Players:
NPCs:
* Jakes, the land agent.
Summary: Despite Jakes' bias and best efforts, Kemme buys the land of his farm at a much better price.
Date: March 25th, 1883.
Fair Play
Jake's Office
The Land Office is small but neat. The large wooden desk in the middle of the room takes up most of the space, with a chair behind it. There are two chair in front of the desk for people to sit on when they come to buy or sell property. A small file cabinet is against the far wall, next to the window that looks out onto the street.
The land agent, coatless, is sitting behind his desk, going over some papers. A packed valise sits by the desk, and he glances from time to time at a large clock. Muttering to himself, "Damned train will probably be late, with the weather, but if I am not THERE, it will leave early to spite me!" As a visitor enters, he looks up in mild irritation, "Yes?", then taking in the person before him, gets a bemused look on his face. "What do we have here? A redskin in white clothes..how amusing. I am afraid, Chief, you have the wrong office, you must want the Indian Agent in Laramie."
Keme smiles back in polite courtesy as he walks with the help of a walking cane. "Good evening to you too, Mr. Agent. I'm Keme Negahnquet, recently arrived from Chicago. I'm here to settle the last arrangements in the aquisition of a 100 acre portion of land. I believe you read the letters I sent this bank?" He completely ignores the harsh words and kept a polite smile on his lips.
Jakes gives the Indian a cold, calculating look, then replies, "The 'bank's' business is the Bank's business, not my own. And no such letters have come to me." his eyes narrow a bit and he hitches up the bottom of his vest, the pearl handle of a hideout peeking from his waistband, "No matter how pretty you talk, I find it rather credulous that they allow your kind off a reservation..even in Chicago. Perhaps I should call for the Sheriff, or Marshall, hmm?"
Keme shurgs, still not having sat, resting both hands on his cane. "Call them if you wish. Then maybe they could help me finding somewhere else where to spend hundreds of dollars. It's an investiment I was looking forward to do with you, sir, but it seems that if it can't be done…" He doesn't finish, waiting to see how the mentioning of a close amount would affect the man.
The land agent stares hard at the man, "Now tell me Chief, just where are you going to come up with that kind of money? Land costs cash, redskin, and I don't take wampum beads." He leans back in the chair, and crosses his hands over his stomach, close to the hideout, "Maybe you raided a few wagon trains, took a few scalps?"
Keme reaches inside his jacket and takes a carefully arranged set of papers. He aproached the table and places it calmly over the table, sliding it so Jakes could take a good look at them. They were many different kinds of documents that proved well done investments, funds saving, and all legal paraphernalia that showed that, indeed, that injun had, at least in a closer inspection, more than 400 dollar at his immediate disposal, if not more. "Here are you scalps, in case you want to need to know to whom they once belonged."
Giving the documents a cursory glance, the agent mutters, shoving the papers back, "Bad enough we have a damned halfbreed with a nigra wife and a chicken stealing spic kid..now we got an uppity redskin off the reservation wanting a farm."
Pulling open a drawer, and removing a sheaf of deeds, he thumbs through them, "One hundred acres, eh? Well," slipping one out and shoving it across the desk, "That's all I have in that size and price range. Right down with all the Micks and Wops, I am sure they will love having you around." His smile was not pleasant at all. "Most of them have lost family to your kind."
Keme took the deeds and carefully begun to read them. He knew Jakes was late for his train, and so he found some pleasure and making a very careful and slow reading, but not before adding with his eyes already on the paper: "And my kind have lost more than families to yours, Mr.Agent. But I think I'll be able to live around them just fine… Chicago crawls with them and I…" he furrowed his brows at the deed and shook his head. "Three dolar the acre for a land not that close to the river is too expensive. And besides, I'm buying a hundred of them. I'm sure we can find a better price or a better stretch of land."
Soon, an upset Jakes and an ironic Keme started getting into those little details that made all difference. With train about to leave, and not finding a way to lure Keme into paying the price he asked, Jakes needed to finally give in into Keme's points, and the buying was settled at two dollars per acre of land. The true beggining of Keme's mission in Silver Creek.
