"Or perhaps Case just took his 'gang' with him?" Emeline suggested. "Maybe he wanted to get away from his father's influence? At least it's a good thing that some of Elias' men seem to have some sort of scruples, and won't allow harm to come to Leah."
She really couldn't fathom how a parent could wish ill on their child. "She'd overcome a lot, and still lives in the shadow of her name." Emeline grinned. "We should find out what she thinks of pigeons!"
"Well I know that Elias is a dangerous man, by all accounts, but if he hasn't moved against Leah or thje hospital by now, I don't think he will. It's too important to the town and the territory, and thjat would;d attract attention I doubt he wants." She said evenly, but that was what she thought, not what could be the reality of the situation.
"You know, not that I do, but carrier pigeons might be a real asset to the hospital," Alice declared. "I mean, maybe we get the outlying ranches and farms having them to let us know they are coming with some sort of injury, then the staff could be ready when they got there." Which she thought made perfect sense to her.
"I suppose it would be worth looking into," Emeline mused with a shrug. "Of course, first we have to find out how to train the pigeons, and if it's even possible. Maybe once we figure it out, we can talk to a couple of the outlying farms. I think Mr. Redman might be open to it, and maybe Lost Lake?"
She smiled. It was good to have projects to keep her busy, not that the house, the baby, the horses, her husband didn't do that. But pigeons shouldn't take too much energy.
"I can get started on a coop, too, I don't guess we can keep them with the chickens." She grinned. "Don't need any jealousy, right? Oh, and pigeon eggs! Although they'd probably be too small, but then, in San Francisco we had quail eggs..." Laughing, she shook her head. "We just might have a whole new industry here!"
"I kind of think we need a bit more information about these birds before we spread the word or even start to build a coop. Now, I'm sure there is not a whole lot to this hobby. I mean, they used them during the war, and no telling how many were killed as a result, so rasing and tgraioningf seem to me to be a simple endeavor." Alioce didn't want to get ahead of herself in this plan; they needed information, and just maybe there was someone in town\ that knew something about carrier pigeons.
"Not to be a wet blanket, because I am excited about this, I just think we need to look into this a bit more, get some firm direction on obtaining the birds and training them, before we buy any of the them, I don't know, it juist seems reasonable to me."
Changing the subject, she gushed, "San Francisco, that just sounds so dreamy and romantic at the same time. I wish Speed and I could get away to somewhere like that. Hopefully, for our honeymoon. Someplace away from Montana. I love it here, but it's where we live, and that would be boring!"
"I suppose you're right, there's no sense in getting too excited until we know more. It might turn out to be more complicated than we think." Still, Emeline was excited about acquiring more critters!
"You'd love San Francisco, the ocean is amazing, and the air has the tang of salt in it." Emeline smiled wistfully. "The buildings are beautiful and there's so much to do...museums, shows, the opera..." She sighed, but then added, "A nice place to visit, but this is home."
"Maybe we'll be able to get away to someplace like San Francisco once the mine is operating on its own to the point that Speed can get away. I doubt our trip will be as extensive as yours was, but to get away, for even a few weeks would be heaven. Oh, but that will be after the wedding if we keep our date. Though I don't know why we wouldn't."
"As far as the pigeons go, I doubt that there is all that much to it, really, but then I could be wrong about that." She continued. "It shouldn't be all that hard, I don't think. Maybe there is someone in town that might know something about it." She sighed, "A library, if we only had a library. Now that would be a big help!"
"Oh, I completely agree on a library, I had wanted to set up something small at the Lickskillet, but getting married and all..." Emeline shrugged, "that distracted from that plan, but it's certainly something to look into again, maybe at the school to start. Or perhaps City Hall?" Another project, but a worthy one.
"As for your honeymoon, maybe I can help?" She grinned mischievously. "After all, Barnabas knows all about mining, and there's no reason he can't look after yours for a couple of weeks. And honestly, the best part of our honeymoon was just the two of us, on the trail. Oh, the fancy hotels were pure luxury, but just us, under the stars..." She smiled wistfully.
"We had talked of getting away. Speed said that Tyrell Thornton could run the place while we were gone. And there are the men that actually run the mining operation. To be honest about it, they won't miss him, and neither Miss Freeman or Mister Pierce. He's the assayer, and she's Speed's office manager. Speed could leave town for a month, and no one would know." And then she laughed.
"I wonder, the old brewery building? It's been empty for almost a year now. I guess the Mullers never recovered after the Whitefish disaster." Alice considered, "It is far too big, but I suppose if we looked around, there are other empty storefronts that might work for a library. Town might be growing people-wise, but not for new businesses."
"I bet we could find something easily enough," Emeline agreed. "The brewery would be far too big. It might do for the orphanage, if Leah is still thinking about that. That's certainly a worthy cause, and I'd not mind having a hand in it, but it's too far to town, and I've plenty to do here. Of course, we can contribute financially."
She looked at Wheeler, sleeping contentedly in Alice's arms. "There's those orphan trains, from back east. I can't imagine not having someone to look after my children should something happen to us. Or, worse, having to send my child away because I couldn't afford it."
That was unthinkable!
"Oh yes, the orphanage. I thought that Leah Steegrave had land next to the hospital to build the orphanage."Alice said, "But it would certainly be big enough to house orphans. Ten years on from that war, and still the east is reckoning with the orphans, not only from that, but those not connected to the the loss of parents in other ways. It is just terrible to think that there are so many without family to care for them."
"Oh, I know, it is a distance, and for you, it is a long way that you normally wouldn't have to travel, and a library wouldn't need for you to be present to help it get off the ground." Alice offered, which would be true. "If you like, I can look around when I'm in town, which is fairly often, and get some idea of what's available, and while Branabas is still working with Speed, I could send you notes of what I have found."