Chapter Four

Reverend Andrews was thrilled that the five families the church had been supporting would be able to get fresh beef.  He agreed to send them to the Ponderosa to pick it up.  In addition, Shiloh asked him to spread the word that there would be a picnic at the Flying W on Sunday after church and asked that any family attending bring a dessert or side dish.

When she and Adam left the church, she untied her horse and walked back toward the middle of town.  Adam stood at the hitching rail as she turned and walked away.  “Where are you going?” he asked.

She turned and smiled, wrinkling her nose and lifting her index finger, crooking it, beckoning him to follow her.  The corner of his mouth turned up as his head turned slightly while he kept his eyes on her.

They tied their horses to a hitching rail in front of the new opera house.  He walked behind her, not believing that she would actually walk through the door, but when she reached it, she stopped, took a very obvious deep breath and entered.   Adam sucked in the sides of his mouth while he raised his eyebrows and followed her in.

She looked through a windowed door, and when Tom Maguire looked up from his desk, she waved her fingers and smiled.

Tom rushed to the door.  “Miss Whitney, what a surprise,” he said, taking her arm and guiding her into his office.  “A very pleasant surprise.  Please, have a seat,” he said pulling a chair away from the forward side of his desk.  “And Adam.”  He leaned in.  “Is this your doing?”

Adam laughed.  “No, it’s not.  I had no idea we were coming here until we were here.”

“So, Miss Whitney.  Before you tell me why you’re here, I have something for you.”  He went back behind his desk and pulled an envelope out of his lap drawer, handing it across the desk to her.

“What’s this?”

“Open it.”

She tore the envelope open and pulled out a bank draft.  “Mr. Maguire, there must be some mistake.  What is this for?”

“It’s for your performances in San Francisco.  That comes to $250 per show, plus a bonus for your impeccable performance at the Presidio, which by the way, sold me out for the entire season before the season even started.”

“I can’t accept this,” she said, laying the draft on the desk.  “I agreed to do that as a favor to Mr. Booth.”

“Mr. Booth has absolutely no input as to what I pay those who sing in my opera house.”  He pushed the draft back in front of her.  “You deserve this.  And I’m prepared to offer you even more to sing here.”  She propped her elbow on the arm of the chair and held her chin in her hand, considering Mr. Maguire.  “Take it, please.  I actually thought I had lost the opportunity to give it to you when I heard you were leaving with Mr. Booth.  Then I heard you got off the stage.”

“I guess that’s public knowledge by now,” she replied.

“Then, when I purchased a newspaper, I realized your wish to remain a private citizen of Virginia City wasn’t going to come true.”

She still sat propped on the arm of the chair, studying him, but suddenly sat up.  “Well, the reason I’m here…is to…”  She drew her lips into a line and looked away.  “tell you that…I’ll sing for you.”  She blew out her cheeks and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling as if that was the hardest thing she ever had to say.

Adam made a motion with his mouth to whistle, but he just blew out.  He thought it would take an act of God to talk her into singing in Virginia City, and here she was volunteering.  He wanted to laugh.  He wanted to pick her up and twirl her around.  She was good.  She was better than good, and she deserved the happiness that singing brought her.

Maguire sat back in his chair, stunned.  “I’m…I’m…My, that was easy.  Much easier than I expected.”

Shiloh bent her head into her hand.  “Truth be told, I was never going to sing in Virginia City.  But when we got to town tonight, and I realized all those people were already watching me…realized they were going to be watching everything I do for a good while, I decided that if I became an ordinary occurrence in Virginia City…if I was no longer a curiosity…that people might start treating me like one of them.”  She looked back up at Maguire.  “So, what are your plans for musicians, and when do you expect you’ll have a full orchestra?”

“I will be using some of my musicians from San Francisco to audition musicians for Virginia City.  They will most likely come from all over the country; perhaps even from other countries.”

“May I suggest…bring your orchestra from San Francisco for a pre-opening before the end of the year.  Have your official opening when you start your regular season next year.  That gives you plenty of time to get a commitment from a well-known singer. This way, you give Virginia City and any cities close enough for winter travel a taste of what’s to come.  It will build the excitement so that when you open your first season, you will already have committed patrons.”

“An excellent idea,” said Maguire.  “But that doesn’t leave much time to prepare.  And why wouldn’t you sing at the official opening?”

“You don’t want me to sing at your official opening after I do a pre-opening performance.  You need to give your patrons variety.  That doesn’t mean that I won’t do some performances during the year.  And it actually helps me.  I don’t think my popularity would last very long if I was that frequent of an occurrence.  Your San Francisco musicians already know my music.  We can pick some pieces that were performed throughout the summer…not just those from my last performance, so that we’re not likely to repeat what local people may have already heard.  There’s plenty of material your musicians already know.  We just need to rehearse in the new hall.   If you can, I’d also get Monsieur Rousset as your conductor.  That way, we don’t have to waste time arguing about the arrangements.”  Shiloh stood up to leave.  “Let me know how soon you can get everyone here.  We’ll start immediately when they arrive.”

Maguire was dumbfounded.  Not only had she agreed to sing, but she gave him the perfect way to introduce the new opera house and had come up with how it could be done in a fifteen minute conversation. He looked up at Adam with creased brows, his mouth open, shaking his head.

“I have no idea how she does that,” chuckled Adam, replying to Maguire’s dumbstruck expression.

“In this business, things change quickly.  I had a lot of practice in Boston.” She turned to Adam.  “We should go.  It’s been a very long day.”