Chapter 5 Back in Seattle
The meeting was noisy, everyone had something to say. Jason was trying to tell Aaron that they needed to find Lottie and rescue her. Joshua was worried that if they all left Seattle, whoever it was would take over the town and the logging operation and they would have a fight on their hands to regain their property.
"Until Lottie returns, the saloon will be closed!" Ken shouted as the rest of the residents, loggers, millers and brides talked and shouted at each other. Suddenly a shot was heard. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over to the door. Several men stood in front of the door. One man stood out amongst the others. He looked at Jason and Aaron and smiled. A cruel, crooked smile. He walked over to the Bar and stood facing the town and said:
"I believe you know me; I have been here before. You ladies should remember that I was going to give you a share in the land you had been given by the Bolts! But, as you recall, the tables turned on me. I am back now, back to take possession of the land, the town, the logging operation and the mill!" He said this facing Mr. Stemple.
"I plan on allowing you women to remain so that we have incentive for others to stay and work for me and my partner. If any of those who know how to run the logging operation and the mill wish to stay, I will have you sign a contract!"
"Mr. Muncy, you must realize that you do not have ownership of this town!" Aaron said to him
"Nor do you own the logging company!" Jason said. Mr. Muncy smiled and said:
"I believe I have the papers here to prove that I do!" He said as he took some legal looking papers from his bag." Jason looked at them and frowned. Aaron went over them as well.
"Ben, can you run to the store and telegraph Olympia and find out if these are valid?" Aaron said to Ben.
"Oh, I am sorry, your telegraph has been cut and will be out of service for quite some time!" Matthew Muncy said as Ben was heading out the door. Joshua was about to run out and get on his horse to get to Olympia, when one of the men pointed a gun at Joshua. Muncy smiled and then he said:
"There will be no one leaving this town for quite some time. Since you did not leave right away, you will face the consequences!" He snapped his fingers and brought Lottie out from the backroom. Everyone murmured about where and how she had been there. She came out, with her hands tied and a gun pointed in her direction.
"Now, gentlemen, I want the Bolts, Mr. Stemple, Mr. Perkins, put in the jail, any who oppose me, will be killed!
"Miss Lottie will remain with me, see that you do as I say and she will come to no harm!" His men took the Bolts, Jason, Joshua, Mr. Stemple, and Ben Perkins.
At his parent's cabin, Jeremy ,Candy, Biddie were inside. They had remained quiet as they had seen some men that they did not know ride by. It had been quiet for some time now and Candy asked quietly:
"What are we going to do Jeremy?" Biddie looked at Jeremy and Candy, she held her hand and Jeremy was holding Candy's.
"I'm n-n-not sure C-C-Candy?" Jeremy said quietly. Just then he heard a sound of a horse. He looked out the window. Someone on the horse was looking at the cabin. He put his fingers to his lips to make sure the ladies knew to be quiet. He took his rifle and crept past the window and to the door. Standing behind the door, he waited. Candy watched as a lady got off the horse. She turned to Jeremy and mouthed 'Woman'. Then she kept watching as the lady came to the door. The door opened and a rifle slipped between the door and the opening.
"Miss Pruitt, Miss Cloom, I know that you are in there, you can come on out. I will not hurt you!" Candy and Biddie were scared. Jeremy nodded to them to go out. They went out of the cabin and saw a lady, who had been to Seattle before.
"Is there anyone else in there?" The lady asked. Candy shook her head no and squeezed Biddie's hand very hard. Biddie looked at Candy and said nothing.
"Good, then you two will come with me to the town. I already have the Bolt's in jail and you will go there as well!"
"What makes you think we will go with you?" Candy asked. The lady looked at Candy and said:
"Because if you don't, I will kill you and your friend!" Now, get in the wagon!" She shouted. Candy bent down to pick up some dirt and turned around only to find someone right there behind them ready to tie them up. The lady looked at them and smiled. Then she said:
"Mack and Rob, torch the place!" She looked back at Candy and smiled. She had suspected that Jeremy was in there and would come running out. Candy was about to say something but a light caught her eye and she said nothing.
"But Candy, don't you think…." Biddie started to say and Candy squeezed her hand again and said nothing. The lady gave Candy the rope and had her tie Biddie, next she tied Candy and had them get into the wagon.
"I set that fire on purpose. I had Mack and Rob seal all the exits and ready to shoot if he came running out. He did not, so you were telling the truth! So there is one Bolt who won't object to us taking the mountain !" She said as the men got on the wagon and drove away quickly. Candy could see flames shooting high. She had tears coming down her cheeks. Biddie said:
"Oh, Candy, I am so sorry!" The lady was hoping that Biddie would slip and say something about the youngest Bolt, but for once, Biddie did not. Candy kept silent as her tears continued and they headed back to Seattle.
When they arrived back at the town, the ladies were placed in one of the cells. Jason and Joshua looked at Candy and saw she had been crying. They could not say anything, but Jason looked like he was a bull ready to break out of his cage. Joshua was angry as well, so were the rest.
"I am so sorry, Jason, Joshua! We couldn't do anything! They burned the cabin down before he had a chance to run!" Candy cried again and Biddie cried as well. Jason from the other cell, said with his teeth clenched.
"Miss Pruitt, it was your job to make sure he got away! Why couldn't you do your job!" Candy looked at him, no one noticed the wink he gave, she played along so that no one would suspect anything.
"Mr. Bolt, It is not my job to protect your brother, it was his job to protect us! He could not do that!" She looked angrily at Jason. Biddie was confused and started to say something, but Candy squeezed her hand again and gave her a look that said to be quiet.
"Yes, Jason, your brother Jeremy has been killed a fire. If he had run out, he would have been shot, but you know how old buildings seem to catch fire and it has been very hot these last few weeks, no rain and all!" An older woman spoke to him from the entrance to the jail. His mouth stood open and he said to himself: "Emma Peak!"
"Oh yes, Jonathan, I know what you are thinking, but you know, we could have a wonderful life together if only you had listened to me and married me not Margaret!" The other younger lady said:
"Mother, he is Jason, not Jonathan remember?"
"Oh, yes, he is Jonathan's son. He should have been mine and Jonathan's son!" Well, anyway, he is here and you shall marry him in a wedding after we have settled down in Seattle!"
Chapter 6 The Loggers and Stemples Employees make a plan.
Jeremy ran silently through the trees and brush, he found Brownie, his horse munching on some tasty grass. He quickly came up on the horse and talked to him and then climbed on his back. He rode swiftly to the caves near in the canyon. He remembered these caves; he had been there twice. Once as a boy of about 10 playing with friends and then when Candy was threatened by Rafe Halliday. This time it was different. He arrived in the evening. Big Swede, and some of the loggers and millers were just sitting down having some bacon and beans.
"Jeremy, where is Candy?" Swede asked him.
"Th-th-they have them. I barely escaped; my parent's cabin has been burned!" Jermey said as he took a cup of coffee. Big Swede gave him a plate of beans. They sat there, Corky, Davy and Swede and the other loggers who had holed up in the caves made plans.
"Jeremy, what can we do?" Big Swede asked. Jeremy finished his plate and coffee; he stood up and looked at everyone around and said:
"There is a-a man whose has Lottie, he is in the Saloon. There are two ladies, Valerie and Emma Peak!"
"Who are they Jeremy?" One of the millers asked
"Emma Peak used to know our father. She thinks he wanted to marry her, she came back a few years ago and tried to kill Jason. The other is Valerie, she is Miss Peak's daughter. The man that is with them, who took Lottie is Matthew Muncy. Lottie knew him and when he came to Seattle once, he tried to con the ladies' out of their land, but we stopped him. Now, he says he has the paperwork that says he owns everything. I took off and got Candy and Biddie and took them to the cabin. Then the plan was to get to Olympia or Tacoma and get proof that Mr. Muncy was lying. But that is not going to happen now!" Jeremy stopped; this was the most he had spoken to anyone except to Candy when they were alone without stuttering. He had to catch his breath. While he was catching his breath, Swede asked:
"Jeremy, in order for us to get back to work and get Seattle back, we have to rescue Jason and Aaron as well as Lottie but they will still hold those papers against us?"
Jeremy nodded and then Davy spoke up and said:
"Why don't Corky and I ride to Olympia, you could write a note and we could get to the Marshall and he could help us?" The other loggers and millers agreed, but Jeremy was not so sure and said:
" It takes a about a week to get there by horse, I am not sure there is time for that and I am a little worried about writing a note, maybe we could send a message through the telegraph?"
"No, Jeremy, the lines have been cut, I saw that when we were coming up here to the caves. There is no way we can send a telegraph!" There was a voice that spoke up, a quiet voice that said;
"I know how to send the telegraph and I know how to do it from the wires!"
Swede and the others turned to the back of the cave, Jeremy looked as well and was surprised at who it was.
"Christopher? What, h-h-how?" Jeremy asked. Christopher smiled and said:
"Uncle Jeremy, you aren't the only one who can sneak out as well. Those grownups did not pay attention to a skinny kid!" Chris said smiling and then Molly came out from hiding as well. Jeremy looked at them both and smiled.
"Molly? I thought you were taken to the dorm with the others?" Jeremy said
"Well, just because I am a girl doesn't mean that I didn't sneak out either! Besides, I have been learning morse code as well and I can help Christopher send the message!" She said smiling at them.
"Well, so you can!" Jeremy and Swede said.
"Jeremy, let's go ahead and send Christopher and Molly to the nearest telegraph line. Have them telegraph a message to Tacoma and then get in touch with the Marshall and also someone to come and fix the telegraph lines for Seattle…."
"But what if the rest of the lines are cut? We did that in the war, we cut the lines as far as the next town!" A logger said.
"Micah, you know about telegraph wires?" Jeremy asked,
"Yes I do, I can help them send and receive messages." Micah said.
"You know that sounds like a good idea! We can send Micah and Christopher and Corky to take care of that part of it, that way if the wires are fixed once we get into town, and rescue Jason and Lottie, we can send a message to let everyone else know about it." Swede said. Jeremy thought about it and said:
"Okay, but I want Molly to stay at the caves with Don and Jay until you have the work done!"
"Uncle Jeremy, I am now 12 I think I will be able to take care of myself with them!"
"Yea, Uncle Jeremy, I need her to translate for me!" Christopher said.
"But Micah will be there?"
"You know Jeremy, that is not a bad idea. I will take responsibility for her myself. She is a capable girl and there is nothing wrong in having her help us. She know the code better than others. And she and her brother worked together. I will just be there as a supervisor for them!" Micah said. Jeremy wasn't sure of what Candy would say, but he said:
"Okay. Molly, do what ever he tells you okay?" Molly looked at her uncle Jeremy and smiled and said:
"Of course!" But she had her fingers crossed behind her back. Christopher saw that and made a bit of a face that went unnoticed by Jeremy.
"Okay, so tomorrow, you three and Corky will go to the wires. The rest of us will be heading into the town early in the morning before Sunup!" Jerremy said sa he got together with Swede and a couple of others to plan who was going to rescue who.
In the light of the morning, Corky, Micah, Christopher and Molly set out. The others had already left and were in the town already. Hopefully they had everything wrapped up and all that needed to be done would get the telegraph up and running.