THE IMPERIAL ENGINEER Read online

  "No opportunity to determine how the city, the state, the nation she lives in will care for its citizens, will educate its children, and will conduct itself when--"

  She saw the next fruit launched, and nimbly stepped aside to let it sail past. "...when dealing with the rest of the world.

  "I ask you, fellow Americans, will you allow this inequity to--"

  "That is quite enough of this nonsense. Sheriff, I demand that you stop this...this person from spreading her seditious doctrine."

  Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw a large woman dressed in black ascending the steps as she brandished a furled parasol.

  "Now then, Mrs. Axminster, I don't reckon you want to make a fuss," the sheriff said, blocking her advance. His interference earned him a swat on the shoulder as the woman tried to force her way past.

  The sheriff clearly didn't want to lay hands on the woman, who must be someone of consequence. Lulu was wondering if she'd have to run for her life, when a lithe young man in a linen suit leapt to the edge of the platform.

  His outstretched hand warded off the parasol as it whistled past the sheriff's head. Grabbing Lulu's hand, he said, "We're getting out of here. Now!"

  "This is none of your affair," she said, keeping her voice low. "Let me go!" She jerked her hand free.

  Turning to face the audience, she said, "Thomas Paine, one of our Founding Fathers, said, 'The only ground upon which exclusion from the right of voting is consistent with justice would be to inflict it as a punishment for a certain time upon those who should propose to take away that right from others. The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected.'" Her voice, shaking at first, strengthened as she spoke.

  "'To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case, a slave.'

  "Is there among you anyone who would not fight to keep your right to vote?"

  The reply started as a murmur, but it soon grew to a roar. Clearly the men in the audience valued their right to vote and would indeed fight to retain it.

  Lulu leaned forward. "Then why are you not fighting for us?" she cried. "Do you seek to keep us enslaved forever?"

  She heard a yes from far back in the crowd. Then another, from closer. Again the audience roared, the majority clearly in favor of the subjugation of their women. Another tomato came her way, splatting against the lectern, then a rotten potato. She smelled its fetid odor as it disintegrated. Sick and scared, she stood still, listening to the sheriff yelling for silence. An egg broke at her feet, releasing sulfurous gas. Then the lectern rocked as something heavy and hard struck it. Lulu saw a good-sized cobble roll across the stage. What if that had struck me? But she could not move, for there was no safety anywhere.

  This time Tao Ni simply tossed her over his shoulder and pushed his way past the sheriff, who was urging Mrs. Axminster down the steps to safety.

  The abrupt pressure of his shoulder against her diaphragm drove all the air from her lungs. "Put me down," she finally found breath to say when he was several paces from the speakers' platform.

  He simply kept pushing through the crowd.

  "I want me some of that," a rough voice said.

  Lulu tried to twist around to see what had brought him to a halt. Before she could do more than lift her head, she felt herself slipping to the ground.

  "Leave her alone. She's a lady," Tao Ni said.

  Her hair half-covered her face so Lulu swept it back. She and Tao Ni were surrounded by men who looked as if they'd come directly from the mines. Big men. All wore anticipatory grins.

  The man in the middle laughed. "No lady's gonna get up and talk bullshit like she did. I'll bet she's one of them who're workin' to destroy the family. Advocatin' free love..."

  "I'd take me some of that free lovin'" the man on his right said with a lascivious grin.

  Tao Ni stepped between her and the men. "Gentlemen, I believe you are mistaken. I have known Miss King all her life and can vouch that she is a respectable woman from a good family."

  "Oh, yeah? But does her 'respectable' family know what she's up to? C'mere, girlie!"

  Before Lulu could move, Tao Ni's open hand had slapped the reaching arms aside. He thrust her behind him, and in the same blur of motion, tripped the fellow who'd reached for her. The man fell to the ground.

  One of the others made a grab for Lulu, and Tao Ni shouldered him away. At the same time, he swung his open hand at the third man, who dodged back from the blow and fell on his behind.

  "Here, here! What's goin' on?"

  With great relief, Lulu saw the sheriff coming towards them. The man who'd tripped scrambled to his feet. He lunged toward her, but the sheriff blocked him.

  Before Tao Ni could speak, she said, "These gentlemen seemed to think I desired their company. When Mr. Dewitt attempted to tell them otherwise, they attacked without provocation." Much as she hated to make enemies, she'd learned that nothing was gained by acting like a helpless victim.

  "That right, Dewitt?"

  She could see he wanted to take blame--credit?--for everything. After a short hesitation, he nodded.

  "Well now, Miss King, I'd like to say this is the end of your troubles. But it ain't. There's lots of folks hereabouts who won't take kindly to the message you bring. I'm not sure I approve myself, but that's neither here nor there. My job is to keep the peace and to protect the citizens of Hailey. As long as you do everything legal, you'll share that protection. Just don't go rilin' folks any more than you have to."

  "Thank you, Sheriff. I assure you the last thing I want to do is create dissention. However, I will not be silenced. This is a free country, and I have the right to speak."

  "So do they, Miss King." The sheriff glanced down at the one miner who remained, sitting slumped on the ground. He seemed unable to rise, for some reason. "So do they. You'll want to be careful."

  The sheriff helped the miscreant to his feet and his embarrassment became obvious. "Let's go, Elmer. Reckon you'll want to mend those britches."

  "Damn fuckin' bitch."

  Lulu grabbed Tao Ni before he could go for the man.

  "Shut your dirty mouth, Elmer," the sheriff said, giving him a shove.

  As the sheriff led the big man away, Tao Ni said, "You're lucky he didn't get his hands on you. Elmer Mills has quite a reputation for dirty fighting."

  "I can defend myself," she said, although she wasn't sure she could. Not against a man as big and strong as Elmer Mills. And there were others here in town, just as big and just as strong. In fact, most of the men here seemed much larger than those she remembered back East. Why couldn't I have inherited Pappa's size instead of Mamma's?

  Tao Ni took her arm. "Do you want me to walk you home now?"

  She looked at him in amazement. "Why ever for? I thought there was to be ice cream served."

  "But you...you've had a frightening experience. Shouldn't you--"

  "Tao Ni, I've had far worse experiences, believe me. Thus far I've survived them. Only a weak ninny would retire, fainting, to her couch after such a forgettable experience." What she was not about to admit was how shaken she had been. This was the first violence she'd encountered since...no, don't think about that now!

  "I suppose I should thank you for your gallant rescue." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized how begrudging they sounded, so she tried again. "I do appreciate your assistance. The situation was degenerating, wasn't it?" She tucked her shirtwaist back in and smoothed her skirt over her hips.

  "Worse experiences? Where? When?"

  "A long time ago and far from here. They're not important." There were still dusty streaks on her skirt, and her shirtwaist was stained with tomato juice, but otherwise she was tidy and somewhat presentable. "Ice cream?" she said, forcing herself to smile as if she hadn't a care in the world.

  "Are you all right, Miss King?"
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  Lulu hadn't seen the two men approach. She smiled at the young man who had assisted her in setting up a bank account when she'd first come to town. "Yes, indeed, Mr. Correy. A little stained and wrinkled, but quite all right, thank you."

  The other man, a rather stocky fellow a bit taller than Tao Ni, was a stranger. As she glanced at him curiously, Frank Correy said, "This is Patrick Newell. He's new in town. Works out at the Minnie Moore. I told him I'd introduce him to the prettiest lady in Hailey."

  Over his shoulder, she saw Tao Ni's raised eyebrow, but ignored it. "Why thank you, Mr. Correy. How do you do, Mr. Newell?"

  He took her hand and raised it to his lips, a gesture she had always disliked because it made her feel like a toy. As quickly as she could, she pulled free.

  "Charmed, Miss King. Absolutely charmed that a pretty lady like you should harbor such revolutionary notions." His tone told her just what he thought of her notions.

  Lulu was about to respond angrily when Tao Ni said, to her great surprise, "Notions every woman should listen to."

  "What, and become dissatisfied with their lot? Come now, Dewitt, do you really want seeds of dissention sown among the fairer sex?"

  "Any family that respects its women will not be harmed by new ideas, Mr. Newell," Lulu said in as mild a voice as she could manage.

  "Please excuse us," Tao Ni said, before Mr. Newell could speak again. "Miss King is distraught from her experience. I'll be taking--"

  She snatched her arm from his grasp. "I am not distraught!" Nothing infuriated her more than being treated like a silly, helpless female.

  "Of course you aren't, "Mr. Newell said, looking down at her with a curl to his lip. "A brave revolutionary such as you would never be frightened of loud-mouthed yokels in a backwater town. Why I imagine--"

  "That's enough," Tao Ni said, grabbing her arm again, this time tightly enough that she knew she'd not be able to pull free. "Let's get you home."

  Short of digging in her feet and being dragged along the road, Lulu had no choice but to go with him.

  Once they were out of earshot, she did dig in her heels. "Stop this, Tao Ni! Let me go!"

  "Not until I get you home. Great God, Lulu, are you determined to make yourself a laughing-stock? You're a mess. And don't call me Tao Ni, damn it! My name's Tony. Got that? Tony Dewitt! I'll take you to the ice cream social, but not until you've cleaned up. Let's go."

  "You'll take me nowhere," she said, twisting her arm, but unable to free it. "Let me go!"

  "Will you go home and clean up?"

  "Oh, very well, if you'll turn loose."

  He stared at her for a moment before releasing her.

  Taking one step back, she propped her clenched hands on her hips. "Listen to me Tao Ni," she said in a low tone, "Tony. Whatever you want to call yourself. I am not your responsibility. I'm not your sister, not your wife. I'm not even sure I'm your friend. Not anymore. Not if you're going to treat me as you have today. If you ever, ever humiliate me like that again, I'll...well, I don't know what I'll do, but you won't like it."

  "Like what? Like pulling you away from a crazy woman who was about to bash your brains out? Getting you away from a mob bent on showing what they thought of your feminist drivel? Saving you from those miners ready and eager to show you what they do to women who have no shame? Why you little fool--"

  She raised a hand to slap him and found it stopped in mid-swing by his lifted arm, as hard and immovable as an iron bar. Fingers tingling, she lowered the hand. "I can handle boors quite nicely on my own, thank you. There was no need--"

  "No need?" He laughed. "That's not how it looked to me."

  She ground her teeth together. "I am going home now, but not because I am distraught. I need to change my clothes and comb my hair. Later I'll come back and enjoy the rest of the day. Alone!" Before he could react, she spun on her heel and strode away, her boots kicking up little puffs of dust with each step.

  Talk about boors! What else would you call a man who saw you as an empty-headed, helpless ninny without sense enough to come in out of the rain? A delicate flower in need of a man's protection?

  Distraught my foot! I'll show you distraught, Tao Ni. I'll show you.

  Chapter Three

  This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.

  Western Union internal memorandum, 1876.

  ~~~

  On Sunday, Lulu was invited to dine with the Tellers. Once again the Chinese man drove her there. This time he almost smiled when she greeted him by name. Mr. Teller opened the door as they arrived, and waited for her to mount the steps. He led her into the parlor, where his wife sat with an older lady whom he introduced as Miss Petersham, a teacher in the grade school.

  "I'll see you later, ladies," Mr. Teller said. "Stay out of mischief, now."

  As soon as they were alone, Imajean Teller leaned forward, her expression avid. "Tell me, Miss King, who was that very good-looking young cave man?"

  Heat flooded Lulu's face. "A childhood friend. He thought he was being chivalrous."

  "It certainly didn't help the cause. Those barbarians found it hilarious," Miss Petersham commented acidly.

  "I'm aware of that, and so I told him. I doubt he'll come to my rescue again."

  "I thought it was fine of him," Imajean said. "I saw the tomato strike your face. Such a terrible feeling, when that happens." She shuddered. "I always dreaded facing an audience like yesterday's."

  "One becomes used to such things," Lulu said, "although I admit I dislike them intensely. I've been at many rallies where our detractors threw worse missiles, including stones."

  "At least one stone was thrown," Imajean reminded her. "I heard it strike the stage. Were you frightened?"

  Seeing only support and concern in their eyes, Lulu grimaced. "I was terrified. One never enjoys being the target of such violence," she said, remembering other times, other places. Cold fingers of fear climbed her spine, and she forced herself to ignore them. "But it is far too nice a day to worry about what could have happened. Let me tell you about the rally in Coeur d'Alene."

  The others leaned closer while she related the adventure of her first speaking tour. By the time Mr. Teller returned to join them for dinner, they had discussed likely places for Lulu to visit during her upcoming journey to Eagle Rock and thence into the Montana mining towns. Miss Petersham promised to write and enlist her sister in Virginia City to the cause.

  Body and mind still exhausted from the days of traveling, and still shaken from yesterday's near-violence, Lulu retired almost as soon as she reached her small apartment on Carbonate Street. The night was hot, with still air and humidity unusual for this dry climate. She undressed and donned a short linen shift, unwilling to put on her long cotton nightgown. Wishing the room was arranged so the bed received any errant breeze from the open window, she lay down and kicked the sheet and blanket to the foot. Her pillow was fluffy and far too warmly enveloping, so she pushed it onto the floor.

  She forced herself to relax, to think back over her speech on the Fourth. Obviously, she had not reached the minds of many of the men in the audience. More than likely she would face many similar audiences on her upcoming tour. What could she say to open their eyes? She smiled. No, it wasn't their eyes she needed to open. It was their minds.

  The heat and the damp air seemed to press her to the bed. Gradually she slipped into sleep, only to be troubled by voices from somewhere far off. The words meant little at first. Then they grew louder, and she saw flickers of light across her curtained window.

  She struggled to open her eyes. Tried to rise, with leaden limbs and a body seeming to lack all strength.

  Mrs. Thomas was standing a few feet behind the open doorway, looking out. Lulu came up beside her.

  Next door, a cross burned in the front yard of the church. Reverend Thomas stood between it and a mob on horseback, perhaps two dozen figures clad in white, hooded robes
. He was speaking, but Lulu couldn't make out his words, which were drowned by angry shouts.

  She started to move, but Mrs. Thomas caught her arm. "No," she said. "We must not be seen."

  "But--"

  "Miss King, there's nothing you can do. Stay here, out of sight."

  Almost relieved, Lulu stayed.

  Reverend Thomas continued to speak for a long time, long enough for Lulu's vision to adapt to the flickering dark. Behind the cross, between it and the front of the church a small group of people--men, women and children--were huddled together. Two Klansmen stood guard over them, armed with shotguns. Again she started forward, only to be stopped by Mrs. Thomas's tight grip on her arm. "No! You'll only make it worse."

  "No, I--"

  "This isn't the first time this has happened. They'll rant and rave a while, maybe whip one of the men, then they'll go off and drink themselves into a stupor."

  Unable to tear her gaze from the drama unfolding before her, Lulu watched as Reverend Thomas raised both arms, apparently in fervent prayer.

  The next instant, he lay on the ground, ridden down by the advancing horde.

  From then on she could have been looking into Hell.

  She woke with a scream caught in her throat and her body drenched in sweat.

  * * * *

  "Hell, boy, you've got to think modern. This is the Nineteenth Century!"

  "Mr. Eagleton, I am thinking modern. But I'm also trying to make this telephone system as foolproof as possible. Sometimes the tried and true methods make the most sense."

  Tony leaned forward, both hands planted on the surface of the desk, and stared his employer straight in the eye. "I am also trying to save you quite a lot of money."

  "But a water wheel! Folks will look at it and wonder if we know what we're doing."

  "A waterwheel is an elegant solution. I've looked at a number of methods we could use, but since we need a constant source of low voltage power, the water wheel is made to order. Trust me. It'll work."