Part 14

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                                                               Oh Aces

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                                                               Oh Aces

CrazyGoose and Kae rode off to Oh Aces and upon arrival they split up. Kae never said what she was up to and just nodded goodbye to her travel partner. CrazyGoose had a prearranged meeting that she had set up with one of her informants, a character named Loopy Lou. They met in the local church and Lou warned CrazyGoose that things were a lot worse than they imagined. Croc was leading a larger gang and killing did not bother him a bit.

She told him not to worry so much and to get hold of Kae if he could; she would track down Cadmus Croc. CrazyGoose left the church and went shopping to fulfill promises she had made and bought a Stetson hat for stannbear and a wooden bat, presumably, for the bar. There was no mention of vodka on her list. On the way back from shopping, she and CrazyMoose lost their direction and were accosted in an alley by some mysterious stranger.

Lean's friend, Crooked Smile was hired on as the saloon bartender and right away there seemed to be an ulterior motive. Lean, who was left in charge of the prisoners, freed one of the girls, a Rebecca Rain. They planned to leave for Oh Aces as soon as it got dark. Meanwhile, another friend of Lean's, Raven, was doing some kind of business with Crooked Smile and was going to be traveling with some troupe to Oh Aces right away and wait for Lean to arrive.

3Gun felt a little lost. They created their great plan, hired an investigator then everyone seemed to go their own way without any co-ordinating of objectives. stannbear was relieved of his cleaning duty at the saloon and sent back to the jail to make sure no more prisoners managed to get away. When the territory Marshall came to collect the prisoners, 3Gun wanted to make sure they were all there. The town was functioning well. Crime was limited to the occasional drunk and disorderly, trespassing and the theft of some eggs by a few of the town's juveniles so they could toss them at the passing freight trains.

With nothing to do, 3Gun got the idea of asking the female entertainer that arrived on the stage, if she would consent to giving a short performance at the saloon so the folks could show their appreciation for having someone of her celebrity a guest in their town. Miss Treelane was too flattered to refuse, in spite of her agent's protests. 3Gun allowed as how he would call for her after the town's workday ended, and escort her to the saloon and introduce her. He was pleased with his plan because he was going to levy a charge for admission to raise cash for the salaries of the new bartender, stannbear and the investigator, Kae, that they hired.

First thing he did was get hold of Little Ron and have him make up some flyers, announcing Miss Treelane's appearance at the saloon, and those that wanted to see this famous entertainer could do so by contributing a dollar to the admission box to be set up at the door. Next he made sure Crooked Smile had plenty of clean glasses because ladies were welcome as well and he expected quite a few.

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