by Sharon Sala
“It’s always sad when a good man dies,” she muttered.
“Yes, ma’am, that it is,” Fannie said. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done.”
Letty shrugged. “Trust me, honey. It was nothing.”
“I wish there was something I could do for you in return,” Fannie added.
“The only thing I need is to get this smell off my skin,” Letty said.
Fannie frowned, and tried offering some advice. It was the least she could do, considering the advice Sister Murphy had given her.
“I don’t know how much faith to put in the remedy, but there’s an old trapper who used to come into my father’s barber shop a couple of times a year. I remember him talking about taking a vinegar bath once to get rid of such a smell.” Then Fannie blew her a kiss and hurried away.
Letty sat back down on the bench with a plop, refusing to look up toward the heavens for fear she’d see God frowning down on her.
“Vinegar, hunh? Do you reckon it would work?” When God didn’t send her a sign, she quickly added. “I didn’t lie to the girl,” she said under her breath. “It is always sad when a good man dies. I just didn’t bother to say the good man wasn’t mine now, did I?”
She sat for a moment, waiting for a clap of thunder, or possibly a lightning bolt to come shooting out of the sky and strike her dead.
A cat trotted by, paused to sniff at her feet then hissed and ran away.
She frowned.
“Everyone is a critic,” she said, and made her way across town to the boarding house.
Maybe she’d send Eulis to the mercantile for some vinegar. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to give the remedy a try.
***
Eulis knocked briskly on Letty’s door and then entered without waiting for her to answer. She was lying flat on her back on the bed with a wet cloth draped over her face. Eulis frowned.
“Are you ill?”
“I didn’t say you could come in,” Letty muttered, without removing the cloth.
Eulis looked crestfallen. He’d been so excited about his news that he had forgotten about her extenuating circumstances.
“Sorry. I’ll come back later.”
Letty flung the cloth into the floor and sat up.
“You’re already here, so talk,” she said.
Eulis frowned. Danged if he would ever understand women. The wedding will be tomorrow.
“I’m marryin’ the owner of the saloon to the barber’s daughter. It’s the talk of the town.”
“I can only imagine,” Letty said. “They’re hardly the perfect couple.”
“Oh, that’s not all,” Eulis said. “Up until a few days ago, she had been engaged for some time to a local rancher. Story goes that her old man paid off the rancher to propose, and then promised him a big dowry to boot. Only the fiancé wasn’t being true to his woman. While he was waiting for her father to announce the proper time, he was messing around with one of the whore’s… uh, women… at the saloon. The bride-to-be got wind of it and had herself a fit. Broke the rancher’s nose, blacked his eyes, and ran him out of her house. Then they say she shot at her father and ran him out, too.”
By now, Letty was open-mouthed and in shock. The meek and somewhat homely little woman who’d been asking advice about sex hardly seemed the type who would have pulled such a stunt. Suddenly, she was smiling.
“Way to go, lady,” Letty muttered.
“What?” Eulis said.
“Nothing,” Letty said. “What else?”
“Not much, I reckon,” Eulis said. “Somehow, between that incident and today, she got herself engaged to the saloon owner, and now I’m gonna marry them tomorrow before noon.”
“Two? She had two fiancés?”
“Almost,” Eulis said.
I would be happy with just one. “That’s hysterical.”
“I guess,” Eulis said, then pointed to the wet cloth she’d flung in the floor. “Are you sick?”
At heart? Yes. “No, just sick of smelling myself, which reminds me. Someone told me that a vinegar bath would help take away this smell. I want you to—” Then she caught herself. The demanding tone in her voice wasn’t right. “I’m sorry. I meant to say… would you mind going down to Mercer’s Mercantile and see if they have a jug of vinegar? I’m willing to give anything a try.”
“Yeah, sure,” Eulis said, and patted his pocket, feeling the coins jingle as he did. “Which reminds me, Myron Griggs, the future bridegroom, was so happy to see us that he’s sort of gone overboard on payment.”
Letty’s eyes narrowed. “How so?”
“Well, someone told him about the mule and the blind mare, so he’s giving us a wagon and team, and a grubstake to get us going.”
“You’re not serious?” Letty said.
“Dead serious,” Eulis said. “And there’s more.”
Letty leaned against the bed post. “I’m afraid to ask.”
“There’s talk in town of a gold strike in the Rockies.”
Letty’s heart skipped a beat. “Gold?”
“For the taking. Anyone can stake a claim.”
“Are you giving up preaching?” Letty asked.
“Not totally,” Eulis said. “If the need arises, I reckon I could always… well… you know.”
Letty was frozen with fear. After all they’d been through, was it coming down to this? She would rather be dead than go back to being a whore.
“So, what do you think?” Eulis asked. “Would you like to give this a try?”
“You mean I’d go with you?”
Eulis frowned. “Well, yes. We’re in this together, remember?”
For a moment, Letty was too moved to speak. She cleared her throat and got up from the bed, retrieved the wet rag from the floor and dropped it into the basin.
“Of course, I remember,” she said. “Now go see if they’ve got that vinegar. I don’t want to be smelling so bad I can’t go see that wedding tomorrow.” Then she grinned. “If it’s your last one, I don’t want to miss it.”
Eulis slapped his leg and laughed as he ran out of the room.
Letty sat down on the side of the bed.
“Gold. He wants to find gold.” Then she started to laugh. “Well, why the hell not? We’ve already found religion, and for two sinners like us, that was near to impossible. After what we’ve been through, finding gold oughta’ be easy.”
BLESSED ASSURANCES AND THE HIGH ROAD
There was a glint in Fannie Smithson’s eyes as she fastened the makeshift veil to her hair. Her father had already yelled at her once to hurry or they were going to be late, but she wasn’t worried. Myron knew she was coming and he would wait.
With a last look in the mirror, she pinched her cheeks to give them more color, tucked a stray lock of hair beneath her veil, and tugged at the neckline of her dress. It was her newest dress, only a year or so old and it was yellow, which was her favorite color. For the first time in her life, she actually felt beautiful, and she knew it was because Myron loved her.
Before this day was out, she would be a married woman in her own house. It was with no small amount of relief that she learned Myron had a house on the south side of town. At least they wouldn’t be living over the saloon. She couldn’t help but wonder what the house would be like, and then accepted the fact that she didn’t care. It would be hers—and she wasn’t being married to a man who had needed to be bribed to propose.
She felt a moment of sadness; longing for her mother’s arms around her, but her mother had been dead all these many years, and she’d been doing just fine on her own. Confident she had it all under control, she lifted her chin and walked out the door without once looking back, willing to leave the only sanctuary she’d ever known to be Myron Griggs’ wife.
***
Letty poured the last of the vinegar into the basin. It was her third bath since last night when Eulis had brought her the jug. Truthfully, she couldn’t tell if it was helping or not. The scent of skunk was so strong in her
nostrils that she feared she’d never smell anything else again.
Last night, when she’d tried without success to fall asleep, she’d even snorted some vinegar up her nose in hopes that it would clear out the scent, but all she succeeded in doing was strangling. She’d coughed and then puked, and this morning, her tongue was sore and a tiny bit numb, as if she’d eaten something too hot.
Lesson learned. Do not inhale vinegar, no matter what the need.
Now, in less than an hour Eulis was going to marry Fannie Smithson to Myron Griggs. As the traveling associate of Preacher Howe, it was her duty to be in attendance. But unless this last vinegar bath did more good than the other two, she was going to be standing a good ways downwind.
She was scrubbing at her arms when a knock sounded on the door.
“Sister Leticia… it is I. May I enter?”
Letty rolled her eyes. Eulis was obviously already walking in preacher shoes, so she gave him back an equally flowery response.
“But, of course you may enter.”
Eulis was all the way in the room before he realized Letty was naked from the waist up.
“Oh! Uh… I… you said to—”
“I know what I said,” Letty said, doused the rag back into the basin of vinegar and then swiped it across her breasts. “And don’t act like you’ve never seen these before.”
Eulis flushed. “Maybe so, but it wasn’t like I was tryin’ to sneak a peek. So don’t go gettin’ all prissy with me about them things. I sure as hell have seen better.”
Letty chose to ignore the slight to her physical appendages and pointed the vinegar rag in his face. “You said, hell.”
Eulis flushed. “It’s your fault,” he said. “You made me forget myself.”
She thought about it for a minute as she finished up her bath, then knew it was time for them to face a few facts.
“No, Eulis, you didn’t forget anything. You were just being yourself. Maybe the other day you were right about the preacher thing. I don’t think it’s working for either one of us.”
Eulis slumped against the wall as Letty tossed the rag back into the basin and reached for her shirtwaist.
“And don’t feel bad about cursing. I have back slid a time or two lately. Maybe the gold fields are the place for us after all.”
Eulis looked up. “You think so?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but if we go there, we’ll find out, won’t we?”
Eulis smiled. “Yeah. You’re right, we’ll find out.”
Letty followed Eulis out the door, taking care to stay a distance behind, just in case the vinegar wore off before the service was over.
***
Fannie Smithson was a blushing bride. She clung to Myron’s arm as if it was a lifeline, while accepting the good wishes of the citizens of Dripping Springs. They’d come out in good numbers to see this wedding and whatever fireworks came with it. Griggs had let it be known that he was enamored of his bride-to-be, even going so far as to defend her honor by punching out her ex-fiancé, Harley Charles. But it was nothing to what Fannie, herself, had done to Harley. More than one resident of Dripping Springs had seen Harley crawling out of the Smithson house on all fours. It was the talk of the town, and nobody wanted to miss the wedding in case there were more fireworks to be seen.
The wedding had commenced without problems, and just as the preacher was asking if there was anybody who knew why this ceremony should not take place, all eyes turned to Harley Charles, who was standing at the back of the crowd with Lola from the saloon on his arm.
He’d looked startled to be singled out, and responded angrily.
“What are you all looking at?” he yelled. “Griggs can have her. I damn sure don’t want her.”
There was a long uncomfortable silence. Fannie went pale and shrank back against Myron in humiliation. In turn, Myron took the affront to his intended as personally as if it had been said to him. He doubled up his fists and his face turned red from anger.
Eulis realized if he didn’t do something, there would be a fight before anyone could say, I Do. He shook his head at Myron, as if discouraging him from following through on what he was thinking, and then stepped forward to address Harley, himself.
“Amen, Sir, and from what I hear, the feeling was mutual. The Good Lord loves honesty. How astute of you to realize that the best man won.”
Laughter rippled through the audience. Fannie lifted her chin once more and cast a nervous glance in Myron’s eyes. When she saw him wink, she breathed a sigh of relief. Once more the preacher resumed his duties. Harley was old news and all eyes were on the bride and groom.
***
Due to the direction of the wind and the heat that had revived the skunk scent on Letty, she was standing at the back of the crowd. But she had seen the pain on Fannie’s face and knew first-hand the shame of being second best. And, since she and Eulis were giving up the preaching life and heading for the gold fields, she felt safe in giving Harley a little something to remember them by.
She sauntered up to where he was standing, eyed the woman on his arm as well as the henna rinse on her hair, and recognized her for what she was.
“Nice dress,” Letty said.
Lola gave Letty a hard look. Even though the preacher’s woman was wearing regular clothes, there was a tilt to her chin and a glint in her eyes that was more suited to Lola’s way of life.
Letty smiled, but it was a cool, calculating smirk that matched the jab of her words.
“I had a dress just like it about three years ago. Course it’s a long ways from nowhere out here. Stands to reason that the fashions would be out of date.”
While Lola was still smarting from the slight, Letty turned to Harley.
“Too bad about your face,” she said. “You must have been a nice looking enough fellow once.”
Harley’s face turned a dark, angry shade of red. “Lady, how dare you!”
Letty shoved a finger against Harley’s chest.
“Heard about your last visit to the Smithson’s. It’s a damn shame Fannie didn’t shoot you while she had the chance,” Letty said, eyed Lola once more, then grinned at Harley as she shook her head. “Man, oh man, you are the prince of losers. You gave up a woman who cooks food fit for a king, keeps a spotless house, and who knows ten ways to bring a man to the point of ecstasy, four of which are without using her hands.”
Harley’s mouth went slack, revealing the space where his three front teeth used to be.
“Uh—”
Letty leaned forward until her mouth was against his ear.
“I know this, because I told her how. In fact, I taught her everything I know.” Then she put her hands on her hips and thrust her breasts outward in a sexual taunt, to assure him she knew of what she spoke.
Harley looked sick.
Letty grinned. It was time to finish him off.
“It must make you crazy to know that for the rest of your life, the only women who’ll ever have anything to do with you again are the ones that you have to pay.”
Harley gave Lola a wild-eyed look, and when she flushed and looked away, he gasped. Cursing beneath his breath, he shoved Lola out of his way and headed for his horse. Dust from his hasty departure was still thick in the air when Eulis finally pronounced Myron and Fannie husband and wife.
A cheer erupted.
Letty eyed Lola with disdain. Lola glared back.
“You smell like a skunk,” Lola said.
“Mine will wear off,” Letty said. “What’s your excuse?”
Lola doubled up her fists.
Letty leaned forward. “Honey, trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to mess with me.”
There was something in the tone of Letty’s voice that got Lola’s attention. Instead of punching Sister Leticia in the nose as she’d intended to do, she stomped her feet in frustration, and took off in a huff.
Letty sighed. Not one bit of that had been proper godly behavior. Her redemption must be wearing off. She was
going to have to get Eulis to say a prayer for her soul. Then she glanced back toward the happy couple, eyed the preacher dressed in black, and headed for the rooming house. If they were going to go panning for gold, she was likely to need a different kind of wardrobe.
***
Emory James was forty-seven years old and just under five feet, six inches tall. His elongated face was partially hidden beneath a long, red beard and even longer hair. He was a trapper by trade and a scoundrel by nature. He’d gotten away with thievery and fraud so many times that he’d come to believe he was impervious to the rules and laws that others lived by. He’d made a pretty good living at it for a good number of years, and then he’d run afoul of an Apache half-breed who called himself Black Dog.
If he’d known the Kiowa woman sitting on the Appaloosa pony outside the Sutler’s store at Ft. Mays had belonged to a man who didn’t like to share, he would have left her alone. But it had been almost a year since he’d seen any sort of female that didn’t walk on four legs. He’d manfully ignored the long scar down the right side of her face and neck and offered her some beaded necklaces for a roll in the hay. The upside of their meeting was that she’d taken the necklaces and giggled all the way to the livery stable where their rendezvous was about to take place. The downside of it was that Black Dog found his woman down on her knees with her face in Emory’s crotch. He’d managed to get away, only because the Kiowa woman had thrown herself at Black Dog’s legs, begging for forgiveness. Black Dog promptly pulled out his knife and cut off her braids, alerting Emory to look anew at her scar and accept the possibility that this had happened before. When Black Dog started beating on the woman instead of taking the knife to Emory, he took that as a sign that he would not die today. He managed to escape by riding out of Ft. Mays just as the sun was setting, ensuring himself at least an eight hour lead before Black Dog could see where he’d gone.
What he hadn’t counted on was the half-breed’s dogged persistence. It was two weeks and counting since he’d traded beads for some booger, and the son-of-a-bitch was still on his trail.
