ucinda laughed a little bit at Emeline's joke, but it was a sort of humor that she didn't quite understand. Wouldn't the grizzly come out of the fight looking less hurt? Emeline's laughter and attitude was contagious, though, and Lucinda found her spirits brightened considerably more than they had been in a long time.
And speaking of attitude, Emeline had a set way she preferred to do the dishes, so Lucinda though she should try it that way. Personally she would have rinsed off each dish as she went, but it never hurt to try something new.
As she sprinkled the soap flakes in the water and swished them around with her hand to make the most of the bubbles, she marveled at how much Emeline seemed to know about animals and how they defended themselves...or was she talking about people? Maybe it worked the same way for both people and animals.
Emeline's question startled her slightly, but she looked up from the dish she was washing and shook her head. "Good heavens, no. I sold Francis's rifle and pistol this spring, having used neither of them the whole winter." She could hear the pride in her voice and remembered that she would not have been quite as hungry during the winter if she had used the rifle to try to go hunting.
"Oh, well, it might be something to look into." Emeline didn't want to alarm the other young woman, but holding back on the truth could spell undue trouble for her. "It's a good idea to have some sort of protection." She briefly pulled her own derringer from her pocket, then slipped it back. "You just never know when you might need something. There are Indians, wild animals, bandits...you know the bank was robbed a couple months ago, I might have lost my future husband if I hadn't had had my pistol."
She didn't explain that further, although she would if asked.
"There's a shotgun by the door and one up in my apartment...I'm sure Mr. Pike, or even Marshal Guyer, would be happy to show you how to use a gun, and help you choose one. And Heavens, I don't mean to frighten you, and pray God you never need to defend yourself, but if you do, it's best to know how."
She just didn't buy into the notion that ladies were helpless, and should just faint away at the first sign of danger.
Lucinda's eyes bulged when she saw Emeline's derringer, even though it wasn't that intimidating as far as guns went. Emeline clearly knew how to use it and even had a story to prove her point.
Lucinda shuddered as she scrubbed at a particularly stubborn spot on a dish. "Gracious, that sounds horrid." She didn't want to know what had happened that Emeline had had to use - or at least brandish - her pistol.
"I have the general idea. Francis did show me how to shoot, but I'm sure it's more difficult in practice. But the thing is, I don't want to ever have to use a gun. The whole idea of it is abhorrent to me. But..." she set another dish to the side to be rinsed later and shook the water off of her hands so she could rest them on the edge of the sink as she thought. "...I suppose that...in certain situations...shooting someone might be a preferable alternative to...well...unpleasant things."
She had always had Francis and so had never really worried about bandits or animals. But now that she was on her own, maybe...just maybe...she should look in to getting a gun.
"Exactly," Emeline agreed, "none of us are itching to harm someone, but I know if I had to chose between doing harm or allowing harm, whether to myself or someone else, I'd rue not knowing or having the tools to do what I had to."
She smiled and shrugged. "I certainly don't mean to frighten you, and for the most part the people here are good, but...even if you don't plan to stray past the town limits, there is enough potential for trouble. It was just in April that the bank was robbed, and had it not been for people who were prepared, it just may have been successful. I'm grateful that it wasn't my shot that killed the man, but I'm also grateful I was able to make a shot that distracted him so that someone else could keep him from shooting Barnabas."
It sounded a bit convoluted, but it was a practical way to look at things, and ignoring the possibility could lead to tragedy.
Again, she shrugged. "If you'd like to learn, I can speak to Barnabas. In the mean time, I do appreciate the help here, and if you find yourself in need, you have only to ask." She grinned. "I don't offer charity, just a helping hand to a neighbor, and I'm sure you will find many good folk who will offer the same."
"I suppose that's true," Lucinda conceded. "I just...it's very different than the way I was brought up. I was taught not to be cruel to any animal or person and I assumed that included not killing people."
She glanced back at Emeline as she told more about the bank robbery. Weren't banks supposed to be where you kept your money so it didn't get stolen? "That sounds so dreadful. I would have been terrified, especially if I someone I cared about was in danger."
She set the last dish to the side and began rinsing the dishes. "I think that for now I will not need to learn to shoot. But if I decide to leave Kalispell and go back east I may take you up on your offer. I have a feeling the journey might not go as smoothly without my husband." She shrugged wryly.
"Emeline, do you have social events in Kalispell? I've not been to a dance in so long and I miss being around other people. I miss being around people besides farmers and prospectors."
"Of course we have events!" Emeline laughed. "More than bank robberies and bear attacks! There are dances, socials, parades and picnics. I'm afraid, though, that besides farmers and miners, most other men are ranchers. There are some professionals and business owners, too, but honestly, even the most crude of gentlemen are...gentlemen. They are respectful, and most of them are decent sorts, just hurting for a kind touch and word with a woman."
With men so far outnumbering women in the frontier, ladies were treated as good as gold for the most part, although they could be overbearing when it came to non-stop proposals!
"There is a Ladies Society, you can look into that, and once a month on Saturday afternoon, I hold a high tea, and that is mostly attended by ladies, and is very interesting!"
"Well, you don't get everything you want in this world," Lucinda shrugged. Just knowing that there would be times she would be around other people and have fun made the town seem less...how to put it...provincial? "I'm certain there are a few bad apples, but as long as they know how to dance and don't paw at me too much - there are men even in high society who do that! - I will be content."
She said that to remind herself that she would need to be content. There might not be many true "gentlemen" in Kalispell, but that didn't mean all the men were reprobates either.
She almost squealed in delight when Emeline mentioned the last few events. Almost. She stopped herself because squealing was most improper and would make her seem immature. But she couldn't help exclaiming, "A Ladies Society? High tea? Oh, Emeline!" Tears came into her eyes, but she dashed them away quickly and smiled. Maybe Kalispell wouldn't be so bad.
"You must let me help you whenever the next tea happens. It's been a while since I've attended or hosted one, but I've got to put something I learned at boarding school to good use!"
"Of course!" Emeline smiled brightly. "You've actually hosted teas? I'd love your input, I've never been to an actual tea, I've just read about them in magazines, so my ideas are limited. I have a couple of recipes, but I'm not certain what some of the ingredients are, or frankly, what some of the instructions mean!"
It was a form of cooking that she wasn't familiar with, and some of the terms were in British English, and with not really knowing that the exact outcome was supposed to be, it made recreating the recipes interesting.
"And I'd be happy for more ideas, cucumber sandwiches can only be good for so long before they get boring, right?" She was excited for the possibility of having something close to a real English tea!
"I have hosted teas...maybe not to the scale that yours will be, but I think if we both worked together we could manage it quite nicely."
Her entertaining had been mostly limited to the other girls at boarding school and a few small teas at her parent's house during her debutante season but she knew the ins and outs of hosting, of serving, and of preparing the food and the tea.
She laughed at Emeline's comment about cucumber sandwiches. "Anything is boring if you have it enough times. So perhaps an alternating menu would be possible...with cucumber sandwiches very, very far off in the rotation!"
She grinned and rinsed the last dish, then found a towel and began to dry the dishes. "How busy are Saturday nights here normally? Do lots of people come to eat?"
"Actually, Saturdays aren't terribly busy, especially the evenings. Many of the miners live a ways out of town, so during they week they stay in camp and come here for meals, but they go home for the weekends," Emeline explained. "Breakfast and lunch can be busy, though, when they bring their wives to town for shopping and want to give them a treat."
Each place had its own dynamics, and it was a matter of learning the patterns of the town.
"Sundays tend to be slow as well, that's one reason I've started closing. During good weather, folks like to picnic after church, some of the churches even have their own picnics. Speaking of which, we do have some fine churches." Not meant as a judgement, just letting her know, although all but the newest and wildest of towns had at least some sort of religious gathering place.