"New? Been here a spell now, but I'm new ta this place." Amos informed her, "Reckon I can buy you a drink alright." He smiled then to Ralph, "Give the lady what she wants." He had been though this routine more times than he could count, but he was certain she got a percentage of the drinks bought for her, so he was helping her earn a living, or so he believed.
"Jest stopped in ta give my daughter time with her fi'ancey , Marshal Guyer. Work for the man in his other bidness." Sort of havin' me a beer ta celebrate. He an I is old friends."
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
"Jest stopped in ta give my daughter time with her fi'ancey , Marshal Guyer. Work for the man in his other bidness." Sort of havin' me a beer ta celebrate. He an I is old friends."
Arabella gave a little scream and jumped up, rushing over to Amos with her scrub-brush still in her hands, pushing in front of Caroline, who was busy working her line.
"Did you say fiancé, Mr Convoy?! Does that mean there's gonna be a wedding soon? Cause if'n so then your pretty little daughter'll be needin' a bridesmaid and I got a whole lot of experience in that department , and a dress to boot. An' when my friend Clara got hitched and she begged me to be her bridesmaid, turned out I was the prettiest girl there, according my friend Bridget anyhow, and I was such a good bridesmaid and friend to her that I deliberately made myself look ugly, so she would shine, kinda like this:"
She pulled a face with her tongue lolling out a little, her eyes crossed and a slack jawed look decorating her face. "So, does your daughter have a bridesmaid chosen yet, cause if you're twistin' my arm, I don't mind doin' it for her. What's her name?"
Amos jumped at Arabella's unexpected little scream, and then said, "I said thet, I did, an yep, a weddin's in the works, jest cain't say when it'll be," He grinned, That'd be up ta them what's tyin' the knot. Jest did happen, not an hour minutes ago."
Then the young woman continued on about her presence at a friends wedding as a bridesmaid, and bragged about how she was the prettiest one there, but made faces to detract from her self-professed beauty. Now the girl was above average in looks, and apparently highly motivated to promote herself, which was not really a bad thing, just overdone a bit, or so Amos thought.
"Well now, like I said, them two jest did come to the decision to marry, so i doubt thet there's much plannin' goin' on about jest yet." He thought to mention what they had been discussing with the copper mines and all, but not knowing the men in the place, he decided that it would be a bad idea to mention anything about it. It was not his announcement to make anyway. "So ya see, I don't rightly know what it is they're plannin', if anything at this point. The daughters name is Alice, Alice Fletcher."
"New? Been here a spell now, but I'm new ta this place." Amos informed her.
"And here I am, standing in this place so yer new to me, hon," Caroline grinned.
"Reckon I can buy you a drink alright." He smiled then to Ralph, "Give the lady what she wants."
"Awww, thank ya sir!" Caroline was pleased, she didn't even need to tell Ralph anything as he reached for their 'special' bottle under the bar and poured her a drink (colored water not real whiskey).
Ralph also gave the man his free beer then too.
"Jest stopped in ta give my daughter time with her fi'ancey , Marshal Guyer. Work for the man in his other bidness. Sort of havin' me a beer ta celebrate. He an I is old friends."
"Sure I know the Marshal..." that's as far as Caroline got before Arabella barged on in. With a roll of her eyes, Caroline gave way and moved on to roam the floor.
"Every town needs a newspaper."
One of the establishments in Kalispell that Phinias McVay did not frequent, along with the church, was the saloon. He preferred to drink alone, when he drank. He was mindful of imbibing too much, but on this particular evening he was about to make an exception.
Word had come to him that in fact, one Hiram Priest had thrown his top hat into the ring, so this was becoming a crowded field. There was also a rumor that Worcester Pettigrew, the dress maker, was considering making the same move. He would wait until morning. He had seen Amos Conroy, the bounty hunter turned resources hunter was at the saloon, which would give him a chance to see what was up.
Of course, Phin paused at the sight of Miss Arabella Mudd who had engaged Amos. So he eased up to the bar and requested, "Sarsaparilla, Ralph, if you please. How's business? Man in the top hat? Hiram Priest?" He would wait on Miss Mudd to conclude taking up Conroy's time.
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
"Well now, like I said, them two jest did come to the decision to marry, so i doubt thet there's much plannin' goin' on about jest yet. So ya see, I don't rightly know what it is they're plannin', if anything at this point."
"Oh well, they'll need to do some kind of planning, that's the best part of just about any kind of shindig. There'll be flowers and dresses and the wedding breakfast and the service, oh! I hope they're both the same demonanation else that might cause a problem, oh, so many things!! Best she just plump for a bridesmaid now, then she can help out with all o' that plannin'!" the girl reasoned. "And then ol' Marshal Guyer and, er...?"
"The daughters name is Alice, Alice Fletcher."
"OH!!!" Arabella cried delightedly "That's the name of the heroine in my favourite book, Through the Looking Glass! Well, second favourite after the Bible, of course. Hey, hold up a second there. How come she's called Fletcher an your called Convoy. You sure she's your daughter, Mister?" she frowned.
"Sure as shootin', Alice is my daughter an; no product of a book, though I'm sure she'd enjoy heaing all about it. Might even look for a copy to read." Amos responded to the odd questioning of her parentage. "I've know'd her her whole life. Must be a daisy of a book, brein' second only to the 'Good Book.'"
"Hey, hold up a second there. How come she's called Fletcher an your called Convoy. You sure she's your daughter, Mister?" she frowned.
Amos looked at her with a furrowed brow, "Well now, that'd be simple enough, Alice Fletcher, her married name, is a widder. Her husband up and died some years back leavin' her alone, so she come home to her Pa and we started off from there."
He looked for some help from the blonde woman, but saw none coming, as she taken her drink off to talk with some other man. And Ralph, he was down the bar engaged in another conversation. It appeared he was trapped.
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
Amos looked at her with a furrowed brow, "Well now, that'd be simple enough, Alice Fletcher, her married name, is a widder. Her husband up and died some years back leavin' her alone, so she come home to her Pa and we started off from there."
Arabella's bright smile faded "Oh, I am so sorry to hear of her loss." she said, perhaps a little formulaically, but with sincerity "But how wonderful that her dear old Father has become a port of safe refuge for her in the troubled waters of her widowhood."
Then Arabella spotted Phin and touched Conroy gently on the arm.
"Oh, be careful what you say to that gentleman what just walked in: he's a journalist!" she warned "I mean, he's a real nice enough feller, Mr McVey, but you know what these pressmen are like; they can forget themselves when there's a good story to be had. Do you know, he once had to issue a written contraction about some mean things his paper printed about me: makin' out I was some sort o' irritatin' pest, or somethin', and not fit to be a bridesmaid. Me!"
Then she remembered something else.
"Oh, and if your little Alice needs anyone to play the piana or organ at the weddin' .... I'm your girl!" she smiled "You can have a sample in a minute, I'm Miss Mundee's accompanist. Let me know if you've got any requests."
Indeed, it was almost time to put a little life into the place with a rip roarin' song from the Stardust Saloon's very own songbird.
Ralph noticed the newspaper editor had just walked on thru the batwing doors then waited til the man eased up to the bar and requested, "Sarsaparilla, Ralph, if you please. How's business? Man in the top hat? Hiram Priest?"
"Sure, coming right up," Ralph nodded reaching for a glass, "Business is steady which is always good."
"Yep, that's Hiram Priest to be sure," Ralph confirmed the man's guess.
"Oh, be careful what you say to that gentleman what just walked in: he's a journalist!" she warned "I mean, he's a real nice enough feller, Mr McVey, but you know what these pressmen are like; they can forget themselves when there's a good story to be had. Do you know, he once had to issue a written contraction about some mean things his paper printed about me: makin' out I was some sort o' irritatin' pest, or somethin', and not fit to be a bridesmaid. Me!"
Amos looked at her somewhat skeptically, "Ya don't say?" The followed her eyes down the bar to McVay. Now, he'd read a paper or two, and liked the mans style. "Hard ta figger anyone'd try an' say such like in print?" He shook his head
Then she remembered something else.
"Oh, and if your little Alice needs anyone to play the piana or organ at the weddin' .... I'm your girl!" she smiled "You can have a sample in a minute, I'm Miss Mundee's accompanist. Let me know if you've got any requests."
"I'll let her know, I surely will, Miss." He'd not caught her name but it was clear she did not like McVay.