Gabby watched Danial eye his bacon. The boy was always trying to take his food before he was good and done with it, so he scarfed it down. Last night's adventure had given him a powerful appetite.

"Hey, anyone seen Mr. Darlin'?" He said after a look around the table.

"Do you mean that young man, the reporter, who was using all those two dollar words? I saw him earlier this morning at breakfast. He was quite an eater, I believe. Well, what I mean by that was that he seemed to shovel his food down awful fast - especially when I was about to come over and have a chat with him. He must not have seen me, or he would have taken his time over his breakfast. It was so strange, you know. Just before I got to his table he had finished everything and was already moving towards the door. I tried to get his attention, but he probably didn't hear me. Anyway, he left."

Jenny sat down with them, though she didn't have anything to eat for herself.

"Probably went to see Radcliffe, then." Gabby, mutters. "He wanted to get some words in with that rat last night, probably tryin' to get some kind o' scoop. You know, he done tried to convince me to go water Bessie, an' leave him all alone with Radcliffe. Didn't trust him then, and frankly, I don't trust him alone with Radcliffe now." he nods at Jenny. "Thank you kindly, ma'am."

"What do you think he was going to do if you left him alone with Radcliffe?" she asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Well, the suspicious man in me thought he might stick an knife in Radcliffe. He was real particular about me not sharin' what happened out in the mine with the folk o' Kinsley, in order ta 'protect his scoop.' Now, I don't think that's what he was really plannin'...I expect what he was really plannin' was to tell Radcliffe to shut up about what went down in the mine, so that when his story hits the papers he'd get a bigger payday." Gabby sighs. "I reckon I might be gettin' a little untrustin' in my old age. I once made the mistake o' talkin' to a reporter about a silver claim I was runnin' in Texas. Three days later, I go down to the creek to find a dozen claims done sprung up overnight. So I don't like reporters that much. On the other hand, if it weren't for some things I'd read in the Epitaph, I'd not have known to shoot for the head when we done fought them deadders last night. So I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on him...I just expected that a reporter would want to spread the truth, rather than try to bury it fer a buck."

Daniel smiled at Jenny as she approached. "Mornin', Missus Linkus. I was just askin' th' others 'bout you. Trust ya had a nice evenin'."

Daniel sat quietly by, looking at his uncle as Gabby mentioned a few things about their reporter friend. Seemed like odd behavior, and Daniel didn't quite know what to make of it. "That's lotsa suspectin' and suspicion. Mebbe we could jus' ask 'im and see what he says. And how."

While they had arrived in the dead of night, it was hard to judge exactly how much custom the Dodge House had. From the look of things as they continued to eat, however, the place was absolutely full. There was hardly a seat in the breakfast area unoccupied and no more rooms with all the guests that seemed to be just then arriving. They had seen people being given keys, and then they had witnessed the rest who approached seeking lodging turned down despite their fiercest pleas. There simply wasn't room to be had.

The building began to get crowded, and from the noise on the street outside it wasn't that much better there.

Gabby grows cold as he spots a face in the crowd.

"Wainwright." he growled under his breath, in the sort of tone of utter loathing and contempt Southerners usually reserved for Abraham Lincoln.

Yup. It was him. You don't soon forget the face of the man who shoved a paper in your face which said he was stealing your dream away from you.

Gabby looks down at the remains of his breakfast.

"You know, suddenly I ain't so hungry as I thought I was." he says. "Ya'll want to finish my bacon, Danny?"

Daniel nodded without thinking. "Ya know I gotta bacon weakness, Uncle. Never could say no ta that sorta offer." Daniel happily bit into the crunchy bit of pig meat as if someone were going to suddenly change their mind and take it away from him. Once he had staked his claim to the uneaten bacon, he asked, "So why ya suddenly full? Thought last night've given ya a big app'tite."

"Ain't somethin' I'd like to talk about in polite company." Gabby says, nodding at Coraline and Jenny.

She frowned at Gabby.  "Why not?  You certainly like to talk about whatever else is on your mind, including badmouthing a friend of mine," she said a little heatedly.  "Mister Darling is a perfectly respectable person with a perfectly respectable profession and I'd thank you to not lay false accusations against him that have absolutely no basis in fact."

Gabby frowns. "I reckon you ain't been out West too long, Ma'am. How long have you known your 'friend' Mr. Darlin' anyhow? Two days? Maybe three? A train ride ain't any kind o' time to take the measure o' a man...folks is on their best behavior there." he says, quick to get defensive. "And what accusations I made is false? When next you see Mr. Darlin' and ask him what he was up to, he'll be polite and charmin' as all get out, but I bet you ten dollars cash that he's slipped out to try and speak with Radcliffe at the jail without the burden o' any other ears around for hearin'. Sure, he's brave as all get out...stood right up to all the deadders and poor ol' Bob without a twitch. But then he has the nerve," he slams the table, "the utter gall," silver ware clatters as he slams again, "to tell me to lie to the folks of Kinsley about what done went down because he wants to squeeze a few more dollars out o' the story when he sells it. That ain't accusation, that's the God's honest truth! The Marshal AND Danial were there to hear it!"

Gabby's voice was rising. He was getting heated himself, and he knew it, but this was a matter o' personal pride to him.

((OOC: -_- yay Big Mouth hindrance.))

"Mister Darling and I have been acquainted for years, Mister Clarke.  Years.  So I do believe that I know him slightly better than you," she replied with coldly.  "How can you blame a man in the newspaper business for wanting to publish a story before everyone else?  That is his job, Mister Clark.  Not to mention that he was probably trying to keep you from running your mouth at those poor, scared folks on the train that really didn't need to know the gory details of our excursion.  Honestly!  Most people are not equipped to handle what we saw in that mine.  I heard him say quite clearly that he thought it best to keep quiet about the true nature of things to prevent a lynch mob from forming.  Because that's the sort of thing that happens when good, innocent folk are scared witless by wild tales of monsters."

He might have had a big mouth, but she was stubborn as hell and not about to back down when it came to her friend's reputation.  "What's it to you if he wanted to interview Mister Radcliffe, anyway?  Last time I checked, it is a free country and Mister Darling has just as much right as the next fellow to make a living."

The room got quiet for a moment, as the busy nature of the crowd and the hustle calmed down as people stopped to stare at Gabby as he banged on the table. Of course, after a time they got back tot heir business. The nature of the conversation wasn't really ideal for Jenny, though she did have a nose for getting into situations she wasn't involved in and she wouldn't leave the table for the world. She would at some point find a way to jump in, certainly, though for now she was more than happy to listen to all of this.

"This ain't about his goddamned newspaper!" Gabby growls back. "This is about him tryin' to hide the truth o' things from them that needed to hear it most!" He looks at Jenny. "Tell me, Mrs. Linkous. You saw what went down. Hell, that poor monster tried to take you away with him! Would it have put you at ease, never knowin' what had happened to that thing? To wonder if it were still out there, lurkin', instead o' knowin' that it had been put down for good?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:13, Fri 11 Jan 2013.

Getting involved in conflicts between other people wasn't really her strong suite. She looked cautiously at Gabby, and then at Coraline, and then back to the older man.

"I suppose..." she began, hesitantly, pausing before saying anything else. "I suppose it was good to know about all that. But also maybe it wasn't. You know, it's like seeing something scary like a snake. If someone kills the snake or it goes away, you're glad. But you keep thinking about all the other snakes out there and then you start to worry about them and when they might bite you and you have nightmares about snakes. Maybe it's easier not to think about them?"

Jenny tittered nervously, though she didn't look particularly amused.

"But it was already too late fer you not to know about the snake. It done already tried to bite. Hidin' from the snakes don't make 'em go away. Not thinkin' about them don't make them stop bitin'. But knowing they're out there, and that someone's doin' somethin' about them? Don't that make the knowledge easier to bear?"

Daniel was in a bacon filled daydream as everything around him occurred without him even seeming to notice or react. Arguments washed over his skin like water off a duck's back. It was like a little slice of hog heaven on his tongue with every bite. "Damn tha's some good bacon." Daniel patted his stomach when he had finished his uncle's bacon, happy with the fullness that he felt therin.

He looked back and forth between Coraline, Gabby, and Jenny Lynn. "Always been a fan o' lettin' folk know once a job's been done. O' course I ain't th' most savvy when it comes ta decidin' this sorta stuff. There's prolly a fine line between calmin' folk down from what they done seen and rilin' em up even more. Folk don't need rilin' up. But some of 'em are already riled."

He wiped his mouth of a few bacon crumbs. "Always thought newspaper men were s'posed ta jus' report th' facts o' the matter. Guess I never thought too much 'bout all th' other stuff they gotta think 'bout." He thought for a moment. "Wonder when that story'll be published, anyhow?"

Coraline couldn't understand how Daniel could remain so calm with his uncle yelling like a crazy person.  She glared at Gabby.  "You keep a civil tongue in your head when you speak to me.  I'll not have foul language tossed about at the breakfast table."  Her fork stabbed a bit of sausage violently.  "I would also point out that everyone has a opinion, Mister Clarke.  Simply because you believe those people deserved to know, doesn't mean you're right.  I happen to completely agree with Mister Darling.  If it had been up to me, I wouldn't have scared them with horrid tales that didn't do them any good."

She shuddered as Gabby reminded her again of what she'd rather not think about: that there were maybe more zombies out there somewhere waiting to get her. Jenny didn't really know how to answer Gabby's question, but what she really didn't envy was being situated in the crossfire between Gabby and Coraline. She did spare a moment to watch with amazement as Daniel seemed to shovel down the bacon without regard for what happened around him, but her astonishment was somewhat interrupted when he started speaking.

Still, she found it hard to leave the discussion well alone.

"Everybody has their own faults. As you said, Mr. Darling showed some courage going with you all down to that mine, but you disagreed with his opinion about whether or not to tell people. That doesn't mean he's bad and wants to kill people. Don't judge, so that you won't be judged - that's what my pastor says. Maybe you oughta talk to Mr. Darling and sort out your differences of opinion on the matter."

She stood up, and smoothed her dress. "Now, I think it might be best to calm your tempers. We've already had the Lord's name taken in vain once here, and once is already too much in my book. I'm going to go and telegraph my husband to tell him about the train and the likely delay." Saying quick and quiet goodbyes to them all, Jenny quickly left the Dodge House.

Daniel stood respectfully as the lady went to leave the table. "Farewell, Missus Linkous. We'll look fer ya later in the day, mayhaps."

He then considered the others. "Tha' was a fine meal, and I don' meanta rush nobody, but I'ma ready ta venture over an meet Wyatt Earp if y'all are."

"Why does everyone think I think he wants to kill people?" Gabby grumbles. "That ain't what I said at all." Gabby pushes away from the table. "People only get scared o' tales when they focus on the monsters, not the folk fightin' 'em. But maybe it's you who's the one afraid, Miss Hawthorne. Afraid o' folk knowin' what you can do when you shake that fan o' yours. I can understand that fear real well, and you don't have to worry. I was plannin' to leave that part out. I do have some discretion."

He stands and starts stalking off toward the law offices.

Daniel opened his mouth to say something, then closed it before it gathered any flies. He wasn't sure exactly what to say at that moment. Something would come to him soon. Perhaps he would have to explain about his family's rather uneven temper. She'd seen Daniel fight like a badger when he was wounded.

Of course Daniel was mostly in agreement with his uncle. He'd known the man most of his life and trusted his judge of character more than any other person he'd ever met. Gabby was right that there was something suspicious going on. Of course it's not like Daniel didn't have his own secrets to keep. Sometimes a person should just leave well enough alone.

He decided to hold out an arm as an offering to Coraline, "May I 'scort ya, ma'am?" He punctuated the question with a smile. "If yer done eatin'. No need ta rush if yer not." He eyed his recently vacated chair.

Coraline was left gaping after Gabby, too flummoxed to snap off another remark.  A surge of fear ran through her.  Could he really keep his big mouth shut?  What exactly had he seen her do?  Staring even after he'd gone, she didn't really register Daniel's words until his arm drew her attention.  She flushed brightly and threw her napkin down on the table.  "Well, I'm certainly put off my breakfast now, so why not?"  Rising from her chair, she took slipped her arm in his and steered him toward the door.

Daniel gave her a smile and a nod as she linked her arm with his. He wasn't entirely certain where the law offices were, and his instinct was to not ask for directions. He would almost rather wander the town aimlessly for an hour than ask for directions, but that would make him appear foolish to Coraline, so he quietly inquired with one of the attendants in the dining room.

Once he had received information on how to get to where Wyatt Earp should be this morning, he led Coraline on a brief stroll there. Though he was curious about several things, he kept conversation light and on inane topics.