by Sharon Sala
“Pardon me, madam. I didn’t see you there.”
Letty nodded and wished she still had her handkerchief so that she could dab the sweat off her face and neck, but the last time she’d seen it, it had been stuffed up Morris Field’s nose.
“That’s quite all right, uh… Major?”
The officer nodded. “That’s correct. Major Lawrence Canfield at your service.”
Letty extended her hand. “Sister Leticia Murphy, assistant to Reverend Randall Ward Howe.”
Canfield eyed Eulis. “Sir, you appear to be in need of medical attention. I’ve already authorized the post physician to see to another passenger that was on the stage. What happened to you people? Was there an accident?”
Eulis’s mouth was open, but no words were coming out. Letty could tell something was wrong, but didn’t know what. Still, she could tell she needed to intervene.
“In a matter of speaking,” she said, and then took Eulis by the arm. “Once he gets cleaned up, I think he’ll be fine, but we thank you just the same.”
Canfield bowed briefly and then nodded.
“Let me know if there is anything we can do for you while you are at Fort Mays.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” Letty said, and then stepped aside as the major moved on. As soon as he was gone, Letty grabbed Eulis by the elbow. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Get me to the barracks,” Eulis muttered.
Letty shrugged. “Fine then. Follow me.”
Eulis did, but not without looking over his shoulder every other step.
OLD SINS AND NEW HOPE
The empty barracks building that was set aside for travelers was at the far end of the compound. There were bed linens on a half-dozen of the narrow cots, and a wash basin and ewer on an old sideboard. A cracked mirror was hanging above the basin, and a shaving mug with a shriveled cake of shaving soap stuck to the bottom of the brush beside it. There was a rusty straight razor lying on top of a piece of old linen that probably served as a towel. All in all, it was blood poisoning in waiting, but Eulis didn’t spare it a glance. He was too busy worrying about the Major to give a rat’s ass about shaving or sleeping. As soon as Letty was inside, Eulis shut the door and then peered through a dusty window to see if they’d been followed.
Letty frowned. “Eulis!”
He flinched. “Don’t be yellin’ at me. My head’s hurtin’.”
“I didn’t yell. I just said your name.”
Eulis shifted nervously and then took off his jacket.
“I’m gonna clean up some. You tell me if you see anyone coming.”
Letty’s frown deepened. “What does it matter if—”
Eulis threw up his hands and shouted.
“Damn it all to hell and back, woman, can’t you just, for once, do what you’re told without asking questions?”
Letty bristled. “You don’t yell at me, you old sot.”
“I’m a sot and you’re a whore and we’re gonna both be in trouble if anyone finds out I’m not the preacher I’m pretendin’ to be.”
Letty was pissed. Being reminded of her past didn’t fit in keeping with her new persona.
“You want to say that again, only maybe yell a little louder? I don’t think they heard you at the store.”
Eulis grabbed a bucket in the floor by the sideboard and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Letty asked.
Eulis swung the bucket at her. “Well, Sister Leticia, I’m gonna go get me some water and then I’m gonna pour it in that basin over there. Then I’m gonna strip nekked and wash the goddamned dust off my achin’ body… if that’s all right with you.”
Letty snatched the bucket out of his hand.
“I’ll get the water.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not hiding from anyone and you are.”
Eulis flinched. “How did you know?”
Letty sighed. “I didn’t know for sure until you just admitted it.”
Eulis’s mouth dropped. “You’re sneaky.”
“And you’re lying.”
“It’s none of your business,” Eulis muttered.
“You are my business,” Letty countered. “I’m going to get the water. When I come back, we talk.”
Eulis frowned. “We can’t ’cause I’m gonna take me a bath.”
Letty shrugged. “I’ve seen you naked before.”
“That’s cause I was drunk and you was desperate,” Eulis muttered.
“Now you’re the one who seems to be desperate, so figure out what you’re gonna say, because by the time I get back you’re gonna tell me what’s wrong, and if you’re lying I’ll know, which will pretty much piss me off and we both know that’s not good.”
Letty walked out, leaving Eulis to strip or run, and he strongly feared there was nowhere left to run. By the time she came back, he was sitting on a cot in his underwear and feeling more miserable by the moment. Every muscle and joint was aching from his fall out of the coach, and he feared the clothes he’d been wearing were ruined. It wasn’t his best suit, but he only had one other one, and unless they ran across another dead preacher who no longer needed his clothes, he might be back in buckskins, whether he liked it or not.
Letty poured some of the water in the basin, a bit more in the ewer, and then dug through her bag until she found a piece of lye soap and laid it by the basin.
“You can use some of my soap, but don’t go wasting it,” Letty said.
“I appreciate that,” he said, but when he tried to get up, staggered briefly before dropping back onto the cot.
Letty frowned. “Are you all right?”
“No. I fell out of a moving stagecoach… remember?”
“Don’t be a smart mouth, Eulis Potter.”
“My name is Randall Howe and I’m going to get nekked now.”
This time when he got up he managed to stay upright. He stepped out of his drawers and walked stiff-legged to the basin.
“Want me to help?” Letty asked.
Eulis shrugged. “I don’t mind if you pour that water over my head.”
Letty nodded and picked up the bucket.
“Bend over a mite,” she ordered.
“What about the floor?” Eulis asked.
“Look at it,” Letty muttered. “There’s space enough between these planks to grow ’taters.”
“Yeah, I reckon so,” Eulis said, and bent down.
Letty poured some of the water over his head as he scrubbed at his scalp. When his hair was completely wet, she stopped.
“Wait a minute,” she said, and rubbed the bar of lye soap through his hair.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“It’s my soap.”
“Reckon that’s okay to use in your hair?” Eulis mumbled.
“I don’t see why not,” Letty said. “Be still now. I’m gonna pour the rest of this water on your head, so you go ahead and scrub up that soap. It’ll rinse right out when I pour.”
“Yeah, all right.” Then he added. “I ’preciate this, Sister Leticia.”
Letty stifled a grin. “Sister Leticia would not be caught dead in a room with a naked man. It’s Letty who’s helping scrub down your miserable self and you know it.”
Eulis chuckled a bit. It had been a while since Letty had let herself go, and he realized he missed the old Letty.
Letty emptied the bucket over his head and then gave Eulis a thump on the back to signal she was done.
“It’s empty,” she said. “I’m gonna go fill it up again. When you’re done, I think I’ll take myself a bath, too.”
Eulis picked up the rag beside the shaving mug, sloshed it through the basin, and began to wash the dust from his face as Letty went out the door.
She met Morris on the step. He took one look at her and clasped his hands over his newly bandaged nose. She ignored the implication that she was dangerous and kept on walking.
Morris eyed her carefully until he was sure they were going in different
directions, and then hurried inside, only to come up short when he saw the preacher, naked as the day he’d been born.
“Oh! I apologize for the intrusion,” he said, and started back out the door when Eulis realized he was no longer alone.
“What’s that you say?” he asked, then frowned. “Dang, Morris, you don’t look so good.”
Morris gently fingered the bandage on his nose.
“Neither do you,” he countered.
Eulis sighed and nodded. “I reckon you’re right.”
Morris pointed toward the door. “Sister Leticia…”
“Yeah?” Eulis asked, as he soaped the underside of his chin.
“Well… wasn’t she just in here and—”
Eulis nodded. “Yes, what about it?”
Morris eyed Eulis’s skinny shanks and pot belly, then pointed at his dingus.
“You’re naked.”
“Yeah, well, it’s hard to take a bath without takin’ off your clothes,” Eulis added.
“But Sister Leticia… didn’t she—”
“She went to get some more water so’s she can clean up when I’m done. She’s right partial to her baths.”
Morris thought about it a moment and remembered how she’d been at Forney Calder’s way station.
“Yes, she did insist upon a bath, didn’t she?”
“Yeah, but there was the shit and all. Couldn’t blame her for wantin’ to clean up then, you know.”
Morris nodded then dropped onto the side of a cot. If they weren’t going to be bothered by the situation, he was too tired to care. He glanced down at the dust on his clothes and then eyed the basin of water.
“Do you think I might use some of that soap when you’re done?”
“It’s Sister Leticia’s, but I figure once she’s done she might let you use it, too.”
“What is it I’m going to do?” Letty asked, as she carried in the second bucket of water and set it down on the floor near the door.
Her rapid reappearance startled the men as Eulis automatically cupped his hands over his manly parts and Morris reached for his nose. When she made no move on either of them, they both relaxed.
However, Morris was embarrassed to be in the same room with a naked man, even if he was a preacher, and the woman who was not his wife. He wasn’t even sure they were brother and sister as they claimed, then decided it was to his benefit not to dwell too deeply on these people’s business. Sister Leticia would be a formidable enemy.
“Nothing,” Morris said quickly. “Just nothing.”
Eulis was not so standoffish. “Morris was wonderin’ if he could borrow your soap once you’re done with it,” he said.
Letty frowned. It was one thing to wash up after Eulis, who she’d known for years, but she didn’t know what she thought about letting a total stranger have at it, too.
Morris could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t fond of the idea.
“It’s all right,” he said. “I didn’t realize it belonged to you and I would never presume to—”
“You can use it,” Letty said. “Just make sure you don’t leave any hair on it when you’re done.”
“Oh, thank you, Sister Leticia. I promise I’ll—”
“Save it,” Letty said. “It’s the least I can do after hurting your poor nose.”
Morris patted the bandage. “Yes, well, it was an accident, right?”
“Of course it was an accident,” Eulis said. “She’s a little clumsy, but she’s not outright mean.”
Letty resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
“Thank you for the kind words, Brother Howe, and you’re dripping all over the floor.”
Eulis frowned. “So? We poured water all over it while ago when we were washin’ my hair. A little more can’t hurt.”
Letty chose to complain instead of admitting he was right.
“Aren’t you about done there?” she said.
Eulis dobbed the rag back into the basin.
“I haven’t washed my dingus yet.”
Morris froze. He wanted to look at Sister Leticia but was afraid to.
“Do it and be quick about it,” she said, and then added. “There’s not much of it to wash so it shouldn’t take all that long.”
“You don’t have need to malign my manly parts,” Eulis muttered.
“I simply stated the truth,” Letty countered.
Morris stood abruptly, looking frantically from the preacher to the sister and back again. Neither one of them seemed the least bit bothered by what they were doing, but he couldn’t believe he was hearing this conversation, let alone standing in the room with them.
“I believe I’d best wait outside,” Morris said.
“Good idea,” Letty said. “Brother Howe will be joining you once he’s done.”
“Dang it, Sister, I was planning on taking me a rest. I’m still right sore,” Eulis said.
“I like to do my washing alone,” Letty said.
Eulis slapped the rag back into the water and then began sloshing it up and down his spindly legs.
“I might say the same, but I reckon it wouldn’t do me any good.”
“All you had to do was say so,” Letty said, picked up her skirts and sauntered out of the barracks as if she was trying to sidestep a pile of shit.
Morris shifted nervously. The preacher had as good as asked them all to leave, but if he did, that meant he would be on the porch alone with Sister Leticia. He wasn’t sure his body could take any more abuse.
“I suppose I should give you some privacy, too,” Morris said.
Eulis nodded.
Morris sighed.
“Uh… I’ll just uh… be right outside.”
He nodded again as he dug the wet rag into one ear and then the other.
“Let me know if you need anything,” Morris added.
Eulis didn’t answer and Morris was left with nowhere to go but out.
Letty was sitting on a bench to the right of the door with her arms folded across her chest; her eyes squinted slightly against the glare of the setting sun.
Morris closed the door quietly behind him and chose a seat on the bench to the left of the door, fidgeting some with his collar and his coat while keeping a wary eye on the Sister.
Letty knew he was there, but for the time being she chose to ignore him. Besides, it was hard to look at the man and not laugh. What with his black eyes and the bandage on his nose, he looked a whole lot like a raccoon.
She leaned against the outer wall of the barracks and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the fort, and wondering why Eulis was so spooked, and wondering where they would go from here. Even though it was a bit unsettling not to know where their next meals were coming from, or if they would find a place to set up a preaching session, it was still better than dancing with drunks and sleeping with men for money.
Morris, on the other hand, couldn’t relax. All he wanted to do was hawk his wares at the Sutler’s store, then catch the next stage heading east. Being self-employed had seemed like a fine thing when he’d started on this trip, but that was two months ago. He wanted to go back to civilization where women still fainted at the sight of a mouse, and tended to their men with unswerving devotion. The women out here were far too hardy and independent to suit him.
Then he glanced at Sister Leticia. In his estimation, she was a prime example of what a woman should not be. Outwardly, she seemed feminine enough, but there was something else. He frowned. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was, but she was different. He didn’t know a woman who would have knowingly gone into a room where a man was bathing, but she had. What was that all about? Even more confusing, who were they? They weren’t like any religious people he’d ever known. But then he looked out onto the parade grounds to the mounted soldiers coming and going and the unseen dangers of the land beyond and decided that nothing was normal out here, including the people.
At that point, the door between him and Sister Leticia opened. The preacher
came out.
“I’m done, Sister Leticia.”
Letty got up. “Thank you, Brother Howe.” She glanced at Morris on her way into the barracks. “I won’t be long.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Eulis sat down on the bench that Letty had vacated and then glanced nervously around.
“How’s your eye feeling?” Morris asked.
Eulis touched the one swollen shut and then ran a finger along his busted bottom lip.
“It’s some sore, but I reckon it’ll heal up all right. How about your nose?”
“Broken.”
They both thought about their injuries then glanced toward the door. It was all that stood between them and the Sister.
Even if Eulis was somewhat pissed at her for what he’d endured, he felt obligated to say something in her defense.
“She’s usually a real gentle soul.”
Morris’s eyebrows arched perceptibly, at which point he winced.
“I’m sure,” Morris said, then folded his hands and leaned back. “It’s right hot, isn’t it?”
Eulis shrugged. “It’s August.”
“Since this is my first trip out West, I’m assuming your answer means this is normal temperature for this time of year.”
“Yep.”
“When does it usually start to cool down?”
“First frost or first snow, whichever comes first.”
Morris frowned. This just reinforced his decision to go home. He could always work in Boston. At least there you had warning when the seasons were going to change.
“I’m going to catch the next stage going east,” Morris said. “What are your plans?”
Eulis glanced toward the officer’s quarters. “Not sure. Might head up North.”
“Well, when the doctor was fixing my nose, I heard that someone in Dripping Springs was looking for a preacher.”
Eulis sat up a little straighter. “Dripping Springs? Where is Dripping Springs?”
“I don’t know. You might ask the Major.”
That was the last thing Eulis intended to do, but he wasn’t going to talk to Morris about it. Still, the news that he was needed made him feel a bit better. Now all he had to do was get out of Ft. Mays without being hanged.
He was still trying to come up with a plan when Letty opened the door and came out. She was wearing a modest wrapper and the same slippers he’d seen her wear in her room back at the White Dove Saloon. It wasn’t exactly proper lady-like clothing, but she was all covered up, which was really what mattered if they were to continue their charade.
