Chapter 18 #2
Realizing Louisa had been struck mute by the audacity of Charlie, Annaliese leaned forward and caught his eye.
“To be clear, as it seems you’re not listening, I would never sell Pierre to you since I know your intention would be to resell her to the millinery industry.
That industry would then pluck off her feathers and discard her lifeless body, which is hardly something I want to see happen to my treasured pet. ”
“Birds ain’t supposed to be made into pets,” Charlie argued.
“A fair point, but they’re not supposed to be turned into accessories for fancy hats either.” Annaliese nodded to the cage of birds in Charlie’s wagon. “Those birds in there are far more beautiful as simply birds than accessories, but tell me this—exactly how many did you stuff into that cage?”
“You say that as if you’ve got a problem with how stuffed the cage is, but it ain’t my fault a few of my cages broke on the ship that was taking me through the Gulf on my way back. I had no choice but to put all the birds in my one remaining cage.”
“You could have simply let them go free,” Annaliese pointed out.
“I spent a month collecting them, then another month traveling to and from the islands, and I have four mouths to feed at home. Ain’t no way I can afford to let a single bird free, not when I can get at least five dollars apiece for most of them.”
Annaliese shot a look at the cage. “It looks like you’ve crammed at least fifty birds into a cage that might comfortably fit five.”
“There’s only forty-seven as a few of them made an escape when I opened the door to put more birds in.”
Annaliese’s fingers began itching for the feel of a pistol. Resisting the itch, she lifted her chin. “You said you get five dollars apiece for them. If my math’s right, that would be two-hundred-thirty-five dollars, which, given the time it took you to collect them, doesn’t seem all that much.”
“It’s more than I’d get if I was working in a factory,” Charlie shot back.
“’Sides, me being a plume hunter lets me work out in the open, breathin’ in clean air.
’Sides that, I’ll get more than you just said because some of my birds, like the and Eclectus parrots I caught down in the rainforest, will bring at least nine dollars apiece. ”
The very thought of men traipsing their way through rainforests and capturing birds that probably hadn’t seen humans before left her stomach knotting and a stronger desire than ever to whip out her pistol.
Annaliese glanced to Louisa, then to Pierre, who’d edged right up beside Louisa’s neck and was tucking her head into that neck, quite as if she didn’t like the conversation at hand.
After drawing in what she hoped would be a calming breath because she knew it would hardly benefit the situation if she started shrieking like Pierre was known to do at times, or shooting someone, Annaliese returned her attention to Charlie.
“I’ll give you three hundred for the lot.”
Charlie exchanged a look with Howard before he settled a frown on Annaliese. “What could you possibly do with that many birds?”
“I won’t be plucking them, that’s for sure.”
“She’ll be building an aviary, of course,” Louisa said, speaking up in a tone that suggested Annaliese should have already figured that out for herself.
Annaliese’s lips began to curve since an aviary was a more than logical solution to handle a large number of birds, and yes, she should have come up with that idea on her own.
Truth be told, she had thought about a bird sanctuary years before.
However, when she’d asked her father for money to build an aviary on their land in Newport where they always summered, he’d told her that would be a waste of good money.
He’d then reminded her that she’d almost lost access to her pin money after she’d lectured Mrs. Davenport about having too many feathers adorning her Easter hat, an attitude her father felt would only increase if she started collecting birds.
Since her father was of the belief that keeping up appearances was a matter of grave importance and he hadn’t wanted his youngest daughter to insult high-society matrons, he’d then offered to buy her a few dolls to add to her doll collection, evidently believing that would have her abandoning her interest in birds once and for all.
The problem with that particular offer, though, was that she’d never held an interest in dolls.
And even after her father had provided her with an entire slew of dolls, she’d never abandoned her fascination with birds, although she’d never contemplated building an aviary or bird sanctuary again—until Louisa had just broached the matter.
It was an idea that certainly deserved further consideration because these days, unlike when she was younger, there was nothing standing in her way—no father, no lack of money, and plenty of plume hunters who needed to be relieved of their birds.
“Betcha didn’t even consider what you was going to do with all my birds before you asked to buy them, did you?” Charlie asked, dragging her from her thoughts.
“I must admit that I didn’t, but I have a feeling that an aviary is exactly how I’ll handle the birds.”
Charlie gave his jaw rub. “Seems to me you might eventually be interested in more than forty-seven birds if you build a big enough aviary. Being a businessman and all, if you agree to pay me a fair price, I’d be happy to be your supplier for them birds.”
“As if I want to be responsible for some unethical plume hunter snatching more poor birds from their natural habitats.”
Charlie’s eyes flashed. “I’m not unethical, Miss Appalled.
I do an honest day’s work in an industry that’s clamoring for feathers.
” He turned to Howard. “Ain’t it just our luck that we’d run into another anti-plume do-gooder like we did when we encountered that crazy woman a few months back on that island we thought was uninhabited?
That lady seemed thrilled to see us until she caught sight of that barrel of love birds we’d trapped on what she then claimed was her island. ”
“She surely was a lunatic,” Howard returned.
“’Member how she had that whole collection of sea turtles eatin’ fruit out of bowls, and when I asked if she was fattenin’ ’em up to make soup, she pulled an honest-to-goodness flintlock pistol out of the waistband of them trousers she was wearing?
” Howard shook his head. “Granted, there’ve been times we’ve faced the wrong end of a pistol, but normally not a pistol being wielded by what we thought was a kindly grandmotherly type—until she threatened to shoot us if we suggested turtle soup again, and then declared she really would shoot us if we didn’t release those birds we caught. ”
“No question she was crazy, but . . .” Charlie returned his attention to Annaliese, or rather, Pippin, who was wrapped around her throat, not moving a muscle.
“I’m getting mixed signals here because you’re wearing a fur neck cuff.
Everyone knows that no self-respecting anti-plume hunter touches feathers or furs and .
. .” Charlie stopped talking when Pippin took that moment to unwind herself from Annaliese’s neck, sat up, and immediately began growling as her gaze settled on Charlie.
“Ah, er, did you know that was still alive?” Charlie stammered.
“Of course I did, but before you ask me how much I want for her, know that she’s not for sale either, and . . . she bites.”
“You really are like that crazy lady because, after she took us to task over the birds, she had the sweet audacity to tell us she and a man she called the captain needed a ride back to the mainland ’cuz they’d been marooned on her island for months.”
Annaliese’s heart took that moment to skip a beat. “This woman said she’d been marooned?”
“Sure did, and also said something about a crew staging a mutiny.” He nodded to Howard.
“Me and Howard decided she was actually a pirate on account of that flintlock she was carrying, so we said nothin’ doing to her request for a ride ’cuz we decided her story about being marooned was just a ploy she’d cooked up to relieve us of our boat. ”
“What happened after you told her you wouldn’t take her to the mainland?” Annaliese asked.
“The captain fellow, he was an older gent but you could tell he was a force to be reckoned with, pulled out a flintlock of his own and turned it our way. He told us we were going to give him and Otter a ride whether we wanted to or not.”
Annaliese’s heart skipped another beat. “Might this captain have called the woman Ottilie instead of Otter?”
“Hard to say as the woman had gotten distracted with our crate of birds and the captain told her to pay attention, then they started bickering like them old couples you see bickering all the time. While they was doing that, me and Howard ran to our dinghy, pushed it through the water, and bolted out of there.”
“You left them behind?”
“Did you not hear the part about both of them threatenin’ to shoot us?” Howard asked.
“I did, but you said they were old. Who leaves old people behind on a deserted island?”
“It wasn’t deserted. They was on it, and I didn’t say they was ancient-like. I said they acted like an old couple, although the captain bloke was older,” Charlie admitted.
“Dare I hope,” Annaliese began through teeth that had taken to clenching, “that either of you remember where this island was?”
“I know the general vicinity, although . . .” Calculation settled in Charlie’s eyes. “Information like that comes with a price.”
“I would expect nothing less, but . . .”
Anything else Annaliese had been about to say got lost when shouts rang out from a saloon that was a hundred yards away from them, and a saloon that Seth and Flick were standing beside, having stopped their donkeys by a hitching post where men normally lingered about, any man who might have been doing that now in the process of scrambling away from the saloon.
“If you could maybe wait for me somewhere by that saloon,” Annaliese began after Seth gestured for her to join him and she returned her attention to Charlie, “we can continue this conversation about what that information—and all your birds—will cost me.”
“I sure enough can do that,” Charlie said with a nod right as additional shouts reached her ears.
Returning the nod, Annaliese kneed Saucy into motion, jumping off the donkey’s back once she was within feet of the saloon. Before she was able to join Seth and Flick, though, she was forced to take a rapid step to the right after a man almost plowed her over.
“Best be hightailin’ it away from here, darlin’,” the man called as he continued running past her. “There’s a skunk on the loose in there, and given the smell, it’s in a temper.” With that, the man bolted straight down the road.
“I think we’ve found my sister,” Seth called, attracting her attention.
“Might be a good idea for you, Mother, and Harriet to stay out here.” With that, Seth withdrew his pistol, and with Flick by his side, shoved his way into a saloon where everyone else was trying to shove their way out, and disappeared from sight.
“Does he honestly believe we’re simply going to stand here and wait while he and Flick try to save the day?” Louisa asked as she pulled the gun torch from her pocket as Harriet scrambled up to join them.
Considering Harriet was smiling a little too widely, it was obvious the monkey had been helping herself to the belongings of fleeing men, who probably hadn’t noticed a monkey picking their pockets.
Given the circumstances, though, Annaliese didn’t have time to frisk her monkey and return the items, something she’d have to address after finding Norma Jean.
“I say we help save the day,” Annaliese said before she pulled out her pistol and ran up the two steps that led to the saloon, her path in no way impeded since it seemed most of the patrons were now gasping and retching in front of the saloon.
Drawing in a deep breath before bracing herself against the smell of skunk, she picked up the hem of her skirt and dashed through the front door, skidding to a halt at the sight that met her eyes.
Seth and Flick were slowly advancing on Paulie, who was currently shielding his head as Norma Jean walloped him with a reticule that looked large enough to stow a cat in, while a lady Annaliese assumed was Miranda, the former mermaid lady, tried to free herself from a rope that was tied around her wrist and tethered to Paulie.
Annaliese’s gaze darted around the room, her attention lingering on some broken glass underneath a chair, the type of glass she’d seen broken at the academy, which suggested Norma Jean had made use of at least one skunk deterrent.
Before she had an opportunity to look for additional broken glass, though, a roar of rage erupted out of Paulie’s mouth as he lifted his head and then flung out one of his massive arms, which sent Norma Jean flying sideways into the bar before crumpling to the ground.
Seth was in motion a second later, lowering his head as he barreled into Paulie’s solid-looking chest, which caused the man to tumble backward, taking Miranda with him as he hit the wooden planks of the floor.