The Heart of a Soiled Dove

by Sarah Jae Foster

  When he retrieved his horse from Philippe, he headed out towards her cattle instead of off her property. She stopped the bucket mid-way and asked Philippe, “Where does he think he’s going?”

  Philippe had no answer and she looked hard at him. Before she could give the order he stated, “I’ll get your horse, Senorita.”

  Donovan was riding the line and swore under his breath when he saw her coming. He saw Martin pivot to see where this irritation had come from.

  “Aurora.” Donovan scowled. He spit out tobacco juice and Martin teased, “Do you not like women in general, or just her?”

  Donovan smiled dangerously at Martin, who shut his trap.

  She arrived all too soon. “May I ask what you are doing on my range?”

  “Take it up with Roman.”

  “I’m taking it up with you.”

  “You don’t want to do that.” Intensely, he held her eyes with his.

  “I want to know why you are in the mist of my cattle, Mr. Ramsey.”

  “And I told you to take it up with Roman.”

  “Do I have another choice?”

  He stayed firm and unresponsive.

  “I’ll go see Roman then.”

  “You do that.” Donovan and Martin set about rounding up the herd. They’d gotten too far and loose with Roman being out of commission. He’d found five on his land this morning. He figured Aurora meant well, but she didn’t have a clue how to run a ranch. Why, if she didn’t have his brother around to keep things in order…. The thing of it was, the only reason he ever wanted to own this property was to give it over to Roman. Donovan glanced back under the rim of his hat to see Aurora heading back to him.

  What in tarnation?

  This was her land. She did not answer to people, they answered to her. She gained courage in the pleasure of seeing Donovan’s arrogance dissipate as she drew near. He dismounted, so she did likewise – to be on even ground. Although he stood several inches taller, in her newly revelatory state of mind, she was not to be swayed.

  He peered at her with intimidating, sadistic eyes. He was going to eat her alive.

  She raised her prideful chin – she could do this. He smirked. It was almost in a playful way, and she realized he was enjoying this… this… standoff. If that’s what it took to get a smile out of Donovan, he would not be disappointed. Venturing on in this new braveness Aurora said, “I don’t need to check with Roman about anything. I am the owner. And I want to know why you are here. Are you checking up on my cattle? My land?”

  “Plan on me being here for a while.”

  She took a step away from his sudden closeness. “Why would you be here a while?” Suddenly the air became thick around her, and it had nothing to do with the heat from the sun. “You have your own ranch. Roman might be down a while but I have Martin and Philippe.”

  “I don’t want to be here,” he said, cutting her to the quick. “It’s a personal favor for Roman. I’m in the middle of getting together my own cattle drive, so don’t test my patience.”

  “How can I test your patience when you don’t have any?”

  Martin had been silent until now. Unfortunately, he chose the moment to let out a low whistle.

  To her horror, Donovan picked her up and set her atop her horse. “I better not see you in this pasture again. Roman might put up with your pretty face out here but I will not.” Donovan slapped the horse’s rump with a small force and the animal took off. Caught off guard, Aurora scrambled for the loose and wild reins. She was a mile away before gathering the horse and calming him. She expressed a sly smile. Donovan had called her pretty.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Someone was tapping the doorknocker. Aurora wiped sweat from her brow with a handkerchief and pulled open the heavy front door.

  “Josie….” She looked past the woman, wondering who was with her, hoping it was Emmy. Setting aside her disappointment she stepped aside so Josie could cross the threshold.

  “Come into the parlor. It’s the coolest room. I’ll bring you some water, although it’s a bit warm.”

  Aurora returned to see poor Josie looking like a foreigner in the parlor. The floral wallpaper, photographs on end tables and books in bookshelves surrounding Josie in her prostitute’s attire made her stand out. Aurora tried to make it a home in every sense of the word – for Emmy, even though it appeared the gesture was for naught. What she didn’t want though, was Josie’s envy.

  “I brought some warm lemonade in case you prefer that to warm water.”

  It was too late when she noted Josie take in the silver serving tray and crystal pitcher of lemonade. She hadn’t meant to overdo it. It was just simply nice to have some company.

  Aurora settled herself and sighed. “It’s good to have you over, Josie.”

  “Aren’t you offended to have a prostitute come a calling?” Josie looked her hostess over. “I didn’t come on my own accord.”

  Aurora’s interest was piqued. “I am not offended in the least. God loves us all the same. I ought to try to as well. But since you brought it up, why did you come?”

  Josie cleared her throat. Whatever she’d come for didn’t seem to set well for her. “I came because of the sheriff. Were… were you supposed to see him this week?”

  “Not officially. He ordered me to but I never agreed. Besides, Roman injured himself and I’ve not been able to leave.” She answered in half-truth. She did not want to leave because Donovan came every day to perform Roman’s duties as foreman. Having Donovan around her property had given her a sense of protection and an oddly welcome calm that everything would be alright.

  Josie picked at a lemon peel on the tray. “The sheriff made me come. He knows he can’t barge on out here now that you have men here to protect you.”

  Aurora snickered. “Oh, yes. I have a man who only today started using a crutch and an old Mexican who cares for the stable, and two others who sleep under the stars with cows.” She left out Donovan. He wouldn’t want her to include him in this family she wanted to be hers. And if he only knew the sheriff thought he was protecting her, nearly made Aurora double over with laughter.

  “Corbin said to tell you that if you want him to keep quiet, you’ll need to pay him.”

  Her statement digested a few moments in Aurora’s mind. “Did he tell you this secret he’s keeping?”

  Josie shook her head. Aurora calculated the situation. Did she want to share her past with Josie? No. She wouldn’t be bribed and she wouldn’t be pressed into sharing what was her own business. She would wait on God to tell her when and to whom to expose herself to – not Sheriff Corbin Bradbury. “What happens now?”

  Josie’s curiosity seemed to be dashed as well as her hope. Gingerly she set the lemon peel down. “He said he would hurt me if you don’t come to him.”

  This was inconceivable. “Why should he harm you?”

  “Apparently he thinks you have a fondness for people like me.”

  “How can he think anything of me? He does not know me.”

  “You purchased Carrie Anne in front of the whole town. You let Emmy live here with you.” She looked around the cozy home with care. “I don’t even know why she left this place.”

  “Emmy has made her own choices,” Aurora said.

  The hurt was still fresh and Aurora began to cry. “I have no idea why she chose to do this to herself. She did not have to. No one ever has to.”

  Josie misunderstood and quipped, “Not all of us have it as easy as you, Aurora Young. Don’t be so quick to judge why we live the way we do.” Josie headed straight for the front door.

  “Oh, you have little cause to be angry with me.”

  Josie stopped. “What do you know? You have all you need and more, yet you belittle those of us who need to earn a living. We who need to work in order to have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies.”

  Aurora made haste and followed hotly. With a challenge, she asked, “Is that why you are a whore?”

  The question looke
d to throw Josie’s balance. “How dare you?”

  Aurora held her ground. “I would like to offer you that home you speak of, that roof over your head.”

  Josie’s laugh was harsh. “You’ve got to be kidding me! You can’t have someone like me living here. What would people say?”

  Aurora smiled now. “In case you didn’t know, I don’t care what people say or think of me. The only one I have a care about in terms of how they think of me is my Lord.”

  “I couldn’t leave Thatcher and the town.”

  “You just said you only do what you do because there is no other way. I’m offering you another way.” Aurora had her attention now. “Think about it. You could be free to do as you please.”

  Aurora knew what it was like to be bound to someone, to be their prisoner. She could feel the same old haunts reaching out to her now. Gently, she held on to Josie’s sweaty palm and pulled her to the edge of the yard. Behind her house they could see cattle grazing and roaming around the hills. “The feeling of racing a horse through these pastures is euphoric, Josie. I’ve never felt such joy. I’ve come to know about forgiveness and true freedom over the last year. It can all be for you, too – for anyone who decides to seek it out.”

  “I… can’t.”

  Aurora released Josie’s hand. She would need to want this for herself. “Then you sell yourself for different reasons other than what you said to me. Be honest with yourself, Josie. Remind yourself the next time you lie with a strange man who is invading your body for a few dollars, of what you declined with me here today.”

  Without another word exchanged, Josie gathered her horse from the water trough and Aurora was left there disheartened and filled with sadness. She then clenched her fists and decided that Corbin Bradbury needed to be dealt with.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Thank you Philippe.” With ease, Aurora mounted and turned in the direction that would take her to town. That would take her to Sheriff Bradbury.

  “Why won’t you let me take you, Senorita?” Philippe asked a final time. “It’s getting too dark for you to go alone.”

  She waved good-bye to him without turning in the saddle. If she would have seen his pleading eyes she would have caved in and had him come. This was something she needed to hold her own on. Without giving in to condemnation, she would address her past with the sheriff. She’d do it to share about her freedom, and she’d do it for Emmy and Josie, still bound to the deceitfulness of sexual slavery.

  Aurora looked upwards in wonder at the surrounding noises. She had company as she rode. Little squirrels scrambled high in the evergreen trees, dropping pinecones now and then in her path. As she peered up, she realized that the sun was going to fade soon. It was not yet too dark, although it would be by the time she returned, and the thought of traveling along this worn path at night was not a welcome one. But she would not risk the sheriff laying a finger on Josie on account of her – on account of anybody, if she could do anything about it.

  Just beyond site of town, Aurora removed the handkerchief from her saddlebag and wiped her damp forehead. She stopped a moment to pray for courage and to quench her thirst. She was not too surprised when she arrived just inside of Pine City to hear gunfire split the air. She dismounted quickly and crouched low, even with the horse’s belly.

  “And stay out of here!” Thatcher Poe shoved a man out of his saloon, a hot gun still in his grip. Without a look about, he ventured back inside. The town was going to come alive now that the respectable and wise ones have gone home behind closed doors. It was precisely where Aurora should be, after she made sure Josie was safe for failing to bring her to the sheriff.

  With confidence, Aurora straightened her posture and strode to the jail. Prepared, resolved and… stubborn.

  “Fancy seeing you here. Knew you were gonna miss me.” Corbin removed his feet from his desk and stood.

  She swallowed hard. “I did not have a choice.”

  “No, I don’t suppose you did.”

  “Is that a woman out there?” A clanging reverberated in the back where the cells were.

  “Put that tin cup away and shut-up, Wally.”

  The prisoner moaned, “Come on, Corbin… I want some of that.”

  Corbin looked her up and down. If she’d been a regular lady, she would have turned white and fainted all over his floor. She closed her eyes as he baited her. “Maybe I ought to give him a turn on you. Turn some profits tonight.”

  She refused to respond and addressed the reason for being there. “I spoke with Josie.” Aurora stood close to the door.

  He covered the distance between them. “Then you know how serious I am.”

  “Why can’t you just let it be? Why threaten Josie? She’s nothing to do with me.”

  Tobacco and whiskey scented stench filled her lungs as he breathed inches from her mouth. She would not cower.

  “Do I look like the kind of man who would, as you say, let it be?”

  Aurora ducked and stepped around him, unwisely putting her away from the door.

  “But what is it going to do for you to hold my past over me? Your whole threat would be baseless if I made it known myself. Men like you need to control, to own others. It makes you appear big. Therefore, bribing will not work, exposing will not work.”

  Corbin grabbed her by the upper arms and squeezed. “I don’t believe you. You don’t wish this whole town to know what you are. Especially Donovan’s men.”

  Her face must have paled and her breath hitched. He’d hit a nerve and he knew it. He grinned shrewdly.

  Wally called out, “What’s going on out there? Come on, sheriff.”

  “Shut up!”

  “Who’s out there with you? Is it Josie? It’s not fair that you got me locked up. You know I didn’t mean no trouble at Poe’s.”

  Aurora’s heartbeat was erratic but she held herself together, had to for her own good.

  “I told you to shut up and I meant it. Not another word, Wally.”

  Corbin’s face flushed with anger and irritation. Aurora wished this Wally would indeed shut up. He wasn’t helping her one bit. “So, you’re telling me that your intentions are to speak openly about your life as a prostitute?”

  “If I have to – because I won’t pay you a single cent and because I want others to know there is a life outside of it.”

  He toyed with his gun a moment and snapped his eyes to hers. “Don’t think that will go well for you. It’s one thing to have a whorehouse that’s known to all, but to have one secretly is something else. People here will not tolerate you and your highfalutin’ ways, prancing yourself about like a normal, upstanding citizen… and all the while turning tricks in your backyard. What do they call that? Oh, yeah, hypocritical.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You know as well as I that I own nothing more than a ranch.”

  “I know that. But by the time I’m done with your reputation, no one will believe a word you say. Your past and Emmy’s actions have already spoken otherwise. Most likely you’ll need to find another town to hide in. Wouldn’t that be too bad?”

  She was catching on. “What will it take, then, for you to leave me alone?”

  His smile unnerved her. “You.”

  “You know that is something I won’t give. I’m not for sale.”

  “Well that’s what it’s going to take.”

  “Then I guess we’ll have to find out what the town thinks of me.”

  She sensed his anger rise a few notches and turned to leave.

  “Do not turn your back on me.”

  “I’m free to go. I’m free to do whatever I want. Is that what bothers you so much about me, sheriff? Is an independent woman who’s been delivered from her past such a threat to you?”

  “I’ve wanted you since the first day I saw you,” he murmured. “I will have you one way or another.”

  She aimed to wound his manly pride. “It’s true. You can take me by force. I suppose that’s what cowardly men have to do when they…”
/>
  “Don’t finish those words.”

  “You’ll never have me the way you want – willingly.”

  Submission was exactly what he wanted. She knew it.

  “That’s a challenge I’m willing to take on. Let’s see who comes out ahead shall we?”

  “You’re letting me go?”

  “Disappointed?”

  She remembered Josie. “You’ll not hurt Josie?”

  His smile faded. “I’ll do whatever I want to that whore.”

  “All of this boils down to you having me?”

  With the palm of his hand Corbin rubbed his chest slowly. “It does.”

  “You would leave Josie alone if I allow….” A lump of bile choked off her finishing thought. His dark enthusiasm and eager eyes answered her. He wiped his palms against his thighs in wait of her decision. Dread overcame her. Josie was worth this. But his supposedly leaving her alone would not be enough. Josie would want her freedom as well and it wasn’t Corbin’s to give. Josie belonged to Thatcher.

  “I need to think,” she said.

  Finally he capitulated his demanding stance and stepped aside for her to depart.

  “As you wish.”

  Aurora was barely at the edge of town when something on the ground snapped, and this time it was no animal. Aurora felt her throat close with fear and she dismounted, better to defend herself. She wanted to get to her rifle, more than ever grateful for Roman’s teaching on weaponry and firing. Had Corbin decided to come after her? Claim her after all? Her arm was touched lightly. She beat against her attacker wishing she’d had the rifle in hand. Instead she flung her arms in wild defense.