Chapter 2

He nodded and half-turned for the door but stopped and said, “Aw the hell with it.”

With those words he turned back towards me and swung a right from down around his belt. I saw movement and was able to turn my shoulder in time to catch a bit of the hit on it. His fist glanced off my shoulder and hit me just above my left ear, knocking my head sideways. I shifted my weight to catch myself from tipping too far off to the side and falling off the chair.

Using the momentum of my body coming back from the hit, I let go my own right. It was a roundhouse and combined with the speed of my body and my own strength and anger, I caught Arly Conroy square on the side of his jaw with my open hand. The sound of the slap hitting his face was pretty loud.

Arly raised up both hands like he was going to defend himself but at the same time his eyes rolled back in his head and he went back like a felled tree. His hat flew off his head and when he hit the floor that same head bounced off the hardwood floor a couple three times and Arly lay there both arms still out in fighting position.

I took hold of the back of his shirt and vest and dragged him out the door, down the steps into the street and deposited him in the nearest pile of horse apples. Then just because I was still mad and had only had one shot at him before knocking him out, I stepped on the back of his head and rolled his face in the horse apples.

When I’d done that, I was calm and a bit embarrassed that I’d acted that way in public. Of course at that time of the day there weren’t many folks on the streets yet but there was enough to start the tongues wagging.

I went back inside and soon several of the breakfast crowd left; all of them giving me a polite but noticeable once over and nod as they departed. I finished the steak, and another cup of coffee that never seemed to go empty or cold, and just sat there and watched out the window as the town come awake. After a little while I noticed folks walking by the café and looking in the window at me.

Some were casual, some bordered on rude in the manner of their visual examination. After my sixth cup of coffee, I stood and took up my hat. Thelma came over to me wringing her hands and looking worried.

I asked, “Thelma, do you have a bill for me?”

“No sir. We said it would be on the house.”

“Now Thelma,” I said using the same tone a former school teacher of mine used to use on me. “It’s just too nice a day to argue with such a nice lady as yourself. You made me food and coffee. I ate that food and drank that coffee. Arly ate the food and drank the coffee. I noted that he didn’t pay when I dragged him out the door and I said that his meal was all going to be on me. So please don’t argue. And don’t send Otto out to get after me. Just tell me how much I owe you.”

Thelma disappeared for a few minutes and returned with a small pad of paper. She started to read off the breakfast items and I stopped her.

“Thelma, are you going to cheat me?”

She stiffened and with a little tremble to her hands said, “Oh no sir. I would never.”

“Then don’t worry about reading off the various items and their charges. Just tell me how much I owe you so I can leave, happy to have paid my debt, and you can be happy that you didn’t give away any food.”

She looked at me, smiled and apprehensively said, “Four dollars and seventy-five cents, sir.”

I reached into my pocket and took out a $5 Half-Eagle and put it in her hand and before she could say anything, I headed for the door, put on my hat and walked outside onto the boardwalk. I paused and examined the street and the people walking or riding along. The town seemed peaceful. I took out my watch and saw that it was approaching ten-thirty.

With a peaceful mind and a full stomach, I turned towards the hotel and the saloon. I wondered if any of the saloon girls were available. I went to the stable and checked on my horse. He was looking happy and like he’d eaten as well as I had. I brushed him and had a chat with him about Arly and red headed girls and getting back home. He had a herd of mares back home and I’m sure he was wanting to get back to them.

After my little scuffle with Arly, I felt the need to wash up in the tub again and had spent some time looking out the window and reading from the good book that was sitting on the stand next to the bed. It made no sense for me to get dressed so I sat back, naked, a little distance from the window and watched the town as people went from here to there and did their business and lived their lives.

I dozed off a little and my stomach let out a little growl, waking me, so I figured it was time to start the evenings activities. I dressed again and went down to the hotel lobby and approached the man behind the counter.

“I think I’m going to be staying for a few more days and I’d like to pay for the room in advance, including the bath. And tell me, if I were to desire the company of one of the ladies from next door, would any of that transaction involve the hotel?”

“Well sir, the sportin’ ladies from next door do, on occasion, pay visits to some of the gentlemen staying here. They usually meet in the saloon and then go up the back stairs to meet. It doesn’t matter to me, you understand, but sometimes some of the members of the Magdalene Society are greatly upset by the presence of the sportin’ girls.”

“So do I just go to the saloon and grab a girl? Is there a way to tell if some are better than others?”

“I guess it depends on what a fella likes, sir.”

“I guess I’ll talk to the girls. Are the day girls better or worse than the night girls?”

“Yup,” he said with a silly grin.

I shook my head and walk to the swinging doors that separated the hotel lobby from the saloon. The place was not as quiet as this time yesterday. There were four men at one table playing poker. Another four playing faro. The banker and the shotgun guard were in place watching the room.

There was an old guy at the end of the bar. There was a guy sitting at the piano but he wasn’t playing and none of the five women sitting around him were dancing or singing or even moving much.

I walked to the bar and greeted the bartender. He was an older and different man than last night.

“Howdy,” I said in my usual friendly manner. “Give me a whiskey that won’t peel the white off my teeth.”

He chuckled and grabbed two bottles. He set them on the bar and looked me in the eyes.

“This one is smooth for the whiskey we get around here. And this one will make you feel like you can fight a mountain lion.”

“Which one will help me find a lady to spend some time with?”

“Really? In the day time?”

“Day. Night. It don’t matter to me if it don’t matter to her.”

He looked around me towards the five women sitting by the piano.

“Hey Beth! This fella is looking for some company.”

A blonde turned towards me but before she could make a move to stand up a redhead sitting at the table jumped to her feet and exclaimed, “He’s all mine!”

As she rose, I could tell that she was prettier than the others and taller. Her red hair was bright and her face was covered with freckles. I wondered if she was the redhead from last night.

“Aw Red. Sam called my name,” the blonde declared.

“Yeah but I was outside the window last night when that fella was getting into a bathtub and I need to see if my eyes were telling me the truth.”

She began to walk over to me. Her hips swayed nicely and her breasts were moving around the top of her dress like they were sitting on a shelf. I looked at the bartender and said, “Give me a couple of glasses and a bottle of something that will save my life when she gets over here.”

“Sam, give him a bottle of the good stuff.” Then while looking me up and down, she said, “From what I saw last night, we’re gonna need it.”

“How do you figure that?” I asked.

“I was clapping the loudest last night before you closed the curtain and I was still there when you left your shot on the window.”

“Oh, that,” I replied feeling a bit silly. “Yeah, it’s been a while since I even saw a pretty woman, let alone had one watch me.”

“If my memory serves me, you are in room 208, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Not many men call us sportin’ girls ‘ma’am’ you know.”

“Well my folks would probably rise from the grave and whoop me hard if I didn’t address any lady as ma’am, regardless of their attitude or profession.”

“Do you want me to meet you outside your room or would you rather not be seen in the hotel with me?”

“Well let’s start off with us talking and drinking some of this whiskey that I assume will not taste like panther piss. Then we’ll map out a plan. OK?”

“OK, cowboy.”

“The name is Mick but some call me Kid.”

“The name is Fiona but most call me Red.”

“Very well Fiona, let’s go to a table and have a drink.”

I pointed the way and let Fiona go first. At the table I set down the bottle and glasses and pulled out a chair for her. She looked at me, smiled, and took the seat. I took the seat next to her, with my back to the wall. She pulled the cork on the bottle and poured the honey colored liquid into the two glasses. She slid one of the glasses to me and picked up her own.

“Here’s to good whiskey and good times.”

“I’ll drink to that,” I said and she quickly put a hand on my arm, not so firmly as to spill my drink but enough to stop my arm.

“This is good whiskey, cowboy. Don’t just throw it down like the rotgut shit you would have got.”

She proceeded to tap her glass to mine and then gently sipped some of the liquor. I did the same and was surprised to actually find that I could taste flavors. There was the taste of oak, and some sort of a berry, and honey.

“Well, well. I certainly wasn’t expecting that. This is actually very good. Thank you for that and the name is Mick not Cowboy. I’d like to spend a little time with you.”

Fiona leaned over to whisper in my ear.

“It will be worth it, Mick, if what I saw in your window last night was real.”

As she spoke she slid a hand over the front of my britches, finding my hardening cock. She slid her hand along its length for a few inches and then she stopped and looked me in the eyes.

“Good lord, how much farther along does this thing go?”

I put my hand on top of hers and moved it along until it rested at the tip down around the middle of my thigh. She tightened her hand and gripped the final few inches of my now hard cock. As she squeezed, she rubbed as well. She tried to wrap her fingers but the pants were too tight and she couldn’t get her fingers underneath the rigid shaft.

“Do you want another drink?”

“How about we go to my room and share some of this whiskey while we set in the tub.”

Fiona released me and shot to her feet.

“Let’s go, cowboy!”

I stopped her and gave her a rather unhappy look.

“That’s not my name, Fiona.”

She stopped in her tracks and looked at me. My expression must have told her that tonight wasn’t going to be the usual rub and fuck. She leaned over, her teats falling out of the top of her dress and she kissed me on the cheek.

“Mick, I’m sorry. I’m not used to being with a man with manners. I guess I let the thought of you getting that big meat stick out got to me. I’ll meet you up at your room.”

“No.”

She stopped and looked at me, showing a lot of hurt.

“I’m sorry. I guess I’ll go get Beth for you.”

“Now why would you do that, Fiona? I want you to put your teats back in your dress and I want you to walk with me through the hotel lobby as my woman.”

Her expression quickly changed from hurt to amazement, and then to something else. She lowered her gaze and quietly said, “That is very nice but it’s going to cause a lot of trouble. The decent folks in there don’t want to see a sportin’ girl traipsing through their lobby with a man.”

“Well if anyone says anything, I’ll explain to them the error of their ways.”

“Mick some of the folks hereabout are not very nice.”

“Well then I guess I’ll have to give them the lesson in manners their mamas never did.”

I stopped to think for a bit and then had to ask, “Fiona, where do the girls take their meals?”

“We do our cooking and eating out back of the saloon. There’s an old barn where we’ve set up some housekeeping. There are some private rooms with beds if a man doesn’t have the money for the hotel. When the girls aren’t working they sleep there and there’s a small kitchen. We mostly do some rice and beans. Sometimes someone will pay us with a deer or some partridge or geese.”

“Doesn’t sound to steady.”

“It’s not. There’s always the rice and beans and we can always go to the store and buy things.”

“What about the café?”

“Sometimes we’ll sneak into the back when the café is empty. Thelma and Otto are sweet and don’t mind but some of the locals will cause them trouble if they see us in there being too obvious.”

“Well if we’re going to spend some time together, do you need something to eat?”

“I could stand something.”

“Do you have a dress that doesn’t allow your teats to flop around ... or out?”

“Yes but...”

“No buts, go put it on. We’re going to the café and then to my room.”

“The café? But at this time of day there will be a lot of town folks there.”

“So, if we have to we’ll wait for a table.”

“Cowboy, are you just itching for a fight?”

“Nope. Already had one today and the name is still Mick. You just seem to appeal to me and for some reason it feels like it has to do with more than just activities in a bed. So hurry and get dressed.”

Fiona ran out the back door of the saloon and as soon as she was gone Beth approached me. She was, in my eyes, not as pretty as Fiona and her larger teats were fully hanging out of her dress. She walked with a bounce in her step so her teats just bounced and swayed with each step.

“What did you do to run off Red? Looking for something with bigger teats? Something soft for a cowboy to ride on?”

“No ma’am. Red, as you call her, and I are going to dinner.”

“Dinner? As in food at a table? Where?” Beth said with a chuckle and in amazement.

“At the café.”

“Cowboy, you better be ready to mess up that pretty haircut. There are going to be some folks in there that will be greatly insulted that one of us sportin’ girls would go there and be brazen enough to walk in the front door.”

“Well, I’ve already had words with one fella in the café this morning after I visited the barbershop. Fella named Arly. He saw the error of his ways. I assume I can give more guidance to him or others if needs be.”

“Arly! You had a run in with Arly Conroy? And you don’t have a mark on you?”

“Well it was more of a talk than a fight. I explained to him that he was behaving badly and after some persuasion, he agreed.”

“Beth! Leave him alone!” Fiona said as she came running in the back door.

Her dress was flying about her. She gave Beth a look and Beth turned back to the table with the other girls. Fiona smoothed the dress out since running in it had stirred it up. I could see none of Fiona’s charms as the dress went from her neck to her feet.

It went in at the waist due to a black belt fastened there and went out below her waist due to the full and rounded ass I’d not noticed before. And the dress went out above her waist to accommodate the large bosom I’d definitely noticed before.