Monday, September 25, 1876
Mid Morning, just after 9:00 AM
Leaden Gray Clouds Rolling In
Rain Is Threatened
The most unusual sight greeted this morning on the main street of Kalispell, a dapple grey stud with a rider almost everyone recognized made its way into town. People stopped and gawked, few continued on their way. People who ducked into stores or shops spread the word, and people flocked to the windows of such establishments to look at what passed by.
Phineas McVay had stepped out onto the porch, a cup of coffee in his hand, and he stood still as a stone statue, with only his head moving with the rider and his mount. This was news! Elias Steelgrave was in town, and there was no vanguard with him, he was alone, brazen as only he could be. Almost daring anyone to try anything, even though there were men in town capable of taking him down, but none appeared, at least not seen.
He walked the dapple grey down the street and stopped at the telegraph office. Stepping down, looking back along the street before flipping his reins over the hitch rail, then stepping up on the boardwalk in front of the office where he paused again looking back and pushing open his frock coat to reveal the pearl handle of his nickel-plated Colt Peacemaker. Then, he opened the door and stepped inside.
Javia
" ... - - - ... "
A feller who'd been waiting a good five minutes to send a telegram (Hector had just been busy getting the equipment ready and sending a test message to Helena) looked around and, seeing who had walked in, hastily put on his hat and remembered an appointment he had elsewhere. Hector looked up from behind his little counter and was taken aback, it was true that the notoriously powerful and ruthless Elias Streelgrave was seldom seen in town - but the Wigfall lad was not unduly concerned... yet.
"Morning Mister Steelgrave, can I be of service, Sir?" he asked, formulaically enough, although without the habitual ease of manner with which he usually greeted customers availing themselves of Western Union's services. Only the way his adam's apple bobbed a little when he swallowed afterwards gave away his slight nervousness in the presence of the Big Man of the section.
"Good morning Mister Wigfall, Why yes you most certainly can. I have a message that needs to get to Helena, but, Hector, you don't mind if I call you Hector, it is to be held in the utmost of confidence." Elias said cordially. "Now I realize that a young man might want to impress his friends, or his sweetheart and accidentally reveal some of the messages he sends and receives, but that will not be the case with this one then, would it."
Elias stood, smiling as he spoke to the lad behind the counter awaiting a response.
" ... - - - ... "
"Good morning Mister Wigfall, Why yes you most certainly can. I have a message that needs to get to Helena, but, Hector, you don't mind if I call you Hector, it is to be held in the utmost of confidence." Elias said cordially.
"Well, y-yes, of course Mr Steelgrave!" Hector stammered. He wasn't about to ask '... and can I call you Elias?'!
"Now I realize that a young man might want to impress his friends, or his sweetheart and accidentally reveal some of the messages he sends and receives, but that will not be the case with this one then, would it."
Hector leaned forward and spoke in confidential tones.
"I can assure you Mr Steelgrave, that the Western Union has a strict policy of complete and utter confidentiality and I myself have personally sworn, hand on heart, on the Holy Bible, to uphold said policy, as have all employees of the company" he assured the imposing man "Why, I didn't even let slip when Mister Wentworth..." he stopped himself "... oh, well, that would be telling! But anyhow, you have my personal promise that whatever message I send will reach its destination with your confidentiality inviolate."
"Of course, you must take into account the operator at the other end in Helena who will decode the morse signal and write it out en claire for the delivery boy: they must both be sound. I know - I'll send it immediately with a rider - 'utmost secrecy!' My friend Operator 44 will be on at this time in the morning on a Monday, he'll decode it and deliver it himself!" frowned Hector, who was always interested in solving the conundrums of the telegraph service.
"You should think about devising your own personal secret code, Mr Steelgrave, then you wouldn't have to worry about sending messages like these." he suggested. And he wouldn't have to feel guilty about keeping them quiet, he might have added.
He reached down and took out a pad and pencil, but then then put it back.
"... if you give it too me slow, I'll send it as you dictate it." he offered "... and you don't have to worry about my sweetheart finding out, I'm not having much luck in that direction lately." he shrugged.
Actually, Elias was impressed with the young man. Yes, it had been a lengthy reply to his statement, but the lad had offered up not just the company's policy of message security, but provided him with an idea he had not realized was possible, a secret code known only to Latham, Carson Tyndall, and himself. A sure-fire way of protecting his wire from decoding by anyone in the future.
"Very impressive young man. And the message, yes, without the benefit of the code. Shrewd thinking my boy, shrewd indeed. It is to go to Carson Tyndall, Helena Montana. Carson, considering a local business proposition. A code will be forthcoming but reply in haste." He said.
"Now there are two things that can happen here Mister Wigfall, should word leak out here in Kalispell about this message, or the reply to it there is always the chance something, nearly anything might well befall you, or your sister, or even your mother, not to mention the boarding house. Something I would hate to see happen." He paused to let that soak in. "and the second thing that could, and should happen is," and he laid a twenty dollar gold piece on the counter, "that you would be well paid for your discretion. This is yours, we shall see where it goes from here. Oh, and the reply from Helena? That should be delivered promptly to Mister Cole Latham. Do we have an understanding?"
" ... - - - ... "
"Very impressive young man. And the message, yes, without the benefit of the code. Shrewd thinking my boy, shrewd indeed. It is to go to Carson Tyndall, Helena Montana. Carson, considering a local business proposition. A code will be forthcoming but reply in haste." He said.
With anyone else, Hector would have demanded an exact address, but he didn't dare rile the powerful and dangerous Elias Steelgrave with annoying questions about such details. At this date there were no extra charges for punctuation: so there was none of this tapping out the word 'stop' business that came in in the 1920s.
Hector sent the message en clair, with the rejoiner to his friend Operator 44 to treat the matter with the utmost despatch and complete secrecy and to deliver the message -... -.-- / -.-- --- ..- .-. / --- .-- -. / .... .- -. -.. 'by your own hand'
"All done Mister Steelgrave!" he reported, trying to impress the man by sounding as businesslike and urbane as possible.
"Now there are two things that can happen here Mister Wigfall, should word leak out here in Kalispell about this message, or the reply to it there is always the chance something, nearly anything might well befall you, or your sister, or even your mother, not to mention the boarding house. Something I would hate to see happen." He paused to let that soak in.
"Oh y-you don't need to worry about that, Sir. You can trust me completely!" He wasn't too bothered about his sister and mother, but he cared about himself and he rather hoped to inherit that boarding house one day.
"and the second thing that could, and should happen is," and he laid a twenty dollar gold piece on the counter, "that you would be well paid for your discretion. This is yours, we shall see where it goes from here.
"Er... thanks!" was all the boy could say. Not that he didn't have any moral qualms about all of this, but those concerns were far outweighed by the nature of his backbone, which was similar in consistency to that of a jellyfish.
"Oh, and the reply from Helena? That should be delivered promptly to Mister Cole Latham. Do we have an understanding?"
"That we do, Mister Steelgrave, that we do! I... I'll stay on duty until the reply comes through, even if it takes all day, just to make sure no other operator handles it, and I'll take it to Mister Lathan personally, Sir." the snivelling little creep promised, standing up in a sort of reverence to his new master.
Ah, what a touching vignette of well-purchased servility the scene would have made, had, at that very moment, Hector's twin sister Jemima Wigfall not happened to be making her way up the street: a sibling of a very different stamp and temper.
"Good. You could be of real use to me here soon when we get wind that the railroad is on its way. There'll be things I'll need that you can help me with where confidentiality will be paramount to my needs." He reached his hand across the counter toward the young man. "You can be quite valuable, and that of course, means money in your pocket." The smile was not warm but perhaps best described as that of a serpent.
He started to leave and then half turned back, "Remember, things that transpire between you and I remain between you and I. This can and should be a lucrative association, Mioster Wigfall. That railroad is gold on wheels. Well, I best be on my way. Nice doing business with you." And with that, he stepped to the door.
"Remember, things that transpire between you and I remain between you and I. This can and should be a lucrative association, Mister Wigfall. That railroad is gold on wheels. Well, I best be on my way. Nice doing business with you." And with that, he stepped to the door.
Scrappy Cradock just had that special knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or, looking back on it later, it might be considered that for once in his life, he was in the right place at the right time. Either way, he was here right now, and it was an unusual sight he saw upon this street.
First, there was the fancy looking dude coming out of the telegraph office. No, dude wasn't the right word he actually looked tough: and older man, well dressed but yeah, undoubtedly tough under the expensive duds. A wolf in sheep's clothing: formidable.
Walking toward him, face like thunder, was a more familiar sight: that ugly looking girl who seemed to work a million different jobs around town. Didn't know her name. She was walking steadily toward the well-dressed feller. She was pulling something out of her apron. Scrappy chuckled - was she going to pull out a rolling pin and belabour the man with it?
His eyes suddenly widened. Oh Shit!! He only registered that it was a big heavy colt revolver she was holding in her hands as the first two shots were fired. She was still walking forward as one shot went wide and the other carried off his fine felt hat and it went rolling along on its brim as Scrappy found himself rushing forward and grappling with the girl. He didn't know why he intervened: if it had been two men, well, you just let two men get on with it: that was the law of the West. Somehow he felt he was protecting her by stopping her killing the big man. Jesus, she was strong, though: the short cowboy had trouble holding his own with her.
"Let go! I'm gonna kill him!! He set fire to Mister Redmond's Barn!!!" Jemima growled as she struggled to get free and take another pot shot at the local big shot.
Everybody in town was saying that it was Elias Steelgrave who'd ordered the destruction of the Redmond place two nights ago: so he was stopping the girl from shooting... Scrappy could only wonder what kind of a mess he'd gotten himself into now.
@[Anyone who wants to be about]
Stunned, almost to the point of inaction, almost however, the pearl-handled, nickel plated, Colt was in his ham-like hand with the hammer eared back, and the cavernous business end of the barrel pointed directly to the mad woman's chest. A kill shot at that distance, and his finger was about to tighten on the trigger when this short-statured fellow slammed into her, struggling for the gun she held ready to fire!
"Let go! I'm gonna kill him!! He set fire to Mister Redmond's Barn!!!" Jemima growled as she struggled to get free and take another pot shot at the local big shot.
Elias quickly shifted the Colt up and eased the hammer down. The shot would have blown out the frontal bone of the man's skull and hit the woman in the chest killing them both!
"I did no such thing!" He barked, "If I had ordered anything of the kind, my men would have burned it to the ground and anyone inside with it!" He was enraged by her accusation and he was intent on her paying for attempting to kill him. "Is there any law in this town? I want this deranged woman jailed!"
It's not a question of who's right. It's a question of what's right.
Matt had just finished a meeting with some local businessmen and was making his way back to the hotel when he saw Jemima Wigfall approach someone coming out of the telegraph office. Everything happened so fast that Matt had barely time to register what was going on before he heard a man shout...
"I did no such thing!" He barked, "If I had ordered anything of the kind, my men would have burned it to the ground and anyone inside with it!" He was enraged by her accusation and he was intent on her paying for attempting to kill him. "Is there any law in this town? I want this deranged woman jailed!"
Having realised that the man was Elias Steelgrave, Matt wondered briefly what on earth he was doing in town before as he approached the scene. Turning to look at Jemima and the young man who had stopped her from making a terrible mistake, he held out his hand and said sternly, "Miss Wigfall, may I take a look at your gun? If you're going to persist in trying to kill Mister Steelgrave then the least I can do is make sure that the gun's aim is true because if you miss, you won't get a second chance."
@Javia @Flip