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: 2955491" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 146, “Another Lunch Date with the Judge”, Thursday, March 23rd , 1882, 11:30 A.M.:Ruby tells Minerva, “Now, I really have to get to lunch or I’ll be late. I’ll come over to the Comstock early like 5:00 P.M.  because I also have a date tonight for dinner.” Ruby smiles again. “Oh and don’t forget what we said earlier, about the surprise for Nanuet. Although the dress alone will be a big enough surprise I’m sure!” She kisses Minerva’s cheek and gives her a little push out the door, walking downstairs with her.Ruby says a quick hello and goodbye without getting any more information to Jeff, Harry and Niles before heading out. She goes the whole two doors down to Hammer's Jewelry store and enters with a smile. "Mr. Hammer," she calls out, "I'm finally here to buy my ruby ring..." He looks up with a smile, sees Ruby and the smile drops. He starts stammering, 'Er, um, Miss West, yes, how are you?" "I'm fine, very well actually. And you?" she asks cheerily. "I'm good. Actually that ring is no longer available to purchase," Hammer states. "Perhaps you'd like to look for something else?" Ruby smile fades with the news. "Oh. Someone else bought it?" she says sadly. "Well... yes. Are you sure I can't interest you in something else?" "No, no thank you." Ruby responds sullenly and walks out of the shop. Who bought my ring? I knew I should have gotten it sooner! Now I'll always be thinking about it. I really wanted it too. She sighs, then puts another smile on her face. Then she heads to the Rio Grande Hotel, arriving with two minutes to spare. She glances around, looking for the Judge.  Judge Isby arrives promptly at exactly noon.  "Hello, Judge Isby, it's a pleasure to see you so soon." She extends her hand to him. "I thought you were to be away for a few more weeks."  He replies, "The situation with the Earps and Cowboys prompted my return here. Let's head inside." "That sounds good to me. Judge." Ruby makes sure to sit straight up and be on her best behaviorThe Rio Grande Hotel and Café which is a 25x30 foot single story brick building. It had once had hotel rooms but has now been redesigned as a restaurant. The waitress Tricia Christian arrives at the table to take their orders, mentioning the daily special of a T-Bone cut steak with fried sweet potatoes and corn bread.She says, "Thank you for the rose, by the way. I loved it. Who was that nice man you sent to deliver it?"  He replies, "That's Kevin Tomlinson. I telegrammed the Territorial Attorney General from Wilcox and requested an appropriation to hire myself a law clerk. Since the fines I issue bring in provide substantial funding to the Territory's coffers so they didn't argue with me. Kevin lived in Wilcox, doing several part-time clerical and accounting jobs and was the ideal candidate. He's also a crack shot, and it's probably not very safe for me to travel alone these days.""Oh, you're right about that. It's not very safe for anyone to travel these days." Ruby unconsciously puts her hand to her shoulder. "So what have you been up to while you've been away?"    He replies, “Been away? It's been less than a week Miss. West! I have four towns I hold court in. Since leaving here I've just been doing my regular duties up in Wilcox. I was about to head up to my two towns in Graham County when I heard about Morgan Earp. Then on Monday some Cowboy Gang information fell into my lap so I decided that I should come back here instead.”Ruby looks at him surprised at his reaction. "Well, I was just asking to be nice..." her voice trails off and she sits quietly with her hands in her lap.  He says, "Yes, well this is public enough for people to think this a social engagement. That flower delivery should help too. As you may have heard, I caught Kirby Watkins with two Cowboy Gang members in Wilcox. He was thankfully unarmed, which is why he is still alive, the other two were foolish enough to draw on me. After killing those two in front of him he sang like a bird. Seems he got mixed up with the gang in Galeyville, where he would sneak off to play cards behind his prim-and-proper father's back. So I had to come back here to let Bill Watkins know what his kid was up to and also wanted to find out what you've heard about the Gang's most recent activities and to also warn you that Ringo has plans to blow up your saloon."   Ruby's voice caught in her throat. "Well, uh, we did know that but we thought he might just leave us alone now. Is he still planning that?" Ruby twisted her napkin in her lap and started biting her lip. "Do you have any information about his plans?" Ruby looks at the Judge trying to hide her nervousness.Isby says, "Yes, apparently he planned that a week ago but was uncertain if some books he wanted were stored there or in the El Parador. Once your friend Mrs. Kale provided him with that answer the other place became fair game. His plan was apparently to do that last Sunday but your friends drove him out of town before he had the chance to. I wish I could tell you more but Kirby only had limited information. But I know for a fact that he told me everything he knew.""Dammit!" Ruby swore under her breath, shaking her head. Once again Kate's naiveté had potentially hurt them. Ruby West, pull yourself together. It's a good thing Kate doesn't know about these things. It’s everything that is good about her… Ruby shook off her thoughts and took a deep breath, and as she exhaled the smile returned to her face. “Do I still have your word that what I say to you here is off the record, between you and me?” She smiles sweetly at him as she waits for his response.  "Yes, of course," is Isby's reply. He then smiles and adds, "Unless you want to swear your undying love to me. That I'd probably want to have published in the newspaper for everybody to read."Ruby raises an eyebrow. "I don't think you could handle me swearing my undying love for you Judge. That is a tougher assignment than dealing with the Cowboys." Ruby laughs, "But I'd want someone's undying love for me published in the newspapers too."He laughs and says, "You know that I'm only joking. The only other thing that Kirby knew was that Ringo was looking for Warren although he didn't know that Ringo and Deal were actually planning to kill him. What exactly have you heard?"  "Oh I know you are," she teases back. “Alright, here is what happened in the past week.” Ruby starts quietly telling the story of how Ringo came to the Lucky Lady and threatened them, Nanuet and Chester were kidnapped and how Ruby’s gang of friends stormed the farmhouse to save them. She tells of meeting with Claibourne in the road and getting shot by him and almost dying, then the next day confronting Ringo at the jail and the shooting of Pony Deal, with Ringo saying he also kidnapped Ginnie and this time Nanuet almost dying. She does add that it was curious that a direct rifle shot to his head seemed to bounce off. Next is her and Jake’s trip to Tombstone. She gives particular emphasis to the information from Wyatt and all she knows about Behan. She tells every detail truthfully to the best of her memory. "I'm trusting you with a lot of personal knowledge now, Judge, I hope you won't go back on your word and use it against a poor innocent girl like myself. I really am trying to help you know. We would gladly go after Ringo ourselves for the trouble he has caused but he seems well, more powerful than us, to be quite frank. But I don't think we can sit around and wait for him to come and kill us."He replies, "Miss. West, you will not regret placing your trust in me. The Cowboys are a cancer on this land and any help you can be in their elimination is greatly appreciated. It sounds like the Dos Cabezas faction is gone and that the Earps will deal with the Tombstone faction. Both of those towns are outside of my Territorial Jurisdiction, but Promise City and Galeyville fall right inside my region. And if it will give you peace of mind I'll share one of my secrets with you so that this isn't just a one-way street. My new law clerk Kevin, that ring which he wears is magical. It allows him to tell if somebody is being truthful or not, which is how I know that Kirby Watson was telling me all that he knew. We need to move against Ringo and his remaining forces, although I am still not sure how. This Gormley fellow that Deputy Marshall Marshall spoke to might be of help, but Ringo may already know that we're on to him. It would be even better if we could maybe get another of the Galeyville Cowboys onto our side, I'm sure I could obtain a full pardon from the Governor in exchange for information. Kirby gave me a half-dozen names, but I do not know any of them offhand."Magic, huh?" Ruby replies, glancing at his hand trying not to be obvious, "I'll have to remember to always be truthful then," she giggles. "What names do you have?” Ruby asks, “Maybe I have heard of them."   “Okay, their names are John Bell, Lester Olivier, George Otis Grosvenor, Rudolph Foote, Sherwin Allen and Riff 'Alabama' McNally,” Isby replies. "I don't think I have heard of any of them, although that Grosvenor name sounds familiar... well, perhaps my friends have heard of them.  Will you be in town long? Maybe we can come up with a plan together to eliminate our common enemy." Ruby flips her hair.  "I think I'll be staying for a while, probably until this festival is over,” Isby replies. “Is there any information I shouldn't share with my friends?" Ruby asks. "Well, that depends in part on how you define 'friends', you seem to have a lot of them. You should tell all of your coworkers about Ringo's plans for the Lucky Lady so that they can help protect it. Those names of the Galeyville Gang should probably only be shared with the few people who you trust to help you deal with them. And please keep the information about Kevin's ring to yourself." "You secret is safe with me, Ruby replies, putting her hands over his for a moment. “Where are you staying, in case I need to get in touch with you?” He replies, "Kevin and I stay at the Territorial Building where I now hold court, the former Trail Dust Saloon. The former owners had left behind several cots in the back room, which your hospital explanation now explains why. Ironic, me now staying where the Cowboy Gang was at. Make's me glad I replaced the mattresses with new ones, as well as new locks on the doors." "Ewww," Ruby shivers. "I would offer for you to stay with us at the Lucky Lady, but that might seem improper to you. And the fact that the Cowboys are trying to blow it up would probably make it less appealing," Ruby laughs. "Well, the offer stands. But you should look into sprucing your new offices up a bit. I mean, it doesn't do for the Judge to not have nice quarters. I had a lot of fun redecorating the upstairs when we did our renovations to the Saloon and it makes it so much more homey." "Well I appreciate the offer, but I also have a reputation to maintain here. I figure it won't hurt too much having an old coot like me being seen with an attractive young woman like you, they'll figure...well...you can guess what they'll figure. But if I start hanging out at saloons that'll make it hard for people to think I hate all saloons. I don't actually, but I don't care for all the nonsense and foolishness that seems to occur at many of them. I'm a man who likes things orderly and meticulous and above all things, honest. Honest and orderly saloons are few and far between." "I understand," Ruby replies. "And you're right about saloons; I've been in some pretty rough ones. But if you ever get an urge, the Lucky Lady is known to be the most honest in town. I believe the Comique is also known for their honesty. Anyway, just a thought."   After they finish Ruby thanks the Judge and kisses his cheek. "What a very enjoyable lunch, I hope we'll do it again soon!" The Judge blushes slightly and Ruby laughs. "Good day!" The weight that had been on her shoulders had lifted. The Judge was going to either take care of the Cowboys himself or at least help them. He really wasn't as bad as everyone said he was. As Ruby wanders her way back to the Lucky Lady she stops and talks with townsfolk here and there. She couldn't wait to sing tonight, it felt like it had been ages.  Once back inside she heads to the bar for a whiskey and sees Jake waiting for her there. She smiles and wraps her arms around him. "Hi baby," she says and gives him a small kiss. "How is your day so far?"  "The best way to describe it is unexpected." Jake proceeds to tell her all about the meeting. "So instead of Watkins or Leslie for Marshall we got Berg. Which is for sure a good thing, but I hate to lose the best lawyer in town if I need to go before the judge again. I don't know what in Hades to make of Helen Barker. She certainly is a good shot. Why she would want the job of deputy I'm not sure. That and the comments she made afterwards about coming back to the Lucky Lady." Jake shakes his head. "I need to talk to that woman and understand what she is thinking before this gets way any farther out of hand."Ruby nods along as Jake talks and she sips at her whiskey. That's until he gets to the part about Helen Barker. She lets Jake finish speaking, but her jaw clenches more and more before he's done. "Helen Barker is not invited here anymore, Jake, badge or not. This is terrible news, what in Hades were they thinking?" Ruby starts getting that stormy look in her eye.He replies, "I do not know what they were thinking but clearly the women of the town got behind her nomination and convinced their men folk to vote for her. We are going to need to come to some understanding, it won't due to have her dead body show up mysteriously in town." Jake says with a smile and rubs the back of Ruby's neck in a feeble attempt to relax her. "Not only is she law now, she also has the backing from the women folks. I just don't know what to make of all this yet. Have a little patience and see what old Jake can find out before you mete out any more vengeance.""Damn It!" Ruby breaks Jake's grip on her and hops off her stool. She starts pacing back and forth. "This is exactly what happened in the last stupid town I was in before I came here! All the women hated me because they were JEALOUS." Ruby kicks the stool she was just sitting on over. "I don't have any patience, and you should know that Jacob Cook." She looks him in the eyes only briefly before turning away and continuing her quick pacing. "And she threatened me, and she's going to put me in jail for doing nothing I'm sure." She stops pacing and looks at Jake again. "I'm not going to jail. I'm going to have to move out of Promise City. And I had just decided that I was going to stay IN Promise City." She eyes another stool, "Damn It!" she swears again and kicks it over.   Jake takes a deep breath and scratches the back of his head. "I'm not letting you go to jail. Berg is Marshall now and I'm sure he won't let her come after you. Don't forget that the Merchants Association hires and fires the law here, if she gets out of line we will get her fired. Just stay out of her way until I can talk to her and find out for sure what is on her mind." Jake drags another stool over to Ruby and says, "Go ahead.""Yeah? What are you going to do about it when she comes for me?" Ruby narrows her eyes at Jake then kicks the stool out of his hands before stomping into the kitchen and out through the back door. Once there she slumps against the wall of the building and pulls her knees to her chest. She buries her face in her hands and tries to calm down.  Jake sees that Henry has been standing far out of the way and being quiet. Jake shrugs and says, "I think she is done with the stools now." He slowly follows her out back and sits down next to her. "The last time you were this upset and I was sitting down next to you trying to convince you that everything would turn out right it was outside the El Parador. We were discussing how to make the Baxter paper problem go away. We got through that, and we'll get through this." Jake takes his hat off and tosses it onto the toe of his boot. "Then we didn't have any influence in town, or any friends in the Marshall's office or on the judges bench. We also have money, enough to stay out of most trouble that Helen could cause IF she is going to cause any." He reaches over pries a couple of fingers away from her eye and whispers through a big smile, "I bet Mrs. Barker doesn't have a goddess on her side either. Certainly not that one if looks are any indication."Ruby can't help herself and she giggles against her own will. She picks her head up and looks at Jake. "I don't know how you do that to me." She looks down the small alley to the street, watching people hurry on their way. "YOU have money, I don't have any but what's invested in this place, which Ringo is planning on blowing up by the way. Because of Katherine." Suddenly the puppies come running out and start jumping all over Jake and Ruby. Ruby tries to pet them but they are rambunctious and won't stay still.  She sighs and says, "I guess I have a lot to tell you too. Although now my good mood for the day is ruined.""We will have to figure out what to do about getting your good mood back. In the mean time, why don't we gather the others up for a bit and share what we learned in Tombstone. It might save somebody's life."</blockquote>

Verification