Chapter Four
The New Mountie
There was a new mountie heading into town who would be wearing the red serge now. His name was Cyrus Newberry and his wife's name was Abilene Jane. They had one son, 24 years old who was away to a college in the States. Both Mr. and Mrs. Newberry were both in their upper forties in age.
Nathan and Bill met the two new comers when they got into town. They had driven in by motorized vehicle with Mrs. Newberry behind the wheel. Mr. Newberry appeared a bit on the ashen side by the time Mrs. Newberry slammed on the brakes in front of the Mountie's office barely missing Nathan and Bill.
"Whew!", she exclaimed while turning off the engine and stepping out of the vehicle. "That one about got away from me. I'm Abilene Jane and this is my husband, Cyrus, your new mountie"
Cyrus was a rather short but stalky man with short, well kept slightly greying hair and dark brown serious eyes. When he spoke he sounded like he could have been ten feet tall and he could certainly get your attention with his deep booming voice.
Abilene stood a few inches taller than Cyrus and looked even taller while she was sporting her rather large, feathered hat. She had dark, brown hair that was tied back in a loose braid and was a sturdy woman of generous proportions.
"Hello, I'm Bill Avery, the Judge, and this is Nathan Grant, our new Sheriff."
"How do you do?", the Newberrys said at once.
One of the first things Cyrus asked for was where the livery stable was so he could buy a horse and gear.
Abilene Jane let out a chuckle. "He loves his horses," she said. "I, myself, love motorized vehicles. I don't have to feed them and it's easier on my…" She stopped talking and playfully pointed to indicate her lower derrière. "Never mind" she chuckled again as her eyes darted from one building in town to the other while taking it all in.
Nathan and Bill looked at each other and without words were both thinking Cyrus and Abilene certainly seemed like an interesting couple.
Both Newberrys were immediately friendly with the towns people and took very little time introducing themselves to anyone that looked their way.
All of a sudden there was an "Ohhhhhhhh…there you two are!" Rosemary was fast-walking towards the couple, arms flailing upwards in her usual animated excitement. "I heard you were coming today and I wanted to be the first to greet you to Hope Valley but I see I am a little too late. I'm Rosemary Coulter and I run the town newspaper, The Valley Voice."
Before they could speak Rosemary yells out to Lee, "Leeeeee…Leeeee!" That got Lee's attention of course and Rosemary motioned him over to the couple. "This is my husband Lee. He is the new town mayor. Lee this is…I didn't catch you names?"
Nathan pipes in and says "This is Mr. Newberry, the new mountie in town, and this is his wife Mrs. Newberry."
Mrs. Newberry says, "Please, please, just call him Cyrus and me Abilene…Abilene Jane. Nice to meet you all."
"Rosemary could you take this house key and show Abilene Jane their new home?", Bill requested. "We'll show Cyrus the office and bring him home shortly."
"Sure Bill. I would love too." The two ladies walked off and both seemed to be having an exciting conversation. Rosemary was pointing here and there explaining what building was what and who owned it.
Bill, Nathan,Lee and Cyrus walked into the Mountie office.
Cyrus, and Nathan were to share the same office. Neither was enamored with the idea of sharing the office but unless they could get a bigger building, sharing would just have to do…for now. A new building had been on the town council's agenda for the last several months but letting go of that much of the town's revenue gave some town's people indigestion. Lee, being the new Mayor, was still working on the issue.
Bill was loving that Nathan was having to share his office with the new guy and was enjoying the fact that he had his own "Judges" office. Yep…all his very own space. He remembered how him and Nathan had struggled to get the upper hand when it came to staking claim on the office desk and the hat space in the office. Nathan won that battle only because Bill snagged the big win…his own office. Knock Before Enteringwas the sign on Bill's door but nobody paid attention to it. So much for signs, Bill would mutter to himself.
"Sorry guys but don't get any ideas about my office. That would be a big no can do" said Bill, grinning from ear to ear.
Nathan laughed. "I will show Cyrus to his quarters and let him get settled in with Abilene. I'm sure they could use some rest. Cyrus, we will have a lot to discuss tomorrow. We will need to discuss the Pinkerton presence around town and a few other things. We will get some of the women in town to show Abilene around if that is ok with you."
"I am sure they will be more than glad to do that," says Bill.
Lee chuckled and said,"That is if Rosemary hasn't already shown her everything in town already,"
"For now I imagine you two would like to rest a bit after your journey", Bill said then added "If you want to eat supper at the cafe just tell Clara the meal's on me. Do you have any questions right now?"
Cyrus thanked them all and indicated he did not have any questions and that they would gladly take Bill up on the offer for supper that evening.
Cyrus followed Nathan out the door to their new home. Ablilene and Rosemary were moving furniture around and busying themselves like they had known each other forever. Nathan bid them a good evening.
Rosemary followed Nathan's lead and bid them ado for now. "See you two soon. Welcome to Hope Valley."
Exhausted from travel they quickly thanked them and started to unpack some essentials they had brought. Nathan had shown Cyrus where the cafe was located as Rosemary had also done with Abilene.
Before going to supper, Cyrus unpack his red serge, hat, boots, and gloves making sure to smooth out any wrinkles that packing may have caused. Abilene got out the iron and placed it close to the stove. She would do some ironing in the morning before Cyrus dressed for the first day of his job in this new town…which would be their new home.