Dallas Heritage Village
Dallas Heritage Village is a living museum boasting thirty-eight buildings. The entrance road, Main Street, leads into the Village proper; left behind are the electric lights of the park and upon entering the world of the mid to late 1800s, gaslights line the street.
Along the causeway, the small town takes form. The Blum Brothers' General Store and the Main Street Saloon sit side by side, their sides in clapboard. Along the side roads and alleyways, the various other services such as the post, the physician's office, schoolhouse and the church can be found. Further in and up against the edges of the village are the two story, pre-Civil War residences of the solid, upstanding citizens of the day including the Millers and the Sullivans.
It's mid-afternoon, here at the Village. Early enough that there's still a general hustle and bustle of tourists and such through the buildings, late enough that it's not unbearably hot for those who have come to see the sights. Right now, there seems to be a small gathering around one of the fenced in yards, as there's some sheep shearing going on. It's just, well, this is sort of what the village is about, isn't it? And so, the crowd, as the interpreters give their little spiel and the housewives do their jobs. And there is Paige, looking on, casually munching on some old fashioned peanut candy from the general store.
—-
While the Heritage Village is generally a quiet tourist attraction even it is prone to the small altercation or two. Officer Rossum, having just dealt with a minor shoplifting infraction, is taking a small lunch break as she meanders through the village. Taking her hour to wind down, relax, and see if there's any reason to wander back here when she's got a bit more free time. It seems like any other old 'tyme' village, but nice enough to spend an afternoon at.
By the time she reaches the crowd, her stomach is rumbling gently. A glance is given toward Paige, and she dips her head in a nod. "I didn't see a shop around here. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction?"
—-
Paige looks over, from the main event, such as it is, shifting her attention to the officer who's walked up beside her, "Oh sure, the general store's right over there." She turns further, pointing towards the street, though you can't really see it, since it's a ways away, "Just go down there, and make a right and then, sort of go…no that's just ridiculous. How about if I just walk you over there?" Paige steps away from the crowd, "This place is like a maze, I always have to bring a map, no matter how often I come."
—-
"That would be great. I've never been." Except to take care of the minor infraction at one of the littler shops. "You come here often then?" Officer Rossum raises her brow curiously, then steps to the side of the street to allow the woman to show her which direction to head in.
—-
Once the two of them are free of the crowd around the demonstration, Paige starts off down the street, keeping her pace slow and comfortable, holding out the bag of candies, just in case, "I try to come whenever they have a special event, but sometimes it's just nice to come and walk through the old buildings. And the Millermore house is close by and that's really nice. Of course, I also go to renaissance faires, so i suppose that makes me a bit of a geek so. I'm Paige, by the way, sorry not to introduce myself."
Leigh has partially disconnected.
—-
"Officer Leigh Rossum," she offers as they walk along. She doesn't appear to be in a hurry, and other than her uniform could really be any other lost tourist. "You seem awfully familiar, Paige. I doubt that you're anyone I've had to deal with in the past." Scratching the back of her head, she continues forward trying to recall where she's seen the woman before. "Never bothered with the faires either." She's been far too busy dealing with life to fuss with much of the fun stuff.
—-
"Nice to meet you, Officer Rossum." The skirt a corner here, passing a doctor's office, as they continue along, "I've never had any trouble with the police. You probably saw me on the news yesterday. The thing in West Dallas, with the wolf/dog whatever thing? Lady screaming?" Paige's tone isn't at all, "Yeah, I'm a celebrity!" In fact it's anything but, "But I don't think I saw you last night. Oh, I do the faires all of the time. Silly, but, I sort of like the sort of old time feeling, a lot like this place, I guess."
"No, I don't think it was that." Though Officer Rossum knows plenty about that incident, since she's dealing with a bit of the Shifter fallout from it. "I was off duty last night. I tend to make sure I get at least one weekend night a month off." Which is only fair for an officer to do. "It seems quaint here. Peaceful in a way the rest of the city isn't. I can see why you'd like it."
—-
"Oh. Ooh." Paige pauses, munching on another candy, as they're coming up towards the intersection, "Well, if you're up late at night, you might have seen the show I'm on. We do ghost hunting and stuff. We might even be doing a show here, if we can get the people who run the place to approve it. Might bring in some business for them, and there have been some stories, oh, here we are. This is Main Street." of course, there's always a Main Street in every old town, "And it is nice. It's quiet and helps you forget you're in the middle of a gigantic city."
—-
"Ah." That would be the recognition, although Officer Rossum will never admit to that. She pops her neck to the side, and then nods. "Sounds like you're having some red tape issues. You should have your production company talk to someone down at City Hall, and get that cleared up." Since Leigh's sure the city pays for portions of this, as well as the historical society.
Paige's laughter is bright and sunny, as she walks, turning the corner left, and you can see the sign for the general store coming up, "If we had a production company to speak of. We're on community access, still. And, well, I think they're concerned that we'll make them look disreputable, or break something in the Millermore that we can't pay for." Paige pauses, at the foot of the steps to the store, "This is one of my favourite buildings."
Leigh looks over at the store and then nods. "What do you like about it?" To her, it's just an old-fashioned store.
"Hell, if you really want to get in there, tell them you'll get them to escort you, and you'll have police on the premises. I can sign off on that some night when I'm off-duty if you'd like." The woman seems to really enjoy her job, so it's only fair to put the offer out there.
—-
"That might not be a bad idea. It would certainly put them more at ease, I think." Paige steps up to the store, "It's always full of interesting things. You never know what you'll find. Candy or books, or cloth, strange things in barrels, toys and trinkets. It's the one place that is different every time you come." Paige moves to the door, to hold it open for the officer.
—-
"Strange things in barrels?" Arching her brow upward, the police officer shakes her head. "I doubt I really want to go fishing around in a barrel for anything in particular. Something quick to snack on would be wonderful though." As the door is held open for her, she grins at the woman and steps on through. Gazing around the store, she settles on some old style licorice and reaches into her back pocket for a wallet. On duty, it's difficult to carry a purse around with her.
—-
"Well, sometimes, it's not strange. One time when I check one, it was crackers, another time it was pickles. But one time, I swear it was pig's feet. But they weren't selling those…I don't think." Paige steps in after the officer, "I mean, I hope not." Paige goes to shopping herself, picking up a bag of dried apples, and after moving towards the counter to pay, though she lets the officer go first, she'll slide them into her bag. "I have a friend who likes these. I have to bring them back whenever I come or else."
—-
"… pigs feet?" Officer Rossum wrinkles her nose up, looking rather disgusted by the thought. Then again, being Jewish kind of makes her have an aversion to all things related to pork.
"I could see them selling it as a novelty, but even then…" The thought just really seems to gross her out. "Dried apples are actually quite good, though I'm not in the mode to be at all health-conscious today." Sugar it is, though it's hardly good for her figure and will mean another round at the gym tonight after her shift.
—-
"Oh, I love pork and pork products as much as they next girl, don't get me wrong, but nobody, not even a hardened criminal should have to eat anything's feet. Especially not when they're pickled. And bright red. Oh. My. God." Paige shakes herself, as she waits, that classic sort of, "OMG, I'm so grossed out," gesture, "Nobody should be health conscious any day. That's my motto."
—-
"I've never eaten pork." So she's not like the next girl, she's unique. Religiously unique, but unique in this case. Officer Rossum steps aside to allow the woman to pay for her purchase, and leans against the counter. "Though I think hooves would be the more proper term." Pig hooves just don't have the same ring as pigs feet though, so it's a marketing thing, she's aware.
"I have to keep health conscious. I'd rather not be the comically stereotypical officer, sitting in the donut shop with a big bottom."
—-
"You don't know what you're missing. There's just nothing like it. But, to each their own." She pauses, giving a mock-serious look, "You're not one of those creepy vegetarians are you? I always get looks from them when I'm in the store." Paige moves back into the store, not leaving the conversation, but amusing herself by looking through the shelves. "What if you were at the local pastry shop eating fresh chocolate croissants?"
—-
"Ah, no. Just Jewish." Winking at the woman, she whips out a strand of licorice, and takes a bite from it. Real licorice is generally root-candy, which is generally kosher, so she can eat it and worry about it later. "Though I don't think there's anything wrong with being vegetarian either really. Even if some take it to extremes, there are a lot of good vegetarian foods." Which she sometimes resorts to to eat kosher when she's out. "I wouldn't likely eat pastry from a shop anyhow. Perhaps rarely. If it were on a date.." Which… she also never really does.
—-
"Oh, well, then no pork for you. I'm not jewish myself, as you could probably gather. But I actually really enjoy shopping at kosher butchers and delis. And the occasional Halal grocer, if I can find them. Growing up in Nome, I'm sort of used to eating, well, food that's healthy, you know? Not a lot of chemicals or hormones. And it's hard to know, when you're in a normal grocery store. But those places are safe. And always good quality." Paige does look curious, at the last, when Leigh mentions not eating pastries, "What if you have to. Not pastries I mean. But what if you had to eat, but you knew that the food that was available wasn't going to be kosher. Could you still eat it then, I mean, you couldn't starve yourself."
—-
"I generally carry something kosher with me in the car." A sandwich, a small wrap of some sort. Something kosher. "Otherwise, if it was a matter of life or death, I'm certain that I would be forgiven." Leigh would still draw the line at pork though, since that's obviously a rather large no-no. "There is a really great kosher deli downtown by the precinct, actually."
—-
"I couldn't imagine. I mean, it must be very difficult. I'm used to just going into a store and buying whatever I feel like at the moment. But I do have to give you credit though. That takes a lot of perseverance. Particularly in your field of work." Paige looks back towards the front of the store, as more people come in, many of them children on a school trip, "Want to sit outside? Give us time to avoid the kids."
—-
The counter is just a lovely place to lean back. Then again, having a cop leaning back in a place of business is generally never a welcome to visitors. Nodding, Leigh starts toward the door. Each child is given a stern look, mostly to ensure that they won't steal anything. "It is difficult, but those of us with special dietary concerns generally know how and where to get what we need at a moment's notice."
—-
Paige ducks out of the shop, moving over to the side where there are two honest to goodness rocking chairs set up. Actually, there are six, spaced out along the front of the store, but since they only need two, she moves to, well, the two closest, settling into one, moving her bag to rest in her lap, "Why do you do it, if I may ask? I know not all jews keep kosher. Is that too personal? Tell me if I'm being too personal."
—-
It's quaint. It's seriously quaint. Even quainter than going to her grandmother's house in the summer. Taking the other rocking chair, she continues to quietly chomp on the licorice. Thinking about it in relation to a kosher diet, and truly hoping that this is actual root-licorice candy, and not the funky licorice flavored stuff. "It's just like Christianity. There are different denominations, to use their term. Religious movements that use some principles and not others, or that don't need to remain strictly kosher. My family just happens to practice kosher eating, so it's a habit I've had since I was a child."
In order to not bore the woman too much with talk about religions, she glances out to the village once more. "So let me ask you, Paige. Do you truly believe any of the buildings here to be haunted, or is it just a job?"
—-
"I suppose so. Especially with Christianity. There are so many denominations out there, you couldn't even shake a stick at all of them. And more popping up every day. particularly the ones that are non-denominationally christian, and I'm not even sure what that means." Paige starts herself rocking, dipping into her bag to steal just one of the apple slices. As the topic of conversation changes, she looks back out over the buildings, "I believe that who we are leaves traces. The energy of our lives. And when we pass, sometimes some of that can be left behind. So I think it's ever as clear cut as Slimer in Ghostbusters, no. But some of these houses are old, and they've seen many lives."
—-
"You're asking the wrong person when it comes to Christianity. It's definitely not my forte." Leigh isn't even aware of the different religious movements in Judaism, so she's likely not the greatest to have a deep, religious conversation with. "Want some licorice?" The bag is held out to the woman. She did buy quite a bit after all.
"Memories, as opposed to actual physical manifestations of spirits?" Leigh may be able to get behind that. "What do you make of the vampire population then? They're technically long dead, with no spirits or life energy to leave behind."
—-
"Oh, no thank you. I never got the taste for licorice. Not the real stuff like that. I love a bag of Twizzlers though." Which are just about the most g-d-awful excuse for licorice ever. "I shouldn't even be eating these apples," but she does, reaching in to get another one, "I'll have to buy a new bag before I leave, I think." And as she nibbles, she considers, "I think most people watch the show and think they're going to see bodies and , you know, movie ghosts, and they're disappointed when all they might see is a flash of light, or a sound or words." Thoughtfulness, as she considers vampires, "Well, I don't know what animates a vampire. People say it's magic, some say it's some sort of virus. Some say they're soulless, and perhaps they are. And some say they're dead, because their bodies don't function like ours do. And yet, they don't rot and decay, in the way that dead things do. I haven't put my finger on it yet, but for now, I'm just watching and waiting. Obviously, it must have something to do with their blood. Or else we wouldn't have this problem with V, but I've never heard of anyone doing research on their blood. But if they are dead, then whatever they left behind must have been left behind when they died."
—-
The licorice is drawn back, and she whips out another string of it. Smaller bites are taken from this one. Little nibbles in comparison to how fast she ate the last strand. "Hollywood gets quite a lot wrong, really." Not that Officer Rossum would know this, really, except that she does thanks to actually being one of the movie-monster creatures that Hollywood loves to portray incorrectly. "V is definitely a rather large problem in Dallas." Something she's also experienced first hand a number of times. "Magic though? I do believe that's the first time I've heard that one. Technically, they are dead. The process of becoming a vampire has them draining all of your blood, thus your heart stops before they replace your blood with their own." So heart death, definitely. Not necessarily brain death. Though really that's all Leigh knows on the subject. "They make things rather difficult too. New holding facilities will be necessary for vampire criminals, and new task forces necessary in dealing with them. I think you may have it easy with the ghosts… shimmering lights and voices, or spectral beings. Whatever it is you may find."
—-
"Oh, I'm sure Hollywood does. I mean, in most cases, they know about as much as we do. Or did, before vampires actually came out. But I find, or I think, with vampires, that people are not much different than the ones that watch my show. Think about it. The average person on the street, you think they'd actually want to walk into a house and get accosted by some ghost of something? Have it hurt them or whatever? Course not, but they'll watch it on TV, they'll enjoy the scare. Like with vampires. I think a lot of people, in Hollywood and in real life, what they want is the fantasy. Hence the magic, because that's romantic, you know what I mean? I think if they had to face some hungry vampire about to bite a chunk out of their neck, they wouldn't find it as romantic. It's just like werewolves. People love werewolf movies. But you think anybody would want something like ten feet tall with claws and serious bad breath chasing you down? Look how terrified people are about this wolf/dog thing that's been attacking people." Paige continues eating the forbidden dried fruit, "Not even the light, I've heard they're crazy strong and fast too. I don't envy you your job."
—-
"I don't know why I'm surprised. They get romance wrong too." Life just doesn't happen the way Hollywood portrays it. "Fantasy is all well and good, and there's no harm in believing in it once in a while, but the crux of the issue comes from those who fantasize and romanticize things too much. It's where you get your V-addicts, and your fangbangers from." While she speaks, Leigh moves the licorice around in a very animated manner. "It's a wolf. A black wolf. Was a wolf. I haven't looked at the case files." Not her case, and while she does read the files, she's staying out of it unless Donato asks for help. Delving into another Pack's territory is bad enough, taking care of their problems without their permission is worse.
"But do you honestly believe that if there were werewolves, they would look like those awful wolf-men? Anthropomorphic creatures that run around biting people for the fun of it?"
—-
"Hollywood seems to get most everything wrong. And yet, we still shell out money to see their movies. For my money, I'll take a good Bollywood movie over a Hollywood movie any day. They don't try to hide the fact that they're making movies that are meant to be fantasies and fairy tales. And the dancing is killer." Paige pauses, once again, considering as she continues, "I think…yes. It's like with vampires. We've had stories about them for ages. And we got some of the facts wrong, I admit that. But there are a lot of facts that we got right. The draining blood, the burying, the needing to drink blood to survive. We made a lot of things up, but some nuggets of truth exist. I don't think it's any different with werewolves. If they exist. Maybe not everything we know about them is accurate. But there have been centuries of stories of half-man, half-wolf creatures. And those stories, like the vampire stories come from all over the world, from dozens of unrelated peoples. They can't all have come up with the idea independently and there's absolutely no truth to it."
—-
The whole discussion on Hollywood vs. Bollywood gets put on the backburner. Officer Rossum seems to be intently listening to her thoughts on werewolves, nodding every so often as the other woman speaks. "But a half-man, half-wolf creature doesn't necessarily make it an anthropomorphic beast that can walk on two legs, and looks like Teen Wolf either." Winking, she bites off another piece of licorice and chews it silently for a moment. "Native Americans believe in animal spirits, and braves that could shift themselves into their respective animals. The actual animal, not some awkward hybrid that's right out of a bad cult classic."
—-
"Oh, I'm sure if there are creatures out there like that, that they could do that as well. It only makes sense. But if they did shift into a half-man half wolf, they'd have to be on two feet. Have you ever tries to go on four legs, like when you're a kid, and you do crab walking races? I mean, the thing could be twenty feet tall, but if it was coming at me like that, I…just wouldn't be that scared of it. But there are also stories that say that there's a reason why some are all wolf and some are half and half or could be half and half if they wanted to be. Bitten, or cursed, or wearing a wolfskin belt, that one's gotten a lot of play, or rubbing yourself with ointment." Paige looks over, offering a grin to the officer sitting beside her, "Sorry, hazard of the job. You start reading about ghosts and goblins, to to speak, and you end up reading about everything else too."
—-
Leigh quite frequently goes on all fours, though she's not about to tell this woman that. "No, we didn't do much of that when I was a kid." Shrug. "Why on earth would anyone want to rub themselves with ointment to turn them into a wolf? That just seems completely out there. Like the whole wearing black and fake teeth to become a vampire." Oh there have been a few cases like that in the last two years as well. Pain in the behind. "I actually don't mind, Paige. It makes for interesting conversation. I suppose by now you've figured that I've seen your Paranormal Investigations, so you're aware I have an interest of some sort in such things."
—-
"Well, as the stories go, the people who did that sort of thing did it because they wanted to be able to harness the power of the wolf, though it wasn't always a wolf. Sometimes they would choose other creatures as well, though wolves seem to be the one that crops up the most often. But if you believe the stories, werewolves are faster, stronger, have better senses. Think about it, if you could have those extra abilities, wouldn't you want to, sometimes? Say you were some middle ages farmer, and some overlord was taking over your village, raping your women, killing your children or family, if you could become essentially a superhuman, just for a little while, wouldn't you do it? And it's not just crazy people that believed that stuff, the Catholic church believes it too. They say that saints, like Saint Patrick, could transform people into werewolves, and did, at least once. And St. Thomas Aquinas believed that the angels and demons alike had the power to transform the human body. Usually as a punishment though, like the curses some people talk about." Again, that laughter, "I figured you might have done. It's probably the only way I would have looked familiar to anyone around here. And I don't mind. It's nice to talk to someone who doesn't think I'm crazy."
—-
"Catholics," Leigh says with a playful roll of her eyes. She doesn't mean it to be insulting in a serious way, obviously. "I don't know. It seems like an awful lot of hassle to go through to save a village when a good bow and arrow used efficiently could do the same thing, and most farmers also knew how to hunt." They would have to, since eating livestock would get rather droll. "I find it intriguing to learn what may be going on around us that the general populace has no clue of, though I'm still not certain that I'm a firm believer in such things."
Finishing off the licorice, she gives Paige a pointed look. "I like the fantasy of it all."
—-
"Yeah, they have great stories, don't they?" A nod, as she considers, "I suppose it would be quite a bit of hassle. But the idea is intriguing though. Especially having the extra strength and senses and such. being able to track and hunt like that? And wolves and such, wild animals were terrifying to people, much moreso, I think, than they are today. Could you imagine though, if you cast a spell like that and it went wrong, and instead of a wolf, you turned into like…a hamster or something?" Paige laughs, the thought quite obviously tickling her fancy, "I hope you always have the fantasy and never the reality, Officer Rossum, because sometimes…the things I've seen. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I guess, I hope by doing the show it scares more people away than it attracts."
—-
"Witches." Leigh says this in much the same way she said the word Catholics just moments ago. Giving her head a shake, she watches the woman curiously. A thought pushing to the back of her mind. "Or would that be Wiccans? As I said, I am not really up on all the religions out there. It wasn't something I thought to worry about learning." A spell could likely do quite a bit of damage if used incorrectly. It's why Leigh generally avoids other supes. "I doubt a ghost would bother me, though I have to say it would unnerve me a little to be recording something and pick up on a voice when no one is speaking." Rising a little, she extracts her wallet again and flips through it for a card. "Here. If you have issues with the Millermore and need a police reference, please have them contact me? I'll let the Chief know when I get back to the precinct that a call may be coming in from a local production company."
—-
"There is a difference. At least, so they say. A witch is someone with the ability to use true magic to influence their environment, the elements and the people around them. Wicca is a religion, no different from christianity or islam or judaism, if you don't mind the association. A series of beliefs that shape a relationship with god. There, I would say, are many more wiccans and neo-pagans than there are true witches, just as there are many more people who pay lip service to a religion than those who actually follow it." As the officer moves to rise, Paige does as well. She does have some small amount of manners, "Thank you so much for being willing to offer your time, Officer Rossum. I will let Alicia know. She handles most of out booking." Alicia being the head of the ghost hunting 'team'. Thank you for being willing to listen."
