Chapter 9

Several streets later, Mr. Pindar and his daughter bade us farewell and split off towards their home, while we continued on the way to ours. Creighton was well past his own home, but was not going to leave, the girl he now considered to be ‘his’ Pauline. No one spoke, even when we rode to the stable. The stableman took charge of the horses and buggy, and my family and I made our way towards our front door.

Creighton dismounted his horse and tied it to the hitching post.

“Mrs. O’Dell, may I come in?”

“Yes, of course Creighton. You will always be welcome.”

Creighton Miller walked to Pauli and took her hand. Paul opened our front door, I entered, then Michelle. Creighton directed Pauli to enter before him and then Paul and he followed. My children and I began to remove our over coats and that was when Michelle finally broke down. She began to shake and cry as the impact of the event began to tell.

“My darling, it’s all right. We are all safe at home now.”

“You killed Karl.”

“Yes I did. I thought that he was going to shoot Paul when he was fighting that bigger boy. I will not allow my family to be injured, if it is in my power to stop it.”

“But you killed him.”

“Michelle, I thought I’d taught you about guns. You never aim a gun at someone or something unless you are going to shoot. And you always shoot to kill. A wild animal or a person may survive a shot and come at you with even more fury. No, if you are going to shoot, you shoot to kill. At that point, in my mind, it was kill the boy with the gun or watch him kill Paul.”

I turned to see an upset and crying Pauli in the calming arms of Creighton Miller.

“Creighton, please take Pauli into the kitchen. Pauli, please start a kettle for coffee. Paul, please see that the house is all locked up. Michelle, come with me.”

Everyone did as I bid, and I led Michelle to the couch in our sitting room. I sat and pulled her next to me and held her tight.

“Michelle O’Dell, I watched your mother shot by ruffians. They were from the same outfit that ambushed and killed your father. I am not going to let the O’Dell clan be killed off by anyone. I never told you the story of your parents deaths. Your father, Mick O’Dell, was attacked by a band of men. He shot and killed ten of them and when he ran out of ammunition, he killed the eleventh attacker with his hunting knife.

“When the people running the outfit found what happened to their men, they sent twenty five men after us at our home on the plain. In the process of defending our home, your mother, Betty Mae O’Dell, was shot and killed. My husband and I killed the remaining men. I will not, ever, allow someone to harm my family. Now if you can’t deal with that, I can send you to live with your Aunt Daisy back in Colorado Spring.”

“She’s not my aunt, mother.”

“And I am not your mother, niece.”

Michelle had to stop and think about that last statement.

“No, you’re not, are you? You’re the woman who took me in and saved me from being an orphan, and all alone,” Michelle O’Dell paused to think deeply for several moments. “Mother, I’m sorry. You’re right on all points. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry my darling. Seeing a man shot at close range is never a pleasant thing. I pray that you’ll never have to see it again.”

We hugged and I wiped a few tears from my niece’s eyes.

“Let’s go have some warm coffee and see what Creighton and Pauli are up to.”

“Probably kissing.”

“Perhaps.”

Pauli and Creighton were, indeed, kissing. It was not the passionate kiss that I’d shared with Paul years ago, but it was a kiss. I thought Creighton was going to have a heart attack when Michelle and I walked into the kitchen and caught them.

“Um ... Mrs. O’Dell ... we ... um...”

“Oh, come along Creighton, we all know your feelings for each other. I will, however, demand that this go no further. A kiss can lead to more. If you two are still on friendly terms when Pauli turns fourteen, I will allow you to go out together. Pauli, I cannot tell you why, but let me just say that if you take this further it WILL have an effect on your future. Not that it may or might, but it WILL.”

I paused to think for a moment and then made a gentle demand.

“I am going to ask both of you to swear on our family bible that you will not engage in any sexual activities until Pauli is fourteen.”

The two looked at each other. Creighton not knowing what to do. Pauli knowing that look from her mother and knowing that it was one of the the most serious expressions she had ever seen.

“Creighton, please stay here,” Pauli said and then got up and left the kitchen. Several minutes later she returned with the O’Dell family bible. Opal Ann had found it among Paul’s things after his death. Pauli gave it to her mother.

“Both of you. I want you to swear before God that you will do nothing more than kissing on the cheek or lips until Pauli is fourteen years old or older.”

Pauli knew something was afoot and quickly placed her hand on the book and spoke confidently.

“I so swear.”

Creighton Miller looked at me and then at Pauli. He was wondering why Pauli had followed her mother’s instructions so quickly and felt something was going on behind the scenes. He had to quickly examine his motives concerning the feisty twelve-year-old. That took him all of three seconds. He lifted his left hand and placed it on the old bible and then raised his right hand.

“I swear that I Creighton Miller, will not have any sexual contact with Pauline O’Dell. I also swear that I will only kiss her on the cheek or lips and will do so until we become engaged on her fourteenth birthday.”

The last part brought a gasp from Pauline.

“Creighton?” She asked softly.

“I love you Pauline O’Dell. Time will not change that. I have no problem making this oath.”

The two children hugged and exchanged a light kiss on the lips. I watched and smiled and wondered how long it would take them to figure out that there may be more cheeks than on the face and more lips than on the mouth. Oh well, a problem for another day.

Charles Pindar was fully and truly smitten. The first time he’d seen her something clicked. It was like taking a bite of food where all the ingredients were mixed perfectly. Everything about her seemed right. He wanted to meet her but didn’t want to seem to be too forward. Then he had a brilliant idea.

“Yes, Father, I know of him.”

“Do you like him?”

“I don’t know him.”

“Would you mind getting to know him?”

“I don’t know. He is quiet. He minds his own business...”

“But?”

“But he’s a boy. My friends will all make fun of me.”

“Please, Patty.”

The man looked at his eleven year old daughter, her curly, flame-red hair bobbing about as she walked around the kitchen as they talked. He thought less of himself for getting her involved with his private life, but he saw no other way.

A couple of weeks had passed since the dance night episode and other than all of us being interviewed by the city attorney, there had been no repercussions. The law seemed to feel that the shooting was justified. Add to that the fact that the boys had been expelled from school and had to live with the death of Karl Happsman, it seemed that further punishment was unnecessary.

The Happsmans buried their son and withdrew from public notice as they mourned their son. Creighton and Pauli remained faithful to their vows to limit their passions to kissing, and Paul and Patty Pindar seemed to become close friends, and Michelle was, well, she was Michelle.

We were planning a family picnic for a coming weekend and our thoughts of the incident were mostly gone. On the Wednesday before the picnic, Pauli asked if Creighton could join us. I’d thought that would have been a given. Paul asked if Patty could join us, and that surprised me. I said yes. Then Michelle approached me.

“Mother ... um ... may I ask a favor?”

“Of course my love.”

“Since, Pauli and Paul have friends joining us for the picnic, I would like to invite a friend to come to the picnic with me.”

“Do I know this boy?”

“Um ... mother ... it’s not a boy.”

“In that case do I know this young lady?”

“You’ve never met her. She is one of the girls I spent all my time with at the dance.”

“Very well. I would like to meet this friend before the picnic, and I would like to meet her parents as well.”

“Um ... mother ... she is a bit more than a friend. Her parents don’t know.”

My mind quickly understood her dilemma. Having lived in a brothel with many whores, the concept of girl to girl love was not a foreign concept. It was a concept I did not think I would ever be revisiting ever again, but here it was.

“Michelle, am I to understand that you feel that this young girl is more than a friend? Am I to understand that she may be a girlfriend? And am I to understand that you have stronger feelings than friendship for her?”

“Yes mother,” Michelle said, and she broke down in tears.

“Don’t be upset my darling. When an O’Dell falls in love it is truly and deeply. I’ll tell you a secret. Your mother and I were very close girlfriends before we met the O’Dell men. There is nothing to be afraid of or ashamed of.”

“I’m more worried for her than me, Mother. Her parents don’t understand that she likes girls more than boys.”

“Well, I can tell you that many times girls like other girls when they’re young because boys are like cavemen. When girls get older, some find that they change to liking boys, some remain liking girls, and some like both. I have no problem with the situation. May I ask the girls name?”

“Her name is Juanita Marcos. She is twelve, like me. Her parents are Catholic and would go crazy if they knew.”

“Well then we will be sure to not tell them. I would still like to meet them before the picnic, though.”

“I’ll ask her to have her parents come over.”

“Good,” I said giving my niece a warm and loving hug.

The Friday before the picnic, we had a visitor. The bell rang at the front door and I opened it to find Mr. Charles Pindar.

“Mr. Pindar! Hello.”

“Good day, Mrs. O’Dell. May I speak with you for a moment?”

“Yes, of course, please come in. I was just going to have a glass of iced tea; would you care for a glass as well?”

“Yes, please. That’s very kind of you.”

“If you will take a seat in the sitting room, I’ll be right back.”

“Thank you.”

I returned with two tall glasses of iced tea, gave one to him, and took a seat opposite Mr. Pindar.

“Well then, Mr. Pindar, what brings you to my home?”

“Mrs. O’Dell, if you will recall, on the night of the shooting incident, I asked if at a later date I might be able to call on you.”