Petals on the River (65 page)

time afore ye tired o' Sh'maine." Her eyes slowly dropped to her lap as

she voiced a probing conjecture.
 
"Sh'maine must've made ye real mad for

ye ta leave her so sudden like, though.
 
I didn't expect ye for a couple

o' weeks or so yet.
 
Makes me wonder what she's done ta ye."

Leaning back in her chair, Freida gave the tall, handsome stranger a

lengthy scrutiny.
 
It was rare to see such a good-looking gent seeking

favors from a harlot.
 
Usually such men got their needs met without

laying out a single coin.
 
Her heavily rouged lips twisted in a lopsided

leer as she sized him up with a keen eye.
 
"Ye're a right fine one, ye

are," she observed coarsely.
 
"Too fine ta me way o' thinkin'. I'll be

havin' ta keep me eyes open just ta see what me girls give away ta ye,

seein's as how they might be wantin' ta treat ye for the pleasure o' it.

Aye, I'll be takin' a close accountin' after they've been with ye just

ta make sure they've collected their normal fees."

Gage ignored the madam's comments and divesting perusal as he settled

his gaze upon Morrisa.
 
"I'm looking for Jacob Potts.
 
Have you seen

him?"' Morrisa lifted her shoulders in an indolent shrug as she closely

examined her nails.
 
"Whate'er would ye be wantin' ol' Potts for?"

.Gage mentally laid odds that Morrisa knew exactly where the tar was and

why he sought him.
 
"I'd like to ask him a few questions."

The harlot gave him a sidelong stare above a calculating smile. "Don't

tell me the bogtrotter's been complainin' bout Potts again, makin' ye

feel sorry for her.
 
How is she, anyway?"

Gage's gaze never wavered from her.
 
"She's fine."

"Fine?" Morrisa seemed momentarily befuddled.
 
"Ye mean she .
 
. .
 
she

aren't .
 
.
 
.
 
she didn't send ye in here after Potts?"

"Actually, I came of my own accord to see how Potts was doing after I

wounded him."

As if taken by surprise, Morrisa slumped in her chair and her red lips

pursed in an expressive "Oh." An accomplished actress, she pretended

confusion as she posed a query.
 
"Why in the world would ye shoot poor

ol' Potts?"

Gage raised a curious brow, noting that her voice had sounded

unnaturally tense.
 
'Who said I shot him?"

Morrisa frowned sharply, a bit flustered by his response.
 
The colonial

was no ignoramus!
 
So why was she being so careless around him?
 
"Why,

ye did," she insisted.
 
"I heared ye say so meself!"

"I said I wounded him," Gage corrected.
 
"I said nothing about shooting

him."

Morrisa turned aside with a carefully blase shrug.
 
"How else could a

bloke get hisself wounded if'n tain't by gettin' shot?"' Gage smiled

blandly.
 
"A knife could do as much harm, and I've heard that Potts is

especially partial to knives, as you are.
 
Perhaps you already know that

Potts went out to my place to kill Shemaine and that I shot him during

his attempt to escape.
 
Perhaps you were even the one who sent him.
 
You

would like to see Shemaine dead, wouldn't you, Morrisa?"

The strumpet grew outwardly miffed and inwardly nervous.
 
"I don't know

what ye're talkin' bout, Gage Thornton!
 
An' I don't know where Potts

is, either!
 
I'm not the swabber's keeper!
 
The last time I seen him, he

was a-thinkin' o' maybe going' off ta Hampton or some place like that. So

ye'll just have ta go an' search for him yerself, Mister Thornton!"

Gage was only inclined to believe that Potts had left the area. "If he

should come to visit you, Morrisa, you'd better tell him that if I ever

catch him on my property again, I'll kill him without stopping to ask

why he's there.
 
You will tell him that, won't you?"

Morrisa slanted an icy glare toward him.
 
"I'll tell him, but if'n ye

knew Potts at all, ye'd be mindful o' just how ornery he can be. Yer

warnin' aren't gonna make much difference ta the bloke.
 
Ye see, when ol'

Potts gets his head set on doin' mischief, he aren't too keen bout

changin' his mind for nobody."

"Then, too, you might not want to give him the message for reasons of

your own," Gage needled.
 
"Such a warning might deter Potts from

fulfilling your behest.
 
Who can really say how he'd react?
 
He just

might be inclined to take heed of my warning rather than chance his life

being snuffed out.
 
But whether you tell him or not, Morrisa, just be

assured of one thing.
 
If Shemaine is killed or harmed in any way

because of his actions, I'll come looking not only for Potts but for you

as well.
 
And I may well kill you both."

With that, Gage stepped back, gave each woman a crisp nod of farewell,

and took his leave of the tavern.

Freida leaned forward in her chair as she fixed a squint upon her newest

acquisition.
 
"What did ye say that bloke's name was?"

Morrisa jeered after his departing figure.
 
"Gage Thornton!
 
Maybe the

meanest man I e'er come cross in me whole bloomin' life!"

"Well, dearie, if'n ye knows what's good for ye, ye'd better take his

advice," the procuress warned.
 
"I've heard a lot bout that there bloke

since I come here, an' tain't entirely all good.
 
Some say he got vexed

with his wife one day an' threw her off the ship what he's a-buildin'

near his cabin upriver.
 
An' from what I hear, there's a spinster what

lives down the road a piece what may've seen him do it, but she's too

bloomin' scared ta open her mouth cause o' what he might do ta her if tn

she talks."' "Ye don't say now," Morrisa replied with a complacent grin.

"I wonder if'n Sh'maine knows bout that."

"The bloke aren't very talkative bout himself, so's I hear.
 
Most likely

he'll keep his deeds ta himself, but if'n the rumors be true, ye can bet

this Sh'maine aren't as well off as one might suppose.
 
The bloke might

kill her just like he kilt his wife."

Morrisa smirked.
 
"An' I could collect me reward without liftin' a

finger."

Freida looked at her narrowly.
 
"What reward be ye talkin' bout?"

The harlot waved away her question with a backward sweep of a hand.
 
"

Tain't nothin'.
 
Just somethin' I was promised by a turnkey when the lot

o' us was leavin' Newgate an' bein' carted off ta the ship.
 
But there

aren't no way o' knowin' for sure if what he said be true til I can send

back proof the deed be done.
 
An' I aren't been able ta do that yet."

"Do ye mean ye were promised payment ta kill another prisoner?"

Morrisa looked astounded at the woman's suggestion.
 
"Do I look like I

could kill anybody?"

Freida chortled and laid her fleshy arms upon the table as she leaned

forward to look directly into Morrisa's gaze.
 
"From what I hear,

dearie, ye came mighty close ta slittin' a few manly gullets afore yer

arrest, but I won't be havin' that kind o' trouble here!
 
I have ways o'

dealin' with unruly bawds, an' I swears ta ye, girlie, ye've met yer

match in me.
 
Anything ye've done, I've done ye one better, so's ye'd

best heed me warnin'.
 
Do ye ken?"

Morrisa spread her arms in a guise of innocence.
 
"I aren't meanin' ta do

a bloomin' thing but what ye tell me, Freida."

"That's good!" The madam nodded slowly as she leaned back in her chair.

" Cause if'n ye don't mind yer manners with me, I'll make ye regret it

like ye've never done nothin' before.
 
Ye don't know what misery is til

I gives ye some.
 
An' I can assure ye, if'n ye vex me long an' hard

enough, ye won't be walkin' away from a grave."

Morrisa felt a shiver go up her spine at the penetrating coldness in

Freida's eyes.
 
For the first time in her life, Morrisa understood

exactly what it felt like to be on the nasty end of a turnabout and to

have her life threatened by another woman.

Gage entered the goldsmith's shop and bought a wedding band, having

determined the appropriate size by tying a piece of heavy twine around

Shemaine' s finger and slipping it off.
 
He considered the elderly

proprietor a gentleman of principles and felt no need to urge him to

hold his tongue, for the man would be as closemouthed about his

customers' affairs as he was his own.
 
From there, Gage went to the

cobbler's shop and found Mary Margaret waiting for Miles, who had gone

to the back of his shop to fetch a pair of shoes which he had repaired

for the elder.

"I didn't think I'd be layin' me sights pon yer handsome face for at

least a fortnight or so after all the ruckus ye caused by bringin'

Shemaine in for the dance," Mary Margaret warbled.
 
"Ye set the town

awhirl, ye did.
 
Pity the poor windbags, they've barely stopped

chatterin' long enough ta catch their breath." Her blue eyes twinkled

with pleasure as she drew an honest chuckle from the man.-"Ahhh, tis

good ta see that life is treatin' ye well again, Gage Thornton.
 
Tis

been nigh ta a year since I heard ye laugh with such mirth."

'''Tis your fair face, Mary Margaret McGee, that has made my day," Gage

responded with debonair flair.

The woman's thin shoulders shook with dubious amusement.
 
'Aye, an' I

love all Englishman like yerself, sir," she quipped.
 
Then she nodded

pertly as she accused, "Ta be sure, ye've been gifted with the silver

tongue o' the Irish ta tell a lie so beautifully.
 
But tell me, sir,

what be ye doin' here in our fair-ta-middlin' town?"

"I came for the pair of shoes I had ordered for Shemaine, but.
 
if you