Fighting For Your Rights

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Owen stepped out of the taxi and stared at the town that didn’t look like it had been inhabited since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Robyn gazed at the buildings that survived since the 1900s as she walked to the back of the vehicle and pulled out the bags.

As soon as the taxi was out of sight, a woman stepped out of the door in the corner of a brick building not wearing any of the required clothing except a long skirt. Robyn smiled under her scarf as she watched the woman walk across the street over a large faded symbol painted on the middle of the road that she could barely make out the numbers “66”. Holding her comments as the woman entered another brick building that had two stories, Robyn leaned over to pick up the bags hoping to get inside before she fainted of heat exhaustion.

Before she could grab the handles of the luggage, a man came up from behind her and picked them up. “You shouldn’t do that while you are dressed in that outfit,” he spoke stepping around her to stand between Robyn and Owen. “It is best you get out of those wrappings and into some lighter garments. You will find we are a little more relaxed on the laws of our king around here. It isn’t healthy for the women to wander around this town wrapped in the required clothing,” he said to Robyn with concern in his brown eyes. He turned his head to glare down Owen, “And if you don’t like that, friend, it is probably best you move on.”

“I have no problem with that at all, sir,” Owen spoke trying to show confidence in the statement instead of concern of whether he could trust the man as he took one of the bags from the man’s hands.

“The name is Jack, Sheriff Jack Falcon,” he said offering his hand to him and then to Robyn.

“Sean O’Brien,” Owen introduced, “and this is my soon to be…”

“Wife. We don’t consider our women property around here,” he stated leading the two towards the building they had seen the woman enter, “we perform the normal marriage ceremonies and not a property deal.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Owen stated with a smile as he looked at Robyn then motioned for Robyn to step through the door Jack held open.

Jack set the luggage down on the ground in front of a desk, and motioned to an old man cleaning in the room next door, as he replied, “I’m not used to such a quiet woman. You can speak here.”

Robyn smiled as she slowly pulled her head covering off, “I have a feeling I am going to enjoy Winslow, Arizona, sir.”

“Sir. Well, our women are not that polite. Anyway, what brings you to Winslow?”

“We are looking for a Mr. Al Pekelo.”

Jack laughed loudly as he waved for someone to come and serve them. As soon as the man stepped behind the desk, Jack turned to him with a conspiring laugh, “They are looking for a Mr. Al Pekelo.” The man behind the desk joined in the laugh as he began to work on CURT. “Tell me, how did you hear about Al?”

“A mutual friend told us to look him up.”

“Did this friend use mister when he referred to Al?”

“No.”

“Al stands for Alohilani, it isn’t Mr. but Miss. It never ceases to amuse me when someone comes in asking for her like that.” He turned to Robyn, “I’m sorry, I never did get to hear your name.”

Robyn took a breath and answered, “Cynthia Henry.”

“Soon to be Cynthia O’Brien.”

Nodding, “Yes sir.”

A smile broke across his face, and he quickly stated, “Well, I wish all the best for the two of you. If you need any help with clothing, you just ask the woman you saw crossing the street earlier. Her name is Liberty Falcon, my wife. I’m sorry to say, though, that Al is in Cameron, Arizona and won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon. So, until she returns, you will be my guests.”

“Sir, there is no need for that,” Owen replied. As soon as he signed where the man behind the desk showed him, he looked at the full screen, “Wait, what did I just sign for?”

“It is your room, sir. The honeymoon suite.”

“Honeymoon suite, but we aren’t married yet.”

“We will remedy that tonight,” Jack replied as he led them up to the room carrying the bags.

“Don’t we need a key?” Robyn inquired.

“We may look like an old fashion town, but we are still as advanced technologically as the rest of the continent.” He stepped in front of the room and leaned towards the speaker in the wall beside the door, “Sheriff Jack Falcon.”

“Authorized. Guest please say name,” CURT said through the speaker.

“Sean O’Brien.”

“Welcome, Mr. O’Brien and enjoy your stay,” CURT replied and the door opened.

Robyn and Owen began to walk into the room when Jack stopped them, “You can’t enter the room together. Miss Henry, why don’t you go in and get changed into something lighter and I will keep Sean occupied until you do. Just come downstairs when you are done.”

XXXX

The woman that Robyn had seen cross the street earlier stepped into the suite as she spoke, “The name is Liberty, I’m Jack’s wife.” Robyn stepped aside to let the woman enter the room with her bag. Liberty set it on the bed then turned to look at her, “Jack thought you could use some help getting ready for the wedding. I’ll be honest, though, he also sent me over here to see if I could figure out why you look so familiar. I can’t place it either, but I know I’ve seen your likeness someplace,” Liberty spoke as she stared intently at Robyn.

Robyn turned away from the scrutiny as she said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I would look familiar to you.”

“I know I have seen your face in a portrait or picture of some sort. I know it will come to me.” Relenting to the mystery, Liberty turned and unzipped the bag, “I brought you a gift that is a tradition in Winslow. There was a woman who lived here once that wanted women to enjoy an old-fashioned wedding. Many thought she was going to use it herself, but she never got the chance.”

She pulled the gown out of the bag to reveal the wedding dress that became Robyn’s favorite bedtime story. Her mind reminisced as she ran her fingers along the fabric. She would curl under her covers as her grandma spoke, “It was a glorious wedding dress, Robyn. As white as the snow from my childhood in Minnesota. The top of it was made of the softest silk, as soft as baby’s skin,” she would say and Robyn would giggle as her Grandma would push on her nose.

Having the description of the gown memorized, Robyn would encourage, “And what about the skirt how it was made of lace cascading… tell it, Grandma.”

“You seem to know it well enough to tell me.”

“But you do it better, Grandma.”

“All right. The skirt was made of layers and layers of lace that cascaded down from the top half. The pattern on the top layer of the lace formed blooming roses and in the center of each rose was a pearl.”

Robyn smiled as she looked at the blooming roses and ran her fingers across the pearls. “What happened to the woman?”

“She just disappeared one day, so I was told. I never got to meet her, but she was a good friend of Jack’s father. Rumor has it his dad was in love with her and was the one who had it made for her. All I know was it was around the time the revolution almost died and most say because he went into a deep depression when she left.”

“Was he leading the revolution?”

“No, Mariah Masda was.”

“She was the woman who disappeared,” Robyn spoke looking up at Liberty.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Lucky guess,” Robyn muttered. “I would be honored to wear this dress,” Robyn smiled happy to have a part of her Grandma at her wedding.

Liberty looked at her reaction curiously as she said, “I was too when I wore it. This dress has seen a lot of weddings…”

“Why are you doing this?” Robyn interrupted not wanting to hear about another man in love with grandma and think her grandma did not love her grandpa. “You don’t even know us.”

“People don’t send you here looking for Al if you can’t be trusted.” Liberty put her hands on her hips, “Besides you have a familiar face.”

“That isn’t always a trustworthy quality,” Robyn admitted.

Liberty placed her hand on Robyn’s shoulder, “Sometimes that’s the only thing to go on.” Robyn looked into the woman’s kind, brown eyes and the bronzed skin that did well to cover Liberty’s age and tried to force a smile. Liberty was not fooled as she turned to grab the dress, “Well, I see that is something we’ll have to work on, but right now we have to get you ready for a wedding.”

XXXX

The café door opened and Owen turned to look at who entered. He stood from his stool at the counter in awe as Robyn stepped inside. He no longer heard the chattering of the customers getting settled for the wedding of two strangers. He paid no attention to the old and dingy interior that the sheriff assured him had held all the ceremonies. Stepping towards the door, Owen reached out his hand and Robyn took it gently then nervously squeezed his hand. Owen carefully pulled her towards him and stepped beside her as he slid her hand through his arm. “You look beautiful,” Owen was finally able to say to take her focus from all the smiling strangers gazing at her.

Robyn turned her head towards Owen and gazed at his dark blue suit, “You look very dapper,” she smiled trying to focus on him and rely on him to lead them to the correct location.

Owen led her to the area where the tables were cleared for the ceremony, “I wish I could have gotten us a better location,” he spoke with a hint of regret while he looked around the faces of strangers.

“It’s more than a girl could ask for.”

Stopping in front of the sheriff standing in the corner, Owen whispered, “One day you will be able to ask for much more.”

Only hearing the end of the conversation, Jack decided to respond anyway, “That day will be soon, I’m sure of it.”

Both looked at him curiously to figure out how much he had heard and confused by what he could mean. “Thank you,” Robyn finally spoke without any other notion of how to respond.

Jack looked around the café, “Today, I am honored to join my two new friends together in holy matrimony. A ceremony I have been blessed to perform numerous times throughout the years. It was taught to me by my father by the daughter of a preacher,” he spoke with a glance at Robyn. A twitch of realization flickered in his eyes and they widened at the woman who stood before him. Without thinking, Jack skewed from his memorized speech and kept his gaze on Robyn, “Although I never met her and she left Arizona a long time ago, her legacy still lives on within the lives of so many that have passed through Winslow and numerous other locations.”

Robyn looked away from Jack and up at Owen trying to think of alternatives to escape if necessary. He may be spouting words of pride, but she considered the possibility they were words of deceit. Liberty’s words echoed, but trust was a luxury she did not want to utilize right now. There was too much at stake if she was discovered, too many lives depended on her staying hidden especially the life of the person that stood beside her. Owen had noticed the sudden rapid movement of her eyes and squeezed her hand for reassurance. He stared deeply into her eyes and she heard the words in his mind so clearly in her own as if he spoke them instead of her realizing she knew what he was thinking. “It will be okay.”

Jack smiled at the silent conversation and at the excitement he was trying to hide inside himself. Wanting the opportunity to talk to her, Jack continued with forced patience, “Do you, Sean, take Cynthia to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

Owen looked at Robyn as she blinked at the sound of the alien names, he smiled reassuringly at her and answered, “I do.”

She looked straight into his eyes and with a returned smile she ignored the names while the sheriff spoke, “Do you, Cynthia, take Sean to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Owen encircled her in his arms as he leaned towards her. He kissed her on the lips and held her tightly as he realized that this was what he wanted, to protect her and hold her for the rest of his life. Reluctantly, he pulled his head away from her slightly and whispered over the clapping and cheering from the customers, “I take you, Robyn, to be my wife.”

Smiling, Robyn whispered back, “And I take you, Owen, to be my husband.”

He placed his hand at the base of her throat, feeling the necklace under her shirt. Looking at Jack, he stated, “Thank you.” With the expectations of a true husband, Owen refused to let her out of his arms. As the noise of the crowd died down, Owen spoke, “You have done so much for total strangers in one day then I have had done for me in my whole life. I wish there was something I could do in return.”

“All I ask,” Jack replied looking at Robyn, “is that you allow me one dance with your wife.”

“If she agrees, I have no objection.”

Robyn finally took her eyes from her husband’s face at the request. Looking at Jack, she allowed herself to calm at the security of Owen’s arms. “The second dance will belong to you, but the first is for my husband,” Robyn replied.

Jack bowed his head and turned his attention to the crowd, “Then it is time to celebrate this happy occasion.”

With more cheers of excitement, someone walked up to the antique jukebox. Money was no longer used, but no one wanted to convert the antique to some new-fangled system. A large bucket of old coins sat on a table next to the jukebox that was filled every night from whatever was deposited in the machine. The customer grabbed some coins and slid them in the machine. He pushed some buttons and “Take It Easy” began to fill the room.

“I don’t know how to dance,” Robyn stated as people were dancing all over the café.

Owen twirled Robyn with a smile, “Don’t worry just follow me.”

“You can dance?”

“My mother taught me,” Owen replied pulling her back into his arms and guiding her around the cleared area that went from ceremony to dance floor at the push of a jukebox button. Robyn laughed as he twirled her so they were dancing side by side. Couples started to gather on the floor to dance beside them and Robyn saw Jack pull Liberty away from her perch at the counter.

As the song started to end, Robyn saw Owen’s eyes look behind her. She turned around, “You didn’t think I forgot your promise, did you?” Jack inquired as Owen stepped away and the song “Lean On Me” began to play.

Taking her in his arms, like a father would his little princess, Robyn smiled, “I can’t dance.”

“Just follow me,” he smiled then led her across the dance floor. “I finally found out why your face looked so familiar to me,” Jack admitted as he twirled her under his arm then pulled her back to continue dancing.

“R-really?” Robyn stammered biting her inner lip as she cautiously looked up into his eyes and tried to act as if she did not notice it during the ceremony.

Ignoring her hesitation, Jack spoke like he would to any other friend, “How do you know Mariah Masda?”

“Were you ever told the story about the dress?”

“Am I to believe you know the whole story?” he asked as he twirled her around to glance at the wedding dress again.

Robyn returned to his arms with a small smile, “Well, it was my bedtime story, didn’t know it existed until today.”

“And who told you this bedtime story?”

“My grandma.”

Jack stopped suddenly and stared into Robyn’s eyes, “I-I…”

“Why are you acting surprised? Why did you think I looked like her?”

“I just never thought I’d be around for…”

“What are you talking about?”

“I have to contact Al,” Jack spoke letting her go with no realization that she had said anything, “and tell her to stay in Cameron.” He saluted quickly then mumbled, “I will take you and your husband there tomorrow.”

As Owen approached to figure out the tightness in her shoulders and the sudden odd behavior of the sheriff, she asked, “Why?”

“It’s a place you’re going to become familiar with,” he spoke as she finally reached up and pulled his hand from his salute. “The sooner you realize it the better.”

“Realize what?” Owen asked sliding his arms around Robyn and pulling her tightly to him if only to feel like he was protecting her somehow.

“Whether you wanted to or not, you both are a part of the revolution now.”