The Hen House

by Sharon Sala

  It took the better part of an hour, but she finally caught her mount, led it back to the new home site, dropped the snake into the saddle bags, and tossed it across the horse’s back. The horse did another neat little side-step and rolled its eyes as it looked back at Letty.

  “It’s dead, so get over it,” she said, grabbed the saddle horn and mounted in one smooth motion.

  She looked down at the pup, took a piece of deer jerky from inside her pocket, and dropped it on the ground. The pup ate it quickly and looked up at her for more.

  “If you’re a mind to follow me home, I reckon I can furnish a bit more to go with that.”

  The pup seemed willing, and when she rode away, it followed.

  By the time she got back to the cabin, the men were deep inside the mine.

  She took the snake out of the saddle bags, turned the horse out into the corral, and then headed for the cabin. She paused at what passed for their smokehouse long enough to cut off a large chunk of fatback from a crock inside the door, then turned around and handed it to the pup.

  It took the meat from her fingers with all the delicacy of a gentleman, and then held it in its mouth until she gave the pup permission to eat.

  “Go ahead,” she said. “You’ve earned it.”

  The pup immediately flopped down and began chewing on the meat. Letty leaned the empty rifle against the door of the smoke house, knowing Eulis would have to reload it for her tonight. She sat down on a stump and waited until the pup was finished.

  As soon as the pup had swallowed the last bite, Letty stood. The pup followed suit, waiting for a signal as to what to do next.

  “Okay now,” she said. “Let’s skin out that snake.”

  By the time Eulis came home for supper, the pup had been doused with axle grease for mange and fleas, and was chewing on the leg bone of an elk that they’d butchered over the winter. A fine stream of smoke was coming out of the chimney, and the skin of the rattlesnake was nailed to the side of the house.

  Eulis watched the men mount up and ride off, and then headed for the cabin. It wasn’t until he came around the side of the house that he saw the pup lying on the doorstep between him and Letty.

  The pup growled softly beneath its breath.

  Eulis frowned. “Ease up, fella’. I live here.”

  The pup got up and sniffed Eulis’ feet, then picked up his bone and moved off to the side of the doorway.

  “Thank you for the vote of confidence,” Eulis drawled, then looked up and saw what she had nailed to the wall.

  His flesh crawled as he eyed the snake skin, stunned by the size, and the knowledge that, once again when he was too far away to help, Letty had been forced to save herself. He was torn between pride in her ability to bounce, and a feeling of inadequacy. It seemed that she was always two steps ahead of him.

  He looked down at the pup, taking note of the prominent ribs and the careful application of axle grease and frowned.

  “Exactly what part did you play in all of this?” he asked.

  But the pup had nothing more to say.

  Eulis shook his head as he opened the door. The scent of cooking meat and baking bread met him as he entered.

  “Something sure smells good,” he said, as he hung his hat on a wall peg and kissed the side of Letty’s cheek.

  “I made some johnnycake,” Letty said.

  Eulis lifted the lid on the pot cooking over the open fire in the fireplace.

  “Snake. My favorite.”

  Letty’s face was flushed from the heat of the fires, but she turned a little redder when she caught the teasing tone of his voice.

  “So, I guess you saw the skin on the wall.”

  Eulis arched an eyebrow. “Well, yes, ma’am, I did. A blind man couldn’t a’ missed it. Are you all right?”

  Letty grinned. One of her favorite things about Eulis was his ability to overstate the obvious.

  “I’m fine, of course. It was just a snake. Oh… you need to reload the rifle for me, too.”

  “If you’re gonna go about shootin’ it off all the time, you oughta be learnin’ how to reload.”

  “I guess,” Letty said, and kept stirring the stew.

  Eulis knew that was the end of the conversation about the gun, and set about waiting for her to talk about the pup, but she didn’t.

  “So… I understand how the snake come to be nailed on the wall, but I ain’t quite figured out how that greasy, half-grown hound figures into the situation.”

  “He showed up about the same time as the snake.”

  Eulis had known Letty for far too long to believe that was all.

  “And… what? You just invited him to supper?”

  She knew when she was being made fun of, but when it was Eulis, she never seemed to care.

  “Of course not,” she said. “He earned it and then some. I rode into the yard at the new house. The workers were gone. The outside of the house is finished and the roof is on, but the windows still aren’t in. I didn’t get a chance to go in because the darned pup was thrashing about in the brush and scared my horse. I fell off and—”

  Eulis grabbed her by the arm, his eyes wide with concern.

  “You fell off? Are you all right, girl? Did you hurt yourself somewheres?”

  Letty eased his fears with a smile and a touch of her hand against his cheek.

  “I’m fine. The pup came crawling out of the bushes on its belly as the horse ran off. It was mangy and starving. I tried to run it off. Instead, it repaid my bad attitude by saving my hide from that snake. So it’s here. I named him T-Bone.”

  Eulis laughed out loud.

  “That’s a fine piece of meat, but I can’t say as I’ve ever heard it used as a name for a dog.”

  Letty sniffed. “He’s a fine dog… or he will be when I get him healed and fattened a bit. Do you want to meet him?”

  “I reckon I already did,” Eulis said, then pointed to the pot over the fire. “How long before the snake is done? I’m so hungry I feel like that dog looks.”

  She smiled. “It’s all done. I was waiting on you.”

  “Let me just wash up a bit first,” Eulis said, and went back out the door.

  There was a bucket of water, a wash basin, as well as some lye soap and a rag on the bench outside the door. He poured water in the basin, splashed his face, wet down his hair, and then picked up the soap, scrubbing fiercely until the day’s dirt from the mine was gone from his face and hands.

  He tossed the water onto a bush Letty was trying to grow and then began to dry off. The pup looked up from chewing on the elk bone long enough to growl beneath its breath.

  Eulis hung up the rag and then looked down at the pup.

  “Listen here, T-Bone. I don’t wanna hear no more of that. I was here before you, and you best not forget it.”

  The pup cocked his head to one side, as if studying the wisdom of what Eulis had just said, then got up and sauntered over to Eulis’ feet, flopped down and rolled over.

  Eulis shook his head and then grinned.

  “One minute you’re tryin’ to eat me for supper and the next you want a belly scratch? You’re somethin’ all right.”

  He leaned down, found a spot that was free of axle grease, and gave the pup a quick scratch. As he did, he saw knots on the pup’s ribs and realized that, at one time or another, those ribs had been broken.

  “You know something, T-Bone? Danged if I ain’t been right where you are. However, all is not lost. You got yourself a really good woman. Take good care of her and I promise she’ll take good care of you.”

  Eulis wiped the ends of his fingers on his pants, just in case he’d gotten some axle grease on them, and then went back inside to get his share of snake.

  BEGGAR MAN

  A couple of days passed with no more problems from the men. It was just after sunrise when Letty stepped outside to toss the dishwater, and saw a stranger walking across the valley. T-Bone saw him, too, and bounded up from his bed beneath the trees, barking a
s he ran.

  “T-Bone!” Letty yelled.

  The pup stopped immediately, looked back at her, and then trotted back to where she was standing and sat down at her feet.

  “Good boy,” she said softly, and laid a hand on his head, giving him an absent pat as she watched the stranger’s arrival.

  The trail across the valley didn’t go anywhere except to their cabin, so whoever he was, he was obviously coming to see them.

  Letty glanced back at the doorway.

  “Stranger comin’,” she called.

  Eulis was inside shaving when he heard Letty call out. He wiped the last of the shaving cream from his face and stepped outside.

  “What did you say?” he asked.

  She pointed across the valley.

  “Stranger coming.”

  Eulis strode across the yard, his steps slow and measured. When he got to Letty, he put his hand on her shoulder, never taking for granted his right to do so, and thought how pretty she was in the early morning light.

  The tension in Letty’s body eased. As long as she had this man by her side she could face the world.

  “He looks right poorly,” Eulis commented.

  Letty nodded. The man was little more than a mirror image of the way the pup had looked upon his arrival. His clothes were in rags and his body was bone thin. Even though he was still a distance away, Letty could see the hollows beneath his eyes, and the sunken places in his cheeks.

  “Is he packin’?” Letty asked.

  Eulis squinted. “I can’t tell from here.”

  “Better get the rifle, just in case,” Letty said.

  Eulis stopped her.

  “Just wait.”

  Letty didn’t listen, but walked straight to the cabin, grabbed the rifle leaning against the wall inside the door, and walked back to where Eulis was standing.

  “You don’t trust anyone, do you, girl?” Eulis asked.

  “That’s not true,” Letty muttered. “I trust you.”

  The pup whined.

  She looked down at the dog and grinned.

  “And maybe, T-Bone.”

  At that point, they stopped talking and waited. The oddity of it was that the closer the stranger came, the more familiar he seemed to Eulis. It wasn’t so much that he recognized his facial features. It was more about the way his shoulders tilted just a tiny bit to the right, and how his fingers on his right hand curled slightly inward, like he was about to grab onto something important.

  His hat was wide-brimmed and black, although it appeared more white than black from the dust covering the surface. His boots were as dusty as the hat and run-down at the heels, and he was sporting at least a week’s worth of whiskers.

  All of a sudden, there was a hitch in Eulis’ breath.

  Letty felt it, but before she could ask what was wrong, the stranger had arrived.

  “Ma’am,” he said, and took off his hat as he acknowledged Letty’s presence.

  Letty nodded back without speaking.

  The stranger’s gaze immediately moved toward Eulis.

  “Reckon you’d be Eulis Potter?”

  Eulis nodded.

  “They told me down in town that you might be hiring.”

  Eulis exhaled slowly, as if he’d been holding his breath.

  “I’m hiring miners.”

  “I can do that,” the stranger said.

  Letty saw Eulis’ eyes narrow. She knew something was up, but couldn’t tell if it was good or bad. She shifted her rifle to a more comfortable position and settled her hand right on the trigger—just in case.

  The stranger saw her and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

  “I mean no harm,” he said softly.

  “Got a horse?” Eulis asked.

  “Shot out from under me.”

  “How did you come to Denver City?”

  “I walked.”

  “When did you last eat?” Eulis asked.

  The stranger’s face turned red, as if he’d just been insulted. He hesitated answering, and then it seemed that hunger won out over pride.

  “Maybe a day or two back.”

  Eulis glanced at Letty.

  Letty still didn’t know what Eulis was doing, but she recognized his intent and offered a meal.

  “There’s biscuits and fatback left over from breakfast. I’ll heat up some coffee.”

  Letty saw the man swallow, and knew it was pride that was going down with the spit.

  “I’d be real thankful for the food,” he said.

  “Eulis, maybe you could show him where to wash up,” Letty said and started toward the cabin, then stopped and handed Eulis the rifle. She sensed the unfolding drama, but trusted Eulis enough to deal with whatever needed to be done.

  She was heating up the red-eye gravy when Eulis and the stranger came inside.

  “Have a seat,” Eulis said, and pointed to the chair he usually sat in.

  The man had dropped his hat near the doorway. His hair was wet and slicked back from his face, and Letty could see that he’d tried to remove most of the dust from his clothes. But when she slid the plate of food in front of him, and then set down the cup of steaming coffee and a spoon, she saw his hands were shaking.

  He looked up at her then, his eyes swimming with tears.

  “I thank you, kindly, ma’am,” he said softly.

  She nodded. “Sorry we don’t have any regular cutlery for you to eat with. We ordered some from back East, but it will take a spell to get here.”

  “Ma’am, it’s been so long since I’ve eaten with anything but my fingers, I’m not sure I remember my manners.” Then he added. “This sure looks good.”

  Letty turned away so that he would feel comfortable enough to start eating, then glanced at Eulis, who arched an eyebrow, and then shook his head slightly. She was going to have to wait for answers to her questions.

  No one spoke as the stranger ate, although Letty filled his coffee cup more than once.

  T-Bone had followed the men as far as the doorway, and was now lying across the threshold with his head inside the cabin, and his backside out on the stoop. Letty couldn’t figure out if the pup was intent on keeping an eye on the stranger, or on the biscuits he was eating.

  It wasn’t until the man had sopped up the last bite of red-eye gravy with the last bite of biscuit that he bothered to look up. At that point, he had the grace to be embarrassed.

  “That was just about the best food I’ve ever eaten,” he said. “I can’t thank you enough.”

  “You had to be hungry to say that,” Letty said. “I’m just a passable cook, and Eulis here will be the first to tell you so.”

  Eulis grinned.

  “Now, Letty… I don’t say nothin’ bad about you. Ever.”

  At this point, he leaned forward, fixing the stranger with a cool, studied look. “I might be willing to put you to work.”

  Letty saw relief wash over the stranger’s face.

  “But not in the mine,” Eulis added.

  Letty frowned, and so did the stranger, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to be picky.

  “That’s fine. Whatever you need me to do I’ll be—”

  “I know who you are,” Eulis said.

  The man went still. An expression came and went on his face that set the hair to rising on the back of Letty’s neck. She glanced toward the doorway, wondering how long it would take her to get to the rifle before the man could get up from his chair.

  “But you don’t remember me, do you?”

  The man frowned as he shook his head.

  “About six years ago, you rode into a little town out in the Kansas territory called Lizard Flats. Three cowboys were hassling a drunk out in the street in front of the White Dove Saloon, taking turns shooting at his feet to make him dance.”

  Letty froze. She remembered the incident all too well, and to her shame, also remembered that no one had bothered to try and stop it.

  Still frowning, the man glanced at Letty, then at Eulis.
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  “Yeah, so what?”

  Eulis leaned across the table and then offered his hand.

  “That drunk was me. I never did sober up enough to thank you then, but I’m doin’ it now. I don’t need to know how you come to this point in your life, but I know when I owe a man a favor.”

  The man stared at Eulis for the longest time, as if trying to place that overweight drunk with the wild hair and beard, to the man sitting before him. Finally, he nodded.

  “You should know that trouble has a way of finding me.”

  Eulis shrugged.

  “Ain’t no one in this house about to point the finger of blame. Now down to business. I reckon you heard that Letty here discovered herself one hell of a gold mine, or else you wouldn’t be here.”

  “I heard.”

  “Here’s the deal,” Eulis said. “I need a guard. You’d be on the site day and night. This here cabin would be where you stay, and we’d keep you grub-staked with food and ammunition, as well as a good horse. A man needs a good horse. Never know when you might need to go somewhere.”

  The man’s mouth dropped. Again Letty saw unshed tears in his eyes. He looked at Letty, then at Eulis, then down at the coffee cup he still held in his hands. Letty saw him take a deep breath and then raise his head.

  “I’d be staying here with you folks?”

  “No,” Eulis said. “We’re building us a house near town. I reckon if we don’t move onto the site soon, we’ll never get it finished.”

  “You trust me to do this?”

  “I reckon I do,” Eulis said.

  “What’s to keep me from stealing some of your gold and riding off with it?”

  “I reckon the same thing that made you stop them men who was shootin’ at my feet.”

  “Maybe I just had a headache that day. Maybe I just didn’t want to hear the noise,” he said.

  “No sir,” Eulis said.

  The stranger glanced at Letty. “I appreciate what you’re saying. God knows I do. But I need to remind you to think about your wife. I haven’t been around decent folk in so long that I don’t know how to act.”

  Letty snorted lightly.

  “Me, either,” she said, and got up to refill his coffee again.

  Eulis grinned.

  “Umm, my wife here has had a few obstacles in her life as well.”