The Whippoorwill Trilogy

by Sharon Sala

  Carson Mylam wisely obeyed. Although he hadn’t expected this kind of reception, his good mood was broken. He lifted his chin and put his hand on his coat, taking comfort in the crackle of paper from the inside pockets.

  “I have an appointment with Mrs. Potter, and letters of reference from the President himself.”

  “The President of what?” Robert Lee drawled.

  Carson Mylam frowned. It wasn’t the first time he’d encountered uneducated beings in this part of the country and feared it wouldn’t be his last.

  “Why… of our country, of course,” he said, and added with a smirk. “Surely you’re aware of your nation’s leader.”

  “Out here, the name doesn’t come up all that much. I’d say I’m about as aware of him as he is of me,” Robert Lee drawled, then fixed Carson with a pointed stare. “You’re wearing Union blue.”

  Carson lifted his chin.

  “Surely I am not in the presence of a southern sympathizer?”

  “The only thing in sympathy out here is gold.”

  Carson fidgeted. The mere mention of the word was why he’d come.

  “As I said before, I have an appointment with Mrs. Potter.”

  “Get down and give me your gun,” Robert Lee said.

  “Now see here! I am an officer in the United States Army and I—”

  “I said it once. I won’t say it again,” Robert Lee said, and then added. “And just for your own information, you might want to downplay the war and officer part. Mrs. Potter’s husband was shot dead right in front of her in her own yard a few months back. At the moment, she’s not too fond of men with guns.”

  Carson stifled a moan of dismay. Obviously, he hadn’t thought the mission through from her point of view. He dismounted, handed Robert Lee his pistol, and then followed the man toward the house, leading his horse. It was not the arrival that he’d planned.

  “So, how long have you worked for Mrs. Potter?” Carson asked.

  Robert Lee gave the man a quick glance, but didn’t bother to answer.

  Being ignored by a man he viewed as from a lower class, aggravated Carson enough that he spoke out before he thought.

  “Marvelous… he’s not only ignorant but hard of hearing. I say, where were you born… in a barn?”

  Robert Lee stopped. For a few moments, he just stared at the ground without speaking. For Carson, the silence became uncomfortable, then threatening. When Robert Lee finally looked up, the glitter in his eyes was all the warning Carson knew he was going to get.

  “Actually, I was born in Virginia,” Robert Lee said. “When I left it, which was several years ago, my father, Justin Slade, was governor. I learned to read at the age of four from the tutor father hired for me and my four brothers and sisters. I speak Latin and French…” Robert Lee paused briefly, and then added. “…and nobody has been able to out draw me since the day I shot my first man. So, I suggest you get your sorry blue-ass up to the house, state your business, and then get on back to where you came from while the gettin’ is good.”

  Carson felt an instant urge to pee. However, stating the need was not something he could say to a man like this. Not only did he feel out of place in this wild, socially inept country, but he was obviously in the presence of a southern sympathizer. He couldn’t help but wonder what he’d gotten himself into.

  Katie was the first to see the men coming.

  “Look, Miz Delilah… Robert Lee’s bringing a visitor.”

  Delilah stopped and looked up. She knew Letty was expected a visitor and got up quickly, brushing the dirt from her hands as she waved Katie into the house.

  “Go inside and tell Miz Letty that her company is here.”

  “No one’s in the house. They’re all out back making soap,” Katie said.

  “Oh lord,” Delilah muttered, thinking of what they would all be wearing. Whatever it was, it was bound to be dusty, and smeared with ashes and animal renderings. “It doesn’t matter what they’re doing. Letty still needs to know her company is here. You let her know. The rest of what happens is her affair.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Katie said, and scampered around the back of the house with T-Bone at her heels.

  Letty saw Katie and T-Bone running toward her and paused, absently rubbing a hand at her aching back and smiling at the sight.

  “Hey there, honey… what’s the rush?” she asked.

  Katie pointed toward the front of the house.

  “Robert Lee is bringing your company up the road.”

  Letty looked down at her hands, then her clothes, and shrugged. In the grand scheme of things, it mattered little.

  “Thank you, Katie.”

  She patted T-Bone, giving his ears a playful tug as she moved toward the back door. The least she could do was wash her hands and face before attending to the bothersome business of company. As far as she was concerned, the only good part of it was the fact that she would get to visit with Robert Lee, no matter how brief the meeting.

  The baby kicked as she moved into the house.

  “I don’t like this any more than you do,” she muttered, as she poured some water up into a wash basin and scrubbed at her hands and face.

  She removed her work apron and combed the fly-away tendrils of her hair away from her face. The bang of the front door signaled the arrival of her visitors. She smoothed her hands down the front of her gray, stained smock and lifted her chin.

  The swell of her belly preceded her entrance into the parlor. She saw the man in Union blue, as well as the perturbed expression on Delilah’s face, but it was the tall, somber man with dark hair and black eyes standing by the fireplace who captured her attention. As always, Robert Lee’s quiet presence intrigued her, and at the same time, filled her with a sense of peace.

  “Good morning,” Letty said, letting her gaze linger longest on Robert Lee. “Thank you, Robert Lee.” Then she included everyone else in the greeting. “Please… have a seat.”

  “Mrs. Potter, my name is—”

  Robert Lee was already on his way out the door when Letty interrupted the soldier and called him back.

  “Robert Lee, I know you’re terribly busy, but I would appreciate it if you would stay while this gentleman and I have our conversation.”

  Carson Mylam frowned.

  Robert Lee pivoted on one heel, walked across the parlor to the chair nearest where Letty was sitting, and sat down with his hat in his lap.

  “Letty, would you like for me to fetch some tea?” Delilah asked.

  Still hot from her soap making task, Letty was already fanning herself with a small, paper fan. She arched an eyebrow at Robert Lee, who stared at her for a moment, then looked away.

  Letty saw a muscle jerking in his jaw and knew he was irked with her for asking him to stay.

  “I think these gentlemen would most likely prefer something a bit stronger,” Letty said, and pointed toward a cupboard in the corner.

  Delilah was as familiar with men’s likes and dislikes as Letty, and headed for the whiskey decanter and the small shot glasses on a shelf above.

  Once Delilah was at her task, Letty eyed the officer again.

  “I’m sorry. I interrupted you. As you were saying…”

  Carson was out of his element. This woman was nothing like he’d expected. There was perspiration on her face, stains on her clothing, and her hands were obviously reddened from some sort of menial labor. He would have expected a woman of her wealth to have her every wish granted by servants. Instead, she appeared as a servant herself, and showed no embarrassment or made an apology for receiving company while being so great with child.

  He cleared his throat.

  “My name is Carson Mylam, a major with the Union army.” At this point, he pulled his letters of reference from his pocket. “I have letters of reference from President Lincoln, as well as two of my superiors, both of whom are generals. I’ve come on the behalf of the government of these United States to speak of a matter most urgent.”

  “I doub
t you have been in a single state since you crossed the Mississippi River. This territory damn sure isn’t one, so don’t go throwing the United State government at me. Back there, they don’t even know we exist.”

  Carson frowned.

  Letty frowned back as she stared at the papers he was holding.

  “So what is it you came to talk about?”

  “I came to beseech you, on behalf of President Lincoln, to beg for your help.”

  “What could I possibly do? I’m near to giving birth. Surely you aren’t asking me to pick up a rifle and go fight your war?”

  The skin on Carson’s neck turned bright pink.

  “No, Ma’am. I have come to you, because of your great wealth and power.” And even as he was saying it, there was a moment when he realized how foolish that sounded.

  Letty stared at him for a moment, and then laughed—out loud—without care for the lack of lady-like behavior.

  “And what is it that you think my wealth and power is going to do… stop bullets?”

  Carson’s neck flushed a darker shade of pink. He waved the papers he’d carried across hundreds of miles into the air.

  “Please read these, madam.” He frowned. “I’m assuming you do read.”

  Letty’s smile quit about the same time as her patience.

  “I read. I read just fine. However, you need to know that, out here in the territories, reading is about the last skill you need to keep yourself alive. You also need to know that I’ve been making lye soap all morning, and that I’m not sure what hurts worse… my back or my feet. Pissing me off before you state your business isn’t the smartest thing you could be doing.”

  Robert Lee smiled. He didn’t mean to. But when Letty got her feathers in a fluff, he just couldn’t help it. There was even a small part of him that felt sorry for the blue-ass officer in his hot, wool suit.

  Carson, on the other hand, was stunned. He got up, laid the letters in Letty’s lap without saying another word, and then sat back down.

  Letty glared at him, thanked Delilah for the glass of water she brought to her, and took a long drink as Delilah served whiskey to the men.

  Robert Lee took a small sip, savoring the fire it put in his belly.

  Carson Mylam downed his fast and neat. He figured he was going to need it, and more, before this meeting was over.

  Letty chose the letter from the president to read first.

  “Look, Delilah. Abraham Lincoln wrote me a letter. He’s wondering if I would be interested in helping fund his war. Isn’t that something?”

  Carson started to smile with a bit of relief until Letty finished what she’d been saying.

  “I’d like to know where the hell he was when I was servicing drunks for fifty cents a poke to keep from starving to death.”

  Carson choked on his own spit.

  Robert Lee toasted Letty with a smile and what was left in his shot glass, and then downed it in one gulp.

  Delilah grinned.

  Letty laid the letter aside and picked up the other two. She scanned them quickly, then folded them and laid them on top of the first.

  “Okay. Let me see if I understand you right. You traveled all the way from Philadelphia to see me because I’m rich, and because you’re thinking that, in my womanly wisdom, I might be swayed to donating a good sum of money so that men could go kill each other? Is that about it?”

  Carson’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.

  “Delilah, maybe you ought to pour the man another drink. He doesn’t look as if he’s feeling well.”

  Delilah filled the shot glass.

  Carson downed it, wheezing slightly as the liquor hit his belly.

  “Mrs. Potter, I don’t think you’re getting the full picture, here,” Carson said. “There are people down in the south who—”

  “I know all about slavery,” Letty said. “I’ve been one, but it wasn’t finding gold that set me free. It was the man who became my husband who did that for me. He’s dead, and this has been the saddest year of my life because of it. If you think that I’m going to donate money to something that is going to widow thousands of women, and cause just as many mothers to weep over lost sons, then you’re crazier than you look, sitting here in this hot house, in your fancy wool uniform with the gold buttons and gold braid.”

  Carson wondered if he was in as much danger as he felt, and decided to toss out a small threat. He wasn’t sure if it was the truth, but it sounded good.

  “Mrs. Potter, you do know that the government could confiscate your gold mine for the good of the country.”

  At this point, any kind of threat to Letty lit a fire under Robert Lee. He leaned forward and fixed Carson Mylam with a cold, angry stare.

  “Now that you’ve shared that bit of information with us, there’s something you need to know, as well. I put the last man who messed with Letty Potter six feet under. Now you can sit there and think it would be a small thing to remove me from the picture, and you’d be right. However, you might want to know before you start messing with this woman, that she rode down the man who killed her husband, shot him between the eyes with a rifle she didn’t know how to reload, then burned the bastard down to his bones, and brought them back to the sheriff to bury. Threats don’t scare her, mister, but they do piss her off, and threatening her, pisses me off, too.”

  Carson didn’t believe a word Robert Lee had said until Letty stood up and handed him the letters. She shoved them into his hands and then thumped his chest with her finger, tapping sharply on each gold button as she spoke.

  “You take your sorry ass back to where you came from, and you tell your president and your generals that I will not be donating to their war. As for trying to take the mine, itself, tell them to come on down and give it a try. I’ll blow it up, and them with it, before I’d see the gold spent that way. They can spend eternity in the belly of that mountain, and see how important their damned war is then.”

  It was the lack of emotion in her voice that told Carson he’d made a monumental mistake. Not only was she serious, but he was beginning to believe she could make good on her threats.

  “I’ll see myself out,” he said, and started toward the door.

  Robert Lee stood up.

  “No. I’ll be the one seeing you out.” He followed the man all the way to the horse he’d tied up outside, then waited until Mylam was mounted before he added.

  “You were the first, and you better be the last who comes harassing this woman about her money and your war, or I’ll be seeing them in hell,” then he gave Carson back his unloaded pistol.

  Carson holstered his gun and rode away. He didn’t breathe easy until he was out of sight of the house. At that point, he kicked the horse in the flanks and ran it all the way into town, got a ticket on the first stage out, and went back to fight a war. At least there his enemies were recognizable by Rebel gray.

  Letty viewed Carson Mylam’s visit as she might have a disease—one she didn’t want to repeat. It had been her experience that, if something caused her concern or made her sick, then the best thing to do was rid herself of the possibility that it could happen again. A couple of days after he’d gone, she walked down to Robert Lee’s tent and asked him to drive her out to the mine.

  “Why?” he’d asked.

  “I’m rich. Getting richer isn’t going to change my life.”

  He frowned, waiting for her to continue.

  “And, despite what the newspapers are touting, I don’t think that damned war is going to go away any time soon. I fear that the longer it continues, the greater the possibility that someone else will come for whatever it takes to win, and you and I both know that money will make it happen. Whoever has the most guns, the most ammunition, the most food, and the most men is going to prevail. I don’t know if my money will be safe in all those Yankee banks, but I can keep either side from coming after the mine.”

  “How?”

  “By blowing it up.”

  Robert Lee blanched.

>   “You can’t be serious. There must be tens of thousands of dollars worth of gold ore still in those shafts.”

  She shrugged.

  “It won’t be going anywhere.”

  “But you could destroy the whole thing by blasting wrong.”

  “So, then we’ll make sure to do it right.”

  “Jesus,” Robert Lee muttered.

  “So, are you going to help me, or am I going to do it by myself?”

  “Hell no, you’re not going to do it… by yourself or with me. I’ll blow the damned thing, but you’re not going to ride all the way out there.”

  “I won’t be riding a horse. I will be sitting in a wagon.”

  “It’s not safe.”

  “I will do it with or without you.”

  “Fine,” he finally muttered. “Whatever happens is on your head, not mine.”

  “Fine,” she echoed. “We’ll do it tomorrow after breakfast.”

  “What if it damages the old cabin?”

  She turned away, unable to think about losing the place where she and Eulis had been the happiest.

  “It can’t matter more than making sure the gold doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

  Robert Lee shrugged and walked away.

  Letty watched him go then went back to the house. She was ready and waiting for him just as the sun came up.

  He helped her into the wagon seat, then took the reins and flipped them across the backs of the mules. The mules took off with their passengers, a box of dynamite, and a sack of fuses and blasting caps.

  Letty hadn’t been to the mine since Eulis’ death, and thought she was prepared. But when they came down off the mountain and she saw the old cabin at the other side of the valley, breath caught in the back of her throat. She found herself looking for Eulis, half-expecting him to step out of the entrance to the mine and wave her on, just as he’d done so many times before.

  Robert Lee heard the change in her breathing and got a glimpse of tears in her eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he said softly.

  Letty sighed.

  “Oh, Robert Lee… so am I. So am I.”

  When they reached the cabin, he helped her down from the wagon.