Chapter 13

After a very vigorous romp in our hotel bed that night, Opal Anne looked up into my eyes and declared, “I swear, Paul that you are trying to get me to be with child again.”

“If I could be sure that I could do that by making love longer, I would stay here in bed with you all week.”

I held Opal Anne in my arms after we separated and enjoyed the warmth of each other and the softness of the bed. It made me think.

“Opal Anne, we are going to have a lot of money in the morning. What say we get a bed like this for ourselves?”

Opal Anne looked at me and slowly traced her fingertip around my lips.

“Paul, we haven’t talked about it much, but I don’t think that we’ll be in the hogan much after the Summer. I think that we are going to be moving to a city.”

She was correct. We had not talked about what we were going to do when we found ourselves filthy rich. We really hadn’t thought about the idea at all. I knew it was going to happen. I also knew that we needed to talk about how to keep that huge fortune in the family.

“What makes you say that?”

“Paul, you’re not a mountain man by nature. Your time in the cavalry has allowed you to accept harsh conditions, but if you had a choice, you would prefer a life with much more comfort than we have now. You know I’m right. So, I figure that we can put up with our bed at home for the Summer and then we can move to a more refined situation.”

“Opal Anne I’m so happy that your bright red hair got my attention back on the prairie. I cannot imagine having a better partner or wife. I really hadn’t given it much thought until I began to see how much gold there could be on the plain. Mr. Banks says that when it’s all said and done, that we could be some of the richest people in the country.”

“If we are, Paul O’Dell, then I expect that you will see to it that our entire line will remain rich and yet retain our humble beginnings. I’ve met some rich men when I was still whoring. Many of them are pretentious assholes. They think because they’re rich that everyone owes them special attention. If you ever get like that, I will get Thumper to straighten you out.”

“Thumper? That damn mule. How the hell did you ever get that mule to be so considerate of you? He treats you like he is your pet.”

“And who is to say he is not? And I got him to be considerate of me by being my usual kind, sweet, loving self.”

I gave Opal Anne a strange look and she pondered that for a bit before it hit her.

“Paul O’Dell! I do not give him the same consideration I give you. I talk kindly to him. I give him oats and sweets.”

“You do the same for me, except for the oats.”

“Paul, are you insinuating that I suck his cock like I do yours?”

“NO!”

“Well that’s good, I have no interest in doing so. Especially since he is a little smaller than you.”

“Flattery will get you far, my loving wife.”

“Will it get you back between my legs?”

“As often as you’d like.”

“I’d like.”

After another rousing romp, Opal Anne and I rose and washed. We had grown to enjoy the shared washing of the others private parts. There was a closeness that came from it that was very profound.

After dressing, we walked downstairs to breakfast in the restaurant. We were drinking coffee and waiting for our food when Rory and Raylene came in.

“Good morning!” I said.

“Good morning, Paul. Good morning, Opal Anne,” Raylene said, smiling.

“You two look well rested,” Opal Anne said with a sly smile.

“We had a good night ... together,” Rory said.

“Hey, I wasn’t going to say anything,” I said, holding both hands up.

“After our talk,” Rory explained. “I had a serious conversation with Raylene. I think that our trading days may be over.”

“Rory told me that he had a talk with you, Paul,” Raylene said. “I better understand your concerns about what the four of us were doing. Betty Mae and I were just having fun. I don’t think that we were taking our marriages seriously.”

Raylene looked at Opal Anne. “What was it they said at the brothel about taking the whore out of the whore? Well, I’m going to work very hard to do that for Rory.”

“What you two do is between you,” I said to Rory and Raylene. “My concern was the moral question of trust. Rory has always been a serious and trustworthy man. The trading of wives made me doubt that. I’ll work very hard to go back to thinking of him in the old way.”

I decided to change the subject before a fight started. “Do you have any idea when Mick and Betty Mae will be down?”

“We heard them moving around in their room when we walked past it a while ago,” Rory smiled as he spoke. “So, I know they’re awake, but I have no idea when they will be coming out of the room,”

“I hope it’s soon,” I said. “The three of us have a meeting at the bank that is going to be very important for you two and your wives.”

“And I,” Opal Anne explained to Raylene, “want to take you and Betty Mae to meet the midwife Paul and I talked to last Winter. She is a hoot and she did a great job of walking Paul through the things he needed to do when I was birthing. You’re going to love her.”

“Love her? She scared the living hell out of me!” I looked at Rory seriously.

“Good morning!”

“Hi Mick, nice to see you able to walk,” Rory said to his older brother. “It sounded like a cat fight in your room last night.”

“You know how loud Betty Mae can get,” Mick said.

“I do, but you understand that is in the past.”

“Yup, and after last night, I don’t think I’m going to mind being Betty Mae’s only man.”

“And I’m not going to mind being Mick’s only woman,” Betty Mae explained, like it was a new idea to her. “Fucking is so much fun when you are committed to the other person.”

Mick kissed Betty Mae and the two joined us at our table. My brothers and I talked about our plans for the morning, while the women talked about the beds and how biting the pillow sometimes doesn’t keep the noise down. I tried to pay attention to my brothers, but those women started talking about our dicks and the tastes and so on. I had to stop them before they scandalized the other women in the restaurant.

“Ladies,” I interrupted. “My brothers and I appreciate your high opinions of us, but we aren’t out in the mountains. Some of the women in here might be a little upset by your language.”

“Paul, if they don’t like it...” Raylene began.

“Whoa!” I stopped her in her tracks. “Stop right there before you get rolling. Let’s just be polite and keep your opinions of our equipment between us. OK?”

After breakfast, the wives returned to their rooms and retrieved the babies and fed them before we began our day. Mick, Rory and I walked over to the livery to pick up our wagon. Shaw was waiting for us, with a cup of coffee in his hand. I told him that I was going to ride my horse, and he quickly brought out my bay and saddled it for me. I thanked him and asked if the sheriff or anyone else was looking for me.

“Mr. O’Dell there were three fellas in here late last night. They got their horses and asked if the wagon belonged to the O’Dell’s. I told them I didn’t know the owners name. They didn’t look to be very happy.”

I thanked Shaw and tipped him a dollar, before joining my brothers outside. We drove over to the assayer’s office and Rory took the wagon around the back while I walked in the front door. The assayer was the same man as my last trip, and he nodded to me as I approached his cage.

“Good morning. What can I do for you?”

“Good morning. I have a large amount of gold I need to have weighed and taken off my hands.”

“I seem to remember you from before. Weren’t you the fella who shot up the Amarillo Kid?”

I looked at him and wondered if this was good or bad.

“My brothers and I had a run in with him and his men. We came out ahead.”

“I remember. So, you got some more gold from your claim? Bring it in.”

“I have it in a wagon that my brothers drove around back. I wasn’t sure how you wanted to handle it.”

“How much do you have?”

“Well, I think it’s about 160 pounds.”

The assayer was dumbstruck. He took a few breaths before he could speak.

“How much?” He looked around like he was afraid someone would hear.

“About 160 pounds. Can you handle that much? Or do I need to arrange for it to be taken to Denver?”

“Denver?”

“Yeah, you know, the big city just North of here.”

“I know what Denver is! I’m sorry, the amount you said took me by surprise. No one has taken that much gold out of the area for a long time.”

“What area?” I asked.

“The area you’re prospecting in.”

“What area is that? To the best of my knowledge that isn’t commonly known. If the location of my claim is known, I’m going to need to get more guns and dynamite.”

“Dynamite?”

“Yeah, I’ll be setting up areas where I can blow up unwanted visitors. If my claim is known, then my family is in danger. I’ll kill anyone who threatens my family, like the Amarillo Kid and the guy we just killed who assaulted my wife.”

The assayer suddenly didn’t look so good. I stood there, in silence, and stared at him, having said all I intended to say. After many long seconds, there was the sound of a bell ringing and that broke the silence.

“Excuse me,” the assayer said. “Someone is at my back door.”

“That will be my brother and my gold. You never did tell me if you were able to deal with the quantity I have in the wagon.”

“You’re really serious about having 160 pounds of gold?”

“I am. Well, I have 160 pounds of dust, but we have worked it so I think I should have about 14 ounces of gold for every 16 ounces of the dust. So, before you go open that door, I need an answer.”

The man looked at me and seemed to be doing some figuring in his head.

“Yes sir, I can handle that much. I’ll weigh it and when it hits the processor, I’ll eat the difference if it’s less than 14 ounces per pound of ore, but I get to keep the excess if there is more gold per pound. Deal?”