Chapter 5 Candy and Jason

Jason had just come from a meeting with Aaron, they were a little behind and Aaron was again threatening a penalty if they did not meet the deadline. Joshua had taken the late shift and would be on the mountain for another hour or so before letting the men leave for the day.

"What will you have Jason?" Lottie asked from behind the bar.

"I will have whiskey and let me keep the bottle!" Jason said and walked over to a table in the corner of the saloon. He decided to sit by himself and think for awhile. Ben came in and saw him and went right over to him:

"Jason, I have this telegraph from Candy, it is urgent, she will need an answer right away!" Ben said as he sat down and raised his hand for another glass. Lottie brought the other glass and he poured himself a drink as well. Jason read:

"Jason. The ladies disappeared in a place called 'The Dead Zone' Jeremy went to look for them. I haven't heard from him for about 3 hours. Please let me know what to do. Thank you. CP"

Jason sat there for what seemed like 5 or more minutes when in actuality it was only a minute.

"Ben, I will come over and send a telegram back to Candy!" he went to pour himself a drink, looked at Ben and shook his head. He finished off the bottle and followed Ben to the store.

"Mr. Perkins, the telegraph started to come, and I took the message for you! It is from a Reverend Carlson? Are my sister and Jeremy okay?"

"I don't know Christopher." Jason read this next message! Then he asked Ben does this seem correct to you?"

"I trust Christopher, he is an excellent telegrapher! Although his spelling could be better, but it is correct!" Ben answered. Jason took the second message and put it in his pocket.

"Send this to Candy:

"Candy. Remain at the hotel! Do not go looking for Jeremy. I will be there tonight! JB"

Jason left when ben was finished. Christopher followed him. He did not notice that he was being followed until he stepped into his cabin door and Christopher went in with him.

"Is my sister in trouble?" Christopher asked Jason who turned around and was surprised to see him. He stood looking at Christopher for a moment and said:

"I don't think she is in any danger at the moment. But Jeremy is!"

"Is there anything I can do?" Christopher asked.

"Yes, you can go back and stay with Biddie, do not say anything to anyone!" Christopher opened the door and then Jason said:

"Will you run up to the camp and get Josh for me. Tell him it is urgent!" Christopher shook his head yes and ran out of the cabin. Molly was just coming around to find him.

"Christopher, Biddie wants you to come home now!"

"I will be home after I get Josh for Jason!" Christopher said as he ran past Molly, who wanted to know what was going on.

When Jason had just finished packing his bags and getting ready to ride his horse, Joshua showed up.

"What is it Jason?"
"Joshua, I don't know why but everything seems to go against Candy and Jeremy

getting married! Do you remember Reverend Carlson?" Joshua looked at his brother and nodded yes

" A little, I think I was still under 10 but I do remember him, why?"

"Well, I received this telegram today!" Jason handed him the telegram and then continued to ready his horse. Joshua read it and said:

"I can't believe that a man of the cloth could be so, so…what happened to him. He seemed to be very good at his job here in Seattle? Why now? Why is he doing this?"

"I don't know, but I am going to Olympia to find out!"

"But Jason it will take you all night to ride that far, why not wait until tomorrow? Josh said he was concerned that his older brother would be traveling alone at night.

"Because Candy is at the hotel by herself, and she does not know what is happening. I wired her to stay at the hotel and told her I would be there tonight!"

"then I am going with you!" Josh said and started to go to the cabin. Jason stopped him and said:
"No, you need to stay here to finish the contract by Monday. Swede and Corky can do it, but they need your help as well. The other reason is that Christopher took this message, and he may tell Biddie, not on purpose but you know how he is. I need you to keep things quiet and keep an ear out if you hear anything about Reverend Carlson! I know Biddie won't know the past either, he was here before she and the brides arrived." Joshua stood there for a moment and then he asked Jason:

"Is about that thing that happened between dad and him?" Joshua asked.

" Yes, 'that thing' you are referring to was his attempt to take our mother away from Da. The town was still beginning at the time, they overlooked some of the things that Reverend Carlson was doing but that one, Da was not going to tolerate!" Jason said as he got on his horse.

"Jason, what were some of those things?"
"Do you remember the old shack down by the river?" Joshua nodded yes. "Well, that was used as a house of cards and other things! The 'good reverend, wanted her and so caused a problem between her and Da. I believe you were still around 6 or 7 but Jeremy was only about 2 or 3."Joshua looked a little confused but decided if Jason knew what happened then it was good. Jason jumped on his horse and rode away. Joshua then went back to camp and saw Swede and Corky told them about Jason having to go to Olympia because of a problem with Jeremy and Candy's plan to marry.

Candy sat in the suite and tried not to cry. The message she got was that Jason was coming to help. She wondered why he decided to do that. Was Jeremy in trouble? What could have happened. It would be late when he arrived. She wanted to go find Jeremy but still Jason had told her to stay as well as Jeremy. She was almost asleep on the couch when there was a knock on the door. She went to the door and asked:

"Who is it?"

"It's me Jason, May I come in?"

She unlocked the door and let Jason in.

"Where is Jeremy? Have you heard from him?" she asked Jason.

"Candy, I need you to sit down and listen to what I have to tell you. Jeremy has been kidnapped; the person who kidnapped him lived in Seattle ten years before you came here. He was not so nice then and he is not so nice now! He is holding Jeremy for ransom. He wants Bridal Veil Mountain. Or the equivalent in cash. Do you know where Maude and Helen went"

"Oh, Jason, no, that is why Jeremy is missing and why he told me to get in touch with you!" Jason thought about that and asked if they had been able to get married.

"No. The Judge you suggested to us was no longer here and so we were all talking, Jeremy and I then decided to find someone else. Perhaps a reverend at a church? The ladies, left us just as we finished discussing it. We do have the license, or at least I have it."

"Candy, it is late, I am going to go over to the less reputable side of town to see if I can find anything out. I don't want you going there, and I am sure that is why Jeremy wanted you to come back to the hotel. What you can do is to find a judge who can marry you and Jeremy as soon as possible! Once we have Jeremy and the ladies, you two are getting married no matter what!" Jason gave her a purse with quite a bit of money for the services of a proper minister. He left, and put his things in the grooms room, changed clothing so as not to be too conspicuous and left. He stopped at the clerk's desk and sent a wire to Uncle Duncan in a town called Dupont. Then he left the hotel.

Chapter 6 The Reverend Carlson

The Reverend stopped at the back door, his servant, Floyd was ready and waiting. The side door to the carriage was opened and Jeremy stepped out. He did not want to go with either Floyd or The Reverend but with a gun pointed at him he had no way to escape.

"Wh-wh-where are you taking me?" Jeremy asked. Reverend Carlson pushed him towards the opening of a small room near the pantry.

"You will find out soon enough young Mr. Bolt!" With that Floyd pushed Jeremy in through the door and then locked it. It was a small closet, and there was no way out for Jeremy. Reverend Carlson said through the door:
"You will not be able to escape from that room. I suggest that you preserve your energy for tomorrow you will have your wedding!" Jeremy was shocked, how did this man know of him, or Candy, was Candy going to be safe? He shouted through the door:

"Let me out! Why are you doing this!" His voice was muffled, as Floyd placed a large kitchen cabinet against the door. The sound of his banging was no longer heard. No one would know he was in there.

"Thank you Floyd, now I must get the bride!"

"But why, sir? Why are you doing this?" asked Floyd. Reverend Carlson looked at Floyd, he was annoyed that his servant should ask such a question, but he decided to let him know his plans.

"Floyd, you have been my servant for 5 years now?" Floyd nodded yes.

"Then why do you think you need to question my motives?" Floyd looked at his employer and said:

"Well sir, it seems such an extreme measure if you are only planning to kill him?" Floyd said backing up slowly. Reverend Carlson looked at his servant, and said:

"Yes, intend to kill him, but first, I need his fiancé and then they will perform the final act of Romeo and Juliet, for Margaret and the children! But, first, I will marry them and then they can die in each other's arms!" He stopped for a moment and then said:

"The important, thing is going to be it will happen right before Jason Bolt's eyes and he won't know it until it is too late to save his little brother!" Floyd asked another question:

"Sir, why? What happened between you and the brother?"

Reverend Carlson was not happy that Floyd wanted to know why. He thought a bit about what he should tell Floyd.

"You know, Floyd, for a servant you seem to ask too many questions! But I will tell you the answer this one time. However, if you tell anyone else, you life is forfeit! Do you understand?" Floyd looked at him and realized that he had gone too far. As a Pinkerton detective undercover, too many questions could get a person killed. He said yes and Reverend Carlson explained:

"The young man's father was married to a woman I wanted. I tried to seduce her to come with me, She had just had her third child, I told her she could come with me and bring the child. I could have sold the child or killed it later if that would get her to be with me. But his oldest brother was eavesdropping and told his father. Who, sent me packing and never to return to Seattle again. I vowed vengeance and now, I can have it!" He said to Floyd who was rooted to the spot when Reverend Carlson thrust a kitchen knife in to his stomach. Then the reverend, dragged him out of the kitchen and slit his throat and threw him into the pig sty.

"Damn, good servants are hard to get these days!" he said as he shut the door and cleaned the bloody mess. It was well past midnight, but he got back into his carriage and went to the Olympic Hotel. There he walked past the clerks desk and went upstairs to the Bridal Suite. He used his key and stole quietly into the Suite. Silently he crept to the brides room, he took some clothes, she did not have a proper wedding dress but that was okay, he had one for her he also had a grooms outfit as well. He packed a few things that he thought she might need. There was no wedding ring so he went to the grooms room and found the ring there. He took the things and put them in the carriage, then using a little chloroform, he made sure she was sleeping better. And carried her down the back stairs to his carriage.

He arrived at his house and took her to the room on the third floor, that was where he had his 'brides' stashed until he could find their Romeo's. Usually the 'brides' weren't hard to find, it was the 'Romeo's that were more difficult. He placed her on the bed, tied he hands to the bed post and her feet to the foot board of the bed. There she would lay until the morning when his wife or oldest daughter would bring her breakfast and tell her she was to marry her Fiancé that morning.

Chapter 7 Uncle Duncan Arrives.

Jason checked the saloons and other places that he thought Jeremy might have been. But had not found evidence of his whereabouts. He was in the fourth saloon when a lady came up to him and asked him to buy her a drink. Her voice was familiar, but he could not quite place it. He had seen her somewhere before.

"I am sorry ma'am, but I am looking for someone!"
"Well could that someone be me?" she said, flirting with him.

"Ah, no!" He said.

"My goodness Jason Bolt, you don't recognize me?" She said as she smiled and sat on his lap. "I thought you would have known me the first time you laid eyes on me!" she said as she looked toward the bar and nodded a yes with two fingers up.

"The name is Matilda, 'Tildy' for short!" Then he remembered her. He had met her a few years ago when he had gone to a bank in Olympia and found that he had a twin, or at least a look alike. She was a Pinkerton detective, the only lady detective that he had ever met.

"Well, Tildy, in that case, yes, I will buy you a drink, shall we go somewhere private?" He said trying to look like he was just ready to take her at any moment. The waitress brought her the two bottles and he followed her up to her room. There, they were able to talk in semi-private.

"So, Jason, seems you are getting in the middle of an investigation!" She said as they nuzzled each other closely. He asked what that might be, and she said, that the Pinkerton's were investigating Reverend Carlson for murder and fraud. He had killed several people, mostly his servants and anyone that helped him but also, brides and grooms were disappearing. He would solicit them and then after their weddings he would kill them. Usually during a performance of Romeo and Juliet.

Jason sat up when she said that. He looked at her, she shushed him and made him lie back down. The walls were paper thin, and anyone could be listening and in that man's employ. So, they nuzzled and talked a little more as she explained what he was doing. Then Jason explained why he was there and his experience with Reverend Carlson. Their 'lovemaking' was a perfect cover and distraction for anyone listening on the other side of the wall.

"Did you say that your brother and his fiancé are both here?" Jason shook his head yes and kissed her again. Then he said:

"I need to get back to the Olympic, to warn Candy!" Matilda took a hold of his hand and said sweetly:

"She is probably not there anymore, he has her at his house. He will be getting her and Jeremy ready for their wedding." She held him down because she could tell he was ready to rush out and find them. She leaned over to kiss him again and said:

"They will be safe for tonight, there is a detective over there right now, watching and waiting." Jason calmed down and then asked what they needed to do, this time it was his turn to kiss her.

"Jason, we need to drink more from the bottles!" We can only do so much lovemaking we need to drink as well!" Matilda said as she stood up and went over to pour them a glass of whiskey. He leaned on his elbows and looked at her and was about to say something when a large man opened the door and strode in as if he owned the place. He had a grey beard and wore a kilt. Jason sat up on the edge of the bed and pulled his pants up.

"Well, me boy! I was expecting you at the Olympic, I thought you would at least wait for me, before you came traipsing here for a night with such a beautiful Lass!" He turned to Matilda and said:

"I am pleased to meet you, Miss…."

"Matilda, or you can call me 'Tildy'!" She held out her hand and he took it and kissed it.

"I think boy, we need to leave the room and let the lady get dressed!" He turned to Matilda and said: " I would like to see you downstairs, my dear" I will take the whiskey bottles, come along Jason!" Jason had gotten dressed looked at Matilda who was just as startled as he was and left with his Uncle Duncan. Uncle Duncan went out of the door and stood outside, waiting for Jason and Matilda. Jason arrived a few moment after Uncle Duncan was out the door. Matilda dressed in warm clothes and went outside as well. She had 'quit' her 'job' and had her bag and belongings with her. She met them outside and pointed them to a stable nearby. By morning, they had a plan to rescue Jeremy, Candy, Maude, and Helen and capture Reverend Carlson.

Jeremy had fallen asleep in the little 'closet', it was warm and stuffy, and any movement lessened the air he needed to breath. Candy was sleeping up in the attic room. Reverend Carlson had employed two more helpers to set the stage for the 'show'. Mrs. Carlson was up early making a good breakfast; she noticed the kitchen cabinet had been moved. She thought nothing of it. For this had happened many times before. She thought to herself:

"The last time my husband set this in front of the little closet, he had a surprise for me. I hope there is another surprise!" She was busy getting the eggs and bacon and biscuits ready for the morning breakfast. He was always up early in the morning and often by the afternoon taking a nap in his study. She heard some hammering and wondered if she should make a bigger breakfast. She sent Harry, the middle boy to find out if there were more for breakfast this morning, Harry returned, and she set about making more eggs and bacon and biscuits.

"Hello, my dear. We are going to have that play again today. We have extra people about 6 maybe about one or two more who may show up!" He hugged her and put his hands around her waist and kissed her. He loved his wife, or at least he pretended to. She smiled and he went out to see that the stage had been set. He would take Candy first, lay her on the bed, in the set, then Jeremy, who would be dressed as Romeo, would find her, thinking her really dead, he would drink the poison, Candy, playing Juliet, would wake up and kill herself with the dagger. He had hopes that they would play their roles perfectly, so many times the actors were inferior and had to be forced to kill themselves. But, these two, he had been watching them carefully these past few years, overcoming odds, not getting married because things got in the way, he knew they were more than ready to be together. He smiled again and left to wake up Candy so she could eat some breakfast. It would be her last meal!