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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3204631" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 199, “Ruby’s Wednesday“,  Wednesday, March 29th, 1882, 10:00 AM The next morning Ruby sleeps in a bit later. Again she meets with Kevin after breakfast and they ride out as they did the previous day. He goes over with her what she learned from the day before and adds learning the passing step. They continue to practice and again Ruby seems improved in her technique. Kevin asks Ruby about Clarisse and Ruby gives him what little information she knows. After lessons she agrees to continue meeting Kevin when she can.Next Ruby heads over to Mary Kelly’s store. She notices the store is busier then usual. “Oh yes,” Mary explains, “Between the festival and the fencing outfits everyone wants I’m very busy!” Ruby looks concerned, “Did you manage to finish my costume for the ball?” Mary laughs, “Of course Miss West, you are one of my best customers! Ginnie’s been helping too.” Ruby breathes a sigh of relief as Mary fetches her costume. Ruby’s breath is then taken away when she sees it and she claps her hands together in excitement, “Oh it looks so wonderfully perfect! Just the way I imagined it!” She scoops Mary into a big hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” “There is something else,” Mary says. “You see, I had an idea for a gown and well, I want you to see it.” Ruby furrows her brows, “A gown, for me?” “Yes,” Mary responds, “For you. As I said, you are one of my best customers but it also benefits me. It looks good when you wear the gowns I create and I think I know your preferred style by now. Come, let me show it to you.” She guides Ruby into the back room where she pulls the sheet off a mannequin. Ruby’s eyes nearly pop out of her head when she sees the vision. “You made that for me?”  “Try it on dear, let’s see how it fits.” Ruby gladly tries the gown on and it fits as if it were a second skin. Mary ohhs and aahhsss over it, tugging and pulling until she finally steps back. “It needs nothing my dear. You are gorgeous and now you have a gown that is worthy of your beauty.” “Jake is going to LOVE this,” Ruby smiles, looking at herself in the mirror, turning this way and that. “I’ll take it.” Mary tries to not accept any money for the gown but Ruby isn’t having it. She accidentally leaves a $20 bill on the counter when she leaves with her new gown and costume. She heads back to the Lucky Lady to meet Jake for lunch. She makes sure to sneak in and hide her costume and new dress in the back of the closet so Jake won’t sneak an early peek.  While eating lunch Eddie Palmer enters the Lucky Lady looking for Jake. He leaves a letter with Jake and Ruby notices a slight expression of surprise momentarily cross Jake’s face.   “What is it,” she asks, “Is it from Mattie?” “No, it’s from Philadelphia.” Ruby’s eyes widen and she hurries over to lean on his back to look over his shoulder. Jake opens the letter and finds it written in the familiar script of his mother.At this point in the letter, right in the middle of a paragraph Jake notices the slow and deliberate script is replaced by a more hurried one.  Still clearly his mother's hand though."Seems like that really could have been Virginia in Los Angeles."  Is all Jake says.  “Yes, it really does. Maggie said she had a kid with her.” Ruby stops in thought. “You think your father might harm your mother because of this letter?"  Ruby asks with some concern. "Father hit mother?  It would never happen.  Oh, sure he'll holler or not speak to her or make her life miserable for a few days but that would be the extent of it."  Jake replies without any concern in his voice.  To Ruby's unasked question he replies, "I owe my mother the courtesy of writing periodically.  That is all."  “I understand. Seems like she is grateful for it.” Ruby gives Jake a big hug. “You ok?” “Sure, it’s good to know they’re alright.” Ruby nods then lets it go.After lunch Ruby spends some time with Madge over at the Gay Lady. She sits with her mentor and the girls, deciding which songs to sing. They practice the songs and some dancing, and try on their costumes for the show so the girls can make alterations. Ruby also spends some private time with Madge, who shows her the intricacies of the Enthrall spell that Mr. Gonzales had taught her a few days earlier.Madge thoroughly enjoys the two hours that she spends teaching her the spell, . When they are done Madge says, "It is so great to be able to cast that again. That Enchantment is one of the most wonderful feelings, to be able to communicate with your audience with such purity. An artist always wishes to be able to convey exactly what they feel and with this particular spell it is possible. They know what you want them to know and feel what you want them to feel. I employed it to great effect in New Orleans. I have truly missed being able to use it here. With this upcoming festival I will finally get to use it again."Ruby asks, "Is there a reason why you haven't used it since?"   Madge laughs and says "Yeah, a damned good reason! The Gay Lady makes most of its money from gambling. If I were caught using any type of enchantment spell in the place we'd all be out of a job. Spells like Charm, Detect Thoughs and Entrall directly influence behavior. It is way too risky to ever attempt such a spell when gambling is going on. Hell, you're one of the Lucky Lady's owners, as are two of its gamblers. If you get caught doing one of those spells there everyone will assume that all of the games are crooked. That saloon and all of its gamblers would be permanently finished in this town."   Ruby smiles michieviously, "Then best to not get caught, eh? Yes, it will be fun to use the spell. Will anything special happen when we do it together?"  Madge replies, "Only if we practice together, then we can focus on either doing some of the same elements simultaneously or in alternating sections. What exactly did you have in mind?"  Ruby answers, "Oh, I don't know. You mentioned using it during the festival. I guess I thought we would use it for our little set together. What did you mean?"Madge says, "Well, first of all, we need to figure out when and where we will be doing our singing from. Right now there's still no concensus about exactly what will take place when. Each saloon is planning its own thing, but the Gay Lady is no longer available for me on Saturday night as that acting company from Tombstone has rented it out that night, it having a larger stage than the Palace, Comique and Lucky Lady.""This is getting silly. We're supposed to be having all this on the stage in the middle of town, not in the individual saloons. The point is to bring the town together, not separate them. Miss Floriencia has done a poor job making this clear. I'm going to have to take care of this somehow." "Did you say the acting company from Tombstone! Oh that's great! Josie decided to take me up on my offer. How exciting.   Look, I'm going to get this set up so all the acts are on the one stage in the middle of town. That's what I've been planning on anyway. So much work to be done..."   Ruby excuses herself from Madge and heads right over to Lacey's. She enters his store and calls out, "Mr. Lacey, are you in?"  She hears Laurie Gilson's voice yell out "We're over here Ruby". She heads to the right side of the room and sees that he and Laurie Gilson are sitting at a desk with diagrams of the town and various pages of notes written out.   "Good afternoon. I see you two are hard at work with festival plans. That is what I am here to talk to you about.  It seems there is some confusion about the plans for the festival. We are having this to bring the town together and from what I hear we are just separating everyone." "I have been working on the entertainment. Madge and her girls, and perhaps Clarisse Townsend will be singing and dancing for a set. I asked the acting troupe from Tombstone to come and it seems that have agreed. I also asked the band from the El Parador to play for the ball. They assure me they know many types of music. Tomorrow I asked for an open call for people with any kind of talents to come and sign up for entertainment. I am hoping to have some kid appropriate during the day and more adult entertainment at night, during the costume ball.  But the problem is I have figured this will all be occurring on the main stage in the middle of town. This is very important to the success of the festival. What plans do you have currently?"He looks up at her and says, "Well, I'm just as confused about this whole thing as you are. Personally, I'm kinda hoping things will take place on the town stage, since I can't go into any saloons.  Clarisse had a pretty good schedule all worked, which would have had things at the Main Street saloons and restaurants during the first part of the night and all of the other saloons for the second part, but Priestess Florencia vetoed it. I know that she's met with all of the saloon owners and they've all got their own Saturday night events now lined up for the whole evening instead with her blessing. We'd better get this straightened out soon, as that Chumbley guy's paper is going to press Friday saying what everyone is doing on their own. Seemed pretty chaotic to me, but then again, Dionysus is a chaotic Deity."Ruby states, "I don't think there is much to work out. We should be having everyone out on the main stage. Saloons are not the right place for children and people who don't choose to go in to one. Minerva told me that we are in charge, since it's own town. I would like to hear Clarisse's schedule but the Ball should be outside and run late. Why do we need to have events at the saloons? Why don't we just have the entire festival outside on the streets?"Lacey replies, "Hold on, am I talking to the Lucky Lady owner or a member of the Vigilance Committee? The saloon owners want events at their saloons to make money! You cut that out, they cut their support, and you're back to having an empty stage while everybody is off watching the boxing matches instead."Ruby rolls her eyes. "I THOUGHT the point of this festival was to bring this city together. I'm wrong about that? I didn't say not to find a way for the saloons to make money." Ruby shrugs. "Fine. Do it your way. I'll tell Miss Floriencia to take care of the entertainment herself."Lacey says, "Hold on Miss West! I'm not saying that this disorganized chaos won't work, seems to me up until now we've just had too many Chiefs and not enough Indians." Laurie says, "Actually, more the opposite from my point of view, we're still waiting for a Chief to step up and take charge. Ruby, is that you?""I think you've been inhaling too much scented bath water Ms. Gilson." Then she laughs, thinking about Nanuet referring to Jake as the Chief of their little tribe. "No one is going to listen to me about this. But this chaos isn't working. And we don't have much time to get this all finished." Ruby taps her lips, "I suppose I could think of an idea to make it work better but like I said, I doubt anyone would listen.""We understand," Lacey replies. He says, "Clarisse wanted to end the Children's events at 8:00 PM Saturday and have babysitting arranged for them, but Priestess Florencia didn't like that idea either.  Right now we're just planning out the afternoon events. We're trying to make that part of the day like a country fair, minus the livestock judging, as cow manure isn't exactly the ambiance we're trying for."Ruby replies, "Let me think about it. I'll try to come up with something for the evening. 8PM is late, the children's events should stop by 7. I'll see who comes by tomorrow and hopefully there will be something for the kids that can be played on the main stage during the day. I'll try to let you know by tomorrow night."Late afternoon Ruby is practicing on stage when she sees the petite, primly dressed priestess enter the Lucky Lady. Ruby waves her over. “Good afternoon,” Ruby says climbing off the stage, “Can I get you anything Jane?”   Jane smiles and nods her head. “Yes, actually, what I want is you.”Ruby raises an eyebrow and is about to speak when Jane continues, “… to help me convince the Cooks this afternoon to renew their vows at the festival.”“Aahhhh, I see,” Ruby says, returning Jane’s smile. “I will help you. But as you can see, I’m going to have to change.” Ruby excuses herself to get changed and she grumbles as she puts on her pale peach skirt and stuffy white shirt. She meets Jane downstairs and they head over to the Cooks.Jeb and Helen are both home and they invite Ruby and Jane inside, offering them each a lemonade. Ruby lets Jane do the talking, paying very careful attention to what she is doing. Jane tries to convince them to renew their vows to show the community how wonderful and rewarding it is to be in love and what a good example they set for the community. They tell Jane that they will consider it and get back to her later in the day if she will stop by. After they exit Jane says to Ruby, “I think I convinced them. If so, we are all set!”“Jane,” Ruby says stopping in the street. “I want to know about the ceremony. Tell me about it.” She answers, “So many questions, Sister. Let the goddess lead you.”  “I am,” Ruby smiles at Jane, “I’m asking about you.” Jane looks at Ruby, then laughs. “Perhaps tomorrow I will tell you about it.” Then she starts walking again. “Come now, I have a duet to practice.”   “He said yes?” The surprise was evident on Ruby’s face.  “Of course he did, darling.” Ruby lets Jane drop her off at the Lucky Lady while Jane continues on to the bank to meet with Mr. Condon.Right before dinner Ruby finds Nanuet and they decide to make their visit now. Ruby asks Maria to make up a basket of easy to eat food, heavy on the sweet stuff. They bring it to Mother Jiminez’s house to call on Marshal Rodriquez but the old druid says that he’s not up to visitors just yet but she’ll give him the basket. Ruby and Nanuet return to the Lucky Lady for dinner.  At dinner they discuss the days newspaper. Ruby notes with satisfaction that Chumbley's article about Sunday's events does not include any sensitive information, like he said it wouldn't. The other main story in the paper concerns the previous week's shootout between Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy Gang at Iron Springs. The story reads: Wyatt and his men were going to make camp at the springs. They had started relaxing, getting ready to make camp. Wyatt dismounted with loosened gunbelt, when something warned him of danger. He had his shotgun in hand and leading his horse as he moves forward; the other men, still mounted, were to the rear. The springs consists of a hollow and as Wyatt moves into sight it becomes obvious that they had walked into an ambush with men springing up from behind rocks. The rustlers, except for their leader Billy Clanton, merge into the cottonwoods to start firing. Wyatt squeezes off both triggers of his shotgun and cuts Billy nearly in half. One of Wyatt's men, Texas Jack, has his horse shot out from under him and the rest of the men are startled. Warren Earp orders a retreat, assuming that his brother will agree and follow. Meanwhile with loosened gunbelt falling around his thighs, Wyatt has trouble remounting and is under a barrage a fire. Miraculously he isn't hit by any of the shots being fired at him as he wanders into the stream between him and the cottonwoods. He continues to fire off shot after shot, leaving Cowboy Gang members Johnny Barnes, Jim Crane, Harry Head and Bill Leonard deal alongside their leader Clanton. When news of the incident reached Tombstone of Billy Clanton's death his brother Phineas Clanton posted a $ 10,000 reward for Wyatt Earp and his band. That offer has prompted dozen of men to join Sheriff Johnny Behan's posse. [/B]They also admire the ad that Niles had placed for the Lucky Lady. For the first time it includes the information about the private party / poker room they have for rent.  That reminds Ruby she needs to discuss an idea with Niles so she excuses herself momentarily. She explains the concept of 'pay one price' and giving the customer all they can drink for that price. "It might be a good way to get people in at the festival, plus for the Saturday night boxing matches too." Niles says he will think it over, needing to come up with the right price if the idea is to be successful.Ruby and Jake spend Wednesday night singing and playing poker and it's blissfully uneventful. Ruby considers playing poker with Hamilton Fisk but Jake decides he doesn't want he doing that just yet. At the end of the night they help clean the place up and head to bed early.Ginnie spent as much time these days as she could pouring over the books and making her own copies of what she thought might be important for her later. After all she really wasn't sure how long she would be able to access the books with the situation that Mrs. Kale had put herself in. When she wasn't reading and copying the books she was sewing and making lace for the festival. Ginnie was stashing every penny she could away and this was the best sales she would likely make for the next year. Right now the shop was as busy as could be but that was because everyone wanted something special for the ball. There would be a lull because of all the new clothing that had been made. She also started a lunch delivery service from the cantina for the workers that couldn't get away from their jobs long enough to wait for a meal to be cooked and served. The tips weren't great but it was free money although the beer pails were a little heavy no one else had thought of it yet so if someone wanted lunch delivered they came to her.  She's make it work hopefully by the time the baby came she'd have enough knowledge money and supplies that she could go back on her own comfortably and be able to actually rent a room somewhere instead of going back onto the streets.Wednesday came and Katherine was still in a fog of thought. Ruby's reaction to her news had been disappointing, but she should have expected it. As much as she loved Ruby, the two of them were very different. Things that Kate very much wanted would seem a prison to her friend. For Kate Ruby's version of freedom was nothing more than being lost. Katherine needed roots before she could feel free. She felt the need to be doing something about the Cowboy Gang, but it wasn't time yet. The others hadn't all gotten their information yet. At least now they knew they were being watched. All they had to do was send one or two out toward the mountains and set up an ambush of their own.  So for today there was some time. She spent her first couple hours with Mr. Gonzales and Ginnie as she had been trying to do every day. A talk with Ginnie was definitely in order. She had not really said anything about the baby when Kate tried to talk to her about it, and she wasn't sure how to go about it again. Later she had Estaban walk her over to the hardware store. "Good morning," Kate said pleasantly to Sandra Wainwright as she came in. "Any new music lately?"  "Katherine, it's been weeks since we saw you last," Sandra said, coming out to give Kate a quick hug. "Stop and have tea with me." "If you like. I'm sorry I haven't been by. The last few weeks have been busy."  "With school planning I imagine. That's a big undertaking."  Kate sighed a bit. "More than I could imagine. Then this festival coming up...." The ladies left Estaban to browse the music selections and shared a cup of tea. Kate mostly talked about her school and her work, and Sandra talked about the store and how her husband had been extra-attentive lately. A development she found particularly pleasing.  "There was a fire in the kitchen over at the Rio Grande yesterday that did some damage," Sandra added as an afterthought.  "That's a shame. Any idea how it started?" Sandra shrugged. "It's a kitchen, they tend to catch fire now and then. There are some who think the Cowboy Gang might have had a hand in it, but what benefit would there be for them? I say the simplest solution is probably truth. We do need a fire company in this town though. Seems something is always burning."  Kate nodded her agreement. "I should go. I don't want to keep Estaban waiting. I'll try to stop in again in a day or two. Thank you for the tea."  "Anytime Katherine. It's always nice to see you."Kate had another cooking lesson in the afternoon, and spent the rest of her time with Mr. Gonzales. She returned from work at the Lucky Lady at a reasonable hour, early enough that Ginnie had not yet come to bed. Katherine changed into her nightdress, then opened the window and let the moonlight stream into the room. She carefully unpacked a small parcel she had gotten from Lacey's store. Sitting on the floor, she put the two small cones of incense on her lap desk in front of her along with a small bowl of water and a candle. She hummed as she unbound her hair and brushed it until it hung loose and shining. When she was ready, Kate cast a cantrip and lit the candle and the incense. She took a few deep breaths and concentrated on feeling the light of the moon on her face. After the air was sweet with the incense, Kate repeated the words Minerva had spoken in their ritual. "Diana, goddess of the moon who shines her light upon us in our darkest hours, goddess of fertility, nurturer of life, we acknowledge you and pay you tribute. Grant us the ability to nurture one another without the need for understanding, as does a mother to her child. Shine your light upon our path. Guide and protect the love which grows within each of us." Her ring still being with Mother Jimenez, Kate slipped a necklace Tom had given her into the water. "Diana, I have not been a woman of great faith. Words don't seem enough to express my gratitude, but I have not learned how to open my heart to the gods. Our priestess said if I talk, you will listen, and if I listen you may speak. Forgive me my misteps as I learn to open myself to you. Shine your light upon my path, as I am in need of guidance." Kate sat in silence and watched the moonlight reflect off the water until the incense burned away. She pinched the candle out and wrapped herself in her soft robe to go fetch her too studious daughter.</blockquote>

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