Deborah Camp (14 page)

“They’re very kind if they said that. I appreciate the chance to make a little extra money.”

“Jennie, if you are having it rough, you let me know. I don’t have to be paid until all this is cleared up.”

“Oh, I couldn’t –.”

“No, I insist. I’ll settle up with you when we have exhausted all of our options or Luna agrees to sell you some land.”

“Sell … how would I be able to buy land when it’s all I can do to pay your fee?”

“It might come to that, Jennie. It might be the only way.”

“Then I won’t have any land.” She turned her face away from him as tears burned the backs of her eyes. “I will never make enough money to buy any land.”

“Don’t give up on me yet, Jennie.”

“I’m not, but it sounds as if you’re losing faith.”

“No, I’m only preparing you for all possibilities. That’s my job. It’s not to sugarcoat the truth or keep the truth from you. It is my responsibility to be open and frank with you.”

She turned back to him, attracted as much by his words as by him. “I like that about you. Honesty and frankness happen to be the qualities I admire most.”

“It’s not my big, toothy smile or my undeniable charm?”

“No, and it’s not your modesty, either.” She laughed and loved watching him throw back his head and laugh up at the blue sky. Oliver stirred and she laid her hands over his ears until he settled back to sleep. “I was so nervous to see you again … after … well, you know. I’m glad we can talk like this and not feel awkward around each other.”

“Why should we feel awkward? All we did was share a little kiss when no one was looking.”

She fell silent, unsure if he was teasing or not. Did he really think nothing of what had happened between them? Catching the glint in his eyes, she relaxed, realizing he was reading her mind.

“It wasn’t just any, old kiss. I know.” He ran a hand down his face in a gesture of indecision. Sunlight caught at the silver ring on his middle finger. “What you have to understand, Jennie, is that Adam and I have a deal. When I became his law partner, I swore I wouldn’t become too personal or … or intimate with any of our clients. We deal with ladies who are distraught and vulnerable and it’s important that we don’t compromise ourselves or take advantage of them in any way.”

“I can appreciate that,” she said, even as a cloud seemed to move over her. The day wasn’t as bright as it had been a moment ago.

“I had no problem with that promise … until the other day with you. Well, before that. What I mean to say is that keeping my word to Adam is important to me.”

“I understand.”

“Do you? Then explain it to me because I don’t know how I’m going to keep my word to Adam when I’m around you.”

Jennie realized she was holding her breath. She released it and searched for something sensible to say, but no words came to her. Was he telling her that he was falling in love with her? Did he want her to deny him, to tell him that she didn’t want to be with him to make it easier for him to keep his word to Adam? That’s what she should do, she thought, but she couldn’t force that lie past her lips.

“I haven’t told Adam. I wanted to talk to you first and …” His voice trailed off and he sat straighter, peering ahead.

Jennie followed his gaze. They were on the land again that Charles had purchased. The house was several yards ahead. She glanced around, trying to see what had arrested him so.

“That horse …”

She looked at the corral. The pinto was there, but another horse was now prancing around with it. A black horse with a long mane and tail.

“I know that horse,” Zach said. “That’s Luna’s Morgan.”

“She’s at the house!”

“Why are you whispering?” Zach whispered back at her.

She batted a hand at him. “What if she sees us ride by?”

“It’s a free country and she doesn’t own this road. What I find interesting is that her Morgan is unsaddled and in the corral and that horse wasn’t here less than an hour ago.”

Jennie looked from the house to Zach and back to house, trying to follow his train of thought.

“If you were just dropping in for a chat with your cousin who is not your cousin but just watching over your property for you, would you unsaddle your horse and put her in the corral?”

Jennie considered that. “No. I would just tie the horse outside.”

“Right. I wouldn’t even loosen the saddle cinch because I wouldn’t be staying long. But it looks like she is here for more than a cordial visit.”

“Do you think she is sweet on Melvin Parks?”

Zach dipped his head and his shoulders moved with his silent laugh. When he lifted his head again, his eyes were twinkling. “Sweet on him? Darlin’, I think if we busted in on them right now we would find them both as naked as the day they were born.”

“Oh!” Jennie covered Oliver’s ears again. “The things you say!”

He shrugged and snapped the reins. Diamond quickened to a canter. “Some folks don’t move slow and easy like you and Charles. Some folks get right to it. Luna is one of those people.”

“You seem to know her quite well.”

He opened his mouth as if to say something, then pressed his lips together.

Oliver flopped over in her lap and rubbed his eyes. “Mama, I’m hungry as a bear!”

Jennie looked at Zach and they both broke into laughter.

Chapter 11

Dipping the rag into the bucket of water, Jennie wrung it out and then attacked the final pane of glass in the front windows of the dry goods store. When she was finished, she stepped back to admire her work. Sunbeams glanced off the shining glass panes and the signs could clearly be read: “Gingham and brocade just in,” “Men’s hats – Stetsons,” “Fine footwear. Holsters. Belts.”

Pushing a lock of hair off her moist forehead, she bent over for the bucket when she spotted Stella Carlson across the street. She set the bucket down against the outside wall of the store and dashed across the wide, rutted street.

“Stella! Wait. It’s me. Jennie Hastings.”

Stella shaded her eyes and then waved. She was dressed in a pink and yellow patterned dress with a plunging V-neck. Since she had no bosom to speak of, the V revealed her bony chest dusted with freckles. “Hey, how you doin’?”

“I’m fine, but what about you?” She examined the woman’s face. Powder and rouge covered up the fading bruises Jennie knew were there. “That man isn’t still bothering you, is he?”

“The man … oh, him. It’s okay. He hasn’t been back into the saloon.”

“It’s Melvin Parks, isn’t it? That’s the man who hit you.”

Stella narrowed her dark eyes. “I didn’t tell you that.”

“No, but I know that the man who hurt you was riding a pinto and Melvin Parks has a pinto.”

“I gotta go. I got things to do.” Stella set off, casting Jennie an irritated glare when Jennie kept pace with her.

“I will go with you to the authorities and file a warrant for his arrest.”

“No, no.” Stella laughed and tossed her head. “We ain’t doin’ that.”

“Why not?”

“He’s not gonna bother me no more.” She stopped, a stern expression on her small, narrow face. To Jennie, she looked like a child wearing her mother’s cosmetics and fancy dress. “You’re sweet and all to worry about me, but I’m used to men like him. He don’t worry me none.”

“You were plenty worried the night I met you and the next day you were still hiding from him. You shouldn’t allow him to treat you so horribly and get away with it.”

“Where are you from?”

“I lived in St. Louis,” Jennie said, wondering what that had to do with anything.

“Well, in St. Louis gals might kick up a ruckus and call the sheriff every time a man raises a hand to them, but here in the Territory it don’t happen like that. The
authorities
don’t give a plug nickel about such things. He sure won’t be throwed in jail. He will jist get madder and then there’ll be hell to pay. And I will be the one payin’.”

“Stella, I don’t believe that. Guthrie isn’t some backwoods, backwater town.” She gestured to the stone and mortar buildings and the brick hotel on the corner. “People are civilized here. If you file a complaint and tell the sheriff that Melvin Parks hit you repeatedly and that you were afraid for your life —.”

“I was whoring, you know,” she broke in. “That’s what I was doing. He had paid to have a poke at me.”

Jennie flinched, her ears stinging from the coarse language.

“You don’t like hearin’ that or thinkin’ about it, but that’s what I do. I get them to buy whiskey and then I lift my skirts for them. He got rough, is all. He likes it like that. He grabs your hair and pulls you around by it and if you struggle too much, he gives you a whack. He was jist too lickered up that night and it went from rough to a bloody brawl. But he ain’t been back in and I ain’t gonna have nothin’ more to do with him. It’s settled and you can go on ‘bout your bidness and let me get on with mine.” She patted Jennie on the forearm. “’Bye now.”

Helplessly, Jennie watched her sashay along the sidewalk, her narrow hips swaying, her lank blond hair peeking out beneath the back of her pink bonnet. Dim-witted girl, she thought. Didn’t she understand that she was still in danger? Melvin Parks would be back in town and he would probably want her company again, except that the next time she might not be so lucky. She might not be able to escape from him.

Knowing there was nothing more she could do at the moment, she hitched up her skirts and went back across the street to the dry goods store. After work, she’d go to Zach’s office, she thought. When she entered the store, Sarah Gladdens was there to greet her.

“Just the woman I was asking about,” Sarah said. She looked as regal as ever in a dark russet suit with a draped overskirt and a striking red straw hat with a sprinkling of dark fabric blossoms along the right side of the brim. Jennie recognized her own handiwork in the embroidery on the cuffs, collar, and the hem of the overskirt. “I am here to settle my bill with you. I believe I owe you six dollars.” She opened her small purse and began counting out coins into Jennie’s palm.

“It’s good to see you, Sarah.”

“Who were you talking to out there?”

Jennie sighed. “Stella. She works at the Lantern.”

“And you know such a woman how?”

“I ran into her one evening after she had been bloodied and bruised by Melvin Parks, Luna Lee Bishop’s cousin.”

Sarah’s gaze bounced up to Jennie’s. “By the way you said ‘cousin’, it appears that you don’t believe that claim of kinship.”

“That is correct. I don’t. I tried to convince Stella to press charges against Parks for attacking her.”

“Oh, Jennie …” Sarah shook her head and sighed.

“Not you, too!”

“Not me too what?”

“You don’t think it’s folly to report a crime in this town, do you?”

“Of course not. But I also don’t believe the sheriff will be interested in hearing the complaint of a saloon girl.”

“Her face was bloodied and bruised. She was frightened for her life that night. The next day, she was still hiding from him.” Jennie closed her hand around the money Sarah had given her and shoved it into the pocket of her apron. “Thank you.”

“What those women are put through is appalling,” Sarah said, resting a hand on Jennie’s shoulder. “But they choose it, don’t they? No one is forcing that life on them.”

“That’s true, but some of us have far fewer choices than others. She is nothing but a girl. Probably barely eighteen. Now she is ‘soiled goods,’ so what choices does she have, Sarah? Starvation? Begging?”

“She could save her money and buy a train ticket to get out of town and start somewhere new,” Sarah said. “There is always a better path.”

“I agree, but sometimes the darkness closes in and you can’t see any other path.”

“You sound as if you have been in such a place, but I know that can’t be true.”

“Of course, my life has been far easier, but there have been times when I have felt trapped. Haven’t we all?” She looked from Sarah to Rachel, who stood behind the counter, listening to the exchange with a worried expression.

“Does she want him arrested?” Rachel asked.

“No. She’s afraid of him and she thinks it will only bring more trouble to her.”

“She’s right,” Rachel said.

“Absolutely. You should ride clear of her, dear Jennie. Your heart is in the right place, but common sense should tell you that this sordid business is not for you.”

Jennie drew her bottom lip between her teeth, thinking of the slip of a girl and how easy it would be for a man to end her life. “It’s just that she’s so young …”

“Speaking of youth, I ran into Oliver’s teacher this morning and she said that he is as sharp as a new blade.”

Jennie’s motherly pride consumed her, driving away thoughts of Stella’s problems. “Did she? He certainly enjoys school. He has made so many friends.”

“The teacher says he is already counting past ten and knows how to spell his name and to write simple words like ‘cat’ and ‘pony.’”

“That’s wonderful for one so young,” Rachel said. “This is his first time in school, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. Yesterday I told him to stop trying to catch a bee in his bare hands and he said, ‘Stop. S-T-O-P. Stop.’” She laughed with the other women. “What he really wants to learn to do is ride a horse and rope cattle.”

“He wants to be a cowboy, does he?” Sarah asked.

“Yes, and I must take the blame for that. I fed him so many daydreams of how it would be when we moved onto our land here.” She gave a quick shrug. “Zach is going to teach him to ride.”

“He is?” Sarah exchanged a glance with Rachel.

Jennie nodded, choosing to ignore their knowing expressions. “He’s going to pick up Oliver after school today and give him a riding lesson.”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever known of Zach Warner being so
involved
with a client, do you, Rachel? You’ve known him longer than either of us.” Sarah’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

“I think he’s taken a shine to Jennie,” Rachel said.

“I think we are not going to discuss this any further,” Jennie said, feeling her skin grow hot. “I have work to do. The McDonalds don’t pay me to stand around and spread gossip.”

“Obviously, this is a touchy subject,” Sarah said with a wink to Rachel. “I’ll see you later at home, Rachel. Jennie, the way your face turns bright pink every time Zach’s name is mentioned gives you away.” With a sharp
click-click
of her heels, she strode out of the store, leaving Jennie shaking her head as Rachel stifled her giggles.

Zachary swung around the doorframe and into the office and skittered to a stop when he saw Jennie sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk. “Jennie! What are you doing …? I left Oliver at the boarding house with Dottie Dandridge.”

“I know. How did the riding lesson go?” She stood up to face him. He wasn’t wearing a suit. Instead, he wore blue dungarees and a black shirt with white stitching across the shoulders and along either side of a row of ivory buttons. He whipped off his black Stetson and hung it on the hall tree.

“Oliver is a natural. He sits a horse like he was born to the saddle.” The smell of pine lifting off his skin and clothes was mixed with the scents of horsehide and leather.

“Really?” Pride burst through her like a shooting star. She hadn’t realized until that moment that she had been worried her son might be disappointed by his ability or lack of it. “That’s good to hear. It means so much to him to learn to ride like the other boys in school. They all seem to have their own ponies.”

“They don’t,” he assured her. “Most of them are stretching the truth. Boys Oliver’s age might have a horse at home they like the best, but it probably belongs to their father or an older brother. Horses take money to keep up and they are necessary livestock here. They’re too valuable to hand over to a youngster so he has something to ride to school.”

“I imagine Oliver was over the moon with excitement.”

“He is a good student. He listens.”

“There are things I simply can’t teach him. That’s when Oliver misses having a father the most – when he needs a man’s influence and guidance.”

“He isn’t suffering, Jennie. He’s a normal, happy child.” He motioned her to be seated again, and after she did, he sat on the edge of the desk. He wore black boots, roughed up at the toes and heels. “What’s on your mind? Are you worried that Oliver might get hurt?”

“Heavens, no. I have no worries when he’s with you. No, I wanted to talk to you about something else. Someone else.”

“Who?”

“Stella Carlson. I spoke with her today and Melvin Parks is the man who beat her.”

“That’s what we figured.”

“I encouraged her to press charges against him, but she’s too afraid he would retaliate.”

“Smart girl. He would.”

“He could not if he was jailed.”

“He wouldn’t go to jail until after a trial and that’s only assuming a warrant would be issued and there would be a trial.”

“He beat her,” she repeated, stonily, anger building in her.

“She is a saloon girl.”

Jennie blew out a sigh of frustration. “Not you, too! I have already had this conversation with Rachel and Sarah. I thought since you are a man of the law you would have a completely different view of this situation. Just because she works in a saloon, she has no protection? Men are allowed to beat her and terrorize her?”

He patted the air. “Simmer down, Jennie. Why are you so hellbent on involving yourself with this? If Stella doesn’t want to stir up this hornet’s nest, that’s her business.”

“What stops Parks from beating her again and perhaps even killing her in a whiskey rage?”

“Arnold Pitcher owns the Lantern and those girls make money for him. He won’t let Parks rough her up again. Arnie isn’t as good a person as Connie at the Blue Belle, but he keeps an eye on his place and what happens in it.” He cocked his head to one side and a smile lifted one corner of his mouth. “Stella isn’t an innocent flower, Jennie. She can take care of herself, I’d wager.”

“She’s young. Barely out of pigtails.”

“She doesn’t want your help and she’s not afraid. She says she can handle Parks.”

Jennie started to speak, but his words stalled her. “How do you know this?”

The grin grew across his face. “I talked to her earlier today. I wanted to make sure that it was Parks before I bandied his name about.”

“Bandied about?”

“I thought I might mention to Luna that her cousin is courting ladies of the evening.”

“And how will that help me?”

“If she and Parks have it out and he leaves or even causes her embarrassment, she might decide the land is too much trouble. You never know. I like to play every angle.”

“You want to use Stella instead of helping her.”

“I wouldn’t put it quite like that. Stella doesn’t want my help or your help.”

“We could explain to her that she does have the right to lodge a complaint against Parks and that we will stand with her and assist her.”

“Stella won’t lodge a complaint and she won’t take kindly to you trying to stir the pot again. It’s over and done with and she wants to put it behind her.”

“I just wish …

“Like my mama used to say, ‘If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.’”

She rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t argue that Stella hadn’t wanted her help. Foolish girl, thinking she could handle cruelty and evil by hiding in alleys and ducking into bushes.

“You’re not sore at me, are you?” Zach asked, breaking into her musings.