"Glad to be on the side of the law while I'm in Dodge City, Mr. Earp." Darling pins the badge to his silk brocade vest, over his heart. When he lets the lapel of his frock coat fall, the badge is out of sight.

"So, we're to be a band of brothers again, eh?" he smiles at his fellow deputies, "And one cherished sister, of course, Miss Hawthorne." He tips his hat courteously to Coraline, then extends his hand to Sky Dog, "With one new brother added to our kinship. Pleased to wear the tin with you, Sky-Dog."

The shaman took this in with relief. "It is probably a mercy God gives you for living where it is so hot," he murmured, then clarified to Gabby: "In Siberia, we do not have these. In winter, no days. For three times the moon getting fat, no days. Probably God gives you the light he takes from summer then, yes? It is good that this is not from the world being broken, that you have darkness coming in summer here."

He laughed at Earp's attempt to shoo his flock of deputies out, already stepping back before Gabby's question brought him up short. A glance was exchanged with Korpi before Darling spoke, breaking the sudden stillness between them. "Two," he corrected, holding up two fingers like a saint on a gilded icon.

"Two sisters." Sky Dog indicated his own in her new most favourite place, then siezed Darling's hand to shake it perhaps even more thoroughly than Daniel's, one corner of his mouth already pulling up into a grin.

"Yes, of course, I did not mean to slight you, black-winged sister," Darling says, tipping his hat and inclining his head decorously in the raven's direction.

"Let's get on to Dog Eye's establishment then, and I insist on standing everyone a round as we get the low-down from the eponymous owner."

Earp grimaces, and shakes his head in response to Gabby's query. "If any of y'all had kin in Hays, I can't tell you how sorry I am. Nasty business, that, Mr. Clarke. And it's driving up the tension, as if there wasn't enough already."

"Well, it's just like what happened in Lawrence all them years back. Best I can figure is that some o' Quantrill's boys didn't get shot or hanged after that and they're back for more. Or maybe they were prisoners o' war and got released in some trade. I think the two are linked somehow, but honestly I've got my hands full with keepin' the peace in Dodge. We've got some Confederate irregulars and gangs that wander into town, but I don't think they had anything to do with it, though I might be wrong."

He shook his head. "Tell Dog Eye I said hello, and ask him about all this Hays mess too. That man knows everything that goes on in this town. He'll probably be better on that than I am. I've got my hands full with keepin' the peace."

The bird atop Caleb's head stirred, hackles rising slightly, and pronounced one word: "Avakhi."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:10, Wed 23 Jan 2013.

"Dog Eye," Morgan repeated the name as he finished affixing his badge, "We'll definitely ask him about any folks from Hays. If I might ask, Marshal. I have something of a personal interest in what happened over there. If you happen to hear anything about those killings, would you pass it on to me?"

Coraline smiled at Randolph's appearance, but the smile fell a trifle as she was compared to a BIRD.  She gave the black bird a sidelong glance, not really trusting the creature or the crazy Siberian-Russian-Indian-Nomad-Shaman person that talked to it like it was a person.  Rather than pin the star on her dress, she slipped it into her handbag and took a moment to familiarize herself with the map that Earp had given them.

"Hmmm...or maybe Quantrill hisself is back from under the ground, fightin' his war again." Gabby mutters as he turns over the information. If Radcliffe could reanimate the dead, why not someone else?

He nodded. "Well, I guess it's off to the saloon!" He starts heading out of the law office.

"If more word comes to me than what we've had so far, I'll send it your way," the law man said.

---

As soon as Gabby walked out of the jailhouse, he almost ran into a mule drawn cart that was standing still right in his path. Whatever was in the open cart was covered by a cloth that was tied up, holding it down. A wrinkled hand quickly shot up in front of Gabby, clutching a vial of an oily blue liquid, and he saw that its holder was an old Chinese man that looked familiar.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:06, Thu 24 Jan 2013.

"One dlink, even aged man rike you prease woman for entire night! If election rast fo mo than fo hour, call doctor!" The old Chinese man seemed to cackle, but held up his product for sale anyway. "Onry THLEE dolla!"

The man, Gabby recognized a moment later, was Ming Chin, and old Chinese miner that he used to know way back when they were both working claims in Sutter's Mill together. Ming had always been a hard working man with a fairly serious temperament, though he always kept a good sense of humor and though he never had much to give, he had a generous spirit. Superstitious and homesick, Ming was known to collect all manner of knick knacks that made their way over from his homeland. He had little income for luxuries, but whatever was there for it seemed to finance the purchase of some symbol of good fortune or the other.

He seemed a little different. More youthful and vigorous, the visibly old miner held himself with a stronger posture and walked with a more confident gait than ever before. He had an easy smile about him, as if he had some joke or mischief on his mind. He grinned at the others.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:10, Thu 24 Jan 2013.

Gabby grins. "Ming Chin? That you, you cheeky so-and-so?" He pushes the bottle away. "Now you know for a damned fact I don't need no Chinese snake oil to please my woman! Get that stuff outta my face, and tell me how the Hell you've been! What in blazes are you doin' in Dodge?"

Ming Chin leaned forward and peered at Gabby for a moment, squinting before exclaiming cheerfully, "Gabby-Claahk! Not snake oir! Tladitional Chinese medicines, magical cures and lemedies for any plobrem. Maybe almost any plobrem. Not evely problem but crose. Vely crose. Also tell fortunes! You want me to tell your fortune? Free for you. Gabby-Clarke!" As he goes on speaking, the thickness of his accent seems to thin out, revealing a bit of a charade.

Pointing to the others. "Twenty five cent for any of you. Best fortune teller in west or east! Ming Chin!"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:48, Thu 24 Jan 2013.

Morgan grinned as he listened to the man's pitch. He'd never been much for having his fortune told. It had always seemed best to Morgan to simply take each day as it came. Even so, he glanced at the rest of the group, curious to see if anyone would take Chin up on his offer.

Coraline filed out of the law office and stared in bemusement at the old mining coot talking to the old Asian coot.  She lifted an eyebrow at the mention of fortune.  "I want my fortune read!"  She produced the necessary two-bits and waved it at the Chinaman.

After a smooth hop down to Morgan’s shoulder and back to navigate the doorway, Korpi surveyed the scene, noting where the ruffled human with the skirt was so carelessly cacheing her shiny things and which items carried on the mule might be edible.

Sky Dog watched from the porch shadow, intrigued by what scraps of the foreigner's conversation he could decipher but aware of tales the old shaman had told him: 'albino' might well be an ingredient in any of these wares, animals sliced into strips of white pelt, humanity pounded out of the once-human. He scratched the dog's ears pensively then slipped away in search of the saloon.

Ming Chin deftly removed the coins from her hand and seemed to make them disappear to some place unknown, likely a compartment in his sleeve. He leaned forward and examined her face for a moment, looking at her from different angles.

"I can see upon your face, the future written like a map though it is the reading of the key that you may yet discover. You are the Queen of Hearts, and many suitors will you have, and many will be turned away, more than have already seen such a fate so far - though there will be the one, a great love, and a greater lover. A long life is writ for you, but it is yours to gamble away, as you will play in the most dangerous game of all. You will find wealth one day, perhaps by the fall of the cards or the toss of the dice."

One of his hands crawled a straight line in the air, and he said, "Some of these things, I know not what they mean but they are yours to discover in time. I see a long journey for you, where you will meet a queen, wear a shroud of gloom, breathe in the ocean air and climb a tall tower. You walk with a man of shadows, and a compass points true north. A western meadowlark flies in the blue sky, a worm in its mouth! You will see in time these things, then you must find Ming Chin again, tell him what they mean, eh?" He grinned up at her.

"Come, come. We go." He beckoned with his hand and began guiding his mule across the tracks. "Ming Chin knows you are about business, and knows where you must go."

Sky Dog, who had paused to touch the warm metal of the second line, looked up at the hoof-clatter and tremor of movement on the earth to see the miniature mule train heading close behind him.

He straightened with alarcity like a corvid set up from a corpse, flaring back a step but not about to take off. A metallic glint speared from his fingers: the yet-unplaced star turned over and toyed with, catching the light.
"Do you chase me, Grandfather?" he asked, laughing.

"I fear I would spend my last days chasing you, who have come so far. These legs no longer have the strength for such perilous journeys," he said, a glint of amusement in his eye. Despite his advanced age, he did not look to be suffering from a frail condition, though whether or not he suffered from dementia was anyone's guess.

"Do you run from me, grandson?"

"Yes! If no open doorway tells you where I am going, maybe." Sky Dog grinned, a certain knowledge of tradecraft hinting about the edges.

"Ha! Ha, it depends whether you are after a grandson to help you with demons out of their bottles or the moss-hair from my antlers," he replied, allowing the little cavalcade to come level. The shaman reached into some pocket hidden by his hood, brought his hand out clinking softly. "What will you trade me for five tiger bells?"

"Ah! A collector of the rare treasures, I see," he said, turning to fish around in his wagon as he continued to talk. "I have no need of moss hair of antlers, or demons in bottles."

After a moment he turned around and stared at the tiger bells for a moment. "What do they do?" He leaned forward and touched the bells with a finger, his eyes widening slightly. He clutched a small silk wrapped bundle in one hand, and unwrapped it, revealing a small jade figurine of a jolly looking fat little man in a cross-legged seated position with a sword across his legs.

"For that, I will trade you this," he said, presenting the figure.

Gabby smiles as Ming Chin goes about his business with Coraline and the strange fella from far away. Ming hadn't ever been this happy as a miner.

"Life seems to have been good for you, Chin." He says. "Where did you learn this gift o' tellin' fortunes, and what have I got in store fer me?"

Sky Dog tilted his head a little. "They make the right noise," he said, grave as shaman buisness might be, then attended to the shine of the silk and the greenish glitter of the object revealed.

Once he'd leant back and squinted this way and that to finally focus on the details Sky Dog gave a little bark-cough of sheer delight. "Ah! Korpi-!" He motioned to Ming to hold the little idol higher and called out to his sister in an excited clatter of Evenki like so many iron bells, ending in a chorused 'Yapansky bog!' and doubled laughter.

The shaman ends up pink and half-breathless, but manages to get hold of himself and exchanges treasures, not without very obvious glee. "Done, then. Ha!" For all his mirth, the jade gets a certain reverence. Sky Dog indicated Gabby as a waiting customer and held up his free arm for Korpi to land on and come look.

Ming Chin seemed only amused by the shaman's display, but then returned his attention to Gabby. Beneath his shirt, an old and worn medallion dangled, just the sort of trinket he had always been known to collect. He paused and shook the bells. With a satisfied nod, he tucked them away in his cart, and then lead his mule drawn cart onward.

"It is something that simply came to me. I had always known of the talent of looking at a man's face and seeing his fortune, but one day it came. When I look now I see things. Symbols. Images. Ideas. I see them and I know them for what they are sometimes, but most of the time I am not certain what they mean."


"When I look at you, Gabby-Clarke I see around you a man with a black hat who you will confront, and a jewel of unspoken value. One dog that you know, one dog you will come to know. A curse that has long followed you. A mining pick that draws forth money from where it strikes. I know not what they mean, but I see them."

Randolph's professional curiosity -- as a writer of interesting stories, not as a lawman -- is piqued by the old Chinaman. He strides after him, waiting politely as Ming Chin finishes his business with Gabby and Sky Dog.

He clears his throat then and a quarter glitters between thumb and forefinger.

"Tell me, Mr. Ming Chin, what do you read in my face?"

Daniel had been the last to leave the law office and trailed near the rear of the group. He smiled when he figured out that his uncle had discovered an old friend. Today seemed to be a day for old acquaintances and friends.

Daniel was curious about his future, but was also wary of what knowing even a hint of it might be. What if the man didn't see much of anything? Would that imply Daniel's demise was just around the corner? And would he ever be able to sleep again if that were the response?

For now, he contented himself with walking near the back of the group. He listened to the exchanges, but his head was on a swivel looking for the familiar colors and shape of the barber's pole. Surely, there was at least one in Dodge.