"I think Mr. Caine will be a fine man to assist Speed," Emeline commented as they strolled along the boardwalk toward the old brewery. She had Wheeler braced on one hip and her other hand twined into Barnabas'. "He seems to know what he's doing...what he's getting into. And he can keep a eye on Charlie, make sure he stays out of trouble, learns what he needs to."
At least she hoped Caine was as competent as he claimed, had the experience he had laid out. It wouldn't be unusual for a man to make claims, so he could get what he wanted, but she didn't think that was the case. Caine seemed competent and confident, and he was old enough to have some savvy about the world.
"I do hope he works out..."
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
"Don't have a clue why he wouldn't." Speed said. "He went to school for it. Imagine that they teach law enforcement, what the call it, in the university these days."
"Be a leg up, that's for sure." Pike stated, thinking how all he ever knew was what some old timer told him. The man would do a good job, of that he was sure. On the other hand, he was happy to be absolved of that responsibility. He planned to hang up his guns and work his ranch, unless he was needed.
"So you get yourself a good deal on his place?" Speed asked as they arrived at the old brewery building.
"Did. Paid cash, all we need to do is shape her up and get us a pumper." Pike replied with a grin. Gonna keep'er, maybe charge the town a couple of dollars a month for the use of it." He chuckled, "town'll be gettin' ff easy, 'cept for the pumper, but maybe somethin' could be worked out."
"Could be, could certainly be." Speed agreed
"It's a good size," Emeline commented as they looked over the exterior of the building. Of course, she'd seen it before, numerous times, but had never paid attention to it specifically. "Bigger than the fire houses I've seen before, even in San Francisco."
The building was made for manufacturing and storage, so there was ample square footage over two stories. A single pumper company would only take up part of that.
"Room to expand as the town grows," she observed, "and quarters, should we ever have paid men." For now, there didn't seem to be the need for anything more than volunteers, and she had no doubt there would be plenty of men willing to do that...and Addy, too, of course! "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to put in some sleeping quarters for volunteers who may want a place to sleep."
There was work to be done, but it would be a fine firehouse for the town.
Pike was beaming at her words as well as the look of approval on Speed's face. "So the deal is, all we need now is the pumper, the horses, horses which could be stabled ri-chere, and men to man it."
"Oh I hardly see a problem with the me to man a pumper, of course it would help to have one." Speed agreed. "And paid firefighters, yes, that would be a good thing to have, if, and i do mean if, the Town Council would approve it. That might be a trick."
"I figgered that much, and the pumper might be easier to get than this building was. Any ways, upstairs is all set up for lodging, might need to do some building, but there's a stove and one of them ice box things. We do got an ice house in town and plenty of wood available. I figger that the thing needs a Fire Chief, so we might be on the look out for anybody that fits that need." He looked around, "We get a pumper and stable the team in here, it'll get small real quick."
"I'm sure Addy can find us some good horses," Emeline put in. "I think my Morgans are too small to haul a pumper, but I'm not really sure how big they are." She shrugged. "And don't they have hand-drawn hose carts? A formal bucket brigade would help, too, but that's something someone who stays in town needs to handle."
There was only so much they could do as far as organization from the ranch out of town, but they certainly could provide monetary and advisory support.
"Shall we go inside and look around? I hope it doesn't still smell like a brewery!"
"No, the place was aired out pretty good. The main floor," He said as he opened the door with the key, "is just that, a big empty floor. It can be built to suit any need. We need someone with experience to make those decisions, probably after we actually get the pumper. It's upstairs where there were closet for the employees, and where the kitchen is." He led the way to the staircase.
"This would work for the fire house, and yes, it is a bit big for just the one pumper, but that being said, we don't know what the future will bring our way." Speed speculated, and nothing is built in here as yet, and that could change how the place looks once that's completed."
They climbed the stairs and entered the top floor along the south wall. They were greeted by a large room off to the right, on the left, two offices, doors standing ajar, a third room that was the kitchen with space to spare, perhaps a small dining room. On the right was one more room of fair size; there were half a dozen closets lining the left side and a long plank bench in front of it.
"Might need to rustle up some beds if we intend to have men on round the clock," Barnabas said. "I think the whole thing's gonna work."
"It looks like there's plenty of room," Emeline agreed, following Barnabas up the stairs. "And the structure looks sound. There's just some interior work, paint, curtains..." Grinning, she glanced at her husband. "Lace curtains!"
Stepping into the kitchen, she looked around, nodding approval. "This looks like it will work for several people, needs to be cleaned up a little, some new equipment." Glancing up at Barnabas, she smiled. "We need the pumper to start...what about asking Mr. McVey about putting advertisements in some of the bigger papers in the territory about finding something used?"
"McVay's an idea. I need ta, wasn't ol' Dutton Peabody workin' on something for us down in Helena? Was that a rumor , 'er the truth?" He asked, agreeing with Em.
"He was, last I heard, I need to wire hiom now that we have a place for it." Speed said, " And your right about McVay. He has contacts all over to get the word out, bt maybe I wire Dutton and see where all of his efforts have ked. He may have something."
Both men looked at Em, and in unisense said, "Lace curtains?"
"Of course lace. Why not?" Emeline smiled sweetly, then laughed. "I'll get my lace curtains one of these days!" She looked around and nodded. "I think this will do just fine, so, yes, we should try to contact Mr. Peabody and find out if he's had any success." After all, there was no sense in looking on their own if Dutton had found something.
"Mr. Peabody knows how to operate one, right?" If they could get their hands on a decently priced pumper, of course they'd need someone who could train some of the local men how it worked. "Hopefully we'll never need it, but there's no telling, and we're better off prepared."
The town had had fires before, and it was only through Providence that there hadn't been a lot of destruction. And, of course, Kalispell had learned the lessons of older strike towns, and many of the buildings were made of brick, and had metal shutters.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
"Dutton? Nah, he, well, I'm not sure." Speed said, considering the possibility that he might. "I mean, anything could be possible with him. But we need to put out a call for someone with firefighting experience."
"Yep, an' good ol' Phin can help with that." Barnabas said, "His paper's goin' out all around for this Founders Day thing, unless I miss my guess, so we surely can find a man what knows about pumpers."
"Could be, I mean, there are plenty of men out of the bigger cities that might have the experience we'll need. But I'm hesitant to bring in men with that experience, even the bucket brigade men, with lace curtains in the windows of the firehouse." Speed said, then looked at Em before Barnabas started laughing, which got him laughing as well.
