by Marie Hall
Recognizing this conversation might lead to places better left unearthed, she switched topics. “How do you speak English so well?”
A smile, the first one she’d seen Arianna use since knowing her, graced her lips like the gentle blossom of a rose. “Catholic missionaries from England came to my tribe ten years ago.” That would explain her exotic lilt. “None embraced their message but my parents; no one else was ready to change the century’s worth of infighting and tribal warfare but them. They were kind and had no children of their own. Emma took a particular interest in me and when we weren’t learning the bible or tilling the land, she taught me English and I taught her Spanish.”
Sable smiled. “Sounds nice.”
Her voice was wistful, the icy demeanor had completely vanished, and Sable thought maybe she was catching a glimpse of the true Arianna. The one she’d been before the tragedy struck. She was a beautiful girl, but in that moment she was breathtaking. Soft black curls, soft doe eyes, cheekbones any model would covet with a heart shaped pouty mouth and a gentle curve of a jaw. Everything about her was suddenly soft and approachable and she knew if Hunter were here to witness this, he’d not be able to hold onto his tightly leashed desire.
Then she shook her head and the softness vanished, replaced by an implacable cool wall. “It was.”
“So what should I really call you, Synnergy or Arianna? Hunter calls you both and I get a little confused to be honest.” Sable laughed self-deprecatingly.
Ari shrugged. “I go by either. Arianna is my birth name, Synn my tribe name. Both apply to me.”
“Do you miss your homeland?” As much as Sable’s life had sucked in that mental ward, it’d been the only life she’d known. Time traveling, battling Lords, it was all still so overwhelming. But Arianna had had a good life it seemed, this must be twice as hard on her.
The healer blinked. “Sometimes. But that was a long time ago.”
“Well,” Sable toyed with the frayed edge of the cream quilt, “better to have known that kind of love, even for a short time, than to not know it all.” She could see Arianna turn rigid, her nostrils flared. “What I mean is,” she was quick to insert, “my parents didn’t want me. Did Hunter tell you where he picked me up?”
Synn shook her head, the anger slowly fading.
“An insane asylum.” She gave a tight lipped smile as old hurts and resentments started to intrude. “Wonderful parents I have, maybe I’ll introduce you to them someday. Oh yeah right, I can’t. Wanna know why?” She didn’t give Arianna time to answer. “Because they hate me. They say I terrify them and they never want to see me again. I guess they’re happy now that they think I’m dead.”
Ari didn’t say anything for a bit, simply narrowed her eyes as she scanned up and down Sable’s body. She shifted on her butt feeling suddenly ashamed for sharing so much, for opening herself up that way. She probably thought she was crazy now. Blood rushed hot to her ears and she glanced out the window, staring at nothing as she waited for Arianna to say something.
“Why did they put you there?” she asked, and Sable could sense she was nervous to do it. As if she wasn’t sure if she was being too personal. But it was too late now, she’d already opened the door and she had to get it out sometime.
“Because I didn’t work. I wasn’t perfect. I killed things with my voice and I terrified them. Their daughter was a freak and didn’t fit into their perfect little life.” Her laugh was heavy with bitterness and anger.
When Arianna didn’t respond, Sable said the first thing that came to mind. “Why did you snap at that guy on the sidewalk?”
Arianna pursed her lips. “He reminded me of someone,” she said it quickly and then looked away, outside the window Sable had just been staring through. That wasn’t the full story, Sable knew it. There was more, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure it out. Arianna was no time jumper; she obviously didn’t know the person. And she might have said something else but a loud knock sounded at her door and a then a face poked its silver blond head inside.
“Long Nose said you two were pretty, she sure wasn’t wrong. Come inside, ladies, we’ve got fresh meat.” She wiggled thick blond brows, and gestured with her arm at the others. She flounced inside their room in a wake of laughter.
Her smile was large and beautiful. The Marilyn Monroe mole at the corner of her lips made her an alluring sight in ivory silk and bows.
What felt like a gaggle of women, laughing, twirling and chattering loudly swept inside, crowding the tiny room with their effervescence.
Some were old and others young. The older ladies dressed more provocatively than the others, wearing nothing but their corsets and cream-colored pants that ballooned out at the waist. Their boobs pushed up so high by the tight lacing of the corset that it was a wonder there was no nipples peeking out. Two were quite plump, and that was being nice. They both had frizzy black hair, pretty blue eyes and a long beaked nose. The likes of which she’d expected to see on Long Nose Milly. It was obvious they were identical twins.
The blonde leader grabbed Sable by the arms and leaned in, kissing both cheeks exuberantly. Her scent of wild plums tickled her nose. It was a very unique scent, kind of nice actually. She wondered where she’d gotten that perfume from and then she forgot all about that in the sudden dizzying excitement of the crowd.
“Welcome to the parlor, ladies!” Her eyes twinkled with warmth. She pointed towards the other girls and began making introductions.
“Dorcas.” One of the older ladies waved hello.
“Sarah and Liza.” The twins curtseyed in unison.
“Martha.”
“Hello,” said the red head in the far back.
“The short one is Ruth.” She batted long lashes.
The blonde held out a plump hand. “And I’m, Alice.”
Chapter 3: There’s gold in them thar hills...
Sable stood in the very back of the brothel studying the layout. It was now dusk and men were trickling in like a slow leak in a dam. Eventually that dam was bound to burst, and it was that eventuality that had her skittish. Every clink and clank of cups, stomp of boots, squeal and holler of guys and girls liquored up, had her jumpy.
She’d made a pass through, trying to flirt and simper like she’d seen the girls do, but after the fifth time of being grabbed she’d decided to hide and regather her thoughts. She needed information, she had no idea how to come about it and maybe if she was lucky she wouldn’t have to do anything but listen in to the conversations around her. Problem was, they all thought she was a whore and pretty much only had one thought in mind when they saw her walk their way. Hunter’s grand idea was turning into a bit of a nightmare.
She sighed, chewing on her thumbnail as she tried to figure out her next course of action.
Candles were lit in every conceivable nook and cranny, the flickering lights threw strange shadows on the walls. It was all very surreal and though they’d been here a day already, sometimes it was hard to accept they really were in nineteenth century California.
Somebody was playing a piano, keys sounding tinny and discordant, like the thing hadn’t been tuned in some time. But no one seemed to mind. The ladies were having a great time. They were hugging the guy’s necks, walking from table to table, bending at the waist pretending it was only to peek at cards and tickle feather boas under their necks, but the truth was they were selling themselves and doing a great job of it. Already she’d seen a few walking upstairs trailing a guy behind them.
Arianna was sitting at the bar, chugging one drink after another. Her cheeks were a deep pink and her skin flush, but she was laughing and touching men with a look of wicked intent. Sable couldn’t understand what had overcome the healer, but she was not the same person. From the moment Synnergy’d stepped toe inside this place she’d begun to change, she was cracking out of the icy shell. Sable wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad.
Synnergy slammed her cup down, alerting the bartender that she needed another refill
.
The bartender was a sandy haired man with olive skin. Where was One Eye Jack tonight? She should probably alert the guys about him. Just in case.
Sable may have stayed put all night, content to watch the crowd, were it not for the laser beam gaze Milly kept throwing at her. She sighed.
“Why are you here, darlin’? Can’t catch no fish without no bait.” Alice crept up beside her, and she jumped like a kid caught stealing candy from the store.
Alice’s laugh was a sultry, throaty sound. A fat silver blonde curl nestled against the vee of her breasts. An obvious enticement to look at an impressive pair of boobs, Sable looked at her own small buds and sighed.
“What do you mean?” she asked, hearing the unspoken insinuation. She tilted her chin up like she’d seen her mother do before and tried to pretend like she belonged. But her fingers couldn’t seem to stop fluttering around the stiff taffeta of her gown. Compared to the other girls, she was way overdressed. Which actually seemed to be more of a turn on for the guys than a deterrent, as one after another badgered her about what she had on underneath. “This is not my first time, if that’s what you’re implying.”
It totally was.
The doors to the parlor had never stopped swinging open from the moment the first man arrived about thirty minutes ago. This time she recognized the next one to enter. It was Gideon. Her stomach did a queasy somersault.
“Oh, honey, if you could only see your face. I don’t think you could get anymore stuck to that wall than you are now,” Alice chuckled. “But not to worry,” she touched her arm and rubbed it gently, “we all started somewhere.” Her tone wasn’t malicious. She grabbed Sable’s cold hand and gave it a squeeze. “Follow me, smile, bat your lashes. Flirt a little and get comfortable. Don’t allow one to drag you upstairs unless you want him to. That’s the point. Here,” she touched her buttercup yellow gown, “we’re the ones in charge.” She winked and Sable returned her grin, falling prey to Alice’s natural charm. “’Sides, it’ll keep Long Nose off your back, and that’s always a good thing.”
Sable allowed herself to be led back out. “Why do they call her Long Nose? She doesn’t really have one.”
“Honey, this is the West. We, none of us, go by our real names. It’s an unfortunate moniker that’s made her plenty rich. She’s well known round these parts and being fair. But stern,” she said in obvious warning.
“Duly noted.”
Alice smiled, and pointed to a round table with five guy’s playing cards. They had severe faces, all of them. They weren’t coated in layers of dust, and though their clothes looked worn and threadbare, they’d at least tried to clean up.
A balding one laid his cards down and hooted. The other men groaned. Sable knew nothing about poker, but judging by his shark like grin and the dejected faces of the others around him, he’d probably won.
“How ‘bout them?” Alice asked. “Not so deep in their cups that they’re piss poor drunk.” She shuddered as if thinking of a memory. “But heavy full of gold. Look at all the nuggets on that table. There’s money there.”
Sable swallowed hard, but nodded. “Okay.”
Before she knew it, they were at the table. She plastered on her best smile and tried to appear calm on the outside, even though inside she waged a battle with fear and adrenaline. Fear was totally winning.
“Heya, Boys,” Alice breathed and Sable shivered.
Man did she have the sex kitten vibe down. She’d have given Marilyn a run for her money.
Sable fed off Alice’s energy, calming down because the other woman was so calm. Alice sat on the bald man’s lap and started to toy with his spectacles, then she leaned in and blew softly into his ear.
He giggled, obviously liking it.
With a deep breath, Sable plopped herself down onto the lap of the youngest one there. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen, there were no whiskers on his cheeks and his eyes were a clear blue, reminiscent of Slayde’s. But that was where the similarities ended; he was nowhere near as big or overwhelming, not at all sexy. He was more like the adorkable best friend.
Which made him safe.
His eyes widened at her brazen behavior and she trilled with laughter at his reaction, further helping to settle her nerves. Next time she laughed, it was real.
Pretty Woman was one of her all-time favorite movies. Channeling her best Julia Roberts meets Southern Belle, she said, “what’s your name, shuga?”
Maybe when this was all over, she’d take some acting classes. She was actually starting to have fun.
He slipped an arm around her waist with an impish grin, revealing two large dimples in his cheeks. She bit her bottom lip, now that she thought of this as acting she threw herself into the part. She traced the line of his neck, pleased to note the goose bumps that rose at her touch.
He gave her a gap toothed grin. “Adam,” he said in a deep voice that shivered down her spine. She smiled. From the corner of her eye she saw Alice rubbing her man’s bicep and oohing over it, so she did the same.
There wasn’t much there, but still she pretended it was the biggest bicep she’d ever seen. “Why I bet you’re a...” thinking quick, trying to recall what types of jobs were done by men of this period, she blurted, “rancher with arms like these, aren’t cha?”
He laughed. “Nah, came up here with my paw to try a turn at panning.” A black lank of hair slipped into his eye and he huffed at it, but it slipped back down. Being bold, she reached up and tucked it back.
A smoky gleam entered his eyes. The laughter died on his tongue and his breathing grew heavy. Her pulse quickened sensing the mood shift. She went still. She might have hopped right off if it hadn’t been for the bald one’s interruption.
“Hear about ol’ Caleb’s gold last night?”
Adam groaned, and Sable breathed a happy little sigh when his attention drew off her.
“That rascal, ought to be strung up. Thieven’s thieven. What I want to know is when the law plans to do something ‘bout the Bandit?” the man to Adam’s left wearing red sleeve garters said, throwing three cards down with an angry snort.
“Who’s the bandit?” Sable’s pulse hammered in her ears.
Baldy was rubbing his hand along Alice’s thigh as he answered her. “Some masked feller, comes out only at night to steal our rightful claims. Looks like one of them Egyptian mummies I hear stories told about.”
“Ah, you don’t know nothing ‘bout no Egyptian Mummy,” another guy of ordinary build and description chuckled, “you ain’t never been out of the country.”
“Ephraim, so help me,” baldy stiffened, suddenly releasing Alice and gripping the gun at his holster.
“Frank,” Ephraim said back. Mouth nothing but a slit, if Sable had to call it, she’d say Ephraim was definitely the more dangerous of the two. He waited with the look of a snake about him. Still, but no less lethal for it. His fingers flexed, hovering over the wooden grip of his gun.
Adam and the other two tensed up, in fact, several heads turned in their direction. Nervous excitement skittered through the room with the pulsing waves of danger pooling electric around their table.
She couldn’t do more than pant and jerk her gaze between one and the other.
“Now boys,” Alice soothed, tsking a finger at them, wearing a confident smile. Not one whit afraid or fearful. “Play nice, or you’ll not get to play with me.” She cuffed Frank on the chin. It was like someone flicked a switch. The energy deflated. His eyes twinkled when they looked back at her.
After only a second, the chattering of voices picked up again. Crisis averted. Everyone shrugged it off, going on about their lives like nothing weird had just happened. Everyone was calm. And she now knew why they called it the Wild West. This really was nothing to them. As ordinary as eating.
Adam toyed with the buttons on her gown. Taking a deep breath to regather herself, she affected nonchalance, but it took a few moments for her stomach to settle down.
Frank grinned
, his hand back on Alice’s. “Wouldn’t want that now. Would we?”
“No,” she agreed, rubbing noses with him.
Sable cleared her throat. “So um, the bandit? Anyone know who he is?” she asked, trying to get them to refocus, and get Adam away from thinking with his little boy parts.
Ephraim shrugged. “I think it’s that old coot we saw blatherin’ to hisself not ten days ago.”
“Naw,” one of other two who hadn’t spoken up yet said, “I tell you, it’s One Eye Jack. He looks like one of them murdering bastards.”
Really? Sable felt like her head was on a swivel as she attempted to follow each thread of conversation.
“No, Benjamin,” Adam shook his head, “he ain’t got but one eye.”
She wasn’t sure why having only one eye would exclude him from a list of possible suspects. Shoddy reasoning at best.
“I tell you,” Adam continued, “it’s one of them Apache’s, what with the way the Bandit moves through them hills like he’s a ghost. And his skill with the riffle. Ain’t never heard anything like that before.”
“You damn fool,” the last man, this one a grizzled type, shook his head. “We’ve never had Apache here. This is Ohlone territory and they’ve not been here for a good fifteen years now.”
Her Adam was obviously not the brightest crayon in the box. She patted his arm sympathetically.
Adam rolled his eyes, laying a possessive hand in the small of her back, which Sable tried very hard to ignore.
“Caleb,” Adam said, “that don’t make no nevermind to me. I tell you it’s an Injun.”
Caleb shook his head and picked up his drink, taking a slow sip.
“I thought you said he was only stealing? He kills too?” she asked, looking at Adam who seemed now to be the most vocal about it.
He nodded. “Killed McClury when he struck a vein not three nights past.”
“I hear tell he’s also the one responsible for Vi’s drowning,” Frank said, coming up for air after being thoroughly kissed by Alice. But Alice was having none of that, she grabbed him around the neck and brought him back to her, effectively shushing him.
