Chapter 145: A Solid Investment
Outside the Rhodes Town Bank.
This was where the women’s rights rally was being held.
The shouts from the ladies and young women atop the wagon quickly drew a crowd of onlookers.
Mrs. Calhoon stood on the steps, raising her voice in a spirited speech while people below heckled her.
“Go home! You damn foolish women!”
“Looks like the circus just rolled into town.”
“What are you doing here? What the hell is this?”
“Oh, Lord—you don’t even know what you’re doing!”
“Leave! Go home where you belong, take care of your kids—just get out of here!”
Accustomed to such jeers, Mrs. Calhoon remained unfazed as she projected her voice across the crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen, today is a great day for all of us.”
“From this day forward, we shall live as equals.”
“Justice and equality!”
Laughter erupted below. “That’s against all common sense—absolute nonsense!”
Mrs. Calhoon didn’t waver.
“Justice, equality, and liberty—just as our founding fathers envisioned.”
The men immediately shot back, “Founding Fathers, not founding Mothers, you brainless fool!”
Listening to the escalating arguments, Arthur leaned toward Davey.
“Davey, I never thought you’d be interested in something like this. Though I’ll admit—it’s pretty entertaining, even if I don’t understand what they’re fighting about.”
Davey chuckled. “Times are changing, Arthur. Women are pursuing their rights now.”
“We’ve been drifting across the West for years—we’ve never seen these kinds of civilized disputes. But the women’s rights movement has been going on for over fifty years. It’s older than we are.”
“It all started in the East. It’s only now finally spreading into the West.”
Arthur sighed. “Davey, when did you start knowing so damn much? Hard to believe that just a few months ago, you were the same as me.”
“Now you look like someone raised in a civilized city—like you’ve got the whole civilized world figured out.”
“If we hadn’t lived together every day, I’d be questioning my own memory.”
Davey rested an arm over Arthur’s shoulder.
“Arthur, it’s not complicated. You don’t understand because you reject civilization. I’m doing the opposite—I’m embracing it.”
“Read the papers, keep up with what’s happening out there. None of it is difficult.”
“Since I no longer have to spend every day riding around looking for people to rob or scouting targets, I’ve actually got time to read books and newspapers.”
“Using your brain to make money is faster—and pays better—than robbery.”
“Take today, for example. You see a women’s rights rally. What I see is a place overflowing with greenbacks just waiting to be earned.”
Arthur stared at him. “Alright, Davey, I don’t see a single greenback. What, are you planning to kidnap all these ladies?”
Davey burst out laughing. “Exactly, Arthur! I’m going to ‘kidnap’ every last lady here—make them willingly hand over the money in their pockets.”
“Of course, I’ll need a different approach this time. Nothing as crude as before.”
Arthur shook his head. He understood every word Davey was saying, yet somehow couldn’t understand any of it at all.
Just then, Beau’s cousins—Scott Gray and Ianin Gray—spotted Beau and headed over, clearly looking for trouble.
“Looks like my employer might need some help,” Arthur said, preparing to intervene.
Davey caught his arm. “Just a little trouble. Easy to handle.”
He shot his two men a glance. They immediately strode over and dragged the two Gray cousins away by force.
“Well… that was a little trouble indeed.”
“But I should go. I need to squeeze some information out of this kid.”
Arthur said this as he moved off. His whole reason for helping Beau and Penelope in the first place was to find leads about the gold.
Both of them were central figures in their families, after all.
“Go on, Arthur. I need to wait for the speech to finish anyway—I’ll be talking business with Mrs. Calhoon afterward.”
Davey knew Arthur’s plan would amount to nothing; they simply had no idea about the gold.
After Arthur left, Davey waited patiently for the speech to conclude.
These speeches didn’t have much practical impact yet, but the ladies needed them. They strengthened solidarity—something the movement desperately relied on.
The speech finally wrapped up amidst continued arguing. Seeing Davey still there, Mrs. Calhoon approached, delighted.
“Ma’am, perhaps we should find a quieter place to discuss my support for your rally,” Davey said with a pleasant smile.
“Of course, Mr. Callander,” Mrs. Calhoon replied warmly.
For her, the greatest success of today’s march was earning Davey’s support.
And for Davey, this was clearly a promising investment.
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.