Chapter 19

Walking down the street, I took the time to look at each building and business I passed. I needed to be sure of where everything was in case I was needed for more than a drunken bar fight. A few people passed me going in other directions and all said, “Good evening” to me with me nodding in reply. I made a mental note to eventually get to know the non-drunk, non-cowboy, residents of the town.

There was piano music coming from across the street, in the saloon. That was unusual to me because usually I couldn’t hear the piano over the loud rowdiness of the patrons. I walked across the street, turning back to look at Doc’s office. There were no lights on, I hoped he was getting a good night’s sleep or maybe a good night’s loving. Although I remember Melinda threatening his good times being cut off when they’d argued over dragging or carrying a patient to his office. Another of the town’s mysteries.

I stuck my head into the short bat-wing doors and looked around. There were a few men playing poker and a couple at the bar. There were no girls in the place, so I assumed it was going to remain a quiet night. I waved at the bartender, he returned the gesture and I allowed the doors to swing shut before me. I took a step back and looked up to the balcony of the Sportin’ Club. Usually there would be two or three girls up there giving cowboys a look up their dresses, but not tonight.

I stepped onto the next section of boardwalk and went to the tall bat-wing doors blocking any free views of the girls from men or children. I pushed them open and walked into a quiet room. There were eight girls sitting at tables and three more at the bar. The girls at the table were either reading or playing cards. The ones at the bar were talking and having a glass of something.

As soon as the doors made the sound they make when they swung open, the eyes of every girl in the room turned towards me with a look of joy and invitation, until they saw it was me. Then they turned off their acts and returned to what they were doing. I walked over to Sid and he slid a glass of something over to me.

“Hello Sheriff. Try this.”

“Oh no. The last time you did that, it was tequila and I think my throat is still burning.”

“Yeah, that was funny!” Sid chuckled. “But this is a nice smooth bourbon. Take a little sip and a taste and enjoy it. Don’t just throw it back. Melinda’s in the back working on some bookkeeping. Let me get her for you.”

“Thanks, Sid.”

I watched him go and then picked up the glass. I turned to take in the room and two of the girls at the table raised their glasses to me. I returned the salute and took a sip of the bourbon. It was definitely alcohol but not as harsh as the tequila. It had a few flavors to it. I thought I tasted cherry and honey. I took another sip and swished it around in my mouth for a bit. I tasted several flavors that I didn’t know and let out an approving hum to no one in particular.

“Logan,” Sid announced when he returned. “Melinda says you should come on back.”

“OK, where do I go?”

“Come around the bar and go through these doors and to the right. How’s the bourbon?”

“Very nice. I could get used to this.”

“I’ll remember that.”

I smiled and nodded my head, before finishing the glass. I stepped around the bar and into the door behind it. Turning to the right I saw a corridor that looked like it ran the length of the building. There were boxes on each side and a couple of kegs. I took a few steps and made a crunching sound on what looked like a rough sand and saw dust floor.

“Logan? Is that you?”

“Yup.”

I took a few more steps and turned left into the office. Melinda sat at a nice chair and had all sorts of files and papers in stand-up boxes. There were two lamps on the sides of the desk that gave it plenty of light. I walked to the desk and carefully leaned over it. Melinda rose from her seat and leaned forward to meet me. We kissed twice; once with my head tipped right and again with it tipped left.

“How’s the town?”

“Nice and quiet. I met the lamplighters and stopped in at the orphanage. I met Mrs. Shell and the kids responsible for my nice clean jail.”

“That’s good, but Mrs. Shell scares me. She seems so stern.”

“She’s dealing with a house full of motherless children. I’m surprised she’s got hair. I’d have pulled all mine out long ago.”

We both had a good laugh about that, until Melinda asked, “What are you going to do with all of our children?”

That stunned me just a little so I changed the subject.

“So, tell me. What sort of paperwork are you doing?” I asked, genuinely interested to talk about something else.

“I have to balance the books for the hotel and the Club. Then I have to go over the supplies we have on hand. I have a list of everything we use and a certain amount of each item we need to keep doing business. I call it a build-to list. If I have eight steaks and I usually sell twenty, then I need to order at least twelve steaks to supply a normal day. The same with bottles of whiskey. That way it’s very rare that I run out of something.”

“How do you know if you are going to sell more or less than normal?”

“Well, I have last years’ records to look at, as well as a few years before. If there is a cattle company that always comes through on a certain week, I make sure to load up on supplies based on what I sold the past few years. The system works pretty well.”

I must have had a strange look on my face because Melinda looked at me and smiled.

“No Logan, it doesn’t tell me that I need to have more women for this week or that.”

I smiled and I think I might have turned a little red. I sat down in the chair across from Melinda’s desk and examined the room. It was simple. It had no windows. And it had a safe in one corner and a coat rack in another. Melinda kept writing things in a book and that let my mind wander.

“Hey Melinda?”

“Yes, my love.”

“I asked Mrs Shell how the orphans who did various jobs got paid because I wanted to be sure I had enough to pay the kids that cleaned the jail. She got real serious and sorta short. She said the town gave her an amount that covered all that.”

“Yeah, I pay the town a tax that is my part of the cost.”

“Do you ever give the kids extra for doing a real good job?”

“I haven’t. The work they do at the hotel is always good. It doesn’t ever get better or worse than real good.”

“What about for their ... Oh, never mind.”

“For their what, Logan?”

“I was thinking about a little extra for a birthday, but I’m guessing many don’t know what their birthday is.”

“That could be.”

“When’s your birthday, love?”

She got a nice smile on her face and sat back to show off her breasts.

“What?” I asked wondering what I’d done to deserve the pleasant display.

“I just like it when you call me “love” without thinking about it.”

I smiled in response to that, realizing that I had said it without thinking.

“I was born on May 20^th and I’m not sure I want to say the year yet,” she smiled her little smile that told me she was keeping a secret.

“Mine is on December 29^th,” I replied, before getting very quiet.

I was looking around the office, not really seeing anything as I thought about kids not knowing their own birthday. I assumed that birth dates were assigned to them for legal reasons but unless they came straight from being born, the date would be false. I thought about the bot who was the head lamplighter and the two boys I’d met in the livery. Fine young men, both.

I wondered what my own sons would turn out to be. My own sons? Where did that come from? I must have furrowed my brow at the realization that I’d thought about sons because Melinda noticed.

“Logan? Are you alright? Your forehead is all crunched up.”

“I was just thinking something. It’s nothing.”

“If it makes my man’s face looked troubled, that means it’s not nothing. You didn’t look like that when you came in. Are you upset with me?”