––––––––
Gideon was led into a room somewhere in New York City, he couldn’t even be sure where. Two men sat him down, one holding a gun on him while the other tied his hands behind his back, then tied his wrists to the back of the chair itself. The man with the gun nodded to the other, who stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.
“Sorry about the less-than-comfortable arrangements, preacher.”
Gideon looked at the man in a long, slow silence. “You’re the brother,” he finally said.
The man chuckled, knowing and impressed. “Very good, preacher. Christian Davis, but my friends all call me Chris.” After a tense silence, he added, “Though I guess that won’t be happening here.”
“And your sister’s brought you all in on this?”
“My sister’s a valuable asset to the organization, preacher. I know you and yours have cause to take offense to her, and to me as well.”
“You kidnapped me from a church, threatening my family’s lives.”
“And didn’t hurt a hair on anybody’s head,” Chris said. “If you play your cards right, you should all still get safely home.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Gideon said. “You don’t give one whit for our safety.”
Chris said, “That’s true enough. But we don’t have anything against you either. We’re getting paid to do a job, and paid well. All you’re supposed to do is help keep everything quiet in the meantime.”
“What am I supposed to do in this room, tied to this chair?”
“You’re insurance, against your hothead Irish wife.” Gideon nodded, but soon enough an exasperated sigh inspired the shake of his head instead. Chris asked, “What’s wrong, don’t you think we’ll get away with it?”
“No,” Gideon said, “you may well, you may well indeed.”
***
It didn’t take much for Katherine to get Mrs. Pritchett’s attention once the party stepped into the lobby of the Royal Arms Hotel outside of Five Points. And after all Mrs. Pritchett’s posturing and sarcasm and snide remarks, Katherine knew just how to appeal to her more practical side. Once a few of Margaret’s dollars secured Mrs. Pritchett’s attention, Katherine managed to convince her to bring down Mr. Casper Suskind of Alabama, his back still stiff.
“All this is the work of Clementine Davis,” Katherine explained, turning to Casper to add, “She's the one who wrote you under my name, she’s the one who stole your money. She bragged to me later that she did it to almost a dozen men.”
“So you said,” Casper said.
Horatio asked him, “Are you calling her a liar?”
Katherine held out her hand to calm Horatio, turning back to Casper and Mrs. Pritchett. “She did you both harm, and now’s your chance to bring her to justice.”
“What do I care about that?” Casper said.
But Katherine was quick to ask, “Isn’t that why you’re here, to find the girl who stole your money?” He shrugged.
Margaret leaned in to say, “Perhaps you’d like a little more money?”
Casper said, “I’ve got plenty. Revenge is the dish I crave, that cold delicacy.”
“And you shall have it,” Horatio said, “though not against me nor Katherine here nor any of us.”
“Take it easy, laddie buck,” Casper said, “looks like we’re on the same side now.”
Katherine turned to Mrs. Pritchett. “What do you say?”
But Mrs. Pritchett only scowled, glancing at Katherine and the other members of her party. “I prefer the money.”
A slow smile crept across Katherine’s face. “How many people do you think you can gather up before tomorrow noon?”
***
Their visit to the Royal Arms had been a success. But Katherine wasn’t finished yet, and daylight was fast slipping away. The next person she was looking for, she did not want to come across after sundown.
“Jackie Bones, isn’t it?” Katherine said as she and her party approached the big, redheaded man from behind.
He turned, his big body bending forward as he looked her over. “I don’t know you,” he said in a heated brogue. But a closer look sparked some recognition and Jackie Bones looked closer. “State ‘cher purpose!”
“To hire you and as many able men as you can raise in the next ten hours.”
Margaret nodded to Laurence, who handed Jackie Bones a piece of paper, thrice folded and inside it was a good-sized stack of paper bills.
“Another such payment when the job is completed successfully,” Horatio said.
“Watch your mouth, short pants,” said Jackie Bones.
Horatio lurched toward Jackie Bones, who had two feet and at least a hundred pounds on the younger man. He didn’t even flinch, but Ida eased him back.
Katherine said, “What do you say, Jackie Bones? Are you man enough to handle the job?”
Jackie Bones looked at the money, then back at Katherine and the others. “Two more payments,” he said. “Not, one more payment, but double.”
“It’s a deal,” Margaret said.
But Jackie Bones was still dubious, glancing back and forth between Katherine and other members of her party. “I suppose it depends on what the job is, don’t it?”
***
The basement of the Caldwell Theatre wasn’t nearly as crowded as the main rooms above, but the activity was no less essential to Stanton Caldwell’s attention. He came down during the festivities of the performances to check on the progress.
Dale was hard at work on the mixture, making sure to get it right, eyes down, focused on the task. Stanton walked through the basement, past the processing equipment they brought in especially, boxes they’d use to ship out their finished product. He reached Dale in the corner, stirring that vital concoction, the delivery system for the pleasure and insight of hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps more.
This is the future, Stanton thought to himself, this is the way to reach out to people, to really get inside their heads and hearts. The theatre is fine, but this ... is this the gateway to the soul.
In a gentle, friendly voice, Stanton asked Dale, “How’s it comin’ down here, son?” Dale simply nodded. “You make sure you got those portions right in the mixture, Dale. We can’t have bubbles or too much base.”
“Yes sir,” Dale said, still working the concoction.
Stanton took in the boy’s melancholy air. “Come on now, boy, you’ve got to put that heartbreak behind you! Why, my own heart’s been busted a hundred times, and each time I picked myself up and moved on.”
“It’s different,” Dale said.
“Of course it is, it’s always different; why, that’s the one thing about love that’s always the same! But that girl, she was in love with the other before we ever arrived, and that kind of previous love, that’s hard to beat, m’boy. And if anybody could have, my money’d have been on you.”
Dale looked up. “Y’think?”
“After what you did for her, your heroics? Worthy of the stage above us, Dale, I’d swear to the Lord Almighty to that very fact!” Dale seemed to brighten a bit, so Stanton went on, “But there are some rivers no man can cross, Dale, and that’s when you gotta stake your claim to whatever’s on your own banks, you follow me?”
Dale thought about it, nodding sullenly.
Stanton said, “All this, this is what matters, Dale, this is what counts. You keep your mind on this, make this work, you’ll have your pick of any gal you want.”
“Any but one,” Dale said.
Stanton clapped his hand on Dale’s shoulder. “That’s what you call a mistake of youth. You want her now, but that owes as much to the adventure you shared, the danger, it’s reasonable that you’d have gotten a bit carried away by all that. But look around you, young man; you’re surrounded by the future, and all the excitement and adventure and danger you can ask for and more. And of danger, there’ll be plenty of that, sooner than the others. So keep your head on straight, get that work done and be smart about it too, lad. When the time comes to take up arms, I know you’ll be ready to fight alongside the rest of us, if need be.”
Dale nodded and Stanton shook his shoulder. “Good boy, Dale. Now back to work ... time’s running out.”
***
That night, Ida and Horatio parted company at her bedroom door. They said goodnight, he kissed her hand gently, his subtle strength seeping into her, through the fingers and down into her arms.
But he knew he could not comfort her. “Sleep well,” he said softly, “and peacefully, if you can. Try not to worry about tomorrow.”
“Try —? How can I hope not to worry, Horatio? My father held hostage against another man’s murder, and I have to sing as I would normally do? I don’t know that I’ll be able to get out a single note, Horatio. And then what? They’ll think we’re betraying them, and their hostage will be of no use —”
“Your father is a strong and capable man,” Horatio said, “I know this better than most, but not so well as those he’s faced off against in the past. Surely, he would not want you to be worrying about him.”
“But I do, and I worry about you, Horatio.”
“Ida, I —”
“Neither one of us knows what’s going to happen out there tomorrow, and we both know your instincts are so ... highly tuned, so sharp. I only hope they don’t get the better of you.”
Horatio said, “They’ll get the better of whomever comes across them. But I understand your concern, and I want to calm it, my love. Katherine’s plan is a good one, and it puts me near to your side to protect you and let the others play their own roles. But I will not leave your side throughout the coming trial, whatever may happen.”
“Oh, that,” Ida said with a warm smile, “I’m not worried about that in the slightest. What you’ll do in my service, however —”
“Whatever needs to be done,” Horatio said.
“Yes,” Ida agreed. “That’s what worries me.”
***
The next morning in Franklin, the door of the Caldwell Theatre creaked open with the dawn’s first light, Sally creeping in quietly, looking around the seemingly empty lobby and bar. She had every reason to believe Stanton would still be asleep, along with Garret and most of the others.
“Look what the cat’s dragged in,” Stanton said as Sally froze in the lobby, turning to see him swaying in the doorway between the doorway and bar. “S’a little late to be comin’ in.”
Sally looked Stanton over, the smell of liquor drifting all the way across the room. “And it’s a little early to be pie-eyed.”
“You’ve got your nerve, comin’ in here and lecturin’ me on piety, you strumpet!”
“I’m a free woman, we’ve discussed this! If you’re wanting for company you can find it almost anywhere.”
“Bah,” Stanton said, waving her off. “Nobody in this place gives two shakes for ol’ Stanton Caldwell, you can be sure of that!”
Sally shook her head. “You don’t see the way they look at you.”
“And who’s that?”
“The female guests on the arms of some of our lesser gentlemen. They see the way you call the shots, greeting the guests like the cock of the walk.”
“Well, if I miss such things, it’s because I’m busy with the business of the theatre. While you’re up all night with that sheriff. Just what are you two cooking up in that room behind the jailin’ office is what I’d like to know.”
“You already know,” Sally said, “and nothing other.”
Stanton took a menacing step closer to Sally, and she took an instinctive step back. “I hope that’s so, Sal me old girl. Because if I find out you’ve acting against us —”
“No, Stanton —”
“Betraying our sacred vow to this operation —”
“I wouldn’t, not ever —”
“Selling out the ones you know and love best, in favor of some bought-out ghost of a lawman —”
“Stanton!”
“I’ll gut you like a fish and fry you up for my evening’s supper, is that clear?”
Sally nodding. “I never would, I —”
Stanton shouted into her face, “Is that clear?”
“Yes, yes,” Sally said, snapping back with a frightful wince. “It’s clear, quite clear.”
“We’re in a time of crisis now, woman, don’t you see that?”
“I do, Stanton, I do.”
“What’s all this?” They turned to see Dale standing in the room nearby. He was angry, his newly muscled arms slack at his sides, thickened chest heaving with his furious pant. Stanton and Sally stood in the silent tension.
Stanton said, “Just a little disagreement, Dale, nothing for you to worry about.” Dale stood there with a new, brooding intensity, unsure of what he was seeing but not at all liking what he’d heard. Without saying a thing, he turned and slowly disappeared back down the hall.
The tension of the moment unwound slowly, Stanton leaning back to give Sally the room her body clearly needed. In a soft, reasonable tone, he said, “All right then, why don’t you get on up to your room, try to get some rest. You look like you need it.”
Sally walked quietly to the stairwell and turned, the heaving silence all around them. She finally couldn’t help but say, “You used to love me though, did you? Once, a long time ago, when I was ... when I was still pretty?” Stanton just stared out into a distant memory, eyes glazing over, putting that big cigar into his mouth. Sally chuckled nervously. “Don’t be cruel, Stanton, I know you loved me. You used to say it often enough.”
Stanton turned to look at Sally standing across the empty lobby at the foot of the stairs. There was much distance between them, greater than the mere length of the room, louder than the angry silence that hovered in the thickening tension.
Finally, Stanton turned away, and in a low, gritty voice, said only, “I lied.”
Sally stood there, legs quivering, heart empty and hardened, long since broken to pieces. She couldn’t stay in the cloud of the insult, even though both knew it to be an act. They were both long past the truth, and there was no going back.