“No they won’t, because they won’t recognize you.”
“How will they not recognize me? Everyone in town has seen me by now.”
“Yes, but not the way you’re going to look when we leave.”
Opening the sack she was carrying with her, Glitter dumped the contents on the bed—a dress, a camisole, and various bottles and tins.
“What is this?”
“This is what you’re going to wear. You’re going to be a soiled dove.”
“Oh, no. I can’t!”
“You ain’t really goin’ to be a soiled dove, but you’re goin’ to look like one. Honey, if I’m goin’ to help you leave town, you don’t have no choice. You’re either goin’ to have to wear this or you’re goin’ to be stuck here. And believe me, you don’t want to be stuck here. I’ve heard what they’ve got planned for you.”
“All right,” Rosalie said. “I’ll do whatever you say.”
* * *
Glitter and Rosalie stepped out onto the front porch of the hotel. Like Glitter, Rosalie was wearing a dress that exposed not only most of her legs, but also the top halves of her breasts. Her lips were a crimson glare, her cheeks were pink, her eyes were lined, and her eyelids were painted blue.
Statler was sitting in the seat of the buckboard in front of the hotel. His eyes opened wide when he saw Glitter and Rosalie. “Well now, who is this?”
Rosalie held her breath because she knew that Statler had seen her before.
“This is one of Weasel’s new girls,” Glitter said. “Her name is Fancy. Fancy Bliss. I’m takin’ her out to meet Mr. Tadlock,”
“How come I ain’t seen her before?”
“She just come in yesterday.”
“Well, Fancy, I’ll be callin’ on you, soon. Yes, ma’am, I will.”
“Why, Mr. Statler, you are making me jealous,” Glitter teased.
“Am I? Well, don’t you worry none about it, Glitter. I’m man enough for both you ladies. Somethin’ Tadlock sure ain’t.” Statler jumped down from the buckboard.
“My, Glitter, does this gentleman always carry on in such a fashion?” Rosalie asked, assuming a very strong Southern accent.
“Oh, Fancy, you have no idea,” Glitter said.
“You’ll just have to look me up when I get back,” Rosalie said, flashing a flirtatious smile toward Statler as Glitter snapped the reins against the back of the team.
The buckboard left at a rapid pace, Glitter holding the team at a trot.
“Hello, Mr. Felker!” Glitter called as they drove past Felker and Conroy, both of whom were standing on the corner.
“Where you goin’, Glitter?” Felker yelled back.
“I’m takin’ Fancy out to introduce her to Mr. Tadlock! Wave at the men, Fancy!”
Rosalie pasted a smile on her face and waved at the two men who had been so instrumental in her initial capture.
“Whooee, you’re a purty thang. I’ll be callin’ on you for sure when you get back,” Conroy said.
“They are two of the men who captured me, and they didn’t even recognize me,” Rosalie said after they left town. “How can that be?”
“They’ve never seen you dressed like that before,” Glitter said with a little laugh. “And with all the paint on your face,’ n you smilin’ ’n all, that helped, too. You’d be surprised at how much a smile changes a person’s face. Why, as many people as has seen me workin’ there in the saloon ’n all, I can put on proper clothes ’n go downtown without face paint or a smile, ’n folks don’t even recognize me.”
Rosalie reached over to put her hand Glitter’s arm. “Glitter, I can’t tell you how grateful I am for what you have done.”
“Well, I thank you for that, but I ain’t done it yet. We ain’t quite out of it till we get somewhere safe.”
Merrill Town
When Rosalie and Glitter came into town they drew a lot of attention. It wasn’t that no one had ever seen a woman dressed in such a way before, but no one had seen a woman dressed like that in public. Even the bar girls dressed conservatively when they were out in public.
“Everyone is looking at us,” Rosalie said.
“Yes, well, I hope we are giving them a good show,” Glitter replied with a little laugh.
“Where are we going?”
“I think we should go to the sheriff’s office,” Glitter said. “We should certainly be safe there, and he can get word to your papa that you have been found.”
“Yes! Yes, I think that’s a wonderful idea!” Rosalie said. “Oh, Glitter, I’m going to make certain that Papa rewards you.”
“I don’t need a reward for doin’ what’s right.”
* * *
Wang Chow was at Ma Ling’s Chinese Restaurant enjoying a meal. Other diners were there as well, and while Wang wasn’t the only Chinese person present, he was the only Chinese diner.
“Wooee, look out there, Freddy,” one of the men said to his dining partner. There’s somethin’ you don’t see ever’ day. Two soiled doves that’s as pretty as them two, just ridin’ right down the street in the open, like that.”
Like the others, Wang looked through the front window to see a buckboard passing by. And as the man had stated, there were two, very attractive and very scantily dressed women.
“One is jinu, one is not,” the young Chinese waitress said.
“Tell me, Maylin, why do you say one is not a prostitute?” Wang asked, speaking in Mandarin.
“The young woman on this side is uncomfortable with her clothes,” Maylin said. “I think such clothing is new to her.”
He watched the buckboard stop in front of the sheriff’s office, then saw the two young women go inside.
* * *
The sheriff and his deputy were drinking coffee and eating a piece of pie.
“Who are you? What are you two doing in here?” the sheriff asked as Rosalie and Glitter approached his desk.
Rosalie read the sheriff’s name from a sign that sat on his desk. “Sheriff Wallace, my name is Rosalie Ireland. This is my friend, Glitter Bright. She helped me escape from the outlaws who were holding me captive. Would you please send a telegram to my father and tell him I am safe?”
“What do you mean, safe?”
“Didn’t you hear my name? I’m Rosalie Ireland. My father is the governor.”
“Are you tryin’ to tell me that the governor’s daughter is a soiled dove?”
“She ain’t the one that’s the soiled dove, Sheriff, I am. I’m Glitter Bright, and I’m from over in Blowout. Kendrick ’n his men captured Miss Ireland ’n was holdin’ her prisoner. I dressed her like this so we could get away.”
“Wait a minute. Are you saying you two run away from Dirk Kendrick?”
“Finally, you understand,” Rosalie said. “Now, will you please send a telegram to my father and ask him to come get me?”
Sheriff Wallace stroked his chin as he studied the two women. “What do you think, Bullock? You think they’re tellin’ the truth?”
“I think they prob’ly are tellin’ the truth,” Bullock replied. “I don’t know why they’d lie ’bout somethin’ like that.”
A big smile spread across Sheriff Wallace’s face. “You know what? It looks like a gold mine just dropped in our laps.”
“I’m sure my father will be most grateful to you, and I expect he will want to reward you,” Rosalie said, “but I would hardly call it a gold mine. You must know that he is not a very wealthy man. I hope you aren’t disappointed.”
“We won’t be,” Wallace said. “Come back here with me, both of you.”
Rosalie frowned. “Come where?”
“I’m going to put the two of you in jail.”
“What?” Glitter replied. “Why in the world would you do something like that?”
“Believe me, you’ll be much safer here,” Wallace said.
“Do you really think that’s necessary?” Rosalie asked. “Couldn’t we just wait here until Daddy sends someone for us?”
/> “I don’t want to take a chance on anything happenin’ to you,” Wallace said. “You’re my responsibility now.”
Rosalie nodded reluctantly. “All right. If you think so.”
The two women followed Wallace into the back of the jail, which, mercifully, was empty. He opened the door to one of the cells, and after the two stepped inside, he locked the door behind them.
“What are you doing that for? Why are you locking us in?” Glitter asked.
“Like I said, you’ll be safer this way.”
“I don’t like this, Sheriff. I’m not comfortable being locked in like this.”
“Well, missy, I don’t care whether you are comfortable or not,” Sheriff Wallace replied with a triumphant smile.
* * *
Curious as to why they went to the sheriff’s office, Wang watched for a few minutes longer. He saw the sheriff and the deputy leave the office, though the two young women had not yet come out.
A moment later, the sheriff and his deputy rode out of town at a rapid trot. The two women were still inside the sheriff’s office, and Wang became even more curious.
Finally, curiosity got the better of him. He left Ma Ling’s and walked down to the office. The front door was locked.
Something about that didn’t ring true. Moving quickly, he hurried back to his horse, then started toward the Slash Bell to get Duff, Elmer, and the others.
Blowout
“Thank you, Sheriff Wallace,” Kendrick said. “You have been most helpful and will be rewarded for your service.”
“I was hopin’ you would say somethin’ like that,” Wallace replied. “Are you goin’ to Merrill Town to get her back?”
“I don’t have much choice, do I? Without her, I have absolutely no leverage with her father.”
“I’ll be ridin’ in with you,” Wallace said. “By now, most folks have figured out that I been in cahoots with you, anyhow, so I may as well come out in the open about it.”
Kendrick smiled. “I appreciate your support, but it would be better if you didn’t ride in with me. We will be riding into town from the west. I want you and Bullock to ride in from the east. For the time being, it will better serve our purposes if not everyone knows of our alliance.”
“All right.”
“And you say that Glitter is there as well?”
“Yeah. She’s the one who brought the governor’s daughter in.”
“I see. Well, she will just have to pay the price for her betrayal. Peabody?”
“Yeah?”
“Go out to the cabin and get anyone who is out there. When we go into Merrill Town, I want to go en masse.”
“All right,” Peabody agreed.
“Dooley, you round up everyone that’s in town and bring them here to the saloon. This will be our organizing point.”
With the two men dispatched to carry out their assignments, Kendrick stepped up to the bar, thinking to arrange for Weasel to serve a beer to all of his men before they left.
But Weasel wasn’t there.
“Penny, where’s Weasel?”
“I don’t know,” Penny said. “He left a few minutes ago.”
Merrill Town
When the Ten Guns from Texas rode into town, they went straight to the sheriff’s office. Finding the front door of the office still locked, Duff stepped back, raised his foot, and kicked the door in.
“Oh!” they heard a woman’s voice call out from the back of the office.
Leaving Wang and the others out front, Duff and Elmer hurried toward the cells.
“Miss Ireland?” Duff called, but he got no answer until he reached the cells. There he saw Rosalie and another young woman clinging to each other in fear.
Rosalie recognized Duff and Elmer. “It’s all right, Glitter. I know these two men,” she said in relief, turning their expressions to joy.
“It’s good to see that you are safe, Miss Ireland. Don’t lose heart. I’ll get you out of here and back to your father,” Duff said.
“Mr. MacCallister?” Roy Kelly said, stepping into the cell area. “There’s a fella out front that needs to talk to you.”
“All right. Send him in.
Kelly stepped aside, and another man came through the door.
“Weasel!” Glitter said with a happy shout. “What are you doin’ here?”
“Sheriff Wallace and Deputy Bullock come ridin’ into town awhile ago. They told Kendrick that you ’n the governor’s daughter is here. He ain’t happy about it, ’n Glitter, he ain’t none too happy ’bout you helpin’ Miss Ireland escape, neither.”
“Won’t he be just as unhappy with you for warning us?” Rosalie asked.
“I reckon he will be, but I’ve had about as much of that crook as I care to take,” Weasel replied. “And I don’t plan on lettin’ anything happen to you, neither.”
Chapter Thirty-three
“Me ’n the others done looked ever’where, ’n we can’t find no keys to the cell nowhere,” Decker said.
“I’m sure he took the keys with him so that no one would be able to let the two young women out,” Duff said.
“Oh! Does that mean we are stuck here?” Rosalie asked.
“No, ma’am, it don’t mean that at all,” Elmer said. “I’ll go see the smithy ’n borrow a metal saw from ’im. I’ll have you outta there in no time atall.”
“You won’t have time for that,” Weasel said. “I’ve been here a couple minutes already, ’n I know damn well they ain’t more ’n ten or fifteen minutes behind me. I gotta tell you, Mr. MacCallister, Kendrick sent out to the river cabin to get ever’one gathered together, ’n right now that’ll be at least thirty men.”
“Does he think he needs that many people to recapture one young woman?”
“It ain’t just that. He’s plannin’ on takin’ over the whole town. He already controls Blowout. He wants Merrill Town, too. ’N he especially wants you.”
“We need to get ready for him,” Duff said.
“We gotta get these women outta here first, don’t we?” Elmer asked.
“Maybe not,” Weasel said.
“What do you mean?” Duff asked.
“Before I opened up my saloon in Blowout, I lived here in Merrill Town. This here jailhouse is the strongest buildin’ there is. You could leave the two women here, ’n there won’t be no chance of ’em gettin’ hit by a stray bullet. Bein’ made of granite blocks ’n all, it ain’t likely goin’ to burn, neither.”
“Good idea. Miss Ireland, when they come into town, I want you and the young lady to take the mattresses off, then crawl under the beds. Move up as close as you can to the wall and put the mattresses on this side of you. That way if a stray bullet comes in through the window and strikes the bars, there’ll be no chance of you getting hit by any ricochet.”
“But we’ll still be locked in,” Rosalie said.
“Aye, but ’tis this promise I’ll be making you. As soon as it is all over, we’ll get you out ’n back to your father.”
“But what if—” Rosalie didn’t finish the question, but it wasn’t necessary.
Duff knew she was going to ask, what if Kendrick prevailed in the fight. He chuckled. “Here, lass, we’ll nae be worring about that, now.”
Rosalie laughed nervously. “You’re right,” she said, summoning up as much courage as she could muster.
The men left the cell block and returned to the office.
“You know, Mr. MacCallister, if Kendrick has thirty men, like Weasel said, the odds are going to be stacked against the five of us,” Kelly said.
“Six,” Wang said.
“How can we count you?” Kelly said. “You don’t have a gun, ’n there ain’t no way they’re goin’ to just stand there ’n let you walk up to ’em and hit ’em in the head like you done that steer. Or even like you done them two men back at the cabin when we first come to rescue the girl.”
“I believe Mr. Wang will find a way to be useful,” Duff suggested. “But the odds are still a little
long.” He looked at the man who had delivered the warning that Kendrick and his men were coming. “Weasel, is it?”
“My real name is Deschamp, but all my friends call me Weasel.”
“Weasel, you said you lived here for a while. Do you know the men of this town? Do you have any idea who we might be able to count on in a fight?”
“There’s a few that I know fought in the war.” Weasel chuckled. “Onliest thing is, some of ’em fought for the North ’n some fought for the South.”
“Would they fight on the same side to save their town?” Duff asked.
Weasel nodded. “Yes, sir, I’m sure they would. Ken Prescott, he was goin’ to be the first one I would get. He was a sailor man, fightin’ for the South. Hog Jaw Lambert would be my second choice. He fought with Sherman.”
“All right. I want you to get them and any others you think we can count on. Bring them to see me down at the CSS Alabama Saloon. In the meantime, tell all those who will nae be joining us in the fighting to stay off the street and in their houses until the fighting is over.”
“You round up all the fightin’ men,” Kelly said. “Me ’n Decker ’n Simmons will get the other folks off the street.”
Duff nodded. “Aye, good idea, Mr. Kelly. That will greatly expedite the preparation.”
* * *
It took Weasel no more than ten minutes to round up those who said they would fight. Everyone was armed, a couple with pistols only, one with a rifle only, and two with shotguns.
Duff always carried two rifles with him, a lever-action Winchester, .44-40, and a Martini-Henry. 577-450 caliber. This was a British rifle known for extreme range and accuracy. As the men gathered, he fitted a scope to it.
“You pretty good with that gun, are you?” Prescott asked.
“Is he good?” Elmer replied. “Why, I’ve seen him shoot the leg off a fly from a hunnert yards.”
“Missed the fly, did he?” Kelly asked, and the others, including Duff, laughed.
“Knowing the town as you do, perhaps you would have a suggestion as to the most advantageous position for me to pick out targets of opportunity,” Duff said to Prescott.
Ten Guns from Texas Page 25
