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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2952974" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Fifty-five, “Off to dinner“, May 30th, 1882:At around 1:30 PM Angela Young enters the school and stands politely in the back.    When Kate has an opportunity to take a break she approaches the young lady to see what she wants.  Angela replies, "I would like to sit and observe your lessons, my editor thinks that a story about your school would be good for the next edition of the newspaper."Kate states, "Of course.  We'll be glad to have the town know what we're doing here.  Why don't you find yourself a seat, it can't be comfortable to be standing for long these days.  We only have a couple hours left today, but you'd be welcome back tomorrow as well.  We can stay a few minutes after school to answer any questions you might have."She replies, "Thank you.  I have to leave before 3:00 though to go and cover another story."  Kate answers, "Oh?  What's happening at 3:00?"   She replies, "That's when Neil Cassidy is planning to drop by Condon's Bank and close his account.  He's one of their largest depositors, third only to Fisk and Adair.   And by now the Condons are aware of what happened at the trial today.  Judge Isby set the fine option for Adair at $ 25 a day meaning that Adair will have to pay $ 27,375 if he loses his appeal.   He may not have that much himself but if he's short Fisk would probably help him out.   Either way, that's still money out of Condon's Bank.  I'm almost certain that the Condon's don't have enough reserves on hand to cover all the accounts already closed today plus Cassidy's withdrawal and then that fine.""What a shame Mr. Adair won't spend any time in prison."  Kate was quiet for a moment.  "I hope that this won't ruin the Condons or the people who won't be able to get their money from their bank.  I understand the reasons, I support them, and it's an excellent strategy.  I just...  I suppose I do worry too much."   Angela says, "Oh, but Adair is spending time in Jail, he's in the County Jail until at least until the appeal is decided upon.     As for Condon's, I don't actually know what strategy Neil Cassidy will take.  He might just threaten to close the account but not do it until after tomorrow’s vote."Ginnie pipes up "Mrs. Kale the point of the withdrawal was to show the town how much it really does depend on it's non-human population. Just imagine the issues that could come up if they decided to do more than just pull their money from one bank to another. Only one general store voted for the multiracial voting rights so I believe that after the owners see what has happened to the bank the other general store owners may see their way to respect their non human clientele by allowing them the vote."Angela adds "Especially Cook's General Store, since Zeb Cook is on that Committee.  They are next door to the Promise City National Bank and I'm sure that the steady stream of new customers into that bank hasn't escaped their notice."   Kate says, "I understand Ginnie, and as I said, it's an excellent strategy.  But you know me, I can't help but worry.  It's sure to be an eye-opening experience for the entire town and if it gets all races the vote you won't hear another word from me."Kate got Angela settled where she could easily observe any of the three classes going on with only a short scoot of her chair and got back to her history lesson, hoping her worries were baseless.   The end of the school day came quickly and Kate smiled as the children went smiling into the sunshine.  It was only the second day and the novelty of school would wear off sooner or later, but she had a feeling that this unusual school would continue to have happy, interested students. Since they had gotten so much business done at lunchtime, the teachers made their after school meeting short, only discussing which students needed to be shifted to other groups that better fit their skills.  After Mollie and Meghan left, Kate walked over to the photo studio and asked Mr. Fly to come to the school the next afternoon.  She assumed Mr. Cassidy would be at the Lucky Lady that night, so did not go to the lumberyard. She knew she should go to the ranch, but instead found herself heading toward the El Parador.  Her family would only be here so long and she wanted to spend time with them if she could.  And secretly she hoped Conrad might be there as well.  They hadn't seen much of each other lately and she found herself missing him. In a few minutes Kate entered the El Parador and looked to see who was there.   The staff visible at the El Parador at the moment are Pedro, Dorita, Carlos Ramirez, and Angelica Huesca.   She is being told by her son Ricardo what happened in school that day.   At one of the table the Wong family, Charlie, Harry and Li, are dining together.   She is not surprised to see that Charlie and Li's daughter Mary is not with them.   They had some sort of a fight a month earlier and she moved out, having now taken a job as Josiah and Angela Young's live-in nanny so that Angela can do her newspaper reporter job.   Her brothers Henry and Phillip are sitting with Enrico Escobar and the wood elf is busy giving them an exciting account of life on a cattle drive.  Furniture maker Cole Rixton is dining alone.  Seeing him reminds Kate that he too is a member of the Committee for Racial Equality.Kate smiled toward her brothers although they were oblivious to her entrance, wrapped up in Mr. Escobar's story.  Instead of approaching them she went to Mr. Rixton and said, "Good afternoon.  Do you mind if I join you?"   He smiles and says, "Certainly Mrs. Kale, please have a seat."    She sat down with a friendly smile.  "I haven't had a chance to tell you how very pleased I was to see your name on the ad from your Committee.  I was feeling a bit down that particular day but seeing what you gentlemen had done gave me heart again. The other teachers and I would like to talk to the committee, or whoever can make it after school tomorrow.  I hope you can come?"He replies, "Absolutely, I would love to. I trust that the furniture for it is working out as you planned? I can always make some more pieces if you need them."   She replies, "Everything is working fine. We may have some special needs, I'll have to see how things go during this first week. I had expected to be the only teacher, so the room was planned accordingly. Now that I have help and more than one class is going on at a time we may have to make some adjustments. I'm still a little uneasy about Mr. Cassidy and Mr. Fly agreeing to sponsor the school without having the chance to check with all of you. I know it was a special situation and speed was of the essence, but I hope you'll accept my apology anyway."  He answers, "Oh, you're just being silly Mrs. Kale. If you recall, I was the first businessman in town to throw my full support to your school when I sold you the furniture for it at cost. You already knew my answer, and I agree, time was of the essence if we were going to stop those close-minded Vigilance Folk. But while you are here, I had another matter to talk to you about. I'm considering a run for a Councilman position. I don't really care for the sound of the rumors of candidates being considered. I was originally thinking that our Committee for Racial Equality should field its own list of candidates, but given how divided the town was yesterday I'm not sure that we'd get enough votes to get into office.""As a slate, I'm not sure either. But if all races do get the vote they'll be looking for people who supported them to vote for. Just because people can run on slates doesn't mean they have to. You could run independently, and probably have a better chance that way. A slate of candidates is an impersonal thing, an ideal. When a person votes for a single candidate they vote for the person. Of course, a slate is convenient, and many will just pick one. But I encourage you to do it. I would certainly vote for you, I don't like what I'm hearing for candidates either.""Thank you," Rixton states. He then goes back to his meal. Conrad Booth then arrives, seating himself with the three young men Henry, Phil and Enrico.  Kate stayed with Mr. Rixton a few more minutes and chatted about nothing important, then excused herself. Not wanting to interrupt Enrico, she slipped quietly between Conrad and Henry and smiled.They wait until Enrico winds down on the story. Conrad then asks, "And what are you so happy about Mrs. Kale?"  "Am I?" she asked lightly. "Well, I'm sitting with four handsome men, only two of which I'm related to. Mrs. King's attempt as sabotage actually helped the school in some ways, I will get to vote in the elections and my friends who are not human are making their importance known today. I have plenty of reasons for smiling."Conrad says, "Well, I don't want to rain on your parade but don't get your hopes too high about what your friends did today. Apparently Deputy Cassidy overplayed his hand with Frank Condon and it backfired. He's more determined than ever to stick with his previous vote." Enrico says, "I could have told you that. Frank's not one to back down to any threat, actually he and Cassidy are a lot alike in that regard."Kate replies, "I didn't have much hope for Condon. He's done things in the past that already told me reason or even sense don't go far with him. My hope is more that other businesses and people will realize just how much this town depends on everyone, not just humans. So even if the vote doesn't go our way tomorrow perhaps those eventually elected will think twice before trying to pass oppressive policies."Conrad says, "Well, the rumor mill has it that he was rather successful with Zeb and Helen Cook. Their business wasn't impacted all that much today but they saw all of the activity going on at the bank next door.   So Cassidy paid them a visit around an hour ago and let them know what it was all about. He told them that the folks weren't too happy about depositing in the First National given Paul Stevens negative vote too but didn't see any alternative so they decided to support the head teller who voted Yes. He then added that there would have been an alternative if Zeb had also voted Yes on Monday, as they would have been able to sell every safe that they had in stock. Their business hasn't been doing well and they have five safes at the moment with a total retail value of almost $ 800. Helen was less than pleased hearing about losing all those sales."Kate says, "Wonderful. So I will continue to smile. I haven't seen you for a few days. Where have you been hiding yourself?"  Conrad gestures to her brothers and says with a smile, "Ask them, they've been the ones monopolizing my time." Henry says, "This afternoon we took a buggy ride all around the area with Conrad and his friend Mother Jimenez."  She says, "You met Mother Jimenez? I've only met her once myself, how did you get along with her? What did you talk about?"  Henry says, "She pointed out the various flora and fauna of the region while Conrad showed us a few points of interest." Conrad interjects, "Yes, a trip to the region would not be complete without getting a chance to see the Cochise Head mountain. I plan to take your parents out on a similar ride tomorrow.""It's beautiful country, isn't it Henry? Not green and lush like home but still..." Beneath the table Kate discretely took Conrad's hand. "I'm sure my parents will enjoy the drive, I'm sorry to be missing all the fun."  Kate relaxed, chatting casually with Conrad and her brothers. After a time her parents arrived and Ginnie came flying in looking for dinner. It felt as if everyone was in the right place, and even her talk with Ruby couldn't break the feeling of "rightness" that rested in her breast.   For this night she didn't worry about elections and votes, just enjoying the presence of so many people she loved in one place. By the time she and Ginnie got home and went to bed she was tired in the best way. And although she was comfortable in her bed, somewhere deep down she regretted being alone in it.Once back in town Jake stables his horse and returns most of his guns to their places. While reloading his favored Colt with the rounds Pierre sold him, he notices that Ruby's bags are not only still packed but have been moved. He stares poker faced at them for several minutes before rousing himself and making his way to the Lucky Lady for supper.  After finishing their afternoon chores, Minerva decides to take Nakomo to the Lucky Lady for dinner.Chester finds Clarisse and they have supper at the El Parador. He says to her, "When the elections come around, I'm going to run for Marshall." She replies, "That sounds wonderful. I know you can do it, Chet. I'm excited for you." He says, "It's a big step, but I'm ready."Jake, Minerva and Nakomo arrive at the Lucky Lady. He sees Chester and Clarisse dining at one table, Al Brower sitting at the bar drinking whiskey and talking to Harry Rote, and Neil Cassidy having dinner with Rufus Davis, the plump and scruffy owner of the Arizona Billiard Hall.    Chester sees Minerva, Jake, and Nakomo enter. He says to Clarisse, "Looks like the kid's getting more comfortable in town. Let's hope that no one tries anything against him."Jake approaches the bar. "Is this private or would you care for some company?"  Al Brower says "Sure Jake, pull up a barstool. I was just drowning my sorrows. Got me a 'Dear John' letter today, guess it's my own damned fault for thinking that a beautiful woman would ever go for a goofy-looking guy like me."  Jake replies, "I am sorry to hear that Al. Who is the ungrateful wench?"He replies, "Madge Duprey. We were keeping the relationship secret, she was afraid that Lumley would fire her. And now she's gone and is not coming back."   Jake says, "You and Madge? I must be worse than blind. Gone where?"  Al replies, "She wouldn't say, just that she was going away and never coming back here. Her letter had a Tucson postmark on it. Part of me want to go chase after her, to find her and make her my wife. Another part of me wants to shoot her. The rest of me just says that it's time to get good and drunk, except we have that damned meeting at 7:00 AM tomorrow that we have to be at.""Well Al, a good drunk is a good way to let things stew and see what you really want to do. Damned shame about that meeting tomorrow morning for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is getting in the way of your good drunk. Tell you what, if you can wait that long I will get good drunk with you tomorrow night after my game breaks up." Or without you he thinks to himself.He replies, "Thank you Jake, you're a good friend. I'll be glad to have this damned meeting behind us, this politics is certainly the way to ruin perfectly good friendships. Right now Alton, or partner in the cigar store, won't even speak to myself and Pierre because we're on opposite sides of this human/non-human voting issue."Jake is about to say or get people killed and them remembers that Harry is with them. Instead he just nods. "This town has certainly gone loco. Too much too fast. People need time, things can often be worked out by talking. Looks to me that many things will change forever soon." He raises his glass, "Here is to the chances that more will be good than bad when we are done."After the toast, Jake wanders over to Chet and Clarisse. "How are you folks this evening? It has been a while since we have had a chance to talk."   Chester answers, "We're doing fine, Jake. How've you been? Things have been crazy around here the past couple days. berg's stepping down, so I'm going to run for Marshall. Now I need someone to run with." "Mierde, Chet! You are not asking me to run for office I hope." Jake seems genuinely surprised. "Look, pard, I will support you and vote for you but please do not even suggest to anyone that I might be a candidate for anything."Minerva and Nakomo find a table and order dinner. Nakomo is much more relaxed than he has been up to this point as he excitedly replays the afternoons events. "Did you see the way that he shot the flower off of that cactus? I didn't even see him draw his gun from the holster! It was astounding!" Minerva smiles. "Senor Jake is quite amazing with a gun. I have had several opportunities to see him in action. He is wise beyond his years and you must heed his words and never draw your gun unless it is absolutely necessary." "Yes, I know..." he continues brushing off her words, "but did you see the way he shot that flower off of the cactus!?" Minerva shakes her head and wonders if Jake is prepared for the hero worship that he is about to experience.Minerva is then interrupted when the man named Davis walks over to her table. She has seen him before at her worship services, usually sitting by himself in the back of the room, and he has never spoken to her before. He softly states, "Priestess, may I have a word...."  Minerva stands. "Senor Davis, Buenas Nochas. Would you like to sit for a moment or would you prefer to speak in private?"  Rufus Davis says, "Er, well, um, this is fine Priestess. What I have to say is...well....um....er.....will you marry me?"</blockquote>

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