Fire, The (7 page)

He wanted to tell them he would have seriously considered sticking around had he not had a graduate program to complete and a life to live in the twenty-first century. Teaching K-12 students in the age of slates and oak-and-cast-iron desks might be a kick.

Then Kevin remembered something, something potentially important, and checked that something out when Asa left the room for a moment. He retrieved the calendar from a pocket in his jacket and checked the lunar cycles for February 1910. The next full moon was Wednesday, February 23. He had nine more days in Wallace whether he liked it or not.

Kevin put the calendar away and smiled at Celia when she returned to the table and asked if he wanted more coffee. He declined the coffee but accepted Asa's offer of a carriage ride to a commercial building near Bank and Sixth, where the phone company maintained a telegraph office and great-great-granddad rented a small room and conducted business by appointment.

Kevin told Asa when they parted that he would give serious thought to teaching in Wallace and contact him again if he decided to stick around. He didn't add that that particular decision had already been made.

CHAPTER 11: KEVIN

Wednesday, February 16, 1910

Kevin got his fill of the real-life historical museum that was 1910 Wallace, Idaho, in his first forty-eight hours. After renting a safe-deposit box for his valuables and finding a room at a hotel on Bank Street, he investigated everything worth investigating on Monday and revisited the things he liked on Tuesday.

The things he liked weren't hard to find. Most of the fun in Wallace could be found in the three-block red-light district between Fifth Street, Cedar Street, and the river – or what Walking Walt had called the city's "Triangle of Sin."

Kevin limited his fun in the restricted district to that of an observer. Though he found the idea of patronizing a brothel pretty ghastly, he didn't mind watching others, particularly well-dressed men wearing wedding rings, slink out the side doors of non-descript buildings. He spent a good part of Monday afternoon watching men with money keep the local economy afloat.

On Tuesday he picked up a box of cigars at Wallace's busiest smoke shop, got a haircut and a bath at its most popular barbershop, and took in a show at a variety theater. The saloon-like establishment featured actresses, singers, dancers, and vaudeville routines.

He took digital photographs of these amazing sights whenever he had the chance. He knew that snapping any pictures involved an element of risk, but he didn't care. Who in his right mind would travel back a century in time and not bring back some quality JPEGs?

Kevin also sought out the girl. Twice on Monday and three times on Tuesday he walked past the house on the east end of Garnet Street hoping to capture a glimpse of a vision. He knew she wouldn't remember their meeting, which technically hadn't happened yet, and, even if she did, she wouldn't necessarily greet him the same way. She might ignore him or even toy with him, just as other beautiful women had toyed with Kevin his entire life.

Still, he sought her. He wouldn't consider his second trip to 1910 complete until he got at least one more look at her lovely face and captivating smile.

Kevin thought about that face and smile as he gazed at a coin in his hand and then a picture on a wall in the Shooting Star, a noisy saloon on the east end of Bank Street. He stared at the objects so intently that he didn't see a man staring intently at
him
from a barstool three feet away.

"From the looks of your mug, you're thinking about a sizeable fortune or a beautiful woman. My money says you're thinking about both," the man said with an Irish accent.

Kevin smiled, took a sip of his whiskey, and turned to his right.

"Are you a mind-reader?" he asked.

"No. I'm more of a trained observer of the human race."

The short, well-built man reached over and extended a hand.

"I'm Andy O'Connell. I'm a reporter for the
Standard
.

Kevin shook the hand.

"Kevin Johnson."

Andy downed a shot of something that looked conspicuously unfiltered and turned to Kevin.

"Am I right, Mr. Johnson?"

"Are you right about what?"

"
Are
you thinking about both a fortune and a woman?"

"I guess I am," Kevin said with a laugh. "You're pretty good."

"I study people for a living, my friend. I can tell just by looking at a man's eyes whether he is lying about embezzling funds or telling the truth about his role in an accident."

"Is that so?"

"That's so."

"So what gave me away?"

"It was the eagle. No man looks at a coin like that unless he's thinking of more just like it."

"What about the woman? There's no woman in here."

"Oh, yes there is."

Andy pointed to the second object that had captured Kevin's attention, a framed photograph of a beautiful woman that hung on the wall behind the bar. The woman smiled playfully in the picture, as if she were flirting with an admirer or perhaps teasing a curious time traveler who had strolled past her house.

Kevin smiled and shook his head.

"I also gathered from the sadness in your eyes that these treasures are not within easy reach," Andy said. "Are they?"

Kevin laughed.

"I don't know if I should answer that. You're a reporter."

"I'm a reporter out there. In here, I'm just a regular Joe in search of a laugh or a song or maybe someone to punch."

Kevin chuckled. He liked his new acquaintance but wasn't quite sure what to make of him. Like many miners in Wallace, Andy O'Connell spoke in the colorful brogue of the Emerald Isle. He was at best a generation removed from Ellis Island, but he was no downtrodden immigrant yearning to breathe free. Polished and immaculately dressed, he looked more like a lawyer than a laborer. He was probably someone to know.

"OK. If you must know, both of the 'treasures' are close. I have one in a safe place, and I'm still looking for the other."

"Do you mind if I ask which is which?"

Kevin laughed. He could see that Andy had not checked his investigative mind at the door.

"I'm still looking for the woman."

"I figured as much. So tell me, Kevin, what brings you to Wallace? I know nearly every soul in this town, but I haven't seen the likes of you until today."

"That's because I've been here only three days. I came here to find work."

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to teach. I want to teach in a public school and heard there was a need for educators in the Bitterroots," Kevin said. "I graduated eight weeks ago from the university in Seattle. When I couldn't find a job in Washington, I packed a suitcase and hopped on a train."

"Schools don't hire until the spring and summer. Surely, you know that. Why would you come to a place like this in the middle of winter?"

"I wanted to get a jump on the competition and meet the administrators before they sent out their calls. I also wanted to see the schools during the school year and assess the communities. I don't know a whole lot about this area."

"There's not much to know," Andy said with a cynical laugh. "The mountains around us contain silver, Kevin, lots of it. Men, dirty men, pull that silver from the ground. They spend their meager pay in saloons and whorehouses, marry if they can, and die when they must. Those who make the money are the merchants and the traders. They own the houses on the hill and the properties on the river. The sooner you understand that, the sooner you'll fit in."

"Wallace sounds like a lot of other towns."

Andy smiled.

"I suppose it is. There's enough here to keep a poor man happy and a rich man rich. You could do worse than Wallace. It depends on what you're looking for."

"I'm looking for a woman, remember?"

"Ah, yes. Does your woman have a name?"

"She does, but I think I'll keep that to myself for now."

Andy brought a hand to his chin and looked at Kevin closely.

"How long are you planning to stay in town?"

"I'll be here another week, maybe longer. I haven't decided."

"Do you have a place to stay?"

"I've got a room at the Panhandle Hotel. I'm paying day-to-day."

"You're probably paying too much too. Let me see if I can't find you something better."

"I don't know what you mean."

"There's a rich widow on King Street who rents rooms to young men who capture her fancy. She's a bit odd at times, but she's fair and generous. She'd love a lad like you."

Kevin chuckled.

"Let me guess. You've already captured her fancy."

Andy beamed.

"I've had the big room for a year now. Maude's the best landlord in town."

Kevin pondered his living situation as he finished his drink. He didn't want to spend another night at the Panhandle and put up with its hallway noise and bedbug bites. Nor did he want to impose on the Johnsons, who had offered him a room on Monday when they learned he'd be staying in Wallace through the twenty-third. He took a final gulp and set his glass aside.

"I may just have to investigate. Where do I find this Maude?"

"Right now she's sitting at a table in the Placer Room, probably nursing a glass of Madeira and badgering the management to upgrade its stock."

Kevin cocked his head and looked at Andy with curious eyes.

"How do you know that?"

"I know it because that's how she spends every Wednesday night. I'm joining her for dinner in fifteen minutes, and you're coming with me."

CHAPTER 12: MAUDE

Maude Duvalier, 35, sat at her usual table at the usual time and sipped a glass of Madeira. She had done so every Wednesday evening since her bastard of a husband had died of a stroke in the company of his 19-year-old secretary on the evening of Wednesday, January 22, 1908.

She viewed her midweek ritual less as an obsession than as a way of proving that English poet George Herbert was onto something when he'd said that living well was the best revenge. She had lived well on Marcus Duvalier's assets. The wine on Wednesdays was merely for show.

Maude looked around the room and saw faces that she knew as well as her own. The boy mayor was here, as were three merchants, a mine owner, two brokers, and a banker who reminded Maude of her bastard husband's brother. Most had brought their wives or girlfriends, but a few came with other men to discuss the matters that important men discussed.

Andy was late, of course, but Maude didn't hold it against him. Her friend and sole boarder for the past six months had a life that went beyond amusing a woman ten years his senior. He would move on soon enough and she was determined to enjoy him for as long as she could.

When she finally saw him enter the banquet room about five after six, she lifted her head and motioned for him to join her. When she saw another young man follow him into the room, she sat up straight in her chair and ran a hand through her thick red hair.

"Sorry I'm late, Maude," Andy said as he approached her table. "I had to finish the city council article and then wash it down with two of Charlie's specials."

"That's quite all right. Who's your friend?"

"This is Kevin Johnson. He's a college man from Seattle who wants to teach in the area."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Johnson."

"Kevin, this is Maude Duvalier, the richest woman in town."

Kevin chuckled as he shook Maude's hand.

"I'm sure he exaggerates. He's been a laugh a minute since I met him."

"Andrew is a comedian," Maude said, "but in this case he doesn't exaggerate. I
am
the richest woman in town. Please take a seat, gentlemen."

Maude summoned a waiter to the table to fill two more glasses of wine and then turned her attention to her newest acquaintance. She liked what she saw. Handsome, tidy, and polite, Kevin Johnson already had a leg up on ninety-five percent of the men she knew.

"So you're looking for work?"

"I am," Kevin said.

"Then you've come to the right place. There are ample opportunities to educate our urchins, though I'm sure Andrew has told you that the schools here don't hire until the spring."

"He has. I'm here mostly to take a look around. I may or may not be back in June."

"Have you seen anything you like?"

"I have. I like the scenery. I like the people. For a small town, Wallace has everything I need," Kevin said. "I do plan to visit other communities, but I'm in no hurry. I like it here."

"Kevin intends to stay in town another week," Andy said. "He's looking for accommodations that are a step up from the Panhandle. I told him you might be able to help."

Maude smiled at Andy and then Kevin.

"Did Andrew tell you that I prefer to rent rooms to handsome young men?"

Kevin laughed.

"He did."

"Please don't take that the wrong way, Mr. Johnson. I prefer to rent to men, particularly educated men, because they pay their bills and tend to be more interesting. I have yet to go wrong in two years, though few have measured up to Andrew."

"Do you rent by the week?"

"Indeed, I do. For three dollars you can have a room and your run of the house. I live on the north end of King Street."

"Then I think we have a deal. I'm getting tired of bedbugs," Kevin said. "How many boarders do you have?"

"I have just Andrew at the moment – and you, if you join us – but I'm looking for more. I would very much like to find a new cleaning girl, particularly one who can cook."

"What happened to the old one?"

"Esther left me. She put love before duty."

"I don't follow."

"She ran off with the milkman."

Kevin laughed.

"In any case, should you meet someone who can clean
and
cook, then please send her to me. I'd happily waive your February rent as a finder's fee."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Maude requested a full bottle of wine when the waiter returned, along with three orders of lamb and potatoes. She liked taking charge in a man's world, particularly when she could do so with her late husband's money. Marcus would surely appreciate the irony.