"Oh, that is interestin'. And you must take after your Pa, you sure don't look Spanish," Turk guessed.
Sally was a little disconcerted at this... her looks, especially her brown 'Spanish eyes' were just like her Mother's, from what she could remember, and they felt like her only connection with her after all these years since she had died. Still, she pushed on with her truncated biography.
After that, she mentioned that ample fishy brain food might improve her intelligence, which, in itself, showed just how much her intelligence needed improving!
"Bein pretty optimistic there, Sally, we probably won't catch that many."
"Oh, I know, it'd take a whole ocean's worth of fish to fix my brains, but 'every little helps' like they say. I'd probably need as many fish as there's fleas on a dog!" she pointed out.
"Let's just see how they're biting," he smiled.
She frowned. Did he mean the fleas? She'd wait until Monday, after she'd eaten all this fish, before she tried to work that out.
"And no one should be making fun of you. No one better do that in front of me," he felt badly for the cruelty the gal was having to deal with.
"I'll make sure everybody knows not to do it unless you're not around. But you're here today, that's the main thing. You come into town for a special reason?" she asked, genuinely interested.
"I'll make sure everybody knows not to do it unless you're not around. But you're here today, that's the main thing. You come into town for a special reason?" she asked, genuinely interested.
Turk did not get the first part she said but wasn't going to ask. She however was asking him something.
"Special reason, nope. I just came in town to get away from the ranch for awhile. Though I did manage to go over to the gunshop and buy me some whale oil.........for my gun. One uses it after you've cleaned everything. A man wants to do everything he can to make sure the weapon is in the best working order," he explained.
He had also managed to polish off the short bread and thanked her, "That hit the spot, Sally. Thank ya. But I really should be going. So when should I come by this Sunday?"
He imagined she was a church goer, he was not.
"Special reason, nope. I just came in town to get away from the ranch for awhile.”
“You’re allowed to do that? I have to get permission to leave here, unless it’s to go to the store or I got some other real good reason.” Sally gaped at Turk’s freedom of action.
“… I did manage to go over to the gunshop and buy me some whale oil.........for my gun. One uses it after you've cleaned everything. A man wants to do everything he can to make sure the weapon is in the best working order," he explained.
“Ooh, is Mr Smith back?” Sally asked “Or is somebody else running it now? That was sure scandlus how he was carryin’ on with Miss Matthews and then ran off with that Irishwoman once she’d shot her Daddy.”
He had also managed to polish off the short bread and thanked her, "That hit the spot, Sally. Thank ya. But I really should be going. So when should I come by this Sunday?"
“Well, if you meet me at noon, I can bring a long a little picnic for us to eat… just in case we don’t catch no fish.”
“Ooh, is Mr Smith back?” Sally asked “Or is somebody else running it now? That was sure scandlus how he was carryin’ on with Miss Matthews and then ran off with that Irishwoman once she’d shot her Daddy.”
"I don't know who it was, he didn't give his name. Old fella, said he was a veteran of the Mexican war, I'd have guessed the American Revolution," Turk exaggerated for effect.
The rest of what Sally was goin on about, he had no clue, must have been before he had arrived in Kalispell.
He had also managed to polish off the short bread and thanked her, "That hit the spot, Sally. Thank ya. But I really should be going. So when should I come by this Sunday?"
“Well, if you meet me at noon, I can bring a long a little picnic for us to eat… just in case we don’t catch no fish.”
"That sounds good. Don't go thru too much trouble with the lunch, donna wanna feel guilty just in case we don't catch anything. But I was a pretty fair fisherman when I was a boy so I'm hopeful," Turk ventured.
Then he stood up and smiled at her even as he headed for the side door, "Always a pleasure, Sally, your company that is. Good day."
Caroline had been around, quiet as a churchmouse, for once, just listening to those two. She now had to speak up.
"I don't know, hon, but I think you've made quite a good impression on that man. Good for you!"