The Hen House

by Sharon Sala

  Letty stared at each one as if she’d never seen such a specimen before, eyeing them from head to toe, taking in the sodden state of their clothing as well as their raw, chafed hands and faces. They had to be miserable. They didn’t have to be rude.

  “Mr. Feasley, I’d be obliged if you’d go ahead and cut off those lengths for me. I’ll be right over to pick them up.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said quickly, and took the bolts to another counter to measure off and cut.

  Letty pushed her hat to the back of her head and then sauntered toward the women. The room grew quiet. The women who’d been hiding behind the anonymity of the crowd were suddenly singled out by Letty’s stare. With her between them and the door, they were forced to stand their ground.

  “Ladies,” Letty said. “Real miserable weather we’ve been having, isn’t it?”

  One of them started to speak, but another woman, somewhat older and definitely more aggressive, elbowed her and frowned.

  Letty grinned, changing tactics.

  “I’m sorry. I just assumed you could speak English. Obviously that’s my mistake. I knew there were a lot of foreigners who’d come chasing gold, but I guess I didn’t realize how many.”

  Two of them fidgeted. Letty could tell they wanted to answer her, but the big one was obviously in charge, and she wasn’t talking.

  Letty peered at the woman, then took a step closer and raised her voice to just below a shout.

  “Maybe you just can’t hear me good. That would be my mistake, too. Lots of people are hard of hearing. There’s no sin in that. I suppose I should have spoken up. I said… real miserable weather we’re having, isn’t it?”

  Someone snickered in the back of the room. Letty heard it, but never broke her stare. It was past being a matter of pride.

  The big woman lifted her chin and stared down her nose at Letty, as if she was looking at a bug.

  Letty looked around at the people who were staring, and shrugged.

  “Any of you people speak their language?”

  No one spoke up, although a couple of men standing nearby grinned.

  “Too bad,” Letty said. “Someone needs to tell that big woman in the middle that there’s a dried-up booger hanging out of her nose. With her being taller than just about everyone in the room, it’s a right scary thing to be looking at.”

  The woman gasped and reached for her nose as the crowd erupted into laughter. When she felt the offending bit of offal hanging from her nose, she turned a bright shade of red.

  Letty, however, was done with the drama and turned toward Feasley, who was waiting with a sack of cornmeal and her fabric.

  “Reckon I’ll be needing a packet of needles and some thread, too.”

  “Yes, ma’am, got ’em right here. I’ll send the bill to the bank as usual. Will that be all right, Miz Potter?”

  “That’ll be fine,” she said, and gathered up her purchases, dropped them into an oilskin bag, and headed out the door.

  The crowd parted to let her pass and then closed up behind her.

  Letty tied the bag behind her saddle, and then with monumental effort, managed to mount by herself, despite standing in the mire.

  She struggled with a sigh of defeat as she rode away from the store, and told herself she didn’t care. She was halfway out of town when she happened to glance toward one of the saloons. Through the doorway, she saw a room full of men availing themselves of the amenities offered, as well as the women who were part of the deal. Thankful that she was no longer a part of that life, she started to look away, when a familiar face caught her eye.

  Alice Mellin was standing near the doorway and looking in at the crowd. Her shoulders were slumped and Letty could tell she was trembling. Her features were gaunt, and the dress hanging on her body was soaked clean through. She had no coat, no jacket, no extra clothing of any kind to protect her from the chill of the rain. At that moment, a knowing shot through Letty that caused her actual pain.

  Alice Mellin was on her last legs. Either she gave up her dignity and walked through those doors, or she was going to die.

  Letty pulled her horse to a stop and turned it toward the saloon. She had the means to stop this woman’s step into hell, and knew that she would never be able to face herself again if she looked away.

  She rode up to the saloon, dismounted into the mud once again, and tied her horse to the hitching rail. As she stepped up onto the wooden sidewalk, her steps were somewhat muted by the rain.

  “Alice.”

  Alice Mellin jumped. Whitewashed with guilt, she looked up, once again, finding herself face to face with Letty Potter.

  “It’s you.”

  Letty sighed. “Yeah, last time I looked I was still me. What about yourself?”

  The pallor of Alice’s skin turned even paler.

  “I’m… uh—”

  Letty pointed to her horse.

  “Can you ride?”

  Alice looked startled. “I guess, but—”

  “You interested in spending the rest of your life spreading your legs for those bastards inside?”

  Alice froze, too shocked by the question to answer.

  “Well? It’s what you’re thinking about, isn’t it?”

  “You don’t understand,” Alice finally said.

  Letty laughed, but it was not a happy sound.

  “Oh, I understand, all right. More than you will ever know. Now. Are you going through that door, or getting on that horse with me?”

  Alice looked at Letty as if she’d lost her mind.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Can you cook?” Letty asked.

  Alice nodded.

  “Are you good at it?”

  “Some say I am,” Alice said.

  “Then come with me,” Letty said softly, and held out her hand.

  It was the first step that was the hardest. After that, Alice moved rather quickly, although it took some doing to get mounted.

  Letty swung up behind her, settling herself behind the saddle, then took the reins.

  “Just hold onto the saddle horn,” she said. “We’ll be home before you know it.”

  Alice didn’t know what she was getting in to, but it was the word ‘home’ that settled her indecision. Even if the home wasn’t hers, it was a better place to be than where she’d been heading.

  AND ONE SORRY ASS JUDGE

  Eulis thought he’d gone beyond being surprised by anything Letty did these days. But when he got home from the mine and found a strange woman stirring stew in his parlor, he was more than a bit taken aback. That the woman looked like she’d been beaten to hell and back was of minor consequence to the reason for her presence.

  “Ma’am,” he said, and quickly yanked off his hat, then started through the house, calling Letty’s name.

  Letty appeared at the top of the stairs with an armful of quilts.

  “I’m up here,” she said.

  Eulis took the stairs two at a time, and then took Letty by the elbow.

  “There’s a woman stirring stew down in the parlor.”

  “That’s Alice,” Letty said, and spread one of the quilts down on the floor.

  Eulis blinked. “Oh. Then that explains her face.”

  Letty nodded. “Her poor body doesn’t look any better.” Then she frowned. “I don’t think it’s proper to talk about a woman’s body to a man, so forget I just said that, okay?”

  Eulis wasn’t about to comment regarding female body parts.

  “What’s she doin’ in our house?” he asked.

  “I hired her to cook.”

  Eulis frowned.

  “I like your cookin’ just fine.”

  Letty kept fussing with the quilts because it was easier than explaining the real truth to herself and to Eulis.

  “She didn’t have anywhere else to go,” she finally said.

  “What do you mean?” Eulis asked.

  Letty dropped the rest of the quilts and lowered her voice.
>
  “She was standing outside the door of one of the saloons in town. I couldn’t make myself ignore what that meant.”

  “Oh.” Eulis laid a hand against Letty’s cheek. “You keep that secret of yours pretty good, you know.”

  “What secret?” Letty asked.

  “That one about your heart bein’ all soft and gentle.”

  “You aren’t mad are you?”

  Eulis grinned.

  “No, but I have yet to see that matter when you’ve made up your mind.”

  Letty grinned back.

  “It will be all right. There’s plenty of room here for her, and it won’t be forever. Just until she heals up good and can find some direction in her life.”

  “It don’t matter,” Eulis said. “If it makes you happy, it makes me happy, too.”

  Letty stilled. The honesty in her husband’s voice humbled her. If she let herself think back to all the times in their past that she’d been downright mean to Eulis Potter, she would never be able to face him again.

  “There are times when I think I don’t deserve you,” she said quietly.

  Eulis smiled, and as he did, his love for her was so strong it made his well-worn face almost handsome.

  “Well now, reckon that might get me a second helpin’ on the stew cooking downstairs?”

  Letty threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly.

  “Seconds on the stew and the dried apple cobbler Alice said she was making.”

  Eulis rolled his eyes.

  “I’m in heaven.”

  A gust of wind rattled the windows.

  Letty turned toward the sound and wrapped her arms around herself, stifling a shudder as a fresh wave of rain began to fall.

  “Lord in heaven, I wish this rain would stop.”

  Eulis nodded. “They might have to move the gold out of the bank.”

  Letty gasped, and turned abruptly.

  “Where to?”

  “Don’t know, but if that water gets any closer to the bank, they won’t have much choice.”

  “Well, that’s not good,” Letty muttered. “There has to be something we can do.”

  Eulis shrugged. “Last time I checked, God was still in charge of the weather. There ain’t nothin’ we can do.”

  “We’ll see,” Letty said. “Meanwhile, come help me lay down these quilts.”

  Eulis picked them up and followed Letty into an empty room down the hall.

  “What are we doin’ here?” he asked, as he spread them to her satisfaction.

  “We’re making a bed for Alice.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  They laid one down, then another to the side for covers.

  “I wish the things that we ordered would hurry up and come,” Letty said, as she continued to fuss with the quilts. “Can’t even make a proper bed up here.”

  “Honey, I don’t reckon as how your Alice will be too worried about the lack of a pillow… not after you as good as saved her from a fate worse than death.”

  Letty walked back to the window. The view from the second floor of their home was grand—even though they were looking at it through a downpour.

  “Eulis?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Remember how flat the land was back in the Kansas territories?”

  “I reckon I do.”

  “I was always afraid of it.”

  Eulis turned to her. Surprise was evident on his face.

  “I didn’t know that. In fact, I don’t reckon I ever saw you afraid of anything… except that day the preacher from back East died in your bed and you passed me off as the man they’d all been waitin’ to see.”

  She shuddered.

  “Lord. Don’t remind me. I thought I was a goner, for sure.”

  “So, why did the flat land scare you, girl?”

  “I don’t know… maybe because it appeared that there was nothing to hold on to. You know how it got when the wind blew. It just went on forever. And in the winter when it snowed, it blew and blew without anything to stop it. I guess I was afraid I’d blow away, too.”

  “You got too much grit to be flighty,” Eulis said.

  Letty shrugged. “Still… I like the way these mountains make me feel. Sort of like I’m being cradled in big, strong arms. You know?”

  Eulis hugged her.

  “I reckon I’d just as soon keep you in my arms, if it’s all the same to you.”

  Letty smiled.

  “You don’t have to politic me anymore. You’re already getting your second helpings.”

  Eulis shook his head.

  “Honey, with you it ain’t ever politickin’… just the plain, honest to God, truth.”

  “So, let’s go eat,” Letty said.

  “I thought you’d never ask,” Eulis said, and followed her down the stairs.

  ***

  Alice didn’t know what to make of Letty Potter, but she was grateful for the job and the shelter. It was shame enough that everyone knew her husband’s weaknesses. To have him jailed was even worse. But it was her little baby that was breaking her heart. Their time together had been far too brief, and not being able to lay her to rest was weighing heavy on her mind. If only this terrible rain would stop—at least long enough for them to be able to put her baby in the ground—she’d feel better.

  A burning ember popped as Alice bent over to stir the stew. A drop of the savory liquid sloshed over the side of the iron pot and into the fire, hissing briefly before it dried.

  The cast iron pot in which she’d baked the apple cobbler was sitting at the edge of the fire to keep it warm, and her biscuits were just about done, but Alice felt faint. She hadn’t done this much physical work in a long time and was still weak from her injuries. But she wasn’t complaining. Far from it. She had a safe, dry place to sleep and food to eat. For now, it was all she could ask for.

  “Somethin’ sure smells good.”

  The man’s compliment was unexpected. Alice ducked her head as the Potters came down the stairs.

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” Alice said. “But I can’t take credit for the stew. Your wife already had that finished before I got here.”

  “Well, we’re proud to have you,” Eulis said.

  Alice ducked her head again. “It’s I who owe you. I was desperate. Your wife’s offer was an answer to a prayer.”

  Eulis glanced at Letty and winked—a reminder to each other of their time together on the Amen Trail, when he’d been a practicing preacher and she, a devoted, but somewhat controlling, companion.

  “Is the cookin’ done?” Eulis asked.

  Alice nodded.

  “Then let’s eat,” he said. “My belly’s been complainin’ for hours.”

  Alice looked startled. They were behaving as if she would be having her meal with them. That couldn’t be right. Surely she’d misunderstood. Then Letty handed her a plate.

  “Here,” Letty said. “You did most of the work so you should get the first dip.”

  “But I’m just the hired—”

  Letty frowned. “Let’s get something straight right now. There is no “just” in this house. Get yourself some stew and quit fussing. Maybe by next week we’ll have us a table and some chairs, but for now, we’re sitting on the floor.”

  Alice took the plate and bit her lip to keep from weeping.

  “The last three nights, I slept in the stable. From where I’m standing, this is a drastic improvement, and I thank you for it.”

  “You’re welcome,” Letty said. “Get yourself a biscuit to go with that stew and step aside before Eulis slobbers all over your shoulder.”

  Eulis blushed.

  Alice grinned, and then winced from the pain of still healing facial muscles. She added a biscuit to her plate and eased her bruised and battered body down until she sitting on the floor with the wall at her back.

  T-Bone had been sleeping in another room, but obviously heard the clank of spoon to tin plate and came to check things out.

  Letty caught movement
from the corner of her eye and frowned.

  “I already fed you,” she said.

  The pup whined.

  “And you stink,” she added.

  T-Bone sat down in the doorway, unaffected by her criticism.

  “There’s a bone in this stew here. I’ll dig it out and give it to him,” Eulis said.

  “It’ll be too hot,” Letty said.

  Eulis grinned. “Well then, he can sit and look at it while it cools.”

  Alice eyed the pair, as well as the rangy pup, and took another bite of her stew, thinking to herself as she ate that these people were unlike any she’d ever known. As for the pup, she remembered it from the alleys down in Denver City. They obviously adopted more than displaced people. She didn’t know how this was going to work out, but for now, she was profoundly grateful.

  ***

  George Mellin could see the rising water from the window of his cell. Every night when he laid down on the cot, he wondered if he’d be alive in the morning, or if he’d just drown in bed. He couldn’t believe his life had come to this. If he had it to do over again, he would never have married Alice, or fathered their child, although the child was no longer an issue. He wondered a bit about the fact that he felt no sadness for her passing, but didn’t dwell on it. This was a harsh land and no place for the weak. It was simply a case of survival of the fittest.

  Still, it seemed he was going to have to face a judge for the disagreements he and Alice had been having. He didn’t consider it anybody’s business but their own, but obviously some did—the some—being that bitch, Letty Potter. If she’d minded her own business, none of this would have happened. Oh, the kid would have died. Nothing could have prevented that. But at least he and Alice would have been back to where they started, which might not have been all bad. At least they wouldn’t have been fighting over dragging that weakling to a doctor—as if they’d had the money for such foolishness. It’s what he got for marrying someone from back east. Those big cities didn’t produce women used to hardships. He should have picked himself a woman who’d been born and raised in the territories. They knew how to make do with little to nothing.

  Now, because of the choices he’d made, he was stuck in this cell, waiting for some stranger to make the decision as to how the rest of his life would go—and all because of Letty Potter’s meddling. When he got out, he was going to pay her back in a big way.