The Whippoorwill Trilogy

by Sharon Sala

  “I think I’ll just take a quick look inside,” she said, and hurried forward before he could follow.

  Robert Lee knew she was saying goodbye to more than the mine, and wisely kept his distance.

  It was dark inside, and Letty left the door standing open as she entered. It wasn’t the same as when she and Eulis had lived there, and soon realized that Robert Lee had put his own stamp on the place. In a way, it made leaving it easier.

  She glanced back out the door, making sure they were still alone, then moved to the far wall of the cabin where she’d first found the old entrance to the mine. Only when she tried, the door that had been hidden in the wall was no longer there. She didn’t know that, at Eulis’ orders, Robert Lee had rebuilt it. Now, the only entrance into the mine was the newer one that had been dug outside the cabin to connect with the old shaft, which lay about a hundred yards away from the south wall.

  She stood inside the darkened room, eyeing the bed where Eulis had nearly died from the smallpox that had swept through Denver City on their first winter, remembering the injured wolf she’d fought and killed outside their door. They’d had nothing to eat but deer and elk meat all winter. She still disliked the taste.

  Wind whistled through the open door, and for a moment, she imagined she heard a soft, keening sigh, but when she turned, all she saw was Robert Lee unloading the dynamite from the wagon. Lifting her chin, she walked out of the cabin, closing the door behind her without looking back.

  Within the hour, Robert Lee had the dynamite in place. He’d tied up the mules several hundred yards from the blast sight and left Letty with them.

  He didn’t know if what she was doing was the right thing to do, but he didn’t question her right to do it. She’d found the damned mine. It had made her rich, and in turn, the wealth she’d garnered from it had widowed her. He didn’t blame her for wanting to put an end to what must seem like a vicious cycle.

  He glanced back at her once.

  She waved an okay.

  He turned around, took a deep breath, lit the long fuses, and ran like hell.

  The first blast rocked the ground beneath their feet.

  The second one caused the outer layer of the mountain above the mine entrance to crumble.

  When the third one went off, the entrance was already gone. By the time the earth and rocks had stopped falling, tons of debris had settled between them and the gold.

  Letty stared at the dust cloud and the rocks. The blast had laid waste to a large portion of the front of the mountain, leaving bare a wound where grass and trees had once been. In time, the grass would grow back, and unless someone knew what had been there before, it would be next to impossible to imagine the riches hidden deep within.

  Robert Lee brushed at the dust on his clothes as he walked back to the wagon.

  Letty was standing beside the seat, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  She looked at him briefly and then shook her head.

  The expression on her face broke his heart.

  “I’m sorry it came to this,” he said gently.

  Before he knew what was happening, she lowered her head against his chest. A moment of shock swept through him, and then he wrapped his arms around her and held her while she wept.

  Rock A Bye Baby

  Shock reverberated throughout Denver City as news spread of the explosion at the Potter mine.

  Letty promptly sent a telegram to Major Carson Mylam of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

  Explosion destroys Potter Mine. Stop. Leticia Murphy Potter.

  Carson received it during a meeting with his commanding officer, General Titus Morris. He turned pale, handed the telegram to Morris, and then looked out the window toward the soldiers marching on the parade ground. The telegram was nothing more than written proof of his failure. His bags were already packed. He would be accompanying the troops marching south tomorrow.

  Back in Denver City, no one would have ever, in their wildest of dreams, imagined the explosion was anything but a tragic accident. But in a way, it signaled the beginning of the end to the gold fever that had rocked Denver City throughout the past two years. The dreams men had fostered of getting rich quick seem to have been prioritized by the intermittent news they received of the distant war. Many left their claims to return to their homelands, concerned for the families they’d left behind. Others opted to go west, vowing if they had to fight, they’d rather fight redskins, than their own friends and families.

  Letty remained neutral about the whole thing, more concerned with having a healthy baby than taking sides in a war destined to be a disaster, no matter which side won.

  And, like every other woman in her condition, she began what Alice and Mary called nesting. Curtains were taken down and washed. Mattresses were hauled out of the house to be aired and fluffed. She cleaned floors already clean, and washed windows that were already streak-free. She counted and sorted the baby clothes they’d all made, then counted and sorted them again.

  Each night as she was going to bed, she would look for the lantern light at Robert Lee’s tent and then go upstairs to her bedroom window, squinting through the oncoming darkness until she located the cross on Eulis’ grave.

  Each night it seemed harder and harder to find, and made a mental note to get the grass cut down between the grave and the house. There was an underlying panic in her need to be able to see it—as if losing sight of it would mean she was forgetting him. And, by the same token, she wouldn’t let herself consider why it was so important for her to know that Robert Lee was close by.

  By the time October arrived, there was already a strong hint of winter in the air. Mornings were freezing or below, while some days it warmed up some by noon. When Letty’s due date finally arrived, it was just ahead of a gathering storm.

  Alice had taken the wagon and gone into town to pick up supplies, taking Katie and the other women with her. It was the first time Letty had been alone in the house since Eulis’ death.

  She walked through the rooms with a judgmental eye, making mental notes as to what would have to be moved once the baby began to walk. Even as she was planning the changes, she couldn’t help but look back at the changes in her world.

  A year ago, she and Eulis had been in the first throes of learning how to be rich. They’d spent money frugally, until it became apparent that they weren’t going to run out any time during the next hundred or so years. After that, Letty had been generous with her choices of furnishings for the fine house they’d been building. She’d imagined growing old with Eulis in this house, not living a life without him, let alone raising their child alone.

  The house seemed stuffy as she moved through the rooms. Although a fire had been lit in the parlor fireplace, it wasn’t cold enough for fires in all the rooms. And, while the weather outside today was somewhat mild, it was too cold to open windows. She felt aimless—too awkward and too close to delivery to start a new project—but still anxiously awaiting what would be the biggest project of her life.

  The women had been gone for almost an hour when she finally wandered out onto the front porch and sat down. T-Bone jumped up from his spot in the flower bed and ran up the steps to plop down at her feet.

  Letty eyed the dirt on the dog’s side and the big bare spot in the flower bed and frowned.

  “You do know that you’re going to be in trouble with Delilah. She’s not going to appreciate you napping in her flower bed, even if most of them have already frozen back.”

  T-Bone’s tongue lolled from the side of his mouth as he gazed up in adoration. The scar from the knife wound he’d suffered at the robber’s hands was still visible, but slowly fading as hair continued to grow back over the old wound.

  She patted his head, then leaned back in the rocking chair and cupped the girth of her belly, groaning slightly as the baby rolled beneath her palms.

  “Lord have mercy, Little Bit, I’d appreciate it if you’d settle yourself down for a
while.”

  When the baby finally stilled, she closed her eyes with a satisfied groan. A few minutes later when she happened to look up, she caught Robert Lee watching her from a distance.

  She raised her hand in a quick hello.

  He jerked, as if surprised that she’d seen him, and nodded briefly before disappearing behind his tent.

  Letty frowned. She’d already made up her mind that he was not spending the winter in that damned tent—not when there was a spare room off the kitchen. She’d mentioned it to the women earlier, and they’d all agreed that they were not only okay with him moving in, but that they would welcome his presence in the house. Now all she had to do was convince Robert Lee of the fact.

  A rumble of distant thunder sounded across the mountains as the wind began to rise. It wasn’t much, but enough to cut the sultry feel in the air. She knew how miserable a winter rain felt in the mountains, and decided that today was the day that Robert Lee succumbed to her will.

  And, in typical Letty fashion, she hefted herself up from the rocking chair, walked off the porch, and headed for his tent.

  Robert Lee hadn’t intended to be caught watching Letty, and yet it had happened. He cursed the hopelessness of his situation and wished he was hard-hearted enough to just saddle up and ride away. During the past few weeks, he’d busied himself through the days by chopping wood for the coming winter months. He had a wagon nearly full and ready to be hauled to the house to unload. It would be the fourth load that he’d cut and was in the act of splitting up some logs when Letty rounded the front of the tent.

  “Robert Lee.”

  He spun abruptly. The rising wind was pushing the skirt of her smock against her belly and tangling the tendrils of her hair that had come unloose from the pins. He glanced up at the gathering clouds, dropped the axe, and grabbed her by the arm.

  “It’s going to rain.”

  “Most likely,” she said, and pointed at the tent. “Gather up your things. You’re coming to the house with me.”

  “Letty, you know—”

  “Do shut up, Robert Lee. Winter is upon us and I won’t have you sleeping out here in this pitiful tent when there’s a perfectly good room off the kitchen. Mary and Delilah made up a bed for you. Alice is raring to cook for a man. She claims none of us eat enough to warrant all her hard work.”

  “But what will people—”

  Letty snorted.

  “Surely you know me well enough by now to know that I don’t give a damn about what people think. Don’t make me ask you again. Get your stuff and be quick about it. I don’t relish getting myself all wet.”

  Robert Lee moved like a man in a trance. Even as he was gathering up his things, he knew everything was going to change. Whether it would be for the best, or just make everything worse, remained to be seen. But from his experience of the past events, he could not, in good conscience, leave these women alone on the mountain.

  By the time he was through, the wind was rising even more. As he started toward the house with Letty at his side, Alice was coming from town at a hasty clip, trying to beat the storm. She overtook, then passed them with the wagon on her way to the house.

  The women unloaded their supplies quickly. Mary and Delilah unhooked the team of horses and led them to the shed just as the first drops of rain were beginning to fall.

  Katie had fallen asleep in the back of the wagon.

  Robert Lee quickly dumped his belongings inside the kitchen and ran back to get her.

  “See… this is working out already,” Letty said, as he carried the little girl into the house.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered, as he carried the little girl into the parlor and laid her down on the red settee.

  Delilah glanced around the room, shivering as a blast of wind rattled the leafless lilac bush at the side of the house.

  “I’ll add some wood to the fire in the parlor,” she said, and hurried to the back porch to get firewood.

  A short time ago Letty had walked through these rooms, feeling the space and the loneliness, but with everyone back and noise being made, everything felt right and safe.

  Watching Robert Lee as he followed Delilah out, then as they both returned carrying firewood, she felt a great sense of satisfaction. Delilah put down her load and left the room, as Robert Lee set about stirring the embers in the fireplace before adding dry logs. She knew he was uncomfortable around her, and when she was honest with herself, admitted she was a little uncomfortable around him. His presence in the house was going to change everything. Whether it was for the good of her odd, little family still remained to be seen. All she knew was, she didn’t want to see him ride away.

  Rain was coming down in earnest when she felt the first stirring of pain. It began in the low of her back, and then rippled around her belly like a belt that was being pulled too tight.

  “Oh,” she grunted, and clasped her hands against what had once been her waist.

  Robert Lee stood up from the fire and turned around.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not sure. Maybe it was just a—”

  The second wave of pain hit her in the same place, only harder.

  “Oh lord,” she said, then took a slow, deep breath. “I think it’s the baby.”

  Robert Lee felt as if he’d been sucker punched. All the air went out of his lungs as his knees went weak.

  “Don’t move,” he cried.

  She grimaced. “I’m not accepting any dances in the near future, if that’s what you’re worrying about.”

  He shot out of the room, calling Alice’s name. Moments later, they came back running.

  “Get her upstairs,” Alice said.

  Robert Lee picked Letty up in his arms.

  “I can still walk,” Letty said, but no one was listening. Moments later as another pain tore through her, she was glad that she’d been ignored.

  He got her to her bedroom just ahead of the women. Once he laid her down, he was shooed out of the room. His last glimpse of Letty, she was waving a hand in Delilah’s direction with a determined jut to her chin. Like everything else she did, she was already taking charge.

  After that, time seemed to stand still. He carried his things into the extra room off the kitchen, trying not to think of what was going on upstairs.

  There wasn’t much to unpack. A straight razor and shaving cup—a couple of changes of clothes—and a mirror with a crack up the left side. He set a wooden box on the floor behind his bed then toed it under. It contained extra ammunition and the equipment he used to clean his weapon. All in all, it was a poor accumulation of goods considering his age and the places that he’d been. He couldn’t help but worry about what hanging his hat under this roof would bring to the table. All he knew was that he had to be careful. The last thing he would ever want to do was hurt Letty—and yet he was here, where the opportunity to do so would constantly be presenting itself.

  It took less than ten minutes to lay claim to the room. It wasn’t nearly long enough to keep his mind off of her and the impending birth. As he paced the floor in front of the parlor fireplace, he kept thinking of Eulis. He should be the one pacing here—relishing the upcoming addition to his family—not rotting in a pine box in the back yard.

  Thunder rumbled loudly overhead, followed by a sharp crack of lightning. He flinched as the momentary flash lit up the room, but once it was over, he realized how dark it had gotten outside. He lit an oil lamp and then a candle, set one on the table, the other on the mantel, and then poked at the brightly burning fire for lack of anything else to do. The storm had hastened nightfall. If only it sped up the birth of the baby, as well.

  One hour flowed into a second, and then a third. Once as he was passing the foot of the stairs, he heard a low, anguished moan. The sound ripped through him like a knife to the heart. He stood there, listening—waiting—praying for a signal that her suffering would soon be over.

  It didn’t come.

  Five hour
s, then six came and went. Alice came downstairs, her face flushed, her hair hanging around her cheeks in tangled wisps.

  “Go get Dr. Warren,” she said.

  Robert Lee froze.

  “Is something wrong?”

  Alice wrung her hands. “I don’t know. It’s just that she’s not progressing as she should.”

  “Jesus,” Robert Lee whispered.

  “Pray to Him as you ride,” she said, and then hurried back up the stairs.

  Robert Lee headed for the shed to saddle his horse, running as he went. He untied a poncho from the back of his saddle and pulled it over his head. It wasn’t much protection from the downpour, but it was better than nothing.

  The thunder and lightning had long since passed, leaving behind nothing but the rain. As he rode, the wind blew it in his face. He pulled his hat down a little tighter on his head, tilting the brim just enough to keep it out of his eyes. Twice, his horse lost its footing and slipped, the last time going all the way to its knees. He pulled hard on the reins and leaned back, barely managing to stay seated. Relief swept through him when he finally saw the lights of Denver City.

  The town had grown so much in the past years that it took longer to ride through Main Street and the doctor’s house was at the far end of town.

  Unknowingly, he rode past it in the dark, and then quickly backtracked, with his heart in his throat. He dismounted and ran toward the door.

  After a round of frantic knocking, he saw the faint glow of lamplight through the curtains at the window. When his call was finally answered, it was Mildred, the doctor’s wife, who let him in.

  “Robert Lee? Is that you?” she asked, as she held a lit candle above her head.

  “Yes, ma’am, it’s me. We need the doctor up at the Potter house. Letty is in labor.”

  “Oh lord, Angus is out of town tending a family with typhoid. He won’t be back for at least a day or more.”

  Robert Lee felt sick.

  “Then you come.”