Bill awakes with a sense of foreboding. Today’s the day. Though the day is starting peaceful, he knows that within 24 hours, over 40 will have died and more than 4 million acres will have burned. The overwhelming sense of terror seems to be hanging in the air and then he realizes what it is. The day has awakened to a light breeze from the North–always a bad sign with a forest fire. The fires must be getting bigger as the skies grey with dark clouds of ash. By 7:00 am, the ash starts to fall out of the sky like snow. He watches it for a while and soon hears footsteps in the hallway. He looks at the internal chronometer and determines it’s 8:00. that would be Curtis leaving for breakfast. He sighs and shakes Liuhua awake and tells her it’s almost time to move. She moans and begins to get up. Bill calls Frank to tell him Curtis is moving so Frank and Jessica can get the Jump Tent.

By 9:00 she’s across from the ON&R railroad taking in a bite for breakfast watching for Curtis. Sure enough he heads into the building to start work. The day passes slowly for all as the impending disaster builds turning the town and the mountains into a firepit of despair. By 11:00 Jessica has been “on station” for an hour and the anxiety is building around town. From her vantage point, thunderheads of smoke, flat-bottomed and ragged-topped, reached far into the sky. Others had seen it as well. A flurry of activity was occurring between the OR&N, Northern Pacific, the Sheriff and some other men; presumably one was the mayor. She finished her “window shopping” and is headed toward the creek where she observed Curtis the day before, when she sees a figure dart from the back door of the OR&N into the forest. Surprised, she flips on the Tau meter and sees the bright red blip of a Tau Deviant. She leans on a horse tie down, apparently looking toward the sky, but instead watching the figure. It hugs the forest and then darts in toward town. She reaches for her throat and loudly whispers:

It’s Curtis. He’s on the move. Heading down 8th! Moving fast.

Bill:

10-4. Watching at the Lodge. Liuhua Head up 7th see if you can find him.

Frank:

I’m on my way.

It’s not too long before Liuhua keys in that he has passed her on his cay to the Lodge. sure enough, he enters the back door and quietly heads into his room. He’s so quiet, in fact, that Bill can barely hear him.

Frank: Bill, I’ll be there soon. Keep your eyes and ears open. I want to know whether either he or Serena leave. If you hear anything that sounds like an argument or physical conflict, you need to intervene. Fast.

Bill: I’ll be here. Do you think we can get anyway to listen in better…other than at the door? I mean like, listening in in the room next to them. 11 I think?

Frank: If you can do that without tipping them off, do it.

Bill: I’m going to see if the next room is open.

He approaches room #11 slowly and finds the door unlockes. “Stupid fool, ” thinks Bill as he pushes the door open and slowly sneaks into the room. “No one’s home. Good!” Thinks Bill. He slowly closes the door and locks it. Then slowly makes his way to the wall between #11 and #9. He places an ear agains the wall and strains to hear what is going on. He can hear low talking and strains to hear the conversation. He thinks he hears Curtis telling Serena that they are to begin final preparaitons for leaving. He’s going to sneak on one of the trains and wants her to come with him. Serena replies that she needs to get to the Oasis to pick up some things before they leave. He should wait for her here. They’ll have time. “Just relax, ” she says. “Relax and put your maind at ease.” She then starts to sing softly. Bill can’t make out the words, but can feel his eyes closing and a deep sense of tiredness overcoming him.

Frank: Liuhua, Jessica, start working your way south. I want you on Hotel Street, Liuhua, at the 9th street intersection, Jessica at the 7th street intersection. If someone leaves, I want us to be able to follow them.

Bill pulls his ear from the wall hoping he doesn’t fall asleep. He then subvocally tells the group Curtis is planning on leaving town with Serena by train. She has to go pick up some stuff at the Oasis.

Frank: Okay, Jessica, change of plan. Stay near the Oasis. Serena will be headed your way. Liuhua, take the 7th Street intersection instead. Follow Serena when she passes. Liuhua will be there to give you backup if needed.

Jessica: Affirmative.

Liuhua: Got it.

Bill: She started to sing a song…it made me sleepy. I was worried about falling asleep. If she leaves and doesn’t come back for him in time, he’ll die in his sleep. You think that’s how he died?

Frank: I don’t know, but that’s one powerful lullaby. You don’t smell gas or anything else, do you? … Just in case, maybe you’d better open a window.

Bill: Good idea.

Bill heads to the window shaking his head, trying to identify an odor. He can’t. “Carbon Monoxide, Ether? No, it has a smell,” he thinks as he mentally goes over all known lethargic gases as he opens the window. Breathing in the warm air, he starts feeling better.

Frank enters through the back door and heads up to the second floor. He climbs the stairs and heads toward room #11. When he gets to the door, he finds it locked.

Frank: Bill, open the door.

Bill: I’m glads it’s you.

Frank: Yeah, I’m glad it’s you, too. Any change?

Time: 4:38

Bill: I haven’t tried listening again. Wanted to wait until I had at least one other person here. I’ll try again now that you’re here.

Bill puts his ear up against the wall, but only hears silence.

Bill: I hear nothing. I think it’s safe to assume that they are both there though.

Frank: Maybe. Liuhua, Jessica, any sign of Serena?

Jessica: Negative.

Liuhua: Nope.

Frank: Okay. Now we wait.

Bill: That’s the worst part of anything…

Frank positions himself by the window so he can see who, if anyone, leaves. He also opens the door as well so they can hear if she exits via the window.

Frank: Bill, the people who stay in this room – what do they look like?

Bill gives him a description.

Frank: I’ll let you know if I see them coming. We’ll need to vacate this room if they do.

Bill: I’ll just act drunk if need be. Perhaps we both should.

Frank: Actually, I have a better idea. Give me your key. I’ll lock the back door. If they try to come in that way, they’ll find it locked. It may be unusual, but they’ll either knock or go around front. Either way, we’ll likely have warning that they’re here.

Bill: Ok. I’ll let ya know if Serena is coming.

Frank: Thanks. I’ll be right back.

Frank sneaks down to the back door and locks the door. He then heads back up to room #11. He surprises Bill, when he enters the room (much to Frank’s delight)

Time: 4:45

Frank: Remember the timeline. The winds will start to pick up soon. A couple of hours from now is the key time for the town. The winds will get to hurricane force by 7:00.

4:58

At 4:58 the winds begin to big up and the air starts to swirl. Off in the North a large spout of flame can be seen.

5:12

By 5:12 the winds are swirling fast and then at 5:17 they start to die down and a cheer can be heard in the town.

Bill: I think it’ll be time for us to do something. She’s not moving and niether is he.

Frank: No. Wait. We have time. They have time.

5:30

As 5:30 turns to 5:45, the winds are still silent.

They wait. Intermittently Frank tells Bill to listen at the wall. Bill does so, but shakes his head indicating no sound is to be heard.

5:45

As 5:45 turns into 5:59 a loud crash is heard and the winds start to pick up again.

Bill: Jessica, Liuhua. Are you ok?

Frank: I think that’s our cue. Get ready people. Things should start happening fast now.

Jessica: Yes, but the people are geting restless

Liuhua: People aren’t sure what to do. They’re miling about.

Frank: The mayor should start the evacuation within the hour. The first stage of the evacuation was calmly conducted. The panic didn’t start until the original evacuation point was engulfed.

6:05

By 6:05 a loud keening can be heard whining in the air as the wind plays the telegraph and electrical wires like a violin at Carnegie hall.

Frank: Bill, any movement next door?

Bill puts his ear against the wall and then consulting the Tau meter. It’s still red and no sounds can be heard. He shakes his head.

6:30

The wind increases in speed, throwing twigs and debris around. Frank looks around from the window to see if he can see anything from beyond the town limits. The close area is still red. He can’t see flames, but the sky is glowing orangish red through the gray ash. The winds grow and abate for the next half hour.

Frank: Ladies, let me know when the evacuation is called. That’ll be a good excuse for us to start banging on doors.

6:48

Suddenly, at 6:48, Bill hears a loud snap and the winds begin to howl. The winds are hitting 50 miles per hour and whipping through town.

Jessica: What the hell was that?

Liuhua: What?

Bill: I heard it too. A snap of some kind.

Frank: I didn’t hear anything.

Jessica: Yes like a whip! Guys it’s getting dangerous out here.

Liuhua: The evacuation will be called soon!

Frank: Okay, Bill, time to move. Let’s see what’s what next door.

Jessica: People are starting to move toward the ON&R

Bill: I thought you’d never ask.

Frank: Jessica, Liuhua, start heading this way. Meet at the lodging house.

Jessica: Roger.

Liuhua: On my way!

Frank: Bill, bang away, but then step to the side. Just in case.

Bill: Roger

Bill: (bangs on the door) There’s a fire coming!

Silence still can be heard from the other room.

6:50

Bill kicks in the door. The door splinters and shatters. Inside, he sees one person–Curtis–on the bed; unmoving. Frank looks over Bill’s shoulder at the scene.
Bill heads over to Curtis and leans down to listen for breathing. He finds very shallow breathing and begins to inspect him closer. No trauma is visible on his body after careful examination.

Frank: Bill, you’re the doctor. What’s his status?

Bill: Open the window.

Frank: Jessica, Liuhua, we’re in Curtis’s room. No sign of Serena. Curtis is here, but not moving. Bill’s checking.

Frank goes to open the window, which opens under Franks hand.

Bill: he’s in a coma…I don’t know if I can fix this here. We have to move him

Frank: Anything you can do quickly? Otherwise, we’ll make a quick stretcher and take him out of here.

Bill: Nothing here. Let’s move him. Take the tent I’ll carry him. Making a strecher will take to long

The winds now pick up speed and Jessica, who’s just arrived, says: You can see the fire moving toward town. It won’t be long now.

Frank: Okay, I’ll take his legs. You grab his arms.

Liuhua: Use the tent as a stretcher …

Bill: Fine. Let’s just get him outa here.

Frank: We need to get him to someplace the authorities will find him and make sure he gets help. Of course, we can’t be seen or we’re likely to get caught and forced to fight the fire!

Frank: Jessica, lead the way. We need to get back to where the people are.

Bill: We wont’ have to fight the fire we can slip out anytime we want. Let’s just get him to where we know he’ll be taken care of.

Jessica: Where to?

7:10

Frank: The easiest thing will be to just go back toward the center of town until we see people. We can shout for attention, then duck around a corner make tracks in the other direction. Then, in a perfect world, the Tau changes to green on Curtis and we jump home. If not, we change the plan.

Liuhua: There’s people all about … none quite certain what to do or where to go. The authorities haven’t taken control of the situation, yet.

Jessica: What control they can anyway

Bill: Jessica and Liuhua, please keep checking the Tau as we are walking about. I wouldn’t want to effect it more than we are supposed to

Frank: Okay, let’s move. Lead the way. Our directions may be chosen for us. If not, let’s aim for Dr. Miller’s place. It’s on Cedar.

Liuhua nods.

Jessica: Affirmative.

Bill mutters: Will it effect the tau if I break Serena’s nose?

Frank: I don’t know, Bill, but if not, get in line behind me.

Frank: Hold on. Scratch that. I just remembered, Providence hospital is just a block away. We’ll take Curtis there. If Providence is closed, we can go to Holland Memorial instead.

Liuhua: Good choice. About 150 residences are destroyed, and many other smaller business places. Providence hospital and the Federal Land company’s big mills are the the only buildings saved in the east end.

The group heads down the front door, to be stopped by Mrs. Magnusson wondering what is going on.

Frank: The town’s about to burn down. You might want to get to the train station.

Mrs. Magnuson looks surprised and yells for her husband.

The group make their way to the hospital with much chaos going on. By 7:30 they make it into the hospital and have dropped off their cargo. As they do so, they watch the Tau monitor change from Red to Orange to Yellow to Green.

Frank: And now it’s Miller time. Let’s find a quiet corner to jump out of here.

Liuhua: We don’t have long before the bucket brigades start

Frank: The plan is to be gone well before that happens.

The group randomly picks a store and heads into the back room. They quickly set up the tent and crawl under it. Shortly, they feel their guts twist and turn, but inside they have a feeling of a job well done.

Not needing to head about town until later the group decides to sleep in. They find that impossible as the heat hits 100 degrees well before 9:00am. The hot dry weather also has picked up a slight breeze and the change in the air is palpable. Though the people of Wallace aren’t aware of it yet, the beginnings of a maelstrom are in place. The ground that firefighters gained the previous two days will slowly be lost today. By day’s end it will be apparent to all that the danger, so long held at bay, is starting to creep closer. The wipe off the majority of the sweat that has formed at night and head down to the cooler dining area, replete with working ceiling fans–one of the few in town to have them. After a fine breakfast of eggs, potatoes, bacon, ham, and, of course, plenty of hot coffee, they are ready to head their separate ways. As they chat over breakfast, Frank tells them he’s thought about things overnight and has some modifications:

1. Jessica and Liuha can split duty watching Curtis at the railroad and watching Curtis’ apartment.
2. Jessica feels that its best to treat Curtis strongly–he seems to respond to willful women. If pressed, she should feel free to get into an argument. Even if Curtis doesn’t respond his co-workers or boss may.
3. Frank’s best approach will be to talk to her co-workers, etc. while she’s upstairs. He’ll be happy to pass some cash in exchange for some answers.
4. Bill and Liuha will go back to see if they can get a room at the Coer d’Alene or someplace nearby.
5. Ideally, Frank and Jessica will stay in the place they’re in now, since they don’t want to be seen together too often. They will communicate sub-vocally or meet in dark corners or the woods.
6. Since the reporter angle is shot, they’ll pretend to be private investigators instead.
7. He’s ok with bribery, cajoling, threatening, anything to get the information
8. The information they’re looking for is as follows:
   1. His recent past before he came here
   2. His actions since arriving
   3. If he has any friends or acquaintances in or near town
   4. The nature of his relationship with Serena
   1. Her recent past before Curtis arrived
   2. How her actions have changed since his arrival
   3. If he has any family, friends, or acquaintances in or near town
   4. The nature of her relationship with Curtis
   5. How did they meet?
   6. Does he come to town often?
   7. Did she spend significant time out of town?
   8. Where does he come from?

With those directions, they split up. Frank going to walk around town and then to the bordello; Jessica to the railyard; Bill and Liuha to the lodging house. By 3:00 pm they have made fantastic progress along Frank’s plan. Bill and Liuha were able to let an apartment on the second floor. The room is #13 two doors down from #9 and on the same side of the street. It will fairly simple for Liuha to watch for Curtis. While getting a room, Bill and Liuha talk to Mr. Magnuson whose interested in why they’re checking in, while most are preparing to leave.  Bill doesn’t directly answer the question, instead telling Mr. Magnuson that he prefers quiet rooms and wonders if the other quests are also quiet. Magnuson replies that they are all working folk and by 10:00 pm all are in their rooms. After a bit of talking, Bill is able to find out the following about Curtis:

• He moved in on 15 August; said he came in on the 5:00 pm from Spokane
• Works for the OR&N and was in town to help prepare for any evacuations
• He’s out of the room most often and sticks to himself; he has no visitors
• The room is let in Curtis’ name only and is paid up for a month
• Mrs. Magnuson is able to confirm that he did indeed have a vistor last night. She doesn’t like the woman he came home with, but she hasn’t confronted him yet. She would rather he keeps his women at the bordello where he meets them. She intends to tell him this as soon as she sees him again. The woman is not welcome.
• She doesn’t know the name of the “loose” woman he brings home.

Frank also has good success with the women and barkeeper of the Oasis:

• Serena has been in town about ten years; she came when Miss Marlene was hired by Charlie Fryerson, then owner of the Bi Metallic Saloon
• In 1900, the Bi Metallic Saloon was renamed the Oasis Rooms
• Serena frequently spurns men who approach her
• Though they see her daily, she is not on the floor often
  • Most simply assume that she’s with a client
  • Most assume that she’s mainly available per “special request”
  • She has a long-standing relationship with Miss Marlene, but neither talk about their previous lives
• Curtis has raised a lot of eyebrows. He asked or her specifically and was shown to her room. This was about a week ago, but none are sure of the exact date.
• Since that time, he has come to the saloon every night.
• None remember her leaving the saloon with Curtis; then again all readily admit that they are most interested in their men, then the actions of other women (so lons as those actions don’t affect their men!)
• Serena is friendly to the other women, but also seemingly aloof
  • She’s simple, direct, and no-nonsense
  • She doesn’t take to the “hard stuff”; one cowboy grabbed her when she rebuffed him as being “too dirty”‘ he ended up on the floor holding his cajones. Luckily the sheriff was in the place that night and he was escorted out.

Jessica was able to get Curtis to open up around lunch-time. Instead of threatening, she took a “mom” approach, playing instead on his feelings of pain. She also pointedly put away her steno pad and told him she was concerned about him and took the opportunity to ditch Frank to check in on him. She struck a chord in him and he talked rather freely.

• He was dating the daughter of a prominent Spokane banker, who didn’t appreciate her daughter dating a “guy from the wrong side of the tracks”
  • The father told him not see his daughter again
  • Curtis wasn’t all that fond of her, so agreed; however, the daughter had other goals
  • She wouldn’t break it off and continued pursuing Curtis; Curtis being a strapping young man didn’t turn down the amorous advances.
  • The daughter claimed she loved him and her father wouldn’t stop her from seeing him
  • The father eventually found out and threatened Curtis if he didn’t stop seeing her; that didn’t stop his daughter though
  • Finally, the father was fed up and hatched the following plot: He would give Curtis $2,000 if he had a fight with her and left town. He knew the owner of the OR&N railroad and could make his life difficult.
  • The next day OR&N put out a bulletin looking for volunteers to go to Wallace to help with evacuations
  • Curtis signed up, met with the father, fought with his girlfriend and left
  • Before he left, the father threatened that if he ever contacted her or let her know where he was, he would “make his life difficult”
• Curtis’ best friend at the railroad had a cousin that looked out for him when he was growing up. She took care of him and he understood that she was a successful co-owner of a saloon in Wallace. He told him to look up Serena at the Oasis when he got there.
• Since Curtis has no family in town, he did so and was surprised that she wasn’t an owner, however she was immediately protective and took him under her wing. She told him she’d get him on the right track and that he shouldn’t worry about the banker.

At 3:00, Frank heads for the CDL Boarding House and calls for Liuhua to let him in the back door. He goes up to Curtis’s room (hoping to avoid the landlady’s prying eyes) and sneaks to Curtis’ room. It takes him but 3 minutes to get the lock open. When he does his first thought is that the place has been tossed by someone before he arrived. He quietly assess the room and decides he’s a slob. However, other than the mess in the room, there’s nothing of any interest. No journals, papers, ticket stubs or anything like that is found. He doesn’t even have that many clothes. Franks sighs. It wasn’t bad thought, but didn’t turn out any new information. He looks around, exits the room, re-locks the door and sneaks back out of the building. Frank and Bill go back to switching off throughout the night, while Liuhua and Jessica stay at the Lodging House getting to know each other.
Curtis and Serena stay together for most of the night, but around 10:30 Serena heads upstairs. Curtis finishes his beer and then heads out of the building. Bill drains his glass as Curtis leaves the bar. He staggers out into the street and sub-vocally tells Frank what’s going on. Frank heads toward the Oasis.

Curtis heads directly to the Loding House and Frank doesn’t have too long to wait before he sees Serena at the Oasis. She comes back down around 11:45 and heads toward the door. Frank follows her. As they get closer to the Lodging House, Frank can see Curtis watchign out the window. His head disappears when he sees Serena and in a short moment, he is leading her up the back stairs. Frank chuckles thinking about what Mrs. Magnusson will say to this. The eldery Swede wasn’t much in for this type of lewd and lascivious behaviour in her establishment! Hah! Frank turns down the street heading to his room, when he gets an idea. He transmits to Bill to take a walk. Go out. Something. Several times if necessary. On the way, stop by for a quick listen at the door. See if there’s anything interesting going on in Curtis’s room. Conversationally, anyway. Bill mikes back that they stayed up for less than fifteen minutes. He caught two things of interest: 1) she was going to stay at the apartment in the morning; and 2) She’s getting worried about the new people in town; Frank and crew. She’s heard that they’ve been asking around. She’s concerned that either Julia or her father have hired them to look for them.
Frank thanks him and thinks about it as he heads up to his room. He decides that they need to have a team meeting and discuss thing. With the fire tomorrow evening, the 6-7:00 timeframe is vital. He starts the team meeting by reciting some known facts:
1. Serena is suspicious of us
2. She will be in the room in the AM
3. By PM someone in that room will be dead
4. We need to change who will be dead in that room

Then he asks is there are any other pertinent facts specifically about tomorrow?

Liuhua:

Let’s see. The 25th Infantry returns, fleeing rapidly escalating fires; Bucket brigades formed and lines formed; the Mayoe ordered the Saloons to stay open and forbade them to drink anything but beer because of Typhoid in the water; He deputized an instant force of local men to back him up…

Frank:

True. Was thinking more like specific facts about Curtis and/or Serena.

Liuhua:

Oh …

Jessica:

If the Mayor is deputizing all men to fight then Bill and Frank are at risk to being taken onto the fireline. The women may be able to mvoe about fairly easily.

Frank:

We’ll have to politely decline, but that’s a conversation for tomorrow afternoon.

Liuhua:

Politely declining isn’t an option. The other men of the area fought those trying to get onto the rail cars. They’re likely to string you up…or shoot you!

Frank:

Agree, but we won’t be trying to get onto the rail cars. If we just run around looking like we’re trying to fight the fire, we should be okay. If we look like we’re trying to escape, there could be trouble.

Jessica:

It means we need to have a plan of operation for the time nearest the fire and after the evacuation. She’s not sure exactly when the evacuation was called, but bets it is near 2-3 pm.

Frank:

Maybe we need to stay in the CDL Lodging House and wait for the last minute. The women may be able to move freely, but once they form the fire line, I’m guessing they won’t let a lot of people through the line. From the house we can do whichever action is necessary (save people or not) when the time comes, then jump out. The only real troublesome action is if Curtis is north of the line and needs to be south of it. What does everyone think about Bill and Frank staying very close to Curtis, say from about noon onward. If we know what he’s doing, we can act to make sure it’s something else.

Jessica:

It might be easier for Liuhua and I. Our movements will be less hampered. You and Bill can ensure no one enters the room or force someone out if they are in it.

Frank:

That’s true. It might get troublesome if Curtis is north of the future fire line (Bank St.) and it becomes clear that he needs to get back to the hotel. … Or maybe not. If that’s the case, maybe he can be convinced to get back to the hotel by pointing out that Serena is still there and needs help to get out.

Jessica and Liuhua agree.
Frank:

Okay then, so our plan is that we treat tonight like a normal night and tomorrow morning like a normal morning. Meaning that we watch them like we have been. Around noon, Bill and Frank retreat to Bill/Liuhua’s room at the boarding house and the ladies take up watch on whichever person/people is still out and about. If the person in the boarding house leaves, we’ll have to change the plan, of course. It’s entirely possible that whoever died in that room wasn’t there all day.

With that agreed, they end the meeting; each lost in their own thoughts all wondering what the next day will bring.

The group walks the short distance down 4th street until they run into Cedar under the eerily lit skies of the setting August sun. Liuha wipes ehr brows and remarks on the heat. Bill responds that the nearby fires can’t be helping a bit. Indeed, there seems to be no water in the air and the fires are surely far from over. The demeanor of the town is a tough one to deal with. These stiff-necked settlers of the difficult terrain are not willing to abandon their town, but the fires raving the countryside seem God-sent and intent on defeating any meager defense the townspeople put on. Off to the West, the black 25th Infantry has encamped and offers to help, but the townspeople aren’t having much of it. They’d rather these “buffalo soldiers” were in the hills with the towns “boys.” On the way over, Liuha tells Frank that she looked up “Curtis Wheeler” in the briefing materials they received. She didn’t find much–only this snippet:

The only one whose identity was in any way hinted at was a young man by the name of Curtis, employed as a car repairer by the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co. and who had been in Wallace a week. He had room No. 9 in the Coeur d’Alene lodging house and the skeleton found in the ashes lay in a part of the basement that was directly under room 9.

Albert Magnuson, landlord, testified that his wife informed him that there were two people in room No. 9 though she did not say who the second person was.

Bill and Liuha will hit the other saloons and bars spending about 30 minutes at each place if everyone’s green. They’ll stay longer if they find more reds or oranges. Frank and Jessica head to the oasis. Shortly, the pair open the door to the saloon and is greeted by stereotypical honky-tonk piano sounds and a cacophony of voices. Cacophony may be a bit overstated as there are only about twenty people or so in the place. To the left of the door stands the bar, brass foot rail, large mirror and several spitoons that one expects to see in such a place. In front of them about a dozen tables are strewn across the large open floor. Three of them are occupied by men; two of the tables engaged in a poker game. The third contains two men talking up two women. By the looks of the women’s clothes–open skirts showing garters and stockings, low-cut dresses showing ample cleavage and plenty of feathers in their hair–the men will not be sleeping alone tonight. Assuming they stay the night anyway. One more couple sways to the music on a small dance floor in the back, while the other four female residents of the bordello stand at the bar. To the groups right opens a set of stairs going up to what is presumably the girls rooms. And though they look a second time, none can see Curtis; nor can they see a clock on the wall. Fortunately, their internal chronometers show them the time: 5:58 PM PST.

They decide to wait 30 minutes for Curtis–and a long 30 minutes it is. Around 6:15, as Frank glances at his internal chronometer, a woman comes down the stairs. She’s obviously a “working woman”, but is a deep orange. She heads to the bar and takes up a spot near the door. Frank points her out to Jessica.

Jessica murmurs sub-vocally: Got her.

Frank: I’m thinking you need to talk to her while I find our missing lamb.

Jessica nods and stands up and Frank drains his glass as the door opens. Curtis walks inside and is greeted by the woman. He smiles when he sees her and moves toward her. Frank’s eyes narrow and decides to change the plan.

Frank: Jess, stop. Let’s watch this first.

Jessica: It’s Jessica. (She sits down)

The pair chat and she leads him to one of the tables near the dance floor. She carries two whiskeys with her. Once there, they proceed to low chatting again.

Frank: Okay, Jessica. Time to make our move.

Jessica: Um .. and say what?

Frank: We’ll have to wing it. … With which he gets up and heads toward Curtis’s table.

Jessica shakes her head and follows him.

Frank: Good evening, Mr. Wheeler. I’m glad to see you remembered our appointment. .. Ma’am (tips his hat). I’m Frank Giordano, Spokane Herald.

Curtis looks up with an disconcerted expression. The woman looks up at him sharply and asks:
What do *you* want?

Frank: Do you mind if we have a seat? I owe Curtis a drink, and I’d be happy to throw one in for you too, Miss …

She stares hard at him: We’re not wanting company. Please leave.

Frank: Ah, but Mr. Wheeler asked us here. Mr. Wheeler?

Curtis looks from Frank to the woman who responds: He may have, but there’s no interest speaking with you. I’ve asked you once, now please leave.

Frank gives them the once over looking for any signs of nervousness or anger. Curtis appears very uncomfortable, while the woman doesn’t. She simply looks set in her ways. Frank quickly assess that she’s a woman unwilling to back down and he doesn’t want a scene. He decides it’s best to back off and meet up at a different time.

Frank: Of course. I don’t want to be an imposition. Mr. Wheeler, I can see that your’e indisposed at the moment. When would be a good time and place for me to contact you when you will be free?

Curtis is about to speak up when the woman interjects: Curtis, I don’t that it would be a good idea for you to talk to him, do *you*?

Curtis shakes his head and looks down at the table.

Frank: I see. Of course, I did promise you a drink. Will you still accept it?

Curtis: Um … sure.

Frank: Excellent. I’ll be right back. Jessica, you may as well come with me. Our expertise is not required at the moment.

Frank goes to the bar and asks the bartender what Mr. Wheeler and his girlfriend drink. The barkeep says he doesn’t know a Mr. Wheeler.

Frank: Curtis. The man sitting over there with Miss … ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t get her name.

Barkeep: Oh, that gent with Serena. She only drinks whiskey. That’s what they’re having now.

Frank: Most excellent. In that case, please send them each one. I’ll be paying. I assumed that he was one of Serena’s regulars. My mistake apparently.

Barkeep: He is, but I don’t take names, ya know? It ain’t polite like.

Frank: Of course. But small towns, everyone knows everyone else. Hard to avoid knowing who’s who isn’t it?

Barkeep: Normally, yea. These-a-days there’s so many comin’ in an’ going out it’s hard to keep track. Speakin’ of which what are’ you an’ the litt’e lady doing?

Frank: Of course, silly of me. [He holds out his hand.] Frank Giordano. Spokane Herald. Your little town is suddenly newsworthy and I’m here to find the news.

Barkeep: Yea it is. Seems that the fires will be held off. Canon-fire seems to have worked.

As the pair sit back down, Jessica asks about the next move. Frank shrugs but states that they’ll watch them and see where they go or what they do. he leans back running through scenarions through his mind while Jessica waits. Around 9:00 Bill and Lihua enter. The sight or another woman, and an oriental one at that, in the bordello causing a little stir, but Bill covers it by ordering her to get a drink for him and then sits down with Frank; throwing his hat on the table. frank raises his eyebrow at Bill, who shrugs” “Best thing I could think off to not blend in better. They seem to accept that she’s my…*coughs*…servant.”

Franks nods and Liuha returns with a beer. The group has been keeping contact through the sub-vocal radios so Frank is aware of Bill’s progress–or lack of it. There have been no other “reds” and he estimates he’s seen about a quarter of the population. If they assume they saw another 25-40% this afternoon, then they’ve seend at least half the town and these two are the only questionable ones. After Frank fills them in on the recent development, they sit back and wait. Finally around 11:30 Curtis and Serena head to the door to leave the Oasis. Bill suggests that he follows them with Liuha provindg backup. She replies that she’s a researcher and survivalist, not a bodyguard. Bill shrugs: He beleives he can handle a railroad maintenance engineer and a harlot. Frank agrees this is a good idea and decides that he and Jessica will head directly to the Coeur d’Alene Lodging House and talk to Mr. or Mrs. magnuson, the landlord and lady. They’ll hold back by about two minutes to make sure that they aren’t seend by Serena and Curtis.

Bill follows the couple down Cedar Street making a right onto 7th. From there, they head to Hotel Street and then enter the Coeur d’Alene Lodging House. The house is a Victorian house sitting on the corner; its windows all dark, but open in the hot summer’s night air. Bill finds a darkened doorway and settles himself into the shadows. The pair approach the front door and Curtis pulls out a key and opens the door. A short-time later a light comes on in one of the second floor rooms. About this time, he can see Frank and Jessica stroll down Hotel street from 8th street. Bill tells them what he’s seen and opines that the place is closed. They quickly and quietly chat via radio about what to do next. They can’t find another hotel that has a direct line of sight to the Lodge. The closest one is the 1313 club, but that’s a block away and on the opposite diagonal. In the end, the decide that its best to leave them alone for the night. Focusing on the news reports of Curtis’ alleged death, they beleive they’re there to save Curtis from death. If so, they have two days before he dies in the fire. Tomorrow they can pick up the watching again and perhaps get a room at the lodging house. They also need to discuss what their new plan is. The news reporter angle, though good, will not work. Perhaps they need to simply watch and wait for the pivotal moment…and hope it’s recognizable.

Bill agrees. There’s no way to get to know them since they already don’t like Frank and Jessica and though they haven’t met Bill and Liuha yet, Bill assumes they would acheive the same result…but it not against attempting it.

Jessica: It’s possible we blew it by being reporters?

Frank: It’s certainly possible. It’s also possible that they are up to something that they don’t want company for. That may or may not involve illegal activity. We just don’t know at the moment.

They discuss their options on the street for the next half-hour until the light in the window goes off. It’s now closer to midnight and all decide it’s best to continue discussions in the morning. The short walk back to their hotel brings them to the conclusion that they are now certain who’s invovled, but are curious what to do about it. Clearly Curtis has something to hide. There seems to be a link between Curtis and Serena that’s more developed than a simple 2 to 4 day acquantaince. the finally decide on the following plan for the next day:

Jessica will visit the railroad yard and talk with Curtis’s boss, while Frank will do likewise for Serena’s boss. The goal of these visits will be to find out some basic information about the two. Bribes are encouraged. Frank doesn’t think there’s a backup plan for Frank’s task, since Serena seems particularly anxious not to make our acquaintance. Frank’s back-up plan for Curtis is to offer him money for his story. He’ll do that if Jessica is unsuccesful. This will also allow him to leave the Bordello and allow Bill to enter. This way they can watch the place without seeming as out of place as the women would in the Brodello.

Bill and Liuha will go back to see if they can get us a room at the Coer d’Alene or someplace nearby. They should also have a word with their landlord/lady and Curtis’ neighbors. The group needs to start finding out about their habits and movements. Where do they go, what do they do, who do they see, etc. Again, bribes are encouraged. They don’t have the luxury of being reporters any more, and they’re not cops, so they don’t get to ask questions for free. That means that since we don’t have any legitimate reason for wanting to know, we’ll just purchase the information.

Some questions to try to get answered:
How did they meet? Does he come to town often? Did she spend significant time out of town? Where does he come from?

For Frank and Jessica, the jump was expected. They had jumped before; however, it was still disconcerting. First, everyone’s vision started to blur and objects on the pad seemed to elongate. Then the world seemed to circle in creating a tunnel vision type of effect. This is when everyone’s stomachs started to complain and complain loudly. Before the pain in their stomach’s became too intense, their bodies, to the observers on the platform, elongated to twice their original height. To those jumping they felt their bodies elongating. The Baron would liken it to the medieval punishment of drawing and quartering. Just when it seemed their ligaments would snap, their feet came off the platform and, like rubber bands, their bodies contracted a full 2 inches shorter than when they started. Bodies groaned in agony as florescent purples, reds, and blues scattered across their vision. Finally, everything goes dark and the feeling of moving faster and faster occurs. Then, as quickly as it started the pain, agony, and flashing of lights stops. Each feels the hard packed earth beneath their feet.

When they open their eyes, they find themselves in the woods. In the pre-morning light they see the sky bleeding red; smoke filling the sky. The rotation of their trip confuses the brains and inner ears of Liuh, and Bill, who fall to the ground; their breakfasts quickly evacuating their tortured stomachs. Both fall to the ground as the pains continue to wrack their bodies. Frank watches them in quiet empathy. He’s felt those pains before and knows it will be sometime before they are able to be effective. He quietly remember the seven hours he spent in his room after retrieving the Baron. Chuckling to himself, he remembers the Baron’s outrage and anger at Frank; thinking he was duped by a demon. Fortunately, the Med Staff shot him up with Lidocaine and he slept through the majority of the pains. Briefing, Franks wonders how long they will be down. Then he focuses in on his location. He can see a field through the trees and heads that direction. From there he can see a path heading Northwest to SouthEast. Remembering, his newly installed memory chip, he brings up satellite photographs of the area in 2033 and finds a reasonable match and grins. The techs were correct about the placement. He’s North of the town just North of the Trail of the Coeur D’Alenes.

Frank takes stock of their situation and realizes that Bill is the only one with medical training here. He sighs and opens the medical kit, looking at a stunning array of medications and balms. He knows there is a powerful pain reliever and stomach relaxer in there, but he can’t remember which one. While Bill rolls on his back Frank shows different vials to him, hoping to get the right pair. Bill points to one of the vials. “Hmmm,” thinks Frank, “Purple cap or red cap which was he pointing to?” He picks the red one seemingly recalling that the red one was contained in his briefing. He inserts the needle draws up the ampule and knocks out the air. Quickly he unbares Bill’s arm and insert the needle, pressing the plunger down. Bill leans back expecting relief to wash over him. Instead, he begins to shake and sweat. Soon he’s trembling violently and throwing up worse than before. “That’s not good!”, thinks Frank. Not wanting to effect the same “cure” on Liuha, he stands and asks Jessica to watch over them. He’ll head into town and look for an inn.

It takes him fourty-five minutes, but he returns with two keys. He tells Jessica that it’s about 7:00 AM right now and they have two rooms at the Stardust. He then helps Bill to a standing position, as Jessica assists Liuha. In ten quick minutes they are both laid to bed, allowing Frank and Jessica to get some food. The morning is spent talking to customers, getting the lay of the land and assisting Liuha walk about. By 8:30, she’s still feeling queasy, but functional. Bill is still shaking and sweating. Frank asks Liuha to watch over Bill, while he and Jessica walk around the town. While they do, they discuss background details and finally decide on the following story:

They will be reporters from Spokane. The fires are huge news, so they are on-the-spot reporters.

Shortly before 1:00, they finally locate they’re quarry. A railway workman from the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co. eats his lunch alone, near a railroad engine. His hands, britches, and face are smeared with grease, while the engine behind him has its engine uncovered and parts are littered around the railyard. Frank nudges Jessica and subvocally whispers, “There. That’s him.” She nods and the pair approach him.

Frank: Howdy! Frank Giordano, Spokane Herald. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?

Curtis: Ah, sure, Why not. I’m on my break.

Frank: Great! This is Jessica.

Curtis tips his head: Howdy, ma’am.

Jessica: Well met.

Curtis: English?

Jessica: New Zealand. Wrong side o’ th’ globe.

He scratches his head: Tha’ right?

Frank: Jessica’s here on special assignment, but what I’d really like to do is talk about you. I’m looking for a good human interest story. How’d you like to be the object of a special series of reports?

Curtis: Me? Ain’t nuthin’ specail, ’bout me.

Frank: Exactly! That’s just the point! Every other reporter’s doing specials about the Mayor or the fire fighters or the soldiers, or whatever. I want my readers to know how the average person is coping with the impending disaster. What are you thinking, what makes you tick, that sort of thing. How’d you like me to make you famous?

Curtis: No one wan’s to read about me and wha’ I thin’. I ju’ fix these here trains. Finishin’ off the PM on this one. Then got to move t’ the cars. Takin’ the seats out, ‘n all.

Frank: I think you’re wrong … hey! What’s your name anyway?

Curtis: Curtis. Curtis Wheeler.

Frank: Well met, Curtis. [Shakes his hand.] But as I was saying, I think you’re wrong. I think everyone wants to know how the average person copes. My readers are all average people. They’re not Mayors or fire fighters. They want to be able to put themselves into your position. They can do that much more easily if they can identify with the subject – that’s you. Today, and for the next few days, you are Every Man. You are the readers in Spokane, in Walla Walla, in Seattle. And through me, they are you. How’d you like a little piece of that action, Curtis?

Curtis: Spokane? Um … Look…I got a job to do. I’ll … uh .. .see you fellers later. (He hurriedly turns back to the engine.)

Frank: Excellent. Yes. You need to do just what you’d normally do. Uh, what is it you normally do? I mean, I can see you’re working on an engine. You’re a mechanic? Chief mechanic?

Curtis crawls into the engine and replies: What? I can’t hear you!

Jessica murmurs; We may want to wait until supper when he’s less rattled.

Frank shrugs and sticks his head into the opening: I understand, Curtis. Fame can be a scary thing. You need a chance to let it sink in. We’ll talk later. Where would you like to meet?

Curtis: Huh? The Oasis.

Frank: The Oasis it is. How does 6 o’clock sound?

Curtis: Sure.

Frank: Excellent. First round’s on us. See you later, Curtis. Or should I say Mr. Wheeler. You may as well start getting used to hearing that!

He turns toward Jessica who replies to the unasked question: Scared little rabbit, huh?