Chapter 2

The poker game was stalled for the moment and I decided to go pick up Lucy. I was in for a shock when I entered the boarding house and the landlady went to fetch her. Or I was in for a shock when she appeared anyway.

I'd known from the start Lucy was pretty, but now her long deep Auburn hair was brushed out and her emerald green eyes set everything off to make her beautiful. The tighter than I'd expected dress she was wearing emphasized her figure even more than her work dress had and suddenly I felt unsure of myself.

I realized I'd never been so close to a woman this good looking, in my life. I managed not to stutter when we said hello and I'll be damned if I wasn't nearly shaking as I led her out to the rented buckboard. Somehow I was able to stop myself from taking a fondle of her great ass when I helped her up into the seat, but I sure as hell wanted to.

I asked her if there was a nice resturant in town and she told me the only decent one was Larzo's and pointed it out to me. It was a short drive up the street to it and when we were there I helped Lucy down and tied up the team to a hitching rack.

Once we made it inside I was surprised again. Most of the customers were dressed nicely and it appeared to be mostly families eating here. An older woman met us at the door and seated us at a small table. Shortly a waitress came over and we ordered.

I was surprised at the good manners displayed by all the patrons. From the saloon today and the high noise level inside it I hadn't expected such a nice place in this town. Our steaks came and they were damned good. There was peach cobbler for desert and we had coffee while we finished up. I paid, tipped the waitress, and we left.

Damned if a half drunk cowboy didn't bump into us on the way out and then the jackass made a grab for Lucy.

"Get your durnk ass out of the way of decent people, asshole," I said to him, expecting it to cause trouble. I saw his eyes look toward my right hip and I was sure he was noticing I didn't have a pistol there. Sure enough he went for his but he wasn't even nearly fast enough to beat me to the shoulder holster trick. I cashed his chips in with three shots to the chest and then Lucy and I backed up against the wall and waited.

A deputy marshal came up quickly enough to see what was going on. I explained the whole thing to him including what I'd said to the asshole.

"You might oughta think about saying something like that to a man. It might make him want to fight," the deputy said.

"It did make him want to fight and you see what it got him. He might have been better off not stumbling around and insulting Ladies." I said.

"Why Lucy ain't no lady," the deputy said, and I pulled a left from down around my toes and let him have it on the point of his chin. Even I could hear his jaw break and he went down in a heap.

I used my foot to roll him off into the street and then Lucy and I left. In light of the trouble we'd had we went over to her boarding house and sat in the parlor for about an hour and then I took my leave.

The marshal was waiting for me when I got back in the hotel and he wanted to have a word with me. I was surprised he was being so polite until he spilled his tale. Apparently he'd had other complaints about the deputy I'd dealt with. He got the story from me and said it sounded just like the fool.

"Well, he can't work anymore anyway with his jaw broken like that, but you know he's going to be upset about it so I'd keep an eye on him if I were you. He won't be a deputy the next time you see him so don't let him try to pull any crap on you," the marshal said, and then we parted ways.

I went to bed then and I was pretty pissed over the whole thing. The jackass had cost me any chance to do any good on a buggy ride with Lucy. Well, at least he'd paid heavily for the chance. I expected to see his head wrapped up all over the next time I saw him.

Damned if I didn't see the former deputy the next morning. I was in the small cafe having breakfast when he came walking in with his head wrapped to beat the band. I laughed when I saw him but I held it down and didn't make a big spectacle of it. He was steaming, but what could he do? He couldn't even talk or complain because his teeth were wired together. I even noticed several of his front teeth had been removed and I figured it was so he could get some food down.

I left when I finished my breakfast and I didn't even say a word to him. I headed for the bank after breakfast and I figured it was the best I could do for what I wanted. There sure as hell weren't any real estate agents in a town this small so I asked to see someone in the bank who might know about a house for sale with some acerage.

One of the vice presidents knew of a small frame house outside of town that was on a five hundred acre place. Hell, it even had a small barn.

The house wasn't much, but the roof didn't leak, or so it was claimed. The place had been repossesed and the bank wanted two thousand dollars for it. I went back to town after looking it over and went to see a lawyer. He said he'd be proud to negotiate with the bank for me for a $100 dollar fee. I asked him to buy the place for me and get a promise in writing that the roof didn't leak since they claimed it didn't.

He didn't waste any time and the place was mine in two days. I dug the gold out of my saddle bags and paid in full. The banker looked a little put out over that, but no one had mentioned me getting a loan for the place.

After the closing I headed right out to the place and noticed one thing there I hadn't bargained for. It was filthy. I rode back into town and bought a broom, mop, and a mop bucket along with some powdered soap to do a little cleaning.