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Sagas of the Wild West
Let's Dance — In-Character Archives

Let's Dance April 22, 1876
Complete
Where: Horace Simpkin's Storage Bar, Outskirts of Kalispell, MT

Storyteller / Shared NPC

Non-Player
Posted Jan 25, 2023 at 2:37 PM

Posted October 10, 2020 | Time of Day: Late afternoon

Well it certainly seemed that Mother Nature was giving her approval for this annual town event as the weather was unseasonably warm, a mostly sunny day with a steady breeze. As was the tradition the spring dance normally started up sometime after 3 PM though of course there were folks there even earlier doing last minute setup and the usual crew of local men working on the fires that would roast the donated beef. A small stage had been knocked together by those with carpentry experience so the assembled musicians could play upon it. Though a mite heavy for the stage, a piano had been laboriously brought in and set right next to the stage, donated (for the event only of course) by the Star Dust saloon. Long rows of tables were assembled against one of the walls and these were filling up with more donated goods such as bakery and other food items with pride of place going to the large punch bowl which would no doubt have to be refilled more than once before the fun was over sometime after midnight.

Gradually the place started to fill up as more and more dance goers showed up, dressed in their finery, looking to put aside their daily worries and toil and enjoy themselves for one evening at least.

---

OOC: OK, people start posting here for any dance related threads. This is going to be a site wide event so we are prepared to spend a LONG time on this one. It's a great chance to have your chars meet and mix other writer's charries in a social setting too.

AKA The Chronicler
Role
Shared NPC
Playby
Various Art
Played By
Non-Player

6' 0
Posted Jan 25, 2023 at 2:43 PM

Mike Wentworth | Posted October 11, 2020

"That's it. The main thing is to remember that you're representing Lost Lake," Mike looked around the room. He had just given the hands who were going to the dance a quick talk about being on their best behaviour. The hands who had been at the ranch for a long time knew this, so it was mainly for the benefit of those who had just joined up.

Before letting the men go, there was something else he had do to. "However, there's one more thing that needs to be taken care of." His gaze fell upon two of the hands, Marty Smith and Ben Hall. "Okay, where's the book?"

Ben and Marty quickly glanced at each other and then back to Mike. Marty was the first to speak, "What book?"

Mike took a deep breath, "The one that you've been recording the bets in."

"Ohhh...that one," Ben replied, "Marty's got it."

Marty feebly smiled. "Ummm...yeah I've got it," he said reluctantly, "but it's not what you think it is."

"I don't think anything...yet. I just want to know where it is and why?"

"That's easy. Every time there's some sort of big event in town, it always happens. So, we figured that we would make it more interesting this time." Ben paused for a moment, "Say, how did you find out anyway?" He peaked sideways at the two he thought might have said something.

Sam stood up and casually pointed to Charlie who was next to him, "Don't look at us. Just because he's our brother doesn't mean we tell him everything."

"Ain't that the truth," Charlie interjected.

After a brief glaring glance at his brothers, Mike returned his attention to Marty and Ben. "I overheard some of the men talking about it in the barn the other day.

Seeing that Marty and Ben was at a loss as what to say next, Mike smiled, "What I was wondering was if you were ever going to get around to asking me if I would be interested." He paused before going on, "Is eleven o'clock free?"

A quick look of surprised appeared on Marty's face, before he scramble to take the book out of his inside coat pocket and finding the relevant page, "Yeah, it's free."

"Put me down for that time."

"Sure thing boss," Marty scribble down Mike's name, "You're down for the first fight to start around eleven. The winner'll be the person who's closest and they'll take the entire pot. Only rule is that none of us can start a fight. If that happens then all bets are off."

"Sounds good to me," Mike replied, "Now, that we've got that all cleared up, how 'bout we get going."

A few minutes later, the hands of Lost Lake were on their way to the Spring Dance.

---

JulieS

Role
Secondary
Nickname
Michael Robert Wentworth
Birthdate
06/06/1843
Height
6' 0
Hair
Dark Brown
Eyes
Hazel
Playby
James Drury
Played By

"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"

5'4
Posted Jan 25, 2023 at 3:24 PM

Arabella Mudd | Posted October 11, 2020

Arabella was as pleased as punch with the little side tent they were erecting to serve the 'hard stuff' when the dance commenced. Of course, she would do her best to avoid spending any time at all in there during the dance. She was there to have fun, not work! She also felt a sort of pride, being in there with Ms Devereau (even though she seems to be more about giving orders and ‘hobnobbing’ than doing anything herself) and the more practically useful Mr Flandry and Cookie, as well as a couple of rounded up rounders who had helped with the actual erection of the tent. Feckless loafers, usually, but who were keen to help ensure that the source of the nectar was safely installed.

She felt part of a family again that late morning and early afternoon when they'd been setting up. Sure, they all had different surnames, weren't kin in the strict sense. Weren't even all the same color (talking of which, it was actually quite a shock to see that Cookie could actually exist outside of the Saloon Kitchen!). But they were a sort of family when all was said and done.

Moving the piano had been the biggest concern, and with Matilda getting that ‘let me think of a job for you to do’ look in her eyes, Arabella made a quick exit, with a parting cry of “I’d better make sure the pianna’s still in tune!”

She wandered into the barn: it was big, and the people in it busy, but nearly finished with their ministrations. Arabella clambered onto the stage (climbed a real stage for the first time in her life!) and sat down at the familiar old Joanna, and began banging out a jolly tune. Most carried on with their work, although maybe with a new vigor and even in time with the music, but a couple of fellers dropped their hammers and nails and danced together a comical pas de deux, to the laughter and applause of others.

Arabella didn’t overstay her welcome. The piano was in tune, or rather no less in tune than usual, and she stood up, gave a little curtsey to the two dancers, who jovially applauded her efforts, and clambered down.

She didn’t regret her decision not to play the piano at the dance that evening, she would rather dance with boys, but she couldn’t forget the thrill of that first, small, public performance.

---

Javia

Miss
Role
Primary
Nickname
That Mudd girl OR Oh no, it's her again!
Birthdate
07/31/1861
Height
5'4
Hair
Midnight Black
Eyes
Blue
Playby
Margaret O'Brien
Played By

5' 6
Posted Jan 25, 2023 at 3:29 PM

Clara Redmond-Lutz | Posted October 16, 2020

Clara and Emeline arrived together each of them carrying folded up tablecloths and baskets of baked treats, cookies of all sorts and some fruit pies too which they had baked the evening before and now walked on over to the barn. They got there almost a full hour before the dance was supposed to start which gave them plenty of time to set up their goodies on the tables against one of the walls. For awhile as they placed the cookies on plates they could hear the piano playing. Clara had glanced right off to see who it was, Arabella! She was actually pretty good at it too. Interesting.

Even as she worked with Emeline, a part of her felt very self conscious, something that almost never happened with her. But today she was all dressed up in a fine though rather low cut dress (at least for her) complete with a modest bustle underneath. That wasn't all. Emeline had done her hair also, the brunette pigtails now loosened and hanging down to her shoulders. And the final touch, Emeline even shared with the girl some of her seldom used perfume. Clara had never worn such but certainly liked the fragrance it gave off. Many townsfolk would probably need to take a second look to recognize this rather elegant looking young lady was normally the solemn soberly dressed girl in long pigtails. It was kind of exciting but also made her a bit ....well....nervous.

All this makeover had been done at Emeline's upstairs apartment over the diner so even her father or brother had seen her yet. Now Aurelian wasn't much for dances but promised he would attend for a short while just to say hello to folks and be sociable. But he didn't want to leave the farm and it's animals unattended for too long. Wyatt would come with him too and no doubt leave at the same time too. Wyatt hated dancing because that involved doing it with....shudder.... girls. But there was going to be free food and punch plus his school friends would be there too. Clara half imagined Wyatt would end up laughing at the look of his older sister. No matter, what did he know about such things!

---

Wayfarer

Townsfolk, employee at Lick Skillet
Role
Primary
Nickname
Clara, she does not like nicknames, believing them to be frivolous.
Birthdate
5/8/1860
Height
5' 6
Hair
Dark Brown
Eyes
Brown
Playby
Hailee Steinfeld
Played By

"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"

5'4
Posted Jan 25, 2023 at 3:31 PM

Arabella Mudd | Posted October 16, 2020

When Arabella had finished playing the piano and clambered off the stage and bumped into Bridget who, as per usual was ‘dressed like a dog’s dinner’ in other words, a little too overdressed. Why, that girl would take a parasol and a purse and a fan with her to milk a cow.

Arabella herself was dressed in a pretty ordinary dress: she’d put all her millinery effort of late into making her fancy dress outfit for Mr. Wentworth’s wash-out of an ‘Event’. Still, all that hadn’t been wasted effort for very good, but also very secret reasons which she didn’t even dare tell her bosom friend Clara... yet.

Talking of whom, where the heck was the girl?

She grabbed Bridget and walked her over to where Ms. Em and some woman were setting up the pastries table to ask the whereabouts of the missing Redmond girl. When the woman turned around, Arabella gave an absolutely ear-splitting scream of sheer delight!

“AARRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Bridget held her hands to her ears instinctively, but once it was safe to free her hands, clapped them with a beam of delight on her wordless lips, her head cocked slightly to the side in wonderment at the vision that stood before them.

Arabella was a lot more verbose, almost jigging up and down with excitement as she took in the dress, the hair, the everything.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! You look SO beautiful!!! Where did you get that dress?! Turn around, is that a bustle?! Oh Golly Bridget, she got a bustle!!!”

Bridget nodded excitedly, forgetting that she, too, had a bustle. But that didn’t matter, because she always had a bustle. This was Clara’s FIRST bustle.

Arabella turned to Ms Emeline, her eyes almost shining with tears.

“Oh Miss Em, don’t she just look like a dream? She makes the rest of us gals all look like Annie off the Pickle Boat!”

---

Javia

Miss
Role
Primary
Nickname
That Mudd girl OR Oh no, it's her again!
Birthdate
07/31/1861
Height
5'4
Hair
Midnight Black
Eyes
Blue
Playby
Margaret O'Brien
Played By

5' 6
Posted Jan 25, 2023 at 3:33 PM

Clara Redmond | Posted October 17, 2020

Clara had just turned around when an unearthly yet strangely familiar screech of unimaginable proportions rent the barn. She could not help but both be startled and give a pained wince. Then she saw the origin of the scream, of course it was.

"Arabella!" she frowned.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! You look SO beautiful!!! Where did you get that dress?! Turn around, is that a bustle?! Oh Golly Bridget, she got a bustle!!!”

"Yes, Emeline thought it a capital idea so I agreed, she is a very intelligent woman," by now Clara had taken to calling her employer simply by her Christian name they got along so well.

Arabella turned to Ms Emeline, her eyes almost shining with tears.

“Oh Miss Em, don’t she just look like a dream? She makes the rest of us gals all look like Annie off the Pickle Boat!”

"Nonsense, it is just a dress," Clara waved off this sudden flood of praise. However, she honestly would not mind if any boys reacted even half as positively as Arabella.

Wayfarer

Townsfolk, employee at Lick Skillet
Role
Primary
Nickname
Clara, she does not like nicknames, believing them to be frivolous.
Birthdate
5/8/1860
Height
5' 6
Hair
Dark Brown
Eyes
Brown
Playby
Hailee Steinfeld
Played By

5’ 11
Posted Jan 25, 2023 at 3:39 PM

Brendan Connolly | Posted October 17, 2020


Brendan had figured out a way to finagle his name onto the list of hands from the Evergreen spread who got to go to the dance. He'd promised the foreman that he would listen in to the men's talk about the price of beef and such and make discreet inquiries so that the Steelgraves could adjust their prices accordingly to either undercut the other ranchers or raise prices to make more of a profit.

Not that he was good at discreet inquiries, but the foreman didn't need to know that.

He had used a little bit of grease to slick his hair back and had hung his plaid shirt out in the sun for a while. Now it smelled like grass, sunshine, and horses.

He was just coming into the barn with a few of the other Evergreen hands when he heard a screech so loud and shrill it sounded like a panther. Everyone looked for the source of the scream, including him. It happened to be three girls standing off near the refreshment table. One of them was completely overdressed for a barn dance, one of them was maybe slightly underdressed, and one of them...

He approached the three girls and recognized Clara Redmond. She looked quite different; much more grown-up than when he had seen her before. But it had been several months.

"Evenin', Miss Redmond," he said, tilting his head to the side a bit. "Are you gonna introduce me to these other ladies? One of 'em has quite the pair of lungs, and I don't think it's you."

Bailey

Cowhand
Role
Primary
Nickname
Brendan
Birthdate
02/15/1852
Height
5’ 11
Hair
Brown
Eyes
Brown
Playby
Rodrigo Guirao Diaz
Played By

"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"

5'4
Posted Jan 25, 2023 at 3:42 PM

Arabella Mudd | Posted October 17, 2020

"Evenin', Miss Redmond," he said, tilting his head to the side a bit. "Are you gonna introduce me to these other ladies? One of 'em has quite the pair of lungs, and I don't think it's you."

Arabella looked the handsome young ranch-hand up and down for a second.

Yep!

Always vivacious, and somewhat inured these days to speaking to strange men, due to her work in the saloon, she paced straight forward and held out a hand. “Howdy cowboy, I’m Arabella: and that was my lungs you was just admirin’.” She flirted as best she could, glancing down at her admittedly rather flat chest. “This here’s my pal Bridget, and it sounds like you already know Clara.”

“What’s your name, son? And how d’you fancy kickin’ up your heels with me a little bit later on?” she asked quite boldly, tapping her chest with her thumb.

She glanced back at Bridget and then, despite the fact that the ginger girl hadn’t said a word, added. “She says she’ll dance with you, too, but no polkas – she ain’t rightly constructed fer that sort o’ caper.”

She didn’t assume to speak for Clara, she expected that she would be a lot fussier in choosing dance partners, if she chose any at all, than her or Bridget.

-- Javia

Miss
Role
Primary
Nickname
That Mudd girl OR Oh no, it's her again!
Birthdate
07/31/1861
Height
5'4
Hair
Midnight Black
Eyes
Blue
Playby
Margaret O'Brien
Played By

5' 6
Posted Jan 25, 2023 at 3:45 PM

Clara Redmond-Lutz | Posted October 18, 2020

Clara had barely gotten a word in and poor Emeline was left in the dust, a normal enough occurance when Arabella was involved. Just then look who came waltzing up like he owned the place. That - admittedly good looking - but very annoying Evergreen cowpoke. She didn't forget a face like his. Name not so much....

"Evenin', Miss Redmond," the man said, tilting his head to the side a bit. "Are you gonna introduce me to these other ladies? One of 'em has quite the pair of lungs, and I don't think it's you."

"Well I ..." and that was all Clara got out.

“Howdy cowboy, I’m Arabella: and that was my lungs you was just admirin’.” She flirted as best she could, glancing down at her admittedly rather flat chest. “This here’s my pal Bridget, and it sounds like you already know Clara.”

"Oh we have met alright," Clara's eyes burned into him.

“What’s your name, son? And how d’you fancy kickin’ up your heels with me a little bit later on?” the obnoxious Arabella asked, tapping her chest with her thumb, who wasn't done yet (naturally).

“She says she’ll dance with you, too, but no polkas – she ain’t rightly constructed fer that sort o’ caper.”

Clara felt badly for poor Bridget but decided she had better quickly take the chance to finally do the introductions the cowpoke wanted.

"His name is Brendan. I honestly cannot remember his last name if he even gave it to me. And I should warn you, Arabella, that if you do dance with him to be careful. He might be setting you for one of his fellow Evergreen hands to shoot you. Like he tried with me."

"And ladies, Brendan here works for the Steelgraves who are trying to steal my father's farm by any means possible."

Clara never took her eyes from Brendan as she stated all this.

Wayfarer

 

Townsfolk, employee at Lick Skillet
Role
Primary
Nickname
Clara, she does not like nicknames, believing them to be frivolous.
Birthdate
5/8/1860
Height
5' 6
Hair
Dark Brown
Eyes
Brown
Playby
Hailee Steinfeld
Played By

5’ 11
Posted Jan 25, 2023 at 3:59 PM

Brendan Connolly | Posted October 18, 2020

Brendan had to try very hard not to laugh at Arabella. She had a big personality to match those big lungs, but she was still a little girl. Maybe not much younger than Clara, but Clara's new getup made the differences between them very stark.

How could someone not be constructed for polkas? That didn't make sense - mainly because constructed was a big word. The redheaded girl seemed nice enough, if a bit mousy.

"His name is Brendan. I honestly cannot remember his last name if he even gave it to me. And I should warn you, Arabella, that if you do dance with him to be careful. He might be setting you for one of his fellow Evergreen hands to shoot you. Like he tried with me. And ladies, Brendan here works for the Steelgraves who are trying to steal my father's farm by any means possible."

Brendan shifted his weight under Clara's scathing stare. He stuck his thumbs in his suspenders and met Clara's eyes, setting his mouth stubbornly. "Brendan Connolly. And I didn't set you up. The hands set me up."

He decided to let everything else Clara had said slide and turned to Arabella, shrugging as if to shake off Clara's opinion of him.

"Still wanna dance with me after hearin' that? I'll take a polka with you and a slow dance with Miss Ginger there, if she's 'con-struct-ed' for it."

-- Bailey

Cowhand
Role
Primary
Nickname
Brendan
Birthdate
02/15/1852
Height
5’ 11
Hair
Brown
Eyes
Brown
Playby
Rodrigo Guirao Diaz
Played By