Staking Their Claim

by Ava Sinclair

  She nodded angrily, and then walked out between the two men.

  “Tomorrow I’ll come back and let the desk clerk know what happened,” Cody told her as they passed.

  Jenny didn’t reply. She couldn’t. Anger and frustration rose like bile as she walked between the two men, who were flanking her closely, protectively. She didn’t want to admit that she was suddenly grateful for their presence; the streets of Coloma were rougher now as evening approached. Men fought in the shadows of buildings or lurched drunkenly back toward camp. Two men walking past argued loudly in a language she did not recognize. Off in the distance, a wolf howled mournfully. Somewhere a gun fired once, then twice.

  Cody and Nigel’s cabin sat on a piece of ground higher than the camp around it. It was, Jenny noted, the largest cabin around, and also the most solidly built. In fact, it looked inviting compared to the tents—some made of nothing more than threadbare clothes on rickety poles. Even the boardinghouse, with its rough clientele and thin walls, could not compare.

  Cody kept a hand protectively on Jenny’s back as his friend opened the door of the cabin. The interior offered another surprise. It was tidier than she’d imagined the abode of two unmarried men would be.

  “It’s not the most elegant of accommodations,” Nigel said as he shut the door, “but Cody here is quite the craftsman and made all the furniture.” He beckoned toward the sturdy table and chairs and other furnishing as he spoke.

  “There’s just two bedrooms,” Cody said. “But of course you’ll have your own. Nigel can bunk with me as long as he doesn’t snore.”

  The Englishman laughed at this and then looked down at Jenny. “If you don’t mind my asking, lass, when is the last time you bathed?”

  Jenny’s face flamed. She could only imagine the sight she must be presenting at the moment. She’d been afraid to undress since her arrival. When she didn’t answer, the Englishman continued.

  “I don’t intend to embarrass you, but that boardinghouse is crawling with lice and we won’t have them in our home. Your clothing will have to be burnt. What else have you brought?”

  “Looks like just men’s clothing,” Cody added, and Jenny turned to see him going through her bag.

  “Hey!” She stomped over. “Those are my belongings! You can’t just…” Then her voice died away as the tall cowboy pulled a piece of paper from the satchel and opened it. When he looked back up, his face was grim.

  “Why didn’t you tell us you were being threatened?” he asked. Cody handed the letter to Nigel, who quickly read it.

  “I didn’t think it was that important,” she said in a display of more defiance than she felt.

  “You didn’t think it was important?” Nigel walked over and took Jenny’s chin in his hand. “Your life was threatened, lass. Were it not for serendipity, we’d have never even found you, but we happened across your claim today and that led us to the boardinghouse.” He paused. “This isn’t the kind of secret you keep. I’ve a mind to spank that bum of yours myself.”

  Jenny felt her eyes fill with tears as her hands instinctively flew back to protect her still-sore bottom. “No,” she said, her voice wavering. “Please don’t.”

  The Englishman stared down at her, and she held her breath. Would he spank her as the other man had done? She didn’t think she could take it.

  “Well, if you don’t want to be spanked, then you’ll have to take a bath. I’ll not have lice in the house. Then afterwards you’ll dress in a clean shirt until we can get you some suitable clothes and get some food into you. Then after a good night’s sleep we’ll talk about what’s to be done with you.”

  She looked over to see Cody already hauling a tub into the center of the room; even he knew she wasn’t foolish enough to risk another spanking.

  “Very well,” she said. “But am I supposed to bathe in front of two men?”

  Cody chuckled as he put a kettle on the stove to warm some water. “I assure you, we’re honorable men. The girls down at Cora’s regularly flash their wares in our direction, but to no avail.” His eyes moved up and down her form. “And it looks to me like you have less to tempt the eye than they do.”

  Jenny flushed at this insult, but did not retort. The last thing she intended to do was argue the merits of her own figure. In truth, she realized, she could not stack up to May with her huge billowy breasts. But as Cody filled the tub and she reluctantly—if not obediently—began to undress, she heard the Englishman give a sharp intake of breath.

  “Bloody hell, lass. What’s that about your body?”

  Her shirt was off and she turned to him. “This?” She pointed to the wrapping that bound her chest flat. Behind her, the sounds of the bucket filling the tub had gone silent and she turned to see Cody staring as well.

  “I couldn’t very well look like a girl if I were playing the part of a man, could I?” Jenny looked from one man to the other.

  “That doesn’t look the least bit healthy,” Nigel said, taking hold of her shoulders and gently turning her around. “Let me help you out of this, lass. I won’t hurt you.”

  Jenny felt her breath catch at the closeness of these two men. They towered over her—one in front and one in back—making her feel small and helpless. The Englishman soothed her with comforting words as he unbound the tight bands, and she whimpered in fear as full circulation painfully returned to her tightly bound breasts.

  They did not stop her when she raised her hands over her chest.

  “You need to get out of the rest of these clothes,” Cody said. “I’m going to take your boots and pants off, Jenny. I won’t touch you. I promise.”

  She was suddenly tired, and overwhelmed by the fact that these two men were seeing to her. Cody took off first one boot and then the other before standing to undo her pants, which had been held up with a rope. They fell down and she stepped out and followed him meekly to the tub, grateful to sink into the brimming water that covered her nakedness.

  “I’m going to undo your hair,” Nigel said gently.

  She’d not remembered her hat being removed, but it had been, and now the Englishman removed the few remaining pins. He was sitting on a stool by the tub, and as Cody tossed her filthy clothing into a blaze he’d built in the fireplace, the Englishman soaped her long hair and began washing it.

  When he was finished, he handed her a cake of soap and a washcloth. “I’ll leave you to your privacy now, Jenny. Make sure you wash up good.”

  “I’m not a child,” she said.

  “No?” Cody had walked back over to stand by the Englishman, his arms crossed over his chest. “Perhaps not, but you’re as helpless as one here, Jenny. And until we find a way to get you home, you’ll do as you’re told, understand? It’s dangerous out there, especially for a little thing like you.”

  I’m not a child, she screamed to herself, and then to her horror burst into tears, her shoulders shaking so fiercely that both men came back over to the tub and knelt on either side in concern.

  “There, there, lass,” Nigel said. “It’s going to be all right.”

  “No, it’s not!” She looked from one man to the other, tears coursing down her face. “You’re going to eventually send me away. I have no one else left in the world now that Will is gone. This claim—this dream—it was my last connection to him. If I leave here, it means I failed him… forever.”

  Beside her, Cody sighed and looked across the tub at his friend. “Listen,” he said. “Let me see what I can do tomorrow, okay? I’ll promise to try if you promise to stop crying. But whatever we decide, it will be for your best, understand?”

  Looking again from one handsome face to another, Jenny nodded. There was really nothing else she could do.

  Chapter Four: The Miners’ Ward

  Magistrate Kyle Rhodes looked at the claim paperwork Cody had taken from Jenny’s bag.

  “So let me get this straight,” he said with a sigh. “This gal who came out here—this sister of your dead friend—she owns the rights to her brot
her’s claim?”

  Cody nodded. “She staked it herself in his name. But she’s in no position to mine it, being just a little slip of a thing and having been threatened by Dan Forbes, so we’re going to mine it for her.”

  “And she’s staying where?” the sheriff asked.

  “With me and Nigel Simms,” he said. “She has no one else left, which is why I’m asking you as the magistrate to issue an order of custody so I can protect her and her interests.”

  Rhodes scowled. “If she’s of age, why not just marry her?”

  Cody grinned. “Well, first of all, I’m hoping to marry somebody else back home. And second of all, Jenny Beaumont just lost her brother. She’s in mourning. She’ll agree to our custody; I’m sure of that.”

  “Don’t matter whether she agrees or not,” laughed Rhodes. “I’m the law here in Coloma, and if I put her in your custody, that’s where she’ll stay. But are you wanting to put her in both your custody and this Englishman’s, or just yours?” the magistrate asked.

  “Yes, both mine and Nigel Simms’,” Cody replied. “That way if something happens to one of us, then she’s still protected and anything we get from mining her claim reverts to her. Legally, she’ll be our daughter.”

  “This is highly unusual, but it sounds reasonable,” Rhodes said, rubbing the grizzled stubble on his chin. “You’re right about the danger here; that Dan Forbes is a wolf of a man. I believe he’d kill man or woman if it meant getting his hand on a claim. Darn gal was a fool for coming out here. She needs her hide tanned.”

  “That’s already been done,” Cody said. “Her brother would have done the same thing.”

  The magistrate grunted. “Well, you wait here and I’ll draw everything up. Get your signature and your English friend’s and you’ve got yourself a ward.”

  Cody nodded gratefully as he stood and shook the magistrate’s hand. He knew his and Nigel’s reputation as upstanding men carried weight with the magistrate. And he knew that Rhodes’ motivation for agreeing to his plan was as much for the magistrate’s convenience as his. The last thing a man in Rhodes’ position needed was another dispute or crime on his hands. Handing a vulnerable female over to the custodial protection of two men was the best course of action for all of them.

  Outside the office, the day was cool and windy. Beyond the buildings, Cody could hear the sounds of men yelling, the clink of pickaxes against stones, and the ever-present rush of water as it made its way down flumes. He and Nigel would have to mine their own claims now, as well as Jenny Beaumont’s. As he looked down at the paper granting both him and Nigel custody of their new ward, he recognized that this would mean added work and additional responsibility. He remembered Jenny as a young teen, riding off on her horse in a snit when he’d come to visit. She’d not have that freedom here; obedience would be important, and he and Nigel would have to make sure that she understood that.

  But first he had to make sure she was dressed properly. Tucking the paper into his shirt pocket, Cody headed for the general mercantile. Even early in the day, it was full with the usual newcomers stocking up on provisions after making a long trip to town. He pitied the young, sturdy men; they’d regret spending their money once they realized that gold wasn’t so easily had.

  The storekeeper, Bert Eakins, waved Cody over as soon as he came in, eager to serve one of the few paying customers he had.

  “What’ll it be, Cody?” he asked.

  “Got any dresses?”

  “Dresses?” The storekeeper raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask questions. Money was money. “We’ve got more dresses than womenfolk. When I brought stock out here, I didn’t expect so few fellas to have wives. Doc Martin’s nurses make their own clothes, and what I got isn’t exactly the type of things Cora’s girls like to wear.” He chuckled. “The dresses are in the back if you wanna go look.”

  He indicated with a nod that Cody should go to the storeroom, and after a few moments, Cody located two trunks filled with women’s things. As he picked up one dress after another and held it up, he realized he was forced to think of what he’d put out of his mind—Jenny Beaumont’s womanly dimensions.

  He’d tried not to think on them—tried to put from his mind the surprise he’d felt when the wrapping had fallen free of her bound breasts, which were so firm and round. She’d been too tired and overwhelmed to fight as she’d shed the rest of her clothes. He’d seen all over her, and so had Nigel—the lush breasts, the tiny waist that had flared to pleasantly rounded hips, the round bottom, the shapely legs, the thatch of pubic fleece, blond like her long hair. Cody’s cock seemed to have a memory of its own, and nudged against his pants at the recollection.

  Matilda, he reminded himself. Remember why you’re here. Matilda.

  Cody had told himself that making Jenny Beaumont his ward would fix her in his mind as a dependent, and not a woman to be lusted after. But now as he sifted through dresses and lacy unmentionables, wondering if the thin fabric could adequately hide her unexpected charms, he was unnerved to realize that the idea of her dependence made her more attractive, not less so. He was, at heart, a gentleman rancher. Nigel was a gentleman also, and as such they both had protective streaks. The idea of the golden-haired bundle of feminine softness living in utter dependence to him and his friend stirred something deep inside, something both emotional and carnal.

  He sought to suppress the latter as he picked up a dress and held it aloft. The prior ones he’d looked at had been too large or too long. But the one in his hands now seemed more suitable for the purposes, both in style and size. Finding two more of similar fashion, Cody put them aside and hastily gathered several petticoats and bloomers, as well as a set of stockings and leather boots he guessed would fit.

  Back at the counter, the storekeeper seemed pleased. “I’ll give you a deal on all of that if you’ll take some of this off my hands.” He reached underneath the counter to retrieve a spool of ribbon. Instantly, Cody could imagine it adorning Jenny’s hair.

  “Sold,” he said, and put coins on the counter to pay for the purchases as he ignored a few men who were openly staring in curiosity. A man buying dresses could only mean one thing; a woman was in the camp. He turned to stare them down, his menacing look making the onlookers turn away. Cody was no small man; in this setting he was glad for his size.

  He tipped his hat to the storekeeper as he left. Was it eagerness to see Jenny that had him walking so fast toward the cabin? Again Cody pushed the thought from his mind. She was his ward, and he was all but a married man—or he would be once he had made his fortune and went home to claim Matilda.

  But a niggling of doubt tugged at him when he entered the home he shared with Nigel Simms to see their new ward sitting at the table, her shapely bare legs crossed beneath the long hem of the shirt Nigel had given her to wear. Her clean hair shone in the rays of sun shining through the window, and now that she was clean he could appreciate what a beauty his late friend’s sister was with her peaches-and-cream complexion, high cheekbones, and pert, upturned nose.

  “Ah, you’re back.” Nigel stood from where he was sitting on the other side of the table. “I was just giving Jenny her breakfast.”

  “He’s a good cook,” Jenny said, placing her hand on her midsection. “The food in the boardinghouse is not very good. I think this is the first decent meal since I’ve arrived.”

  “We’ll keep you cared for and well fed,” Cody said, and walked over to place the box on the table between them. “And well dressed. I picked up a few things for you from the general store.”

  Jenny stood, and Cody forced his gaze from the prominent ridge of one nipple visible through the fabric of the thin shirt she wore. Jenny was obviously an innocent with little notion of the effect her body had on men. He could feel his cock stir at just this glimpse of her charms, and so he focused on her hands as she opened the box.

  “I really appreciate you doing this,” she said. “In truth I do miss wearing women’s attire, and…” Her voice fell sil
ent as she looked at the contents of the box. Slowly she lifted the first dress and held it aloft. “I don’t meant to sound ungrateful,” she said. “But this is a girl’s dress. Not a woman’s. Look at the cut. And this bow on the back is…”

  “Yes. I know it’s not a woman’s dress. There’s a reason.”

  Now she was staring at him questioningly, and so was Nigel.

  “I went to see the magistrate this morning.” Cody pulled the paper from his shirt pocket. “I know you don’t want to see your brother’s claim mined, and you can’t leave here without giving up your rights. So I’m going to let you stay. But you need legal protection. I know you’re in mourning and can’t marry either one of us, and I hope to marry another anyway—if she’ll have me. That just left one option.” Cody paused. “You’re our legal ward now, Jenny.”

  The inside of the cabin became quiet as she regarded him, the only sounds coming from the bustling camp outside.

  “Your… ward? You mean like your… child?”

  “It’s for your own good,” Cody said. “You need protection, and the protection of two is better than one…”

  “That was the only way?” she asked. “To reduce me so?”

  “We’ll think no less of you, Jenny,” Cody said. “If anything, it will make you only more important to us.”

  Jenny chewed on her lip as she considered their words. “Well, if that’s what it takes,” she said. “But I’m not really a child, and don’t either of you go thinking this means I have to listen to you, because…”

  “I beg to differ.” This time Nigel spoke, his cultured, gentle voice adopting a firm tone. “If you’re under our protection, then it stands to reason that you’re also under our authority, young lady. It seems that you now have two very good reasons to do as you’re told.”

  “Or what? You’ll hit me, too?” Jenny asked, rising from the table as her eyes flashed fire.

  “If it’s necessary, yes,” he said, and Cody watched the exchange with interest, pleased to see his usually quiet friend joining him for a united front. “And make no mistake; while I may be a patient man, my patience has its limits and I’m no stranger to using a hand or cane to correct a young lady. Having attended schools where corporal punishment was employed, I know firsthand the benefits of discipline—especially the cane.”