Vivid (34 page)

Vivid chuckled, saying, "What?"

"Never give anything away, especially
a service you can get money for. I was a whore, I know what I'm telling
you."

Vivid didn't know what to say to this very
beautiful woman dressed in buckskin.

Maddie asked, "You did know you were
treating a whore, didn't you, Doctor?"

Vivid shook her head no.

"I'm surprised Avery didn't mention
it."

"Why would he?"

"Because most folks, especially
Avery's fat wife, believe the words 'whore' and 'Maddie' are synonyms."

She related this without bitterness or
rancor; in fact, she'd spoken with a hint of amusement in her tone. "I'm
Grayson Grove's black sheep, or should it be ewe?" she asked.

Vivid grinned and shrugged.

"Well, ewe or sheep, I'm it. Don't
you know about Maddie's Emporium?"

"I've heard of the Emporium, and I
heard it bore your name, but that is all I know."

"Well, I used to own it. Sold it
about a year or so ago, though."

“May I ask why?''

"I was tired of it all. I didn't need
the money, and besides, my father died three years ago. That took all the fun
out of running a whorehouse."

Vivid's eyes widened in shock.

"My whoring killed him, which was my
intent."

"Why?" Vivid had never heard of
such a thing.

“Because he killed me, with his piety, his
ignorance, and his abuse. You're a doctor, Viveca—ever been beaten for
reading books?"

"Of course not."

"I was, many, many times. My pa
believed females didn't need learning. Having babies and waiting on a husband
was all I needed to know according to his view of the world."

"That's horrible."

"Yes, it is. He took me out of school
as soon as I mastered my letters and put me to work at the store. He ran the
store before Miss Edna."

"But didn't anyone try to help
you?"

"The Graysons did. When we were young
Nate and Eli would meet me every day after school and teach me everything
they'd learned that day. Miss Abigail said I was the smartest child she'd ever
encountered and she would lend me books on history and literature and I would
devour them and hide them in the store's cellar until I could return them.
Well, he found my cache one day and..." Maddie paused and her voice
softened.

"Dr. Lancaster, he beat me right
there in the store. Somebody, I don't remember who now, ran down to the mill
and got Nate's father. Mr. Grayson stopped my pa but not before he'd blacked both
my eyes and stripped my back with his strap. I can still hear my pa's voice as
he laid that strap on me again and again. 'Girls don't need learning,' he said
over and over."

"What did Nate's father do?"

"Wasn't much he could do, my pa was
my pa, he was the one raising me. Mr. Absalom did tell him that if it happened
again he'd give him a citation and throw him in the Grove jail."

"So did you give up learning?"
Vivid asked.

"Nope, I had too big of a hunger for
it. Still do. The last time he beat me was when I asked him if I could take the
examination for Oberlin. I was fifteen. He beat me so hard and long I could
barely walk."

"Did Mr. Grayson put him in
jail?"

"Sure did. Didn't matter to me,
though, because I packed what little belongings I had and took off up the
road."

"Where'd you go?"

"Fort Wayne, Indiana. Stole the money
out of the store's till, had Nate drive me to Niles, and I bought a train
ticket."

"Did you have kin there?"

"Nope, just the address of a drummer
who used to sell pa pots. I thought he was handsome in an oily sort of way. He
told me once if I was ever up his way to be sure to stop in."

"Was he a nice man?"

"In my fifteen-year-old naiveté I
thought he was. He took me to a boardinghouse, paid the landlady a month's
rent, and told me not to worry. He bought me clothes and shoes and sometimes
even let me accompany him on his drumming. I was in love."

"It didn't turn out well, I take
it?"

"No. He professed to love me, too,
and so I let him take my chastity in the back of his wagon on a road outside
Chicago. He promised to marry me."

"Did he?"

''No. I look back now and realize how
stupid I was—''

"You were fifteen, Maddie."

"Yes, I was, and at fifteen when the
man you love tells you we have no money and no place to stay, and would you
please let this stranger make love to you just this once for a few dollars so
we can eat..." She paused, then shrugged. "You do it. I loved him
that much, or so I believed at the time."

"How long did you stay with
him?"

"Six, seven months. When he asked me
to do it a second time, I refused."

"Did he accept that?"

Maddie chuckled bitterly, "He
threatened to kill me if I didn't. Said I owed him, it was the least I could do
for all he'd done for me. So rather than have my throat slit, I became his
whore. He took me to a hotel in downtown Chicago one night to meet a White
gentleman who introduced himself as Mr. Pierce. I must say, the man found me
quite fascinating. He'd never met a whore who could conduct an intelligent
conversation on world affairs, literature, or history. He asked me if I would
consider entering into a contract where I would entertain only him. I asked him
if he'd ever hit a woman. He said no and I told him we had a deal."

After that night, Maddie never saw the
drummer again. Mr. Pierce leased her a small house in the country and visited
her at first only once or twice a week, but as the weeks turned into months and
the months into three years, she saw him almost every day. He treated her
royally, purchased books for her, fine clothing, jewelry. She had a servant to
cook and one to clean. Then all of a sudden the visits stopped.

For a month and a half she heard nothing.
The landlady said the lease hadn't been paid for the month and neither had the
servants.

To deal with her debts, Maddie used some
of her old contacts to sell some of her jewelry. She paid the servants their
back wages and a small severance because they had to be let go. She used the
rest of the funds to pay the lease, then made tentative arrangements to move
and sell her other possessions. She was certain something had happened to her
Mr. Pierce and he would not be coming back. Her suspicions were confirmed the
next day when a carriage pulled up in front of her house and a beautiful woman
stepped out.

"Who was she?" Vivid asked.

"His wife."

“Were you aware he was married?''

"I assumed he was, of course, but
part of our agreement had been that I would not inquire about his life away
from me, and I never did. He was kind to me. It was all I cared about."

"What did his wife want?"

"It was one of the oddest experiences
of my life. She'd come to tell me Mr. Pierce had died in a boating accident. It
seemed he'd left me fifteen thousand dollars in his will and she wanted to meet
me."

"Fifteen thousand?"

"Yes."

"But isn't it odd for a woman to search
out her husband's paramour?"

"I thought so, too, but she wanted to
meet me to thank me."

"What on earth for?"

"For giving her husband an outlet for
what she termed his 'bestial male urges.' She thanked me, handed me a satchel
with the fifteen thousand dollars inside, and told me never to set foot in the
state of Illinois again."

"So is that when you came back
here?"

"No, did some traveling on the
continent for a few months, entertained a few lords and a few crown princes,
and then came home to Grayson Grove and opened a whorehouse."

"That must have set a few tongues
wagging."

"It certainly did. My father was one
of the first people to come pounding on the door, screaming about hell and
damnation. I had my doorman escort him out. Made him absolutely furious. The
biddies were next."

"The biddies?"

"Yes, the Widow Moss and her ring of
busybodies. They were harassing my customers pretty fierce, night after night.
So one evening when business was slow I turned my dogs on them. Never seen a
bunch of old crones run so fast in all my life."

Vivid couldn't suppress the smile on her
face. Maddie then asked, "So how are you and Nate getting along?"

Vivid paused a moment in an effort to
figure out where this conversation might be heading and replied,
"Fine."

"Heard about you shooting his hat off
his head."

"Seems as if everyone has."

"You know," Maddie said, looking
Vivid straight in the eye, "Nate's the only man I've ever really
loved."

Vivid didn't know what to say in response
to that statement.

Maddie added, "By all rights I should
resent you, but you've brought back the smile to his eyes, and that's good. I
grew up with Nate and Eli. We hunted frogs together in the spring and built
snow forts and played snow snake in the winter. We were so inseparable that
during my ninth summer I cried for two days after Miss Abigail explained to me
that it would be physically impossible for me to grow up and be a boy."

Vivid chuckled at how disappointed the
nine-year-old Maddie must have been upon learning that news.

"But after the mess with Cecile and
the war, he changed. He lost his father, his wife. He'd never had to face that
much tragedy and pain before. Glad to hear he's courting you."

"Seems everyone has heard. Do you
mind him courting me?'' Vivid asked.

"Of course I mind. I told you, he's
the only man I've ever really loved, weren't you listening?" Then her
voice and face became serious, "But Nate doesn't love me, at least not in
the way I'd prefer. He sees me as a sibling or a cousin. I'm glad he's found
someone."

"I haven't really said yes to him
though."

"I am just going to assume that you
have a rational explanation."

"I do." And Vivid explained the
forces warring inside.

After Maddie heard Vivid's dilemma she
said, "I agree, some men would demand you give up medicine. Not Nate. He
isn't that way. Trust your heart, Viveca."

A short while later, Vivid rid Maddie's
front room of the clutter that accompanied the stitching and washed up her
dishes, much to Maddie's ire.

"Maddie, you need to stay off that
foot as much as possible, remember? I'll have the Quilt Ladies bring your meals
for the next couple days and check on you."

Maddie snorted. "The Quilt Ladies?
They'd rather walk through town naked than visit the whore's house."

"Oh, they'll come, and when they do,
I want your promise that you won't sic the hounds on them."

Silence.

Vivid leaned down. "Maddie?"

Vivid waited.

“Oh, all right, Viveca I'll promise, but
only because I know they aren't going to come."

"And the men are putting up an
addition to my house. When it's done, and your foot is healed, I expect you to
come have dinner."

Maddie simply stared. "You're
inviting me to your house for dinner?''

"Surely former whores eat."

Maddie laughed, then asked, "And if I
refuse?"

"Expect to have your hat shot off,
because I will come and get you and I will be packing a rifle."

Maddie shook her head and grinned.
"No wonder Nate's in such a whirlwind. Are you always this way?"

"I have no idea what you mean."

"Humble also. I like you, Viveca
Lancaster. Hate to admit it, but I do."

"I like you, too, Maddie. Shall we
agree to be friends?"

Maddie nodded and said softly,
"Yes."

Maddie slowly accompanied Vivid out onto
the porch, and then whistled for the dogs. “You need to meet them so they won't
try and take a plug out of you next time."

The hounds bounded up and met their
mistress happily, licking her hands and cavorting until all five of the animals
had been stroked. Maddie then held up one finger and they all sat and became
watchful and attentive. "This is Dr. Viveca Lancaster," Maddie said.

The dogs turned and looked her over.

Maddie then spoke to Viveca. "Place
your hand down by your side and curl your fingers up."

Vivid complied.

“Now, I want you to let each dog sniff the
back of your hand. They'll remember you next time."

Vivid walked slowly among the animals and
gave each her scent. She rubbed a few backs, stroked a few ears, and scratched
a rib here and there. Since none of them snapped or growled she assumed she'd
been accepted.

"Very good," Maddie told her
pets. "Now go play," she added affectionately. They ran off.