Whispers (38 page)

***

A delivery wagon arrived early the next morning. I heard it creak and rattle down the rough dirt road and then the driver’s boots thudding the boarded walkway in front of the Diablo. I peeked from my window to see him move beneath the awning to the front door.

I dressed and hurried from my bedroom, just as Sawyer did the same. He’d chosen the room directly across from me and we nearly collided in the hall. He’d been looking down and fastening his pants as he came out. For an awkward moment, we stood still and stared at one another.

I followed him down as he let the man in and stood out of the way while twenty-five cases of whiskey and forty barrels of beer were lugged into a storage room behind the bar. It seemed an enormous amount but what did I know? The sort of men who would be filling the saloon might have unquenchable thirsts.

“
You traveling alone?” Sawyer asked the deliveryman as he stepped outside.

The man worked a huge wad of tobacco to the side of his mouth, spat a dark brown stream, and nodded.

“
All right then,” Sawyer said. “See you in a few weeks?”

The man shot another stream of brown juice and nodded again.

Sawyer looked at me after he left. “Thought maybe you could hitch a ride, but not if he’s alone.”

I was quietly grateful that Sawyer hadn’t made arrangements for me to travel with the foul man. I feared it would have been trading the fire for the frying pan and who knew where I’d have ended up had I left with him.

I went to the kitchen and discovered Athena there already with coffee made and breakfast begun. I asked if I could help her and received a glare for my effort. I wondered if I’d ever know just why she didn’t like me.

I found two coffee cups and filled them each under her watchful eyes. I wanted sugar, but didn’t dare ask. Instead, I carried them back to where Sawyer was.

He thanked me before saying, “Looks like I can open up today.”

“
Yes it does.”

He nodded, appearing as satisfied as a man could be.

“
May I ask you something?” I said.

He shrugged. “Shoot.”

“
How did you come to be partners with Aiken Tate?”

“
We’re not partners. Not even close. I owe him payment, not a piece. He gets credit until I pay him back and his girls can do their work out of here. Once we’re square, I get a cut of that.”

“
You’ll profit from the women?” I said.

He nodded, looking at me as if he didn’t quite understand the question. I couldn’t blame him. I’d promised profit from the women as well. But how did I explain the difference in the two ventures?

“
Do you know much about Aiken?”

“
I know he had four thousand dollars in his pocket when I needed it.”

“
How did he come to have so much?”

“
I’d guess he turns a good business.”

“
But he is unscrupulous, you know that?”

Sawyer shrugged. “He paid up when he was asked. That’s what I know.”

“
The girls are afraid of him,” I said. “I am afraid of him.”

He turned on me then, a look of frustration on his face. “I’m not their daddy, Ella. I am not yours either.”

“
I never said you were.”

“
I told you already, I’m not here to save anyone. I just want to run my saloon and live my life.”

I was stung by the words, though I shouldn’t have been. I wanted to earn enough money to go home and get on with
my
life. But I was finding my thoughts more on the way I felt in Sawyer’s arms than on the life I would return to. I wanted him to care about what happened to me but I wasn’t ready to say just why.

I heard rustling from upstairs and a few moments later, the others started down. Aiken followed at the end like a caboose. I didn’t want to face him. Instead, I turned and went through the kitchen, which was empty for once and out the back door. I did not stop until I reached the decking around the hot springs. I took off my shoes and sat on the edge with my feet dangling in the hot water. The day was warm, but not so much that I didn’t welcome the feel of the heat on my feet.

I heard a sound behind me and turned to find Chick lying on the sandy area not far from the decking that surrounded the pool. She was curled into a ball, oblivious to me. I stood and carefully stepped over to where she was.

“
Chick?” I said. “What’s wrong?”

She let out a yelp at the sound of my voice and scrambled to a sit. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her face ravaged by tears.

I sat next to her and asked again what was wrong.

“
I cain’t tell.”

“
Why, Chick? What’s happened?”

“
I cain’t tell no one. Not even Athena.”

This surprised me. I’d not known Chick to keep anything from Athena. “Is it Aiken? Did he hurt you?”

Chick shook her head, but the tears streamed down her face. Her dress was speckled with their wetness. I no longer owned a handkerchief to give her. She wiped her face with her skirts.

“
Chick, I promise I won’t tell anyone. Whatever it is. Please let me help.”

“
Ain’t no way to help.”

She cast her eyes downward, sniffling as sobs shook her shoulders. I thought she’d never looked younger. There were times when I forgot that she was only fifteen. I pulled her into my arms and let her cry her tears until she was dry. I still didn’t know what had upset her so, but I felt her pain. In the short time I’d known her, Chick had become a part of my heart. Her sweet smile and optimism was like sunshine. I wished I could take her with me when I left.

After she quieted, I sat with her in the silence and rubbed her back. I began talking of things that had no importance.

I reminded her of the fun we’d had last night, frolicking like children in the pools. I didn’t bring up Sawyer, but my face grew hot just thinking of him and the slick feel of his wet skin.

“
I thought Athena gon’ box my ears when I dunk her,” Chick said, the smallest of smiles curling her lips.

I thought she was going to do worse than that but I knew Athena loved Chick even more than I did. I had yet to learn their relationship, but the older woman watched Chick like a mother would.

“
She gon’ be crazy when she know,” Chick murmured.

“
When she knows what?” I asked.

She looked down, plucking at her skirt as she thought about her answer. “You cain’t tell.”

“
I won’t.”

“
I gots a baby in me,” she said and then burst into tears again.

I didn’t know what to say or do. I sat there, stunned, as I considered what Chick had said. She was with child. In the society I had left, she would have been shamed and ostracized or forced into marriage before anyone found out. But here, in this world, what would happen to her?

“
Does that mean you’ll no longer have to work for Aiken?” I asked hopefully.

She shook her head. “He keep me goin’ till I show.”

She stopped and I waited. As the moments stretched longer, I began to feel sick with fear of what she’d say next.

“
And after you begin to show, Chick? What then?”

“
Then he root it out,” she said so softly I had to strain to hear.

I stared at her, not wanting to accept the picture those few words drew. “But...”

“
Ain’t no but, Ella. I seen him do it.”

“
You have? But, who?”

“
She ain’t wit us no more.”

I hoped that meant she’d been set free, but I knew it didn’t. Even I was not so naive.

“
What happened to her?”

“
He kilt her. She like Meaira. All she care bout was Aiken bring her stuff. That all. He give her the laudanum and then he root around and kilt what inside her. Me and Athena, we try to stop her bleedin’ but there no stopping it.”

“
Perhaps he’s learned his lesson,” I said, my voice desperate with the need to make it true.

Chick looked at me with pity.

“
Why don’t you want to tell Athena? Won’t she know something to help?”

“
She just die if she find out. She know how it be for me. It kill her. I know it kill her.”

“
But you can’t hide it forever. How long do you have until you show?”

She shook her head. “I cain’t figure my numbers like that.”

“
How about the last time you had your bleeding?”

She shrugged.

“
Last month?” I prompted. She shook her head. “The month before?”

“
It been some time.”

I took a deep breath. “You’re small, Chick, so maybe you’ll be able to hide it until the end, but...” But what then?

I wished she would talk to Athena but she seemed determined to bear this burden alone. All I could do was try to help her.

“
You know not to tell Meaira, don’t you? I don’t think she can be trusted.”

“
I knows that.”

I didn’t know what else to tell her, but I had to say something to give her hope. I couldn’t leave her out here thinking there was nothing that could be done.

“
Give me some time,” I said. “I’ll think of something.”

“
Like what?” she asked, eyes bright.

I didn’t have an answer for her, but I couldn’t let the hope drain from her face. “Maybe we can get you away from here. Maybe I can win enough money to help you go someplace else.”

“
What bout Athena?”

“
If you don’t want her to know—”

“
I cain’t leave her. She my sister.”

I hadn’t known that but it explained so much. I should have guessed it but there was no resemblance between the two.

“
I cain’t leave her,” Chick said again, more fiercely. “Aiken, he do bad things to hurt her. That what he do. When we bad he hurt Athena.”

I frowned. “Are you saying if he’s angry with you, he punishes her?”

“
Not just when he mad at me. Any of us. Honey and Meaira too.”

I didn’t understand the sense of that. Why punish Athena if it was the other girls who had displeased him?

“
He don’ want the rest of us messed up, see?”

And all at once, I did see the twisted reasoning behind it. And in my mind I could see how it would work. I might risk his wrath on myself, but I wouldn’t when another would receive the punishment.

“
Why don’t you kill him in his sleep?”

I’d said exactly what I was thinking, but until the words came out I didn’t realize just how horrible they sounded. Had I changed so much that I could calmly suggest murder to this young, pregnant girl? Apparently, I had.

“
We try that,” she said, unruffled by my question. “That why he don’t sleep there with us no more. Only with Meaira and only sometime. Then he sleep with his eyes open.” She widened her eyes in demonstration. “I seen him do it. And he always take the horses so we cain’t go at night.”

“
Did you ever try to run away?”

She nodded, eyes downcast. “He find us. He beat Athena near to death. That why she limp now. She cripple. She cain’t run no more. Once we get a boy to help us. Aiken kill him ‘fore we got to the next town.”

I thought about that and could believe she spoke the truth. Aiken was a lot of things, but a fool was not one of them.

“
You think you can help me?” Chick asked. ”’Cuz I scared, Ella. I scared.”

I held her again and rubbed her back as I soothed her. “I’ll help you,” I said, praying I could make it true. “Just give me time, Chick. A week, maybe two. Can you do that?”

She nodded, wiping the last of her tears away. “I can do that.”

Her smile nearly broke my heart. I had no idea how I would help her. I was stranded with no money, one dress, at the mercy of two men I could not trust. How in the world would I assist this young woman? I only knew I had to try.

I helped her to her feet and she gave me a hug. “I lucky you came along,” she said fiercely.

I felt the weight of responsibility settle on my shoulders. I had failed my own family, but maybe, just maybe I could find a way out for Chick.

Chapter Thirty-Two

AFTER breakfast we all helped Sawyer stock the bar, wash the glasses, and wipe down the tables. By noon Sawyer declared himself nearly ready to open the doors. Aiken sent the girls up to change. I borrowed a dress from Chick that was snug against my fuller figure and made me painfully aware of the scooping neckline. I felt as if miles of skin showed between my throat and the swell of my breasts. I felt at once naughty and beautiful. Chick emerged in the gown we’d made for her, looking so lovely she was breathtaking. She spun and clapped her hands when we admired her. For a quick second, Athena and I exchanged a glance of understanding. She may never like me, but she knew how much I cared for her precious sister.

As I took my place at a table and began to shuffle cards, I was very conscious of Aiken watching me. I did my best to ignore him, but he would not be put off. All I could think of was Chick and what she’d told me. If I’d been a braver woman, I would have killed him myself.