Wildblossom (55 page)

"I just have to stable my horse," he told the girls. "Pour me a whiskey and I'll be straight up."

"I'll just bet you will!" one of them answered in a naughtily suggestive tone, then they all scurried back inside, giggling.

Dan looked around, noticing the strong smell of incense that wafted south from Chinatown. Drawing on the reins, he began to guide Watson across the still-crowded thoroughfare, heading toward the livery.

Then he saw the boy.

He couldn't have been more than nine or ten, with brown eyes the size of saucers. First he crept around the corner of the neighboring Green Front Theatre and paused in the narrow alleyway. Since all the rooms weren't finished upstairs, there were a couple of curtained booths that opened off the alley. It was supposed to be a convenience; men in a hurry could have a girl standing up, without going upstairs or even bothering to remove their trousers.

Dan had seen a great deal but this shocked him. Then, the sight of a little boy leaning forward to peek around the edge of the curtain was more than he could tolerate. In an instant he was at the entrance to the alleyway.

"Come over here." He spoke from the saddle, high above the child. "I won't hurt you."

The boy's clothes were soiled, but of good quality. He wore brown pants held up by suspenders, a plaid shirt, and muddy boots that looked as if they'd been custom-made for his small feet. His sandy hair stuck up in cowlicks. "My pa says I shouldn't talk to strangers," he piped.

"What's your name, son?"

"Benjamin."

"Well, Benjamin," Dan said with a slow smile, "I have a suspicion that your pa doesn't want you running loose in the badlands, either. There are a lot worse folks than me around here, so why don't you come on up and let me take you home." He couldn't believe he was saying it himself, considering the other pressing appointments on his schedule, but he didn't see that he had a choice.

Benjamin retreated, nearly backing right into the curtained booth. However, before he could make matters worse, Dan brought Watson forward until the boy was within reach. He scooped up the struggling youngster as if he were a sack of feathers and let the roan prance daintily back into Main Street.

"Now then," Dan said firmly, "I'd be obliged if you'd direct me to your house, or tent, or wherever it is you live."

"I don't want you to take me home, mister!"

"I can assure you that I am not delivering you back into your parents' care because I
want
to do so, either. So stop wasting my time and show me the quickest route. I have other matters to attend to."

"I know! I heard you talking to those fancy ladies," Benjamin dared to blurt, then pointed south. "This way."

"Little hellion," Dan muttered between clenched teeth. "Your parents ought to keep you on a chain!"

* * *

"Gramma Susan, where did Benjamin say he was going? I can't see him from the windows, even upstairs."

Madeleine came into the kitchen where her grandmother had begun hanging the blue calico curtains they'd sewn.

"How charming they look!" she exclaimed. Actually she would never have chosen the calico if there had
been
a choice, but that was true of the entire house. Maddie felt as if she were spending every waking hour endeavoring to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Susan stood beside her granddaughter to admire the curtains. "You'll never be content here if you can't lower your own standards, you know. As for Benjamin, I thought he said he was going down the hill to play with the Gordon boy on Pine Street."

"I've asked him to stay in sight." Worriedly Maddie peered out the window. "There's far too much mischief for a boy his age to get into in a town like this. I do
not
intend to lower my standards for Benjamin, Gramma!" Glancing down at her pretty peach-and-cream-striped taffeta walking dress, Maddie thought stubbornly that she would not lower her personal standards, either, no matter what anyone said. She had been raised a lady and would remain one, even in rollicking, sinful Deadwood.

"It's a shame there are so many flies," Susan was saying as she fanned herself.

Worry about Benjamin joined with the oppressive late afternoon heat to fray Maddie's temper. "I think I'll go outside and call him. Almost anything could happen to such a little boy. If Father were home more, I'm sure Benjamin wouldn't be so quick to misbehave!"

Susan sighed as she watched her granddaughter hurry out of the kitchen, skirts raised against the very thought of dust, every modest curl pinned neatly in place. Madeleine was certainly right about Stephen. Ever since they'd arrived, he'd been away more and more. Two days ago he'd announced that he had to leave Deadwood, muttering about mining supplies. Who knew when he'd return? The situation outraged Susan. What if she hadn't come with the children? And even so, this was not the sort of town where an old woman, a beautiful girl, and a scamp of a boy ought to be left all alone to fend for themselves.

* * *

It was cooler outside and there was a faint scent of pine up here above the town. Gazing down the path, Maddie saw no sign of her brother and knew a sharp pang of worry. She called his name in a high voice that sounded foolishly inadequate. Her face felt warm.

Then came the sound of hoofbeats against packed mud.

Maddie made out the roan first, turning past the stand of pine trees, then the familiar sight of Benjamin's pale, freckled face and spiky hair. When she looked at the big man who held him captive in the saddle, she immediately felt a tightness in her breast.

Never in her life had she seen a more appealingly, overwhelmingly masculine man.

The details were blurred: he was tall, lean but brawny, deeply tanned with an approachable white smile. Bearded, yet possessed of a ruggedly chiseled face. His eyes were a saturated blue, like a mountain lake. His hands were large, strong, long-fingered.

"What are you doing with my brother?" Maddie demanded as he drew near. "I must insist that you release him and identify yourself!"

Dan looked bemused. "For God's sake, lady, I'm doing you a favor!"

When Benjamin fought to scramble down from the saddle, Dan let him go and the boy nearly landed face first in the mud.

"Maddie, he practically kidnapped me! He just grabbed me up on his horse! Isn't that against the law? He could've sold me to the Injins or something!"

The man found Benjamin's last bit of business extremely amusing. When he stopped laughing and looked down, he met the flashing green eyes of the most exquisite woman he'd seen west of Washington, D.C. "My young friend has a flair for melodrama," he said, "honed perhaps during visits to the Green
Front...."

"The... Green Front?" Maddie repeated, wrinkling her brow. "What is that?"

"Well, it appears to call itself a theater, ma'am."

Thoroughly confused and alarmed, Madeleine looked down to find that Benjamin had scurried behind her. "But, surely you don't mean to imply that my brother was in... that part of town!"

"We've reached the point where I ought to speak to the boy's father." Dan swung down from Watson's back and stood towering over her. "This really isn't a matter for your delicate sensibilities."

"I've no doubt that you are correct, sir—"

"Please, call me Fox... Maddie." He felt like Fox now, comfortable in the name.

Before she could reply, his strong dark hand reached out and lightly captured her slim fingers. To her dismay, his touch caused her heart to beat harder and her hand seemed to tingle in his. Instinctively, she pulled free.

"You may address me as Miss Avery," she replied primly then glanced down at Benjamin. "Go into the house and wait for me, young man." When the door had slammed behind him, Maddie lifted her chin and met Fox's compelling gaze. "My father is away and I must deal with Benjamin in his absence. I will be honest with you... Mr. Fox. We are new to Deadwood, recently arrived from Philadelphia. I am quite out of my element."

Cocking an eyebrow, he said laconically, "You're a city girl? I never would have guessed."

"Of course you are in jest, but humor is quite inappropriate at this moment. I don't know who you are, sir, or why you took it upon yourself to bring my brother home, but I am grateful. Now you must tell me exactly what it was that he was doing in that... area of town."

"I couldn't possibly speak of it to a lady, Miss Avery."

Fox had removed his hat and held it with the same sun-roughened fingers that had clasped her hand. Maddie noticed now that his hair, a rich shade of dark chestnut, curled luxuriously over his collar. All in all, he was so intensely male—and so self-assured—that she took an involuntary step backward. The young men she had known socially in Philadelphia, intellectuals with proper manners and clean fingernails, had been nothing like this.

"I appreciate your consideration, Mr. Fox, but—"

"Just Fox will do."

After a moment's hesitation Madeleine sighed and continued, "I understand... Fox, that there are many aspects of life here in Deadwood that may shock me deeply, but circumstances dictate that I become aware of them if I am going to protect my brother. I must insist that you enlighten me accordingly." Was she phrasing her thoughts too formally for this earthy man? Smiling politely, she added, "Do you understand what I've said?"

"Just because I'm not wearing a paper collar and a Prince Albert frock coat doesn't mean I'm slow-witted," Fox replied with a short laugh. He rubbed his eyes then, suddenly aware of the exhaustion that was seeping into his bones. "You know, I've just arrived in Deadwood after a long journey myself, and—"

"I would certainly invite you in, sir, were it not imperative that we speak in private. I must shield my grandmother as much as possible."

"Of course." Never in his wildest dreams would he have expected to find such an incongruous female in the Black Hills. One side of his mouth quirked slightly as questions surged up in him and he pushed them back down. "I appreciate that pretty speech, Miss Avery, but we both know that I'm hardly the sort of person you'd invite in for tea. Come to think of it, it may be a while before you find anyone worthy in these parts. But, that's another matter. You wanted to know about the Green Front, and
Benjamin..."

"Yes, please." Flushing, Maddie looked down and fussed with the taffeta ruching that encircled her left wrist.

Fox took a breath. Part of him was enjoying this scene. "Are you familiar with the mating rites of men and women, Miss Avery?"

"I beg your pardon!" she cried with a little gasp.

"You insisted that I be forthright. Shall I repeat the question?"

"No!" Her face burned. "I cannot imagine how this—this indecent subject could possibly have any bearing on— Oh, for heaven's sake! Naturally, as an unmarried woman, I am not
personally
familiar with the act you named. However, I am
educated...
if you take my meaning."

"I admire your delicacy, miss." His eyes were dancing. "I assume, then, that you're aware that all unmarried women are not chaste like yourself. And, as it happens, a whole lot of those fallen women are right here in Deadwood. In fact, this town is bursting with sin."

Maddie's heart was pounding harder. "What on earth could that possibly have to do with Benjamin?"

"He's just curious, which is natural, but when I saw him in the badlands I thought he might be learning a little more than he needed to at—how old is he?"

"Nine," she said faintly.

Fox shook his head. "Well, it may be too late, but let's hope he still has a little innocence left. You see, the Green Front, along with most every establishment in the badlands as far as I can tell, has—uh... ladies of the
evening..."

"I am familiar with the term, but I hardly think that Benjamin would know what such women do if he happened to pass one on the street, or whatever it is you're implying."

"I'm afraid there's more to it." He was losing patience with this careful, circuitous conversation. "In one of the alleys, there are a couple of curtained booths built into the Green Front's outside
wall...
for men who don't want to bother
with...
the usual formalities. Your brother was sneaking around next to one of those curtains, listening to the noises, trying to get close enough to peek inside. "

"No!" The blood drained from Maddie's face; even her lips were pale. She was shocked to hear herself exclaim, "You're lying!"

"The hell I am. Listen, lady, I've been as polite as I know how to be about this! I was only trying to help, but if you're going to insult me, I'm more than happy to go. There are a dozen places I'd rather be than here."

"All in the badlands, I surmise!" she accused, infuriated, numb with shock. How could this be happening?

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes! I'm thirty-two, not
nine,
and if I want to indulge in a few pleasures of the flesh, that's my choice. So, if you're done attacking my character
..."

Madeleine felt as if she were drowning in a sea of unreality. Her mother... dear Lord, what would her mother say or think if she knew how her little son was passing his time? How could Maddie hope to control him in this wicked town, short of locking him in the house? A sense of powerlessness surged through her, taking with it the last vestiges of her strength. She felt cold in the July sunshine, then dizzy and weak.