CLOCKWORK
By NotTasha

Thanks for the reviews! Yay!

PART 2:

JD hunched on his bed as Ezra cut the twine on the chest. "Think there's gold inside?" JD asked. "Jewelry? Money?"

"Too light," Ezra said unhappily, tossing the twine to the floor. "I fear we'll find little of use to me."

"Might still be something good," JD tried. "Might be just about anything."

"But not gold," Ezra amended, but cocked his head contemplatively, "Still, it is a little thrilling, isn't it? The mystery? The unknown, here are our fingertips. The answers to our questions only seconds away." He rubbed his hands together as the chest waited in his lap. "What do you say we put an end to this and find out what we have?"

"Yeah, unlock it!" JD stated, and then, "Are you sure this is the right lock for that key?"

"See," Ezra pointed out the curly-cues that edged the lock plate. "They obviously go together." As he inserted the key into the lock, he added, "Plus I tried the key in the store. It turned the lock, but I couldn't open the box due to the twine holding it shut."

JD jingled on the bed as Ezra unlocked the chest and lifted the lid. They both peered inside to see what mystery was revealed.

JD furrowed his brow in confusion at the inlayed box that was revealed within the chest. He sat back, disappointed. Dunne turned to Ezra, expecting the same, and saw a look he didn't quite understand it wasn't that sharpness of avarice that sometimes came over the gambler rather it was a soft and thoughtful expression.

"Is it something important? Like something really old that you can sell to a museum?" Dunne asked.

"No," Ezra replied. "They make these by the hundreds in Japan. It's a cheap souvenir piece."

"What is it, then?" Dunne asked.

"A Himitsu-Bako. I believe it might be a 6-sun," Ezra said as he quickly pulled out the box and set the chest aside. It was a pretty block a rectangle all inlayed with wood of different shades. Beautiful geometric designs covered the piece on all sides.

"A 'Him hit what'?"

"Himitsu-Bako," Ezra repeated. "I haven't seen one of these since I was a boy." He handed it to JD with a grin.

"What's it for? A doorstop? No, too light." JD took the block and turned it over in his hands. "A book end? Might be pretty to put on a shelf, right? It's nice" he tried to sound positive and not be disappointed by the rather pointless end to their mystery - nothing but a block of decorated wood.

"It's a Japanese Puzzle Box," Ezra explained. "You have to know the secret of how to open it or you just need a lot of time and ingenuity to figure it out on your own."

"Some sort of puzzle?" JD tried, not understanding how a solid piece could be a puzzle. "You've done the puzzle on one of these before?"

"Ah, yes." Ezra nodded. "Many an otherwise dull afternoon was spent in an import shop during my youth. I learned the secret of every puzzle that came through her door. It took me days to figure some of them, and the proprietress was patient enough to allow me all the time in the world. I'd be nestled between the shelves, surrounded by trinkets from around the world, in a shop was filled with the scents of camphor and cardamom and coriander. I whiled away at a puzzle until my aunt called me home." He smiled, his expression melancholy.

"Sounds nice enough," JD conceded, but he really would have preferred paying with marbles as a lad.

"Strange thing really," Ezra continued. "The puzzle boxes were never big sellers, but the owner was always bringing in new models. Some boxes must have had 50 different movements, and she always required me to show her how it was done, so that she could demonstrate to her customers." He shook his head. "They should have come with instructions, but she could never find the pages in the shipping crate when the new stock arrived."

JD turned the box around in his hand. The sides were all smooth. There was no sign of a lid or a door or a hinge, and he couldn't pry loose anything. "I don't get it," he mumbled. "Wait, are the designs supposed to mean something? Maybe it's a secret code?" And he squinted at the inlay, seeing nothing but repeating shapes.

Ezra held out a hand and JD passed the block over. After a moment, a slat of wood in the center of one side moved under Ezra's thumb. He pressed the piece over so that it stuck out about an inch. Then, with a little push, he lowered that side of the box a fraction. Standish smiled.

He handed the box back to JD, who tried again. Now knowing what was expected, Dunne was able to find two other movements on the box, but was stymied from going any further. "You want to try it again, Ezra? It'll take all night if it was left to me, and you know the secrets."

Ezra took it back, his smile continuing. He kicked his feet up on the bed, crossing his boots at his ankle. He leaned back on the headboard as he went to work on the box.

JD picked up his snow globe and swirled it to watch the snow drift. Out of the corner of his eye, he kept watch on Ezra. The gambler moved wood pieces one way and then another, sliding a tiny slat to the side, easing the side downward, moving the slat back where it was before, sliding something else in the opposite direction, then moving a tiny piece into the open space he'd just created. He kept working, sometimes having to backtrack to try another series of movements, hardly even noticing that JD was still in the room.

JD waited, watching, holding the snow globe. Ezra worked methodically, quickly mastering the moves. Obviously, he'd played with a similar box before.

Finally, the top of the box slid. Ezra stopped before he totally opened the box. "Here we go," he said. "Ready?"

"Must be something worth all this trouble," JD said hopefully.

" Let us see where our little mystery has led us." And Ezra slid the lid away, revealing the open space beneath and a packet of letters.

Ezra stared at the packet, trying not to look disappointed. He glanced up at JD, who said, "Maybe it's not so bad. Maybe there's something good under them?"

Ezra looked doubtful as pulled out the packet to find nothing beneath.

"I bet there's money inside the envelopes," JD tried.

Curious, Ezra undid the ribbon and quickly checked through the stack. "They're all addressed to Liam Dunkirk, from a Claire Monroe," he stated, and after he peeked into every envelope, he stated evenly, "Just paper."

"Aw nuts," JD sighed.

Ezra pulled a perfumed sheet from the first letter. "Even worse," he grumbled. "Love letters." With a shake of his head he read, "My Darling Liam, I can still remember the last time we met in the old farm house and you looked so fine, I just wanted to hold you tight and stay with you all night and I knew I would. When your lips touched mine and strong arms were tight around me, and I felt like a woman for the first time" Ezra cut off with a grimace and stuffed the letter into its envelope.

JD watched as Ezra tied the ribbon around the packet. "Maybe it's not a total loss," Dunne tried. "I could, you know, read the letters if I got bored or something."

"I suppose half do belong to you," Ezra responded. He sighed and continued, "We acquired some mighty fine things today, of that there is no doubt."

JD couldn't tell if Ezra was being sarcastic or not.

Their purchases amounted to a substantial pile. "It'll do us no good to bring this home by horseback," Ezra said. "We should crate all this and ship it. It can take the morning train to Eagle Bend, so it should be in time to make the weekly freight wagon to Four Corners."

"Yeah," JD said, standing and resting his hands on his hips as he surveyed the items. "Probably a good idea."

"So, why don't you check with the desk clerk and see if he can find a sufficient crate. We can bring it to the station in the morning."

JD nodded as he opened the door, but paused and said, "If you like, you can leave out those letters. Maybe I could read them tonight. They'll pack in my bag easily enough tomorrow."

Ezra smiled and shook his head as he settled the packet into the puzzle box and slid the lid into position. "I think that would be best done in private, Mr. Dunne." He flicked a hand. "Hurry now, before the clerk goes to bed for the night." And he began putting the puzzle box back in order.

JD lingered a minute, wondering if he could remember all of the movements needed to reopen the box. Realizing he probably couldn't, he left in search of a crate.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

"Lucky Pete's luck done run out," the shopkeeper said as he leaned over his plate of toast, scrambled eggs and bacon. "Damn shame." He spoke loudly to be heard over the din of the train as it left town.

"Why you say that?" his friend, the blacksmith, responded between forks of fried potatoes. He turned his head, looking annoyed at all the noise.

"Didn't-cha hear? Someone broke into his place last night. Rosco found him in his back room this morning. Place is a shambles. Someone tipped nearly everything off his shelves. Damn shame."

"Lucky Pete's dead?"

"Yeah, he got cut up something bad. Rosco said it looked like they slit his throat to finish him. God rest his soul. His son is real broke up."

The blacksmith sat back in his seat. "Way I hear it, some salesman got stabbed over at the Partridge last night. They found him this morning when the Lucille came up with hot water. Put a hell of a fright into that poor girl. Manager said that that man got cut up, too."

"That little drummer that was headed to Tucson?" the shopkeeper responded incredulously. "He was in my store just yesterday."

"Lucy tells me they tore up the room and stole all his belonging. Hell of a thing."

"Two people were murdered last night?" The shopkeeper pushed back his breakfast, no longer hungry. "Damn, and then there was that other one last week - and that business earlier."

"Same people, you think?"

"Hard to say. Probably a gang of no-account young 'uns."

The blacksmith sighed and shook his head dolefully. "Kids these daysThey got no respect. Whole town is going to hell. It ain't safe anywhere."

Ezra gave JD a jab in the arm, and said quietly, "We're going."

"I ain't half done yet," JD replied, still working on his plate of flapjacks and sausage.

"Half done is well enough," Ezra told him, grimacing as he paid the tab. "Honestly, Mr. Dunne, you're going to have to start earning a decent living someday. I can't be the one covering your bill all the time."

"I can pay for myself, Ezra. Just give me a minute to get my money together and"

But Ezra was already moving, heading toward the door.

"This ain't fair," JD sputtered as he forked up a big chunk of syrupy flapjacks and jammed them in his mouth. Annoyed, he grabbed the last sausage and followed.

Ezra was already outside and headed toward their hotel. The morning train was headed out smudging the gray sky with black smoke.

JD pointed with a sausage link. "This ain't a way to treat a man who's tryin' to eat!" he garbled through his pancakes.

Ezra stopped short and swung JD with him until their backs were flat against the front wall of the restaurant. "Did you hear what those men were discussing?"

"Yeah, Lucky Pete and some salesman both were killed last night. It's a sad thing and all, but"

"Both of whom had been in contact with us last night. Both of whom also had been in possession of at least one of our mystery items."

JD slowed in his chewing and a little mongrel sidled near him, angling for the sausage. "You think someone's interested in those things? Like interested enough to kill for them?" he asked. "There was nothing but love letters in that box."

"So it appeared but" Ezra rubbed his face in annoyance. "We I didn't truly check the envelopes. There's no telling what else might have been contained in them."

"Must have been a reason to secret them so hard," JD completed. The little white and black dog whimpered and sat down beside him. It pawed at his pant leg.

"And since Mr. Dunkirk, the previous owner of these items, also recently died, I am suspecting that the cause of his death must have also been suspicious."

"They murdered him, too?" JD whispered. "Dang it, Ez. We'd better do something." The dog begged, lifting its front paws preciously. It might have been some form of rat terrier.

"What we'd better do is get out of town," Ezra replied.

"But"

"If Lucky Pete told them that he sold one of Dunkirk's belongs to Jenkins, then it stands to reason that they know that we have another. It's also quite possible that they know who currently holds the clock because there were many witnesses to the exchange in the Rose last night. If we hadn't changed rooms at the hotel yesterday, our awakening might not have been so quiet this morning."

"We have to stop them. These men are killing people. We got to do something about it."

"We have to stop them from killing us." Ezra replied. "They are apparently after some specific possessions of Mr. Dunkirk, and we have them. The best way to avoid joining that sad group of the recently deceased is to get out of town, now."

"The crate!" JD exclaimed, and then slammed his hands over his mouth as he realized he'd spoken too loudly. The sausage flew and the dog leaped after it, snatching it mid-air.

Ezra shook his head. "The crate just left town on that train - unless someone knew to look for it." He frowned. "The shipping information would be easy to check for our names."

"I put Chris' name on the label," JD said with a smile.

The look that Ezra turned on him was pure and proud, and he smiled at the young man as he gently laid a hand on JD's shoulder. The dog returned and sat beside young Dunne. It thumped its tail against the boardwalk as it looked up at JD in love.

"Mr. Dunne, that is excellent news. The items are out of the way and on their journey to safekeeping. We should be on our way as well. Get the horses, JD. I'll send a quick message to Mr. Larabee, and then get our bags from our room. The sooner we leave this town, the better."

JD nodded as Ezra pushed off the wall. JD watched Ezra for a moment as he started toward the telegraph office, and then he turned as well and jogged toward the livery with the little dog on his heels.

TBC
ah... everything will probably be fine.