by Tony Masero
‘Good day, ma’am,’ said Lomas, stepping towards the bar. ‘I’m just in town and looking for accommodation. You have any rooms available?’
The week before they had buried Ma and Belle was not above releasing her vacant room to a traveller, certainly one who looked as finely dressed and well mannered as this one.
‘We do, just the one. It’s not much though, there’s a hotel in town if you prefer something finer.’
Lomas held his hat to his chest and studied Belle, ‘I do believe this will suit me fine,’ he said.
‘You a travelling salesman or maybe something else?’ she asked.
Lomas allowed a small grin, ‘Something else, I’m afraid.’
‘Well, sir. You should be advised it gets a little noisy here at night. I hope such rousing’s don’t disturb you.’
‘No, ma’am. I’m used to some pretty loud pastimes, it doesn’t bother me none.’
Belle frowned, ‘Pardon me but can you tell me exactly what your occupation is, mister?’
Lomas eased his jacket aside and Belle’s eyes widened as she saw the star.
‘A marshal, huh? I sure hope you don’t intend to put a dampener on out extravagances here.’
‘That’s not my intention.’
‘Well then, would you care to see the room?’
‘I would, the name is Lomas Bell, by the way.’
‘Belle Slaughter and I’m pleased to meet you Marshal.’
‘Likewise, and may I say, ma’am. You are surely the fairest flower of womanhood I have seen in many a day. If I were a one for writing poetry I would most certainly construct an ode to your natural beauty.’
Belle faked a girlish inclination that was denied by the sharp ice blue graze of her eyes. She was thinking of Aloysius and the poem he had written her, but she covered it with an off-hand reply, ‘Why, thank you, sir. I see you are a gentleman.’
‘No offense intended,’ Lomas said quickly, noticing the raking glance of her eyes. ‘It was an honest observation is all. Forgive me if I am too forward.’
‘Now we have that out of the way, if you will follow me I’ll show you the room?’
She led them to the back stairway behind the bar. ‘May I ask your purpose here?’ she asked as they climbed the stairs.
‘I am sent on the Governor’s account, Ma’am. There is no law here in Variable Breaks so I am advised. It was thought best to have a law officer look the place over due to the gold mining works nearby.’
‘You’ll be seeing the town council then, I suppose?’
‘I suppose,’ he agreed shortly, his tone cutting off further questions.
‘Well here is the room,’ said Belle, opening the door. ‘Not much you see but adequate I hope.’
Lomas barely glanced around the small room with its single bed and minimal furnishings. ‘That will be fine,’ he said, dropping his bag onto a nearby chair.
‘Food will be available in the bar later and the necessary’s are found in the alley out back. They are recently renovated and there are washing facilities there also.’
‘Thank you,’ said Lomas, watching her as she turned to go.
‘I’ll leave you to settle in then.’
‘Do you know a Kirby Langstrom?’ he asked her suddenly.
‘I do,’ she said turning quickly. ‘A fine young man and a good friend.’
‘I see,’ said Lomas. ‘Well I hope I shall meet him soon.’
‘You have a legal call on Mister Langstrom?’ Belle asked with a worried frown crinkling her brow.
‘Not that I am aware of at present but there is word that he shot and killed a representative of the law.’
‘No lawman but a common gunman,’ Belle said forcefully. ‘A hired killer who shot down the previous owner of this establishment. Although he wore the tin he was not a properly elected sheriff and the fight was fair, I saw it myself. Three men against one.’
‘That was Kirby Langstrom?’ asked Lomas, a little surprised.
‘It was.’
‘Well I never. He certainly sounds like a bold fellow alright.’
‘Never a truer heart beat in a breast,’ Belle said defensively.
‘I look forward to meeting him.’
‘Doubtless you shall,’ said Belle as she left and pulled the door closed shut behind her.
Both parties duly took a week settling in. The Lemon brothers occupied The Cakewalk or the covered sidewalk outside, they lounged and drank most of the time and Malachi seemed to have an unquenchable capacity for consuming endless amounts of beer and liquor without any apparent effect on his thuggish frame. A fact that troubled Joe Bellows as he watched his stock of alcohol diminishing at an alarming rate. Cain diverted himself with the Mexican girl, Conchita. Another factor that dismayed Joe, as up until now she had been his own private source of entertainment, but he dared not argue with the two brutish men, neither to ask them for payment on the liquor bill or to give way on his regular squeeze. He just wished that Kirby would show his face and they could make an end of it.
Lomas meantime busied himself with trips out to the diggings and compiling reports on all that he found. He visited with the assay office and the town council, allowing Bee Bridges have his say in justifying the enlistment of Jesse Lee. Slowly he built up a picture of what had been happening in the town and recognized that Joe Bellows was the instigator of much of what had gone on, yet he was inhibited from any action by the clever way that Joe had covered his tracks by always acting through a third party.
The Marshal would sit nightly at a table to one side of the bar in The-Get-Up-and-Go, his table spread with reports and whilst he compiled them he would eat his supper, normally consisting mainly of steak and potatoes. He drank little, a beer or two but never strong liquors. When it was show night, he would lay aside his paperwork, take out a cheroot and watch the display for a while with little expression showing on his face before quietly taking his leave.
Belle found she quite liked the silent man. He was always polite and treated her with respect; he paid his bills on time and was mostly unobtrusive and nonjudgmental of the goings on in the saloon. A thing that surprised both Belle and the clientele, who had all suspected some reaction from the austere man. But he said nor did a thing but went about his business in a quiet and private way without troubling anybody.
That is until Kirby Langstrom showed up.
He blew in one night early before the main body of the barroom was full. Dust coated, he drifted into the saloon and a few minutes had passed before Belle noticed his silent entrance. She was about to warn him of the Marshal’s presence and was waving to Kirby over the heads of the bar rail customers when she saw Lomas get to his feet and leave his table.
He had been sitting as he normally did, his table scattered with paper and an empty plate holding them in place when Kirby entered. Dusting himself off, Kirby was making his way to the bar when Lomas called out.
‘Kirby Langstrom!’
Kirby stopped in his tracks and turned to face the Marshal.
‘I heard you was coming,’ he said.
‘You did, huh? Well, I hear tell you’ve been causing something of a fuss around here.’
The two stood facing each other a few feet apart and the rest of the barroom silenced as they waited to see what would come next.
‘Not so you’d notice,’ Kirby went on. ‘A few tiresome little ticks came in here with blood on their minds, is all.’
‘And you saw them out, did you?’
‘I did. What you going to do, arrest me?’
‘I might,’ said Lomas, a broad grin spreading on his face. ‘How you been, you son-of-a-gun?’
‘Not so bad,’ said Kirby, smiling back and taking the Marshal’s offered hand.
‘Been a while,’ said Lomas.
‘Sure has.’
Lomas guided him over towards his table. ‘Still working for that hairy Scotchman?’
‘I am,’ agreed Kyle, turning and waving a greeting at a surprised Belle.
‘You know,’ said Lomas as they sat down. ‘I ain’t seen him since he was deputy sheriff over at Cook county. How is the old boy?’
‘Fine, far as I know. Don’t see him much nowadays. Business is growing, new contract as US mail agents and also handling security on the railroads. Keeps me busy.’
Belle joined them, a bottle and two glasses in her hands. ‘So you two know each other?’ she said, looking at them both curiously.
‘Sure, long time. Sit down Belle, join us,’ offered Kirby. ‘You’ve met Lomas I guess?’
‘I’m rooming here,’ said Lomas. ‘And right nice it is too.’
‘Well, I’ll be,’ said Belle, setting down the bottle and glasses as Lomas held a chair for her. ‘And here I was thinking the Marshal had come to carry you off, Kirby.’
‘No,’ smiled Kirby. ‘He’s got another row to chop, ain’t you, Lomas.’
‘Oh, I’ve been digging around,’ confessed Lomas. ‘What about you? Where you at?’ he asked Kirby.
Kirby shrugged, ‘It’s getting rougher out there. Word is there’s a war coming. I’ve been looking into some secessionists planning to cut the railroad come the time its declared official.’
‘War!’ gasped Belle. ‘What war?’
‘Between the States, honey,’ said Kirby. ‘You wouldn’t know too much about it out here, what with all your own troubles and such, but its coming. North and south, least it looks that way. It’s the slave states mostly, they’re calling themselves a Confederacy and aim to secede from the Union.’
Lomas took up the story, ‘Government won’t have it though,’ he said. ‘They say it ain’t legal and constitutes a rebellion.’
‘Bad times surely coming,’ Kirby admitted sourly.
‘But…. But what have you got to do with all that, Kirby? I thought you were just a cow herder.’
‘He sure looks that way, doesn’t he?’ smiled Lomas, stroking two fingers down his mustache. ‘All dirty and trail worn. No, your boy here works for one Mister Allan Pinkerton. Has for some time now, isn’t that right, Kirby?’
‘Keep your voice down,’ tutted Kirby. ‘I’m supposed to keep a low profile.’
‘Well you surely did,’ gasped Belle. ‘I would never have thought it. An agent for the detective agency. Good Lord! Kirby, you might have told me.’
‘I couldn’t Belle. It would have been too dangerous for you as well as others.’
Belle placed a hand over her delectable breasts and frowned in surprise as she tried to see Kirby in the new light.
‘I…. I just don’t believe it,’ she managed.
Kirby looked coyly down at the table. He reached across and lifted the bottle, pouring drinks to hide his embarrassment. ‘It don’t mean much, Belle,’ he said. ‘Just a regular job, is all.’
‘But that’s tantamount to lawman, isn’t it? A Pinkerton agent, why they’re famous for catching bank and train robbers.’
‘And Kirby here has done a lot of that,’ chuckled Lomas. ‘A regular little lone ranger, he is.’
‘Times are changing though, Lomas. Now it’s a different game I see coming.’
‘You mean with a war in the offing?’
‘That’s right. It’ll be underhand now, more secretive and sly.’
He pushed a glass across to Lomas, who, to Belle’s surprise took it up. ‘To you,’ he said, swallowing the shot in one go.
Kirby nodded but only toyed with the rim of his glass, ‘So, what’s been happening here, Belle. Have I missed anything?’
‘Ma Leatherbetter died.’
‘Oh, that’s too bad. I’m sorry to hear that, she was a swell old lady.’
‘She thought right well of you too,’ said Belle. ‘Mentioned you just before she died. She said I….’
‘The Lemon boys are in town,’ Lomas cut in. ‘They’ll be looking for you, I guess.’
‘Aw! Damn it! It don’t seem I can get a minutes peace without some rascal calling on me,’ complained Kirby. ‘Where they at?’
‘Over at The Cakewalk with your friend Joe Bellows.’
‘Hell and damnation,’ Kirby cursed. ‘As if there ain’t enough going on without those two punks coming on with blood in their eyes.’
‘It’s Bellows behind it,’ said Lomas.
‘I know it. He’s been pressing on Belle for months now, trying to shut down The-Get-Up-and-Go.’
‘Yep, I heard the stories,’ Lomas agreed.
Kirby sighed, ‘Well, I’m about done in. I guess we’ll sort this out soon enough but right now I’m ready for some shuteye.’ Tiredly, he got to his feet, ‘Right nice to see you again, Lomas.’
‘Now hold on there,’ snapped Belle. ‘Where are you going? I’ll bet you’re hungry as well as dirty and tired. You go out back and wash up and I’ll see we get you something to eat in the meantime. After that, you’re staying here. I’ll not have you sleeping in the street or some alley, Kirby Langstrom. You stay here tonight, you hear?’
Kirby looked from her to Lomas, who shrugged and gave him a little grin. ‘Now there’s an offer I wouldn’t turn down,’ he said.
Kirby yawned, ‘I’m too damned tired to argue with either of you,’ he said.
He was asleep when Belle looked in on him later. She cracked the door of his room and raised her lamp to see his outline in the dark room. He lay on the bed with the covers pulled back and his upper body gleamed in the lamplight. His was a slender, wiry form, well muscled and lean and she could see the marks of a bullet hole scar on his upper chest. Belle pouted at sight of it.
She had been confused by his admission as agent for Pinkerton, and had spent the evening barely conscious of activity in the barroom; her thoughts had been lost in assessing the new information. Now, in the quiet of the saloon, closed up for the night, she thought to look in on Kirby and replace in her mind the earlier image she had of him.
She was about to pull the door shut when he spoke out of the darkness.
‘You looking for me, Belle?’
‘No,’ she said hurriedly. ‘Just wanted to see you were alright. I’m sorry to disturb you. Good night, Kirby.’
‘Hold on,’ he said, before she could leave.
‘What is it?’ she asked, opening the door a crack wider.
‘I want to talk,’ he said, sitting up in bed. It was only then she saw the pistol in his hand. Quickly he slipped it back under the pillow. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I guess I get a little jumpy being in a regular bed.’
‘That’s okay,’ she said, hovering half in and half out of the room.
‘You want to come in or do we have to holler across the room?’
‘Well,’ she said uncomfortably. ‘You’re not decent.’
‘That’s okay, I won’t tell.’
‘You want me in there, you put a shirt on.’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said throwing back the sheets and climbing from the bed. He was naked under the bedclothes and Belle started at the sight as he traipsed unconcerned across the room, noting the movement of his tight buttocks in the dim light. Quickly, she pulled the door shut.
‘You tell me when you’re ready,’ she whispered harshly, biting her lip in indecision.
‘Come on in. You can take me to church I’m so decent.’
‘What can you be thinking, Kirby Langstrom?’ she reprimanded as she hurried into the room, quietly closing the door behind her. ‘I’ve got a bad enough name in this town as it is.’
‘Just come here and set a spell,’ he said, patting the bed beside him.
‘I’m not sitting on there with you,’ she said sharply. ‘Cut it out, Kirby. Now what do you want?’
‘You know what I want. I’m lost without you, honey. I can’t help it, damned if you ain’t forever on my mind.’
Belle shuddered a sigh and set down the lamp on a side table. ‘It can’t be, Kirby. You know that. I…. I’m lost in that respect. I can’t….’ she faltered. ‘I don’t seem to be able to any more.’
He stayed sitting on the bed and fac
ed her across the room. ‘You know he was set up, don’t you?’
‘Who was? What do you mean?’
‘Your old beau, the gambling man. He was bought and paid for by Joe Bellows. They wanted you out of The-Get-Up-and-Go. He was sent in here to win your heart and carry you out.’
‘No!’ she gasped. ‘Don’t say such a thing. It’s not true, none of it.’
‘It is, Belle. You won’t believe me, I know that but I’ll prove it to you if you want.’
She hurried to the door, ‘No, I won’t hear such things. Aloysius was a kind loving man,’ a sob caught in her throat. ‘You’re my friend Kirby; don’t ruin it by saying this. I know you care for me but using slander to win me, it won’t work. I know what Aloysius was, he was a special person, a wonderful man and I loved him with everything I had.’
‘I know that too,’ Kirby said quickly, before she could turn the handle on the door. ‘And it does you credit that you could care so for a man. God Almighty, I wish it were me you felt like that for. But what I say is true and I don’t say it out of any spite or malice. That’s how it was and you spent all that precious love you felt on a two-bit scoundrel and I’m real sorry for it.’
‘Damn you, Kirby!’ she shouted, tears falling on her cheek. ‘I won’t hear another word.’ She ripped open the door ferociously and her eyes widened as she saw the thick smoke drifting along the corridor outside.
Chapter Eight
‘Fire!’
The shout came from down the hall as one of the barmen rushed into sight dressed only in his nightgown.
‘We’re a-blaze!’ he called, wide-eyed as he spotted Belle standing frozen in the corridor.
The strong smell of blistering varnish and paint came up the stairs from below. They could hear the roar now as the fire took hold on the dry boards in the barroom.
Kirby dressed himself quickly in pants and shirt and wrapped his gun belt around his waist.
‘Belle!’ he called. ‘The back stairs, get to the back stairs.’
There were screams of terror as the bar girls and a couple of their clients ran past in panic and Belle called after then, trying to calm them and command the staff into some sort of order.
