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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3094695" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 174, “Have you gone mad?”, Sunday, March 26th, 1882, 1:30 PM Sonoma tells Kate, “When Nanuet was last here I got the feeling that he needed his space so I decided to do as he asked and make the ranch as profitable as possible. He seemed uncomfortable with my affection so I took that to mean that I was moving too fast with our relationship. I realize that as an elf things often move much slower than with human relationships and we hadn't even know each other for very long before things just felt right for me with him. I realized that I had moved far too quickly because I had gotten use the to pace of humans living in Promise city. I thought it would be much better for me to stay out here and let some time pass before I talked with him again. I care for him greatly and do not want to push him away by seeming too forward.”Kate replies, "Sonoma, being human, it's hard for me to understand the slower pace elves would take. To me, Ruby and Jake took it very fast. When I met Tom I knew there was something, but it was months before we even spent time alone together. Well, as alone as society allows, and more than a year before we became engaged. I don't know Nanuet's mind, dear. I think he's confused, and perhaps things did happen too fast for him. He lived for one purpose for a long time, and when that purpose was fulfilled he was at a loss. Then a pretty, intelligent, warm girl comes along and sets his mind to reeling. Perhaps time is what he needs. But that doesn't need to stop you from riding back with me tonight. We don't have to see Nanuet. You can visit your great-grandfather, and Ginnie would be excited to show you everything she's learned."Sonoma replies, “It is very kind of you to say that.  I set Nanuet's mind reeling for he does the same with my heart. I do miss him greatly and wish to be with him however I do not want him to feel that I am chasing him if he needs time away to be with his friends. I have been away from town for a long time and do wish to see what Ginnie has learned and I should bring Dorita some of the spring lamb... Give me a little while to get everything arranged and I will return with you to town.”Kate replies, "There's no great hurry. I have some work to do here, and then I'll help you get things together," Kate said and hugged Sonoma. Kate took a few steps closer to Flint where he had gone to give the ladies some privacy. "Flint, has Naki-yai been here lately?"   He lowers his head and says in a sad voice "No, my Etenia is gone. She went back to the Apache and did not return. I can only presume that they did not approve of our going into town for those several days.""I'm sorry Flint," Kate said sincerely, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I like her very much and had hoped to see her. I must speak to the Apache today, do you know how she usually went back?"   "I never really paid attention to where she came from or went to. Mostly, off that way," he said, sadly waving. "It's alright, Flint. I think I'll save my visit to the Apache for tomorrow. I'm going to get Sonoma into town. I'm sorry to leave you with the chores for the day, but I'm sure you can handle it. I'll get Sonoma back to you soon." Kate patted the dwarf's shoulder and ran after Sonoma. "Let me help you get ready and we can go into town."Kate helped Sonoma put together her packages, finding that handling raw meat was an excellent cure for the last vestiges of the desire that had been trying overcome her in Jake's presence.  The two women went out and packed up their horses. "There. I'm sure your family will be glad to see you. I don't work tonight, so we can have a nice night at the El Parador. Are you ready to go Sonoma?"Sonoma replies, “I guess so although I feel that I should stay at the ranch because I feel bad about leaving Flint with all the animal chores.  However, I guess it might be time for me to go back at least for a little while.  Who knows? Maybe if we're both at the Cantina Nanuet be more like himself.  The walks were very nice,” Sonoma says with a faraway look in her eyes and a blush coming to her cheeks."Yes, I remember going for walks and rides with Tom. Those quiet times were some of my favorite times, when there is nothing to do but enjoy one another's company."   Kate kept talking as they mounted up and got moving, careful not to challenge any thoughts of love Sonoma had. In town, Chester spent the earlier part of the afternoon drawing up plans for the stage. They're crude, but get the general idea across. He goes to the lumberyard to see Mr. Cassidy. Cassidy takes a look at the plans and laughs. "Not much experience with woodworking, Marshall? Give it to me and come back tomorrow. I'll draw these up proper like and figure out how much lumber you need. OK?"  "That's fine. I also need a podium for the award ceremony. Can you do that, too?"  He replies, "I should have some pre-drawn plans around somewhere." Chester stops by to visit Clarisse. "What's wrong, Clarisse?"   She buries her face into his shoulder. "I think I've disappointed the priestess. She thought I was favoring certain businesses and she didn't like the idea of restricting drinking."  Chester pats her back. "There, there. This is a big event for her. All the town will be watching. She just wants the festival to honor the gods properly. I'll talk to her later."Chester walks into the Lucky Lady. "Is Minerva around. I want to talk to her. She has Clarisse upset over this ball."  Ruby replies, "She's not feeling well right now Chet. It's not a good time." Ruby points to a chair. "How's the new job going? You missed our fun last night, I thought you were going to join us."Chester takes the seat. "It's going well. I was keeping an eye on all the saloons. The boxing was fun to see. That Finnegan is some fighter. The challengers didn't stand a chance. I told Nanuet about Foote. Did he follow him? After the fight, there was something called the dance of the veils or something like that." He blushes. "It was very, um, nice. But don't tell Clarisse that. Anyway, at the end of the dance, the dancer said 'acolyte' and mentioned Aphrodite. It was like I was in a dream. Weird, huh?Ruby's eyes widen. "Dance of the Veils? I may had heard about that..." She looks at Chester curiously, "Since when is the Dance of the Veils part of a lawman's duty, Chet?"  He replies, "Um, er, I was looking for trouble at the Palace. I had to stay. It's my job." He gives an unconvincing grin.   She raises an eyebrow at him.  While she is waiting for his response, she picks up Minerva's pendant and puts it around her neck. "There, for safe keeping. Now she won't be able to get it back so easily," Ruby says out loud with a shake of her head.   Chester comments, "That's funny. The dancer last night had a necklace too. Hers had a long diamond on it, though. While I was watching it, I felt sleepy." Outside, as Jake has backed Minerva up against a wall and begins to unbutton his shirt she  exclaims, "Senor Jake What are YOU DOING?”    Nanuet hears Minerva yelling something from behind the saloon. He puts the glass down on the table and runs to the back of the saloon. He sees Minerva struggling to make her way back inside and sees Jake working the buttons no his shirt. "Just what in Hades is going on here? Minerva are you OK? Jake what's going on?"  Ruby hears that and stands.  Chester gets up from his chair. "Ruby, I better see what's going on."   She says, "I'm going with you. Minerva must be going mad." She follows Chester out the door.Minerva slaps Jake soundly across the face This entire town has gone loco!" Minerva continues to try to break away and make her way back to Ruby.  "Ow!" Jake yells. "Damn you women, can't you make up your mind whether you are going to slap me or kiss me!" He pushes her back again towards the wall. "Look at me! Where in Hades did you get these things?" He says waving the olive leaf pendant that hangs around his neck."Why you dirty @#$%^&, Get YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" Minerva claws at him and yells for help.   Jake covers his face and ducks, "No, wait, listen, ow!"  Minerva, now furious continues to fight like a wildcat.   Jake steps back still covering his head.   Chester headed out the kitchen to see Minerva hits Jake. ""Don't you think," Jake says ducking and the blood running down his cheek, "that you have," he ducks another swing, "caused enough," and then she whacks him across the temple and he falls backwards, "trouble."  “I have caused trouble!” She yells as she slaps him again, “Who do you think you are?!...dragging me out to the back of the saloon to have your way with me!?”   "I don't see how you can think that," he says lying in the dirt with blood trickling down his cheek. "It seems like nothing is going my way."Chester yells, “What are you doing? Stop that.” He tries to separate the pair.  Nanuet forces himself between the two and screams at the top of his lungs. "STOP THIS NONSENSE!" Then grabs Minerva's arms and forces them to her sides. "Everybody inside now. No more secrets, no more going off anywhere. Everybody inside and take a seat!"     "LET GO OF ME!" she yells and kicks Nanuet for good measure "I AM NOT DONE WITH HIM YET!Nanuet is unable to maintain his hold on Minerva after she kicks him. He does his best to keep her away from Jake. "Chester, get Jake inside." he says struggling with Minerva. "She needs to calm herself down."  Minerva exclaims, "Have you gone mad?  He was taking his clothes off! Look at his shirt! He had me pinned against the wall! Nanuet Let Go Of ME!"   Jake exclaims, "No, wait, listen... didn't I already say that?" He wipes his cheek and looks at his blood stained hand. "Yuck."Ruby sees Minerva acting uncontrollably and Jake's scratched face. She quickly glances around the street to make sure no one is looking then starts an incantation.  Minerva's face goes blank and she begins to collapse. Nanuet's reflexes are quick and he manages to catch her before she strikes the ground.  Ruby states, "Thank goodness. What in Hades is wrong with her?? She just went crazy..." Ruby moves towards Jake and touches his face gently. "Are you alright?"  "Ouch." He winces. "Help me up."  As he gets to his feet he mumbles, "There never seems to be any middle ground with me." He points to the saloon, "Let's go inside I need that drink."Chester reaches for Jake, when Minerva collapses. "What just happened? Is she OK? Jake what is going on. I hear yelling, then I find you bleeding and Minerva hitting people."  Nanuet states, "OK, give me some space!" Nanuet carries Minerva inside and lays her down on the ground as gently as possible. "Somebody get me some water!" he says, the words choked by his emotions. He begins checking her over for any obvious signs of why she collapsed.   "She's fine!" Ruby exclaims, "I put her crazy ass to sleep."  She reaches out her hand to Jake and helps him up. They all head back inside.  Jake says, "Chet, I needed to talk to her quickly before everyone else came out." He sits down with a grimace. "I guess she didn't like my manners." The olive leaf pendant hangs loose from his unbuttoned shirt. He motions to Ruby to come sit with him, "But bring a drink."   Ruby fetches Jake a whiskey and sits on his lap before handing him the drink. She takes a clean napkin and licks it, then cleans off his face. "Not so bad, just a scratch."Nanuet says to Ruby, "So you just put her to sleep? Just like that? How do I wake her up? She's not crazy, something is influencing her. You know this is not how she acts!"  Jake takes a sip of whiskey and winces slightly at having his cheek cleaned. "When you think it is safe to wake up Miss Wildcat there, go ahead. I don't want to have to explain this twice." He notices Ruby is wearing an olive leaf pendant.  He asks, "You have another one?"  She replies, "It's hers. I yanked it off her neck when she went crazy. She seemed to think me giving mine to you had something to do with the fact that I made her skin crawl."Ruby says, "Maybe she needs to sleep it off. Yes, I put her to sleep! She was screaming and attacking people, you included. If it was someone else doing that to us we would shoot them. It's simple to wake her up, just shake her. But give her a few moments." Ruby grabs the glass from Jake and takes a drink before handing it back. "Well, what could it be? Did she get poisoned somehow?"Chester asks Ruby, "Where did you get those necklaces? Maybe they're causing this."  "Ruby, would you take it off please?" Jake looks serious. "Just put it on the table."  "Why?" she states.   "As far as I can tell she is physically fine." Nanuet says still kneeling over her. "What else could make her act like this. She must be under a spell of some sort. Removing the necklace didn't seem to make a difference and you are wearing one now without a problem, the same one she wore as a matter of fact."Jake states, "I don't know for sure, but that one does not belong to you. This one does." He points to the one around his neck. "I promised you I would wear it and I am. So humor me and take that one off."  He looks at Nanuet. "Unfortunately, we will need the priestesses help to figure it out. I don't know if I'll survive that again though."Ruby states, "I only put it on to keep her from getting at it." Ruby pulls Minerva's necklace off and throws it on the table. "The effects won't last long. If you think you are ready to contain her, wake her up now. Or if you think we should leave then we will."Nanuet states, "I isn’t waking her up with either of you two present that's for sure. How long will your spell last Ruby?"   Jake states, "My good sense tells me that is a fine idea, except we need to get to the bottom of this soon before somebody really gets hurt." He winces again as Ruby cleans his cheek. "Somebody else."  Ruby kisses his cheek. "There all better baby. Now I have something I need to go do. I promised I would do it so I have to. But I'll be back soon." Ruby kisses Jake on the lips. "Maybe you should go for a walk and let them handle this when Minerva wakes up."  Chester suggests, “How about you go to the other side of the room before Nanuet wakes her up?"  Jake says, "Ok, Ok, I'll come back in a little while."  Nanuet suggests, "Maybe it's best if you leave the room. Or I guess I could take her upstairs to another room and wake her there. Let me do that, so she is not in the same surroundings when she wakes up. Sorry about that scratch Jake." Nanuet scoops Minerva up gently trying his best not to wake her. "That's twice in a few minutes that I've had to apologize for her, I wish I knew what was going on." Nanuet heads to his room and lays Minerva on the bed.Nanuet turns back after laying Minerva down and gently shuts the door to avoid making noise. He kneels down next to her and begins a prayer, asking his ancestors to relieve Minerva of any ills that are inflicting her either physically or mentally. He prays for her well being and health, for her protection and for her safety. He breathes deeply and then attempts to shake her awake. Chester mutters, "How is she? I hope that spell doesn't last long. She'll be mad when she gets up, though."  Jake buttons up his shirt and moves the leaf inside of it. "I'll head over to see Conrad Booth. Maybe he'll be there and not punch me out."  Ruby says, "Good idea, let's go." They walk outside together.  She then comments, "That was very strange."</blockquote>

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