* * *
The workshop wasn’t very big, but there was a little pot-belly stove, and some space beside the old workbench. The saddle racks were mostly empty. Some old harness and rope. It was almost clean, and I banged on the stove pipe and not much creosote fell. Seemed to be in good shape. We decided to stow ourselves there along with the gear.
Casey went off to look after the horses, as she does when she’s feeling quiet. I went over to the saloon and got us some beers. She still wanted a drink, but she didn’t seem in the mood to argue with the bartender about her age. The saloon had a kitchen, too, and I managed to talk them into giving me a plate full of ham and potatoes.
When I got back, I found Casey had split up some logs into kindling, and was feeding a little fire. She kept the door of the stove open.
“It don’t draw too good unless the fire’s hot,” she said. That was okay with me. The fire made some light, and the smoke wasn’t bad. We sat on the plain wood of the floor and ate the ham and potatoes. The potatoes were a bit mealy, but the ham was hot and steamy with a good sharp flavor of sweet and salt and smoke. Made the smoke in the room seem like part of the meal.
After we ate, we pushed the plate away, and drank our beer, looking at the fire. Casey was quiet and didn’t hardly drink.
“There wasn’t no need for them to do that,” she said, taking a sip. She was talking about them shooting down the corral man.
“They did it on purpose, Case,” I said.
“I know. Bastards.”
“No, I mean....” I paused. What did I mean? I could see the killer’s lean face in my mind. The way he aimed. “I mean they were gunning for him. Not just shooting anybody.”
“Bastards,” said Casey. “Did I get the one that did it?”
“Nope.”
“They ought to let us go after them.”
She was depressed, then. If she was just mad, she wouldn’t wait for somebody to give her permission. She looked up at me, and I could see a whole bunch of hurt in her face.
“Every place is like this, ain’t it,” she said, her voice so quiet I could hardly hear. “Every place.”
“No it ain’t,” I said.
“Every place we go. Outlaws shooting and messing things up....”
“Case?”
“Yeah?”
“Some places are like this. Not all of them,” I said. “We just keep moving around and running into it. It’s our job.”
She nodded, and looked in her glass. The fire threw flickers of light across her face, and I thought it seemed red, but she wasn’t crying.
“Like dirt,” she said, lifting her chin. “It gathers and we clean it up.”
“Yeah,” I said, although I wasn’t so sure we had that much effect on the evil of the world. We sure hadn’t done the corral man any good. Cleaning up after was more like what we did. But Casey was right. Better to think we were holding the line against it, instead of just making some money adding to the problem. I took a drink and decided I might as well feel proud too. Neither one of us had any other skills.
“They say they got a castle in Quester Springs,” I said, changing the subject to something brighter.
“Yep,” she said, rocking back. “And it ain’t like this at all back there.”
“No, ma’m. Law all over the place.”
Casey wasn’t normally fond of the law, since it hadn’t done her family much good, but I guess she was coming around. She sighed and set down her glass, and then leaned back to rest her hands behind her.
“Yep,” she said agreeably. She paused and looked at the shadows playing through the beams and across the ceiling. “You think anybody wants to kidnap that girl?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Because they wouldn’t hire just us to look after her.”
“We did pretty good out there. I shot more of them than anybody....”
“Case.”
I looked at her, and she looked back with defiance. But then she made a face, as much as admitting that the pair of us alone just weren’t that impressive. She sat forward.
“We should be doing something more useful. We should be going after those guys.”
She was getting back to herself again now, but that made her a little too eager to go chasing. I raised my eyebrows and leaned closer.
“And help Addley squeeze out the settlers up the valley?”
“No.” She turned her back, and sat there, hugging her knees. But she had her head tilted so she could watch me.
“Well,” I said. “There are other useful things we could be doing.”
“Like what?”
“Smooching.”
“That’s all you think about, isn’t it.”
“Yep.”
She turned completely away and thought about it. Then, instead of turning back, she lay down and looked at me upside down. Took my breath away, to see her spread out like that in the firelight. Watching at me with her head tilted back and her chin pointing up, arms and braid flung this way and that. I got my breath back fast, and picked my jaw up off the floor before she could see my reaction. Casey got self-conscious real easy. I couldn’t let her catch me gaping at her.
“We ain’t gonna have too much chance for privacy coming up,” I said. I leaned in slow and set my arms on either side of her face. “We’ll be keeping watch and all that.”
I brushed my fingers down the sides of her neck. Her eyes got a little wide at that and she looked nervous, but she must have liked it, because if she didn’t she would have punched me. We didn’t have too many communication problems in our marriage, for all that we were still awful new at it.
I leaned in and kissed her upside down. Down her lip, and then on the chin, rubbing my chin against her mouth. I started down her jaw toward the side of her neck.
“Ain’t I too young for this?” she said. I liked the funny sound in her voice.
“Hope not,” I said. I had a funny sound in my voice too, but that was partly because I had a mouthful of ear at the moment.
“You’re kissing me upside down.”
“Good way of doing it,” I said. “Hats don’t bump.”
Her hat had already come off. She reached up and I pulled away, but she managed to rise up and knock mine off. I grabbed her while she was up off the ground and wrapped her up in a big tight squeeze, kissing her good.
It wasn’t the most comfortable place to spend the night, but a couple of horse blankets and our bed rolls, and it did all right. No miners or lice.
* * * * *
The End
Waiter, There's a Clue in My Soup! Five Short Mysteries Page 18