Alice looked up suddenly at the sound of the female voice. She was thoroughly surprised that the voice belonged to Miss Arabella Mudd, of the nude actress fame. If it could be called that."Why, hello, Arabella. I think we were just about to finish up here, not too sure that I actually accomplished anything, really." She explained.
"I am after a wedding gown, and just having a dickens of a time trying to explain what it is I want." She continued, "Mister Pettigrew here even suggested I see some of those that he made for you, but here you are. How fortuitous for me that you are here. Now, what I was telling Mister Pettigrew, rather poorly, I'm afraid, was that I want a dress that a mine owner's bride would be married in. We're doing quite well, and he has another mine that will be coming online soon enough.
"Now I had thought that I'd need dresses as a professional man's wife as well, and probably conveyed that all wrong as well. This is not something I am accustomed to doing." She looked a bit lost.
"I want a dress that is well, a dress with class, but also a dress that would not embarrass Speed or me, and one that would do you and the town justice. We are growing and becoming a place that people who'll be setting here, doing business here." She smiled. I know that the Marshall may not be the Marshal by then, but he is also a mine owner and a business owner here in town, so every bit helps with the appearance of the place."
Wus nodded politely. The woman seemed easily to get distracted from the all important subject of her wedding dress to a general discursion on her husband-to-be's standing in the community.
... "And with the hospital, and then the orphanage coming perhaps by next year, there will be a lot going on here. There will surely be people of means moving in here, don't you think?" She asked.
"Er, yes, er, now then... about the sleeves... as you can see, these match the pleated ruffles on the skirts of the dress and add a certain symmetry..." he rumbled on.
There was a knock on the door and from without came an light voice with a southern drawl as long as Mr Pettigrew's.
"Aw yooo-hooo? Mr P.? Miss Fletcher? May I intrude?"
The door cracked open and the elfin face of Miss Arabella Mudd peeped in.
Shintaro studied her for a few moments when she talked about staying out of sight. He had to wonder how hard her life must have been if hiding was her default solution to avoid being harassed. Only Eta did their best to stay out of sight, mostly due to being considered the lowest caste in Japan's social structure. Yet, they weren't bothered by those of higher class, none wanted to touch such people so they were left to do the jobs nobody of standing would want to even consider. Still, they served an important role in society, clearing away human waste, tending to animal carcasses among other things.
Tully however, didn't seem to be of that sort and American didn't have a caste system, people typically earned their level of respect, instead of being born into it. For now he decided not to push her about learning self defense, perhaps once she learned he could be trusted, it will be something she'd be willing to learn.
He turned his attention to the other drawings, admiring the landscapes and other animals. The style was so different than the art he had seen in Japan, the coloured pencils were a very different medium compared to brush art and block printing.
"You could make a living doing work like this," he observed.
"I was wearing a kimono with hakama and my Shinsengumi haori," Shintaro explains, "As there didn't seem to be an official uniform for deputies besides the badge, I decided what I typically wore during my time as a member of the Shinsengumi would be practical."
"I want a dress that is well, a dress with class, but also a dress that would not embarrass Speed or me, and one that would do you and tie town justice. We are growing and becoming a place that people who'll be setting here, doing business here." She smiled. I know that the Marshall may not be the Marshal by then, but he is also a mine owner and a business owner here in town, so every bit helps with the appearance of the place."
Kalispell might have a ways to go yet, but the railroad was supposedly on its way, and attracting businesses was only a part of what was happening. "And with the hospital, and then the orphanage coming perhaps by next year, there will be a lot going on here. There will surely be people of means moving in here, don't you think?" She asked.
"Now let me gather some facts: Barnabas Pike shot a girl who was trespassing."
"Cor-rect" Mrs Patterson Forde confirmed with a terse little nod.
"Sometime later, Barnabas's sister shot him dead. I would say that's frontier justice."
"And I would say you're not listening!" Patty frowned "Barnabas Pike hasn't got a sister... or well, if he has, she's not part of this set up. Pike has a wife, and she shot the brother of the girl her husband shot, see? It's simple!" She was wondering if she'd come to the right person here.
"Which Pike is the one who is Deputy Sheriff?"
"Barnabas Pike... well it wouldn't be his wife would it? Who ever heard of a female deputy?" she asked, starting to sound a little cross now.
"And, in what capacity can I help "this girl" who you talk of? Who is she?"
"She's called Cicely Lister and you can help her by suing the pants off of Pike... Deputy Barnabas Pike" she added quickly, lest they go through that whole rigamarole again.
"Shooting an innocent unarmed girl like that, it's disgusting!" she added, for good measure.
"Would you care to sit?" he followed up with and pointed to a stuffed chair near the wall. "Perhaps you can introduce yourself?"
"Uh?" queried Patty. Oh! Of course! Although she was the brains behind the concern that running the sutler business supplying food and grog to the miners at Priest's mine, she'd never actually met the feller and only knew him from afar.
Priest sat across from her, his face now the picture of solemn jurisprudence.
"I'm Patty Patterson Forde, Florence's mother" she said coolly. in her own way, the dumpy little woman was as formidable as Jim Henry. "But I'm not here about her. I'm here about another girl. This girl was shot in cold blood by Barnabas Pike. Emmaline Pike shot her brother dead, too, from what I've heard. Apparently the boy deserved it, but the girl was doing nothing more than trespassing on the Pike range. I want you to help the girl." She didn't give her reasons for wanting to help this unknown person, but it was clear that she had no love for Pronto and his family.
All this was news to Hiram. He'd spent far too long in other pursuits.
"You know, this Pike feller thinks because he's a town deputy, he's above the law. I reckon he needs bringing down a peg or two."
He held up his palm.
"Now let me gather some facts: Barnabas Pike shot a girl who was trespassing. Sometime later, Barnabas's sister shot him dead. I would say that's frontier justice. Which Pike is the one who is Deputy Sheriff? And, in what capacity can I help "this girl" who you talk of? Who is she?"
The woman before him reminded Hiram of Queen Victoria.
"The Human..." People could be so cruel, but then, Emeline supposed, that the circus had at least provided some sort of support for the twins, and if she was to be honest with herself, Clem did kinda look like...
Big Sis declared that she was going to be sick, and Emeline was quick to grab a porcelain basin as Dr. Laurant chastised her softly.
"It might serve you better not to eat a great deal with the laudanum you've ingested," Angie said matter of factly, "That means that the pain medicine which was administered was thrown up, and it cannot help with the discomfort."
"It's my fault, I'm afraid," Emeline admitted. She should have known better than to give cookies to someone so recently injured, and who hadn't eaten for hours.
"We'll take precautions with the laudanum."
"And the food." Emeline gently stroked Sis' back, ready to hold her hair if...when the puking commenced!
"Oh, right, right...we'd just hafta dry 'em again, an' then we'd hafta dry, an' then they'd smell like smoke again, an' then..." Justus gave her a cheeky grin, then shrugged. "Reckon we'll just hafta take care of it when we get home. An' there really ain't no worry 'bout goin' in th' bunkhouse, mostly ladies aren't much expected, 'cept Mrs. Pike on occasion." He shrugged. "But she's different, bein' th' boss' wife an' all."
He brushed stray dirt off his pants, then squatted to help gather the dishes. "So, ya just wanna go back ta town an' wash out yer clothes, or...dunno, there's a real pretty view of th' mountains." He wasn't sure about Constance, but he wasn't quite ready to be done yet.
"It might serve you better not to eat a great deal with the laudanum you've ingested," Angie said matter of factly, "That means that the pain medicine which was administered was thrown up, and it cannot help with the discomfort." It seemed the young woman did not quite understand that.
She realized that there was likely nothing that could be done about that, as the girl just didn't get it. Not unusual, rural folks sometimes had trouble understanding how things worked, like medicines. Laudanum would be particularly dangerous if she overdosed on it. "We'll take precautions with the laudanum."
That was the truth. It would take an opinion from the Town Council on what could be done with the fire department. True, the pumper and team had yet to be purchased and may well be out of the reach of Kalispell. If the idea that money is a problem, that was not close to the truth. With the mine producing and the Pike's income from Nevada not slowing down, they could do just about anything they wanted, and they wanted the town to get involved with fire protection, as well as the ambulance idea.
"I'll stop in and see our Mayor and see what I can get going in that direction. We have a great start here." Speed said.
"Yeah, be great if the town would get behind what we're trying to do," Barnabas stated. Hopeful the Town Council would take a hand in this civic improvement.
