by Duane Boehm
“What’s going on?” Gideon asked as he eyed the girl suspiciously and wondered what his first day back at the jail would be like.
“This is Charlotte Bell. She is here to see you and refuses to tell me her reasons for being here,” Finnie said brusquely.
Sitting down at his desk, Gideon asked, “So what can I do for you, Charlotte?”
“My family lives at Paradise. Old Pastor Gordon died a few months back and now young Pastor Gordon has taken over. He’s arranging marriages for everybody sixteen and over that’s still unmarried. I’m supposed to marry Cecil Hobbs this week and I can’t stand to even look at that odd fish. Pastor Gordon carries on about the sin of fornication all the time. Well, I ain’t fornicating and I ain’t going to do my wifely duties if it’s with Cecil Hobbs either. You have to protect me. They’ll be coming,” Charlotte said.
Gideon leaned back in his chair and felt a knot forming in his stomach. He had never talked to anybody from Paradise, only heard stories about them. The group had settled homesteads southeast of Last Stand about ten years prior. They had grouped all their parcels together and had also bought additional acreage over the years. They controlled several thousand acres that they ranched and farmed as a commune. This was the first that he had heard of old Pastor Gordon’s death. The pastor had claimed no affiliation with any church, only that he was a direct servant of God and the leader of Paradise. The members only came to Last Stand for necessities and made a point not to socialize with anyone in the town. Paradise even had its own school. There had never been trouble with the group before now. They left the town alone and the town let them be.
“Are you sure that you’re sixteen?” Gideon asked.
“I reckon I know how old I am. Yes, I turned sixteen this past May,” Charlotte answered.
“And you were going to be forced into a marriage against your wishes?” Gideon questioned.
“I already told you that. Why are you making me repeat all this?” Charlotte asked.
“I’m just double checking to make sure that I have all the facts before somebody shows up looking for you. If you want my help, you might want to start thinking about being a little more polite,” Gideon said.
“Yes, sir,” Charlotte replied.
“Do you have any family elsewhere where you can go live?” Gideon asked.
“I don’t know. We came from Toledo Ohio, but we weren’t allowed to stay in touch with our families. Pa has some brothers there. Old Pastor Gordon said that Paradise was all of the family we needed now,” she said.
“Of course, he did,” Gideon commented.
Finnie walked to the stove and poured more coffee. “What are we going to do with her?” he asked.
“I don’t know. It’s a ticklish situation. No laws have been broken. We could just send her on her way and let her fend for herself. Get me a cup while you’re at it,” Gideon said.
“True. I can’t imagine that Cecil Hobbs is too thrilled about the arrangement either. Surely they won’t marry them if they both oppose the situation,” Finnie said as he poured Gideon a cup of coffee.
Charlotte stood up and threw her arms out for emphasis. “Cecil Hobbs is beside himself with excitement. This is the only way anybody would marry him. You have to protect me,” she cried out.
“We’d have to keep her in town so that one of us would be around to keep an eye on her. Maybe I can talk Mary into putting her in the spare bedroom in the saloon. Charlotte could clean for her keep until we figure out if she’s got family,” Gideon said.
Spinning towards Gideon, Charlotte said, “I will not stay in a saloon and consort with that whore. You can forget that.”
Gideon jumped to his feet and shook his finger in the girl’s face. “Unless you have money for the hotel, you’ll stay where I find you a place. You’ll be out in the street if I ever hear you call Mary a whore again. Don’t judge somebody that you don’t even know. Isn’t that what your Bible tells you? Now it’s my way or get out of here. Which is it?” he yelled.
The girl seemed taken aback by Gideon’s outburst and looked down at her feet. “Yes, sir, it won’t happen again. I do need your help.”
“Is Mary up?” Gideon asked Finnie.
“Could I have a word with you outside?” Finnie requested.
Looking still annoyed, Gideon followed him outside where Finnie caught him up on what had transpired with Mary and his new sleeping arrangement.
“My God, Finnie, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you. All you had to do was be excited about the baby and ask her to marry you. It’s what you wanted and yet you still messed it up,” Gideon said.
“I know. I know. It’s just that I was so shocked about the baby that my words came out wrong. I was at a loss at what to say,” Finnie said.
“Well, that’s a first and a poor time for it to happen. I guess I’m not only the sheriff, but your caretaker too,” Gideon said.
“I must confess that I’m about as useful to a woman as a chastity belt in a whorehouse,” Finnie said.
Gideon gave Finnie a look and waved his hand through the air. “I’m not even sure what that means,” he said as he walked away towards the saloon.
The alley door to the Last Chance was unlocked and Gideon entered to find Mary up and eating breakfast.
“I didn’t think that maybe you’d be up so early,” Gideon said.
“I wake up early since I threw out that Irish lunk–head,” Mary stated.
“I just heard about that. Mary, you’re being too hard on Finnie. You surprised him and he chose his words poorly. There are a lot worse things in life, and you know it, and you’ve seen it. You need to talk to him,” Gideon said as he sat down beside her.
“I can’t believe that you’d take his side over mine with all that we’ve been through,” Mary said.
“I’m not taking his side so much as I’m trying to help both of you. I’m pretty sure that you both want the same thing, but you’ve got to give him a chance to make it right. Finnie can be quite the charmer or he can be the yammering fool. You knew that when you took up with him. Look past the flaws to what matters,” Gideon said.
“So are you saying that I’m an irrational female?” Mary asked.
“Don’t you tell on me, but you’re the most rational female that I know, but not this time,” Gideon said.
“Okay, enough on this. I’ll talk to him, but he better choose his words carefully or I’ll choose his grave,” Mary said.
Gideon then explained the situation with Charlotte and asked her help.
“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Mary asked.
“No, but it’s the only one I have. Finnie or I can keep an eye on things this way. The jail’s no place for her. I should warn you that Miss Bell would not win any prizes for sweetness,” Gideon said.
“Oh, great. Remind me again why I’m friends with you,” Mary said.
Gideon leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’m too damn charming for my own good,” he said before leaving.
Just before noon, four men rode into town. Two of the men rode mules and all looked ragtag except for the one dressed all in black. He appeared short in stature and heavy boned with a taciturn scowl that looked as if it were permanently etched onto his face. Gideon and Finnie waited in front of the jail with shotguns across their laps as the men stopped in front of them.
“Sheriff, I’m Pastor Milton Gordon. One of the members of Paradise has gone missing. We have reason to believe she may have shown up here.”
“She has,” Gideon replied tersely.
“If you would be so kind as to hand her over to us, we will see that she is taken care of properly. She is young and misguided,” Gordon said.
“I’m afraid that I can’t do that. She’s old enough to decide where she wants to live and who she wants to marry and it isn’t Paradise or Cecil Hobbs,” Gideon said.
One of the men climbed down from his mule. “See here, Sheriff, that’s my daughter and I want to take her home. You
have no right to hide her,” he said as he loomed over the sitting Gideon.
“Mr. Bell, I suggest that you take a step back or I will do it for you,” Gideon said and waited until the man retreated a step. “Your daughter is a legal adult and I can’t give her to you. I understand your concerns, but she doesn’t want to be part of an arranged marriage. You’ll have to respect her wishes.”
The pastor straightened his posture in the saddle. “A man like yourself may take marriage lightly, but at Paradise, we try to protect our young ones from the sins of the flesh. We guide them to a suitable partner for life so that they don’t make the same mistake as that twofer wife of yours did when she ran off and left her husband for the likes of you. God have mercy on this town with a sheriff that stole another man’s wife and a deputy living with a whore.”
Anticipating what would next happen, Finnie jumped up and bear hugged Gideon as the sheriff sprung from his seat like a beaver trap snapping. The deputy held firm to prevent Gideon from getting to the pastor and beating the man senseless.
“Gideon, let it go. You’re giving him what he wants. Let it go,” Finnie pleaded as he easily detained Gideon even as the sheriff’s arms flailed away at him.
Gideon continued struggling, and yelled, “Any man I’ve ever known that worried about everybody else’s bedroom, well, they always had a limp tallywag. Is that your problem, do you have a limp tallywag?”
“Sheriff, you haven’t seen the last of us,” Gordon said before the men rode away.
After the group disappeared out of sight, Finnie released Gideon and watched him pace back and forth in front of the jail while trying to catch his breath.
Finally coming to a stop, Gideon said, “Thank you, I might have killed that son of a bitch. I knew that this would be trouble from the minute I heard about it. People with a Bible and an agenda are more dangerous than all the stagecoach robbers put together. They’ll be back for sure.”
“I expect that you’re right,” Finnie said as he dropped back onto the bench.
“I’m going to get Charlotte out of the cell and take her to meet Mary. This should put a cherry on top of my day,” Gideon said as the banker, Mr. Fredrick, walked up to the jail.
“Sheriff, your reward money came in today,” Mr. Fredrick said.
“Finally, some good news. Mr. Fredrick, I want you to split the money four ways. Put a share in my account and a share in Ethan Oakes’ account and then open accounts for Finnegan Ford and Zack Barlow. Finnie can go with you now to sign whatever is necessary and I’ll send Zack when I see him,” Gideon said.
“As you wish, Sheriff,” the banker said.
“Finnie, I suggest that you take a little of your new found wealth and go to the general store and buy a ring. Make Hiram give you a discount. When I’m done with Mary, it’s your turn. If you make a mess of things this time, Mary or me is going to shoot you dead,” Gideon said.
“Everybody mistreats the Irish. I believe you all think that we’re nothing more than a spud with arms and legs,” Finnie said as he walked away with Mr. Fredrick.
Gideon retrieved Charlotte from the jail and as they walked to the saloon, he filled her in on what had transpired and warned her about the behavior he expected out of her. They entered the saloon through the alley and Gideon left her in the back room to go find Mary.
Returning with the saloon owner, Gideon said, “Charlotte, this is Mary.”
“Glad to meet you,” Charlotte said and attempted a curtsy.
“You too. You’ll have a nice bedroom all to yourself. We’ll get you cleaned up and I’ll see if I can find some clothes that fit you,” Mary replied.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Anxious to leave, Gideon put his hat back on. “Charlotte, I expect you to do what Mary tells you to do. You’ll be working for your room and board. I’m going to contact Toledo and see if they can track down some family that you can go live with.”
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate your help,” Charlotte said demurely.
After Gideon left, Mary pulled out the tub and began heating water. “It looks like you had a long night. You can take a bath and I’ll go try to find you something to wear.”
“Were you really a whore?” Charlotte asked.
Mary chuckled. “You don’t believe in beating around the bush, but yes I was.”
“Did you like it?” the girl asked.
“It beat starving to death. Just like you running away – sometimes we do things that we don’t really want to do in order to survive,” Mary said.
“I guess that’s one way to look at it. I sure would hate to lay with all those men though. Most of them are nasty and stink. I’m not too sure about the whole idea with one that I like and smells good,” Charlotte said.
“I wouldn’t recommend whoring. Find a good one that you like and keep him. The rest will take care of itself,” Mary said.
After filling the tub with hot water, Mary locked the doors to the back room on her way out. She walked to the front of the saloon to check on business before going to find clothes for Charlotte. Finnie sat waiting at the bar when she entered.
“May I have a word with you in private?” Finnie asked.
“I have to go upstairs and find some clothes for Charlotte. You can come along,” Mary said.
He followed her up the front stairs and into the room that they shared. Finnie quickly closed the door behind them before dropping to one knee and holding up the gold ring he had purchased.
“Mary Sawyer, I can’t think of anything on earth that I want more than to help you raise our baby and to spend the rest of my life with you. You make me happier than I’ve ever been in my life. Will you marry me?” Finnie said.
Mary tried to hold her emotion in check, but in looking down at the earnest expression on the little Irishman, her eyes teared up, and she swiped them away. “Finnegan Ford, you’re a lot of trouble, but I do love you. Yes, I will marry you.”
Standing up, Finnie placed the ring on her finger. “We do things lively, don’t we? Never a dull moment. We’ll have to talk to Ethan about marrying us.”
“Can you believe that we’re really having a baby? I still can’t believe it,” Mary said and threw her arms around her shorter fiancé.
“I hope this baby gets its height from you,” he said.
“Shh – we don’t care how tall he or she is. We’ll love them short or tall, just like I love your little sawed–off ass,” Mary whispered in his ear.
Chapter 16
Digging a well proved to be a lot of work and not much fun either. Zack began digging a hole with a five foot diameter and so far had managed to go about four feet deep into the ground. After chopping through some roots near the top, digging became easier and no rocks had impeded his progress as he methodically slung the dirt out of the hole. A large pile of soil was already taking shape that would also have to be dealt with before long. The day was unusually hot for September and as he worked, the soil clung to his sweaty clothes and skin until he could pass for some kind of dirt–man.
He and Joann chose a spot for the cabin near a grove of cottonwoods. The land sloped gently towards a creek and would make for a good yard and place to build a barn later. Their home would sit about fifty yards from the creek that ran good water year round. Zack kept reminding himself that Gideon and Ethan had both assured him that water tables were highest near cottonwood patches. He already felt as if he were digging to China.
Joann had decided to make the trip with him that day. She fluttered around like a bird as he worked, talking nonstop as he dug the hole. In her mind’s eye, she could see the cabin and barn already completed. She chattered about the layout of their home and what they could purchase for it with the reward money. Zack listened part of the time and ignored her when concentrating on the work at hand.
Stopping in front of Zack, Joann asked, “What are we going to do with all of that dirt?”
“We need to borrow Ethan’s wagon. I figure that you can sling the dirt int
o it while I dig and then you can haul it away. It’ll be good for you – put a little muscle on those bones,” Zack said.
“I helped Papa do lots of hard work. I can do that, but I never heard you complain about my bones before,” she said.
“I’m not complaining, but you are kind of scrawny. You might blow away out here,” Zack teased.
“I’ll make you think scrawny the next time that you want a good look at my scrawny ass,” Joann shot back.
Grinning at his wife, Zack said, “You couldn’t stand to live without it now.”
“So you say. I’m so excited about living here. Just think, we are going to build our place just like our ancestors did that settled this land. We won’t have the Indians to fight, but we’ll have plenty of other challenges. We can raise our babies here and grow old sitting out on our porch. Take a break and let’s go for a walk,” Joann said.
“I can’t. You’ll be complaining later that the hole doesn’t look any deeper. We aren’t ever going to make those dreams come true unless I get things done and there’s a whole lot of things need doing before you even begin mentioning babies,” he said.
“You’re no fun. If you don’t want to bake bread, you shouldn’t play with the oven so much,” Joann said and flittered away.
Zack resumed shoveling out the well, concentrating on one scoop at a time, and didn’t realize Joann was gone until he noticed how quiet things had become. Looking around, he didn’t see her anywhere.
“Joann, are you okay?” he called out.
“Zack, did you know that this creek has a pool. My scrawny ass is floating in it buck naked for all the world to see. I guess you’re probably too busy to come see for yourself. It’s mighty cold. Do you have any ideas on how I could get warm?” Joann yelled.
Grinning, Zack climbed out of the hole. He decided that he might be too busy digging a well to take a walk, but some things in life could not wait.
∞
John still required a lot of rest. He spent a large portion of each day sleeping in Doc’s back room while the doctor tended to patients. After treating his last patient for the day, Doc walked to the door of the back room and could hear his son snoring. The doctor decided to use the opportunity to get out of the office for a while and put his hat on to walk to the Last Chance.
