Posted October 4, 2021 / Henry S. Guyer

Thank you, Marshal," Fortner answered politely. It was a potent attribute of his to be polite and genial. It helped him in business and in consensus building.

"Like I said, as did the witnesses, self defense, plain and simple. Not a lot of choice i the matter when one man pulls a gun." Speed said.

Priest nodded firmly as he rolled his chaw from one cheek to the other. "A very sad turn of events," he issued in the manner of a politician or minister. "Loose talk, cheap liquor, and a firearm are a bad mixture in a town like this." He looked significantly from the Marshal to Fortner and then Ralph the bartender. After which, he went back to his table and his deck of cards.

"I'd have to agree with that, sir. Yes, the three mixed is always bad news. However, to this point such things are rare in Kalispell, so there's been no real need to ban the carrying of firearms within town limits. Oh, well likely hear from the ladies of the town on this, but I doubt it will result in a change in the law." Speed explained. Kalispell sat on the frontier, wild country, hostiles, both red and white were about. Men needed to be armed to protect themselves, their families, and their property. "Well, as i said before, welcome to Kalispell Mister Priest." He had spotted Arabella going into the kitchen and with the conversation at an end went to the kitchen.

"Arabella? I'll take the money and the pistol and see that Grimes' sister get them." Agreeing with Ralph Flandry that it was indeed his job.

Posted October 4, 2021 / Caroline Mundee

"Thanks again, Mayor," Fortner said to Priest, turning to leave but before he took a step, Caroline had stepped up to him and addressed the man.

"Mr. Fortner...was it? You said yer here in town on business. What sorta business you in?"

Frank gripped his coat lapels then glanced askance at her. "You might say I'm an investor, some say a visionary."

Caroline had no idea what that last one meant but if he had money to invest in things then......well, he was well heeled, he certainly dressed like it.

For her, he revealed a bit more. "I'm here to scout out opportunities on behalf of an Eastern consortium."

"Oh you don't say? Opportunities like what for example?" Caroline had been around plenty of con men in her life, they hung about saloons just like drunks did. Hell, she was good friends with Crabbe, who dabbled in all sorts of ....shady or near shady enterprises.

"What would a big ol' eastern consortium see in a leafy burg like Kalispell?"

She now leaned so her back was against the bar and added, "And if explainin' all this is gonna take awhile why don't you buy yerself a drink and I wouldn't be averse to one myself, hon."

She smiled, she had one of those smiles that lit up a room when she choose to use it and she was using it now. It was back to business as usual in the place even with a corpse lying on the floor. Well, she had asked the lawman about getting the undertaker and got no reply. She sure as hell wasn't going to move a stiff.

Posted October 4, 2021 / Arabella Mudd

He had spotted Arabella going into the kitchen and with the conversation at an end went to the kitchen.

"Arabella? I'll take the money and the pistol and see that Grimes' sister get them." Agreeing with Ralph Flandry that it was indeed his job.

Arabella was standing on a rickety chair with her hand in the cookie jar when the Marshal appeared in the kitchen and nearly fell off, with a surprised yelp of "Oh Marshall, you should know better 'n to surprise a girl from behind like that!" But she obediently pulled the cash out of the small barrel shaped casket again, along with a cookie which she munched as she clambered down and handed him the dough.

"Oh Marshall Guyer" she sighed looking at the grizzly old lawman "How the heck do you break some news like that to someone: how do you tell a poor blind girl that her dear brother, the only light of her dark world has passed away across the great divide and left her all alone in the world to fend for herself?" she shook her head sadly and looked off into the middle distance to great dramatic effect, spoilt only by the biscuit crumbs on her lips.

Posted October 4, 2021 / Henry S. Guyer

"Sorry Arabella, didn't mean to startle you like that." It was after all, Arabella. And drama was just a part of who she was. It was something that once a person got to know her, it was accepted. Speed smiled. It was a sincere question, or at least he thought it was,

"To be honest, there is no easy way to tell anyone that someone they love has died. No simple way of explaining the death, no matter the cause. And, with her sight disability, I imagine this will be that much more difficult, though I can't say that with any certainty." He explained, realizing the topic was far more complex than he thought. How does one accept the loss of the only person that they were close to?

In an effort to change the subject he asked. "So how much money did Grimes have on him?" A mercenary question at best, "I'd like to give the saloon a receipt for it and the pistol. I'm sure it will bring a good twelve dollars. They are seventeen dollars new, and surprisingly, this one is in very good condition. Might get more for it, I'll need to see what Oskar Winter over at the gun shop has to say."

Posted October 5, 2021 / Caroline Mundee

"Ralph," Franklin called. "Two whiskey's, please."

The bartender nodded in compliance.

It worked. It almost always worked really, her routine got him to buy a couple more drinks. She smiled graciously at his response, "Thank ya, hon."

Once the two whiskeys were set on the bar in front of them the man reached for them both but Caroline was quicker and took the one on the right . She realized he was only trying to be a gentleman but there was a reason for her move. Ralph had poured colored water in her glass from a special bottle under the bar but the genuine stuff went into the customers glass. Tricks like this allowed the petite young miss to 'drink' with customers for hours and not be flat on the floor. Oh Caroline could drink the real stuff alright and on occasion she did. This wasn't one of them.

"Let's sit over here," he suggested with a nod at a vacant table near where Hiram Priest played Solitaire.

"Sounds good ta me, darlin'," she joined him then at the selected table, all warmth and smiles.

"You are a rare commodity," he said to her once they were seated across from each other.

"Oh, how so?"

"It's not often you find a lady interested in business, much less a pretty lady." He took a sip from his glass. "Tell me. Is this the only saloon in town?" He asked.

Truth was Caroline could care less about 'business' unless it had to do with the saloon but she said nothing as he went onto a question.

"Yessirree, that it is. And a dandy one it is too. Kalispell is a small town, one saloon is plenty. Except for some of those Bible thumpers folks like this place. We don't water down the liquor (that was actually true except for her drinks, the customers themselves got what they ordered) and we have the best stew in Montana, maybe even west of the Mississippi. Plus we got me. I'm the entertainment. I sing and dance. People say I got a great voice. "

"But, hey, I had asked you a couple questions first. Your turn to answer now, hon," she lifted her glass up and took a swallow then awaited his reply.

Posted October 5, 2021 / Arabella Mudd

Arabella listened to Speed's oration with a respectful frown of concentration on her face. He seemed so experienced, with his lived-in face, grizzly beard, beetling eyebrows and considered gravely tones.

"To be honest, there is no easy way to tell anyone that someone they love has died. No simple way of explaining the death, no matter the cause. And, with her sight disability, I imagine this will be that much more difficult, though I can't say that with any certainty." He explained, realizing the topic was far more complex than he thought. How does one accept the loss of the only person that they were close to?

"Aw, Marshal Guyer, you so wise!" she drawled, as only a Southern girl can drawl, and ate the rest of her cookie with a loud crunching noise.

In an effort to change the subject he asked. "So how much money did Grimes have on him?" A mercenary question at best, "I'd like to give the saloon a receipt for it and the pistol."

"Oh, well, here it is..." she counted out the money into his hand "... fifty, sixty, seventy and five; nineteen dollars and seventy five cents..." she looked a little concerned. "Oh Mr Guyer, that seems sorta mean don't it, to be piddlin' around with cents and nickels and dimes? Here..."

She reached into her apron pocket and scrabbled around until she found what she was looking for: a shiny silver dollar. "Here gimme back the seventy five" she said, fishing around his hand like she was a gypsy, reading his palm in a tent. "That's better, you can give her a full $20 now, sorta sounds nicer don't it? And how much do you think that there gun what Mr Grimes had is worth?" she asked.

"I'm sure it will bring a good twelve dollars. They are seventeen dollars new, and surprisingly, this one is in very good condition. Might get more for it, I'll need to see what Oskar Winter over at the gun shop has to say."

Arabella nodded, but then had one of her great ideas.

"Oh, but Marshal you'd better ask her fist, cause she might wanna keep it to defend her honour with, I mean, I know she's blind and all, but if'n she was attacked by one o' them villains like in them romantical novels, well them fellers always announce themselves like this..."

She closed her eyes "'Ho ho ho, m'dear, you are in...' oh no, hold yer horses Marshal, I don't need to close my eyes to be the villain! I was thinking of the little blind girl! Now where was I? Oh yeah 'Ho ho ho m'dear, you are in me power now! Ho ho ho, I shall pull off your blindfold to see if you are comely, and if you are so, I shall radish you right here and now, and if not, I shall cut your throat with me handy razor and throw your body down the well, in the old red barn, ho ho ho!'"

She pointed at Guyer for emphasis "And while that there villain is doin' all that cacklin' and threatenin', little Miss Grimes: she's listenin', see? And drawin' a bead on him, even though she can't see him!" She closed her eyes and waved a make-believe two-finger gun around in the air until it was pointing at Speed. "Oh, you vile monster, how dare you threaten to radish me in such an un-gentlemany way!? Bang!"

At that point Mammy Cookie waddled in and gave the two of them the once-over.

"You kids havin' fun?" she asked, before warning "Just don't you two go 'radishin' near my stew!"

Posted October 5, 2021 / Henry S. Guyer

Speed said nothing as Arabella went on with her performance, figuring to see where it went. The hard part, to be sure, was not to laugh, or for that matter, even crack a smile. He thought it best to to just follow along with her rendition of something that 'could happen' to the blind girl.

At that point Mammy Cookie waddled in and gave the two of them the once-over.

Speed looked at the woman knowing that whatever she was going to say, it would be just about embarrassing.

"You kids havin' fun?" she asked, before warning "Just don't you two go 'radishin' near my stew!"

"Arabella was just relating a possible situation young Miss Grimes might find herself in. And I believe she meant to say ravishing, though I'm not in favor of any blind person armed with a pistol. The chance of some innocent bystander getting shot is far too great. Perhaps a good idea in theory, but simply not safe." Speed explained.

"I'll see she gets the twenty dollars, and, I'll see how much the pistol will fetch from Mister Winter, and present her with that as well." He said, then added., "Thank you Arabella. A nice gesture." He turned to leave.

Posted October 6, 2021 / Arabella Mudd

Arabella suppressed a giggle as the grave Marshal seriously and solemnly explained what the two of them had been about. Mammy Cookie hadn't seriously thought they were up to any sort of ravishing, radishing or any other sort of high jinx: then she caught herself, she shouldn't be laughing with poor Mr grimes flat out dead in the next room.

"Arabella was just relating a possible situation young Miss Grimes might find herself in. And I believe she meant to say ravishing, though I'm not in favor of any blind person armed with a pistol. The chance of some innocent bystander getting shot is far too great. Perhaps a good idea in theory, but simply not safe." Speed explained.

"Oh, I 'spect your right!" Arabella shrugged. "An' i don't reckon Mr grimes was much protection for that little blind girl anyhows. He was in here most o' the time. Boy, Mrs Deveraeu's profits is gonna take a dive now's he's up and got himself killed!" she mused aloud.

"I'll see she gets the twenty dollars, and, I'll see how much the pistol will fetch from Mister Winter, and present her with that as well." He said, then added., "Thank you Arabella. A nice gesture." He turned to leave.

"Oh, I'm always doin' nice gestures!" she assured him, following him out of the kitchen and back to the bar. Then she asked something which, well, she didn't know the Marshal well enough to ask him this, but curiosity got the better of her "Say Marshal, who was that pretty lady you was at the Lickskillet with the other day? I never seen her in town before."

Arabella loved staring through the window of the Lickskillet, pressing her nose to the glass to have a goggle at who was inside. You would be amazed at who and what you sometimes saw!