Caroline had just finished her first song and dance number to a hearty round of applause, bowed a few times to the appreciative crowd, pointed to the young piano player in the corner then promised them she would soon perform some more in a short while but the customers should just enjoy themselves with some drinks. With that she went down the steps and moved thru the crowd, all smiles as she exchanged greetings and wisecracks with some of the more enthusiastic menfolk. This was of course also part of her job, mingling with the customers, and she was good at it. But first it was time to wet her whistle.

Leaning up against the bar, she caught Ralph's attention and raised one forefinger, a signal the shot glass should be her 'special' whiskey, in other words colored water. It would be a long night and no need for the real stuff this early. As she waited for the man to comply, she glanced at the tall cowpoke at the bar next to her. She did not recognize him. Well, not everyone were regulars of course.

"Evenin' cowboy, had a long day did ya?" she inquired with a pleasant smile.

"Long week," Shade replied as he surreptitiously studied the young woman. So, this was the gal that the hands were gushing over? He could understand why. She had a beautiful singing voice and was not hard on the eyes either. Her hair was a light golden brown that reminded him of ripened winter wheat and her eyes were intensely blue. Shade had been around long enough to know that singing and dancing were not the young woman's only job at the saloon. She was expected to keep the clientele happy and spending their money so he lifted his nearly empty beer glass. "I think I could use another beer. Can I buy you anything?" As Shade asked his question, he pushed his hat back from his face a bit to allow her a better view of the man she was talking to. It was his first social visit in town since his return from Arizona. He might as well enjoy the trip in for supplies.

"A whole week huh? No wonder you want a second beer," she grinned, then called over to the bartender, "Hey Ralph! This here fella needs a refill, thanks!"

She then eyed him more closely, a man in the prime of life, handsome enough too not that that should enter into things. A thirsty customer was a thirsty customer. She tossed down her shot glass in one long gulp and set it down again with a thunk on the hardwood bar.

"I don't drink beer. Izzit alright if I get me a shot?" she then asked him. Left unsaid, but obvious enough a shot of liquor cost more than a beer. He sure didn't look impoverished though.

"Sure, get yourself a shot or two," Shade replied with a pleasant grin, "By the way, I'm Shade Thornton. You have my hands entranced and I must say, your singing was incredible. I see what they are so enthusiastic about."

"Two eh, generous sort," she grinned, "Well, Shade Thornton...oh, from the Lost Lake ranch, heard plenty about that place. Thank ya for the compliments Mr. Shade Thornton. I am Caroline, Caroline Mundee."

Ralph came up then with another glass of foamy beer so Caroline ordered two shots of whiskey. Ralph knew without her saying that she would only want one of them filled with liquor. She had to stay on her feet all night.

"Heard our hands talking about your singing. They didn't oversell it. You're great," Shade said pleasantly to keep the conversation going. "Been in Kalispell long?"

Wayfarer

"Heard our hands talking about your singing. They didn't oversell it. You're great," Shade said pleasantly to keep the conversation going. "Been in Kalispell long?"

"Why thank you, always nice ta be appreciated, hon," Caroline did enjoy praise but then who didn't.

"Oh...lemme think...going on a year now and hope to be here as long as my bosses will have me. I like the town. Most of it's people," she shrugged and sipped from her shot glass.

"The Injuns could be friendlier," she chuckled, she could laugh about it now that it was over but the plain fact of was she and Addy could well have been killed by that war party.

"So yer one of the owners of Lost Lake, funny, you don't look like an owner. No offense, I mean you don't look or act like a big shot," she ventured an opinion, Caroline was never short of opinions.

Shade took a sip of the beer and almost sighed. His eyes glinted with humor, "I am one of the owners, but mainly just a guardian of the legacy for my brother's children. I'm curious though, what precisely does a big shot look like?"

"Well, they obviously don't look alike. People are of all types. But usually they act all puffed up, full of themselves. They have that look in their eyes, like they are better than you. Oh and usually they are dressed up better than anyone else in the room," she just shrugged.

"Just my take on it I guess."

"Interesting," Shade said, then added with a slight smile, "I've been on the other end of that too. Spent alot of years on the drift after leaving home when I was a kid. Lived places where the name Thornton was meaningless." And, if pressed, Shade would admit that while he loved Lost Lake and the people there, he missed riding from job to job and the life he had led. He did not miss the trouble he'd gotten himself into more than once, but the rest of it, yeah, he'd go back to it if he could.

Shade moved on to Caroline's previous remark about the Indians, "Guess it got pretty tense around here with the Indians for awhile. I guess since I have relatives amongst the Navajo, I see both sides. In fact, my uncle returned from Arizona with me." That was another thing he missed. Shade enjoyed spending time with his grandmother's clan, the peace on the Navajo reservation lands.

Tags for Wayfarer

Shade moved on to Caroline's previous remark about the Indians, "Guess it got pretty tense around here with the Indians for awhile. I guess since I have relatives amongst the Navajo, I see both sides. In fact, my uncle returned from Arizona with me."

"Tense? Ummm, yeah that and more. Just ask Custer and his poor men," Caroline gave a mirthless chuckle.

"And me n' Addy, we got captured by some Arapahos. When they hit the stage. Killed a young woman and her boy. Also the shotgun rider. They ripped up their bodies somethin' fierce too. Kept us alive for some sorta trade, they said. Luckily we managed to escape thanks to the cavalry. I know I wouldn't have made it if it weren't  for Addy though," her expression and tone of voice was solemn now.

"I'm sorry to hear that, ma'am," Shade responded sincerely, "Mighty glad you were both unharmed. My uncle is Navajo and he follows their Blessing Way and only fights to defend himself or others. It is unlikely he will come here though. Unfortunately, it doesn't look as if the unrest will end soon."

"No, the papers say that most of our whole army is chasing those Indians up north. They're maybe runnin' for Canada. Let the Canadians have 'em," Caroline shrugged,  "But yeah, this uncle a yers might be better off not comin' inta the saloon. Some customers might get nasty. Drink will do that ta some folks. Not me of course."

Shade was enjoying chatting with Caroline although he felt a pang of guilt. He knew he needed to contact Kate, but after his long absence, he wasn't ready...yet. Besides, he felt he needed to get word to her first and not just appear on her doorstep. He polished off the last of his beer, "One more for both of us?" He asked Caroline.

"Sure hon. Ralph another beer fer Shade here. I can call ya that, right? I call most of my regular customers by their Christian name, hope you'll be among those now," Caroline smiled, "And another shot fer me."

"Sure, Shade's fine by me," Shade answered easily, "And you, Miss Caroline? Is that alright with you?"  

"What's alright? Me callin' you Shade? Ohhhh, you mean you callin' me Miss Caroline. Save yourself a whole word each time and just call me Caroline. I'm used to it," she was certainly fine with first name basis conversations. Nothing formal in this place.

"Caroline it is then," Shade answered. "No worries about Uncle coming into a saloon. He does not drink anything but water. Probably makes him smarter than most of us," he added with a chuckle before adding in a more serious tone of voice, "For now, he will probably only come to Kalispell with me, Quentin, or maybe our foreman. Gonna be enough trouble from what I'm hearing without adding any more to it."

"Uncle? Oh yer Indian? Sure. Thought I've heard Indians are real fond of fire water, don't they call it?" Caroline knew next to nothing about Indians except for that bunch who almost killed her and Addy and sadly did kill the other folks on the stage that day. But yes, she knew she should not judge everyone by the behavior of some. She always tried her best to be tolerant. More tolerant than a lot of the 'decent' folks were about her.

Shade nodded with a sad smile, "Unfortunately, many Indians are too fond of whiskey and for some reason, it tends to affect them worse than most whites. My uncle, John Warbow, has seen what it can do to his people. As a shaman, he has chosen to walk a path of peace and purity," he told her then shrugged with a grin, "It's hard for me to explain the Blessing Way of the Navajo. Overall, they are a good people. I've found this to be true of most Indians. Like us, there are bad apples in the barrel, but the majority are decent people."

Well, Caroline really had no arguments with what the man had just said. He knew Indians and she did not. But his observation that all people were basically the same - some bad people but most good folks. That made sense.

"If you say so, hon, who am I ta argue with someone who buys me drinks?" she smiled.

OOC: Can close us out if you like, just say they moved on to small talk or something. 

ooc reply: Ok, that's fine then. Least they have now met each other.