“You’re the one person here that’s treated me like a human being and I wish you wouldn’t go. I’ll miss you, Hiram.”
He wasn’t sure why he said what he did because he’d never been an impulsive person. But knowing he was getting his own saloon gave him courage. “You don’t have to stay here if you don’t won’t to, Lil.”
She stared at him. “I don’t have a choice, Hiram.”
“Sure you do.”
“Like what?”
“Come with me, Lil.”
She continued to stare at him. “How would I live?”
His heart beat faster. Still, he didn’t turn from her. “I’ll take care of you.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, I’m serious. I want you to come.”
Tears came into her eyes. “It won’t take me long to pack. Will you wait?”
He knew he had to get to the bank. “I’ll wait for you in front of the general store. Try to be there in thirty minutes.”
“I’ll be there.” She turned and ran through the kitchen door.
Hiram watched her disappear and shook his head. What was he thinking? Asking Lil to go with him could blow the whole deal. What would the Eldridges think? Would they call the whole thing off?
Still shaking his head, he turned and walked toward the bank. I’ve already asked her to come with me. I can’t back out on that now. Besides, I don’t want to back out. I want Lil with me. She deserves better than what she’s got here. I just hope having her with me won’t keep me from getting the saloon.
****
Though she’d never been more frightened, Mea Ann knew she had to do something to get away from this man. He was practically dragging her toward the back of the barn. There was no way she was going to let him hurt her or take her away from Wilt. She had too much to live for. Trying to decide what to do, she stumbled on a root sticking out of the ground. This threw him off balance and his hand slipped off her mouth.
Mea Ann didn’t hesitate; she let out a blood-curdling scream.
The next thing she knew, Ty was running toward her and the man took off toward the woods.
Wilt came out of the house. In a few long running steps, his arms went around her and she melted against his chest. “What happened?”
Ty didn’t answer his question, but yelled as he took off, “Take care of her. I’m going after him.”
Mea Ann looked up at Wilt. “I was so frightened.”
“You’re safe now, honey.” He pulled her close. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“I’m not sure. I was getting the eggs and suddenly a man grabbed me. He tried to pull me away from the house, but I stumbled and was able to scream. Then you and Ty came.” Tears filled her eyes. “Oh, Wilt, what if he’d succeeded in getting me away from here?”
“Try not to think about that, Mea Ann. You managed to get away.” He swooped her up in his arms. “Let’s get you into the house.”
“What about my eggs?”
“Don’t worry about the eggs. I’ll get them after you’re safe inside.”
“Where’s Johnny?”
“Chapa has him. He’s fine.”
“Good.” She snuggled against his chest. “I love you, Wilt Eldridge, and I feel so safe when I’m with you.”
He chuckled. “And I love you. I’ll always keep you safe.”
She shivered. “I hope Ty catches the man.”
“Knowing Ty, he will.”
Mea Ann smiled to herself. She was glad it was over and she did feel safe in Wilt’s arms, but she couldn’t help wondering how long those rough hands on her mouth would stay in her memory.
****
Lil slipped into the modest green cotton dress with sprigs of white flowers she kept hidden in the bottom drawer of her small dresser in her cramped room. When her father had brought her to the Golden Door, Seymour had taken away the clothes she brought with her and made her dress in the skimpy garments like the other girls in the saloon. When she asked about her regular clothes, she was told she would never need them again so they’d been destroyed. She decided at the time she’d buy a decent dress as soon as could save up the money. She was surprised she was able to get it sooner than expected, thanks to one grateful cowboy who gave her a bonus. She didn’t tell anyone about this money, though she knew if Seymour found out she would have to endure a severe reprimand, if not a beating from the saloon owner.
As she picked up the small valise she had filled with her few personal items, Lil reached to open the door. Voices from outside made her jerk her hand back. Her heart began to beat faster when she recognized Seymour asking Sassy Sue what she found out at the telegraph office.
“Franklin Poindexter should be here anytime. His return wire said you’d better do all you can to get his daughters away from those renegades before he arrives.”
“He doesn’t have to worry. I’m trying my best to get one of them before he gets here. I want him to suffer, knowing I’ve ruined at least one of them.”
“You did send someone to kidnap one of them today, didn’t you?”
“I sent Bullins, but I’m not sure we can trust the Indian to fix it so he’ll be able to grab her. If he fails today, I don’t have much time left to get one of them working here before Poindexter arrives.” He sighed. “You know it didn’t work when the redskin told me to have the fences cut and run the cows out and that’d draw them away from the ranch. He’d listened under the window and knew exactly where one of the women was kept.”
“I know all that, Seymour, but why do you want to make sure you have one of them working before he gets here?”
“I want to laugh in his face and show him that he didn’t get away with snubbing me all those years. Can you think of a better punishment than to find one of his precious, perfect daughters spreading her legs for any man who will give her a few dollars?”
Sassy laughed. “Guess I can’t.”
Their voices began to fade as they went down the hall.
Lil took a deep breath and waited a few minutes. She then opened the door and stepped out. The hall was empty, so she walked as quietly as she could toward the back stairs.
Sassy Sue’s voice stopped her. “Where are you going dressed like that, Little Lil?”
Lil turned around and swallowed. She’d already decided what she’d say in the event someone saw her leaving. Without letting Sassy Sue see how scared she was she said, “I’m taking a dress to Miss Hubbard.”
Sassy Sue frowned. “But you have a valise with you.”
Seymour stuck his head out of the office door. “What’s going on?”
“Little Lil is going out dressed like a ranch wife and carrying a valise. Looks like she might be trying to run away.”
He looked at her. “Are you running away, Little Lil?”
“No.” Her heart was pounding so hard she was afraid they’d hear it. “I was taking the dress to be mended by Miss Hubbard like you told me to do. I thought dressing down would make her more receptive of my visit. I didn’t want to carry it over my arm, so I put it in the valise.”
Sassy Sue shook her head. “Likely story.”
“I did tell her to take the dress to be fixed and I don’t think she’s smart enough to make up a story like that.”
“You want me to check in the valise?” Sassy Sue asked.
He nodded.
Lil wondered if she could run down the hall and the stairs before one of them caught her.
A gunshot followed by a scream came from one of the rooms down the hall.
Seymour and Sassy Sue turned and ran toward the room
Lil took advantage of the interruption and ran for the stairs. She didn’t slow down until she was halfway to the general store. Because her side began to hurt, she slowed her pace, but continued to hurry toward the store. She hoped she wasn’t so late that Hiram had left without her. But she felt she had to listen to the rest of the conversation between Seymour and Sassy Sue without interrupting them. She felt sorry for Seymour’s nieces, but at this m
oment she had to concentrate on her own life. She’d tell Hiram about what was said later, and he could decide if they should do anything about it.
She was still amazed Hiram had asked her to come with him, though she had no idea where he was going. Maybe he’d accepted a job as a bartender in another town. She hoped so. Even if he wanted her to work with him as a saloon girl, it couldn’t be as bad as working for Seymour Longstreet and being bossed around by the other women—especially Sassy Sue. The few months she’d worked in the Golden Door had been the most miserable of her life. Hiram’s friendship had been the one thing that had kept her from overdosing on some of the medicine the girls were given when they didn’t feel well, or from jumping off the roof where she often went to be away from all the terrible things going on in the saloon.
The general store came in view and her heart plummeted. Hiram was nowhere in sight. Did he give up on her and leave? Had he decided not to take her with him? If he had, what was she going to do? Where could she go?
She slowed her gait, but continued on as she talked to herself. “Don’t panic, Lily Maynard. Maybe Hiram was delayed. He did say he had some business to take care of. Continue to the store and don’t give up. You might even consider saying a prayer.”
But would God listen to her prayer? When she was little, her mother told her God forgave all sins. But after her mother died, God was never mentioned in her house again. Her father said if God cared anything about them, he wouldn’t have taken his wife away. He then said he never wanted to hear God’s name anymore. And he didn’t. Lily, the youngest of her six siblings was brought up by her older sister, who was as bitter and mean as her father. She didn’t try to help eighteen-year-old Lily when her father dragged her off and gave her to Seymour Longstreet to settle his debt. Her four brothers had trickled away as soon as they could. She’d heard one of them had been killed in gunfight and another had ended up in prison for robbing a bank. She had no idea what happened to the other two.
Reaching the store, Lil wasn’t sure what she should do. There was a bench, but would somebody run her off if she sat down?
A woman and a little boy walked up to the door. To Lil’s surprise, the woman smiled at her, then hurried her son inside. This small action made Lil feel good. Was it possible that the woman thought she was a regular person and not Little Lil from the Golden Door Saloon? She was so engrossed with these thoughts that she didn’t notice the man who walked up beside her.
Chapter 16
Hiram was surprised and almost didn’t recognize Lil. She looked absolutely beautiful in the green dress with the white flowers. He wanted to tell her so, but he didn’t dare say what he really thought. “My goodness, Lil, I almost didn’t recognize you.”
She whirled around. “You didn’t leave me.”
He looked puzzled. “Of course not, but I was afraid you might get tired of waiting on me and go back to the saloon.”
She had a serious look. “I would never go back there.”
“Me, neither. I’m sorry if I kept you waiting. I was tied up longer than I thought I’d be.”
“I was late myself. That’s why I thought you’d left without me.”
“I wouldn’t do that.” He walked up beside her, picked up her valise, and offered her his arm. “Let’s get off Main Street. I don’t want someone telling Longstreet where we are and have him come looking for us. I don’t want him to know I’ve left the saloon for good until it starts to get busy and he misses me.”
She took his arm. “Where are we going, Hiram?”
“I want to show you something.”
“What?”
“A building.”
She wrinkled her brow. “I thought we were leaving town.”
He shook his head, but didn’t say anything about leaving. Instead, he couldn’t help saying, “By the way, you look nice in that pretty green dress, Lil. It matches your eyes.”
She blushed. “Thank you, Hiram, but could you call me Lily instead of Lil? Seymour shortened it to Lil when Pa brought me to the saloon. He said it’d make it easier for the customers to remember me. I’ve never liked it shortened like that.”
“Since you feel that way, of course I’ll call you Lily. It suits you better anyway, and I have to say you look more like a Lily in that dress. You should always wear that kind of clothes.”
“I’d like to do that. I’ve never been comfortable in the kind of dresses Seymour made us wear.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you much liked working for Seymour. I’m sorry you had to do it.”
“I hated it, Hiram. All I ever wanted in life was to meet a nice man, get married, and look after him and the children we’d have. I never wanted to be a saloon woman, but I didn’t have a choice. Pa didn’t care what I wanted. All I was to him was a way to pay off his debt since he said Longstreet wouldn’t take my sister. He said I was prettier. Now, I’ll never have anything any better.”
Hiram’s heart was touched by her words, but he didn’t know what to say. Instead, he changed the subject. “There’s a building about two blocks beyond the bank I’d like for you to see. Do you mind walking that far?”
“No, I don’t mind.”
As they neared the vacant building, Hiram couldn’t hide his excitement. “I can’t wait to see inside.”
“I’d like to see in it, too. I’ve often wondered what this was going to be.”
“When Robert Rathbone gave me the key, he said it was supposed to be a new hotel in town, but the man who owned the building fell sick. He decided to sell the place with everything he’d already put inside.”
“Who’s Robert Rathbone?”
“The banker.”
“Oh.”
He unlocked the door and stood aside for her to go in front of him.
“Oh, my.” She whirled around. “It looks nice in here. Look at those pretty colored windows and how the light shines through them.”
He smiled because he was looking at her, not the windows. She looked so pretty spinning around in that green dress. Not like a saloon girl at all. More like a woman a man would want for a wife. One who would take care of his children and have a good supper when he came in from work. He shook his head. Where in the world did that thought come from?
She turned sideways and looked at him. “You don’t like the windows?”
He brought his thoughts back to the present. “Oh, yes. I like them fine.” He took her arm and led her across the room. He placed her valise on the bottom step. “The widows are pretty, but look at that staircase. I like the way it winds up to the second floor.”
“This would have been a beautiful hotel, Hiram! It’s so fancy.” When he said nothing, she added, “Are you thinking about using it for something?”
He nodded. “What do you think of the name Blooming Cactus Saloon?”
Lil stared at him.
He could tell she was surprised, but there was another look behind her eyes. Was it disappointment? Fear? Disgust?
He wasn’t sure what to say and for some strange reason he came out with, “I guess I could call it something else.”
She shook his hand from her arm. “It doesn’t matter what you call it, it’ll still be a saloon.”
“But it’s going to be a different kind of saloon.” He didn’t know why he felt he had to defend the fact he was going into the saloon business to her. “I’ll never have a place like Seymour Longstreet has. It’ll be a classy place.”
Anger blazed in her eyes. “And you thought I’d be a classy whore for your new classy saloon. That’s why you asked me to come with you. I thought…I thought…” She burst into tears.
Hiram instinctively folded his arms around her around her. He held her tight even when she tried to wiggle free. “Don’t cry, Lily. You’re not a whore. In my opinion, you never have been. It wasn’t your fault Seymour and your father forced you into the business.”
She continued to sob against his chest and he went on. “I don’t want you to work in my saloon as one of
the girls. If you want to work here, you can help me keep the books and order the liquor, things like that. You’ll never have to go upstairs with another man if you don’t want to. I want you here because, well, I like you. I hope you like me.”
She looked up at him. “I do like you Hiram. I think I…I mean I…I more than like you.”
He looked into her eyes. “I more than like you, too, Lily.”
She pulled back and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry I got so upset. Yes, I’ll work for you. Anything will be better than working at the Golden Door. I was just hoping I could quit being a—”
“Don’t say it, Lily. Like I said, you won’t ever be that in my saloon.”
She gave him a sad little smile. “Do you mean that?”
“Yes, Lily, I do.” He let her go and pulled a pad and pencil from his pocket. “Now, help me decide what we need to do in here to make this a proper saloon.”
They discussed the placement of the bar and decided they could add to the reception desk for the bar. They then decided the place could hold at least six to eight tables with four to six chairs each and still leave room for a roulette wheel. She suggested they place several spittoons around the area. “These are nice floors. You don’t want the men spitting on them.”
“You’re right. I’m glad you thought of that.” He wrote it down. “See how much help you can be to me? You’ll think of things that would never cross my mind.”
She smiled at him, but didn’t say anything about his compliment. Instead, she said, “How about cards and the roulette table? Have you ordered them?”
“Rathbone said the Eldridge cousins would take care of that.”
She gave him a puzzled look. “What do they have to do with you opening a saloon?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mention their names, but they…uh… they’ve given me some advice about where things can be bought. They know a lot about such things. Just forget I mentioned them, but I guess they’re helping me because of the plans Longstreet had for his nieces.”
“I won’t say nothing.”
“Good. I don’t want Longstreet to get the idea I’m not coming back today.”
Xenia’s Renegade Page 19
