It's not a question of who's right. It's a question of what's right.
Mature Content: No
With: Matt Wentworth, Leah Steelgrave, and others
Location: Mayor's Office
When: Mid-Late July 1876
Time of Day: Morning
After Matt escorted Leah to her seat in the Mayor's office, he took out his fob watch and checked the time. It was a little after 9 but the day already seemed a bit longer. The only other people presented were John Anderson and Marshall Guyer, who, unless someone else came were to be the witness of the signing of the papers letting Leah finally build her hospital. Both Guyer and Anderson were unaware of how precarious the situation had become but hopefully, with some luck, no-one would find until out after the election. Since only he and Leah were the only ones who knew the truth, it would be fine...unless Ben Robertson decided to come back. Robertson coming back, however, was a remote possibility at this stage.
Trouble would only arise if he didn't become mayor but according to the scuttlebutt around town, he was almost guaranteed the opposite. The only strong opposition was Cole Latham and he would only win if Elias Steelgrave managed to pay off everybody in town. Pettigrew and Priest were virtual non-starters with the former not being considered a serious candidate and the latter, a complete unknown who spent most of his time at the Star Dust, which wouldn't endear him to the church-going folks in town.
Any more thoughts about his chances in the upcoming election would have to be put on hold for now. It was time to get this transfer of property to Leah, done and dusted.
"All right, if there are no objections, may I suggest that we proceed with our business."
Seeing the room without the other members of the Council was disheartening to John Anderson, having hoped that the rest would appear for this. He stood and said, "Please, let's get on with this. This signing has been long overdue." And he took his seat.
Leah smiled, this was something akin to what Elias would do, only instead of Council members failing to attend, he would have done it in secret.
Marshal Guyer, standing by the door was also smiling, this had been a long hard battle for the lady. She deserved better, however it would seem this was the best it would be, and it seemed the signing would happen without a hitch, finally.
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Cole Latham was racing toward town from the evergreen with Postmaster Nolan Ashworth. Riding out to warn Elias had been a mistake, and there would be hell to pay if the land appropriation was granted. Damn Wentworth anyway, just who dd he think he was, anyway? Interim Mayor indeed!
He fished out his watch to check the time, a risky move at best, when the watch flew out of his hand, the chain to which it was attached tore through the well used button hole and the entire affair sailed away, hitting the ground and coming apart as it topped off of the trail into the sagebrush, he pushed on, his animal coated in sweat and slowing, even under his lashing with a quirt.
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Entering the room was Phinias McVay, prepared to note every word, every action which took place in the chamber. Surprised at the lack of attendance, but he knew about Robertson, and Latham being absent was something of a shock.
It's not a question of who's right. It's a question of what's right.
Satisfied with the response, Matt signed the contract, which Judge Robertson had drawn up shortly after the ill-fated town meeting. Even though Robertson had tried to stop the signing, Matt had a feeling that the Judge's hand had been forced in some way by Elias Steelgrave. It was the only logical thing to explain why Robertson had become so against something he was initially in support of.
When he had finished signing, he handed the contract over to Anderson, who quickly added his signature. The next thing was to get Leah to sign it, then Marshall Guyer and Phin McVay as witnesses. With five signatures, the contract would hopefully be iron-clad if it was ever disputed in court.
Anderson handed the contract to Matt, who then looked at Leah and smiled, "Miss Steelgrave."
Leah sat watching as Matthew Wentworth signed the contract, and then slid it over to John Anderson for his signature which he added with a smile. And then Matt had called her name to affix her signature to the papers. She knew what was in them, and that it was everything she had wanted, which really was nothing more than her choice of property to build on.
She rose rather slowly considering the length of time and the struggle she had endured as she waited for this moment, but just as suddenly her pace quickened, her hand out stretched for the pen as she reach the elevated stage. Stepping up, she took the pen, dipped it in the ink well and wrote her name where Matthew pointed. All that was required were witnesses to complete the signing.
It's not a question of who's right. It's a question of what's right.
As Matt waited for the others to sign the contract, he thought about the way his life had changed in the last year or so since he had bought the hotel. What initially was just a routine surveillance job for the Secret Service had turned into something else. Here he was at the start of a political career, that when he was younger, he had sworn to avoid at all costs. Even though his father was a good man, he had also been a very ambitious one and had plans for all of his sons. The decision he and brothers had taken not to follow those plans had put a slight rift between and their father. Thankfully, that rift was healed.
Matt remembered his father explaining what had happened in Washington to make him realise that family was more important than politics. In the months, since his parents had moved here they had been well-respected citizens in town. His father owing the bank helped a little as well.
Where his brothers were concerned, that was another story. Mike was well entrenched as one of the foremen at Lost Lake and Charlie was on his way to becoming a lawman. Sam, however was being a little bit more mysterious these days, only mentioning that along with his duties as a ranch hand at Lost Lake, he was helping a local family who had a farm near Smith Lake.
Focussing on the matter-at-hand, Matt knew that once the contract was signed, there was little that the town council could do. It would be all up to Leah and hopefully, there would be no interference from her father. He also hoped that no-one would find out about their subterfuge until well and truly after the election.
Watching the signing actually happen right before her eyes was something she had begun to think would never happen, yet it was. Everything was falling into place at long last. She could summon the crew and the material that was waiting for the word to begin construction.
At that moment the doors flew open and Cole Latham bust in. "Hold on Wentworth! You can't do this, not without Robertson you can't!0" He shouted.
Speed quickly stepped to the man and grabbed him by the arm. "Mister :Latham, another outburst and I'll have to remove you from this meeting." he threatened sternly.
"Unhand me Marshal, I shall sue you!" He bellowed. "Wentworth you can't do this, the quorum has not been met!"
"Mister Latham take a seat while you still can, and be quiet! I'll not warn you again!" Speed stated firmly.
Leah looked on as Latham tried to stop the proceedings, though it was too late, he simply would be a no vote, but one that would not do anything to curtail the finality of the signing. Speed stood next to the attorney ready to remove him if there was another outburst. Leah smiled.
It's not a question of who's right. It's a question of what's right.
Matt smiled at Latham's blunder. In his hurry to stop the signing, Latham had forgotten that handover of the land to Leah had already been voted on. What was happening today was a mere formality. The only problem was if Latham decided to do some digging and find out about the town ordinance requiring all current standing town council members to sign it. Hopefully, Latham would be too busy with his own mayoral campaign to have time for that.
Turning to Latham, Matt nodded, "While it would be nice to have Judge Robertson on hand for this occasion, he isn't needed for the signing. Only myself, as acting mayor and Mr. Anderson are required. As for the quorum, that was only necessary for the actual voting, not the handover."
He paused, before going on, "Besides, I thought you would have found it to your advantage to support this venture, considering that you will be needing as much support as you can get for the upcoming election...and to distant yourself from certain parties that may harm your chances."
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
"But, but, you just can't take it upon yourself to hold a signing without the whole council present, why it's, it's unconscionable, Wentworth!" Latham stuttered in desperation. Elias would be incensed by this turn of events. The presence of Judge Robertson in the position of the acting Mayor would have prevent any signing from taking place.
"You know you'll answer for this! There will be consequences for this Wentworth, you can bet your bottom dollar on that!' He fumed, "And the people of Kalispell will have the last laugh on you you can count on that! I'll see you run out of town for this!"
Guyer stood at the back of the room in his usual station with a wide grin as the attorney and Mayoral candidate embarrassed himself.
"Every town needs a newspaper."
Phin was seated, finding it easier to take notes of this meeting, and it's historic ramifications for the community and for not just the county, but for the territory as well the county. It would show that both were growing, and it what would be perceived as the right direction.
Of course the words that Matthew Wentworth used to cut Latham off at the knees were superb. Nothing that was anywhere near how Phin would have said it, but this was certainly Special Edition material, if there ever was any. And Matthew conducted himself as a Mayoral candidate should, and still get in his licks.
He had had a smile plastered on his face since the first signature was applied. This was a major loss for Elias Steelgrave and his cronies. Latham should have stated that at least one more member be appointed to the council, meaning postmaster Nolan Ashworth, who was in the room. Of course Wentworth could well have countered by agreeing and then appointing Marshal Guyer to the vacant seat. Yes, it was a glorious morning.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
It was a slow burn for Cole Latham, losing his objection, he realized that in fact the matter of the applying the signatures was complete, and there would be no undoing it. He also realized that he should have demanded the appointment of another, preferably Nolan Ashworth to the vacant seat left by Richard Orr, and the one where Judge Robertson had suddenly vacated, not that Latham was not fully aware of the reason.
Elias was not about to be happy by this turn of events. he had hoped to derail his daughters attempt at building the hospital, an idea the man liked, and in fact, secretly planned to finish after Leah had been ousted from any such project, but, her ouster had failed, miserably. he was concerned that this would give Wentworth the inside track in the upcoming Mayors race.