“Tea,” Peggy said, making a face.
Annie laughed. “Oh, heavens, I forgot. You girls drink tea all day long, don’t you?”
“Well, we couldn’t very well drink whiskey every time a man buys us a drink now, could we?” Peggy replied.
“Well, working at the House of Pleasure, we never really had to do that. When a man came there, he came for one reason only. But if you’ll wait just a minute, and I’ll get lemonade for you.”
“Thank you, I would appreciate that.”
Annie replaced the tea with lemonade, and Peggy went down the street to the marshal’s office and jail.
“Hello, Marshal Moss,” Peggy said when she stepped into the office.
“What have you got there?” Moss asked.
“Major Ackerman asked me to bring supper to your prisoner. He said you have a woman in jail. Or was he just fooling me?”
Moss laughed. “No, no, he was tellin’ you the truth. I sure as hell do have a woman in jail. And Major Ackerman told me he would be sending a meal over to her. Come on, and I’ll take you back to her.”
“Thanks.”
Peggy followed Moss back to the cell that was reserved for women, though rarely used. Peggy saw a young woman lying on the bed with her hands laced behind her head as she stared up at the ceiling. Peggy was surprised at the way she was dressed. She was wearing denim trousers and a man’s shirt. Peggy had thought that the woman might be another prostitute, but this woman didn’t look like one at all. She was very pretty, but those certainly weren’t the clothes of someone on the line, and she didn’t have one bit of makeup on.
“Here’s your supper, girly,” Moss said as he opened the cell door. He looked over at Peggy. “Go on, take it to her,” he said.
Peggy stepped into the cell, then Moss closed the door behind her and locked it.
“Here, what are you doing, Moss?” Peggy asked.
“I’m goin’ to go check out the saloons,” Moss said. “I can’t leave you with my prisoner, I don’t know but what bein’ another woman and all, you might let her out. I’ll let you out when I come back.”
Peggy said nothing until he left.
“Ha! What the old fool doesn’t realize is, I’d just as soon stay here as go back,” she said. She smiled at Mary Kate. “My name’s Peggy, honey. What’s yours?”
“Mary Kate Ham . . . that is, Mary Kate McVey.”
“Well, Mary Kate McVey, I’ve brought supper for us,” Peggy said. “If you don’t mind, I’ll eat with you. We’ve got fried chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes, gravy, and blueberry pie. How does that sound to you?”
“Oh, it sounds very good,” Mary Kate said as she sat up. “I’ve had nothing but camp food for almost two weeks now.”
“Tell me, Mary Kate, though it’s none of my business, but why are you in jail?”
“I was sort of hoping maybe you could tell me that,” Mary Kate replied.
Peggy frowned. “Well, how would I know that?”
“You haven’t heard of me, have you?”
Peggy had both plates out of the basket and she handed Mary Kate a knife and fork.
“No, I can’t say as I have. Should I have heard of you?”
“I know that my name has been in all the papers for the last two weeks.”
“Oh, well, that explains it. We don’t have a local paper, and no papers ever come in here . . . at least, not more than one or two a month. And then it’s likely to be only one paper for the whole town. We have no railroad. We have no stagecoach service. We don’t even get mail in this town.”
“You don’t even get mail here?”
“No.”
“What kind of town is this, that you get no mail?”
“You mean you really don’t know?”
“No. Actually, I’ve never heard of Purgatory, and I’ve lived in Montana for at least ten years.”
“That’s because nobody who lives here wants anyone to know about this town. We aren’t on anyone’s map, and that’s by design,” Peggy explained.
“What a strange way for a town to be. I don’t understand.”
“Purgatory is what they call an outlaw town.”
“An outlaw town?”
“Yes. And the town is well named, for if ever there was an earthly portal to hell, it would be Purgatory. Every robber, thief, murderer, and derelict in the country has been here at one time or another.”
“And Marshal Moss does nothing about it?” Mary Kate asked.
Peggy laughed. “Honey, Moss is as big an outlaw as any of them. He’s hired by the town just to sort of keep an eye on things within the town. Anything that somebody does outside of Purgatory is fine. You can come here and not worry about the law comin’ after you. But there is a law, or more like a code of the outlaw, which sort of governs what happens here. Don’t rob from each other while you are in town, don’t kill someone unless the person you kill is armed. Just about everything else is wide open. Like my profession.”
“Your profession?”
Peggy laughed. “Honey, don’t tell me you don’t know what my profession is.”
Mary Kate shook her head. “I don’t have any idea.”
“Well, let me put it this way. I’m not a schoolteacher.” Peggy laughed out loud. “Look at me, honey. Look at how I am dressed. Look at the paint on my face, and on my lips.”
“Oh!” Mary Kate said. “You’re a . . . a . . . ,” she couldn’t bring herself to say the word.
“I’m a whore, honey. You can say it,” Peggy said.
“How did you wind up in a town like this? I mean aren’t there . . . uh, whores in other towns?”
“Yes, but here we make twice as much money, and we don’t have to put up with a bunch of laws that the city lays out, and, there are no citizens’ betterment leagues trying to run us out of town. For all its faults, Purgatory is at least honest about some things. Don’t forget the blueberry pie. Annie makes the best blueberry pie you’ve ever put in your mouth.”
“Thanks.”
“Now, I’ve told you all about this town. How about you telling me how you wound up here? And what you’re doing in jail? I know you said I should know your name, but I don’t.”
“My father is Colonel Edward Hamilton. He is retired now, but when he was in the army, he was Major Ackerman’s commanding officer. And the reason Ackerman is no longer in the army is because my father court-martialed him and he was drummed out of the service.”
“You know, I’ve often wondered about that. Ackerman is so military about everything he does, but he isn’t in the army and I was beginning to think that he was lying about ever having been in the army.”
“No, he was in the army all right. I remember him. I also remember the humiliation he went through when he was drummed out. They relieved him of his command and commission, cut all the braid, rank, and buttons from his uniform, took away his saber, then because he had been broken to private, they had a corporal take charge and march him off the post.”
Peggy laughed out loud. “Oh, Lord, what I would give to have seen that,” she said. “Ackerman is such a pompous ass. So, you think he’s holding you to get even with your father?”
“Oh, it’s much more than just getting even with my father. He killed my husband right in front of me, and he forced me to come with him. He has contacted my father, demanding that he pay forty thousand dollars for my release.”
“Forty thousand dollars?” Peggy said with a gasp. “Good Lord, does your father have that kind of money?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I expect he does. My father is a very wealthy man.”
“So he’s brought you here and is holding you as his prisoner until your father comes up with the money?”
“Yes.”
“That evil bastard!” Peggy said. She looked at Mary Kate with an expression of pity on her face. “I am so sorry. I wish there was something I could do for you. But the truth is, I’m about as much a prisoner here as you are. Not only me, but just about eve
ry other woman in town. You see, outlaw towns don’t exactly have a lot of families living in them. In fact, there are no families at all living in Purgatory. There are only outlaws and whores. Well, present company excepted,” she said quickly, putting her hand on Mary Kate’s hand.
“Peggy!” a male voice called out.
“I’m still here, Marshal,” Peggy replied.
Moss came into the back carrying the key to the cell. “I expect you’d better get back on over to the Bloody Bucket,” Moss said as he unlocked the cell door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
There were three saloons in Purgatory: the Bloody Bucket, the Rattlesnake Den, and Pig Palace. Fong and Hood spent most of their time in the Bloody Bucket, so they knew that Casey wasn’t there. The next place they tried was the Rattlesnake Den.
The Rattlesnake Den had a stuffed snake, with its rattles intact, draped around the pointed top of the mirror that was behind the bar. It was busier than the Bloody Bucket had been, with several standing at the bar and a few more at a couple of the tables. The piano player was banging away at the back of the room, though the music could hardly be heard above the sound of the many voices in conversation.
“What’ll it be, gents?” the bartender asked.
At first Fong and Hood hesitated, then Fong smiled. “We got money, remember?” he said, pulling out the ten-dollar bill.
“Yeah,” Hood replied, matching Fong’s smile.
“Beer,” Fong said.
“I’ll have the same.”
The bartender drew two beers and set them on the bar. “Damn, you don’t have nothin’ smaller ’n a ten?” he asked. “Seems like all I’ve been gettin’ today are ten-dollar bills.”
Both Fong and Hood put their ten-dollar bills away and drew out the right change for the beer.
“Has Sergeant Casey been around?”
The bartender looked up and down the bar. “He was here earlier, but he ain’t here now.”
The two downed their beers, then left the Rattlesnake Den and checked out the Pig Palace.
“What you want him for?” someone asked.
“Why are you askin’?” Fong replied.
“Because me ’n Casey is tight ’n if someone means trouble for him, I want to know about it. You ain’t the law, are you?” He drew his pistol and cocked.
“Hold on there, Jones, these boys ain’t the law,” the bartender said quickly. “They been shovelin’ shit down at the stable for more ’n month now. I don’t think no lawman would be doin’ that.”
Jones kept his pistol out. “What do you want to see Sergeant Casey for?” he asked again.
“Show ’im, Mo,” Hood said nervously. “Show ’im the piece of paper.”
Fong reached for his shirt pocket.
“If I see a derringer come out of your shirt pocket, you’re a dead man,” Jones said. “Both of you are.”
“It ain’t no pistol,” Fong said. He pulled out the sheet of paper and held it out toward Jones. “Major Ackerman, he said to give this paper to Sergeant Casey.”
Jones read the paper, then smiled and put his pistol away. “Well, hell, why didn’t you say so? Sergeant Casey is over at the House of Pleasure. You know where that is?”
“Yeah, we know where it is, but in all the time we been here, we ain’t never had enough money to pay ’em a visit,” Fong said.
“Before now,” Hood said. “We got enough money to pay ’em a visit now.”
“Yeah,” Fong said with a big smile. “Yeah, I reckon we do.”
“Do you know Gladys?” Jones asked.
“No, who’s she?”
“You know what a top sergeant is?” Jones asked.
“Yeah, I know what a top sergeant is,” Fong answered.
“Well, Gladys is like a top sergeant, only, she’s the top whore,” Jones said. He laughed out loud, and those around him laughed as well.
“Top whore,” one of the other men said with a chuckle.
“Go over to the House of Pleasure and find the top whore. Tell her you’re lookin’ for Sergeant Casey.”
Leaving the Pig Palace, Fong and Hood walked down to the House of Pleasure, which was the last building on the left side of the Street With No Name. That was what everyone called the main street that ran through town. There were no other streets, though there were at least three crossing lanes. They weren’t named, either, but they were generally referred to as the first, second, or third lane. Only the main street had graduated to being referred to by name, and by default, its name had become Street With No Name.
This was the first time either of them had ever been inside the House of Pleasure. The wallpaper in the reception room was red, and so were the drapes. The chandelier was shining brass. There were chairs and sofas in the waiting room, but the only ones in the room were two women, appropriately dressed for the profession. They were sitting together on the sofa, playing with a cat that occupied the space between them.
“Hello, dears,” a woman said, coming out from another room to greet them. Like the two women on the couch, she was scantily clad and heavily made up. Unlike the two on the couch, she was very heavy, and her huge breasts looked as if they were about to spill over. “Have you come looking for some women to pass the time with?”
“Are you Gladys?” Fong asked.
“Yes, I am, sweetheart.”
“Well, Gladys, we’re looking for a man.”
“Oh, my, well, why didn’t you say so in the first place. Hector? Come out here, dearie, you’ve got company.”
Someone came out of a back room then, and at first Fong thought it was another woman. But as he looked closer, he saw that it wasn’t. It was a man, with eye makeup, painted lips, and rouged cheeks. His hair was in a sequined hairnet, and earrings dangled from each ear.
“Oh, my,” he said in a falsetto voice. “Which one of you will be first?”
“What?” Fong asked. He looked back at Gladys with a shocked and angry expression on his face. “Who is this? What is this about?”
“Well, honey, you did say you wanted a man, and here at the House of Pleasure, we try to cater to . . . all sorts of appetites.”
“We’re looking for Sergeant Casey,” Fong said. “We was told that he is here.”
“Well, why didn’t you ask for him in the first place?” Gladys stepped over to the wide door that opened into the waiting room.
“Janette, who is with Casey?”
“Amy.”
Gladys smiled and turned back to Fong and Hood. “You can have a seat. If he is with Amy, he won’t be too long. She has a way of turning them out just real fast.”
True to Gladys’s prediction, it was less than five minutes later before a man came down the stairs.
Fong had no idea if this was Casey or not, but he took a chance. “Sergeant Casey?”
“Yeah?”
Fong smiled, then walked over to show him the note that Ackerman had given him. Casey read it, then nodded.
“All right, get your gear and come down to the barracks. You’ll billet there.”
“Barracks?” Fong looked over at Hood, who shook his head. They had been in town for almost a month and had no idea that there was a barracks in town.
“It’s that long building, first building on the right side of the street after you leave this place,” Casey said.
“Oh, yes, I know the building. I just didn’t know what it was.”
“From now on, you must always let me, or Corporal Jones, know where you are, at all times,” Casey said. “It is the same as being in the army. You go when I give you a pass to go. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sergeant,” Fong replied. “Uh, is it all right now if we . . . uh,” he pointed to Janette and the other girl on the couch.
Casey smiled. “Yeah, it’s all right,” he said.
Fong nodded, then he and Hood went over to the couch to engage the two women.
By the time Peggy returned to the Bloody Bucket Saloon after having had supper with Mary Kate, she saw
that Ackerman had already managed to take a bath and change clothes. It was easy to pick him out from the crowded saloon because he was wearing the dress blue uniform of a major in the United States Army, complete with a golden sash and saber. He was no longer authorized to wear the uniform, of course, but here, in Purgatory, there was no one who would challenge him.
“Ahh, there you are, my dear,” Ackerman said to Peggy. “Did you take dinner to the lady?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“Why do you have her in jail, Major? What did she do?”
“It’s not what she has done. It is what I fear she might do. I am afraid she might try to run away. And I can’t allow that. She’s worth too much money to me.”
That seemed to substantiate what Mary Kate had told her, but she thought it might be best not to share any of their conversation with Ackerman.
“If she is a whore, how is she going to earn money for you while she is locked up in jail?”
“Let’s just say that I need her to understand who is in charge.”
Peggy smiled at Ackerman. “Honey, there is nobody around you who doesn’t know who is charge.”
Ackerman chuckled. “Yes, that’s true, isn’t it?”
“You know it is.” Peggy put her hand on Ackerman’s cheek, smiled, then turned to walk away.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ve got work to do.”
“No, you don’t. I’ve cleared it with Bart. You’re all mine, tonight.”
Peggy felt a chill pass through her body.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The only thing remarkable about the building was that it was here at all. It squatted alongside a road that was barely wide enough for vehicular traffic. It was constructed of gray, weathered wood, filled with pine knots, a few of which had fallen out, leaving behind holes. It was obvious that the building had expanded over the years because there were two distinct additions to it. Whoever built the additions made absolutely no attempt to blend with the original building. To one side was a half barn, with a roof and two sides, the other sides open. A couple of horses were behind a fence that kept them in the barn, and they were quietly munching hay. An empty buckboard was parked just outside the barn. A sign on the overhanging porch of the main building read simply:
Defiance of Eagles Page 18
