Chapter 11

Bright and early the next morning, Waite arose from sleep rested and satisfied. He had serviced each of his wives until they could take no more. His curiosity was running rampant at what he saw and heard last night, just before going to bed. Now he had to check it out. He quickly dressed and hurried to the door. He listened to the still sleeping hotel. There was a click. He waited until the count of three and threw open the door.

Across the hall the door was partially open. There were two people there, kissing. Waite recognized the form of the pretty young shop clerk from the mercantile yesterday. He didn't say anything, he just watched. When the two parted, he was surprised. It wasn't Jesse kissing her. He saw Karen as she drew back from the girl. The shift she had on was splayed on her torso so that her heavy breasts were free of the fabric. The petite clerk was handling the tits like they were playthings. He could see Karen's nipples standing erect from the stimulation. There was a flush on her face and chest from her excitement.

"I must go," the girl said. "I have to work today. Last night was wonderful, and I don't want it to stop. I will return after work tonight to be with you all again. Jesse is so wonderful and so are both you and Betsy. I never knew it could be this good."

"Do hurry back. We will miss you. I must have you again and I know Betsy wants to eat you also. Your taste is exquisite. When you come, and squirt your juices all over us, it is pure heaven. We will be waiting," she said as she closed the door.

The girl turned and froze. She glanced toward the door and saw Waite for the first time that morning. Her face went crimson with embarrassment. She couldn't move. Waite made the two steps across the hall and took her in his arms and hugged her. Her breathing started again.

"I'm glad you met my daughter, and Jesse, and Betsy. I hope they can convince you to come along with us to Texas. You will be good for them and they for you. You can get married to Jesse and have lots of babies. What do you think of that?" Waite said as he smiled down on her.

"I ... Gee ... Mr. Waite, sir, I don't know what to say," she stammered.

"Just say yes. Make those folks in there happy, and yourself happy, too. We have more than enough room for you and whatever you need. We will be leaving Nashville in four days. Can you be ready to leave then? Oh, and what's your name?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you. I can leave right now if you were leaving. Thank you of allowing me to join you. Jesse and Betsy and Karen will be so happy when I tell them the news. Thank you. Thank you," she jabbered. "My name's June Cleaver an I'm fifteen in a month."

"You go on to work now. Or is it you need to go to your room to freshen up before work. It wouldn't be good showing up to work smelling like a whorehouse. You do have the odor of a freshly fucked woman, and I must say it's quite arousing. If you weren't Jesse's girl, I'd be after you myself. Now git along," he said with a smile. He gave her a playful swat on the butt, and she ran off blushing furiously.

Waite followed the path of her retreat because he wanted to go inspect the livery stable, and the wagons. While it was still very early in the morning, merchants and town's folk were out and about. He casually walked over to the stable. He checked in back at the paddock and saw his mules and horses. Their coats shone in the early morning sunlight. They had all been recently brushed and even possibly bathed. Ruth saw him and trotted over to where he stood.

Waite said "Hey there, Ruth. They treating you right over here?"

He took the apple out of his pocket that he'd taken for the side table in the lobby of the hotel. He cut up the apple and fed it a piece at a time to Ruth. The other stock in the paddock saw what was going on and came over to see if they too could get something. Very quickly the apple was gone. He gave Ruth one last pat and turned toward the liveryman's office. He was about to knock on the door when it opened in.

"Morning to you sir," the stableman said. "I see you've been checking the stock. We treats 'em good here. Yes, sir. You want to inspect your wagons, too?"

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, yes. " Waite replied. "I want to make sure no one's been up to anything and I want to check my dogs, too."

"Them's some mighty fine dogs, yessir. I give 'em good scraps and bones. They are happy. They scared off some prowler last night even before my man could get there. Yessir, you got some good ones. Wish I'd gotten some dogs to watch the place. Lots cheaper then that man I got."

"I'd be obliged if you'd open up the storage so I can check over my stuff," Waite said politely.

"Shore thing, do it right now," the man replied.

Waite went with the stableman and in moments he was inside the first Conestoga. He checked the security he'd put on all the boxes. The hair's he's spit glued to the wood were all in place so he left them. Same thing held true for the hidey-hole where the gold was stashed. The lock on the gun box looked undisturbed and Waite decided this wagon was untouched.

He did the small wagon's next. They were ok. The new wagon he'd purchased earlier in the week was the better of the two. It already had a tow hook mounted on the tree. He'd have to get a blacksmith to make the parts he wanted. He'd install them himself later. After the byplay this morning he was glad he'd purchased this wagon. More people needs more space. Even if she was going in the Jackson family wagon he was glad he bought the wagon.

All he had left was to check the newer Conestoga. The hair on the hideout had fallen off. It didn't look like anyone had opened it, but he checked to be sure. Yes, it was empty, as he'd left it. The guns were in place and it didn't look like it was disturbed. He climbed into the wagon box and checked all the freight there. Satisfied that nothing was amiss, Waite closed up everything and dismounted from the wagon. He headed for the door. There he met the daytime guard. Waite thanked him for his diligence and walked off towards the hotel.

Later he headed over to the Newcastle Hotel. He had a room to check on. Waite stepped up to the desk clerk and asked about Jacob Johnson. The clerk answered that Johnson was registered there but they hadn't seen him in a couple days. Waite pulled out the wanted poster with the picture on it and showed it to the clerk.

"Yep, that's him. This poster says there's a reward fur him," the man said. One could see the avarice in his face.

"Yes, I collected the reward already. I'm here for the belongings. I have the release from the AG right here," Waite said.

"We will have to process this. You can come back in the morning."

Waite knew the two-time shuffle when he saw it. He pulled his derringer out and told the man to just give him the room key. The man refused. Waite showed him the derringer and he changed his mind. He gave Waite a key. Waite turned to go and thought better of it. He turned back to the clerk and took his logbook. Waite checked the book and found Johnson's name. He was registered in room 215. He looked at the key. It was numbered 205. The clerk was visibly sweating now. Waite pointed to the room assignment as he tossed the key to the clerk. He pointed the derringer again and the man gave him the correct key.

Waite mounted the stairs two at a time. He turned the corner just in time to have a bullet wiz past his head. He drew and fired. The clerk flew back against the wall and slumped to the floor. Waite calmly walked back down the stairs and waited at the desk. A deputy marshal came rushing in. He recognized Waite from the trouble with Johnson. Waite explained what had happened. Just then a distinguished looking gentleman approached. He told the deputy he saw most of it and confirmed Waite's story. The deputy thanked Governor John C. Brown (D) for his endorsement, and called for the undertaker to haul off the body. He handed Waite the revolver and Waite stuck it in his belt.

Waite returned to his quest. He climbed the stairs again and presently was pushing the key into the lock of room 215. He entered the debris-strewn room and locked the door. The room was mostly barren but there was a trunk against the wall. The thing was locked but Waite used the clerk's gun to smash the lock. It made the gun useless, but Waite didn't care. He removed the broken lock and opened the trunk. Just as quickly he closed the trunk again in disbelief. He opened it one more time and peered in. It was full of paper money. Most of it was one hundred and five hundred dollar bills. Johnson didn't believe in banks. He closed the latches tight on the big trunk.

Waite hired a porter to fetch the trunk to his own hotel. He accompanied the trunk and had it in his sights at all times. Once back at the hotel Waite had another hasp and lock that he installed. He hired the trusted hotel porters to take the trunk to his storage to put it with the rest of his stuff on the new Conestoga.

The next two days were uneventful. The family took tours around the city. Waite found the Wells Fargo office, and deposited his money with them. He also made arrangements with Western Union to exchange his stock certificates. They couldn't do it here but could if he made it to St. Louis. They explored the shopping district and even took in the "opera". On the afternoon of the third day, Waite hopped a ride on the cable car again and stopped off at Mr. van Zoeren's Jewelry shop. The bell on the door rang cheerfully as it sprang to life. van Zoeren came scuttling out from the back room. When he saw Waite his face brightened.

"Ach, Herr Phillips, so good to zee you. Velcome," he said with his heavy accent. "I have your work complete. Let me get it for you."

He hurried back out and moments later came into the room with five almost identical boxes. These were finely crafted boxes of ingenious design. Puzzle boxes from the orient. He took the next ten minutes teaching Waite the trick to opening them. Each box had a mosaic inlay on the top of a different color: red, blue, green, yellow and white. When he discovered how to open the red box, he found it contained the ruby. Each box represented the contents. He opened each box and inspected the object inside. The craftsmanship on each piece was something he'd never seen before. The four necklaces and the ring were perfect. He replaced each one carefully in the designated box and closed them. He heard a small click as the locking mechanism reset itself. Waite just smiled at the thought of his girls trying to get into the boxes.

Mr. van Zoeren wrapped each one in colored tissue and placed them in a carry bag. Waite tried to hand him more gold coins, but was stopped. The gold bar provided more than enough material for the necklaces and ring. In fact there was left over amounts over and above the cost of fabrication. Of course, Waite refused to take it back.

"Chalk it up to a job well done. I've never seen such workmanship in my entire life. Your skill is wasted here, Mr. van Zoeren. Thank you so much for your help. I am in your debt. If you ever get to Waco Texas be sure and look me up," Waite said as he shook hands with the older man. He whistled to himself as he made his way back to the cable car stop. As he was waiting for his ride he noticed an unsavory looking character slowly working his way toward the stop. Waite took the opportunity when two women passed in front of him to retrieve the .45 caliber hideout derringer from his vest pocket.

He turned his back to the stranger, but watched him by the reflection in the window of the store on the corner. Waite decided the man was up to no good and he was determined to stop the man. As he gazed in the window, he discovered the man wore a single Patterson in his holster. It was seated on the nipple and Waite knew there were only 5 shots available to be used against him. His big Colt would have been a better choice, but Waite knew at close range the derringer would be just as lethal. Patiently he waited. The cable car was coming. He could hear it. The man knew it, too. He panicked at the sound. He started to draw his Patterson when Waite whipped around, bringing the derringer up.

"I don't think you want to do that, friend," Waite said in a sickly sweetly syrupy tone. "Say hello to my little friend."

He pointed the derringer at the man's head. It made him stop dead in his tracks. He let go of his gun and it slid back in the holster. He raised his hands and stood there waiting for the inevitable. Except Waite did NOT pull the trigger.

He noticed tobacco stains on the man's left hand and told him to remove the gun belt with his right hand. The cowboy dropped the gun and belt to the boardwalk. Waite ordered him to kick it over and he complied. He then told the man to step back while he gathered up the bounty. A small crowd had gathered observing the goings on. Waite had just bent to pick it up, when the man made his move.

As Waite gathered up the weapon, he glanced in the window. The man had palmed a knife and was lunging toward Waite. A woman screamed, telling Waite it would now be self-defense. He squatted and fired in the same fluid motion. It caught the man squarely in the chest. He only had time to breathe once before he expired. He fell to the ground and died.

The people around Waite offered up as witnesses and when the marshal's deputy arrived he took Waite's statement. The crowd verified his story to the satisfaction of the deputy. He let Waite go and the undertaker was given the job collecting the body and cleaning the boardwalk. The cable car had come and Waite climbed in. It was just about to leave when a tall blonde haired beauty dropped into the seat next to him.