“Thank you for the grand introduction, Mr. Morgan.” Grants relaxed, slightly gravely voice echoed over the room and applause. “This hall is grand indeed, and tonight shall be the night it goes down in history! My wife and I are just thrilled for the invitation and the warm welcome!”
The surrounding crowd of well-to-do all fawned over him, even as they practically swarmed over him before the servants and ushers came to the rescue. They carefully and deftly guided the Grants over to where the rest of us so-called legends had gathered, before vanishing back into the crowd. Said crowd had begun to mill around as rich guys argued over who won their competition, and finally everyone had a chance to talk.
“Pleasure to properly meet you in person, General.” I said warmly, offering to shake his hand. He took it with a genuine smile as he eyed me and everyone else up and down.
“Good to meet you as well son!” He smiled, a hint of mischief as he stepped back. “Properly this time anyway.”
“Sir?” I asked, confused, to which he seemed to find very funny.
“We met in passing a few years ago, but you were rather busy at the time.” He elaborated, and I got the sense he was having fun being vague about it. “So it’s doubtful you’d remember it.”
I frowned and tried to remember when I would have been so busy that I would have missed meeting General Grant himself! As I pondered that, everyone introduced themselves to everyone all over again, and the ladies all fell in love with the mouse girls, and started carefully passing their basket back and forth. Meanwhile all of us guys began to convene amongst ourselves, even though both our groups were literally elbow to elbow.
Glancing around the room, I saw the crowd milling, chatting, drinking, and otherwise having a grand old time.
Wyatt seemed to be taking the meeting in stride, and it seemed that Grant and Twain knew one another, so once again I was more the odd man out of the social dynamics. Story of my life. I thought with a tired site.
Wyatt glanced at me and grinned. He knew me well enough to know my thoughts on that. I didn’t have terribly many friends or acquaintances, I never really cared for tons of people, but the few I did have, I knew well. I rolled my eyes and shot him a mock glare before turning back to the amused looking Grant.
“Don’t torture the boy General.” Twain chuckled. “It’s rude.”
“I confess sir, I don’t remember when you and I ever even could have met.” I shrugged. “I was at Shilo and Vicksburg, but only as a Cavalry Lieutenant, usually on recon and scout missions, and I know we never met then. After your victories and promotion to Lieutenant General, you transferred out East to fight and crush Lee. I was out West the whole war and followed Sherman to Atlanta during his famous ‘march to the sea.’”
“Hard days all around.” Grant nodded, his eyes going distant for a moment before focusing back on me, grinning. “But between the mess at Chattanooga and my eventual promotion and showdown with Lee, I seem to recall a major diplomatic conference. One with a lot of very fine, and fierce furry folk.”
He nodded towards Maggie, and suddenly his meaning became clear!
“The conference with the Beastkin Tribes out West!” I snapped my fingers, but then frowned as I thought it through. “We were both there sir, but I don’t remember ever actually running into you. And towards the end I was busy with a hot tempered tiger-man.”
“I remember.” Grant chuckled, even as everyone else, including the girls, all turned towards our conversation. “Both the famous duel, and the brawl that actually started it all in the first place.”
“Oh,” Ella asked, her soft voice carrying over to us. “We heard about that event out in Europe, and it left us all shocked, on all levels. Especially the success for the Union that followed by making the Beastkin citizens. But I thought it was a duel of honor before other things got heaped onto it.”
“It was, but it was the kind of honor that comes from wanting a rematch.” Grant laughed. “Especially when you’re a big strong tiger beastkin that lost a fight with a human youth in a barroom brawl. All in a failed bid to impress a girl.”
Everyone in our little group stopped and stared at Grant, including me!
“A girl?” Wyatt asked, suddenly looking ready to burst with laughter. “You fought a famous duel, with the fate of whole nations on the line, all over a girl?”
“How the hell do you..?” I muttered, feeling like the floor had moved out from under me. No one else other than my men and a few of they others present at the original brawl had put two and two together. Yet somehow Grant himself knew?
“It was a long, and increasingly tedious conference.” Grant shrugged with a smug grin. “It was a bar, and I needed a place to take a break to drink and laugh. And that bar served officers as well as civilians, and was nice and far away from all the stuffed shirts and muckety mucks. I was there in a quiet corner, and got a front row show.”
He grinned cheekily at me. “It was hilarious! As was his eventual demand for a rematch. I don’t think he liked how impressed the furry lady was with you instead of him.”
I just groaned while everyone else laughed.
“You know he became a governor recently.” Grant chuckled at me. “And I had to deal with him more than once while I was in prison..er, pardon me, in office. He still wants another rematch, by the way. He tried to get me to track you down more than once just for that.”
“He needs a damn hobby.” I muttered darkly.
“He has one.” Grant laughed with a shrug as he pointed at me. “You. He has all the stories there are about you, by the way. He’s quite the fan. If you’re still here in a few weeks, he’ll be here himself to say hello, now that he knows where you are.”
“God in heaven,” I groaned while everyone again laughed. “I’ll be gone in a few days, and that’ll be that. No rematches for him or anyone else!”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Twain shrugged. “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.
“Too bad.” Maggie muttered rather loudly. “That’d be a fight I’d love to see.”
I glared at her. She just grinned right back at me before turning back to the group as they continued to pass the mouse sisters around.
“So, what’s it like, the infamous Five Points?” Sadie asked Maggie, smiling at her. “I’ve been through several Boom Towns, a few Terminus Towns, and a small city or two, but never anywhere old, and never anything close to this city.”
“My family, raggedy as it was, was very close, but we didn’t read much.” Maggie replied cryptically with a small, faraway smile. “But I loved to visit my Coppersmith friend Orna’s family, and they did read, and had a lot of books. One of them was by a man named Charles Dickens, who mentioned the Five Points.”
“Really?” Princess Ella asked, fascinated. “I know much of Dickens work, but I don’t recall that.”
“It seems he visited the area himself once, a long time ago.” Maggie shrugged. “Anyway, a part of a quote he had about the place always stuck out to me, and I think it best describes the Five Points. So I took the trouble to memorize it.”
She mock cleared her throat, earring smiles from Sadie, Ella, Julia Grant and the mouse sisters in their basket, before she began her quote.
“‘Here, too, are lanes and alleys, paved with mud knee deep: underground chambers, where they dance and game; the walls bedecked with rough designs of ships, and forts, and flags, and American Eagles out of number.’” She looked at our little group, a sad smile on her face as her voice took on a more ethereal tone. “‘Ruined houses, open to the street, whence, through wide gaps in the walls, other ruins loom upon the eye, as though the world of vice and misery had nothing else to show: hideous tenements which take their name from robbery and murder; all that is loathsome, drooping, and decayed is here.’”
She looked around at us, who were now spellbound, and shrugged.
“That about sums up the Five Points, though he really liked to write long winding sentences, so that was the only part I could really memorize. But it was, and still is, spot on.”
“I’m sorry.” Ella muttered sadly.
“Don’t be.” Maggie replied with a smile. “Don’t pity me princess. I am here, alive, standing on my own two feet, surrounded by all of you and the wealth of this city. And I have dear family and friends to go back home too. Which is more than most where I’m from. True, it’s been a hard, long road, but I am better off than many. So many. I need no pity, though I thank you for the compassion.” She bowed her head sincerely to Ella before standing back up, seemingly taller and more dignified than before.
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“I need to write that down!” Lillianne laughed before opening her notebook and doing just that.
We all chuckled, but before anyone else could move to speak, an older, well dressed man came striding up boldly to our group, tapping his long, elegant looking walking cane as he did so.
“Ah, Princess Ella! So good to see you again!” He said, striding over to her and bowing to her specifically. His accent gave him away as Albion, and given his focus on the princess and subtle way he was brushing all of us aside, I was willing to bet nobility.
He was dressed in high class high fashion, including some coppersmith gizmos, but his were small, subtle, and seemed to be mostly about clocks. This guy liked time, and had a lot of money it seemed.
“And of course, everyone else.” He said, nodding sagely at all of us. I had to blink at that in surprise. It had been a long time since I’d seen someone so instinctually arrogant that I wasn’t even sure they realized how arrogant and snobbish they were.
“Pardon him everyone, he’s always been like that.” Ella apologized on his behalf, her shoulders becoming stiff as she gestured from him to us. “This is Baron Charles Revelstoke. He’s the head of the Bank of Albion and routinely works with my grandmother on many national matters. Lord Revelstoke, these are the various Legends that have been gathered together tonight, of which they have graciously allowed me to join them.”
“A pleasure indeed,” he nodded to us once again, totally missing, or choosing to ignore the bridge building Princess Ella had attempted to do. “Wonderful party you Iggles are throwing! So quaint and intimate! Speaking of your grandmother though princess, she has a few messages she’d like me to give you.”
He continued talking, all but cutting her off from the rest of us. Most of us just stood watching for a moment in silent shock at the sheer gall and dismissive nerve of the man.
“I’ve known a few like him.” Grant muttered darkly. “Almost always found around money and politics.”
“He’s in charge of all the money of the biggest empire on Earth.” Wyatt shrugged. “Never met a banker who wasn’t at least a little full of themselves and their own self importance. Never met one so dismissive of everyone else though.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, shrugging with a glare of my own. “May as well get a drink while we wait for him to leave or for the show to start.”
“I don’t think any of us will have the chance.” Sadie muttered with a smile, pointing behind us. We all turned around to look, with me expecting some ushers to let us know the show was about to start.
It wasn’t ushers.
It was something far more terrifying.
Children.
A swarm of the little monsters. All young, and looking at all of us with undisguised awe and curiosity. Before any of us could effect an escape, they descended upon us like locusts onto wheat.
Okay. I thought as we were swamped by the curious kids. I really need to lay off the damn poetry!
“Are you wearing a costume?” A small boy asked me, having bravely broken away from his family and come over to me. I looked down at him, noting even he had a nice suit and various little coppersmith devices on him, and smiled.
“Nope.” I replied, chuckling. “I’m wearing what I almost always wear. It’s just not something people in these circles usually see, wear or need themselves.”
“Is that a real sword?” He asked, pointing at my saber. “Are those real pistols?”
“Yes, they are.” I replied, chuckling. He stared, transfixed for a moment, before he turned to look at Maggie, and then at her basket, with the two little mouse sisters watching from it.
“Are those your pets?” He asked Maggie, pointing at the tiny mouse sisters with open and sincere curiosity.
“Maybe.” Maggie chuckled, causing both sisters to turn and glare at her.
“We are not her pets!” Tanya snapped, annoyed.
“Oh wow, they can talk!” A little girl all but squealed, running over to stand next to the boy and stare at the sisters in wonder. I glanced at her, then looked up to see lots more rich kids making their way over to us, as their parents watched with smirks on their faces.
I was guessing they were happy to have the oddball guests deal with their rambunctious kids while they rubbed elbows with each other.
“I like your dress!” Chenya called out to the little girl. “And I really like your coppersmith gadgets!”
The little girl laughed in delight, touching some of the stuff she had on her dress that mostly lit up when she did.
What kind of light is that? I wondered, again noticing that that whole hall had these strange bright lights all over the place that didn’t flicker. Somehow, I noted as I looked at them, though they were glowing with brightness, they had no flames. How’s that work? I wondered, chuckling as I watched the mouse girls and Maggie interact with the kids.
That must be the electric lights Carnegie was bragging about. Neat! I glanced around as the children continued to swarm us.
Several girls just wanted to pet Maggies long tail, which she was happy to let them do. One of the braver little boys wanted to see her claws, since he’d never seen a cat beastkin up close, so Maggie very carefully unsheathed her claws in her free hand, and let the boy slowly feel them.
The looks of wonder on their faces made all of the girls, and me, smile.
“Are you the Wild Ranger from the stories?” Another young boy asked, his voice tentative.
I twitched at the damn nickname, and then turned to look at him. He hadn’t spoken very loudly, but unfortunately for me, his voice had carried over, and now most of the kids, and the milling adults behind them, turned to look at me. Fresh interest and speculation on their faces.
I sighed internally and smiled at the young man.
“I am. Though I prefer to go by my given name of Jake, or Jake Ranger.” I told him. “The Wild Ranger is just an annoying nickname that others gave me, and now everyone calls me by. I’m a man like any other, after all. I just happened to get a bit of fame during the war. That’s all.”
“And after the war.” Maggie laughed, retracting her claws and smiling evilly at me. “Stories of what you’ve been up to in the Frontier reached us long before you started heading East.”
“Did you really charge giants?” The young man asked, ignoring the byplay between me and Maggie. He was focused on me the way only the young, the desperate, or the obsessed tend to focus on something.
It could be intimidating, no matter that it was from a child. I dare anyone to stand in front of a pack of curious children and try to not feel intimidated. ‘Good luck’ is all I’ll be willing to say.
I looked him in the eye and nodded. “Aye, I did young man. It’s not something I recommend.”
“What’s it like to fight a giant?” He asked, sounding riveted. “Isn’t it scary?”
“Absolutely.” I told him with a raised eyebrow. “It’s beyond terrifying. It’s raw fear in all it’s power and dark glory. A very good way to die quickly. Fighting giants is best left to God, and lots of cannons and rifles from a good long way off. Charging them on horseback, or foot, is the last resort of all last resorts.”
“What’s it like to fight a giant up close?” He asked, and now I suspected he had arrived at the heart of the matter. I also noticed his voice was carrying, since all the conversation in the room had died off, with everyone, even the little children next to him, were now focusing on our conversation.
I could brush him off, but the sincere, fascinated stare he fixed me with hit deep in my soul, so I decided to show him as best I could, what it’s like to fight a giant.
“I’ll show you.” I said, and slowly stepped out into a more open area of the room, and then pulled out my Bowie Knife and handed it to him, hilt first. He stared at it with trepidation, but then carefully reached up and took it in his hands. Because of the size of the knife, and how young he was, it looked more like a small short sword in his hands.
Which was the point.
Then I stepped back a few paces, and slowly pulled out my saber, before taking a fighting stance and staring at him.
“What would happen if you attacked me?” I asked him, meeting him eye to eye. “What would happen if I attacked you?”
He looked from the sword, to me and my height, then down to the knife in his hands, then back up to me, a bit fearfully.
“I’d die.” He said quietly. By now the whole room was riveted in silence. “You’d win super easy.”
“Why?” I asked, not looking away. “And try to be specific.”
“You’re bigger, faster, and have long legs and arms. You have a long sword, and all I have is a knife. It’s not enough.”
“Well said young sir.” I said, smiling at him with respect. “And that, right there, is what it means to fight a giant. People have this idea in their heads that giants are these big, slow, lumbering idiots. They’re not. Most are like this, with me the child, and them the adult. This right here, with you and me, is what it’s like to fight them. It’s why it’s so terrifying. And so deadly.”
I carefully lowered and then sheathed my sword, keeping my eyes on him. “But there are times when the fight must be had. When the soldier or the man cannot run. In those times, give all trust to God, choose your ground, choose your weapon, hope you have brave friends, and then do what must be done. Stand tall and do the job, as best you can. That’s all anyone can do, no matter how big or small they are.”
I walked forward to young boy and carefully took my knife back before I sheathed it and nodded to him. “It can be done, but it’s best avoided. Better to pray to God to avoid that mess, get lots of big guns on hills, and just hammer them to bloody dust.”
He nodded, looking both fascinated, and a little far away.
“I’ll remember that.” He said, nodding respectfully to me.
“What’s your name boy?” I asked, smiling at him.
“Franklin Roosevelt.” He grinned, and stuck out his hand. “I like Frank best!”
“Pleasure to meet you then, Frank.” I chuckled as we shook hands.
“Delano!” An older woman in a fine dress with odd coppersmith bracers walked over to us. “Stop torturing the man!”
“Delano?” I asked, glancing at the now red faced boy.
“It’s my middle name.” He answered, glaring at his mother. “My mom loves it, but I hate it!”
“Oh come along now!” She chuckled, gathering him up as she nodded to me. “The shows about to start. Time to find our seats.”
True to her words, several ushers came out and announced it time for us to find our seats.
“‘Bout time.” Wyatt muttered to me, chuckling as he got Sadie back onto his arm while Maggie reclaimed her spot on mine. “Better be a hell of a show for this much wait!”
“I’m sure it will be.” I chuckled as the rich crowd began to move to the doors, while the swarm of children that had assailed us flew back to their parents. “Shame that old sour-puss Doc Holiday couldn’t be here.”
“He’s back out west, chasing down a possible cure.” Wyatt shrugged. “No clue if it will help him or not, but he’s had more hope now than in months. Still, we’ll have to have a proper firefight with someone deserving, just for him.”
“Or a round of cards.” I laughed as we shook hands and followed the crowds.
“A wild show indeed.” Maggie laughed as we headed in to find our seats in the massive room. The orchestra was setting up on the stage below, and it looked like the show was finally ready to begin.
“Mind if I join you two?” Princess Ella asked, coming up on my other side. “I’ve no other date here for this, and I think it would be lovely to join the both of you.”
“A pleasure princess.” Maggie laughed, gesturing to my open arm. I laughed as the beautiful princess elegantly wrapped herself around my arm.
“Running away from the arrogant money man?” I half whispered to her.
“God yes!” She giggled back to me. “I can’t stand him! Half the time, he treats me like I’m some sort of expensive livestock to be checked on before being sold! And my grandmother is the bloody Queen of the Albion Empire!”
“Well, don’t worry Princess, we’re here now.” Maggie laughed.
“And I’ll follow along as well.” Lillianne said from behind us.
I sighed at that as all three women burst out into quiet giggling. “Sure, why not?”
After that, we all headed inside for the show. I hoped it was a good one.