Chapter 15

As they were walking back Tom was talking to Ben when suddenly a small woman came charging out of a door and almost knocked them both down as she stormed up the street. Tom was so surprised that he didn't notice Ben's hand on his arm to steady him. He turned a curious gaze at the sign over the door to see where she had come from when suddenly there was a man in the doorway watching her stomp down the street. He had a sad expression on his face and made a made a big sigh. Tom's curiosity got the better of him and he asked, "What was wrong with her? She almost knocked me off my feet. The man seemed to see them for the first time and sadly shook his head as he replied, "I'm afraid that she is a little upset that she can't find a husband."

Tom was confused, "You mean that a good looking woman like that can't find a husband in a town this big?" The man seemed surprised at his words, then he looked at the pair of them and understanding seemed to fill his face. "You aren't from Kansas City, are you?" As Tom and Ben shook their heads he smiled and continued, "I thought so. Well you see she is a saloon girl, and any man that would want her has probably already had her."

Tom didn't have a clue what he was talking about. He didn't know what a saloon girl was or why she would be there looking for a husband. The confused look seemed to irritate the man, but Tom couldn't help it. He suddenly snapped at them, "You know two bits on her knees, four bits on her back and a dollar all night." Realization suddenly hit and Tom nodded. Now he understood what a saloon girl was. But he still had to ask, "But why would she think that you would marry her?"

As looked at them again he suddenly laughed, "No, no, my boy you don't understand. We are a marriage office. You know mail order brides; arranged marriages for people in different places all by mail. But there was no way that we could find her a husband. Not a saloon girl with two kids. No man would want her." Tom understood now what was going on, but he wasn't sure that the man was right, but assumed that white men saw things differently than the Cheyenne. He thanked the man and they moved off. They met John at the hotel where he was standing out front waiting for them. He noticed that John breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them.

It was a little late but they sat down to have lunch. The woman was a little short with them for not coming in during the lunch hour, but her husband quickly bundled her off to the kitchen with apologies all the way out. As Tom ate he seemed lost in thought, and John and Ben exchanged glances with each other and both of them shrugged their shoulders. After lunch they collected their key and went to their room. They spread their blankets on the floor and lay down to rest. Tom spent his time staring at the ceiling.

It was about an hour later that Tom sat up. John and Ben were still sleeping. He took his knife from boot and silently began to sharpen it. He knew that he could use a pistol probably better than either of them, but he knew that he wasn't as fast. Gray Eagle had seen to that. He also knew that he didn't like guns of any type. He smiled as he realized that most Indians didn't like guns, and it was for the same reason. They loved life too much. A gun made it easy to kill, and anybody could do it. When you didn't have to live with seeing the eyes of the man that you killed, it made it too easy to kill. Killing was something that was done only because it had to be done, and they never wanted to forget that.

Tom noticed when John woke and sat up. Tom nodded to Ben and continued to sharpen his knife. John took his knife out and they both waited for Ben. Tom knew that their constant vigil took more of a toll on them than his part of the job. It was only a short time later that Ben woke and looked at them.

Tom slipped his knife into his boot and told Ben what he wanted him to do. Ben looked surprised but quietly rose and slipped from the room. John looked at Tom questioningly, but Tom was once again lost in thoughts of his own. John considered things and continued to sharpen his knife, and wait until Tom was ready.

It was an hour later that the sun started to go down. Tom looked around and said that it was time to go. John slipped his own knife into his boot and rose to follow Tom. As they passed the clerk Tom pitched the key to him, as they walked to the door.

The saloon was loud and had a number of drunks. Tom noticed that there were quite a few that weren't drunk and from what he could tell they weren't even drinking. He knew that they would be the ones that they needed to keep an eye on. He saw Ben at a table in the corner, close to the bar.

As they slipped into the chairs Tom noticed the glass in front of Ben was empty. He frowned and noticed Ben's embarrassed flush. He couldn't blame him, but he wanted Ben's head clear and sharp.

The bartender showed up with a bottle and two more glasses, without ordering anything he put the glasses in front of them and filled all three. He stood waiting and even though Tom knew what he was waiting for he asked about the saloon girl and described the one that he wanted. The bartender nodded and grunted as he turned to walk back behind the bar. Tom watched as he walked down to the end and stuck his head into a door, then returned to the bar and started wiping out glasses.

Tom noticed her as soon as she entered the room. She wasn't wearing much and it made it easy to see what you were paying for. He watched as the bartender nodded toward them and she boldly walked over. He watched as she sized up the group with an experienced eye. When she sat down at the table she kept her eyes locked onto Toms' own. He smiled as he saw that she had nerve. She wasn't loud, but she kept her voice confined to the table. "If it's gonna be all three of ya, it will cost more." Tom could tell that she had character.

He looked her over closely. She looked to be a few years older than he was, but he could tell that they had been some hard years. Already she had some lines around her eyes and a couple at the corners of her mouth that made her look older. Her hair was almost a white color, but he saw the dark roots and knew that she was trying to look younger. The coloring on her face and lips didn't do a thing to help either. Her eyes were a soft brown, but he thought that it was the softest thing on her. As he slowly looked lower he saw that her tits were small but firm; and her hips weren't as big as most white women. As he looked a little closer he noticed that she even looked skinny, as he could clearly see her ribs behind the thin film. He figured that she wasn't eating very well.

He watched her closely as he spoke, "We were outside the marriage brokers when you stormed out of there today. I wanted to know if you were really serious about looking for a husband." He watched as she flinched then steeled herself. He noticed that her voice didn't change, and she kept her eyes on him, but he did see that they got a hard look to them. "Well, if you came here to laugh, or to try and get something for free, then you can just forget it. I have already been laughed at by everybody in this town, at one time or another; and I won't give you anything for free. I'm not that young or stupid." She looked expectantly as she waited from Tom to speak.

He only said one word, "Why?" She looked at him hard and he did notice that her voice changed; only a little and if you weren't listening closely, then he doubted that anybody else would have noticed. "Why do any women want to get married? They want a husband to settle down and love one man, not a different man every night." She still held his gaze defiantly.

Tom studied her again and said, "Why do you want to get married; The real reason? I am sure that you meant everything that you said, but that wasn't the real reason. Your life has been the same up until now. And now you want to get married; why?" Tom watched as she looked him up and down, then he watched as something inside her seemed to crumble and she hung her head. For the first time since he had seen her, she looked small and frail.

Her voice was weak, but you could still easily hear her, "I might as well tell you. Everybody else will know soon enough. I'm pregnant. They won't let you do what I do with a big belly. Then I will have to take care of the baby. I haven't got enough money saved that I can just stop working for that long, so if I can't find a husband I'll starve." Tom couldn't believe that there was nobody that wouldn't help her, but he realized that he was thinking like a Cheyenne again, not a white man. He asked, "Isn't there some other work that you can do?"

She looked up at him, and saw that he wasn't making fun of her. She barked a short laugh and said, "I work here because I can't do anything else. I can't read or write, I don't know figures, and I am a little small to shovel shit at the stable. If there was anything else that I could do I would already be doing it." Tom nodded and knew that he was developing a respect for her. She was a fighter, and she was fighting the only way that she knew how. He nodded to her showing that he understood.

A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He ducked as he heard the explosions. The movement had not gone unnoticed by John and Ben. Two men fell before he even had his knife out of his boot. Tom watched a scramble as men all over the room were diving under tables. John and Ben were standing as they walked toward the other men holding guns. As soon as one of them raised it to fire there was another explosion. Tom slid the knife back into his boot and slipped back into the chair. He reached down to help the girl back into her chair. She looked up at him like he had lost his mind, but since he didn't seem to be afraid, she decided that he knew something that she didn't. She allowed him to help her up.

Tom watched as the last man dropped his gun and raised his hands. John's gun arched and the man sagged to the floor as it made contact with his head. John and Ben looked over the room, trying to decide if there would be any more trouble. When they were satisfied they cautiously made their way back to the table, but neither one sat as they both leaned against the wall watching for trouble. As the men slowly got back into their chairs they made a point of keeping their hands in plain sight, Tom smiled as he thought that it was a good idea. He turned his attention back to the girl and realized that he didn't even know her name.

She looked again at John and Ben, and then she looked at Tom again. "Does this happen to you a lot?" Tom considered her question then answered her, "I can't say that anything like this has ever happened. Why do you ask?" She frowned then said, "Well you go around with a couple of hired gunmen. Then the way that you dodged out of the way of those bullets, and then you didn't even seem to care what was going on before it was all over. Look mister, you are either the bravest man alive, or the dumbest. I just don't know which." Tom smiled at her words, but he knew that there was no way to tell her that he wasn't either. He just trusted John and Ben, and he knew what they could do.

Suddenly two men rushed into the saloon carrying shotguns. Tom looked at them and quickly shook his head at John and Ben. They relaxed again against the wall. The sheriff and the lazy deputy were waving their shotguns at everybody as they tried to figure out what was going on. Once the sheriff realized that the gun play was over, he relaxed and moved over to talk to the bartender. The deputy kept waving his shotgun as he stood behind the sheriff. Tom shook his head at the actions of the deputy.

The sheriff moved over to examine the bodies of the dead men and Tom noticed that the deputy was walking over to them. When he got to the table he motioned with his shotgun at John and Ben, "I'm gonna have to take them guns, and you boys will hav'ta come along with me." Tom shook his head again and John and Ben just continued to lean against the wall and ignore him. When he saw that they weren't going to hand the guns over he pointed the shotgun at John's chest and leaned down to take his pistol. Before he knew what had happened he found the barrel of John's gun in his mouth and gave a small squeak. Ben gently took the shotgun from his hand and leveled it at him. John dropped the pistol back into his holster.

Tom saw that the sheriff had watched the exchange from across the room. His hand dropped to his boot as he watched the sheriff walk slowly over toward them. He kept his shotgun cradled in his arm and when he stopped beside the table, he nodded his head to Tom and touched the brim of his hat at the girl, "Evening son. Howdy miss Kelly. Seems there has been a little bit of a ruckus here tonight. I sure hate when things like this happen. And son, you can just put your hand back on the table, I could shoot ya before you could even get it out." There was a sudden flurry of movement and the knife was vibrating in a post about a foot from the sheriff's face." He looked from the knife to Tom's hands resting on the table and slowly said, "Or maybe not. But I think that you know that I don't mean any harm to ya, or you would have put that somewhere else." Tom did smile but slowly nodded once. The sheriff smiled and pulled the knife from the post and slid it across the table to Tom. Tom left it lying where it was.

The sheriff turned to John and Ben. "Well, you boys seem to be real handy with them guns of yours, and there ain't no laws against that, but killing folks is another thing. I talked to Fred, the barkeep, and a few of the other boys that I trust to tell me the truth, and what they said was you boys weren't looking for no trouble and you didn't start none. They also said that you didn't kill no-body that didn't deserve it, and you even left one of those skunks alive that needed to be killed."