“Justice Samuelson left on a stage ten minutes ago,” Bert exclaimed.
“What?”
“I saw it with my own eyes.”
“All right,” she said between bites of biscuit. “Let’s go find the mayor and see what the hell is going on.”
***
“I was just coming to see you,” Mayor Montgomery said, meeting them in the street outside of the Marshal’s Office, across from the General Trade. “Justice Samuelson left a little bit ago after finishing his inquiry.”
“That’s it? I thought he was meeting with Doc Vernon?” Jessie asked.
“He decided he didn’t need to.”
“I’m glad he’s out of the picture…what about the newspaper column?”
“It’s a public service announcement. He won’t budge on changing it, and he won’t give me the details on the number of transports that have been attacked.”
“I thought you two were friends?” she questioned.
“We go way back, but he’s a territory justice, and with that comes a little arrogance and a lot of power. They walk a fine line, just like any politician.”
“Remind me never to get into politics,” Jessie mumbled.
The mayor laughed. “You’d never be able to walk that fine of a line.”
“You’ve got that right,” she said.
TWENTY-TWO
Jessie held Ellie’s hand as she walked next to her. “Keep your eyes closed,” she said, watching the ground to make sure she didn’t trip.
“I am,” Ellie replied excitedly.
The large tree they were married under came into view as they crossed over the streaming creek. A blanket was spread out on the ground in the spot where they’d had the ceremony, with a picnic basket sitting on the corner.
“Okay,” Jessie blurted when they were only a few feet away.
“Oh, my!” Ellie beamed. “What is all of this for?”
“It’s been three weeks since we stood here and committed our lives to each other. I know things have been a bit crazy, with the justice in town last week, and all of that, but I wanted you to know how much you mean to me.”
“This is so sweet of you.” Ellie kissed her cheek before sitting on the blanket and tucking her legs under her.
Jessie sat down next to her and opened the basket, pulling out a large slice of brandied peach pie and two forks.
Ellie laughed. “I remember you bringing this to me in the store.”
“I also have this,” Jessie said, removing a flask and pouring the liquid into two mugs.
“Is that mint tea?”
“Sure is.”
“Where did you get that? I ran out of those leaves a while ago.”
“It just so happens Miss Mable didn’t use all of her leaves. She made tea for the girls, then hid the rest for herself.”
“How did you know this? Have you been hanging around that place?”
“Of course not. She is my friend, Ellie. That’s not going to change. However, the mayor told me. I happened to ask him if he’d bought any tea leaves recently, and he told me about this wonderful tea that she’d made for him when he visited last. So, I went to see if she had anymore, and she did.”
Ellie nodded.
“I’d never step out on you, Ellie. That I promise.”
“I believe you, and I know you’d never lie to me.”
Jessie picked up a cup of tea, handing it to her, before grabbing the other one for herself. “You know, I fell in love with you the day you made this for me…even if it wasn’t for me.”
Ellie smiled. “Can I tell you a secret? It really was for you. I got nervous and said it wasn’t.”
“I knew it!” Jessie exclaimed, shaking her head.
“I fell for you over this pie though,” Ellie said, taking a bite. “I couldn’t believe you’d brought it to share with me. No one has ever done that before. I knew then that I couldn’t say no if you ever asked for my hand.”
Jessie wrapped her arm around her and leaned closer, kissing her softly as the sun began to set over the mountain in the distance.
“If I’d known it was this beautiful out here, I would’ve picked sunset for our ceremony, instead of noon. It looks like someone reached up and painted the sky,” Ellie whispered.
“I’ve seen some of the most stunning sunsets over the years, but nothing compares to this one, right now,” Jessie said, holding her close. “Can I ask you something?” she murmured.
“Sure.” Ellie smiled.
“Why didn’t you and your husband have any kids?”
Ellie stiffened in her arms. “I…uh…we wanted them,” she muttered, “we tried, but it didn’t happen,” she sighed. “Why? Do you want kids?”
“It’s just something Bert was going on about.” Jessie kissed the side of her cheek. “Besides, us having a kid together is impossible.”
“I accepted that I couldn’t have kids back when it didn’t happen for Corny and I. So, when I agreed to marry you, the idea of having them, never crossed my mind.”
Jessie felt Ellie relax once more as they watched the sun’s rays, disappear into the mountain.
***
As soon as the sun was completely gone, they packed up and headed home. “There’s something else I want to show you,” Jessie said, helping Ellie out of her clothes.
“Oh, really? And what might that be?” Ellie asked playfully as she began unbuttoning Jessie’s vest.
“You’ll have to wait and find out,” Jessie teased.
With their clothing removed, the two women stepped over to the bed, trading kisses along the way. Ellie lie down on her side, and Jessie mimicked her position. Gentle kisses turned into passionate lip locks with wandering hands and tender touches.
“Are you ready for me to show you?” Jessie whispered, nibbling her ear.
“Yes,” she exhaled.
Jessie rolled Ellie to her back and got on top of her. They shared another heated kiss before Jessie moved down, tracing a path across Ellie’s chest with her tongue, circling her nipples before sucking them between her lips.
Ellie tried to control her labored breathing as she watched her work lower, gliding her tongue over her stomach, then down to her hips, before pushing her legs further apart.
Jessie looked up at Ellie, meeting her eyes as she softly ran her tongue over the glistening folds.
“My God!” Ellie cried out.
Jessie kept going, adding a little more pressure with each passing stroke, back and forth. Ellie writhed under her with her body out of control. Her head was spinning, her spine trembling, and her heart thumping like it was about to jump right out of her chest. She feared she wouldn’t get enough air, she was breathing so fast, as she put her hand over her mouth, trying to quell her moaning, but in the end, she just didn’t care. Her body had never felt anything like what it was going through at that moment.
Jessie held her thighs apart and slipped her tongue inside of Ellie, thrusting in and out, before going back to her center, licking in lazy circles. She continued the same pattern of circles and thrusts until Ellie tightened like an extended rubber band. Pulling away, she kissed the same pattern back up her body, stopping at Ellie’s lips, where they shared a sultry kiss.
Ellie leaned back slightly, still breathless. “I’ve never…no one’s ever…” she tried to speak. “What was that?”
“Another part of making love,” Jessie whispered, kissing her again.
“I have no idea what you even did.”
Jessie smiled. “I can do it again, if you want.”
“Please do,” Ellie murmured.
***
A summer rainstorm passed over the next couple of days, dropping a lot of rain and bringing heavy winds that caused some damage on a few buildings, and large pot holes to form in the street. Mayor Montgomery worked a deal with the miners to make the repairs to the street, while business owners had to fend for themselves, making their own
building repairs. Luckily, Jessie and Ellie had gotten away unscathed, as the General Trade was well built. The Marshal’s Office, however, wasn’t so lucky. They’d gotten a roof leak at some point, causing some flooding in the jail cells. The mayor also had the miners make those repairs.
By the time things settled back down again, it was the fourth of July and everyone was having a good time, which meant Bert and Jessie were on high alert.
“There’s no telling who snuck in a gun to shoot it off,” she said as they entered the Rustler’s Den, which was crowded with people. Couples danced to the piano tune, and gamblers crammed around the Faro game and Dice table. The rest of the patrons were either lining the bar or gathered around the sitting tables. Jessie’s usual table was occupied, so she and Bert stood with their backs to the wall, near the bar.
“Coffee?” Elmer asked loudly.
“Not yet,” she answered, scanning the large room.
Lita was on the dance floor with a rancher, spinning around and twirling her cinched skirt. Seeing Jessie looking her way, she began moving provocatively against the man, who seemed to be enjoying every minute of their dance.
Jessie continued observing the room, barely noticing the harlot who was trying to get her attention. She motioned for Bert to check the Faro game, while she moved closer to the Dice table, both searching for hidden guns.
“Come on lucky eight! Who’s with me?” Nicolas Munroe cheered. He was leading the charge as the castor at the Dice table, rolling winner after winner, around a pile of silver trade dollars. After another winning roll, which gave him the pile of coins, a few players started making comments.
Jessie moved in closer, as if she were about to set down money to play, but she snatched the dice up instead, just before Nicolas could retrieve them with the dice stick.
“Hey!” he protested. “Wait your turn, Marshal!”
“Your turn is over, Mr. Munroe,” she said, examining the dice. Sure enough, they were not the house dice with the letters RD etched on the side with one dot.
“Excuse me? You can’t come into a middle of a game and decide when someone’s turn is over. Don’t you know the rules, or do you just do whatever you want and take what isn’t yours?” he spat.
“I suggest you leave for the night and cool off. We don’t need any trouble in here,” she replied.
Bert stepped up beside her as backup.
“You’re the one causing trouble. We’re playing a game here, Marshal!” one of the men yelled.
“The only person playing a game here is Mr. Munroe. He’s been running a scam on you all evening.” She held up the dice. “These are not house dice. In fact, they’re weighted to specifically land on the numbers he chooses.”
“You hustling piece of shit!” one man yelled, lurching at Nicolas.
“She’s lying!” Nicolas spat. “You’re going to believe this good-for-nothing, with no morals, over me? I’ve been playing this game with you boys for weeks. We’re all friends here. You know me. What do you know about her? Other than she steps in where she doesn’t belong and isn’t wanted.”
“I’ve had about enough of your mouth,” she yelled yanking him out of his seat, shaking his arm sleeves in the process. two white dice flopped out of his left sleeve, rolling to a stop in the middle of the table. Jessie grabbed them, noticing the etching marks when she turned them over in her hand. “Gentlemen, these are the house dice.”
“You son of a bitch!” one of the guys shouted, lurching for Nicolas.
Bert held him back.
Jessie stuffed the cheating dice in her vest pocket. “Mr. Munroe, it’s best that you leave this town, preferably tonight. Otherwise, I’m going to lock your ass in the jail until you shrivel up into nothing, you spineless weasel!” she growled, shoving him through the crowd. “Get your ass out of my sight!”
Players of the game cheered while other saloon patrons questioned what was happening.
“Bert, split this pot between all of those men who were sitting here playing with him,” she said.
He nodded and began counting as she walked over to the bar.
“It’s about time you threw him out of here. I was afraid one of those miner boys would kill him if he won anymore rounds,” Elmer said, shaking his head. “I figured you were about ready for this,” he added, sliding a cup of coffee to her.
“They probably will anyway, if he doesn’t leave town,” she replied, reaching for the mug.
Bert finished divvying up the coins and left the table with the house dice so they could restart their game.
“What a mess,” he said, walking up next to her at the bar. “Do you think he will leave?”
“If he knows what’s good for him, he will.”
“Jessie Henry, I’m calling you out!” Nicolas Munroe shouted from outside the saloon, shooting his pistol once in the air. The sound of the gunshot grabbed everyone’s attention.
“He’s lost his mind,” Elmer muttered.
“You took her from me and you know it!” he continued yelling from the street. “She was going to marry me!” He shot again.
“You think you’re a man, come on out here and stand up to me like a man!” He holstered his pistol, walking closer to the saloon doors. “I’m calling you out, you coward!”
“What are you going to do?” Bert asked.
“I’ve enough of this shit for one night,” Jessie growled.
Everyone watched as she turned and walked out the door. Bert rushed after her for backup, but it was too late. Jessie drew her gun, firing in Nicolas’ direction before she was even off the sidewalk. The bullet blew through the center of his top hat, knocking it off his head. Nicolas dove to the ground, wide-eyed with fear.
“You just tried to kill me!”
“If I’d wanted you dead, you’d be dead,” she said in a low, menacing tone. “Give me that gun before I shoot it off you!”
With shaking hands, he pulled his pistol, handing her the butt of it.
“I ought to pistol whip you with your own gun!” She shook her head. “Get on a horse.”
“What horse?”
“Any God damn horse!” She spread her hands around to the array of horses tied to hitching posts. “Pick one and ride off, right now before I change my mind. If I ever see your sorry ass again, or I hear of you uttering a word about my wife or my marriage, I will shoot you dead. Do you hear me?”
Nicolas nodded.
“Now!” she shouted.
He jumped up off the ground, running to the nearest horse.
“What you just did is illegal. You can’t threaten a man’s life because he said something that hurt your feelings,” Otis muttered from a few feet away.
Jessie drew her gun, aiming it straight at his head.
“Whoa!” he gasped, throwing his hands up. ‘I’m unarmed! You all see this, she’s trying to shoot an unarmed man!”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Otis!” she spat. “Put your damn hands down.” She flipped her gun around so that she was holding the barrel as she stepped close to him. “If you don’t stop with your insults, I’m going to pistol whip you,” she said low enough for only him to hear. “When I’m finished, you’re going to wish I had shot you instead.” She holstered her gun, then pretended to draw it quickly, but only used her hand as a gun when she pointed it at him.
Otis jumped back, thinking she was going to shoot him, and landed on his butt in the horse trough. Everyone laughed.
“Serves you right, you old drunken bag of bones!” she chuckled as she went back inside the saloon. “Come on, folks. Show’s over.”
“You scare me sometimes,” Bert said, shaking his head.
“Why? Did you really think I was going to kill Mr. Munroe or actually shoot Otis?”
“I knew you wouldn’t, but I felt like you might.”
She shrugged. “You’re right, a person can only take so much. If you don’t show authority, you will get run over time and time again.�
�� She grabbed her coffee mug, taking a sip. “Besides, I’ve told you before, I take personal threats on my life seriously. Now, him running off at the mouth about Ellie, that’s just something you don’t do. When you speak ill of someone’s wife, that’s as good as calling them out.”
“I agree. If someone ever spoke ill of Molly, I…I’m not sure what I’d do,” Bert replied.
***
Jessie spent the next morning explaining her actions to the mayor. He agreed that tossing Mr. Munroe out of town was a wise decision, albeit he wasn’t too happy about her way of going about it.
On her way back to the Marshal’s Office, she noticed Ellie standing outside, peering down the street in the opposite direction.
“Looking for someone?” Jessie called.
Ellie spun around, holding her hand up to mask the sun shining in her eyes. ‘There you are!” she exclaimed, holding her skirt up as she rushed over to her. “What’s this I hear about you shooting Mr. Munroe last night? You only said things got out of hand at the saloon.”
“They did…or rather he did.”
“So, you shot him?”
“I didn’t shoot him…I scared him. He deserved to be shot, though.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ellie questioned.
“He’s a no-good scoundrel, and we didn’t need him in this town.”
“There goes the only buyer for the theatre,” she muttered, shaking her head.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I don’t know what to believe. Since when do you go around shooting at people? I heard you shot at Otis, too!”
“I did no such thing. I drew my hand like a gun and he was so drunk and paranoid, he fell in the horse trough.”
Ellie tried not to laugh. “Well, you still shot at Mr. Munroe.”
“He called me outside, planning to shoot me first! Or did whoever gossiped to you forget that part?”
“I didn’t hear that.”
“I’m sure you didn’t. He was out in the street, shooting his pistol like a buffoon, yelling for me to come outside and face him. He said you wanted to marry him, but I asked first, stealing you away. Is that true?”
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