“He does have a reputation around here.”
“Oh? What can you tell me about him?”
“Well,” Ty hesitated. How was he to tell her the uncle she wanted to help was not worth helping?
“I can take it, even if it’s something bad, Ty. Please, tell me about my uncle.”
“The business he runs isn’t a very nice one, Xenia.” He hoped this answer would satisfy her.
It didn’t.
“What kind of business does he have?”
“Oh, hell, Xenia. I might as well tell you. Seymour Longstreet owns and runs the Golden Door Saloon in Deer Meadow. The one you found Wilt and me in the other night. He’s also a gambler, and everybody knows he’ll do anything to make money.” He decided he wouldn’t tell her how Seymour forced one of the young women in town into prostitution after the girl’s father gave her to him to pay off a gambling debt. Everyone now knew that woman as Little Lil.
Xenia was quiet for a moment, then she asked in a soft voice, “Was he arrested and put in jail for something he says he didn’t do?”
“As far as I know, Seymour was never arrested. But I’ll have to ask the sheriff to be sure. Sometimes, he’ll throw somebody in jail and nobody knows about it because they’re out the next day.”
“So when he said they might hang him if we didn’t come to help, he was telling a lie?”
“Wait until we get to the bottom of this to make up your mind, Xenia.” Though he didn’t believe it, he added, “It could all be a misunderstanding.”
“Then when we get to the saloon, we’ll find some answers.”
“We won’t go directly to the saloon, Xenia.”
“Why not? I want to—”
“I know you do, but that’s not the way saloons work. The place will be locked up tight until almost noon. They work mostly at night, and nobody stirs until at least ten or eleven. Not even the cook or barkeep.”
“Then what shall I do until then?”
“I’ll take you to the hotel. You can rent a room and…”
“That man at the hotel won’t rent me a room.”
“I think you’ll see he has changed his mind when I take you to the desk.”
She shook her head. “If you go in he’ll probably kick you out, too. He doesn’t like babies or probably grown-ups with Indian blood in them.”
“There are a lot of people who feel that way, Xenia.”
She frowned. “Why?”
He couldn’t believe she asked him that, but he felt compelled to answer. “I guess because nobody believes the races should ever become friends. People in this area still remember the Indian raids in which they lost relatives or friends.”
“That’s sad.”
“It’s not perfect on the Indian side, either. Many remember the raids on villages by the army, and by some ranchers where their people died, too.” He glanced at Xenia. “Sometimes, they feel the same way about breeds as the white people do.”
“That’s ridiculous. A baby can’t control the circumstances of its birth.” She shook her head. “Look at Johnny. He’s one of the sweetest babies you’ll ever see. If someone would hate him because his mother was an Indian, then that person is the one with the problem—not Johnny.”
He glared sideways at her. Did she mean what she was saying? If so, she was the first and only white woman he’d ever met who felt that way. Well, Mea Ann could be the second. She must think the same thing as Xenia, else she wouldn’t love Johnny so much. And he had no doubt but that Mea Ann loved the boy. She couldn’t or wouldn’t be as attentive to him if she didn’t care.
Xenia broke the silence that followed her statement. “You haven’t said anything for a while. You must have something important on your mind. Or maybe I insulted you. Did I say something wrong?”
He shook his head. “No, Xenia you said nothing wrong. I guess it’s just hard for me to believe that a woman like you would feel the way you say you do about mixed blood people.”
“I would never lie about my feelings, Ty, but what do you mean, ‘a woman like me’?”
“I mean a white city woman. A woman who is used to fancy things and fancy people. I bet until you came west you never gave the Indian population a thought.”
“You’re right that I never thought much about the race, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t realize Indians were people. They were just people I hadn’t met, and didn’t know anything about.”
“May I ask you something?”
She turned to look at him. “Could I stop you from asking if I wanted to?”
He chuckled. “Probably not.”
“Then ask your question.”
“What would your father and mother say if you sent them a telegraph wire saying you’d met an Indian cowboy that you wanted to marry?”
“Father would stomp and rave then send me a wire demanding that I come home immediately. Then, he’d head to Arizona to stop me because he knows when I set my mind on doing something, I usually do it—one way or another. Mother would cry and wonder what she’d done wrong in raising me, and then she’d probably take to her bed until I either came to my senses or Father brought me home.”
“Because the cowboy was an Indian?”
She laughed. “No, not at all. They’d react that way because he was not one of the silly, top-coated, fancy talking young men who had an up-and-coming career in Richmond. One who could never be a real man who would fight for and protect his wife, but would always treat her as if she was some silly woman who was only interested in having gowns that all her friends would envy while sitting around in the parlor drinking tea. A woman who never had a serious thought cross her brain.”
“And what would you do when you got your father’s wire demanding you come home?”
“I’d tell the man I loved we had to hurry up and marry. Then, I’d hope I would be with child before Father got here. There would be no way Father would want me home if I was going to have a baby.” She laughed. “Of course, the man I love would love me just at much. He’d be strong enough to protect me from my father’s demands, baby or no baby.”
“You sure have faith in your cowboy.”
“Of course I do. I wouldn’t love him enough to marry him if I didn’t.” She laughed. “How in the world did we get on such a subject? There’s no cowboy who loves me or I him. Now, let’s talk about something else.”
“What else do you want to talk about?”
“Chapa told us today about all of your Sioux names. She said yours meant Courageous. I think it fits you perfectly.”
“Why in the world would she tell you that?”
“We were asking about your parents and she told us the story. I thought it was lovely.”
“What do you mean, ‘lovely’?”
“The way your fathers fell in love with sisters and married them. Your grandmother must have been a special lady to come all the way to Arizona with her daughters and their husbands.” She looked at him. “Do you remember her well?”
“I remember her kind of well. She told us stories of the Sioux and how proud her ancestors were. She instilled a sense of pride in Wilt and me. For that reason, I’ve never been ashamed of my Sioux blood.”
“You should always be proud of it, and you need to pass that pride on to your children.”
“I have no children, Xenia.”
“I know that.” She looked at him as if he shouldn’t have said such a thing. “You should know I meant your future children. Surely, you plan to marry and have children someday, don’t you?”
“I haven’t thought much about it.” He didn’t add that he’d hoped to have children with Verna McGill at one time. After her, he’d given up on the idea.
“Well, you need to find the right woman and get married and have a family. You’ll make a wonderful father.”
He looked at her in disbelief. “What makes you say that?”
“I can tell by the way you’ve protected Johnny. At the way station, you made sure he was where no bullets could find h
im, and he was the first person you asked about when the fighting was over. Then, when we were stranded in town with no place to sleep, you made sure we were taken to your ranch. The first thing you told Chapa was to make sure the baby got milk. You can’t tell me a man like that wouldn’t make a wonderful father.”
Ty didn’t know what to say after that, so he turned his attention to the approaching town. “We’re almost to Deer Meadow. I’m going to take you to the hotel, then I’ll turn in the buggy and come back there. If you insist, I’ll take you with me to talk to the sheriff.”
“Oh, thank you, Ty. I hoped you’d be willing to go with me.” She sighed. “I just hope that little man will let me have a room at the hotel.”
“Don’t worry. He will.”
****
Xenia watched Ty open the front door of the Deer Lodge Hotel and then follow her inside carrying the small valise she’d packed for the night. Alvin Stoneman put down the book he was studying and said in a crisp, but nervous voice, “Good morning, ma’am. Mr. Eldridge. What can I do for you?”
Xenia muttered a good morning, but Ty only nodded. “Miss Poindexter is here for a room.”
“Of course. Welcome, Miss Poindexter.”
“I assume you plan to put her in the corner room on the second floor.” Ty eyed Alvin.
“Oh, yes, sir. That room was readied for a guest earlier. I’m sure Miss Poindexter will find it to her liking.” His voice was actually shaking.
Xenia wondered what kind of hold Ty had on this man. He was certainly different from the brassy clerk who had thrown her and Mea Ann out of the place. Now, he didn’t seem to be able to do enough to please her.
Alvin looked at Ty. “Would you like to sign Miss Poindexter in, Mr. Eldridge?”
She had to smile when Ty said, “Miss Poindexter can write, Alvin.”
“Yes, sir.” He turned the small swivel table that held the register book, dipped the pen in ink and held it toward her. “Please sign, Miss Poindexter.”
She wrote her name and handed back the pen.
“Will you be taking Miss Poindexter’s luggage up, Mr. Eldridge?”
“Yes. I want to make sure the room is adequate.”
Alvin looked at Xenia. “That’ll be…” He then looked past her to Ty. Without finishing his sentence he reached behind the desk and handed her a key. “I hope you enjoy your stay, Miss Poindexter.”
“Thank you.” It dawned on Xenia the man hadn’t asked her for any money. She started to say something, but Ty had picked up her bag and nodded toward the steps.
She shrugged and walked ahead of him.
At the end of the upstairs hall, he sat the valise down and reached for her key. “While you’re here, Xenia, I want you to keep this door locked.”
“While I’m inside as well as when I go out?”
“Yes.” He pushed open the door and stood back for her to enter. “What do you think?”
She glanced at the big bed with its blue chenille spread and a matching wardrobe against the wall. There were white curtains at the corner windows and a set of chairs with needlepoint cushions on either side of a small round table. A blue rug was on the right side of the bed, and a screen with blue and white flowers blocked off an area that she figured was for dressing and possibly for using the chamber pot.
“It’s lovely, Ty. I’m sure I’ll be comfortable here.”
“I know it’s not what you’re used to, but it’s the best we have in Deer Meadow.” He moved to the middle of the room and set her bag at the foot of the bed.
She decided not to answer his remark. Instead, she said, “How long will it be before you come back to get me to go see the sheriff?”
“As I said, I have to see the stable man and turn the buggy in. I’ll also check on the cow and make arrangements to have it taken to the ranch. I know we have plenty to supply all the milk Johnny can drink, but I don’t want to leave his cow at the stable any longer. I’m not positive they’ll take good care of it.”
“Thank you, Ty. You’re thoughtful.”
“We’ll get some dinner either here in the hotel or at the café down the street a little later.” He grinned at her. “I’m beginning to get hungry.”
Xenia laughed. “I now understand why Chapa said she had a hard time keeping you and Wilt full. You always seem to be hungry.”
“I’m a big man, Miss Poindexter. I need enough food to keep this body going.”
“I can understand that.”
“I better be on my way. If you need anything, I’m sure Stoneman will be happy to get it for you.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine until you get back. I have a book with me, so I can read—or if I get bored with that, I’ll take a nap. I’d rather not have to deal with Alvin Stoneman.”
“You do what you want to do, and I’ll see you later.” He started for the door. “Now, come lock up behind me.”
“Yes, sir.” She gave him a quick curtsy.
He laughed. “Stop that. People will think you’re my slave or something.”
She took the key from him and opened the door. “Now, be on your way. I have a book waiting.”
He went out and she closed the door behind him. She didn’t hear his boots going down the hall until she turned the lock. She had to smile. He wouldn’t leave until he was sure she was safe. He certainly was a complicated man. At times, he seemed to like her—and at others, he didn’t seem to care at all. Still, he protected her. She shook her head and took the book out of her valise, then moved to the chair under the window.
Chapter 8
Two hours later Ty rapped on Xenia’s hotel room door. There was no answer. He knocked again, this time, a little louder. Still, no answer. He was about to call out when Lou Bullins came out a door diagonally down and across the hall from Xenia’s room.
“Well, Eldridge. Looks like your lady friend got the best room in the hotel and I see you’re visiting her.” He shook his head. “Don’t you care anything about a woman’s reputation?”
“What do you know about the woman in this room?”
He gave a sinister laugh. “Everyone in the hotel knows you brought her here, demanded the corner room for her, and probably paid for her to stay here.”
Ty’s eyes narrowed. “Bullins, I suggest you go back in your room and pack your bag, get your gambling devices and leave this hotel within the hour.”
“Who do you think you are to demand that I leave? I paid for a week, and I intend to stay for that length of time.”
“I’m telling you, your plans have changed.”
“We’ll see about that.” He turned and hurried toward the lobby.
Ty turned back to Xenia’s door. He knew once Bullins told Stoneman what had happened, Stoneman would insist he leave. But he couldn’t help wondering how Bullins knew Xenia was in this room. He knew he was going to have to question Alvin again before he left town.
Thinking Xenia had decided he’d been gone too long and had struck out on her own, he slammed his fist against the door and started to walk away. “I wish that damn woman wasn’t so hard-headed. She’s going to get herself in some trouble she can’t get out of if she doesn’t change,” he muttered. He only stepped back to the door when he heard a slight rustling on the other side of the door.
“Xenia?” he said, loud enough for her to hear him.
“I’m coming. Just wait a minute.”
The door opened. “I thought you’d left.”
“You told me not to, and I waited here for you.”
“Didn’t you hear me knocking?”
She shook her head. “I was asleep.”
He then noticed the rumpled bed, her unbuttoned collar and her slightly mussed hair. She looked beautiful. Shaking that thought away, he said, “I was gone longer than I thought I would be. I’m sorry.”
She smiled. “It didn’t seem long to me. I fell asleep almost as soon as you left, and it seems like only a few minutes ago.”
He would have liked to stay there and watch Xenia
brush her hair, button up her blouse or do whatever she needed to do, but he knew that wouldn’t be proper. “Do you want me to wait downstairs until you’re ready to go get some dinner?
“Please do, Ty. I won’t be long.”
He turned and started out the door. “Lock this behind me.”
“Even with you waiting downstairs?”
“Yes, Xenia. Even with me waiting downstairs.”
“You don’t trust anybody, do you Ty?”
“Not when there’s a beautiful young single woman in town. There are a lot of men around who would…well, let’s just say they’d try to get your attention.”
“And what would be wrong with that? I might even meet that cowboy you said I could fall in love with and turn my family’s world upside down.”
“I can’t win with you, so I’m getting out of here before I say something else stupid.”
She shook her head and giggled. “You might be a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them, Mr. Ty Eldridge.” She followed him to the door and locked it just to keep him from arguing with her.
Ty went down the hall smiling. Why was it that Xenia could stir his insides in a way they’d never been stirred before? And didn’t she ever forget anything? Why was she bringing up a cowboy that she might fall in love with? He figured that conversation was forgotten, but apparently she remembered. Would she always throw it in his face, or did she really think she might fall in love with a cowboy? If so, why couldn’t it be me? He stopped in his tracks. Oh, hell why did I think that? That would be a disaster, and we both know that’s never going to happen. Hell, I don’t want that to happen. I don’t even like the woman—or do I?
He shook his head and continued to the lobby. It was empty, so he took a seat in one of the wing-backed chairs. In a minute, Alvin Stoneman came through the door leading to the dining room with a cup of coffee in his hand.
“Mr. Eldridge, is there something I can do for you?” His hand shook as he sat his coffee on the desk. “Would you like some coffee?”
Xenia’s Renegade Page 9
