Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted November 21, 2021
"Oh, well, that bank robber was about to shoot my husband-to-be, and I wasn't having any of that!" Emeline laughed. "The town is Kalispell, and it's much smaller than San Francisco, so when there's a bank robbery, just about everyone in town knows about it and shows up...I had the misfortune of being in the bank at the wrong time."
"The wild untamed west. My brother reads those dime novels about the desperado's, lawmen and the like. He would be beside himself to meet a real lawman and his wife. How exciting it must be up in Montana, and beautiful I imagine." Lillian said, somewhat in awe of what she would consider a frontier woman. "Now, there is transportation to the Cliff House, readily available, actually from the hotel, well, it regularly stops here."
She shrugged, glancing out the window, then back to Lillian. "I'll have to talk to Mr. Pike about it, then," she declared, "perhaps I can persuade him to take me to lunch there tomorrow. We got a glimpse of it as we came into the bay, but not a good look. Oh, and aren't there seals out there?"
"Yes man, seals, sea lions, all over the harbor area they are calling 'Fisherman's Wharf,' do to the trawlers that come in with their catches. But they are all up and down the coastline from what I've been told. You'll see them easily enough." She promised. "Yes, lunch at The Cliff House would be splended at any time, on any day. It is quite the place!"
There really was so much to see and do, and as she had said earlier, she wanted experience everything she could, and that included digging her toes into the sand and wading into the ocean!
"Mind you, be careful about your ideas of wading in the ocean like you mentioned. There are laws of decency. Naked ankles and oh, my. Yes, please be careful, we can't have you arrested." Lillian pleaded.
Posted November 22, 2021
"Oh, goodness, wouldn't that be quite the scandal!" Emeline laughed, but then, it could be another experience to put down in her book, and how long would they keep her anyway? "Mister Pike will get me out!"
She laughed, then commented, "We'll have to have lunch with you and your brother one day. I don't have many exciting stories, but Mister Pike certainly does. And I plan on making more tales before we go home and I have this baby." Her hand moved to rest on her belly, just starting to show, still cinched in by her corset.
"I'll have to be making some adjustments soon, and I suppose I should get any shopping done before I can't fit into a regular dress." Not that the pregnancy would slow her down, she'd just have to adapt.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted November 22, 2021
"Oh my yes! " Lillian exclaimed. "You can't bind yourself up in a corset with a child on the way." She backed away and looked at Emeline's stomach, there was the slightest of bumps barely visible. "She exhaled heavily. "Well, you're not so far along that any would notice. The corset only hides so much, you know, and I seriously doubt that it would be good on the child."
"But we'll do. we'll make do, so that you look your very best." She added. "And, lunch with you husband and my brother, that will be very special indeed!" She had a wide smile. "Tell me about your lie in Montana. Does he have mining interests there, \he is certainly well to do. Forgive me, I overstep. But do tell of life there."
Meanwhile on the sixth floor landing, The man turned, did a double take, and exclaimed, "Barnabas Pike!" The man was William Sharon, owner of the hotel, and known as one of the 'Silver Kings' of the Comstock.
"Bill Sharon. By the Lord Harry!" Pike exclaimed. "I'd heard you left the Comstock, and not with empty pockets. Let me introduce you Lloyd Tevis, President of Wells Fargo (left) and Alfred E. Davis, we call him 'Hog' Davis, a remnant of the forty-niners, now President of the South Coast Railroad. Gentlemen, Barnabas Pike, former Deputy and co-owner of the Yellow Jacket mine up on the Comstock."
"Gentlemen." Pike said, shaking hand with the two men, who made their excuse and left the two standing on the landing together. "Quite the place Bill."
"What brings you to the city? And where have you been since I saw you last?"
Posted December 2, 2021
"Oh, well, I don't suppose living in Kalispell is any different than..." Emeline suddenly laughed at herself, shaking her head. "Goodness, it's vastly different! You just about know everyone in town...there's just the one Main Street, and a few side streets, open spaces and huge ranches."
In talking about the town and the people, regaling poor Lillian with tales of miners, cowboys, ranchers, bandits and Indians, and even the lady stage driver and deputy sheriff. Then she chatted about the weather, how the snow blocked passes so you couldn't get out, how the streets got slushy and knee-deep in mud after a heavy rain, and...
"Goodness! I've talked your ear off!" Emeline laughed. "And Mr. Pike must wonder what's become of me. But please, we should have tea one day, I'd love to know more about San Francisco, and what it's like to live in a city this large."
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted December 4, 2021
Lillian giggled at the same interrupted sentence as Emeline. The idea that they lived similarly. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. The differences were like night and day, yet which was the better life? It was truly a matter of personal comfort.
"I would love to see your town, see what it's like without the hustle and bustle that we have here almost every minuet of every day. The quiet you must experience regularly would be heaven here." Lillian said. "Oh I know that where you live it is more difficult than here, far more actually, but the rewards? Unimaginable in San Francisco."
"Tea would be excellent. And my brother, to meet a real western lawman, well that would simply a dream come true. The west simply fascinates him, he talks endlessly of Dodge City, Abilene, and the like. I believe he was born in the wrong part of the country. You don't think your husband would mind, do you?"
Posted December 4, 2021
"Quite the place Bill."
"What brings you to the city? And where have you been since I saw you last?"
Pike smiled, "Deputy Town Marshal up ta Kalispell Montana. Where I went after I left the hill. Got myself married, buildin' a place for her and all the kids she expects ta have. Raise some beef an' some horses."
"Miss the hubbub up there?" Bill Sharon asked.
"Hardly, damn stamp mills goin' round the clock, mine whistles, weren't a quiet spot up there." He answered. "I brung my bride to see not jest the city here, but I got business up on the hill, so we'll spend us a couple days there before headin' for home."
"Thought this'd be a grand honeymoon for us both, and it's been a while since I was in either place."
"Well then my boy, your stay here is taken care of, I'll have a carriage and driver standing by for your use, and, there are some shops your wife may find to her liking in the hotel. You don't worry about a thing son, good to see you and have you here." Sharon offered. "I've got a meeting, well we have a meeting, but please make yourself available for dinner. Say sevenish? I look forward to meeting your missus."
"You can count on it Bill, and thanks, for everything." Pike responded. We'll be there
Posted December 6, 2021
"I'm sure he won't mind," Emeline commented, smiling, "and he can tell a tale with a flourish! I might have a few anecdotes as well, besides the bank robbers. I'll speak with him this evening."
Going over to the full-length mirror, she gazed at her reflection for several moments, studying her form. She'd never had a full mirror like this, and it was a bit odd to see all of her in one glass, especially in the pretty dress and with her hair in something more than a braid.
"You've done an amazing job." Smiling, she turned to face Lillian. "Mr. Pike won't recognize me without my apron! But then, I don't recognize him without his!"
As much as she felt like she was in costume, she was anxious for Barnabas to see her.
Posted December 6, 2021
Pike walked through the door at that very moment. "Well 'scuse me, Am I in the wrong room?" he asked, stunned at the change Lillian had made in his wife. A very pleasant change indeed. How she should always look, but then he would miss the woman that he had fallen in love with. Em he was sure, could stand with any woman in the city or on the Comstock .
"I gotta say. you are beautiful in that outfit." He stated, "prolly not as purdy as the woman I married, but close, I'll give ya that. We been loaned a carriage and driver, and we're expected at supper 'bout seven this evenin' with a friend of mine, Bill Sharon. He owns this place."
Lillian stood straighter, her eyes wide. "Mister Sharon is a friend of yours?" She stammered.
"Yes 'um, known him since my days on the Comstock. Surprised to see him here, though I'd heard he left Virginia City for here some time back." Barnabas responded. Then he looked to Em again. "Where ya wanna go? Any place special?"
Posted December 9, 2021
As Barnabas came into the room, Emeline turned to face him, feeling a deep blush rise in her cheeks. There was something in the way he was looking at her that made her feel self-conscious at the same time it made her feel elegant and beautiful.
"I gotta say. you are beautiful in that outfit." He stated, "prolly not as purdy as the woman I married, but close, I'll give ya that. We been loaned a carriage and driver, and we're expected at supper 'bout seven this evenin' with a friend of mine, Bill Sharon. He owns this place."
"Oh, her!" Smiling, Emeline stepped closer to Barnabas. "I've heard she struts around in men's pants!"
Lillian stood straighter, her eyes wide. "Mister Sharon is a friend of yours?" She stammered.
"Yes 'um, known him since my days on the Comstock. Surprised to see him here, though I'd heard he left Virginia City for here some time back." Barnabas responded. Then he looked to Em again. "Where ya wanna go? Any place special?"
While she wasn't sure who Mr. Sharon was, Emeline could tell he was someone important by Lillian's reaction, and that gave her a bit of trepidation. She was accustomed to working with 'common' men, miners, cowhands, laborers and such, but the thought of a mogul of some sort was intimidating.
"We don't have much time, but we can take a tour around the city?" she suggested, "I'd like to go down to the Cliff House and see the seals, but that's more suited to lunch...tomorrow, maybe?"
Standing on her toes, she kissed his cheek, then glanced at Lillian. "Thank you so much for your help...this is appropriate attire for evening?"
Not that she really had any intention of changing outfits twelve times a day...not only was it a lot of work, but it was frivolous and wasteful.
Posted December 10, 2021
Pike smiled, "Yes Love, we can do that. and tomorrow it'll be, what do they called it? Oh, lunch at the Cliff House and the seals. Yep, gonna be a bang up time."
Lillian, still a bit flustered by Barnabas' announcement he knew Mister Sharon tried to smile, "Y-yes, yes Ma'am, it will be perfect for the evening meal with Mister Sharon. You do look lovely."
"An' we're jest a burnin' daylight standin' about in this room." He was still smiling. "Now Lillian, I 'spose you two've set times an' such when you''ll need to get tagether?"
"Yes Sir, I believe we have everything set." Came the reply and a curtsey. "If you'll not be needing me?" And with that she left the suite.
"So, Missus Pike, reckon we need to be headin' on down in that contraption and findin' this here carriage we got the loan of an' start the tour of this place. There's gotta be lots ta see an' I'm right sure the driver knows where ta take folks fer site seein'. You ready?"
This was going to be special, a carriage all to themselves, a driver that would know the city and where to take them. As they walked to the elevator Barnabas felt excited. They were about to be chauffeured like the rich folk, not quite understanding that he, Barnabas Pike was in fact one of them, as was the lady on his arm. Something had had not paid much attention to.