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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2376707" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 123, “Recuperation”, Friday, January 13th, 1882:Ruby wakes after a couple of hours. She stretches and then slowly gets out of the chair. She shuffles around Jake’s room looking at the mess. She decides to do some cleaning. She throws the bloody clothes into the trash basket. She picks up some of her various items that are strewn around the room, mostly stockings and shoes she has been looking for. She picks up Jake’s clothes from the night before and is about to throw them into the closet when she feels something in the pocket. She searches and there is no pocket where it should be so she turns his pants inside out and finds a small hidden pocket sewn in. She finds a small wallet inside that pocket. Ruby knows there is usually only good stuff inside hidden pockets but is hesitant to look inside after what she found this morning. She looks over to Jake, who is still sleeping peacefully. She looks back to the wallet in her hand. She sighs and opens it anyway. In it is one $100 bill. Ruby's sensitive fingers notice a hidden flap and in that hidden section is a small photograph with edge worn from handling. It is of a slight young woman with dark eyes, long dark hair and a milky-pale complexion. Ruby notes that she looks somewhat like Kate. Hand written on the back is 'I love you Jacob, Virginia'; In with that photograph is a second $100 bill folded neatly in quarters. When Ruby opens it she recognizes that it was inscribed by herself. Ruby sighs again as she puts the picture and the money back into Jake’s wallet just as she found it. Ruby is not surprised to find the picture of the girl but is surprised to see the similarities to Kate. She was curious about keeping the $100 she gave him in there, but then again it was a good spot to hide money. She leaves the wallet on Jake’s nightstand where he can find it. Ruby grabs the bottle of Tennessee Bourbon. There isn’t much left and she decides to work on finishing off the bottle. She takes a drink and thinks about this day. Promise City had the longest days she could ever remember having. She had so many questions for Jake and didn’t have much time to ask them. She has 2 more drinks then sits on her feet on the bed next to Jake looking at him, holding the bottle. She gives him a gentle poke.   “Jake, wake up. I want to know how you are feeling.” She pauses before continuing, “I need to talk to you,” she says grimly. “You feel up for it?” Jake opens his eyes at the poke, although they are a little unfocused at first. He looks at Ruby and then around the room. Apparently satisfied with whatever he sees he smiles a little. "I feel better." He puts his hand on his chest feeling it in several spots and gives a little sigh. He turns slightly to face her and his eyes retreat to a half-lidded position. "Sure, we can talk a bit." “You know I read your letter I’m sure. And I know you have to be mad.” She looks Jake straight in the eyes. “Who is Virginia?” She looks down and away from him before he gives the answer.  His face doesn’t change expression but it does take a slightly redder hue. He doesn't blink and breathes a few slow breaths in and out. "If I was sure I wouldn't start bleeding all over the place I might yell at you for opening my letter." He takes a long slow breath before continuing. "I've never told anyone about what happened with her." He looks away from her eyes. "She's..." he pauses to lick his lips, "she's my sister." “Sister?” Ruby just blinks. “Your sister…” She repeats back slowly. She pauses to think over Jake’s revelation, rubbing her neck. She looks back at him struggling to stay awake. “Maybe now is not the best time, but I want to know, what happened with your sister?” Jake looks back at Ruby and doesn't speak for a long moment. "All right." He suddenly says. He speaks slowly and quietly. "Virginia was having a marriage arranged by father to a better class family. The Grosvener's son was a boor, a brute, and a bully. Virginia begged with father not to force her to marry the man, but no amount her tears could dissuade him. Mother was not pleased but would not stand up to father on this, for he was unyielding in his desire to further the family. A few days before the engagement the Grosvener patriarch stormed into our household and called the marriage off. He claimed that 'your hooligan son Jacob' had threatened their boy, scared him witless, and promised 'retribution of the foulest kind' if he were to go through with the marriage to Virginia. I denied it of course. No amount of pleading by father could change Grosvenor's mind, the wedding was off." "Father and I had a violent argument afterwards that concluded with Jacob Alistair Cooke becoming homeless. I was fifteen. That was the last time I saw my family, and the second last time I saw Virginia." Jake looks away from Ruby again and closes his eyes. "Both times she was in tears."  Ruby took a moment before responding. “I know something about arranged marriages myself,” she said slowly. “But what happened the other time you saw your sister?”  Jake sighs again still not opening his eyes, his lips drawn thin and tight. "Let's just leave it that she snuck out of the house to convince me not to leave Philadelphia, but I had to." Jake's breathing is slow and regular but Ruby can tell it is forced. Ruby reaches out to touch Jake’s face. “I’m sorry for opening your letter, more sorry than you can know. And if you feel better later you can still yell at me,” she says with a small smile. “But for now you’d better get some more rest, you need it.” Ruby gently strokes Jake’s hair. “You are a good man,” Ruby says with sincere admiration. “Your sister is very lucky to have you Jake Cooke. How about I sing to you for a bit?” Ruby continues stroking his hair and she sings to Jake until he falls asleep, which doesn’t take very long. After Jake falls asleep again Ruby leaves his room. She takes the basin with water and goes back to the kitchen. She asks Dorita to please send up some food for her and Jake to his room around 7 o’clock. Then she takes the basin and goes back to her room. She cleans herself up, horrified at the amount of blood on her clothes. Instead of getting dressed in clothes she pulls out her white nightgown. It is crisp and unused. She pulls her green velvet bathrobe on over her nightgown. She sits down on the bed and brushes her hair, making a long neat braid that reaches all the way down her back. Then she packs up the rest of her belongings into her bag. Still out is her traveling outfit for the next day, her green dress and 3 of Jake’s shirts that she has worn out of his room each day this week. Ruby looks at the dirty shirts and decides to try something new. She had used this spell long before she had gotten to Promise City but Mr. Gonzales had given her a better idea how to control it. Ruby took the first shirt and concentrated on it. The shirt rose into the air and spun around before landing back gently on the bed. It looked cleaner and had less wrinkles but not completely clean. She tries again on the second shirt and this one is more successful than the last. She tries the third shirt and it looks completely cleaned and pressed by the time she is finished. Ruby smiles over her success. She tries the first shirt again but realizes that she is too exhausted and has no reserve left to cast the spell again. Ruby carefully takes the shirts and folds them up the best she can, leaving the not really clean one on the bottom. She goes back to Jake’s room. She checks on him first and he is still sleeping soundly.   She looks at the elaborately carved jewelry case behind one with the name "Consuela" written on the lid in gold leaf. The box contains four gold rings, three with stones in the center, four pair of gold earrings of various designs, Two gold necklaces, two pair of gold wristlets and a gold and diamond tiara.  Ruby sits at the table, opening the box with the jewelry in it. She takes her time looking them over carefully. She also carefully searches the box for hidden compartments, finding none. The box itself she guesses is worth between $100 and $150. She figures that the total value of the jewelry is about $1750.00. She intently studies the ring that Manual said was magical and she can detect a faint magic. She puts the ring on her finger and notices nothing so she takes it off and puts it back in the box. At almost 7:00 sharp there is a knock at the door. Dorita has brought up a tray of food for them. Ruby gently wakes up Jake so he can eat. He notices her nightgown and neat hair, two things out of place on Ruby. It makes her look younger and more fragile and delicate than Jake has ever seen her look. They are mostly quiet and Ruby only picks at her food but makes sure Jake has enough to eat. After they eat, Jake seems to be feeling a little better. Ruby walks over to the table and grabs the bottle of Kentucky Bourbon. “I think we could both use some of this tonight.” She opens the bottle and fills two glasses generously. She walks over to the bed again and sits next to Jake  “So, should I ask, what in Hades made you shoot that guy in the bank? What were you thinking?” "I'm a damn fool." Jake says with a wince. "I was hung over, angry and not thinking straight. My first instincts were to shoot but Chester wasn't ready and Katherine didn't react quick enough. Then Katherine did some, ah, you know, what you two know how to do. I covered the noise with coughing, and that sort of worked. Her, ah, thing, ah, worked a little and a few of them fell asleep." Jake swallows, and takes a couple of breaths. "It still looked bad but she started to pull her gun. I was going to try and draw attention away from her somehow, I was getting worried that Deadeye's gang would get the money that we needed for the Lone Star, and the other's money too. Then he said the other guy's name. Pinto. I guess I snapped when I heard that. All of a sudden I figured I could take Pinto out, draw attention from Katherine, use Pinto as a shield so I could hop over the teller counter and Chester or Condon could grab the other guy." Jake stops again to swallow. "I was wrong." Jake stops talking. "Money’s not worth dying for. You can always get more money. But I know you were trying to do the right thing. Thank goodness Nanuet was around.” Ruby pauses for a long time before continuing slowly, “So do you know why I went to the bank today, Jake? I was getting my money,” Ruby sighs, “I’m leaving, tomorrow actually. So…” she holds up her glass, “I’m keeping my promise, I bring the bourbon you make the toast.” Ruby can’t even look Jake in the eyes. Jake loses his poker face, first looking shocked and then perplexed. He looks like he is going to say something but doesn't. He looks at his glass for a long time before he looks up. "I don't understand," he says. Then quickly, "No, a promise is a promise. You're keeping your part." He stares at her for a minute before he raises his glass. "To the great wide open spaces west of the Mississippi, thank the gods that they are just the right size. Any bigger and I would have some difficulty finding you no matter where you go." The expression on his face has no humor in it as he leans his glass closer to hers. "What, you aren't going to drink to my toast Miss West?" Ruby looks up from her drink and stares at Jake. She slowly stretches out her glass, hand trembling, to meet his. She takes a big breath in before bringing the glass to her lips. She stops before taking a sip. “I like your toast Jake, I really do. I…” She doesn’t finish what she is saying. “Look, I know you don’t understand. I don’t understand either. But when I read your letter today I, well, actually cared about who it was meant for. I didn’t know if you had a wife at home or something and it’s not like I never slept with a guy who had a wife, but I was hoping so much that you didn’t have a wife but it made me realize that I… I..” Ruby stops her rambling and is quiet for what seems like an eternity. “Jake if I care about you then I am weak. If I am weak then I can’t survive. I don’t have anyone to take care of me but me. I know you at least understand that.” She stops to pull at her braid. “Would you really come looking for me?” "Weak? I guess I never thought of it that way. I will have to disagree with you on that." A small hint of a smile crosses his face and is gone in an instant. "Admit it Ruby, I have all the advantage." She looks at him funny. "How hard can it be to find you?" Jake changes the expression on his face and furrows his brows. "Excuse me, I'm looking for a woman. She's about five and a half feet tall, maybe a tad taller. She has deep red hair that shines like gold in the daylight. Her eyes? They are a beautiful hazel color that laugh when she's happy and turn cloudy when you should stay away." He reaches out and takes her hand. "Sometimes she does this funny little prance when she walks that makes you just smile, and the way she moves her hips could just drive you mad." He starts to pull her towards him, not hard but persistent. "You know she has this generous figure that just looks gorgeous in everything she wears. Her skin is soft and warm to the touch." He reaches for her other hand. "She sings like song was invented for her and when she smiles it's like the sun bursts out from the clouds." He pulls her very close. "And you know she has the most sensuous full lips that are just perfect to kiss." Her face is only inches from his and he whispers, "Have you seen her?" "Hum, have I seen her?" Ruby says with a smile growing, "Maybe I have..." Then getting serious, “You do have all the advantage, Mr. Cook, which is just the problem…” Ruby whispers while leaning in the rest of the way and letting her lips brush Jake’s. “But,” she says even softer barely moving away, “You should be resting right now not looking for trouble…” Jake gives her a long full kiss on the lips. "I should be resting. I should also not need to worry about you running off on me." He turns his hands over so that their palms are touching and he is no longer restraining her. "It's ironic, but when I was, um, unconscious I dreamed you were talking to me. You told me 'And don’t you think of leaving me damn it' and 'don’t leave me here alone'. I guess that was wishful thinking on my part." His eyes go unfocused and he is quiet for a several long deep breaths. "Yes," his eyes come back to focus sharp and intense on Ruby's "I will come looking for you. And I won't leave you alone until you convince me that you really don't want me around. And you haven't done that yet. So why don't you save the lives of those poor horses I'm likely to run into the ground and just agree to stay here?" “Do you know how many men have told me they will come for me? Or that they love me? But they never do. So I don’t believe those words anymore.” Ruby closes her eyes for a long moment. “You’re not wrong; I did say those things to you. I was so scared you were going to die...” She grasps Jake’s hands tighter in hers. “I don’t want to be alone anymore. I don’t want to leave Promise City. And most importantly, I didn’t,” she pauses before continuing, “I don’t want to lose you before I really have you.” She guides Jake’s hands under her bathrobe, leaving them on her waist. She wraps her arms around his neck. “I want us to buy the Lone Star so I can sing and you can play cards whenever you want and we can live there and maybe for once we can just be happy for a while, not worrying about leaving or getting left.” As she talks she slowly pushes Jake back on the bed so they are laying facing each other. She looks away for a moment then a smile starts to form on her face. “Oh and a puppy, I always wanted a puppy,” she says with a little laugh. “I’m going to take a chance and trust you Mr. Cook, take a chance and say that I’ll stay here, with you.” "Good. No more talk of leaving today." He takes her hand and kisses the back of it. Then he starts to laugh, and laugh hard. "A dog? Seems like a small price to pay. Somehow I'm sure it will be a troublesome mutt." He just looks at her and smiles.  Ruby smiles back. “A puppy, a cute little furry puppy. What could be troublesome about something so cute and innocent looking?” She puts her head on Jake’s shoulder and snuggles up to him. After a long silence she says softly, “A puppy…and a saloon, a place to call home and a …” She doesn’t finish as she drifts off to sleep. Jake watches her sleep for a little while before he too nods off.After some time goes by Ruby starts to stir. Her eyes flutter open and she sees Jake just staring at her. She stretches her arms over her head and yawns. “What are you looking at?” she says with a sleepy smile. "You just looked peaceful. I was enjoying it." Jake sits up and stretches a bit too. "I don't think I ever look peaceful like that. Not in my nature." He laughs in a friendly way. “You know what? Nanuet had asked me where I find some peace and I told him I didn’t have any but then he told me it was a moment when nothing else matters and everything felt right.” Ruby has a slight blush on her face. “And I do have that, when I lay here with you.” She reaches out her hand and puts it on Jake’s back. Ruby is quiet for a few moments. “So, when I was locked in that vault, not knowing what was going to happen to you, well I decided that you weren’t working at that bank anymore and I told Mr. Condon that you quit. But he said you had already resigned. Is that true?”  "Yes, I never got to tell you. I did it first thing Thursday morning. Gave him Chester instead." Jake laughs again. "Figured I would surprise you this morning. Didn't work the way I expected." He says shrugging his shoulders and making an almost grimace. She sits up and puts her arms around him. “That would have been a nice surprise, well, it is a nice surprise, especially because I’m going to tell myself you did it for me.” Ruby gives Jake a kiss on his neck. “How are you feeling?”  "I did. At least I rushed it for you. Or maybe for me so I could have you." He gives her a wicked smile. "I'm feeling good. Maybe a bit weary, seems like I'm back to normal."  ”Oh that is what I like to hear,” she says kissing Jake, before flopping back down, her head landing near the middle of the bed, close to his lap. “You know, your sister is very pretty. You two do look a bit alike. Are you really thinking of going home to visit her? I think you should go, you obviously miss her greatly, although I would miss you while you were gone...” Ruby furrows her brow. “Why isn’t she living with your parents?” "I haven't heard from any of them in five years. Yes I miss her, but I don't know if I can go back. There is a little matter of the local law. And what affect I might have on her and them if I was seen. It's complicated. Since I think I'll be here for a while I asked them to write back." He gives her a look. "But you know that don't you." The look passes as he continues. "I don't even know where Virginia is for sure. I send her letters to the parents of a close friend of hers, that way I know my parents won't see it. She was living at home when I left." “I can’t imagine that. I was glad to leave my parents and never looked back.” Ruby takes Jake’s hand, “I do hope they write back to you, at least you can find out about your sister. If you ever think you can use my help to help get to her or any of your family, I hope you’ll ask me. As long as we aren’t talking about a wife…You don’t have a wife back in Philly or anywhere else for that matter do you?” Ruby is smiling but Jake detects a slight hint of truth to her question. "You want to know about my wife?" Jake says with a raised eyebrow. As Ruby's expression starts to change he rushes, "I'm joking!" He quickly continues, "No I never picked up a wife along the way. I'm not married." A grin comes to his face unbidden and his hand goes to stroking his beard. "There was Rachael though, heh. If she'd had her way I'd be married." He laughs again. "No, I'm not married." He pauses a moment and brings the conversation back around. "I appreciate the offer of help. I really don't care about seeing most of my family, I guess I'm curious about what they are doing but not more than that. It would put my heart to ease to know about Virginia. For now I'm content to wait and see if any of them write back." “Jake!” Ruby gives a little yelp as she lightly hits Jake in the good arm. She slowly takes the pout off her face, happy to hear his explanation, and a smile takes its place. “You’re teasing me! I know you are SUCH the ladies man that you have broken hearts waiting for you all over this country…They are all just going to have to wait because for now you are all mine and I told you I’m not sharing you…” Ruby laughs and throws her feet up on the wall behind Jake’s head. “But I had to ask so we can avoid anymore drama like what happened this morning. I even caught myself by surprise.”  "If you are right I hope they don't decide to stop waiting and come looking for me all at once." He gives her a mock look of horror. “Me either,” Ruby replies, “That’s a lot of ass kicking to do…” Ruby smiles devilishly then settles down. She stays quiet for a long while, just looking at Jake. Finally she takes a deep sigh. “You know we have to go after Deadeye, right? He may be faster than us but we can be smarter than him. And that Sally said she was going to come back for Pinto, Joe she called him, so that is where we start. You know I can’t let him come here and try to kill my man and not do anything about it…” "Pinto Joe Weems if I am not mistaken. According to the outlaw we let go that's who was handing out $20 bills to stop us coming back from the mine. That's why I sort of snapped." He looks at her. "And no, we don't have to go looking for Deadeye. He didn't come here to kill me, he just reacted to my idiot move. He could have made sure I was dead before leaving." Jake has an uncomfortable look on his face and a little shudder. "Interesting though, Sally says she's coming back? Either way I'll bet Wyatt Earp would be interested to know that he has the guy who paid the outlaws who shot his brother. Now if I can only convince Wyatt to help me squeeze out of Weems who paid him..... but I have a guess or two...." Jake seems to be thinking. “I’ll do whatever you think is best. So we go and tell Wyatt, and get him to help us, but then what else? Maybe you should take some time and think about it, on a day that you didn’t almost die. But if we are ever to relax we have to find out what is going on, who wanted us dead… It’s hard being such a wanted woman!” Ruby gives Jake a wink. Suddenly, Ruby jumps up from the bed and goes over to the table. Jake can’t see what she is doing but when she turns back to him she is wearing the tiara from the box of jewelry. She walks back to the bed with the box in her hand. “While you were sleeping I took some time to look at these.” She hands Jake the box to look at. “They are very valuable as far as I can tell, worth almost $2000.” She gives a little spin before falling back on the bed. “So, is it me?” she asks with a grin. "I have to admit, you look good in jewelry. I like it." Jake opens the lid of the box. "You never have to worry about being upstaged though, you shine brighter than any gem. Every stone in this box must be jealous." he finishes by closing the box and placing it between them. “You always know what to say, don’t you?” Ruby slowly sits up halfway leaning back on her elbows. “So…Mr. Cooke…” Ruby says slowly, “Earlier you disagreed with me about caring about someone and it making you, well, me weak. What do you call it then, when you care about someone so much it makes you do stupid things? Like very stupid things, things that are bad for you…When they can make you crazy or make you cry and there is nothing you can do about it?” "It's called being alive." Jake cocks his head a little and looks at her sympathetically. "I'm going to disappoint you if you think I have an easy answer." He runs his hand through his hair and scratches the back of his head. "I may regret how things turn out sometimes, and I certainly do my share of running. But I wasn't running from commitment, I was running from the consequences of a decision. Maybe you don't think that is different." His tone is not condescending or preachy, but conciliatory. "I'll never regret how I feel about my sister. I would have done anything, I mean ANYTHING to have prevented her from that unhappiness. And then I just have to deal with the consequences." He reaches across and touches her hand gently and withdraws. "The people I have chosen to care about, and there aren't many, have made me stronger not weaker. At least I believe that. Then again you're talking to the prince of stupid decisions." He chuckles. “Maybe I should give you this then,” Ruby says pointing to the tiara, giggling, but then her face gets serious. “It’s easy. If you don’t commit yourself to someone then you don’t have to deal with consequences. But as Kate has told me many times in the past two weeks, it’s lonely not to trust anyone or let yourself get close to them, not like I don’t know that. So I'll try your way this time and maybe it’ll make me stronger too. I'm going to trust you, to not lie to me or use me,” she pauses in thought then continues very softly as she looks away, "Or hit me or hurt me on purpose." A moment of silence falls between them before Ruby sits up and faces Jake. “Besides, how stupid can you be, you chose me, right?” She pulls her braid over her shoulder, then leans in close to Jake and kisses him slowly. “So… what do you want to do for the rest of the night, now that you are feeling better?” Jake gets that trademark faint grin and half-lidded eyes for a moment before he reaches up and adjusts the tiara upon Ruby's head. He opens the box of jewelry and selects a pair of gold earrings and hands them to her. While she's putting them on he deftly adorns her wrists with a pair of gold wristlets. She smiles but with a what are you doing look that he ignores. He takes the two gold necklaces out, holding one and then the other in front of her and eyeing them carefully. He chooses one and puts it around her neck giving her a kiss as he does so. "There." He says simply and begins to unbutton her nightgown and his grin gets a little broader....</blockquote>

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