Ghost Among the Horses ((Eddy))

[Raoul Edouard de Chagny]

The lady was standing up for him. Not that Edouard was overly happy to be defended by a woman, but the alternative, namely being shot for no reason, was rather worse. He still had his hands up. "May I lower my hands, Monsieur? I am not any threat to you and I do apologise for trying something before It was obviously foolish of me. What do you want her? Are you staying here at the mansion? "

Then Edouard had an idea. "You should meet the king. I expect he owns this whole place and must be amazingly wealthy. As for me, I have very little to my name. Very little but my name. At least living here, my family is not wanting until I recover my fortune. Whenever that may be. Perhaps I will never recover it." Edouard was hoping the man would realize he had not a sou to his name...well that wasn't exactly correct...but he certainly had no fortune as he had before.

"I would be happy to show the two of you to the main door so you could find your way home again. Where are you from by the way, and how did you hapen to arrive here?"

[Erik Gunner]

Gunner grumbled, he was actually a little sad that he wasn't able to shoot a hole into the man's pretty little face. The man then began to speak of a king living here and that he would show them the way out so they could find their way home. Gunner flipped his guns skillfully then put them in their holster.

"Now listen to me you rattlesnake. Just because I am not going to shoot you right now don't mean I wont be tempted to do so later. If there were a king here, I know he would already be taken care of 'lready. " Gunner was also not interested in telling the man that he had gotten into an argument with Lu and then fell asleep, only to wake up surrounded by horses, including his own, here. Not that the man would believe him. "Lu... how come you didn't come home before hand?" He asked her.

[Christine Lucinda Dallas]

"Hey Gunner, sorry, baby. I was mad at you. Not even sure what we was fightin' over. But it don't matter none now. We're both here. Reason I didn't come back sooner, well, this place was here and... " here she whispered so only Gunner could hear... "it looks like they sure is treasures here! Fancy stuff what's worth dad-gum thousands! Ain't a place ya want to git the residents mad now...b'fore we clean 'em out!"

Then she returned to her normal tone, a bit louder so Edouard could hear h er. "Gunner, think we should let Mr. dee Shag-nee go." She walked over to Edouard and looked down at the short man from the couple of inches that she had on him. She giggled. "Ain't you just the cutest fella?" She turned to Gunner. "Ain't he a cute lil Frenchy fella, Gunner?" She looked back at Edouard. "Now just cause I think yer cute, ain't no reason t' think I ain't dangerous. I'll call the law on you first time you get outa line. Ain't that right, Gunner?"

"C'mon, baby let's get outa here. Did they show you a place t' stay? I got jus' the nicest place! See, it's here, go out this door and down the hall, open another door and there it is!" Lu was hugging Gunner by now and holding on to his arm. She whispered. "Baby, I ain't seen my home since Pa died and I had t' sell the ranch. But they's a "sweet" what they call it...buncha rooms really, what looks just like where we usta live. Promise! Ya wanna see?"

Lu really didn't want Gunner to hurt the little Frenchman. Not that she thought him so attractive. He wasn't half as attractive as Gunner. But she didn't want Gunner to get in trouble and be hauled off to jail and spoil their chances of robbing the mansion and its residents. If they were all as naiive as this de Chagny fellow, it would be quite a cinch.

[Raoul Edouard de Chagny]

The western woman was obviously acquainted with this ruffian. Gunner she called him. He had thought her a bit strange the other night when they had all gathered in Lenoir's bedroom, her dressing like a man and her almost unintelligible English. What dialect of English was that? She was whispering to the masked man. He didn't wear a mask like many of the residents of the manor did. No, it was just a kerchief pulled up to his nose and covering the bottom half of his face. What an uncouth ruffian! Next to him, most of the other masked men seemed rather well-mannered.

And the Dallas woman, every time she uttered his name, he cringed. She should be arrested for mispronouncing French. She appeared to be discussing something with her ruffian boyfriend which she didn't want Edouard to know a bout. He sighed. This was indeed lovely. Now there were two more dangerous people in the mansion. Not only was there a Phantom out to kill him, but now these two. And to rob all the rest of the residents, if he was correct about them. But he said nothing.

She came over and told him he was "cute" and "little", two things he did not wish to be called. He simply glared at her. Then she told him she was dangerous too, and hinted at some kind of threat to have les gendarmes take him into custody if he didn't behave. What was the woman talking about? It was not he who had perpetrated any crime! It ws these two, along with most of the Phantoms who lived here. It would be a good thing to have the police come and arrest all the guilty parties. But still he said nothing. He wanted to get away and warn all the others. But if the two simply rode away, there would be nothing to worry about.

They both seemed to ignore his offer to have them meet King William. It would be a good thing, for perhaps the King could scare the hell out of them. Perhaps. They might scare him instead. "I will be quite happy to show you the door...there is a village where you can stay the night until tomorrow when you can be on your way..." But the Dallas woman was already pointing him in the direction of the women's dormitories. Did she have a suite here? Then Gunner might too. Edouard was perspiring just thinking of that. His hands we cold and clammy.

[Erik Gunner]

((Sorry I havn't been active with Gunner at all recently, I am changing that of course. We could wrap this thread up in a more posts I think since its pretty old and is Gunner's arriving thread. And Gunner and Lu need a new one on one thread! xD))

Gunner was right in thinking that Lu had things under control while he was gone. She found this place here had treasures, things worth thousands, and that was what he liked to here. He smirked which was only ever so noticeable. "Got it." He whispered back and nodded, now crossing his arms over his chest.

He watched as Lu started to call the Frenchy, small and cute, which made him difficult to control his laughter. Served him right. "Oh sure, cute as any li'le French guy we'd ever meet." He finally laughed. "And you sure is." He said smiling when she had him confirm that she'd call the law on this de Chagny man. He then let his arms down, one of them being snatched up by Lu as she began to talk about the room she was staying in.

"Sure Lu, lead the way." He chuckled, glad so see her excitement. He only took one moment to look back at the Vicomte. "Alright, ya can move along now. Just as long as ya ain't causing no trouble. And quickly now 'fore I change my mind." He said to the other man before happily turning his attention back to Lu. He let her lead the way as he remembered when Lu had told him of her daddy's ranch. Once upon a time, he'd thought that once they retire and all, he'd just might buy that ranch back for her. But now they were here, where ever that may be.

[Raoul Edouard de Chagny]

Edouard watched the strange American couple walk away arm in arm. He breathed a sign of relief, but there was still a warning feeling in that knot in his stomach. The two apparently would be staying at the Manor! The two seemed as if they were ready to rob the place. Would any of the other residents have any possessions left with these two roaming about?

Edouard made his way back to his suite. He was thankful he had locked his door. Not that that would keep M. Gunner out, if he wanted to enter. He would simply blow the lock out. Edouard decided to carry a weapon from now on. He would also caution Emilie and Gustave to always lock the doors of the suites when they were gone. If only there were a manager or someone to whom to complain about those two. Of course, if that were true, he would certainly have complained about Lenoir. But it seemed no one owned this place or managed it, yet, all sorts of people were invited here, some definitely unsuitable.

As Edouard unlocked the door to his suite, he wondered why the fellow Gunner kept that kerchief about his face. Could he have something misformed on his face too, like many of the Phantoms? Could Gunner be a Phantom? Anything was possible here. He began to wonder if the two unruly Americans should be reported to the authorities in the village. Perhaps that was the thing to do. And yet, if he did that, he wondered if they could arrest all of the Phantoms who lived here. He grinned with the thought of it. Arrest the Phantoms...especially Lenoir. Edouard's life would be so much easier then...

//I think we can end it on this note and go on to a new thread, as you said.Do you agree? //

[Erik Gunner]

((Sounds good to me! Hope you don't mind but I went ahead and started a new Gunner and Lu thread in the Lairs board called The Hourglass of Dust and Sand.))

~The End~