Mature Content: Possibly language
With: Gilcrest, Bridget, Charlie, Caroline, and Mrs. Wentworth
Location: The old funeral parlor
When: July 1876, the day after Crabbe's death
Time of Day: Mid-morning
Brendan scowled at Gilcrest's outburst. He already knew how ridiculous the whole thing was, and the older man's reaction wasn't helping, nor was his picturesque description of what Brendan's fate would be if his story didn't satisfy the powers that be at Evergreen.
"Fine," he grumbled, turning to mount the steps of the funeral parlor. "C'mon and I'll show ya." He beckoned Gilcrest inside, leaving the door open behind him, and moved past the table where Crabbe had met his demise. If Charlie wanted to follow them in, he could. But he wasn't going to invite the deputy in, not when he so clearly looked down on Brendan.
He trudged up the stairs, missing any sounds of Reeve and Arabella's investigating in the other downstairs rooms. That was probably just as well, because he'd have been highly suspicious of the man. His main focus was to get upstairs to Bridget. As he cleared the landing, it became clear that it was not just Caroline and Bridget inside Bridget's bedroom. He didn't know the other lady he could see through the doorway.
"Caroline!" he called, his voice sliding up the last few stairs with a hint of panic in it. Funny how it was Bridget who occupied his thoughts most of the time, but when things went wrong, Caroline always sprung to mind first as someone to help. Although she might not want to help him anymore after their argument.
He leaped up the final steps and burst into the room, glancing back to make sure Gilcrest was following along. He had no idea what was about to happen, but he wanted Gilcrest to witness it so he could vouch for the oddity of whatever did happen. Because this situation was about as odd as you could get.
Want... dolls!
Bridget didn't usually pay much mind to grown up talk, but Caroline was talking about Lorenzo so she pricked up her ears a little and listened to what she told the Becca lady.
"He was a good friend of mine, helped me out on occasion. In fact he was the one who told me about the job opening here at the saloon which turned out good for me," Caroline declared.
"But yes, he rescued that girl from a real sonof....well, a bad man. And he has since taken care of her. I knew he wouldn't forget her in case he went...you know ...to his final end," she added.
"So...yer here as to why then - if I might ask?"
Bridget smiled when Caroline said nice things about Lorenzo but when she mentioned her rescue, a horrible feeling of fear made her tummy lurch. Yes, Lorenzo had shot and killed that man who kept her like a slave and sent her out to beg and who beat her and worse when she didn't bring enough money back. But her limited brain couldn't be sure that he was gone forever: somehow Lorenzo's passing made her feel unprotected now.
There were footsteps outside and suddenly Brendan was there: but her grin of surprise and happiness suddenly turned into a shriek of horror as she saw the man behind him. It was hardly poor Gilcrest's fault that his bushy beard and eyebrows and long nose gave him a passing resemblance to the doctor who had tortured and abused Bridget in the past: but she wasn't going to stick around to doublecheck his identity. She jumped up, surprisingly swift on her false leg and, the doorway being blocked by a no doubt surprised Brendan and Gilcrest, ran wailing to the window, which she pulled up and tried to climb out of, oblivious to the danger of the fall that awaited her on the other side.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
"Well now what in the Sam Hell's a goin' on here!" Gilcrest wanted to know, "You best grab that girl afore she's outta that winder an' ends up broke up, 'er dade, Connolly!" Gilcrest was far from used to females , let alone their antics. Besides having no real idea of what was happening, nor who he reminded her of.
Caroline had just asked this woman why exactly she was here when they heard clomping up the stairway and then Brendan call out her name. Now what?
"Yeah, I'm still here," Caroline called back.
Brendan appeared but he wasn't alone, some older jasper was with him. Now what?
For some unknown reason Bridget reacted in horror, you'd have thought a man-eating grizzly bear had just entered the room? The old coot looked harmless enough to the saloon girl however Bridget's reaction was bad, real bad starting with a loud shriek.
The girl jumped up, surprisingly swift on her false leg and ran wailing to the window, which she pulled up and tried to climb out of!
"Well now what in the Sam Hell's a goin' on here!" Gilcrest wanted to know, "You best grab that girl afore she's outta that winder an' ends up broke up, 'er dade, Connolly!"
Caroline wasn't waiting for that though but rushed to Bridget and took her by one upper arm, "Whoa there, Bridget! Where you goin', girl?"
She also glanced at Brendan, "Well, a little help please?"
Poor Brendan was bewildered. Bridget loved him. Why was she running away from him? Maybe it was his gun. Maybe she connected the gun and him to Crabbe's death. His heart crumpled at the thought that he might be the one she was afraid of.
Whatever the reason for her fear, Gilcrest was right. He needed to stop Bridget before she hurt herself. Caroline got over to the window faster than him and grabbed Bridget by the arm. "Well, a little help please?"
He bounded across the room and grabbed Bridget under both arms.
"Bridget, it's me!" he proclaimed, attempting to forestall any further misunderstandings or struggles by scooping an arm under her legs and pulling her close to his chest. "I'm back. It's all right." Holding her protectively in his arms, he moved back towards the spot where Bridget and Caroline had been...playing dolls?
Caroline playing dolls? He turned to her. "What's wrong with her?"
Storyteller / Shared NPC
"I'll be go ta hale! I ain't never see'd the like! Just whot in tarnation is the prob'lum here? She even in her right mind? Grab holt of her Connolly and quiet her down some!" Gilchrest bellowed. This was beyond his learning as a hospitalman during the civil war It was clear to him that she was not right, and she was a cripple, only havin' one leg.
He would for sure plead Connolly's case to Elias himself, if need be. Brendan Connolly had sure got himself in fix this time, one he was not liable to get out of any time soon, and the girl? The Evergreen would be no place for her, nor Connolly wet nursing her, though the term was more apt to apply to a hired breastfeeder than a caretaker for this girl.
Want... dolls!
Caroline had at least stopped her jumping out of the window, but now Bridget was incoherent as she struggled in Brendan's arms, obviously terrified of something. She could only wail "NO!!""NO!!!" and as Brendan brought her away from the window and toward the amazed Gilcrest it all got to much and she started to fit.
"Bridget, it's me!" he proclaimed, attempting to forestall any further misunderstandings or struggles by scooping an arm under her legs and pulling her close to his chest. "I'm back. It's all right." Holding her protectively in his arms, he moved back towards the spot where Bridget and Caroline had been...playing dolls?
Caroline playing dolls? He turned to her. "What's wrong with her?"
"I'll be go ta hale! I ain't never see the like! Just whot in tarnation is the prob'lum here? She even in her right mind? Grab holt of her Connolly and quiet her down some!" Gilchrest bellowed.
Bridget suddenly made an odd noise and stiffened in Brendan's arms, then lost consciousness; blood dribbled from her mouth as her teeth spasmodically bit down on her tongue. Then, as the seizure spread from one side of her brain to the other her breathing virtually stopped and she wet herself.
Instead of calming down, Bridget squirmed more in his arms and made his progress toward Gilcrest difficult. He winced at her wailing and paused, trying to calm her down.
"I'm tryin!" he shot back at Gilcrest over Bridget's cries.
But then Bridget went stiff in his arms and...oh, God, what was wrong with her? He gaped in horror as blood trickled out the corners of her mouth. He sank down beside the bed with Bridget still in his arms, holding her close to him regardless of the dampness that seeped into his clothes. Was she dying? That was what the blood in her mouth meant, wasn't it?
"Caroline!" He looked wildly around at the saloon singer, at Gilcrest, and even at the older woman he didn't recognize. "Gilcrest, do somethin'!"
As Bridget's head lolled against his shoulder, he grabbed her hands and chafed them as if that would help revive her. "Please wake up. Please wake up."
Alright this was bad, the girl was plainly in full panic. Caroline had never seen her like this. Now more than ever she realized what Lorenzo had to deal with, poor man. Brendan was doing his part now to help, holding her, trying to comfort her.
The old man was yelling, that was plainly no help only making a bad situation worse and as for this other woman, she was plainly useless as a tit on a bull. Then it got worse, Bridget was bleeding from the mouth and was going into ...convulsions? Caroline had seen a customer once in Helena suffer from something like this. But everyone in the saloon had just stood there and luckily it passed though the poor bastard had a hard go of it.
Caroline!" Brendan looked wildly around at the saloon singer, at Gilcrest, and even at the older woman he didn't recognize. "Gilcrest, do somethin'!"
"I don't know what ta ....." Caroline started then rounded on the mouthy geezer, "And will you just shut the fuck up!"
She also fixed a look at the woman but withheld her tongue then suddenly remembered Ara was downstairs with that legal eagle. She worked for Lorenzo for awhile, maybe she might know something how to deal with Bridget like this.
She shouldered past Gilcrest and out the door just enough so she could shout downstairs.
"ARA! GIT UP HERE NOW! IT'S BRIDGET!"
Why they hadn't heard Bridget's screaming downstairs was beyond her.
As Bridget's head lolled against his shoulder, he grabbed her hands and chafed them as if that would help revive her. "Please wake up. Please wake up."
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
Arabella was only half aware of all the banging and shouting coming from the ceiling above, as she showed Reeve about the place. Sounded like they were having a fun party up there! Suddenly, though, a door opened at the top of the stairs and Caroline's leather lungs opened up.
"ARA! GIT UP HERE NOW! IT'S BRIDGET!"
The Southern girl needed no further bidding, deserting the young lawyer and running up the stairs in her clunking boots without a by your leave. When she got to the top, panting, she had to push past Gilchrist (hold on, what the heck was he doing here?! No time to stop and find out...) And there was Brendan, holding an unconscious Bridget; and Caroline was there, and Mrs Wentworth and, gosh, it was easier to list who in Kalispell wasn't in her bedroom.
As Bridget's head lolled against his shoulder, he grabbed her hands and chafed them as if that would help revive her. "Please wake up. Please wake up."
Arabella took one look at the scene and her shoulders drooped "Aw, I ran all that way, I thought somethin' awful had happened! She's just doin' one of her fits. Stick her her on the floor, Mississippi, quick, she's likely to fill her drawers, oop, looks like she already did." she noted the liquid dripping on the floor. "Here" She grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it on the rug for Brendan to lay the redhead's pretty head upon and then frowned.
"Aw, she bit her tongue." she looked at Gilchrist, for some reason. "You ever notice how when you bite your tongue, you keep on biting it again and again for about a week?"
"What brought it on? You didn't try to play with her favourite dolly did you, Cara'?" Arabella asked Caroline, with a look of suspicion on her face.