by Sharon Sala
Eulis saw her coming, and he knew before she said it, that the ore was good.
“Are we rich yet?” he asked.
“Yep,” Letty said. “Only we got to take this to a smelter.”
Eulis nodded. “I know.”
Letty sniffed. “Well, I didn’t. Edward says that Brian Moody is an honest man.”
Eulis frowned. “Who’s Edward?”
“Edward White. He’s the assayer.”
“And who is this Brian Moody?”
“The owner of the smelter.”
Eulis tried not to feel jealous, but he was beginning to think he should have been the one to take the ore into the assayer after all.
“Do we know where this smelter is?”
“Follow the road through town, then look to the right.”
“All right, then,” he said, and handed her the rifle. “I reckon we’d better get on down there before someone figures out what we’re hauling.”
She laughed.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Us. We look like the tail end of hard times, and we’re hauling enough gold to set the whole town into a riot.”
He clucked his tongue as he flipped the reins across Rosy and Blackie’s backs.
“Just a little bit farther and then it’s oats and water for the both of you.”
Rosy’s ears twitched as the wagon rolled on through town. Lots of people saw the bedraggled looking pair, but paid them no attention. It would be the last anonymous day of their lives.
Brian Moody was working on a cigar when he saw a team and wagon pulling up to the smelter. He took a last puff, laid the cigar in the ashtray, and brushed the ashes off his vest. Being one of two smelters in a town when only one would have served, he didn’t want to miss any business. He smoothed his hands over his head, straightened his suit coat, and then hurried outside.
“Hello, to you, Sir,” he called, and then hurried down the steps. “I’m Brian Moody. How can I help you?”
Eulis nodded to the man.
“I’m Eulis Potter… this is my wife, Letty. We got some ore for you.”
Moody glanced toward the wagon and saw elk skins and bedrolls, as well as cooking pans, and imagined a sack or so of ore to be had. It probably wouldn’t amount to much, but it was why he was here.
“All right then,” he said. “Glad to be of service.”
Eulis got down and began untying the ropes. Letty followed, with the rifle at the ready.
Moody nodded politely to Letty.
“Ma’am, there’s a chair in my office if you’d care to wait there while we carry in your ore.”
“Thank you just the same, but I think I’ll stand guard,” Letty said.
Brian stifled a grin and tried not to stare at their ragged appearance.
“I doubt that’s necessary, ma’am.”
“Sir. I assure you, it is,” she said, and pointed to the wagon just as Eulis was tossing the elk hides and the last of their belongings to the ground.
Moody grinned as he peered into the bed, and then he actually grunted out loud.
“Good God, man! What have you done?”
Eulis pointed. “My wife hit pay dirt. I reckon we’re rich.”
Moody looked up, struggling to find the words to speak.
“Is this all of it?” he asked.
“Shoot no,” Eulis said.
Brian Moody stared at the both of them as if they’d suddenly grown horns, then he started to grin. He slapped his leg, whooped and hollered out loud, then shook Eulis’s hand and tipped his hat to Letty.
“Ma’am… Sir… it’s gonna be a pleasure to do business with you.”
Eulis nodded. “What do we do first?”
“Come with me to the office. We’ll handle the paperwork while I get the men to come unload the wagon.”
“I reckon I’ll just stay with the wagon,” Letty said.
“Ma’am… it behooves me to be honest with you if I want to continue to do business with you, right?”
She frowned.
“Having said that, I can promise you, that both you and your gold will be safe with me.”
And when she saw the size of the men who came for the wagon, she thought he was most likely right. Except for that big red-headed man who’d accosted her on the street, they were three of the biggest, grizzliest men she’d ever seen.
Moody pointed at Eulis and Letty as he addressed his workers.
“Men, this here is Mr. and Mrs. Eulis Potter. Mark their faces, because we’re going to be in business together for a long, long time.”
It was to their credit that the men took the wagon away without much comment, but Letty saw them talking among themselves and gesturing wildly as they drove away.
She watched the men going into the office, but instead of immediately following, she looked up, toward the mountains.
The air was sharp, but the warmth of the sun felt good on her face. She lifted her chin as she stood, remembering where they’d been, and how far they’d come, and knew that from this day forward, their lives would never be the same. With a heartfelt sigh, she shifted the rifle to her other hand and followed her husband into the office.
By the time they came down from the smelter, it was obvious that the word was out. People came out of their businesses, waving and shouting, while others ran beside the wagon, begging for money, or to be put to work.
Eulis was oddly non-committal, but Letty felt threatened, and let it be known by setting the stock of the rifle against her leg with the barrel pointing skyward as a reminder that they were armed.
When a man grabbed at Rosy’s harness, Letty flinched.
“Eulis…”
“It’s all right, darlin’,” he said quietly. “They’re just excited, is all.”
But Letty saw more than excitement in their faces. She saw the fever burned as bright in their eyes as it had burned in Eulis’s body—only this fever was a fever without cure or end. All around her, she felt danger and death.
As they grew nearer to the livery stable, she saw the red-headed stranger who’d accosted her at the land office. He was staring at them without waving, as most everyone else had been doing, and she felt an odd shiver of foreboding, as if they weren’t finished with each other, yet.
Still, she couldn’t let a loser like him ruin the joy of this day. She drew her gaze away from Sean Clancy and looked to Eulis.
“What are we going to do?”
“For starters, I reckon we’ll need to stable the mules, get us a room, and something to eat.”
“And after that?”
“Mr. Moody said to open an account at the bank.”
“Yeah, right,” Letty said, then grinned. “I never did that before.”
“Me, either,” Eulis said. “But there can’t be all that much to it. They get the gold outta the ore, sell it at market price, and put the money in our account at the bank.”
“What about all the rest of the gold up in the mine?”
“Brian suggested we buy some wagons, hire some men, pay fair wages, and dig for all we’re worth.”
She wanted to giggle. Instead, she kept her eye on the crowd that was following along behind.
“Then we can spend it?”
He grinned.
“Yeah, then we spend it. What do you want to buy first?”
Letty looked past the people running with them, to the city itself. It was rough and raw, but the possibilities were endless. Law was still hit and miss, and society had yet to set up a hierarchy of social status. There was a doctor in residence, and a barber who’d gone from a tent in the street to his own building, complete with a red and white barber pole hanging out front. There were too many men and not enough women, but Letty knew that would change. One day there would be schools and churches and places where women met for tea to discuss works of literary merit, and Letty wanted to be a part of that metamorphosis like she’d never wanted anything before.
Eulis stopped at the livery and looked at his wife.
“No.”
“Then tell me. What do you want to buy first?”
“Propriety… and a good name.”
It was the last thing he would have expected her to say, and yet he understood immediately where it had come from.
“How you reckon to do that?”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at the hill overlooking the main part of town. It was covered in trees without a path in sight, and yet that was where she knew she should be.
“We’re gonna lay claim to that hill up there,” she said. “And we’re gonna build a fine house with a large veranda so that we can sit out in the cool of the evening and watch the city grow. And we’re going to wear nice clothes and have someone clean our house, and someone else cook our food, and when the first preacher comes to town and sets up shop, we’re going to sit in church every Sunday and listen to him preach. Even if he’s not as good as you,” she added.
He grinned.
Letty was wound up now and ticking off the plans on her fingers.
“And when the bankers bring out their wives, and decency comes to this place, we’re going to be ahead of the game. That’s how we’re going to do that.”
“Hey Mister! Mister! Did you really strike it rich? I need a job. Do you need someone to work in your mine?”
Letty looked down at the middle-aged man who was clinging to the side of the wagon, then back up at Eulis.
“Well, Mr. Potter? Do you need someone to work in your mine?”
He looked down at the man, then past the worn out clothes to the healing pock marks on his face and felt a moment of empathy for what they’d both survived.
“Not right now,” he said. “But most likely, I will in the future. When I do, you’ll be the first man I hire.”
The man looked as if he was going to cry.
“Thank you, Mr. Potter. Thank you, Sir. My name is Winston Bailey. Everyone knows my name. When you’re ready, just ask for me on the street.”
“And me!” someone else yelled. “Hire me!”
“And me!”
“I need a job!”
“Hire me!”
Surrounded by the echoes of desperation, Eulis waved everyone away with a promise to post a notice when they needed to hire. Once the mules and wagon were stabled, they started down the street to the restaurant.
It took forever to walk three blocks. Letty clung to the rifle with cold-eyed intent, and had little to say to the crowd that persisted in following them. But Eulis seemed in his element, and once again Letty was reminded of how he’d taken to preaching as if he’d been born to the task.
A slight smile crossed her face as she let her fancy wander, thinking into the future, to the day when this place would be as fancy and proper as any city back east. But it would take time for that to happen. Right now, Denver City was as rough and raw as the people who were building it, and like her and Eulis, it would take years to polish up a shine. By the time that happened, maybe they would be up to the task, but until then, she was satisfied knowing that they fit in here real well.
And as if that wasn’t enough, Eulis had made it plain to all who asked that it was his wife, Letty, who’d made the strike.
“Lady! Lady! Blow me a kiss for luck!” someone shouted.
Letty didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Being called lady was enough in itself to bring tears to her eyes, but thinking of herself and luck in the same breath just didn’t make sense.
“Come on, lady… just one kiss,” he begged.
Eulis winked at her and then grinned.
“Long as you’re only blowin’ ’em, I reckon I don’t mind.”
Letty looked up at him then, into the dark eyes and gentle smile and knew her cup runneth over.
She handed Eulis the rifle, then winked back at him before turning to the surrounding crowd. Before she changed her mind, she pressed both hands to her lips, then flung them outward, as if scattering the kisses into the air.
Men whooped and hollered, then began rubbing each other’s faces, as if trying to wipe off her kisses onto their own cheeks, desperate for what they all called luck.
It was madness.
It was hysteria.
For Eulis and Letty, it was the end of the trail, but the beginning of the rest of their lives.
The Hen House
Finally, it’s done. The last book in the trilogy that I began so long ago.
Like Letty, so much has happened in my own life since the first book, Whippoorwill, was written that it sometimes seems as if it happened to another person.
I’ve changed. I’ve loved. I’ve lost. I’ve grieved.
And always, I’ve had the knowing my family was there, ready and willing to offer whatever I needed at the time to survive.
I’ve been blessed in ways too numerous to count, but the most precious blessing I’ve ever been given was being part of my wonderful family.
To Mother, who is always there for me. To Kathy and Ashley, and their sons Daniel and Lee—To Chris and Kristie, and their daughters, Chelsea, Logan, and Leslie—to Crissy and Andy, and their daughters Destiny, Devyn, and Courtney—to the Shero family and to the Smiths—to the Sala family to which I once belonged—and to my Bobby, who left me behind to pick up the pieces of my heart—I can only say that were it not for you all, my life would have been a lesser, sadder existence than the feast you’ve let it be.
Thank you. Bless you. Love you.
Contents
1. Rich Man-Poor Man
2. Beggar Man
3. Thief
4. Doctor
5. Lawyer
6. And One Sorry Ass Judge
7. Merchant
8. Chief
9. To The Death
10. Promises Kept
11. Ashes To Ashes
12. A Reason To Care
13. Beyond Her Wildest Dreams
14. Enemy Within
15. Soldiers And Patriots
16. Rock A Bye Baby
17. A Rooster In The Hen House
Epilogue
Rich Man-Poor Man
It was the dead skunk Harley Tatum’s dogs were dragging down the main street of Denver City that was causing everyone to wrinkle their noses in disgust. But it wasn’t the biggest stink in town by a long shot. The news that Eulis and Letty Potter had struck a gold bonanza had also struck a nerve.
The news had gone through the tent city faster than last winter’s smallpox outbreak, evoking just about as many emotions. Tempers flared. Envy set in like a splinter under a fingernail, burning and festering until something was bound to pop.
Every no-good in the territory converged on the swiftly growing town to see if they could wrangle a way to divest Eulis and Letty of their newly found wealth. Others tried to corner them when they’d come in from the mine in hopes of getting a grubstake or a handout, or—as a last resort—the possibility of a job.
Eulis had grown tight-lipped and stern, fearing that he would not be able to protect the mine, although he’d made sure that it was registered in Letty’s name, since she was the one who’d actually found the gold. And, he’d gone out of his way to do the same with the land they’d claimed on a bluff overlooking Denver City, and the house they were having built on the property. It was all in her name.
They’d been working the mine for more than three months now, but Eulis was nervous about the conversations he kept overhearing from his own employees, and from the whispers he heard when he went into town. It appeared that the hired hands were not above trying to steal a little of the gold for themselves. Eulis heard talk from a friend here and there that the men claimed the Potters had so much gold that surely they wouldn’t miss the occasional smuggled nugget.
He had kept his fears to himself, unaware that, not only had Letty also heard the gossip, but she was bound and determined to be the one to put an end to the talk, and the fear of God in every man who worked for them.
Sp
ring had finally come to the Rockies, although the high peaks were still snow-capped. Rivers were gushing with overflow—running wild from the snow-melt above the valley. Tiny purple flowers, hardly more than two or three inches high, were popping up through the winter mulch of dead grass and leaves. Color had come to the mountains in the form of bright red cardinals, sassy blue jays, and the soft buckskin color of spotted fawns. Trees other than the prevalent evergreens were budding. Plum thickets were awash in pale blossoms more white than pink, promising a bumper crop of fruit in the coming months.
It was into this scene that Letty emerged, ignoring the scandalous glances of the few decent women by wearing men’s pants and accouterments, and riding astride, as a man would have. Her hat was wide-brimmed and black. Her hair was long and wavy, but tied back at the nape of her neck with a piece of blue ribbon—her only concession to femininity.
She wore a permanent expression of ‘don’t piss me off’ and had become quite a marksman with a gun. She didn’t have time to preen or be prissy. Eulis had hired some men to work their mine and it was not only her right, but her obligation, to set them on the right path.
A new shipment of track for the ore carts, and new lumber to shore up the tunnel had come in on the last freight wagon. Milton Feasley, the owner of the dry goods store, had sent word to Eulis the day before that his order had arrived. Eulis went into town early this morning to meet the men before they left for the mine, and get them to help bring out the load.
Letty was at the mine alone, tossing out dishwater when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. As she turned, she saw Eulis and the men coming down from the ridge, into the wide, verdant valley leading to their old home, and the mine beside it.
Even as she was looking forward to living in a fine home, there was a part of her that was still sentimental about the tiny, one-room cabin where they’d wintered. She’d found herself, and found love there, and was loathe to let that go.