" ... - - - ... "
''I do like novels, fiction mostly.”
“Uh-huh, ‘What If’, rather than real, then?” He nodded, subtly turning her own words upside down. If she noticed that he was slightly making fun of her, she didn’t show it.
“The classics of course, oh, and dime novels. Let me think...oh, I've read All for Love of a Fair Face, A Charity Girl, and recently, The Unseen Bridegroom. Romances all if you are unfamiliar."
He looked mystified until she mentioned the last one.
“Oh, The Unseen Bridegroom – my sister’s reading that. Well, she’s been reading it for about six months, she must manage about a line a day. Every time I see her reading it, I ask her ‘Well Wiggy, has he shown up yet?’” he gave a little chuckle at his own joke. Oh well, someone had to.
“Still, it’s the first time I’ve seen her read a book for years… apart from her Smith and Wesson manual. Anaesthesia Orr took it her when she was in jail. Good job they didn’t hang her, she’d have never found out what happened at the end the rate she reads. Now me, I 'speed-read' using Professor Jenkins' Method, that’s a way of reading real fast to take in the maximum amount of information in a given time.” He instructed her a little pompously.
“Uh-huh, ‘What If’, rather than real, then?”
"Yes, even if fiction, a book is real," Constance knew what she meant at least even if he did not.
He joked then about his sister reading one of those books, reading it very slowly too it seemed. Constance found when she read a book it was often difficult to put down and she'd go thru them quite rapidly. Suddenly it occurred to her, out here on the frontier, finding more books to read was going to be rather challenging. How annoying!
God, he was a chatterbox. She could be a good listener though, a helpful thing when one worked as a waitress. Wait! What had he said about his sister?
"Your sister was in jail? And they were going to hang her? What on earth did she do?" now she was curious.
" ... - - - ... "
"Yes, even if fiction, a book is real," Constance knew what she meant at least even if he did not.
He smiled at her, that would be an interesting point for later debate. Well, at least Jemima’s recent incarceration raised her interest.
"Your sister was in jail? And they were going to hang her? What on earth did she do?" now she was curious.
“Attempted murder of Elias Steelgrave, and resisting arrest.” Hector answered matter-of-factly “Steelgrave’s another big noise around here, he’s the Bully of the County, everybody hereabouts hates him. He burned down Clara’s Pa’s barn, or some of his men did, under his orders.” He gave an example that was near to home for Connie, working, as she did with Mrs Lutz.
“Anyway, Jemima, that’s my sister, she’s got it bad for Clara’s Pa, and one day she sees Steelgrave coming out of the Telegraph Office and walks right up to the feller, shouts sic semper tyrannis and tries to shoot him right between the eyes, but she just shot his top hat off.”
He grunted as they went over a bump in the track.
“I went to see her in jail, I says ‘Hey Wiggy, I’ve seen you practicing with that repeater, and you’re pretty much a dead shot; how come you missed? And she looks at me and she says ‘I didn’t miss, I just thought his head went right up to the top of his hat.’”
He shook his head.
“Yep, Miss Stroud: she might be ugly, smelly and dumb as a stump, but my sister’s the only man in Kallispell with the sand to stand up to Steelgrave face to face. Maybe that's why he dropped the charges.”
“Attempted murder of Elias Steelgrave, and resisting arrest.” Hector answered matter-of-factly “Steelgrave’s another big noise around here, he’s the Bully of the County, everybody hereabouts hates him. He burned down Clara’s Pa’s barn, or some of his men did, under his orders.”
"Oh, I know about him. Cla...Mrs. Lutz has told me some about that man, she truly despises him," Constance pointed out.
“Anyway, Jemima, that’s my sister, she’s got it bad for Clara’s Pa, and one day she sees Steelgrave coming out of the Telegraph Office and walks right up to the feller, shouts sic semper tyrannis and tries to shoot him right between the eyes, but she just shot his top hat off.”
"From I know of this fellow, pity she missed. Although, the downside would have probably been your sister would have hanged," Constance sighed.
"Your sister does know Mr. Redmond is married? Fairly recently too."
Now that Hector added details to the attempted assassination, his sister did sound rather slow witted.
He shook his head.
“Yep, Miss Stroud: she might be ugly, smelly and dumb as a stump, but my sister’s the only man in Kallispell with the sand to stand up to Steelgrave face to face. Maybe that's why he dropped the charges.”
"Oh he did, huh?" that did not sound like the actual reason to her though.
"By the way, you should not talk so unkindly about your sister. I have a brother, an older brother and you sound like him when he talks about me. We do not get along, at all," she admonished him in more of a conversational tone of voice. After all he was giving her a ride to this ranch.
" ... - - - ... "
"By the way, you should not talk so unkindly about your sister. I have a brother, an older brother and you sound like him when he talks about me. We do not get along, at all," she admonished him in more of a conversational tone of voice.
Hector just laughed.
“Ah, I’m only fooling around, Jemima’s not a bad old stick, I guess. I’m kinda proud of her in some ways: she can beat most men around these parts in an arm wrestling match, and boy, is she a hard worker, Kalispell nearly collapsed when she was ‘inside’, she works about twenty jobs. I should introduce her to you sometime; I reckon it’d make you change your mind about Mr Darwin’s theories.” he added, implying that his sister was some kind of ‘Missing Link’.
“Sorry to hear about your brother, though. I guess big brothers and sisters are always mean to younger ones. Me and Jemima are twins, so we got to be mean to each other in equal parts.”
He glanced at the girl again.
“So, where do you hail from, Miss Stroud? I never even knew Mister Stroud had a niece, let alone a pretty one.”
Her scolding at least got him to pull back a little on his criticism of his sister. Even offered to introduce this gal to her.
"Sure, feel free to, I'd be happy to meet her," Constance nodded, there were so many townsfolk she had yet to meet.
“Sorry to hear about your brother, though. I guess big brothers and sisters are always mean to younger ones. Me and Jemima are twins, so we got to be mean to each other in equal parts.”
"No, you are quite wrong. I have two younger sisters and I am not mean to them, we get along just fine. Our brother despises us all. He only plays up to Father because he wants the business....he might not even wind up with anything," that final thought gave her a bit of chuckle. Serve the bastard right!
He glanced at her again.
“So, where do you hail from, Miss Stroud? I never even knew Mister Stroud had a niece, let alone a pretty one.”
"Cincinnati, Ohio. Yes, he is my Father's older brother but two more unlike people you will never meet," she answered, "He has kindly agreed to take me in until I can get up enough money for a place of my own. "
" ... - - - ... "
"No, you are quite wrong. I have two younger sisters and I am not mean to them, we get along just fine. Our brother despises us all. He only plays up to Father because he wants the business....he might not even wind up with anything," that final thought gave her a bit of chuckle.
Hector gave her an encouraging smile, but this all sounded a bit one sided, he'd be interested to hear the brother's side of things... and the little sisters!
He glanced at her again.
“So, where do you hail from, Miss Stroud? I never even knew Mister Stroud had a niece, let alone a pretty one.”
"Cincinnati, Ohio."
"Ooh, home of the world's longest suspension bridge, the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge built by Mr John A. Roebling" Hector informed her, in encyclopedic manner. "So, Joe, er, Mr Stroud's your uncle on your father's side, same surname, right" asked Hector, trying to get his head around Constance's family tree.
"Yes, he is my Father's older brother but two more unlike people you will never meet," she answered.
"Yep, your Uncle's all right" nodded Heck with approbation.
"He has kindly agreed to take me in until I can get up enough money for a place of my own."
"But... so... why did you get sent here?" Hector frowned. There was some piece of the puzzle missing here. "I mean... if that's not too personal a question"
He couldn't help wondering if, maybe, she'd gotten herself 'in trouble' or something like that.
"Yes, I've been on that bridge," Constance shrugged, to her it was no big deal really, she then clarified his question about how she and her Uncle Joseph were related, she thought it a bit obvious but oh well.
"He has kindly agreed to take me in until I can get up enough money for a place of my own," she added.
"But... so... why did you get sent here?" Hector frowned, "I mean... if that's not too personal a question"
She turned to look at him with a bit of a glare, "We have just met. Have I inquired into your family's personal affairs...well other than your sister's unfortunate stay in jail which you brought up first might I point out."
"Call it an exile and leave it at that," she then looked straight again, clearly unwilling to get into her personal issues with an almost total stranger, even if he was providing her with a ride. Miss Mudd had put him up to that.She had a feeling no one said 'no' to Miss Mudd.
" ... - - - ... "
She turned to look at him with a bit of a glare, "We have just met. Have I inquired into your family's personal affairs...well other than your sister's unfortunate stay in jail which you brought up first might I point out."
“Ur, no, I guess not” stammered Hector, quite taken back by this reaction to his innocent question. Boy, what a volcano!
"Call it an exile and leave it at that," she then looked straight again, clearly unwilling to get into her personal issues with an almost total stranger, even if he was providing her with a ride.
Hector nodded his head vigorously, and then for the first time on the journey actually shut up and drove for a little while in silence.
Eventually he spoke.
“Sorry.” he said “About asking too many questions and all.”
Clip clop clip clop
The buggy trundled along.
He risked a sidelong glance. And a smile.
“Anybody ever tell you that you’re beautiful when you’re angry, Miss Stroud?”
He stared straight ahead, braced for another telling off. Or maybe even a slap! But, well, it was true!
After she snapped at him, the young man was a bit chastened. So he apologized and they continued along in silence for a bit. Constance looked about her at the countryside, so different than Indiana. In summer she imagined it would be simply beautiful, so wide open, mountains in the distance everywhere.
He risked a sidelong glance. And a smile.
“Anybody ever tell you that you’re beautiful when you’re angry, Miss Stroud?”
She had to chuckle just a little, "No, no one has ever told me that. Perhaps because I do not get angry all that much."
"But thank you even if I doubt you are completely sincere about it," she added, knowing he was just trying to butter her up.
"So my turn for questions then. You are a handsome lad yourself, well spoken, obviously intelligent. Do you not have a young lady you are currently courting? I have heard things happen quicker out here than back East. Why look at my employer, Mrs. Lutz. She can't be much older than you, I would hazard a guess and she is already married and has a baby."
"Come to think of it, I believe you and Miss Mudd would make a fine couple. Unless that man she was with the other day is her beau? I thought he was just another actor escorting her about though," she smiled.