Hell on the Prairie (24 page)

With Cholla at their heels, Ben and Mrs.
Pettigrew headed for the corral. Inside the enclosure was a leggy
dapple-gray mare. She was trotting along the fence, head high, but
stopped at Ben’s whistle and walked up to him, allowing him to
scratch her ears.

“
Here she is. Her name’s Josie,” Ben
said. “What do you think?”

“
She certainly is a fine-looking
animal,” Mrs. Pettigrew said. “When can I try her out?”

“
Right now, if you’d like. I’ll
harness her up. Aren’t you worried about what people will say
though, you being alone with me in a buggy?”

“
Not one bit. Everyone knows I am a
completely respectable woman. Now, if you would get the mare ready,
that would be lovely.”

It only took Ben a few minutes to hitch up
the mare. He helped Mrs. Pettigrew into the buggy’s seat, but she
stopped him when he started to climb up next to her.

“
Mr. Tolliver, where are your
guns?”

“
I believe you know I don’t like
wearing guns, Mrs. Pettigrew,” Ben answered. “They’re safely put
away.”

“
Yes, but after the Danby gang’s
attack, and with those awful Kiowas still roaming about, I would
feel much safer if you wore your weapons,” Mrs. Pettigrew replied.
“Would it be too much trouble?”

“
I guess not,” Ben said, with a shrug.
“Be right back.”

He headed back into the barn to retrieve his
Colts.

“
That’s much better,” Mrs. Pettigrew
said when Ben returned, climbed into the buggy, and picked up the
reins. His guns now hung at his hips. “Let’s go. It’s a lovely day
for a ride.”

Ben clucked to Josie and slapped the reins
lightly on her rump. With Cholla following, he held the mare to a
walk for half-a-mile, until she warmed up, then pushed her into a
trot. She moved out willingly, clearly a horse who wanted to
please.

“
She’s wonderful!” Mrs. Pettigrew
exclaimed. She edged closer to Ben. “It’s clear you know your
horseflesh, Mr. Tolliver.”

“
I just like horses, that’s all,
ma’am.”

“
Please, call me Edith. I insist.
Ma’am sounds so formal… and old.”

“
All right.” Ben slid away from
her.

“
May I call you Ben?” she asked,
sliding closer and leaning against him.

“
I guess that’ll be all right,” Ben
answered. “Would you like to take the reins?”

“
Could I?”

“
She’s going to be your horse, so you
might as well give her a try.”

“
Wonderful.” Mrs. Pettigrew took the
reins and urged Josie into an extended trot. She kept the mare at
that pace for two more miles, slowed her to a trot for another
mile, then walked her for a mile still. At that point, she turned
the rig to the right, off the trail, and pulled to a stop behind a
grove of cottonwoods and willows.

“
Why are we stopping, Mrs. Pettigrew,
I mean, Edith?” Ben asked.

“
I’m feeling a bit faint,” she
answered. “It must be the exhilaration from our drive. Josie is
every bit the horse you said she is, and more. I just need to rest
a moment and catch my breath. Perhaps you would be kind enough to
wet my handkerchief in that creek, so I can dab it on my face to
cool off.”

“
Of course,” Ben said. “Let me help
you down.” He secured the reins, then stepped out of the buggy and
went to the opposite side. When he attempted to assist Mrs.
Pettigrew down, she fell, leaning against Ben for a moment longer
than necessary.

“
I apologize, Ben,” she
said.

“
No apology necessary. You just
slipped, that’s all,” Ben answered. “Let me have your
handkerchief.”

“
Of course.” She removed the cloth
from her reticule and handed it to him. By the time Ben returned
from the creek, she had unbuttoned the top two buttons of her
blouse, revealing a good portion of her breasts, still round and
firm.

“
Here’s your handkerchief.”

“
Thank you, Ben.” She took the lace
cloth, dabbed it at her face, then her cleavage.

“
It’s much warmer than I expected,”
she said, undoing yet another button.

“
Have you decided on Josie yet?” Ben
asked, growing uncomfortable.

“
She’s a fine horse, but I was
thinking along the lines of something a bit more powerful, in case
I ran into trouble on the prairie. A big stallion,
perhaps.”

“
I’m sorry, Edith. I don’t keep any
stallions in my stock. Unless you’re breeding horses, a stud horse
is nothing but trouble. Heck, I even had my Cholla gelded. And a
horse like Josie can outrun almost any pursuers. I think maybe we
should start back.”

“
Not quite yet,” she said. “Ben, don’t
you find me attractive? Most men would.”

Ben hesitated a moment before answering.
Despite her age, at least twenty years older than him, Edith
Pettigrew was still a fairly handsome woman. She had lost some
weight, no doubt at least partially due to her opium habit. The
loss of pounds revealed curves which had heretofore been hidden, at
least as long as Ben had lived in Wolf Creek. There were slight
wrinkles around her eyes, signs of dissipation from her addiction,
but today those eyes were clear. She hadn’t gotten into her opium,
at least not yet.

“
You are a good-looking woman, yes,”
Ben answered. “I’m sure you’ll find the right man some day, and get
married again.”

“
Perhaps,” she said. “But I have needs
now, Ben, just like any woman. I’m sure you must have needs
also.”

“
Those feelings have long been
buried,” Ben answered.

“
I can make them come alive again,”
she said. “It’s been far too long since I’ve been with a man. In
fact, since my dear Seth passed on.”

“
Mrs. Pettigrew…”

“
Edith.”

“
All right, Edith. I think we should
end this, right here and now. You have your reputation to think of,
and I can’t ever love another woman.”

“
No one will know,” she answered. “As
far as love, I’m not worried about that. I need you, Ben Tolliver.
I’ve needed you since that day the Danby gang attacked Wolf
Creek.”

She stepped closer, wrapped her arms around
Ben’s neck, and kissed him firmly on the mouth, so hard she crushed
his lips, drawing blood.

“
Don’t tell me you don’t need a woman
too,” she whispered. She slipped a hand inside his shirt, rubbing
his chest. Before Ben could even utter a protest, she had his shirt
open and pulled off. She ran her hand over his belly, then inside
his pants. Despite himself, Ben groaned as his body responded. He
slid her blouse off her shoulders and began kissing her
cleavage.

“
Just a minute, Ben.” Mrs. Edith
Pettigrew, the self-proclaimed moral compass of Wolf Creek,
unbuckled his gunbelt, tossed it aside, then unbuttoned Ben’s pants
and let them drop to his ankles. With amazing efficiency, she then
removed her skirt, petticoat, and stockings and let them
fall.

“
Now.”

Locked in each other’s arms, they sank to
the grass. Neither had any illusions about this relationship. There
was no love involved here, just the passions of two people who had
been far too long without being with a member of the opposite sex.
They made love hard and fast, completely spent by the time they
were finished.

“
Thank you, Ben.”

“
We shouldn’t have…” Ben began, then
was interrupted by a whinny from Cholla as three young Chinese men
emerged from the trees.

“
Very nice. Very nice, fine lady. You
are indeed ready for the Jade Chamber,” one said.

“
What the…?” Ben attempted to scramble
to his feet, hampered by his pants still wrapped around his
ankles.

Mrs. Pettigrew screamed. She also rose,
attempting to cover herself with her hands.

“
What is the meaning of this?” she
demanded.

“
My uncle sent us to collect your
debt. You will recall your promise that, if you were unable to pay
for your ‘medical supplies’, you would work off your debt in the
Jade Chamber. A lady of such status will be a great
addition.”

“
I’m not going anywhere with you. I
told Tsu Chiao he would have his money next week.”

“
He has decided not to wait any
longer. You will come with us, now.”

“
The lady ain’t goin’ anywhere,” Ben
said. At that two of the Chinese pulled out pistols, heavy old
Dragoon Colts.

“
Do not interfere and you will not be
harmed.”

“
I’m not lettin’ you take the lady,”
Ben repeated. When he started to edge toward his gunbelt, the third
Chinese pulled a long, curved sword from his belt and placed the
blade alongside Ben’s genitals.

“
If you try and stop us, I will remove
your manhood like so,
chop
chop
,” he warned.

“
Ben, don’t try anything,” Mrs.
Pettigrew pleaded. “They’ll kill you if you do.”

“
You do anything to hurt her and Tsu
Chiao will answer to me,” Ben said.

“
She will not be harmed.”

“
I’ll hold you to that,” Ben said. He
was seething inside, helpless against the guns being held on him.
He also knew those men had no intention of leaving him alive. One
thing was for certain, though. He sure wasn’t gonna die without a
fight, with his pants down out here in the brush. He just had to
await his chance.

“
We’ve wasted enough time, Mrs.
Pettigrew,” the leader ordered. “Get dressed and let’s
go.”

“
All right. But may I get my purse
first? I need my handkerchief.”

“
Of course.”

“
Thank you.”

Mrs. Pettigrew picked up her beaded reticule
from where she had dropped it, reached inside, pulled out a
two-shot Derringer, and shot the nearest Chinese in the chest. He
stumbled back, blood spurting from the close-range wound.

The other two men, stunned at the sudden
turn of events, turned their attention away from Ben. They were too
slow to react as he dove for his gunbelt and yanked out one of his
Colts. He shot the man closest to Mrs. Pettigrew in the back, not
giving him the time to kill her, then shot the swordsman three
times in the belly. The man buckled, eyes glazing, and crumpled to
the dirt. Ben came to his feet.

“
Edith, are you all right?” he
asked.

“
I… I think so. Are they all
dead?”

Ben quickly checked the bodies. The gut-shot
Chinese was just breathing his last. “They sure are.”

“
That means I… I killed a
man.”

“
You had no choice. You saved both our
lives. Now listen to me. Can you take Josie and head back to
town?”

“
I… believe so. She didn’t run
off?”

“
No. I trained her to accept gunfire,
so she’s right there where we left her. I want you to get dressed,
climb back in that buggy, and head for town like nothing has
happened.”

“
But… what about those
men?”

“
I’ll take care of them. Remember,
nothing happened out here. Get dressed and get back to town. When
you reach my stable, find Dickie Dildine, tell him you just bought
Josie, and have him take care of her. He’ll put her up and put the
rig away. Tell him I’ll be back shortly, that I had some business
to attend to. No more than that.”

“
All right.”

Ben and Mrs. Pettigrew hurriedly
redressed.

“
Don’t forget what I said. Nothing
happened out here.” Ben repeated his warning as he helped her back
into the buggy. “You drive into town all calm and happy, like a
woman who has just been for a long buggy ride and purchased a fine
rig would act. Can you do that?”

“
I must, so I will. You can depend on
me.”

“
Good. One other thing,” Ben
said.

“
What’s that?”

“
Tomorrow, you might want to see Dr.
Munro and ask him to help you get off the opium,” Ben said. “Things
will only get worse for you unless you do.”

“
I don’t take opium,” Mrs. Pettegrew
snapped.

“
I’m sorry, but it’s an open secret in
Wolf Creek that you like your ‘medicine’,” Ben answered. “Tsu Chiao
will only get his hooks deeper into you if you don’t quit. Now get
goin’.”

He slapped Josie on the rump, putting her
into a trot. Once Mrs. Pettigrew was out of sight, he found one of
the Chinese’s horses, removed its saddle and bridle and transferred
those to Cholla.

“
No lariat, so we’d better hope one of
these ‘nephews’ of Tsu Chiao had some rope in his saddlebags,
Cholla,” Ben said.

Ben checked the gear from all three horses,
cursing to himself when he found no rope.

“
Reckon I’ll have to use their reins.
Gotta scatter these mounts anyway. They sure won’t go where I’ve
gotta go.”

Ben stripped the gear from all three horses
and chased them into the brush. Sooner or later they would find
their way back to Wolf Creek. He took the reins from the bridles
and used those as ropes, using the longest piece to tie one man by
the wrists to his saddlehorn, then tied the other two wrist to
ankle to the first man. Finally, he tied the two remaining saddles,
blankets, and what was left of the bridles to the last body.