The Escort

by Gina Robinson

  "Yes, Tonio, exactly that," Angelina said. "I've had the best idea. I'm going to sell cookies to the miners." She quickly outlined her plan for him. "Now if you'll just go to your friend Jim and get permission for me to sell at the Bunker—"

  "Absolutely not!" He fairly roared. "The Bunker is the last place I want you to be. The Bunker is a powder keg waiting to be lit. I forbid you to go!"

  His vehemence stunned Angelina. "Forbid me? You can't forbid me. What gives you the right to forbid me?"

  "I'm your chaperone."

  "Not anymore."

  "You're a single woman again. Nonna Gia and your family would expect that I would resume my duties and look out for your welfare."

  "No! I'm not going to let you be an overbearing male and tell me what to do. This is the United States of America and I can do what I want!" She set her jaw and looked at him calmly. "I'm staying."

  "A week or two with May and she's turned into a cussed suffragette already," Tonio mumbled.

  "You can mumble all you want, but I'm not leaving."

  "Fine, stay. But stay away from the mines. Get the Colonel to sell your damned cookies at the hotel then, but stay out of the mines."

  "Why should I? Do you know something I don't?"

  He stood to face her. "Evidently."

  "Maybe you're jealous." She tried to tease. "Worried that now that I'm free I'll take up with some handsome miner?"

  He gave her a sardonic grin. "I'm leaving now. But if I find out you've been up at the Bunker, I'll be back to turn your shapely fanny over my knee and give it a good paddling." He pointed at May. "You, too, stay away." As he opened the door and stood in the doorway, her next words assaulted him.

  "You just try it, Antonio Domani! You pride yourself on being an American, but you're becoming an old Italian bore! The minute I start asserting my rights and using my own brain to better myself you revert to your dominant male behavior," she called out after him.

  He stopped in his tracks and to her amazement smiled as he turned to look at her. "Italian bore?" He was suddenly clearly amused at the irony of the situation. For reasons she couldn't understand he was pleased with her.

  "What else would you call it?"

  "All right, my American lass. I'll talk to Jim for you. But you must promise me that if you ever get a warning about trouble at the mine, you'll stay away until things have cooled off."

  She nodded as he disappeared out the door and down the front walk, chuckling to himself as he went. He was still laughing softly as she watched him disappear down the tree-lined street.

  The kitchen at the Fuller was hot and sticky by midday. Angelina came in early to do the baking and was glad to be finished before the real heat of the day struck. She hung up her damp apron, and wiped the perspiration from her brow with her sleeve. May had arrived to replace her and she'd finished the dishes and was ready to leave. This was the part of the day she dreaded. That horrible Clell hung around too often waiting for her, just outside the door, pestering her to have dinner with him or take a stroll, making deliberate innuendos. She had not been able to discourage him.

  On this particular afternoon, she checked out the windows to make sure he wasn't around before stepping out into the bright sunshine. But she hadn't gone two steps when he appeared from the bank across the street, evidently wise to her plan to avoid him.

  "Angelina." He tipped his hat, which only gave her a better view of the lust in his eyes. "It is a pleasure to see you."

  She nodded curtly and kept walking. He joined stride with her.

  "Lovely day."

  She nodded, still walking.

  "Lovely day to have dinner with me," he added.

  "I might say, 'Too lovely a day to have dinner with you, Mr. Clell.' I thought I had made my wishes known before. I do not desire your attentions."

  He darted in front of her, blocking her path. "Oh, come now, Angelina. I make a very fine suitor. I assume you've enjoyed the gifts I've been sending you. See how attentive I can be?"

  "They're from you? I should have known. No other man would insult me with such notes." She tried to get past him again.

  He grabbed her arm. "I wouldn't throw my offer back so quickly if I were you." He paused for effect, to heighten the threat in his tone. "Tonio's obviously deserted you. A woman as pretty as you, in a town like this, would do well to have a protector. I can offer you that."

  Though it stung, she ignored his jibe about Tonio. "I can protect myself, thank you."

  His gaze raked over her. "I can protect you better and offer you a good time in the bargain. I promise." He spoke with innuendo in his voice that sent a shudder of repulsion through her. He ran his hand along her arm.

  She shook him off and glared.

  "I'm a powerful man in this town and I get what I want. What I want right now is you." He reached out and stroked her cheek. "Those who defy me usually regret it."

  Angelina's heart raced with fear as she pulled away. "Is that a threat, Mr. Clell?"

  "That's a promise."

  Fortunately, Charley Nokes stepped out of the Fuller and headed their direction, calling out a greeting.

  Clell backed off. "I will have you. That's a certainty." He tipped his hat and walked off with an angry meter to his gait.

  Nokes' gaze flitted between her and Clell. "Giving you a bad time, Mrs. Allessandro?"

  She nodded. She liked Nokes. He was Tonio's friend.

  "Let me walk you home," he said.

  "I'd be grateful."

  He offered her his arm and began an amiable banter, but she noticed he kept his gun hand at ready.

  Pale yellow washed the kitchen as the sun prepared to drop out of sight over the western horizon. It was nearly eight o'clock at night. Angelina still wasn't used to the long spring days in Idaho. She sat at the table with the day's take neatly stacked in front of her. She'd finished logging them in her accounting ledger and her eyes shone with satisfaction, as they always did when she counted her earnings. "We did good today, May. We cleared just over three-fifty."

  "Would that it was three hundred and fifty," May said.

  Angelina was optimistic. "Just think, May. We made as much as a union scale miner makes in a day. And we didn't have to get all dirty and grimy, breaking our backs in another man's mine to do it."

  The images of the miners emerging from their shifts flooded Angelina's mind. Each day, with the precision of an army in drill, the shifts at the mine changed. The day shift emerged like moles, covered with grime and sweat, squinting into the sun, as the second shift made their way up the gulch and climbed the hill to the mine.

  There was only one route; the narrow gulch precluded any other. Tonio had commented that it would be easy enough for the union to blockade it, should violence erupt. But Angelina counted it a blessing. The men had to pass by her with her baskets of freshly baked treats.

  Angelina was drawn to the Bunker as it was by far the largest mine in the region and hence employed the largest number of men. Bunker management bragged about the two hundred and fifty thousand dollar concentrator, the largest and most expensive one in the world. Angelina couldn't begin to imagine a sum of money as large as that.

  For now she was content with the profits her cookies and baked goods brought. Her cookies sold so quickly that she gave up trying to sell at any of the other sizable mines in the area. She went only once a day at shift change and in minutes quickly sold out her stock.

  She'd never imagined it would be so easy. It had not been easy the first day. The sight of the masses of filthy men had been overwhelming. Each day when she came home it took time for the images of soot stained fingers dropping coins into her hand to recede. Some of the hands were cracked and bleeding, others stained and smelling strongly of leather. The more bold men took the opportunity to touch her hand as they dropped a coin in her palm.

  She smiled at each man and offered a small encouragement, always thanking him for his business. She used her foreign accent on them to such effect that the
y were overwhelmed by her charm. After a few days she suspected that they bought cookies almost more for her smiles and small flirtations than for her culinary talents. That fact didn't bother her at all. She brought a small bit of sunshine to their day she reasoned.

  "You need a ride to the mine tomorrow, Angelina?" Al Hall asked as he sat sipping his evening coffee. May's husband was as quiet and unassuming as May was colorful and outgoing. He ran his train by the Bunker several times a day and often allowed Angelina to hitch a ride. It saved on passenger fare.

  Angelina was about to reply when the kitchen door swung open. Al waved Tonio in. He had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. "Al, May, Angelina." He nodded at each one in turn. "You don't mind if I take up residence in the small room upstairs do you?" he asked as May brought him a cup of coffee.

  "'Course not, Tonio," May said. "But I thought you'd be working up at the Hole. What brings you down?"

  "There's rumor of a big strike that is to take place soon. Heard gossip that nearly two hundred men will be walking out. Could be a dangerous time."

  "It'd be safer up at the Hole then, Tonio."

  "It would be for some of us." Angelina could feel his eyes on her. "How goes the cookie business? I've just come from the Fuller House where I was treated to one of your baked goods. So you're selling to the Colonel now as well?"

  May interrupted before Angelina could answer. "It was a stroke of genius, Angelina's genius. We bake a few extra for the Colonel in exchange for the use of his ovens and we call them the famous Fuller House cookies. It's advertising for him and us. Our cookies are selling like hotcakes, but I do believe the suitors Angelina is reeling in are surpassing our sales."

  "So Charley Nokes tells me."

  "Could be that an interested man ought to put his bid in for Angelina's time before it gets all booked up or permanently taken," May said. When Tonio didn't answer she continued. "I was talking to you, Mister Tonio."

  He smiled. "I wasn't aware that I was an interested man."

  "And I wasn't aware that I would take him for a suitor," Angelina shot back.

  May nudged Al, motioning for him to leave the room with her. "I think it's time we turned in," she said, her motive for leaving the room all too obvious. Tonio stopped them.

  "I was hoping to have a word alone with Al."

  May shrugged and the two men left the room, retreating to the parlor where they could be heard speaking in urgent, hushed tones.

  May spoke as if reading Angelina's thoughts. "He's got something on his mind. Don't worry; he'll come around one of these days."

  Angelina nodded but she wasn't so sure.

  Later that night Angelina rose from her bed and tiptoed out into the hall. She couldn't sleep thinking of Tonio sleeping in the room next to hers, his breathing deep and even, his body warm and hard. She shuddered remembering the delight of sleeping next to him on the train ride west. It was an image she should have banished.

  Tonio's room was empty. Voices rose from the living room. He and Al were still up discussing something with heated interest. Something about dynamite and concentrators and the Frisco Mill.

  "They store enough powder at the Frisco to blow up the whole Valley," Tonio was saying. "And it's unguarded, there for the taking. I could make toothpicks out of their concentrator with less."

  Al mumbled something in return. Angelina strained to hear his reply. Tonio was talking again. "Baker wanted an armed labor force and that's what he's got, a bloody army. The Bunker may give in and pay scale, but they'll never recognize the union."

  Mining matters! That's all he thinks about, Angelina thought with disgust. Well, at least it wasn't other women. She tiptoed back to bed. She needed to do something to get his attention, but what? She fell asleep wondering and scheming.

  Angelina was up and in the kitchen early the next morning banging pans around as she prepared to cook one of those big American breakfasts Tonio loved. The clatter woke May up.

  "Aren't you up with the chickens!" May's voice startled her. "I thought you didn't go in for big breakfasts?"

  "I thought I'd give you a break and cook for the men, May."

  "What men?"

  "Al and Tonio."

  "They aren't here. They left already."

  "Already? Where would they be going so early?"

  "Al had an early run to make and Tonio said he had errands to run."

  "Errands? What kind of errands could he have so early?" Couldn't the man stay home and let her pamper him for one morning? How was she supposed to woo him into wedded bliss if he kept running off?

  "Don't know. Tonio's business is his own. You ought to know that by now."

  Angelina put the pans away. May never ate much breakfast. "May, I need the kitchen today, do you mind?"

  "Not at all. I suppose you'd like Al and me to eat out at the hotel."

  Angelina smiled. "You're quick, May."

  "Not really. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, am I right?"

  "Be here for dinner, but if you could take an evening stroll before dessert? I don't want to be too obvious."

  "Say no more." May headed back to bed.

  Tonio wasn't back for dinner. His loss, Angelina thought as she wiped the last dish dry and stacked it in the cupboard. And after all of the work she'd done! The back door slammed open and shut. She turned to find him standing behind her just inside the doorway, an appraising look on his face.

  "It appears I've missed dinner."

  She leaned back against the sink, dish towel still in hand, and faced him defiantly. "Yes. I hope you had the sense to have a meal elsewhere."

  She turned back to the sink. Why couldn't she be nice to him like her mama had taught her? Men fell in love with nice women, not shrews. "It's a shame you missed it. It was my turn to cook." She heard him remove his jacket and toss it over a chair back. "My meals are always excellent."

  "Then it would seem that a man couldn't lose around here. May is a very fine cook herself. I'll have to remember to be home in time for dinner tomorrow. Where are May and Al?"

  "Walking off their meal." She softened and put on a delicate smile as she turned to face him. She caught him off guard. There in his eyes was the gentle, longing look that so confused and enraptured her. It was gone in an instant as always, but it left her encouraged.

  "I saved you some dessert. Let me get you some coffee to go with it."

  "No, Angel, I need something stronger than coffee tonight." He reached into his coat hanging on the chair and pulled a flask of rum from the pocket. "Get two glasses and join me."

  "Ladies never drink anything stronger than wine." She set two shot glasses, one full of water, two plates, two forks, and a small platter of chocolate covered pastries in front of him and then sat in the place next to him at the table.

  "Profiterole!" His tone was appreciative. "You must have spent all day in the kitchen. Did you even go to the Bunker today?"

  "Yes, certainly. But business wasn't good. There were little yellow notices posted all over town encouraging the men to join the union. Immediately, the flyers said. Many of the men seemed upset by them."

  Tonio's look was suddenly dark. "Yes, I saw them. Be careful, Angel. Be very careful." Then he reached over and drank the water in a single swallow.

  "Hey! That was mine!"

  He smiled wickedly as he poured two glasses of rum. "I never drink alone. Bottoms up!" He finished his and poured another. Angelina didn't lift her glass.

  "You've made my favorite dessert." He was scooping a pile of the tiny puffs onto his plate. "Did you know?" He put his fork down and reached out and took her hand in his, then gently pressed her glass into it. "Drink with me. Just one drink. It's good."

  She looked uncertain.

  "You're in a dark mood tonight, Tonio. Wanting others to drink with you."

  "We're in dark times, Angel."

  "Has something happened?" Angelina knew that the tense relations between the union and the Bunker had the partners worried
. What would a strike do to the operation of the Hole? Would the inevitable violence spread to small operations such as theirs?

  "Something and nothing. Humor me. Drink just one glass and I'll leave you alone."

  He persisted. She lifted the glass and downed it all at once; her eyes watered but she refused to sputter or choke. What would one glass matter? It took many drinks to get drunk. He pulled her chair close to his.

  "I hope you're not looking for a drunken companion tonight, Tonio." Her head was already beginning to buzz with the alcohol. Rum was much stronger than she supposed. Tonio looked amused as he enjoyed his dessert.

  "These are very good, Angelina. Soft and round and creamy." His voice was low and sensuous as he devoured the tiny cream puff pastries filled with custard and drizzled with chocolate. Angelina watched him with wide eyes. He was incredibly handsome and she said so.

  "Thank you, Angelina. You've never told me that before. Has the alcohol loosened your tongue?"

  "I've only had one drink."

  "Then I'm truly flattered."

  She smiled back at him. He seemed to enjoy her rapt attention.

  He poured her another drink. "To the best baker in the Valley!"

  She drank half her shot.

  "Perhaps you should have something to eat with that." He offered her a small pastry from between his fingers. She leaned over brazenly and bit into it. The cream filling gushed out as she took a bite and oozed onto his finger. He popped the remaining piece in his mouth and made a show of licking his finger. The last of the light faded, the room went dark.

  Angelina's head sang with the effects of the rum. Her inhibitions waned. She offered him a small round profiterole from between her fingers. He held her wrist tenderly as he took it in a single bite sucking her fingers in with the pastry and caressing them with his tongue. He sucked her fingers back into his mouth. She flushed as he sucked first one finger and then the next finally turning her hand over and licking her palm, before sealing it with a kiss.