Posted October 10, 2021
Mature Content: Bloody violence
With: Anyone
Time of Day: 6pm - onwards.
The music crackled in the air of the old barn tonight, cutting through the myriad excited voices as the great moment of visceral conflict approached. Like some goggle eyed Pied Piper of Hamelin, Lorenzo Crabbe had a good percentage of the younger folk of Kalispell under his sway and doing his bidding. In the raised ring, Hector Wigfall, Arabella Mudd and the hitherto mysterious blind girl, Frances Grimes belted out music to entertain the masses until the fight began. 'Hitherto' because Frances seemed a lot less mysterious, somehow, blindfold or not, when she was frailing out Shootin' Creek at high speed on a five string banjo. Hector's fiddle and Arabella's guitaro could hardly keep up with her flying fingers. On the door, Hector's twin sister Jemma and Arabella's 'Bosom Friend' Miriam Kaufmann took the money: which was regularly siphoned off by the avaricious Crabbe.
He was counting the takings now, when he suddenly remembered they had to actually have a fight sometime. It was nearly past the advertised time for the Battle of the Century to begin: but people were still coming through the door and paying over cold solid cash! "Stick 'em another one!" he hissed to his little scratch band.
Frances nodded. "Bonaparte's Retreat, in G" she told the other two. "They're all in G!" complained Arabella, still sitting a distance away from the blind girl, in case it was catching, as she and Hector scrambled to catch up with the girl's electric playing.
Crabbe wandered over to the makeshift canvas 'Changing Rooms' he had put together at the back of the barn. Charlie was in there with his Wentworth Seconds. With Hector and Jemima busy elsewhere, he had been forced to bring in a replacement for Robert Cullen's sponger downer.
"Well me boyo, we Irish gotta stick tagether ya know," Conor Lafferty grinned as he glanced into the contents of the pail of water - yep still water. He was just nervous was all.
"You know if the crowd gets too riled up out there, my advice is just make a run for it, I'll be fine," Robert grinned as he sat on a stool all prepared to go out there for this bout.
No matter where one went, there were always some folk who had it in for the Irish and since he was fighting one of an important family in this town there just might be quite a few people out there casting him in the role of a villain. Plus Charlie was a lawman too. Finally it didn't help any that the fight had been built up as a grudge match between him and his opponent.
It certainly wasn't on his part to be sure, Robert barely knew the other young man. Grudge over what? He had no idea and no one had informed him of what might be behind that claim. If he had to guess, it was just to build up drama. All Robert wanted to do was win, not hurt the other fellow. Though in all honesty in boxing the two went together.
There really wasn't much to getting ready for a bare knuckle bout of fisticuffs. He was stripped to the waist and - in his case anyhow - barefoot since he only owned one pair of footwear, boots for trapsing about in the mountains and streams prospecting, hardly the sort of thing for treading into the ring.
A towel and a sponge had been provided by Crabbe for his 'second' to use besides the pail of water. The man had been recruited just the day before in the saloon where he was a regular, first liquored up with a few drinks then talked into doing this. Oh Lafferty had seen a fight or two in his day but really didn't know a thing about the so called science of boxing. Still at first meeting with Robert, the two hit it off immediately. Robert was content with it.
"Sounds like a big crowd out there," Robert observed.
"Not much else ta do in this town is there, lad?" Lafferty had a good point.
Robert nodded then took a deep breath to calm. He'd done this sort of thing before but every time it was indeed nerve wracking.
Caroline chuckled at the girl collecting the money, it was Arabella's Jew friend, Mary or something like that, "Well, that's stupid. How you gonna keep track of who sits where once you take our money?"
Miriam just shrugged, "I don't know. We just collect the money." They had not been given tickets to hand back to the people flowing in and besides there were no ushers. This wasn't New York just a barn in a small town in Montana. Miriam was a bit surprised a woman would even be buying a ticket to something like this. Fighting was an event for menfolk. It had been hard enough for the girl to convince her parents just to be able to secure this pre-fight job. Her mother had strictly admonished that Miriam was not to stay and watch such viciousness.
"That's just fine, hon. I'll sit where I damn well please anyhow. And if yer boss don't like it tell Mr. Crabbe he can come and throw me out personally. Or let'em try," Caroline gave a saucy grin then entered what was already a crowded scene. She had been to a professional fight once before in Helena but everyone had just stood about the ring. Noisy affair and she recalled the two big lugs in the ring pounded the begeezus out of each other before one finally couldn't answer the bell.
Miriam just flashed a sort of intimidated glance at her money collecting partner, Jemima, but did not mouth her thoughts. That saloon whore was quite something alright.
Caroline immediately began to mingle with some of the local menfolk in attendance, they knew her from the saloon of course. None of them seemed at all taken aback she'd be in attendance
As Caroline passed into the barn, Jemima caught Miriam's eye, nodded at the blonde's retreating back and silently mouthed her opinion of the woman "She's a Whore".
Meanwhile, within, Crabbe stuck his head into Robert's little 'tent' and grinned.
"Not long now, champ!" he smiled, his magnified eyes flicking to the other mick he'd hired to act as Cullen's second. "Good work Lafferty, he's looking great, like a puma, ready for the kill!" he cheered them both on.
"Still..." he corrected himself "... don't go and finish him off too quick, mind, Bobby-boy. I mean, if it's all over too quickly, those hyenas out there'll be baying for more blood! Me and Con' there'll have to strip down and knock seven bells outta each other!" he warned.
"Anyhow..." he returned to the pep talk "I reckon that flabby Charlie Wentworth's as good as laid out on the the canvas already!"
"Er, would you fellers mind awfully standing to attention?"
Caroline immediately began to mingle with some of the local menfolk in attendance, they knew her from the saloon of course. None of them seemed at all taken aback she'd be in attendance.
One man was somewhat surprised to see the beautiful young blonde there, perhaps because his duties had, hitherto, kept him away from the town proper, including its bustling saloon. In fact, he raised his kepi in shocked salute as he perceived the saloon singer next to him in the crowd nearest the ring. And although they hadn't been properly introduced, the young officer couldn't help blurting out to her:
"Do you have one of these fancy Five Dollar tickets, too? I think the fellow running this whole shebang is pretty smart, giving them out to parties he wants to keep on the good side of." Oooh, that was a clumsy sentence! The young West Pointer winced - had a couple of months of frontier life turned him illiterate already?
He had actually hit on Crabbe's ruse, though: nobody in their right mind would pay $5 for a 'ringside seat' - but Lorenzo wanted to give out some free tickets to the Press, the local Law, hell, even the Army officers. Why give them a free $2 ticket when you could give them one with $5 printed on the front of it for the same price?
Lt. Greene realised he was staring at the dreamlike vision before him in a quite ungentlemanly way, but he just couldn't drag his eyes off her, so instead he grinned... inanely.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
Speed walked in nodding to folks as he moved through the crowd, spying a the canvas area where the combatants would be. He would stay for the fight, even placed a bet of ten dollars on Charlie to win. Not knowing much about Robert Cullen, he had no idea what Charlie would be up against. Nor did he really know if Charlie could in fact handle himself in a bare knuckle fight. One slated for twenty rounds.
He stopped and looked around at the gathering crowd, mostly men, all dressed to the nines, as much as some could afford to dress up. He, was not, he was dressed casually, with badge and gun. It was after all, a work day for him. He did see Miss Caroline Mundee, and wondered, as he often did, why some fella hadn't drug her off and married her? Then again, perhaps she just wasn't the marrying kind. Which brought to mind Alice Fletcher, who was. He shook his head and marched into the area where the two men were getting ready. He stopped next to Charlie.
"Good luck out there, pard. Not something I would have done, but I'm in your corner, no matter what." He said. "Don't be in a rush, twenty rounds is a long fight. What I'd do."
Boxing was barbaric at best, and frankly, Jonah didn't see the appeal in watching to men beating the stuffing out of each other, at least in a controlled setting like this. Now, a good, spontaneous street brawl, that was something else, no rules, no confines and no formal end, and there were still bets!
But there was always a chance that a doctor might be needed...even of the injuries were essentially self-inflicted, but a few good blows could send a man crying for help. So, as town doctor, Jonah was here, just in case someone needed his services, that would likely have a premium attached to them...after all, they were choosing to be beaten on!
At the door, he scooted toward the young girl with the dark hair, hoping to get in without Miss Wigfall noticing. "Miss." He flashed a smile. "I'm here in an official capacity as doctor."
The man promoting this fight and of course paying him for his part in it, slipped into the screened off cubicle to check on him. Robert looked up with a smile.
"Still..." Crabbe declared, "don't go and finish him off too quick, mind, Bobby-boy. I mean, if it's all over too quickly, those hyenas out there'll be baying for more blood! Me and Con' there'll have to strip down and knock seven bells outta each other!"
"I wish I could do such a thing as easy as all that...decide when to win the fight. Especially since I've never even seen this boyo in action," Robert shrugged.
"Oh and I'd bet on Conor if you two did," he then grinned.
"Anyhow..." Crabbe continued, "I reckon that flabby Charlie Wentworth's as good as laid out on the the canvas already!"
"I don't be intendin' on losin', Mr. Crabbe but I think this here Charlie will have somethin' to be sayin' about it too," Robert was determined not to get overconfident.
Caroline had just finishing acknowledging another pleasant regular customer from the saloon who also was in attendance when a voice she did not recognize spoke up. Turning it was a soldier boy - emphasis on 'boy'. He had the look of an officer, not that she recognized specific ranks but also looked awful wet behind the ears.
"Do you have one of these fancy Five Dollar tickets, too? I think the fellow running this whole shebang is pretty smart, giving them out to parties he wants to keep on the good side of."
"Nope, I bought a two dollar ticket but I am gonna stand right here cuz I want to. You ain't gonna call on one of your squadrons ta come and kick me out now, are ya, gen-rul?" Caroline flashed him a cheeky grin.
Well the handsome jasper just stood there grinning right back.
"Cat got yer tongue, hon? Come on now, a fine lookin' soldier boy like you shouldn't be shy?"
At the door, Jonah scooted toward the young girl with the dark hair, hoping to get in without Miss Wigfall noticing. "Miss." He flashed a smile. "I'm here in an official capacity as doctor."
Miriam was expecting this well dressed gentleman to fork over some cash but instead he mentioned he was a doctor. Perhaps that same doctor Arabella always gushed about? He really was quite the distinguished fellow, definitely had the look of an educated man in her opinion.
"Oh, hello Doctor. Yes, you can just go right on in then. It's very nice to meet you by the way, I'm Miriam Kaufmann, I'm a good friend of one of your patients, Arabella Mudd. She speaks very highly of you, sir," Miriam had been told not to chat idly but take the customers money and keep it moving but she couldn't help herself. After all this one was a doctor.