"Ahem!!! I am sure that this girl is nothing more than a flim-flam artiste, a legacy hunter, come to stir up trouble for a completely innocent man!"r Pettigrew interrupted this flow of conjecture "I think that you are rather jumping to conclusions, Miss Mudd.
"Thank you, Mister Pertigrew, and I believe that you are correct in you assumption. And her name is not Ciciley Pike, though I have no idea what her name is, I had only heard of her a s Sis, and now you are sayily Emeline Pike shot someone? That was not something I had heard." Alice stated.
"Say, does that mean that the other kid, the one that Mrs Pike shot, is actually his son, too? Oh, poor Mr Pike! And how awful to have a secret daughter that's so big and fat? If she'd been normal sized and pretty, the whole thing might have rather a romantic air to it, don't you think? I mean, young men always must sow their wild oats, and..."
"I'd watch what you imply, Miss Mudd, Emeline is my friend, and well liked in this town. What has happened in not common knowledge even to Speed. If that is a fact, then this County Sheriff will be tasked with investigating it!" She stated her temper seeming to flair a bit, but Arabella could have that effect on people.
"Ahem!!!" Mr Pettigrew interrupted this flow of conjecture "I think that you are rather jumping to conclusions, Miss Mudd. I am sure that this girl is nothing more than a flim-flam artiste, a legacy hunter, come to stir up trouble for a completely innocent man!"
"As you suggested sir, a legacy hunter, I'd never heard of such a thing. Well, this will be the end of the line for whatever she is!" Alice said with conviction.
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
"Thank you, Mister Pettigrew, and I believe that you are correct in you assumption. And her name is not Cecily Pike, though I have no idea what her name is, I had only heard of her as Sis, and now you are saying Emeline Pike shot someone? That was not something I had heard." Alice stated.
"Well, I reckon Sis might be short for Cicely and of course they're keeping her surname under wraps. And as for Mrs Pike shooting that boy, why that's for definite and apparently Mrs P. must be a pretty good shot because the kid was like a little dwarf and so thin and emaciated he made a pretty thin target. I heard that from a woman who heard it from a feller who talked to one of the cowboys who buried him!" Arabella stated with great authority.
"I'd watch what you imply, Miss Mudd, Emeline is my friend, and well liked in this town."
Arabella pulled an convinced 'humph, if you say so' sort of face.
"What has happened is not common knowledge even to Speed. If that is a fact, then this County Sheriff will be tasked with investigating it!" She stated her temper seeming to flair a bit, but Arabella could have that effect on people.
The actress frowned "County Sheriff... which one's he? That Japanese feller? I get mixed up with all of these lawmen around here." she admitted. "I mean, Mr Guyer is wonderful, but the rest of 'em? What an incredible bunch! Y'got one who's a foreigner and chops people up with a sword, one who never seems to do anything... I mean Charlie's a nice feller, if a little bumptious, but I don't suppose he's ever actually arrested anybody... and then Mr Pike going around shooting his big fat daughter."
"Ahem!!!" Mr Pettigrew interrupted this flow of conjecture "I think that you are rather jumping to conclusions, Miss Mudd. I am sure that this girl is nothing more than a flim-flam artiste, a legacy hunter, come to stir up trouble for a completely innocent man!"
"As you suggested sir, a legacy hunter, I'd never heard of such a thing. Well, this will be the end of the line for whatever she is!" Alice said with conviction.
"What..." Arabella asked, wide eyed "... do you think Mr Pike will come into town and finish the job?!"
"Perhaps we could get back to weddings?" interjected Mr Pettigrew, trying to regain control of the conversation.
"Hmmm, what date are you thinking of?" Arabella asked Alice "Because you don't want to clash with Zenobia Matthews' hanging, do you? You don't want people to have to chose between attending one or the other..." Her implication was that most people would happily swerve yet another wedding in order to see the rare sight of a woman being hanged.
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
"Thank you, Mister Pettigrew, and I believe that you are correct in you assumption. And her name is not Cecily Pike, though I have no idea what her name is, I had only heard of her as Sis, and now you are saying Emeline Pike shot someone? That was not something I had heard." Alice stated.
"Well, I reckon Sis might be short for Cicely and of course they're keeping her surname under wraps. And as for Mrs Pike shooting that boy, why that's for definite and apparently Mrs P. must be a pretty good shot because the kid was like a little dwarf and so thin and emaciated he made a pretty thin target. I heard that from a woman who heard it from a feller who talked to one of the cowboys who buried him!" Arabella stated with great authority.
"I'd watch what you imply, Miss Mudd, Emeline is my friend, and well liked in this town."
Arabella pulled an unconvinced 'humph, if you say so' sort of face.
"What has happened is not common knowledge even to Speed. If that is a fact, then this County Sheriff will be tasked with investigating it!" She stated her temper seeming to flair a bit, but Arabella could have that effect on people.
The actress frowned "County Sheriff... which one's he? That Japanese feller? I get mixed up with all of these lawmen around here." she admitted. "I mean, Mr Guyer is wonderful, but the rest of 'em? What an incredible bunch! Y'got one who's a foreigner and chops people up with a sword, one who never seems to do anything... I mean Charlie's a nice feller, if a little bumptious, but I don't suppose he's ever actually arrested anybody... and then Mr Pike going around shooting his big fat daughter."
"Ahem!!!" Mr Pettigrew interrupted this flow of conjecture "I think that you are rather jumping to conclusions, Miss Mudd. I am sure that this girl is nothing more than a flim-flam artiste, a legacy hunter, come to stir up trouble for a completely innocent man!"
"As you suggested sir, a legacy hunter, I'd never heard of such a thing. Well, this will be the end of the line for whatever she is!" Alice said with conviction.
"What..." Arabella asked, wide eyed "... do you think Mr Pike will come into town and finish the job?!"
"Perhaps we could get back to weddings?" interjected Mr Pettigrew, trying to regain control of the conversation.
"Hmmm, what date are you thinking of?" Arabella asked Alice "Because you don't want to clash with Zenobia Matthews' hanging, do you? You don't want people to have to chose between attending one or the other..." Her implication was that most people would happily swerve yet another wedding in order to see the rare sight of a woman being hanged.
Alice had been enjoying talking about dresses with Arabella, but to her, the conversation had turned to this girl, Cicely, or CeCe, and now to Zenobia Matthews and this long awaited hanging, or perhaps her release from custody. This had turned into accusations about the Pikes and this shooting of this girl and her brother, and she was getting no closer to the wedding dress she was after.
"There appears to be a great deal of information about this shooting that no one else seems to have, and just who is this fountain of information, and is something being done about it? Or is this just a good deal of tongue wagging? Can we please get back to discussing my wedding gown? I do appreciate your help, Arabella, honestly, I do. The rest of this is just conjecture and rumor. So far as I know, this CeCe is still out at the Pikes' ranch being cared for by them and the new woman doctor from here in town. Unless someone snuck her into town." Then Alice looked toward Mister Pettigrew, "Anyway, about this dress."
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
"There appears to be a great deal of information about this shooting that no one else seems to have, and just who is this fountain of information"
Arabella laughed.
"Oh Miss Fletcher, you clearly don't know where to go to get good gossip! Simply everybody knows about the shooting!"
"... and is something being done about it? Or is this just a good deal of tongue wagging?
"Well a little bit of both, I reckon" Arabella beamed.
"Can we please get back to discussing my wedding gown? I do appreciate your help, Arabella, honestly, I do. The rest of this is just conjecture and rumor. So far as I know, this CeCe is still out at the Pikes' ranch being cared for by them and the new woman doctor from here in town. Unless someone snuck her into town."
The Virginian girl really did laugh then, Miss Fletcher asking to change the tack of the conversation but being irresistibly drawn back to the subject of the mysterious giantess like a moth to the candle.
"Now I'm seriously worried about your lack of good gossip sources" she said "Everybody knows that she came to town yesterday and moved in with Mrs Patterson Forde, of all people. Why, she's right next door this very moment!"
Mr Pettigrew looked alarmed and glanced nervously at the wall of the room they were in, as if he expected this monster in female form to come smashing through it at any moment.
Then Alice looked toward Mister Pettigrew, "Anyway, about this dress."
But Arabella had worked herself up into a sort of feverish fervour now and blurted out.
"Oh, the dress can keep, or rather, Mr P just needs to make you one like this in your size. All of a sudden I've such a yen to see this Ogress, don't you Miss Fletcher? - Why, we could go downstairs right now and knock on next door and pay a call on this Miss Cicely. See for ourselves what all the fuss is about!" she suggested boldly.
Suddenly, she balked. As if by some force unknown to her. Something from deep within her, something that said it was not right to pry into the girl's life, perpetuating the sideshow flavor of her existence. Suddenly, it was something Alice could not do. "I'm sorry, Arabella. I simply cannot take enjoyment in someone else's pain." There she had said it! Gossiping, snickering, laughing behind her back, if not to her face. The horrors that gossiping could bring to another human being for the sheer fun of it?
"Mister Pettigrew and I need to make our decisions on this dress, which is of a great deal more importance than going down to make light of the girl's unfortunate condition," Alice said without reservation. "You go if you like." She turned to Pettigrew, "Perhaps having been married before white is not the right color."
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
"I'm sorry, Arabella. I simply cannot take enjoyment in someone else's pain." There she had said it!
The thick-skinned Arabella shrugged. "Oh well, have it your own way, but I think you're missing out on a treat."
Mr Pettigrew nodded sycophantically "Quite right, Miss Fletcher" although, in truth, he too was interested to see this jumbo girl the whole town was talking about.
"Mister Pettigrew and I need to make our decisions on this dress, which is of a great deal more importance than going down to make light of the girl's unfortunate condition," Alice said without reservation. "You go if you like."
"Oh I will, don't you worry." Arabella grinned "So, do you like this color?" she brought the conversation back to the dress, as Alice wished.
She turned to Pettigrew, "Perhaps having been married before white is not the right color."
"Hmmm..." Mr Pettigrew looked at Arabella in the dress and then Miss Fletcher "... perhaps something in Ivory"
Arabella nodded with a grin "Yes, sort of 'I'm not quite a virgin, but I'm not too shop-worn neither!"
Mr Pettigrew frowned. Sometimes, despite her newly acquired enunciation and diction, Miss Mudd betrayed her white-trash origins.
Unsure about the 'shopworn' comment, Alice decided that it was Arabella after all, and whether it was or was not directed at her, she let it go rather than punch the actress in the nose. No sense starting a feud that will be spread all over town.
"White just does not seem to be right, after all. And the idea of ivory sounded very good to her, as well as proper. Although who would care out there in Kalispell? It was a ceremony, and certain norms were followed, as best folks could for the times.
"You can run along down to see this girl, woman, whichever, I am quite sure I will see her soon enough. And there is other business I need to attend to with Mister Pettigrew here before I'm finished. You've been really helpful, Ara. Honestly, you have. Like dresses that I'll be needing. Right, sir?"
"Where are the snows of yesterday" - Villon
"You can run along down to see this girl, woman, whichever, I am quite sure I will see her soon enough. And there is other business I need to attend to with Mister Pettigrew here before I'm finished. You've been really helpful, Ara. Honestly, you have. Like dresses that I'll be needing. Right, sir?"
"Oh, I'm dismissed?" Arabella laughed "Then farewell, my lady" she said, jumping up and giving a curtsey which went well with the somewhat medieval aspect of the very simple wedding gown she was modelling.
She left them.
Mr Pettigrew mopped his brow, Miss Mudd's presence always made him a little nervous: she herself seemed completely unfazed by her faux pas but others often found them embarrassing.
"Now, where were we?" he asked, trying to maintain his equilibrium.
"Somewhere in the process of putting together my wedding dress, or gown, or whatever it is called." Alice responded and then clarified herself. "I hope I did not use Arabella too much, but that sort of thing is cruel, I believe. Such a shame to have to live a life like that, imprisoned in a body she cannot help herself with. I mean, it is not her fault." It was quiet then for a moment from the whirlwind that was Arabwlla Mudd.
"I just wanted to get my dress for my wedding day, and I do mean to have it and some others which we need to discuss." She added. "You have my complete trust. Just show me some samples that you think will be what I need."