Chapter 2

After breakfast, I did feel a little bit better, but I sure hoped that the Earth didn't get bumped. I didn't think that my head could have withstood the shaking. Dammit, who was I kidding? I went back to my bed and went to sleep. The world could go to hell for all I cared!

I woke up in time for supper, and I went to the Mexican restaurant for a good supper. I still wasn't up to my best self, so I thought that I ought to stay out of saloons this night. I walked around town for a little while, but that was about as boring as life could get. I just went back to bed, figuring that I could at least stay out of trouble that way.

The next morning, I was up before the restaurants opened. I put on my dress and donned my shoulder holster with the automatic. I put on my light jacket and went to breakfast in the hotel restaurant. I was finally feeling good, so I was able to fetch my buckboard and drive home.

One does not expect trouble in the middle of the morning, but I heard shooting just before I rounded a curve. I was fully prepared for trouble, so I was greatly surprised when I saw one of those horseless carriages puttering along ahead of me. My horse was not bothered by gunshots, so I did not expect him to be bothered by the noise coming from that thing ahead of me.

The vehicle was going slow enough that I had no trouble catching up to it, and I pulled beside the vehicle and slowed down to keep pace. I was absolutely overcome with curiosity! The horseless carriage was driven by a young man who looked to me to be very handsome. I was as intrigued by him as I was by the vehicle. I had never seen him in Singer Flats, so there were all sorts of possibilities at hand.

He tipped his hat and said, "Good morning, Ma'am. It's a nice day, isn't it?"

I answered, "Good morning, Sir. Yes, it is a nice day. May I ask where you are headed?"

"At the moment, I am headed on business to Singer Flats. Do you happen to know how much farther it is?"

"It's about four miles. That's where I live. Perhaps, I will see you there."

"Well, if I may be so bold, I would like to say that I hope so. My name is Josh Calhoun, and may I know your name?"

"I am Kitty Anderson. If I see you again, may I have a ride on your wonderful vehicle? It looks like a lot of fun."

"Ma'am, I would be delighted to give you a ride in my Oldsmobile at your earliest convenience."

"In that case, please look me up before you leave town. Anybody can tell you where I live. Until then, I will bid you good day." With that, I sped back up and drove the rest of the way home.

So that's Kitty Anderson. She's the one I'm supposed to find. It looks like this assignment is going to be more fun than usual. Now, I'm really looking forward to it!

Two days later, Josh Calhoun, was standing on my front veranda. "Hello, Miss Anderson. I'm here to complete that offer of a ride in my Oldsmobile, if you are free this morning, or, preferably, all day."

"Oh, Mr. Calhoun, you caught me at the perfect time. Juanita, my housekeeper can keep the place from flying away for a few hours. I would love to accept your kind offer. Since it is so early in the day, would you care to make a picnic out of the excursion. Juanita can have a basket of food ready by the time I have changed clothes."

"That would be perfect, Miss Anderson. If you like, I can wait for you here on the veranda."

"Darn it, please forgive my poor manners, Mr. Calhoun. Please do come in. I was so excited by the prospect of the ride that I completely forgot myself." Josh came in and sat in the parlor while I asked Juanita to fix the picnic basket and went upstairs to change into suitable picnic clothes. While I was about it, I put my bloomers on, since I was sure to be sitting in the grass, and that could easily irritate my more tender parts. I also strapped on my Savage automatic, as I wanted to be prepared if we saw any snakes, which was very likely this time of year. Finally, I bounced joyfully downstairs to rejoin Josh. Juanita showed up with the basket of food, so we went out to that amazing vehicle.

Josh, ever the gentleman, assisted me to don a duster and covering hat to keep the road dust and dirt from doing too much damage. He helped me into the left side of the front seat, and he sat on the right after he cranked the engine. I watched the whole operation and was sure that I could do the same if I had the chance.

Josh explained everything he did as he pulled out into the street in front of my house. I was thrilled to be riding in my first horseless carriage; however, Josh assured me that its proper name was "automobile." In fact, this vehicle had originally been known as the "Olds automobile," but had been recently contracted to "Oldsmobile." I thought that was a very interesting and amusing story, but I found myself feeling the same about everything Josh said.

Anyway, I received a thorough description of every detail of Josh's automobile from a very proud owner, and I was a very appreciative audience. We rode through the streets at about 10 miles per hour, as Josh proudly pointed out on the speedometer. He slowed down when we came to the edge of town, since Josh was always very careful when driving on roads he had never seen before. He was afraid of hitting a hole and breaking something, but I assured him that this particular road had been recently serviced by the prison chain gang, so it was free of significant holes and bumps.

At my assurance of safety, Josh increased the speed to 25 MPH, which he said was less than half of what the automobile could reach at maximum effort. I commented that 25 MPH was plenty fast enough for me, and I had only been that fast the one time I rode a train from Austin to El Paso. Josh laughed and slowed down to 15 MPH, which I assured him was impressive enough for me.

Josh drove about seven miles out of town and asked if I would like to give it a try. I was almost overcome with excitement over the prospect and quickly agreed. In a spirit of fun and to show off a little bit, I asked him to turn off the engine and let me start up from scratch. Josh looked a little dubious, but agreed.

The engine was well warmed up, so it was easy to start with the hand crank, so that part was quick and simple. However, when I got in and grasped the tiller bar, I found that I had a bad tendency to oversteer. Josh said that everybody had that problem, but I would learn quickly just how much to move the tiller to aim where I wanted to go. He was right, and I was soon able to steer quite adequately, though not as smoothly as he could do it.

Josh allowed me to drive for another four miles, and I was almost in heaven. I had never had control of so much brute power and it was intoxicating! However, I did want to spend some time getting to know Josh better, so he pointed out a likely looking picnic spot, and I drove to it and parked. I climbed out of the automobile and immediately found the perfect place to put our protective blanket.

Josh lifted the basket from the automobile and set it on a corner of the blanket in convenient reach for me, I unloaded it, and I found that Juanita had done a superlative job of picking delicious things to eat. She had fixed sandwiches of chicken, of beef, and of cheese, so there was a wide selection. There were pickles and olives, and we even had tarts for desert. We finished eating and lolled on the grass for a few minutes. I even allowed Josh to hold my hand, and that was thrilling.

After a few minutes, Josh stood up and assumed a very threating glower. "OK, enough of this fooling around. Kitty, remove your clothes!" For a moment, the meaning of his command had not registered with me. Then he repeated it. "God damn it, Kitty, remove your clothes, or I will do it for you. You have teased me for as long as I can stand it, and I want you naked!"