Crimson Palace (25 page)

She could tell this was not going to be a particularly good night. The men seemed restless, ill at ease no doubt because of the relentless heat. The noise level had risen, angry voices carrying above the usual chatter. She would be glad to see this night end.

Deeply involved in the game, Shinonn had no idea how late it was when she heard the first scream. She glanced around the room, looking for Linc, more annoyed than alarmed. She saw the top of his head as he worked his way through the crowd in the direction of the girls’ rooms upstairs.

She hesitated for a moment, wondering if there would be trouble enough to cause her to shut down the game. Loud voices coming from the upstairs rooms made her decision for her.

"Gentlemen, we seem to be having some kind of disturbance upstairs. It may be nothing more than an overly boisterous customer, but I suggest we call it a night."

A couple of the heavier losers started to grumble, but quickly changed their minds as the sounds of shouting and screaming increased. Scooping up their money as quickly as possible, they were quickly scrambling for the nearest exit.

Finally, from amongst the cacophony of voices, she heard the word "fire." Fear clenched at her heart as she felt panic spread through the crowd.

"Lincoln! My God, where’s Lincoln?" She clawed her way through the throng of people, all pushing toward the exits. The wave of humanity forced her toward the double doors, away from the stairs she knew Lincoln had climbed minutes before.

"No! I’ve got to get to Lincoln," she screamed, using every ounce of strength she possessed to challenge the surge of the crowd. At last, finding a slight opening in the mob, she burst through the throng of bodies.

She raced toward the stairs. Gathering her skirts high, she took the steps two at a time. Reaching the top step, she nearly ran into Lincoln as he raced toward the stairs with one of Sofie’s girls slung over his shoulder. Arms dangling behind Lincoln’s back, she appeared to be unconscious.

"Get out of here!" he shouted. "It’s too far gone, fire’s out of control. I tried to put it out, but it was already too late."

Looking past him, all Shinonn could see was thick, gray smoke.

"But the other girls! We’ve got to get them out of here!"

"I checked. Everyone else is out. Sally got too much smoke and passed out. Come on, let’s get out of here!"

They stumbled down the stairs, choking on the thick, acrid smoke. Running by instinct toward the front door, they passed through one deserted room after another.

A cheer went up from the crowd standing outside the burning building as Shinonn burst through the double doors. Lincoln followed a step behind her, the unconscious Sally still in his arms. A slight breeze caressed Shinonn’s flushed face. Her cheeks were reddened from the intense heat, her dress covered with soot and cinders.

Lincoln gently lowered the unconscious girl to the ground.

"Did everyone get out?" he called toward the crowd. "Is everyone accounted for?"

"Sofie! I haven’t seen Sofie." Alex came running toward them.

"Oh, dear Lord," Shinonn’s words were barely louder than a whisper. "She went up to her room. She was going to take some laudanum for her headache."

Before she could stop him, Lincoln turned back toward the Bonanza House. She wanted to call him back, but the words stuck in her throat. How could she let Sofie die? But what if he was too late? It was too dangerous!

"Lincoln!" In the nightmare, she heard her voice scream his name.

***

In the days that followed the disastrous Bonanza House fire, the full facts of the incident came out.

Against her better judgment, Sally had taken a drunken customer up to her room. He had come to the Bonanza House before, and was usually a good enough sort, but he could get rowdy if he’d had too much to drink. In his inebriated state, he had become verbally and then physically abusive. Ducking to avoid his blows, Sally had bumped into a crystal lamp, sending it crashing to the floor. In less than a second flames licked at the trail of kerosene that flowed from the broken lamp. It was her scream of terror at the sight of flames that Shinonn and Lincoln had first heard.

Lincoln was nearly knocked over the railing by the drunken bully as he came crashing down the stairs.

Regaining his footing, Lincoln bounded up the last few steps and raced down the hallway, following the trail of billowing smoke. As he passed closed doors, he rapped sharply on each, calling a warning to the occupants. Doors burst open, men and women in various stages of undress flowed from the rooms, all eager to escape the conflagration.

By the time Linc had reached the burning room, the fire had already spread to the curtains and was beginning to creep across the ceiling. He pulled the curtains down and stomped on the flames. Grabbing a nearby pitcher, he threw the water toward the ceiling, but realized immediately that it was too little and far too late. Already smoke poured from the seams of the walls. Flames had spread fully across the ceiling, sending down showers of embers.

Glancing around the room, he found Sally crouching in fear behind the bed. The smoke was so thick he could barely see her.

"Come on, Sally, we’ve got to get you of here," he called to her as he went to her aid. The heat was intense, the smoke bringing tears to his eyes.

"Come on, Sally, let’s go."

She shrank away from his outstretched arms. Blind panic burned in her eyes. Terrorized, she stuck out blindly, scratching Lincoln’s cheek with her long nails.

"I’m not letting you stay here and die, Sally. Come on, let me help you."

He finally got a firm grip on the girl’s wrists and began pulling her toward the door. Suddenly she sank to the floor in a leaden heap, the heat and lack of oxygen sapping the last of her strength. She lay unconscious at his feet.

Relieved that she could no longer fight him, Lincoln scooped the girl up in his arms and ran for the stairs.

Apparently Sally’s rescue had given him a false sense of omnipotence. Why else would he have returned to the burning building to make one more rescue attempt? The building was now nearly completely engulfed in flames. No one else would have taken such a risk. But he was gone before anyone could stop him.

Apparently Sofie was either in a deep, drugged sleep, or was completely overcome by smoke when Lincoln reached her. Gathering her into his arms, he carried her to the top of her private staircase. As he rushed down the steps, the entire top floor suddenly collapsed, trapping them both amidst piles of flaming ruins. A huge beam broke loose and crushed Lincoln as he tried to shield Sofie from the falling debris.

Shinonn’s only comfort lay in the fact that it had happened quickly. She prayed that death had come swiftly to her beloved husband and friend, Sofie.

***

"You know I’m behind you all the way in this, Shinonn, but are you sure you’re mind’s made up? We had a good thing going here in Virginia City. People around here know us. Reno’s just an upstart town.

I’d say you’re gambling on a real long-shot."

Alex and Shinonn had come together to place flowers on the graves of the two people they had both loved so dearly. The burning desert heat had finally given way, leaving in its wake a cool breeze that played at the hem of Shinonn’s black gown.

Virginia City’s boot hill lay little more than a mile from town. Nestled high on the edge of the hill, a spectacular panorama spread out before them. The breeze from the valley below felt fresh, clean.

"I always seem to go for the long-shots, don’t I, Alex? But somehow they always manage to pay off.

"We’ve got to rebuild somewhere, but not in Virginia City. Oh, don’t give me that look. I know you think I’m trying to run away from memories, but that’s not true. These last years were the happiest years in my life. Believe me, I don’t want to forget one single minute of them. But we’ve got to be practical. I’ve got to do what’s best for Jenna and Garrett.

"Virginia City’s on it’s way out. How many boom towns have you and I seen go bust since we came out to the gold fields?"

"But Virginia City is different. There’s never been a place like this before. There’s more gold here than anyone ever imagined. And the silver! Don’t forget the silver."

"I’m not forgetting anything, Alex. But no matter how much gold and silver there is, eventually it will all be gone. And then what? Why, they’re already closing down some of the biggest mines. And not one new mine has opened in over a year."

"I still can’t figure why you want to go to Reno. It’s nothing more than a ranching town. Why, there’s not a gold mine within a day’s ride of it."

"It’s not much now, but I’m willing to bet my last dollar that it’ll be a darned sight bigger than any gold camp ever was. Just think about it, Alex. Reno’s got the railroad now. All the gold coming out of Virginia City passes through it. And everything coming from the East Coast to the west rides through Reno too.

Someday it’s going to be the hub of transportation from California to the east. It’s not going to dry up and blow away like nearly every gold camp has."

Alex stood silently gazing at the two headstones. Finally, after several minutes of quiet, he said in hushed tone, "I feel so old all of a sudden. I don’t know if I have the strength left to start over again."

"We have to, Alex. We can’t give up now. We can’t let the children down. They need us more now than they ever did before."

Alex turned to face her. His eyes begged for her understanding. But she knew she couldn’t let him give up on life.

"I need your help, Alex. Oh, I’ve got the money I’ll need to get started again. But I need so much more than money. I need your experience, your wisdom, and your friendship."

"But it just won’t be the same without my Sofie."

"No, it won’t be the same. We won’t even try to make it the same. For one thing, we’ll have to let the girls go. I have no inclination to run a bordello, couldn’t do it if I tried. But we can have the best damned casino the state of Nevada has ever seen."

"Another Bonanza House, but without the girls?"

"Yes, but bigger, grander. I want it to be the casino Lincoln always dreamed of. I’m going to make his dream come true."

Alex seemed to stand a little straighter, his shoulders squared. She could see the gleam of her vision lighten his sad eyes.

"It’ll be more than a monument to their memories, monuments are only cold, hard stone. Our casino will be a celebration of two joyful, wonderful lives."

"How about calling it the Crimson Palace, Shinonn? I can see it now, red carpets on the floor, plush, crimson drapes at the windows. Remember how much Sofie loved red?"

"And shining brass wherever you look," Shinonn added. "And chandeliers, huge, brilliant chandeliers in every room."

"And you in your most beautiful crimson dresses. Lincoln would love for you to always wear your red dresses."

Her eyes misted over for a moment as she remembered how her husband had always looked at her when she entered a room dressed in her scarlet gowns.

"Well, I don’t know about that. Those dresses belonged to a different woman, Alex. The statement they made doesn’t seem to matter much any more. I have something different to say now." She smiled through the mist of tears. "But I love your ideas about the new casino. And Lincoln would have loved the name, the Crimson Palace."

JENNA

1878

Chapter 19

Shinonn stood at the second floor railing and glanced down at the players below, her fingers nervously tracing the richly carved mahogany of the banister. Her eyes took in the impressive main room of the casino below her, trying to see it with Jenna’s eyes. It had been so long since Jenna had been here, would she remember any of it, she wondered?

No casino in Reno was more elegantly appointed. The deep red carpeting was of a lush, thick wool.

Red flocked paper covered the walls. Throughout the casino huge, gilded mirrors reflected thousands of lights from enormous gas chandeliers.

Shinonn pictured how the restaurant would appear to Jenna. It too reflected the theme of red, gold and glittering lights. Centered on each snow-white linen tablecloth was a crystal vase with a single rose. Since it was now in the middle of June they’d had their pick of truly exquisite flowers. But even in the dead of winter, Shinonn insisted on the luxury of fresh flowers, not worrying about the expense of hot-house blooms.

She and Maud took excessive pride in the casino’s dining room. When Shinonn moved her operations to Reno nearly ten years before, she had insisted that Maud and her boys come with her, offering the job of restaurant manager to the woman. At first Maud refused the offer, terrified she would fail miserably at the job. But after weeks of persuasion, Shinonn was finally able to convince the older woman that she was much more capable than she realized.

Within a year of their grand opening Maud proved Shinonn’s faith had been aptly placed. The restaurant ran smoothly, making a handsome profit each month. Maud took immense pride in seeing to it that no finer food was served in Reno, nor in a more pleasing manner. Indeed, the Crimson Palace’s dining room had earned such a fine reputation that on many Saturday nights, they were forced to turn customers away.

Success had had a wonderful effect on Maud. Shinonn remembered with a smile the timid, mousy woman she had first met in that small Virginia City restaurant. As she had gained confidence in her own abilities, Maud had gradually changed into a brisk, very able business woman. Gone was the fear of failure. Instead, she radiated self esteem. It was only with her mentor, Shinonn, that she still retained her shyness. Maud could never think of her employer without feeling a sense of awe and eternal gratitude.

Shinonn’s eyes lifted from the room below, rising until they looked at the picture which faced her from across the open gallery. Gray eyes seemed to glow with pride and love, returning her gaze. She stood transfixed, gazing at the full sized painting of her beloved Lincoln. He was elegantly dressed in formal attire, black tuxedo, pleated white shirt. Diamond studs sparkled from the front of his shirt.