Chapter 13

When Sam an' I got ta the Diamond H, we could see what had Buford so upset. The place seemed ta be crawlin' with young women, an' there was four hosses from other ranches tied up at the bunk house. Chaos would have been the polite way ta describe what was goin' on.

As soon as we pulled in ta the yard in front of the ranch house, Sam an' I was swamped by young women what was dyin' ta greet us as their saviors. I wasn't sure what ta expect, but I was afeared fer the worst. My first thought, once I untangled myself from the last hug of greetin' was, "God help us ifen these women decided ta descend on Alice's boardin' house in Austin!"

I had talked ta Susan on the ride out from Laredo, an' she didn't have no suggestions fer solvin' the problem, either. The best that any of us could come up with was fer us ta have a meetin' an' git input from the women. One of them must have an idea that we kin use!

Sam an' I was pooped from our frantic trip ta Laredo an' on ta the ranch, soz we asked ta be excused 'til supper time. We slept on the train, but anyone what has tried that knows what a trial that kin be. We figured that we could think better ifen we had a couple of hours of sleep an' a good meal afore we tried ta solve this knotty problem. I asked Susan ta organize a meetin' fer us fer after supper. Maybe then, we could have some answers.

After supper, we met in the back yard with all of the women. The cowboys what didn't have no chores gathered around the edges of the meetin, 'cause they was curious what was gonna be decided, an' what was gonna happen ta all of that free nookie.

I started off by sayin' that I didn't have no easy answer, I didn't even have a hard answer ta the big problem. I told the women that we all sympathized with their burden, but we didn't know how ta solve it. I said that the best thin' that we could figure on was fer everybody ta listen ta ideas from the women. Maybe, we could pick one of those ideas, once we'd heard them all.

That produced a big groan from the women, 'cause they had all hoped, an' some had expected, that I would come in ta save the day with the solution ta their problem. A lot of chatter arose among the women, an' the cowboys even chimed in with a few suggestions.

The funny thin' was that the only suggestion that got any positive response was from one of the men who suggested that the women just open up their own whore house. Several of the women cheered at that idea, an' a few groaned, but most of the women suddenly shut up an' seriously thought the idea over. It was obvious that all of the women thought that the idea had merit, but they were afeared of bein' pushed back inta the same position that they had been rescued from.

One woman stuck up her hand ta be recognized, an' I shushed everybody soz we could hear what she had ta say. "I think that us runnin' our own whore house is a good idea, since society ain't gonna let us do the normal thin's a woman does. But I'm afeared of gittin' back under the clutches of some bastard like the one ya rescued us from." That brought on a lot of cheers an' applause, an' it took over five minutes ta git the crowd back under control.

The woman continued, "Ifen we could have somebody like Jack an' Sam ta run the place an' look after us, I'd be all fer startin' up our own whore house. How 'bout it, Jack? Are ya willin' ta be our pimp?"

This brought on another round of cheers an' applause that took a while ta quieten down. Eventually, I got control back, an' I could see that all of the ex-whores was more than excited about the possibility of resumin' their old profession.

"OK, it looks like a lot of y'all want ta return ta bein' whores an' gittin' paid fer it. Let me see the hands of those of y'all what want ta do that. We'll worry about the details later." It looked like every hand in the crowd went up. "Fine, now let me see the hands of those of y'all what want ta do somethin' else." Nothin'! Not a hand was raised. I 'spose that some of the women might have been influenced by how their friends voted. It didn't make no difference, the vote was solid. No woman was gonna be forced ta join the new whore house ifen she didn't want ta, so I let the question slide.

"I guess that settles it fer tonight. Sam an' I will work on the details of how ta organize the place. We'll git back ta y'all as soon as possible. I hope that we kin have some news by tomorrow night, but don't hold us ta it. We want ta do this job right, so don't try ta rush us too much. We'll work as fast as we can, but I won't put out a firm deadline.

"Meanwhile, Mr. Hobart is too polite ta say anythin' ta y'all 'bout the havoc y'all are raisin' on his ranch. I'm askin' ya ta stop handin' out freebies ta any man what strikes yer fancy. This is a workin' ranch an' not a whore house. Oh, hell, that ain't exactly what I meant. The sex stops right now! Fer free or fer pay—it makes no difference. Y'all gotta stop yer loose ways ifen y'all want ta keep yer welcome. Ifen Mr. Hobart loses patience with y'all, he could chase ya out, an' then what would ya do? Think about it, huh?"

I adjourned the meetin' at that point, an' we went inside. Buford Hobart said ta me, "Jack, I appreciate yer closin' remarks. Them women didn't mean no harm, but they was drivin' me crazy. I sure hope y'all kin come up with a way ta git them moved somewhere else pretty damned soon!"

Well, that was pretty damned definite! No way was we gonna be able ta set up a whore house on Diamond H property from the way Buford talked. Frankly, I didn't blame him—a whore house has ta be in a town ta keep from messin' up other people.

When we got back inside the house, Susan said, "Jack, ya must know that all of this depends on whether ya an' Sam are gonna personally supervise the new whore house. Fer practical purposes, all of these women expect ta be workin' fer y'all two. Ifen y'all ain't willin' ta commit ta that, y'all will have ta come up with a workable alternative. Without that, the whole scheme will fall apart."

I said, "Dammit, ya're exactly right. Much as I hate ta say it, Sam an' I have picked up what amounts ta 15 women dependents. They're actin' like children, but that's what most of them really are, at least in their minds. One thin' fer damned sure, this new whore house has ta be located in Austin ifen Sam an' I are ta be responsible fer it.

"What I wonder is ifen we kin find someone ta stand-in fer us as manager of the whore house. There's no way that either Sam or I are gonna hang around the whore house all of the time. We have our own lives ta live, an' we have wives we're fond of, so, kin these women live with that? What do ya think, Susan?"

"I don't know what they would do without y'all ta depend on. I guess ifen y'all kin show them girls that they would be safe without y'all practically holdin' their hands, then they could git along without y'all bein' right in their laps. What I don't know is how y'all are gonna show them that."

"I don't know, either, but we will come up with somethin'. The big question right now is just how long will Buford give us ta get all of our ducks in a row."

"I think Daddy will bend over backwards ta help ifen he thinks that y'all are makin' an honest effort ta help these women. Somehow, he feels kind of responsible fer them, but that could blow up ifen they try his patience too far. I guess ya will just have ta talk ta him ta see how much time he will allow fer yer plans ta gel."