Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
"I'll have some biscuits in the oven soon, so Mrs. Elkins can have something substantial." Mrs. Towberman said, as Jonah left to talk with the mother and her children.
Their operation was with compassion and care; hospitality extending to the aftercare as well as the actual medical practice. It was impressive to behold, the dedication with which Doctor Danforth's work was done, and Aoife felt not the least bit out of place.
For her part she'd always stitched gashes shut, administered morphine, and bandaged cuts before sending patients on their merry way, but this was more extensive care, similar in itself to a hospital.
Oh well, she could leave the pleasantries to the Doctor.
"Fine job." Mrs. Towberman complimented.
"Oh, thanks." Aoife said, having not even really been paying attention to the kneading of the dough. It wasn't a particularly engaging exercise, after all.
"Have you been in town long? How do you like it here?"
"About a day or two." Aoife replied, finalizing the kneading and beginning to shape the dough. "I came in on a wagon from ah... Missoula. Kalispell seems nice enough, aye."
She gave a pause, before adding; "Though I'm staying with the Wigfalls, and they really are a vexing bunch."
"Wigfalls?" Partway through the single word, Mrs. Towberman managed to catch her reaction, so that the tone was partly startled/dismayed and partly disingenuous recovery as the woman tried to plaster on a smile. "Oh, well...'vexing' is an interesting term, although I do hear that Mrs. Wigfall maintains a meticulously clean establishment."
There as certainly more she could say, but it would be neither charitable nor Christian, nor, in truth, based in anything but rumor, although rumor about the Wigfalls ran rampant in town. Of course, such things happened when you were different, and there was quite a bit different about that family!
"I'm sure you'll like it here, the town is growing, but it's still small enough and wild enough that people don't pry too much into your business." The woman smiled, sliding a small bowl of melted butter to Aoife. "Brush some of that on and we'll let it rise by the stove. As I said, Kalispell is a decent enough place, and surrounded by the most amazing scenery on God's Earth, if I do say so myself."
With a wistful grin, she started to roll out the dough for the biscuits. "Just keep in mind that it is still wild, there are Indians, bears, men who think it is far enough from civilization to make a safe place to hide...Why, the bank was just recently robbed, but the Marshal and some of the townsfolk put a stop to that."
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
"Wigfalls? Oh, well...'vexing' is an interesting term, although I do hear that Mrs. Wigfall maintains a meticulously clean establishment."
Aoife raised an eyebrow at Mrs. Towberman's annunciation, but did not question it. No doubt the peculiar family had a fair few rumors swirling about them, for how could they not?
"Brush some of that on and we'll let it rise by the stove. As I said, Kalispell is a decent enough place, and surrounded by the most amazing scenery on God's Earth, if I do say so myself." she continued, passing Aoife a bowl of butter and a brush, which the nurse took up immediately.
She dipped the brush into the liquid and proceeded to thoroughly coat the loaf from top to bottom as she was told, for no doubt the Doctor would like his bread nice and soft.
"Just keep in mind that it is still wild, there are Indians, bears, men who think it is far enough from civilization to make a safe place to hide...Why, the bank was just recently robbed, but the Marshal and some of the townsfolk put a stop to that."
"Robbed?" Aoife repeated, as she carted the brushed bread over to the stove. Why, Kalispell certainly was a storybook town, wasn't it? Every bit the western dime novel.
"By, y'know... outlaws, with bandannas and such?"
"By cowards who shot an unarmed man!" the woman declared vehemently, laying into the biscuit dough passionately, "and held a pistol on poor Mrs. Blakesley, who owns the Lickskillet. I even heard that one of the brigands tried to take two young boys hostage as he was fleeing out the back!"
She shook her head, finally letting up on the dough. "It was only by the grace of God, and our own lawmen that no other townsfolk were injured, and now the two surviving bandits are in jail waiting to hang!"
It was clearly evident that the woman believed in justice and meting out punishment! "People need to know that Kalispell is not a place to defame with crime! Of course, once God destroyed the den of outlaws that was Whitefish, those men have to go somewhere!"
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
Mrs. Towberman suddenly became quite animated in her description of the robbery, and so Aoife quickly cast her eyes down, reasoning that it would probably be best not to push the storybook angle.
"People need to know that Kalispell is not a place to defame with crime! Of course, once God destroyed the den of outlaws that was Whitefish, those men have to go somewhere!"
Oh, Whitefish. Aoife had in fact heard of that place; Kalispell's abandoned sister-town. She'd never heard anything about it being a 'den of outlaws', but, well, most people didn't like to talk about that sort of business in polite company.
"And there's been many more attacks since?" Aoife asked. "What does the Marshal do about it?"
"Oh, heavens, no. There haven't been any problems in town since...I didn't mean to give you the impression that this is a lawless place..." Mrs. Towberman smiled. "It's just to caution you not to become too complacent, just pay attention to what is going on around you, that's all."
Then she chuckled and shook her head, debating on whether or not she should continue with her thoughts, but she'd come this far...
"At least you don't need to worry too much, I very much doubt anyone is going to cause trouble at that boarding house...no one is addled enough to take on Miss Jemima." Then, to gloss over any insult to that woman, she added,"The same can be said for Miss Chappel and Miss Cory...she's a deputy, and Addy drives stage."
Heck, most of the women who had made it this far were pretty tough!
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
"At least you don't need to worry too much, I very much doubt anyone is going to cause trouble at that boarding house...no one is addled enough to take on Miss Jemima."
"Yes, I wouldn't want to find myself on the receiving end of one of Jemima's swings." Aoife commented. That beefy girl could probably out-wrestle any of the Leane men.
"The same can be said for Miss Chappel and Miss Cory... she's a deputy, and Addy drives stage."
"Oh aye?" Aoife responded with mild surprise. She'd never heard of a lady in the business of law before, let alone as a deputy. Certainly this 'Miss Cory' must be an interesting character, and one that Aoife fully intended to meet.
Of course, a rough-and-tumble town made for rough-and-tumble townsfolk, and it stood to reason that the women of Kalispell were sterner stock than those of Boston or even Missoula.
"Oh, and before I forget - Doctor Danforth said he wanted chocolate, for Briton. Do we have any or should I fetch some?" Aoife asked, having suddenly remembered Jonah's earlier request.
"Oh aye?"
"Yes, Hannah isn't someone to cross, although she's as sweet a lady as you could hope to meet. Same with Addy, not the most sophisticated of folks, but genuinely good people. Most folks in town are good." Yes, Kalispell had its issues, but overall, it was a decent place to live.
"Oh, and before I forget - Doctor Danforth said he wanted chocolate, for Briton. Do we have any or should I fetch some?"
"He's going to give some of his 'secret' stash away?" Chuckling, the woman glanced at Aoife. "I didn't tell you, but it's in the cabinet there over the basin, in the back, in a cracker tin. He sure does love his chocolate! He even imports it from England, quality stuff!"
She gave the young woman a quick wink. "And I'm sure he'd never miss it if you wanted to try a quick sample, you know, to be certain that it hasn't spoiled or anything!"
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
"He's going to give some of his 'secret' stash away? I didn't tell you, but it's in the cabinet there over the basin, in the back, in a cracker tin." Mrs. Towberman told her with a laugh.
"Gotcha." Aoife replied, moving to open the cabinet and reaching inside to rifle around for the tin. Her hand felt metal and she pulled it out into the light, where she could properly pull off the top. Inside was a stick of chocolate, as she was told, and Aoife quickly snapped off a piece, before returning the stick to the tin, and the tin to the cabinet.
"And I'm sure he'd never miss it if you wanted to try a quick sample, you know, to be certain that it hasn't spoiled or anything!"
"Oh that's quite alright. I can't say I've ever had a great love of sweets." Aoife told Mrs. Towberman, as she carried the piece out of the kitchen and out into the hall, removing the apron from around her neck as she went. She followed the sound of voices out to where the Doctor and his patients were sat, cautiously stepping out into the room with her apron in one hand and the candy in the other.
"Hello." she greeted everyone in the room. "I've er, brought something for Briton."
Looking decidedly uncomfortable, Jonas cradled Borcy in his lap as Mrs. Elkins nibbled her snack. Briton was curled on the chair beside her, his head resting in his mother's lap, and he was looking a tad green still.
"Ah, nurse!" Jonah would have gladly stood and handed off the infant, but that was likely to wake her and then she'd start wailing, and the last thing he wanted to deal with was a crying, screaming baby!
"Thank you. I'm not certain that Briton is interested in eating anything right now, but we did promise him." He grinned as he looked at the boy, glad that the bribe had worked, and more than willing to uphold his end of the deal.
"He does love chocolate," Mrs. Elkins declared, stroking the boy's head as she laughed. "But then, obviously, he'll eat anything! I can't thank you two enough."
"Think nothing of it, I'm glad we could help." As much as he didn't care for children for the most part, Jonah certainly didn't hold any ill will toward them and didn't want to see them hurt. "Nurse Aoife, do you think you could arrange something on the exam bed so we can let Borcy rest there safely? I'd like to have the children stay for another hour or so, just to be sure they are all right."