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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1885402" data-attributes="member: 8530">Interlude Four: "The Showmen"Meanwhile, approximatley 1,400 miles northeast of Promise City, at one of St. Louis, Missouri’s finest restaurants…the two showmen sat across from each other, each savoring the taste of their porterhouse steaks served with the restaurant’s own secret sauce. Their arrival had caused quite a stir, with the restaurant’s waiters literally falling over each other to serve the men. The restaurant owner had donated a fine bottle of wine for the meal and mentioned sending for a photographer. Neither man seemed overly excited about that interruption of their dining but they both understood the importance of free publicity. “Must you dress in such an outlandish outfit?” asks the man who was neatly attired in a well-made wool and silk blended suit asked of his flamboyant companion. “All part of the act,” William ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody replies, although he himself was now regretting the fringes and tassels dangling from the sleeves of his yellowish-tan leather coat, as they kept coming precariously close to his food whenever he cut into the steak. Cody took another bite and said, “A very fine choice of restaurant P.T., this is the best steak I’ve ever eaten outside of Chicago.” The two men continued to dine and talk, with the subject of this meeting then being raised. Not long after that point in the discussion the photographer arrived and began to set up the equipment in the restaurant’s outer lobby. The restaurant owner hurried over to the table and interrupted their conversation, exclaiming “Mr. Barnum, Mr. Cody, could you please join me for a picture?” The two men accompanied him and spent the next fifteen minutes posing for the photographs. The photographer shot several pictures to ensure that at least one would be presentable. The celebrities then returned to their table. They picked up the conversation where they had left off which Cody commenting, “Hard to believe that such a monster actually exists. I’ve always thought it was just a thing of legend.” Barnum replies, “I’ve had accounts of three different sightings, the last from a man I wholeheartedly trust. If he says that it exists then it does. Capturing it will not be an easy task, which is why I suggested this partnership.” Cody answers, “Well, you’ll come out a winner no matter how we get it. We may have to kill the thing, which you could still stuff and display at your circus, but I plan for everything at my Wild West shows to be live.” “So do we have a deal?” Barnum asks. Cody replies, “Fine with me. I was planning to head down to southeastern Arizona anyway to try to sign up that kid Sure Shot Sam, the one who gunned down Doc Holliday and Johnny Behind-the-Deuce. I figure he’d be a good draw for my shows. The men would love to hear the stories of all the folks he’s killed and the papers say that he’s young and handsome, which will help to pull in the women too.” P.T. exclaims “Great! Glad to have you on board. I’m sorry that I’ll personally have to miss out on this, but I’m already scheduled to head over to Europe later this week for another animal acquisition. You’ll be happy to know though that I’ve hired three of the best hunters and outdoorsmen in the world to assist with this operation. They will be joining up with each other later this week in Phoenix.” Cody didn’t comment, but he was actually pleased to hear that Barnum would not be joining the expedition. The last thing he needed underfoot was an overweight elderly Easterner who was unfamiliar with living in the outdoors. Barnum asks, “How long will it take for your crew to get organized?” “Shouldn’t take too long,” Cody replies, “I’ll wire my buffalo hunters and have them meet up with me in Santa Fe. We should be able to connect with your group in another week or so. What’s the name of the town that we’ll be using as our base camp?” Barnum replies “Promise City”.</blockquote>

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