"Oh yes, yes I do. I had seen veils on women at other weddings; my wedding was rather plain. No gown or new dress for the occasion. My husband didn't even have a suit, rest his soul." She admitted. "Times were hard back then, not so long ago, today? It is completely different. You know, Speed saved my father during the war, and we remained friends afterward."
"Yes, I could see a dress like this for my wedding, with a veil and a flowered whatever you call it. Mister Perttigrew, how can you make this gown special? How can you 'build' something just for me?" She was quick to ask of the M
aster dressmaker. The whole idea of a wedding gown had engulfed her. Thanks to Arabellea's timely intrusion, the whole world of fashion was about to engulf Alice Fletcher as it had engulfed women since the beginning of time.
"This will be so special, and the dresses that I will need in the future." Yes, fully engulfed!
As Em and Angie were talking, there came a knock on the bedroom door. The door opened, and a head poked in. "Just me, ma'am, Mister Pike sent me back up so's you two could come on down fer supper." Dixie Brick said, hat in hand. "I'll sit with her long as ya like. Already et with the boys. so take yer time." The cowhand smiled at the two ladies.
"anythin' I need ta know? I mean I'll come on down should this un wake up. Ya know, Larado, Will, an' Zane 'er out follerin' tracks of them others, so we'll know what's what soon enough." Dixie informed them. "The boss didn't send 'em, they went of their own. Not to worry, them three are plumb zavy!
"It is so beautiful, the way it flows!" Alice gushed, "And you would build a dress onto this as the base?" Again, this was a trade term that she had never heard of before. "Tell me, Mister Pettigrew, what could it look like?" She asked, ideas already forming in her head, whatever it was called, it had caught hold of her!
But Arabella just gave a tinkling laugh.
"No, no, no, Miss Fletcher, this IS the dress! It's simplicity itself - so plain that it serves merely as a frame for your beauty!" It was not so much a suggestion as a dictat. She caught sight of herself in a mirror and yelped "Oh!! And maybe something around the head - a simple garland of daisies or..." she deftly grabbed a white table cloth that covered a side table upon which were various knickknacks and curios and did the old conjuror's trick of whipping it off while the objects remained on the table.
Well, most of them.
She swiftly wrapped the cloth around her bonce and balanced a ringlet of ceramicflowers on top to hold it down, so that one side dangled down: the effect was rather good, in an eastern, arabesque sort of way.
"See?!" she drawled, quite pleased with herself.
"She ought to be at least eighteen years old, though maybe in this town sixteen might do. But to make it more on the up-and-up, she needs a parent or a guardian -- a legal guardian." He eyed her sitting across from him. "Maybe someone like you if she doesn't have any living relatives."
"Hmmm" ruminated Patty.
"So, my next questions are, does she have any relatives in these parts"
A curious look passed over the woman's face, but then she firmly answered "No, I shouldn't imagine so. Apparently their mother resided in San Francisco and is now dead. The Father is unknown; although someone tried to get it into her head that she's the natural daughter of Pike himself."
His next question took her visibly by surprise.
"... would you like to become her legal guardian? I can do up the paperwork and certify it pretty quickly."
"ME?!"
She frowned and then asked Priest frankly "What would I get out of it? I've already gotten three sons and three daughters. I want to get rid of this one: she's eating me out of house and home!"
@[Preston[
"I should have known," Emeline admitted, "I've heard about laudanum but never worked with it." She glanced at the sleeping figure on the bed as Angie asked about what they were going to do with her, but that wasn't up to her. Barnabas, as a lawman, not to mention the father and husband of the ones the woman and her brother had tried to kill, would know best what the outcome would be.
For herself, Emeline wasn't sure she was ready yet to forgive Sis, although she knew that was what God asked of her. She still needed time.
And for a fleeting moment, she thought to offer to stay with Big Sis so Angie could go down and have supper, but that was something else she wasn't ready for yet. In fact, more than anything that had happened back in the woods, what bothered her most were the uncharitable feelings she was having.
"One of the men can sit with her if you'd like to come down and join us for supper." That was easy for her to offer, and if anything happened, Angie would only be downstairs.
The woman was a tough old bird.
"Hmm" frowned the woman "And how old does a person need to be to do that? This girl is a freak - a giantess, and about the fattest thing I've ever seen, but for all that she must only be about sixteen."
"Well now," that changes the complexion of things, a little," ruminated Hiram as he tugged on his chin.
"She ought to be at least eighteen years old, though maybe in this town sixteen might do. But to make it more on the up-and-up, she needs a parent or a guardian -- a legal guardian." He eyed her sitting across from him. "Maybe someone like you if she doesn't have any living relatives."
"So, my next questions are, does she have any relatives in these parts, or would you like to become her legal guardian? I can do up the paperwork and certify it pretty quickly."
The morning was turning out to be an interesting one. One suitable for his new lease on life.
"The laudanum and food do not always mix; throw in the blood loss and the shock of the wound, and that all contributes to the system being a bit haywire, which means being sick to one's stomach. Doesn't happen to everyone, but yes, it does happen to a good many, and to ladies especially. Can't say why, but a fair number of men would have reacted the same way." Angie explained, "And don't feel bad, you were just being nice, and we tend to offer food right off when we can, or it's available."
"I would think that she would get through the queeziness fairly soon, and the discomfort of the wound to short order. There will be pain for a while as it heals on the inside." She continued. Thinking she might be the better one to ask questions of the woman, she plunged ahead. "So, Sis, what are we going to do with you? Do you have people around here? Folks, relations, some friends? Somewhere that you can stay in the next day or so when you leave here?" As far as that was concerned, she doubted that the girl had known anyone in this neck of the woods other than Tom Love and his men, besides her brother.
Angie looked down again only to find the girl fast asleep once more.
@Javia @Bongo
On orders from Arabella, Alice remained where she was, unsure of how all of this was going to work out. But she decided she would trust Arabella, who did seem to have good fashion sense, not that she believed she did not, but for a stylish wedding gown, which would be virgin ground for her, as her last wedding gown had been a sack dress.
Now, the idea of proper attire for business meetings? Again, there were not many professional women in Kalispell to model herself after. She did want to look presentable for her husband in that regard. She was just about to say something to Wus when the door creaked open again, and in tromped Arabellea in a white sheath dress
Worcester Pettigrew spluttered "But that's not even a full dress! That's just the base which I build the dress on top of!" he cried, the whole idea of wearing such a simple affair as a wedding dress blowing his Mid-Victorian mind!
"It is so beautiful, the way it flows!" Alice gushed, "And you would build a dress onto this as the base?" Again, this was a trade term that she had never heard of before. "Tell me, Mister Pettigrew, what could it look like?" She asked, ideas already forming in her head, whatever it was called, it had caught hold of her!
He sent a stream of tobacco juice into a spittoon beside his chair.
"Good shot" noted Mrs Patterson Forde.
"Now permit me to give you a little lesson in the law. In order for you to sue, you must have "standing", or locus standi. It means that you are required to have a sufficient connection to the harm you are challenging. You have to be directly injured."
"Do go on, Mr Priest. You fascinate me." the woman said, perhaps a little coldly although she had to admit, this was the sort of legalise an experienced old bird like Priest could probably use to good effect, to bamboozle a jury.
"For instance," he continued. "You cannot sue the stable owner because he sold a sick nag to your neighbor. So, if the young lady wants to tussle with the Kalispell lawmen, she will have to file suit on her own. Does that make sense?"
"Hmm" frowned the woman "And how old does a person need to be to do that? This girl is a freak - a giantess, and about the fattest thing I've ever seen, but for all that she must only be about sixteen."
"Don't reckon as it could hurt none ta hear 'bout it, but I don't think as there's anything much pure in me." Tully shrugged. She'd been told often enough that she wasn't worth anything to anyone, although time had taught her that that wasn't true, and she'd done a few good deeds in her time, including saving Miss Frances Grimes' life the night she'd inadvertently led horror to her door.
"What if a body killed a man?" she asked, still a little unsettled from that encounter. She tried to believe that God forgave a person all their sins, and she hadn't killed Moe Green willingly, but to stop him from breaking Frances in half. Still, killing was killing, and sometimes it haunted her dreams.