"Oh, you should be afraid, Barnabas Pike!" Grinning, Emeline stood and headed for the door with him. "Such a wise man, but I promise to use restraint!"
The meal had been excellent, and the news even better, and although she was feeling a bit tired, Emeline was also feeling good, and eager to look around. "So, where to next? Or are you brave enough to give me a few coins and set me loose?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him.
He took out his wallet from his inside coat pocket and extracted a few bills which totaled twenty dollars. A handsome sum to be sure for that day and age, but he wanted her to be able to get whatever her heart desired.
"So don't spend it all in one place." He cautioned. "Meet back at the hotel?" He asked, not setting a time constraint as he had things to do as well, and he had no idea how long that would take. She would be fine, but he would watch until she disappeared in the crowds on the boardwalk.
"Don't worry, I'll spread it around!" Grinning, Emeline kissed him on the cheek as she accepted the money, more than she ever even had to spend on the cafe, except for when she'd put money down on the building. The ideas of what she could do with it, even a small portion, made her head spin just a bit, and she stowed it safely in her purse beside her derringer, placing a hand over the whole as she walked.
For a while, she just strolled along the boardwalk at a steady pace, pausing now and again to look in windows, and stepping into a candy shop to get some lemon drops, and some peppermint sticks for a group of children that were playing out front. She smiled as she exchanged the treats for some information, then continued her course, turning right onto Carson street.
Down a block or two, the train was passing, and she stopped to listen to the low whistle. She'd always loved that sound, and it was one thing she missed in Kalispell, and one good thing about having the train come through there. As she turned left onto F Street, then right onto North, she paused to pick a small bouquet of wildflowers, tucking a few tidy-tips behind her ear.
At least it was a beautiful day, with a breeze that kept her cool as she passed through the gates to the cemetery. For a moment, she paused there, closing her eyes and just listening, then she began to wander among the stones until she found the one she was looking for.
Julia Dey
"Hello, Julia." Smiling sadly, she squatted down, then ended up sitting in the dirt because of the baby she carried. "I'm Emeline...Barnabas' wife. He's a good man, a real good man, and I know he still loves you in your own way. Fate brought us together, and I think he's happy. I know I am." Taking a breath, she laid the flowers down, then started to dig a small hole in the grave, narrow and deep.
"My Andrew is there, where you are, he's a good man, too, maybe a bit boring, just a farmer, but really good. Watch out for him," from her purse, she took a pair of simple gold wedding bands and placed them in the hole she'd made, then started covering it, "and he'll watch out for you. I have children there, too, if you don't mind."
After sitting for a moment and blinking tears, she struggled to her feet, then laughed. "I suppose I'm not very graceful, but I promise I'll take good care of Barnabas and make him as happy as I can. I'm glad I had a chance to meet you."
She had barely made a few steps when Adria decided she'd had enough and kicked Emeline savagely, causing her grab onto her belly and double over, trying to breathe her way though the pain. It would pass, she knew, but in the mean time, she needed to block the pain and curse Eve for bringing this down on women! Another pain brought her back to the ground, where she bit the inside of her cheek, willing the pain to pass quickly.
Barnabas Pike entered the Wells Fargo office, a bank he knew pretty well, and one that had handled his transactions since his time as a Deputy Sheriff. They now had a police force alongside the Sheriff's department, he wondered how that was going.
He walked up to the window and announced himself, "Barnabas Pike here to see about the funds you are holding."
"Yes, sir Mister Pike, Mister Sharon wired ahead that you were coming," The teller informed him. Bill thought of everything. "Now Mister Avondale over here is prepared to help you with this transaction if you'll follow me." And Barnabas passed through the waist-high gate to allow him into the office proper. Mister Avondale? Mister Barnabas Pike." The mustachioed gentleman at the desk rose and extended a hand as the teller walked away.
"Please. sir, have a seat, this should take but a few minutes. We are holding quite a large sum for you and had wired Kalispell for you to contact us. We did not realize you were actually on your way here, but thanks to Mister William Sharon we were informed. Now, sir, there are some papers to sign in order to transfer this money to Helena Montana for you." Avondale explained.
"Can you check to see my balance there, by chance?" Barnabas asked.
"Certainly, sir. Actually, a receipt of the transfer will contain that information for you and we should have that this evening before closing at five." He took out a folder with Pike's name and slid a piece of paper to him. "Take a moment to read this and then, when you're ready please sign there. He pointed to the empty line.
It was just moments later that a wire was sent, confirmed that it had been received and the business was concluded. There would be an envelope waiting for him with Helena's reply.
"Thank you, sir, appreciate your help with this," Pike said shaking the man's hand again, and then he left the bank, stepping out on the boardwalk. He looked across the street, The Sharon House. A restaurant where a number of the wealthiest hung out when not at the Washoe Club, often called the "Millionaires Club." But the Sharon house was even an escape from there, and the fabled poker games held at night sometimes went on for days, and where hundreds of thousands of dollars changed hands. It was the hang-out for Captain Taylor.
Pike crossed the street, walked up Taylor street to the door, and stepped inside. There was Cap in a broadcloth suit and a simple string tie, seated at the bar with a bourbon in front of him. "You get the bank settled up?"
"Did," Pike replied taking the stool next to him. "Feels odd being back here. But it also gives Em a chance to see one of the places I've called home. She's out galavanting about, I reckon. So she wants to see the inside of a mine. Any chance?"
"Sure, up to the Mexican. I'd say the Gould and Curry, but they're a mite touchy anymore about such things, and we've got a share in the Mexican anyway. Maybe down to the first stope? That be good enough?" He asked.
"Yeah, that ought to be deep enough to give her a good feel for it," Pike replied. The Mexican Mine went fairly deep before the first ore was found. It would be fairly, but not overly hot at that level, perhaps one hundred feet down.
"I'm watching what's happening here, when things slow down a bit more, I'll recommend selling out while the price is high," Cap said suddenly.
Pike looked at him, "Sure, makes sense. Hard to fathom this place going dry."
"They all do, Pronto, they all do." Cap replied.
不要輕視蛇，有朝一日它可能會變成一條龍
The Chinaman was even more confused now, but he was a strong believer in fate: the strange little girl in the white dress, with a face almost as pale had waved at him and made a begging motion for him to follow her into the graveyard: a place of extremely bad omen that Charlie had rather avoid if possible: even in his homeland, he would enter such a place only to worship and tidy the graves of his ancestors.
A worried look on his face, he had followed the child: who seemed concerned and looked almost as worried as himself.
And now she was gone!
Charlie pulled nervously on his pigtail. There was no sign of the girl but, over by one of the gravestones was a woman, and she looked to be in great pain. He ran over as fast as his little bow legs would carry him and then cried out in shock as he bent over her and recognised her face.
"Honourable Mrs Pike?!!" he gasped.
The pain had started to ease up some, at least that was what Emeline was trying to tell herself, when she heard the quick footsteps, and then she man call her name. Taking a breath, she looked up, surprised to see the little man hovering over her.
"Yes, I'm Emeline Pike. Do I know you?" Or maybe Barnabas had had her followed? Not that it mattered, she was just happy to see another living being! "Excuse me," she sat upright, "the baby is dancing a jig, and it hurts." She'd be glad when that was over, and doubly, because that would mean she would be holding the infant in her arms!
不要輕視蛇，有朝一日它可能會變成一條龍
"Yes, I'm Emeline Pike. Do I know you?" Or maybe Barnabas had had her followed? Not that it mattered, she was just happy to see another living being!
"Oh, so sorry!" said Charlie in his pidgin English, giving a little bow to the white lady "I am Bao-yu, er, 'Charlie Fa', friend of Mr Crabbe in Kalispell. Ex-partner of same. You not recognise, all Chinese look the same!" he smiled genially. But there was a look of worry about his face. The woman was touching her tummy and, well, it looked somewhat larger than the last time he had seen her in Kallispell. Perhaps she had been eating too many of her own pies, but there seemed a more obvious explanation, especially as he knew she had gone off on a long honeymoon with her new husband Mr Pike. Bao-yu didn't bother to do the calculations, Mr Pike wouldn't be the first man in history to plough the field before he'd signed the lease on the farm.
"This one help!" he said, raising the lady up with gentle hands.
"Excuse me," she sat upright, "the baby is dancing a jig, and it hurts." She'd be glad when that was over, and doubly, because that would mean she would be holding the infant in her arms!
Mr Fa gave a little bob of his head to signal his understanding, and looked around again. Apart from the strange little girl who had led him here, he was sure he had seem something, something like a shadow, playing around Mrs Pike when she collapsed.
"Please, Mrs Pike, we go from here. this bad place..." he frowned "Please to tell, whose grave you visit?" he asked with an urgency that indicated that he considered the answer of the utmost importance.
"Oh, Charlie." Emeline now recognized the man, not so much that the Chinese all 'looked alike', but because she really wouldn't have expected him here, so far from home. She smiled as he helped her stand. "It's good to see you, but what are you doing here? Did Mr. Crabbe relocate?"
It was a relief to see a familiar face, and that seemed to help the pain just a bit. "I just wanted to see..." Well, she knew that the Chinese had different beliefs and superstitions about death, and she didn't want him to mis-interperate her intentions, so she wouldn't mention that she was 'talking' to the woman. "Julia Dey, a dear friend of Barnabas'." That was the best way she could describe it. "The baby has decided she wants to go back into town now, though. I'll be glad when the pain and nausea are over."
And then would start another kind of pain -- sleepless nights, diapers and sore...breasts!
不要輕視蛇，有朝一日它可能會變成一條龍
"It's good to see you, but what are you doing here? Did Mr. Crabbe relocate?"
"In manner of speaking, yes." Charlie nodded. If his reading of the great I Ching was correct, Crabbe was long gone, dead and off to meet his ancestors. In fact, he said as much to Em "Mr Crabbe, he gone away to visit relations!"
As he helped her to her feet, Mrs Pike started to explain what she was doing there.
It was a relief to see a familiar face, and that seemed to help the pain just a bit. "I just wanted to see..." Well, she knew that the Chinese had different beliefs and superstitions about death, and she didn't want him to mis-interperate her intentions, so she wouldn't mention that she was 'talking' to the woman. "Julia Dey, a dear friend of Barnabas'."
The Chinaman's eyes narrowed. "Honourable Mrs Pike being coy with Charlie Fa!" he admonished "When say dear friend, mean old girlfriend?" He looked down at Miss Dey's grave suspiciously and fingered an amulet round his neck and then started doing some weird sort of numerical calculation on his fingers, touching the 9 joints of his middle fingers with his thumb. "Old Chinese proverb, Mrs Pike, 'when new wife meet old wife, knife take life'. It not very clever proverb, but that not point!"
"Where you go now?" he asked, obviously concerned about her wellbeing.
That was the best way she could describe it. "The baby has decided she wants to go back into town now, though. I'll be glad when the pain and nausea are over."
The little man nodded "Hmmm, sometime child know better than parent." he took her by the arm to support her out of that place of ill omen "Charlie has pony and trap outside Cemetery, take you into town if like, get medicine for pain if like, too. Not bad Mercian medicine. Chinese medicine."
"Reckon so, Cap, reckon so." Pike replied. "Speaking of, how long you figure before you make that move?"
"Hard to tell, maybe a year at the most. Things are still profitable. I mean, you saw that last deposit, the one they didn't transfer. Maybe a couple more of those and we sell. Got to make sure we come out with more cash than creases."
"So, I hate to admit this Cap, but I honestly have no idea what's sittin' in that Helena bank, I mean I got a rough idea, but I've bought land cattle and had a house built, so I put a dent in whatever's there, just hope it wasn't more than I should'a spent. "corse I figure the bank would have had some say about that."
"Yep they would, so yer solvent. Meanin' you got money left, but I have books, they'll tell us what you had before all this spending, well, not what you spent, but what I deposited for you. So that would match up with whatever records your bank has." Cap smiled, "I figure alla that'll be in the wire they get back if you asked."
"Did. Seemed the thing to do since I'm not well informed about such things, of my own failings. It just never came to me that I ought to know what I had, being here changed that, I need to be responsible from here on out about finances. Not that I shouldn't have before this, but that's the way of it."