Addy's nose wrinkled up -- she hated change, but she knew he was right -- then she nodded.  "Yer right.  I got change given ta me, an' I'm grateful ta be able ta help th' boy, an' ta do that, we'd need a proper home." “Yep, a proper home’s all any of us needs, Addy.” He looked up from the spoon load of stew, “Sometimes that need changes, because things change.” H smiled ,and just before he took that spoonful he added, “Things changed.”   Didn't need to be big, just two bedrooms, besides the kitchen and common room.  "He'd be thrilled, I think, ta have his own place.  Might be th' first time he's had somethin' like that, I don't allow as he ever had a proper house with his Ma."  Yeah, she could get more comfortable with the idea looking at it from that angle, and honestly, it might be nice to have more than one room, and room to move around.  "I'd appreciate yer help on that.  Thank ya, Speed, this ain't been easy." “I know it ain’t, things of that sort ain’t never easy, ‘course, now, that’s what they say about responsibility too, it ain’t easy.” He smiled at her across the table. “You make your runs, earn your pay, there’s folks in town well aware of what you’ve done for that boy, and finding you the right place, they’ll all help. Might outta eat up, we got work ahead of us both.”  

[Pronto, Emeline, Bridget and Jay at the end]   "There you have it!" Emeline declared with a laugh, "Bridget will help with the cooking, and Barnabas can try our efforts to make certain that they are as good as they should be."  Then she added with a playful grin, "And Mr. Pike can do the dishes as well, he's quite the expert at that!"    “Man need ta have his options. Dish washin’ mine, when my hands’er too slow for gun work.” He winked an nodded. “Yes sir. Options.” She laughed again and gave Barnabas a quick kiss on the cheek.  "Or you can just make certain that we behave ourselves and don't burn down the kitchen!"   “Reckon I can handle that as well. Some don’t appreciate taste testers. Sorta an art form, down Persidio way. Texas.” He stood straight, face straight, then he looked at Em. “Didn’t know I was fully trained, did’ja?”   Then she patted Bridget on the arm.  "Don't worry one bit, we will have fun, we won't do any harm, and we can make whatever you like...well, so long as I know the recipe!"  @Bongo@Javia

Brendan, Arabella (and Charlie and Clara)   "Sorry," he said as they moved through the motions of the dance, "but she ain't the opposition, really. Here..." He smiled down at her. "There...happy now? Ooop..."    Brendan might not be able to tell much from people’s eyes, but Arabella could, and the way the man from Mississippi kept glancing over to Clara (or to Charlie perhaps, in a way it amounted to the same thing) told her something.   When the jigging and giggling part was over, they moved into another straight polka round in circles and Arabella was able to get to work on the earthy nature boy.   “How d’ya like my friend Bridget?” she asked “Nice ain’t she?”   “… an’ you know what they say about redheads!” she threw that into the pot as well.   She wasn’t sure herself what exactly ‘they’ said about redheads, but hoped it was more fuel to pique his interest. Somewhere in the back of her butterfly brain, something tugged at her conscience: why was she pressing the suit of the strange, almost ethereal crippled girl over her alleged ‘bosom friend’? The thought appeared and died again like a mayfly in Spring, but it would flutter into her heart again in time.   They danced around some more and Arabella tipped him the wink.   “All right, this is the walky part!” she explained “Just ignore them!” she heard herself adding, and almost jumped with surprise at the sound of her own voice, terse and didactic. “I mean, let’s pretend to be snooty!” she said with more fun in her voice, saving the mood, and the actress in her managed to pull a funny nose-in-the-air face as they turned and paced toward Clara and Charlie walking at them the other way.   @Bailey ( @Wayfarer @JulieS )

[Pronto, Emeline, Bridget and Jay at the end]   "There you have it!" Emeline declared with a laugh, "Bridget will help with the cooking, and Barnabas can try our efforts to make certain that they are as good as they should be."  Then she added with a playful grin, "And Mr. Pike can do the dishes as well, he's quite the expert at that!"   Bridget opened her mouth in amazement at this (she was pretty easily amazed, though, it had to be admitted).With his shiny badge and all, she expected he must be an important man; certainly too important for doing the dirty old dishes.   She laughed again and gave Barnabas a quick kiss on the cheek.  "Or you can just make certain that we behave ourselves and don't burn down the kitchen!"   The ginger girl giggled and hid her mouth, seeing them kiss and carry on like this. It was nice, though. Not like when that man tried to kiss her in Deadwood, not that bad kind of kissing. The dark cloud of a life before this pleasant move to Kalispell must have suddenly crossed her face.   Then she patted Bridget on the arm.  "Don't worry one bit, we will have fun, we won't do any harm, and we can make whatever you like...well, so long as I know the recipe!"   Bridget immediately brightened and remembered that Arabella was always going on about never being able to get something called ‘bear sign’ in these parts, and the way she had described the thing made it sound like a virtual manna from heaven.   She held up a finger and moved it in a circular, donut shaped motion.   “Want Bear Sign… make Bear Sign.” she intimated to Em.   Suddenly, she saw Mr Ryker heading in their direction, and she started to wave furiously at him, hoping to catch his eye: he looked like he was heading somewhere to attend to some seriously big business, so she hoped to catch him before he stomped past.   She kept waving at him, but risked a side-whisper of explanation to Pronto.   “He mended me.”   @Flip @Bongo @Jack

Thankfully he received the cup of coffee. A warm cozy feeling spread in the small place. Jay didn't need presents. His present was the company he was in. Weedy wanted more. He was excited about getting a present.   "I'm very happy to be here in such excellent company. Merry Christmas."   Jay took one of the small baked goodies. With a large smile he chewed. "Did Santa come last night?" Hopefully Addy had taken care of that.