Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted April 24, 2021 / Thomas written by Boshmi
"Emeline Blakesley said pretty much the same thing when I talked to her about all this, the baby, the marriage, my father. She is my employer, she owns the Lick Skillet diner. A wonderful woman, a widow but soon to be remarried."
"Oh! I have heard talk of dear Emeline. It's good to hear that she's soon to be remarried. Why, this old chapel might see more than one marriage in the coming weeks." he said, in a subtle attempt to heighten the mood. The news of Clara's employment bode well for the future of their marriage too - an income would be invaluable in raising a child.
After handing the couple their drinks, Thomas stepped back to where Arabella now was, giving the two a little space.
"Thank you, Reverend...oh and thank you, Arabella," said Clara.
“Yeah, thanks.” echoed Jacob, to which Arabella, in typical fashion, gave a cheerful “You’re welcome!”
"You know, Reverend, I think we should take you up on your kind offer to accompany us when we tell my father. For I realize what you said is absolutely correct and something I... we must do."
"I'm very glad to hear that, Clara. Family is important, and a supportive family doubly so. I would be more than happy to lend my presence."
“Say, maybe I should come along too!” Arabella interjected. “I could explain to him what happened, you know – I know all about the birds and the bees: don’t be shocked brother Thomas!”
"I'm not..." he began, but she was already off again.
“I’ll just explain to your Pa that when a beautiful woman like Clara and a irrepressible young scamp like ol’ Hayseed here get together... well, no tellin’ what might go off!”
"I think Jacob and Clara might want to explain themselves for themselves, Arabella." Thomas told the overexcitable girl. "Though it's very kind of you to offer."
Arabella was certainly an acquired taste, and Mr. Redmond might not appreciate her comments in a tense moment. "It would be up to them, though." he added, so as not to take the wind out of her sails prematurely.
Posted April 25, 2021
"Oh! I have heard talk of dear Emeline. It's good to hear that she's soon to be remarried. Why, this old chapel might see more than one marriage in the coming weeks."
"Yes, you should go there to eat sometime, the food is very good, I can vouch for it as I help make it. Her baked goods are amazing," Clara always gushed about her employer and not just because of her culinary skills.
The reverend immediately accepted the now personal invitation to visit her father. She smiled at Jacob, things were going amazingly well so far. Arabella had something to say on the matter too.
“Say, maybe I should come along too!” Arabella interjected. “I could explain to him what happened, you know – I know all about the birds and the bees: don’t be shocked brother Thomas!”
Clara gave a pained look. NO! NO! A thousand times NO!
"I'm not..." Thomas began but...
“I’ll just explain to your Pa that when a beautiful woman like Clara and a irrepressible young scamp like ol’ Hayseed here get together... well, no tellin’ what might go off!”
"I think Jacob and Clara might want to explain themselves for themselves, Arabella." Thomas told the overexcitable girl. "Though it's very kind of you to offer."
"It would be up to them, though."
There was an opening and Clara jumped in feet first!
"No, Arabella, this is purely a family matter. You are a good friend but this has to be between Jacob, myself, and my father with Rev. Thomas to help."
"Surely you understand? Right, Jacob?" Clara turned to her husband to be for moral support.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Aurelian had met an older negro man also driving a wagon as he was heading for the Miggins place to pick up his daughter. The negro was a sharp one, he hailed him and surmised that he was Clara's father. Once Aurelian stated that was indeed the case, the old fellow informed him he had taken Clara into town already, he also was sharp enough to not mention the Lutz boy was with her. Just in case. Thanking the fellow for saving him some time (and left unsaid, a possible reluctant meeting with Granny Miggins), Aurelian then headed for town. Kalispell wasn't a big place, he should have little trouble finding her. In fact he imagined she was probably in the Lick Skillet diner, it's owner was just about her favorite person in the world it seemed to him. He understood, Mrs. Blakesley was an excellent mother figure, something the girl needed.
Setting the brake, Aurelian clambered off the wagon now parked near the diner and figured he would start there. Never for a moment did he think to go check out the church. Clara was devout enough on Sundays but not quite the sort to go pray in church on other days.
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
Posted April 25, 2021
"I think Jacob and Clara might want to explain themselves for themselves, Arabella." Thomas told the overexcitable girl. "Though it's very kind of you to offer."
Arabella shrugged “Well, you’re missin’ out, then, I’m the best person in the world fer breakin’ bad, er, unexpected news to people. Like this one time when Mr. Flandry bent down and ripped his trousers and…”
"It would be up to them, though."
There was an opening and Clara jumped in feet first!
"No, Arabella, this is purely a family matter. You are a good friend but this has to be between Jacob, myself, and my father with Rev. Thomas to help."
The girl looked crestfallen and pouted “Well, that’s not nice, if I got mah tin roof rusted, I mean, y’know, a bun in the oven” she translated for these yankees “I’d let you come along and tell my Pa. ‘Cept he’s dead.”
"Surely you understand? Right, Jacob?" Clara turned to her husband to be for moral support.
Jacob wasn’t so sure, after all his brave ideas about marching up to Mr. Redmond alone, man to man, and telling him straight that he was going to marry his daughter, he was now getting cold feet and liked the idea of safety in numbers. Still, there was one person whose opinion of him mattered to him more than Aurelian, and she was asking for his support.
“Yeah, keep your nose out, Reb.” He cut to the chase.
“Oooh!” frowned Arabella, putting her hands on her hips and wishing she’d spit in his coffee now. She was little consoled when, making sure Clara wasn’t looking, he mouthed a plaintive SORRY to her. After all, he did still owe her money.
The Virginian girl was not to be appeased. She pulled a face that was supposed to indicate ‘hurt dignity’ and, with a cry of “Well I know where I’m not wanted”, swept out of the church.
The gesture would have been more effective if she’d gone straight out and hadn’t stopped and turned around at intervals declaring “I’ll go then, shall I?” “Sorry if I’ve been a burden” and one final one near the door “This is me going!” After a pregnant pause her bonneted head popped back through the door. “See you all tomorrow then!” she yelled.
“See ya!” waved Jacob.
***
Setting the brake, Aurelian clambered off the wagon now parked near the diner and figured he would start there. Never for a moment did he think to go check out the church. Clara was devout enough on Sundays but not quite the sort to go pray in church on other days.
Arabella turned the corner just then, still juggling her disgruntlement about not being invited along to tell Granddaddy-Father in Law Redmond about his new station in life, and her need to keep friends with the happy couple so she could wheedle herself into the position of bridesmaid cum godmother cum midwife?! Well, she’d helped Auntie Rosie pull her brother out, legs first! Slippery little bugger he’d been, too.
Her shock at coming face to face with the big man himself was not just visible in her skidding to a halt, but audible in the startled “Urgghhh!!!” she let out, which drew the attention of everyone on the street, not just Aurelian.
“Mr. Redmond!!!!!” she cried when he looked at her. “What you doing here?!!!” she couldn't help but yelp. By ‘here’ she didn’t so much mean ‘here at the diner’ as ‘here in front of me when I just been jawin about ya!’
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted April 25, 2021 / Thomas written by Boshmi
Clara gave a pained look. "No, Arabella, this is purely a family matter. You are a good friend but this has to be between Jacob, myself, and my father with Rev. Thomas to help. Surely you understand? Right, Jacob?" she discerned.
“Yeah, keep your nose out, Reb.”
Arabella gave a hurt look, or a look that might have seemed hurt if she wasn't intent on drawing it so far out.
“Well I know where I’m not wanted”
“I’ll go then, shall I?”
“Sorry if I’ve been a burden”
“This is me going!”
“See you all tomorrow then!”
“See ya!” Jacob cheerily added, quickly dismantling any of her remaining theatricism.
Thomas glanced at the other two, having not actually said anything to prevent her departure. Arabella would be Arabella, and very little seemed to change her mind about anything.
"Is she always like this when she doesn't get her way?" he asked with a chuckle, though he suspected that he already knew the answer.
Posted April 25, 2021
Arabella took Clara's refusal to allow her to go along very badly, as Clara figured she probably would. The girl meant well but she lacked tact and in fact had an almost alarming lack of maturity in some ways. Clara just stood there and let her go, despite several last second attempts by the girl to gain a reprieve. It did not come and finally she left the building.
Thomas glanced at the other two, having not actually said anything to prevent her departure.
"Is she always like this when she doesn't get her way?" he asked with a chuckle.
"She is ....well, different, Reverend. I really do like her but I must confess, I can only take her in small doses. She will be alright though, do not worry," Clara replied.
"So, when might you be available to go see my father? He is not at the farm now but...." suddenly she thought of something and turned to Jacob, "I wonder if he returned to your place to pick me up already? I hope your sister or your grandmother do not mention.........our secret."
Then it was back to Thomas, "You see he had dropped me off so I might visit Jacob's family in a social setting. It was something Jacob's sister and he had agreed upon after a meeting in the diner awhile back. So he certainly is quite aware that Jacob and I were seeing each other."
Posted April 26, 2021
Aurelian had paused before entering the diner, glancing in thru it's large bay window to see if he could catch a glimpse of his daughter. He didn't see her but that didn't mean she wasn't in there, she might well be in the back either helping or chatting with Mrs. Blakesley.
“Urgghhh!!!”
Aurelian was startled and turned to see it was Arabella, that girl who his family had cared for in their home back when Whitefish died. She had looked quite sickly back then but this was quite the improvement.
“Mr. Redmond!!!!!” she cried when he looked at her. “What you doing here?!!!”
"Arabella, at the moment I am looking in this window. Just seeing if Clara is within," he gave a somewhat bemused answer.
"It's been awhile....you look nice and healthy I'm glad to see. Clara tells me you are happy at the saloon," he smiled, "Wyatt misses you."
That last part was a lie but a white one.
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
Posted April 26, 2021
“Mr. Redmond!!!!!” she cried when he looked at her. “What you doing here?!!!”
"Arabella, at the moment I am looking in this window. Just seeing if Clara is within," he gave a somewhat bemused answer.
“Ooh! Right! Her!” answered Arabella nervously glancing back up the far end of the street where Clara, Jacob and Brother Thomas would appear were hey to exit the church anytime soon.
“I’ll just see if she’s 'within' too!” she yelped, pressing her face against the glass so close that she left a greasy smear on the glass where her nose touched it. She goggled at the poor customers who had unwisely chosen the table near the window to ‘enjoy the view’.
“Nope, she ain’t ‘within’ in there!” she confirmed, peeling her sticky nose off the glass.
"It's been awhile....you look nice and healthy I'm glad to see. Clara tells me you are happy at the saloon," he smiled.
“Oh sure, I mean they treat me like a slave o’ course, but I can’t complain.” she informed the amiable but somehow, in the circumstances, terrifying man, scared that, somehow, she was about to blurt something that would let the cat out of the bag. “How’s Ol’ Wyatt?” she thought to ask, willing herself not to turn around and check out the street behind her and glancing up at where Aurelian was looking.
"Wyatt misses you."
“Ah, he’s a good ol’boy.” She replied absently, before having an idea. She started to stroll past him, stroking her chin as if in deep ponderment. “Now then, Clara, Clara, Clara, where can she be?” she wondered out loud, hoping his eyes were following her and being drawn away from the direction of their actual location.
“Hmmm, well they won’t be at the Church, that’s for certain.” she added cleverly “Definitely not the Church! I mean, Clara’s pretty keen on the place but ol’ Jacob’s only ever dragged there by his Granny every Sunday. So let’s rule out that silly old church once and for all, shall we? Hmmm, saloon? No. Funeral parlour? No. Ermmm”
In one fell swoop she had given away the fact that she knew Jacob and Clara were together, and so had seen them recently, and that they were probably at the Church. It was about the worst bit of lying ever attempted in the history of the Territories, possibly even the entire United States. Arabella would later tearfully admit to Clara and Jacob that Mr. Redmond, that wily old fox, had tricked the truth out of her.
"Yes, Dear"
Posted April 26, 2021
"Is she always like this when she doesn't get her way?" he asked with a chuckle.
"She is ....well, different, Reverend. I really do like her but I must confess, I can only take her in small doses. She will be alright though, do not worry," Clara replied.
“Yeah, she’s just highly strung.” Added Jacob. Some people thought she should be strung up high, too. Jacob wasn’t one of those, he guessed that she had some issues and problems that she masked with her loud and interfering personality. He was especially empathetic to people with issues and problems these days.
"So, when might you be available to go see my father? He is not at the farm now but...." suddenly she thought of something and turned to Jacob, "I wonder if he returned to your place to pick me up already? I hope your sister or your grandmother do not mention.........our secret."
Jacob shook his head “Granny was dead against telling him, remember? And Lee’s probably locked in the fruit cellar by now.” he reckoned. He looked up and smiled sheepishly at the vicar “She’s kinda highly strung, too.”
Then it was back to Thomas, "You see he had dropped me off so I might visit Jacob's family in a social setting. It was something Jacob's sister and he had agreed upon after a meeting in the diner awhile back. So he certainly is quite aware that Jacob and I were seeing each other."
Jacob had to wonder how much of this complicated soap opera the poor old reverend was taking in, he probably didn’t know who half these people were from his short time as Pastor Evan’s co-preacher.
“We might still find him in town.” Jacob added his 5 cents “He was going to see the blacksmith and boy is that feller a slow worker!”
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted April 26, 2021 / Thomas written by Boshmi
"So, when might you be available to go see my father? He is not at the farm now but... I wonder if he returned to your place to pick me up already? I hope your sister or your grandmother do not mention... our secret."
“Granny was dead against telling him, remember? And Lee’s probably locked in the fruit cellar by now.” Jacob replied. "She’s kinda highly strung, too.”
"Well, if the infamous Mrs. Miggins was agreeably disposed, I'd say that was half the battle." Thomas declared. He had in fact heard of Jacob's granny, though really, who hadn't?
"As for your father, Clara, I should be available most of the week, except Sundays of course." he told her. "I'd recommend getting it done sooner, rather than later, but so long as it is done..."
“We might still find him in town. He was going to see the blacksmith and boy is that feller a slow worker!” Jacob chimed in.
"Oh, well." Thomas said, giving the couple another heartening look. "If you both think you're ready, I propose we go and tie this up, as it were."
Posted April 26, 2021
Jacob shook his head “Granny was dead against telling him, remember? And Lee’s probably locked in the fruit cellar by now.” he reckoned. He looked up and smiled sheepishly at the vicar “She’s kinda highly strung, too.”
"True but she may well be furious for me walking out on her and looking to gain her revenge," Clara pointed out but then stopped, perhaps the good father did not to know all the particulars.
"Well, if the infamous Mrs. Miggins was agreeably disposed, I'd say that was half the battle." Thomas declared. He had in fact heard of Jacob's granny, though really, who hadn't?
"As for your father, Clara, I should be available most of the week, except Sundays of course." he told her. "I'd recommend getting it done sooner, rather than later, but so long as it is done..."
""Sooner the better, I agree, Reverend," Clara nodded.
“We might still find him in town. He was going to see the blacksmith and boy is that feller a slow worker!” Jacob chimed in.
"Oh, well." Thomas said, giving the couple another heartening look. "If you both think you're ready, I propose we go and tie this up, as it were."
"Very well then," it was agreed by all, they quickly finished their tea, actually Clara had barely touched hers, her stomach was roiled by all this tension and excitement.
Leaving the church they then stepped out onto the boardwalk of what passed for main street on the small town. Clara gazed toward the blacksmith's shop but her father's wagon was not parked there.