. Katherine moved over to Mr. Martin and began to check over his wounds, bandaging as she could.  Chester remains standing as she checks him. Kate puts his arm in a makeshift sling. "Ow. Ow. Thanks, Mrs. Kale. You're dreadfully kind. I'll be fine." Once she's done, he resumes pacing. Frank says, "Martin, stop that. You'll wear a hole in the floor. And the ladies will get nervous." "Sorry, Mr. Condon. It's just that Jake got shot over worthless money. He must have forgotten that." Chester sits down next to Ruby with a thump. He says to the air, "Damn. Damn. Why'd you do it? We were outgunned and outnumbered. You didn't have to try to be a hero." He turns to Ruby, "I'm so sorry. I should have fired when the other two came in the door. Then Jake wouldn't have gotten hurt. I failed all of you." Still crying Ruby turns to Chester and says numbly, "It's not your fault, Chester. Banks get robbed all the time. I told him to be careful." She puts her head on his arm. "I just wish we could get out of here..." Chester drapes a comforting arm around Ruby's shoulder. “I know you're worried about Jake. Hopefully Mr. Condon's brother heard the shots and will let us out soon."Ruby sighs. "And how are you Chester? I know you are hurt too."  He replies, "Well, it's starting to hurt more now that the action is over. But Mrs. Kale did a bang-up job of patching me up." Ruby stays staring forward. "Yes I am sure Kate did a good job. But I am certain the action isn't over yet Mr. Martin." "No. I guess you're right, it isn't. We'll get them, Ruby. That you can count on. I'm going to check on Mrs. Kale now." Chester removes his arm for Ruby's shoulder and wraps it around Kate.Chester says, "Mrs. Kale, how are you doing? Wait. You're bleeding. Let me help you with that." "No, don't get up. It's not serious. I'm alright." She gestured with her bandaged hand. "Although Ruby may need another accompanist for tonight." Katherine slid down against the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest. She rubbed her arms then laid her head on her knees and closed her eyes.Nanuet and Sonoma had continued west on South Street and got to the front of Hoover's Wholesale liquor and Saloon, approaching the alleyway between it and Mason's Feed and Grain Store.  Nanuet stops and moves into the alleyway between the liquor and grain stores, a spot with some cover nearby where he can still see the door to the bank. He turns to Sonoma and says, "Looks like whoever is in the bank might be coming out soon. We'll never be able to do anything with them inside, they have the advantage in there. Let's see what happens when they come out into the open. If that is a horse for each man then we'll be out numbered. Take some cover." Sonoma nods and ducks into the alley so that she can still see the bank door but has some cover still singing/chanting softlyA mounted rider then charges out twenty feet beyond them from the alley between the Grain Store and Condon's Bank. He is pulling ropes with six more animals, five horses and an ogremount.  The horses stop immediately before the door and people begin to file out. One is a woman holding a shotgun who points it down the street causing Marshall Earp to duck into the nearest alleyway. The other rush the horses and start to climb on. There are six total, four men and two women. Sonoma recognizes two of them as Dudley and Pamela Yeats, owners of the Trail Dust Saloon and recalls reading that he should be in jail right now for shooting at the Marshall. One of the men is neatly dressed in dark clothing with silver embroidery. Even with the man's beard now shaved off Nanuet still manages to recognize Deadeye Douglas from the picture on the wanted poster he saw at the Deputy Sheriff's Office.As the robbers leave the bank and mount Sonoma’s song changes to the language of old wood elvish: To the ground you mighty horses, throw the rider as you run, to the ground you mighty horses, toss your riders have some fun As the riders begin to get on their mounts, Nanuet begins a chant. The dry earth in a 30-foot square area around the horses begins to churn and bubble. After a moment the once dry earth is now loose sand and soft mud. (Soften earth and stone)As the ground beneath the horses turns to muck the two rider-less horses stop. The Ogremount manages to force its way through without much difficulty. Two of the other five horses, those with Dudley and Pamela Yeats, get caught up in the muck and begins to panic. It soon becomes obvious that he does not know much about horses and riding.  Of the other three, and Deadeye Douglas's mount appears to be a trained war-horse that trots it's way forward at an albeit slower path. The other two men follow their lead, one being able to make it over to the wake of the ogremount to follow its trail out of the muck.   Once the outlaws have climbed out of the muck they begin to ride off. Shotgun Sally's mount then throws her. The others make no attempt to stop to help her, heading east down the street in the direction of Boot Hill and the Breakheart Stamping Mill.  Nanuet steps out and tries to make a quick judgement as to which the leader of this group is. "Ancestors guide me now" he says under his breath. He then points his finger at the one who he determined to be the leader and says "Eneoestse!" (which means “Stop”).  He sees the man freeze still for a moment, but only if his ancestors are behind him will the prayer fully work. A rifle shot rings out from the alleyway that Marshall Earp had ducked into and Dudley Yeats clutches his chest and falls from his horse. Deadeye and the large man on the Ogremount manage to ride behind a two-story clapboard house that runs parallel the east wall of the cemetery. The other two male outlaws finally make their way out of the muck and begin to follow the way the others went.With the mounts and riders either bogged down or making their get away Nanuet looks at Sonoma "You think you can keep an eye on those two while I take a look inside the bank? I think we should try and keep those two for further questioning."  With that Nanuet cautiously but quickly makes his way to the bank. He tries to look into the window first before entering. There appears to be no one in the bank at that moment so he makes his way inside. He takes another quick look around before closing the door behind him.Nanuet sees some bloodstains on the floor over near the bank. He spots one man lying on the floor in front of the teller's window with a gunshot wound in his chest. At first he appears to be dead but then Nanuet notices the man's eyes blink open. Nanuet searches the area cautiously. He knows Ruby is somewhere inside the bank because he saw her enter. He thinks about calling out her name, but then realizes that may put her in danger so until he gets a better idea about what is going he remains silent. He approaches the man and checks to see if he has any weapons.  The man appears to be unconscious. Nanuet notices that the gate to get behind the teller's counter is open. Nanuet continues behind the teller's counter to check out the situation.Outside, Wyatt Earp fires off two rifle shots at the two men riding away. One is hit but is able to keep riding. They head off behind the same clapboard house that the other two had gone. Wyatt runs to the south off of Main Street on Allen Street in order to hopefully get another shot or two.  Once the Marshall moves out of sight Shotgun Sally jumps up and runs north down the alleyway between Condon's Bank and the Indian Head Saloon. She has a slight limp but otherwise appears uninjured from the throw from the horse. Pamela Yeats jumps down from her horse and through the mud over to her fallen husband.  Sonoma decides to follow Shotgun Sally. She steps further back into the alley and casts an Invisibility spell onto herself.Nanuet enters the tellers area and sees a body lying on the floor. His initial thought is that it is one of the tellers, then he takes a step closer and sees who it actually is. Nanuet realizes that it is Jake lying on the floor. He rushes over and immediately makes an attempt to assess the wounds. Once he sees the severity of the shots in the chest and shoulder he does not hesitate and immediately removes one of the 4 inch stones (heal spell) from his necklace. He places it on Jake's chest and speaks the command word. He steps back and adds his own chants hoping to do whatever he can to help his companion.Katherine eyes wandered around the vault and finally focused on Ruby and Mr. Martin. Ruby's eyes were staring, her face expressionless. Was that what Colby Tucker had seen the day he met her at the train station? A blank face, hiding a broken woman inside? But Ruby was stronger than Kate was, and there was still hope for Jake.  How much harder would it be to go on when a death was so violent? When you knew that the person you cared about had died as a direct result of someone else's will? Kate closed her eyes again. Best not to think about that sort of thing until they knew for sure. Kate's thoughts are interrupted when head teller Scott Taylor speaks up. "Mr. Condon. I've decided to tender my resignation effective immediately." "With respect to Mr. Condon," Kate said dryly, "I can't say I blame you." Ruby still doesn't turn her head from facing forward. "And Jake quits too," she says quietly. "He's not working here anymore."Chester asks, "Mrs. Kale? How are you holding up?" "I'm fine," she answered, resisting the urge to stiffen up and pull away. "I just want to get out of here so we can....," she glanced at Ruby. "Well, you understand."  Kate was quiet for a moment, spinning her wedding ring around her finger. Her eyes closed for a moment, then opened. "And I have an appointment," she said absently.Kneeling over the dying body of his friend, Nanuet's necklace begins to glow a bright silver-goldish color followed by a lighter aura of light surrounding his entire body. The stone atop Jake then begins to glow brighter. A turquoise light then moves out and over Jake's exposed chest. Nanuet then notices the shoulder wound as well and cuts away at Jake's shirt to expose that as well, the turquoise light on his hands flowing off in the process and over the wound. Much of the blood on the body and floor has already dried or soaked into the floorboards and his clothing, but that on the body that is still in liquid form begins to flow back into Jake's body. A water-like stream of turquoise light flows into the hole and damaged muscle in his chest as well as the less severe shoulder wound. Both the chest and shoulder glow even brighter. They then begin to fade except for the entry holes, which now glow a much deeper shade of green. The metal bullet drops from the shoulder wound rather quickly. The chest wound however takes a considerably longer time and Nanuet sees the blood within the wound hole swirling like a whirlpool around the wound. The wound then changes from a deep green to a deep blue color. Nanuet has to pull back quickly as the bullet actually ejects from the body, flying up in the air around eight inches above the chest and deflecting off to the side, bouncing on the floor. Both wound holes then begin to close, but then both stop and scab over. The color of the wound then changes to that of a purplish color as one would see in a bruise. The light then fades from the wound although the necklace and Nanuet's hands continue to glow with a turquoise light.  Nanuet starts talking to Jake softly to see if he will wake up or respond.  "Jake, are you alright?" Jake does not speak. Nanuet physically touches his friend and the necklace glows brighter. The colored light on Nanuet's hands then flows off the ends of his fingertips and Nanuet watches as the ten streams of light run off of him and appear to actually flow into Jake's body in several places.  Nanuet then feels an unusual sensation as he senses the light moving through Jake's arteries and veins. Nanuet realizes that the light is directly interacting with the blood in Jake's body, attempting to increase the man's blood supply.Nanuet watches in amazement as this process occurs. He realizes that his time spent with Kajika has been much more valuable than he originally thought. He watches as the process continues and hopes the best for his friend. Nanuet finally feels the light begin to fade and the necklace returns to its regular state. Jake still does not wake but Nanuet can see that he is now breathing normally and that his natural coloring has returned, the pale pallor of death no longer present. Nanuet now feels physically exhausted himself. He hears voices talking and realizes that there are now other people besides him inside of the bank, although none can see him or Jake at the moment due to the counter.Nanuet says, "I am unarmed, don't shoot." He stands slowly to see who has entered the building while keeping an eye on Jake. Nanuet glances at the clock on the wall and realizes that healing Jake took him between ten and fifteen minutes. There are six people in the room, five men and one woman. He recognizes one of the men as Marshall Wyatt Earp. One of the men has a scar across his face and moves behind the counter, yelling out "This Injun was part of it." Another man says "Relax Danby, he came in after it was over."  The Marshall says "The Indian is a friend of both of the guards, wherever they might be." Another man says "I can guess" as he heads over towards the vault. The man with the scar moves up behind him. Nanuet is trembling with exhaustion. He realizes the Marshall can take it from here so he collapses to his knees to rest, next to Jake, still watching him carefully. Then he calls out, "I know Miss Ruby came in here."Frank Condon hears a sound and says "That's the combination lock. Morgan's here!" Kate straightened her jacket, trying to cover herself where her shirt was once again in rags. Her hand brushed against the Derringer still inside it's hiding place. She moved it to her jacket pocket as the door opened. Then she pushed herself to standing with her uninjured hand.They have been locked inside the vault for twenty minutes at this point but to Ruby it felt more like twenty years. The door then opens. Ruby jumps to her feet and out of the vault, hurrying over to Jake. She sees Nanuet looking pale and utterly spent. She drops to her knees next to Jake and looks him over, tears still coming. She looks to Nanuet. "Is he going to be alright?" "Yes... well, I think so" Nanuet stammers trying to give her some space so that she can see Jake.   She pauses and says to Jake, "Are you going to be alright?" She looks back to Jake waiting for the answer. Jake's eyes open slightly and he says in a faint voice, "I've felt better."</blockquote>

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