A crowd had gathered around the bandstand, where the chairman was holding his opening speech. He was a slow speaker, much to the annoyance of the listeners, for it had just started to drizzle and the chairman was still talking about the history of the event. Last year, that had been followed by a summing up of all the entertainment available, a long speech in which he thanked all the contributing parties, interspersed with even longer anecdotes, and wishing the participating teams success, which apparently allowed for still longer anecdotes. Given that his speech so far had been an exact copy of the one last year, the crowd had little hope of returning home dry.

Some began to stir. People on the fringes of the crowd made embarrassed excuses to the people around them and rushed away on an 'urgent engagement'. The chairman droned on unperturbed by rain and disinterest.

Suddenly a smartly dressed woman ran up the stage and revealed a banner. "Votes for women!" she shouted.

"Ah, thank Christ," muttered one underwhelmed man who had found himself trapped in the middle of the crowd.

"Votes for women!" echoed women elsewhere in the crowd, and they too unveiled banners or hung them on the bandstand.

The chairman had taken a step back, finally pulled out of his monologue, and looked very much at a loss. Then he turned back to the crowd and continued his speech.

A well-dressed woman toward the front perked up. She cupped her hands around her mouth.

“Votes for women!” she shouted back over the droning chairman.

A beautifully dressed noble woman smiled brightly. “Votes for women! Don’t your mothers, daughters, and sisters deserve a voice!” She inquired loudly

This had once been a very point of contention between Aurore and her late husband (one of many in fact) as she had been lured into his trap with promises of the discussion that this is exactly where his next political movement would be, but as the years went on she realized she truly made a grave mistake in trusting him.

And yet…as she held to the shoulder of the only child that didn’t share Fintan’s dark hair she felt herself want nothing more than to join in. Perhaps she could find another way to contribute as the gathering crowd was already becoming a bit much and with the twins still with Mrs. Lockwood across the row she couldn’t risk it if this turned violent.

The rain already made it worse, but with three young daughters how could she turn away now?

“Mr. Chairman. I believe you have been asked a question.”

She just couldn’t fucking help herself.

Lory gravitated toward the beautiful woman with questions, for Lory was a creature of eyes and ears.

A mother holding a child added her voice to the growing fray, and Lory grinned from ear to ear. She threw her fist up and yelled, punctuating each word with a fist pump:

“Answer! Her! Question!”

The chairman seemed at a loss, and stepped back again nervously. "Police! Police!" he shouted in a high pitched voice without answering the question.

PC Wood had just returned from investigating the disappearance of a bicycle and was on his way back to the police station when he passed the crowd and noticed the disturbance. Now!? He really needed a break to answer nature's call. Couldn't the rebel ladies wait? He sighed and blew his whistle to summon the constables on nearby beats. No way he was going to handle a group of angry harpies on his own.

He hoped they showed up quickly though. He really had to pee.

Alasdair wasn't far from the scene when he heard the whistle blow. He knew the sound instinctively. Within second his feet were carrying him as fast as they could towards the sound of the whistle. It was almost a run but more a fast paced walk. He knew running would be seen as unprofessional by the public eye.

Alasdair came round the corner and just out of the corner he saw Constable Wood. He was beside him within seconds, hand on his baton ready to go at a moments notice. "You alright Wood?" He asked in a sensere tone before his scottish accent became prominent and he muttered loud enough for Wood to hear. "Mary mother of christ what is all this then!"

Lailani was annoyed but not surprised when the man in charge had not answered her question. However she was a bit taken aback by the mans high pitched voice when shouting for police. “Are we certain that isnt a woman hating woman in mens disguise.. the voice was very femenine was it not?” She grinned laughing softly to herself at her own jab at the man verbally. However Lailani used every fiber in her being to portray the grace, elegance, and virtue of her noble birth when she heard and saw the constables coming. 

Dark brown almond eyes examined the man known as Alastair from where she stood, her head cocked to the side slightly as a faint smile curved on her lips. At least the men sent to do that sheep of a mans dirty buisness were handsome. “Th' jimmy in charge git feart it seems 'n' hae summoned ye brawny althoogh arguably bonnie men tae deal wi' th' kinch o' wifie voicing thair opinion” without missing a beat after whipping out a scottish accent she switched to Scottish Gaelic. “Tha mi nis a' foighneachd deagh luchd-dàimh na h-Alba. Nach 'eil mnathan, agus nigheanan, agus màthraichean agad? Carson a tha thu a’ diùltadh còir bhòtaidh dhaibh? An àicheadh tu còir bhòtaidh do Mhàiri màthair Ìosa?” (Now I ask good kinsmen of Alba. Do you not have wives, daughters, and mothers? Why do you deny them the right to vote? Would you deny Mary mother of Jesus the right to vote?)

Elijah had also been nearby and heard it. He'd rushed forward when he saw the crowd. He forced himself to relax, as being agitated wouldn't help such matters. He came up beside Alasdair and looked over the group. "I think it's a protest." He was being obvious, but perhaps it would lessen the tension. He glanced towards Constable Wood, "Are you alright?" Guy probably needed a break after he'd been working on other things. Right now though they seemed needed.

He stepped around the crowd the best he could to talk to the chairman and let him know they had arrived. "We are just here for crowd control and make sure no one gets hurt. As long as they are just talking, there's no need for force. You could try to speak with them and calm them. You're the chairman after all, they are listening to you." He could agree wanting some security with such a group, but he noticed he also hadn't answered the question. "Unless you think whatever you have to say will make it worse? But we are here to keep things peaceful."

He faced the group and held up his hands, trying to speak loud though he certainly didn't contain a booming voice. "You are all welcome to remain, but I ask you to please calm down just a little. We do not want any trouble. So let's keep things civil."

Some others had joined her fistpumping and chant of “Answer! Her! Question!” and Lory was glowing with it.

She turned her red head from the mesmerizing outsider who demanded answer, to the constable, and to the gorgeous lady once more. She didn’t understand a word she said.

That didn’t stop her from roaring with all the passion of someone who had just said the same thing!

“YEAH! Answer! Her! Question!”

Her eyes found Crane by the chairman, and she blanched. Stepped behind the gorgeous blonde lady with the kids … and went back to chanting.