Goblin Gulch - The Curious Story of Milton, Nevada

[JayRay]

Chapter 6: The Jam Between Ze Tarts

Albert paused, hearing the date. "So Vu saw the beginning, and witnessed ze end, but what about the .. how you say... ze jelly between the tarts?"

I chuckled at the slang, and began my usual oratory, being sure to add the structural pauses so that my new colleague could digest them like finger sandwiches, instead of the whole tartaned loaf.

"Artemis Calhoun Willingham was the owner and proprietor of the Willingham Hotel and Saloon. Situated right near the main railroad line, it was prominently featured, as though Willingham or one of his progenitors had struck a deal with the railroad to ensure it was the first proprietary establishment one would see upon exiting the coach. I wasn't one to take to laurels and roses, but I must say it did feel good to have the proverbial velvet carpet rolled out for me. He... Artemis, I mean, was a thinner fellow, with one of those needle-like goatees, a handlebar mustache, and slightly crazed green eyes."

Albert simply nodded. "Are Americans known for zose crazed looks? - a prolonged effect of living in wild places?"

I stopped for a bit of inner reflection, and couldn't deny that the further from civilization I had wandered, the more 'crazed' my fellow man looked. Perhaps a hint of desperation in their eyes, or perhaps paranoia? Lack of good relaxation and libation?

"What struck me odd at first wasn't his vest, or the scuffmarks on his otherwise polished boots, but to his periphery; two large men, each with an iron-cladding about their overcoats and clothes, marred and indented in places, as though the plates were tempered to actually repel or render negligible any shots fired at them. Piece-mail, so to speak. They had no facial descriptives, as both of their faces were hidden behind iron masks, save for spectacle-like panes of glass for their vision, and their ears. Why one would go to such lengths to protect their faces and leave the fleshy bits of their ears exposed to any errant buckshot is beyond me."

"Perhaps so ze could hear better? A mask muffles such things." Ah, Albert the astute.

"Ah, yes - Well, at any worth, they were each three portions of a man, standing at each of his flanks, with a stoic stance that even made me question whether I myself was a threat to the man. I looked back to the fine glass windows at the front of his taproom, before looking back with a slight confusion setting in upon my face. He assured me that his welcoming party was not for me persay, but that as of late, 'ruffians' had been beleaguering him, and went on to describe the main culprit, a silver exchanger, a Hessian by the name of Griegor Von Erhalt. In less time than it took for me to register the name, and inquire further, the two 'gentlemen' had taken my luggage and parcels and set them to a gilded cart, which was most expeditiously taken away to be gathered to my room."

Albert breathed a sigh. "Mr. Clemens? Ze light storm?"

I took a quick respite of schnapps to wet my tongue and lips and started anew. "I'm getting there, I'm getting there. As fantastical as those events were, it's important to set the stage. I dare say the problems in Milton were well established upon a foundation of greed and ambition, backstabbery and drama well before those monstrosities began to show their faces through the curtain of light."