The Visitor_Texas 1863_1869

by Barbara Svetlick

  James snorted and put money in the growing pile. “Thank you for that compliment.”

  “Mirisa, the price of whisky here is a little higher which keeps out the regular cowboys.”

  She lowered her voice. “Do their wives know they are going upstairs with these women?” James choked on his cigar and waited for Meeks to ante.

  “Mirisa, the only husband you ever need to concern yourself with is your own.” Dominic poured her a drink, sat back and lit a cigar.

  The blonde was watching her and when she caught Mirisa’s eye she narrowed hers challenging Mirisa. Mirisa raised her eyebrows putting down her cards. “Excuse me; do you have a problem with me?”

  Garnett looked up at her surprised then turned and looked at the blonde. He said something and she left.

  “You didn’t have to send her away. Is she one of those whores that you like so much?”

  “Mirisa.”

  “That’s what Meeks calls them. Is she the one who fell off the bar stool because I can see where she would have trouble balancing if she didn’t hold on to something.”

  Dominic put his cards down and leaned forward. “Mirisa.”

  She cocked her head and whispered in her loudest whisper. “Well then don’t sit next to me and you won’t know what I’m saying.”

  “Everyone at the table can hear you and a lady does not use those words in public.”

  “Dominic, I don’t imagine a lady would be caught dead in a saloon either.”

  “Mirisa, the one on the barstool was a redhead.” Meeks anted and told Mirisa if she was finished scaring off the women it was her turn to ante. She looked at him seriously before composing herself and met his bet.

  Jess stopped in mid-thought and looked at Dominic. “Where did you say you met her?”

  “I didn’t.”

  James put down his cards. “She’s Dr. Eppes daughter.”

  Jess nodded approvingly. “It has been a very long time since I have talked to your father. I hope he is faring well during this war.”

  “Does everyone know my parents and if you all do how come I never knew any of you?”

  Jess took a long draw on his cigar. “Probably because you were and are still too young to be exposed to real men. Your parents probably had some rich little dandy picked out for you before the war broke out, some pansy son of a neighbor or good friend. What really surprises me is that of these four that you chose Dominic but maybe it is because you were never taught how to pick out a really bad man from just bad men.”

  Meeks laid his cards on the table and Garnett folded. “Jess, I would give you fair warning but really why should you get any preferential treatment when I so enjoy someone else being the center of her humor.”

  “Meeks you know there isn’t a woman alive who can get the best of me.”

  She looked at Jess curiously. He was not particularly good looking and a little older than her husband, probably had no sense of humor at all but definitely had no respect for women whether they were ladies or not. Of all the people she had met, this was the first one she neither particularly liked nor trusted.

  James won the hand. They reshuffled and James dealt the cards. The blonde had returned but Mirisa ignored both her and Garnett. Garnett really didn’t know how much more of their life Mirisa could be exposed to and still remain sweet. He excused himself from the game and stepped outside. The blonde moved to another table. James, who had been watching Garnett’s face, thought that having her so close to the underside of their life was probably hard on Garnett.

  Mirisa watched the blonde as she was enticing another man. “Does she just spend all night trying to talk men out of their money? They do get paid right? I think you would have to pay me a lot of money to do that especially if the man isn’t particularly handsome.”

  Dominic knew no one was even going to acknowledge her much less attempt to answer her. Mirisa won the next three rounds without cheating. She was not only keeping up with Meeks on shots but she was playing cards very well and beat Jess three hands in a row.

  “Who taught you how to play cards?”

  “All of them.” She was dealing and didn’t bother to look at him.

  “Well, that explains why you are good but you really need to work on your poker face.”

  She looked up at him. “It seems to have worked very well the last three hands.”

  James bit his lip and Meeks said he had to take a short break. “Jess, I think you need to take back your comment because I think she just got the best of you.” Dominic smiled and Jess looked at her.

  “I stand corrected then. Mirisa, please accept my apology if I offended you earlier.”

  “If you think you offended me, then you should have not said it.”

  He looked at Dominic who shook his head to not even go there.

  Dominic stood up stretching and told her to stay out of trouble as he stepped out of the saloon and lit a cigar. Garnett was leaning up against the railing by himself. “Care for company?”

  “Sure”

  Dominic wasn’t sure how to approach the subject. “Why does it bother you?”

  Garnett didn’t respond at first. “Every time you expose our life to her, you expose yourself. Don’t bet on her being unwilling to put you in the same category that you want her to put us.”

  “Is that what you think I am doing?”

  “Aren’t you?” The dark shadow shielded his face but Dominic didn’t need to look at his eyes to see the anger. “Trust me Dominic, all of us are a real threat to your marriage. Of all the women in all the saloons across the country, and there have been more than any one of us could ever count, I don’t think any woman has ever had this much influence with any of us much less all four of us. She’s a beautiful woman who crawls into your soul when you aren’t looking and I don’t know if there is a way to get her out if you would be so inclined to attempt it. All it is going to take is for her to reach out since none of us has the ability to say no if she does.” They both knew it was true.

  “Want to join in a hand?”

  “Might as well.” They walked back in the saloon to find Mirisa leaning across the table sliding the money toward herself and showing more cleavage then she realized but it was the look in James’ eyes that they both knew well.

  “Is she winning without cheating?” Garnett turned the chair around and sat down next to Mirisa and Dominic sat across the table. She turned to Garnett and sat back down.

  “I’m not allowed to cheat when we are playing for real money.”

  “Sweetheart that is when you are supposed to cheat.” He poured a drink and as he was putting the cap back on the bottle she tried to pick hers up but dropped it. “Meeks, have you been letting her drink too much?”

  “It wasn’t my night to keep track of her.”

  Jess shuffled the cards and started to deal. “I’m waiting for her to fall over so I can win a hand.” They all laughed but had no idea how close that was to the truth. She suddenly slid all the money in front of Meeks while her hand slid over his thigh.

  “You take care of that for me because I think Dominic needs to take me home.” She stood up and immediately the room started to spin. Garnett grabbed her before Meeks could reach her. Dominic finished his drink and walked around to the other side of the table. She was so drunk that he wasn’t sure she would be able to walk to the door. He said goodnight to everyone and walked her out.

  “Dominic.”

  “Are you going to be sick?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay.” And he walked her to the alley between the buildings and she threw up until there was nothing left to give. Dominic held her hair back until she could gain control before he sat her down on the side of the walkway in front of the saloon.

  “Need help?” There wasn’t a one of them that hadn’t found themselves in some alley before and knew that this would probably be the last time she drank that much and hopefully the last time she would want to go into a saloon. At least, they hoped it was.r />
  “No, I think she just needs to get her feet back under her.” They all sat down and waited. She didn’t know what was worse throwing up or having the four of them sitting there smoking those damn cigars.

  THEY ARRIVED AT the Plantation eight days after they left Dallas. As they passed the temporary camp down by the pens, Dominic turned up towards a group of soldiers standing around a campfire and talked to them briefly before they pointed to a large tent. Dominic dismounted and an officer came out of the tent speaking to him for a few minutes as they discussed the horse purchase and Dominic handed him the receipt. Dominic returned to the road and they headed for the house.

  “Is everyone staying tonight?” Mirisa dismounted from her horse at the stable and stretched.

  “They don’t have a choice since Grant is still in town.”

  Mrs. Chauvin met them at the door and welcomed them home. She looked at Mirisa and just shook her head. Simone’ on the other hand came down the stairs so fast that he slid on the floor and hit the side of the wall before he gained his footing. She leaned down and rubbed cheeks with him. “You are still the fattest little cat Simone’”.

  “He has been absolutely miserable since you left.”

  “Mirisa, is there anything you don’t put a spell on?” Garnett was heading for the kitchen because he could smell the blueberry pies.

  She kissed Dominic on the cheek and headed up the stairs with Simone’ on her heels. Jasmine came in to fix her a bath. “We both missed you a lot.”

  “Thank you. I didn’t realize how much I missed home.” She lay back in the warm water and Jasmine left the room but Simone’ crawled up at the end of the bed so he could watch her. She still loved the bed chambers on the third floor and kept most of her personal items in the room even though she slept on the second floor with Dominic. She was home and the ghosts were quiet.

  They all stood up as Mirisa came into the room and Dominic asked her if she would like a glass of wine. She hadn’t touched any liquor since the night in the saloon. All in all, Dominic thought that was probably a very good lesson for her but he knew it wouldn’t last. Mirisa sat on the edge of the desk and picked up the stack of mail. The letters addressed to her were all from Philadelphia but none from her father. She put them back on the desk before curling up in the chair nearest the fireplace. Garnett opened a bottle of wine and handed her a glass. They were all extremely tired but happy to be home.

  “Do you know where my father is?” She looked at all of them but no one in particular.

  Dominic didn’t know why she would all of a sudden ask. “He’s in Vicksburg.”

  “That explains why I don’t have any letters from him. Is there any chance I can see him?” She sipped on the wine and they could tell by the slight quiver in her voice that she was going to cry.

  “We’ve asked McPharson to try to get a pass but I don’t know if that’s going to be possible. He told me they had clamped down really hard and it was dangerous on both sides of the line.”

  Mirisa nodded and turned away from their gaze. She knew he would be traveling into the areas of expected battles and assumed since Vicksburg was the next large campaign that he might be there. She knew she should read her grandmother’s letters but she really didn’t want to deal with any of it right now.

  “Will you all stay here for a while?” They looked at her though not sure what she was asking.

  “Here at the house or in the area?”

  “I’m asking if you have things that will put you in danger.”

  “Mirisa, you just pranced into an entire village of Choctaw Indians. Exactly what do you consider dangerous?”

  “This war.”

  Dominic was standing by the fireplace trying to decide where this conversation was going. “We’ll stay here.”

  “Alright. Because I really don’t think I can do that stuff.” James smiled at the fact that she thought they would ever allow it. She had not once mentioned Dog Moon or what happened, she had not asked about her family and she had not complained once on the trip back. “I would really like it if everyone stayed for a while.” She didn’t say any more but each of them understood that she was afraid to be alone.

  “Well, there’s really no where to go.”

  The days became warmer and the flowers began to break ground. When not in the kitchen, Mirisa spent her days working in the gardens and helping with the pruning of the rose bushes. The men came and went pretty regularly making it impossible to keep up with who would be at dinner or when they would return but they rarely were behind closed doors so she assumed it was just regular business. They didn’t allow Mirisa or the staff near the encampments nor did they open the house up to Army. The Army finally started moving north of the city to set up a camp southeast of Vicksburg and Dominic had the area cleaned up and returned to pasture land. It was almost a year since Natchez surrendered following the fall of New Orleans but life continued quietly along the river.

  Dominic decided since hogs were being butchered, he would invite friends to a cookout. He was standing on the veranda watching Mirisa cut fresh roses. She would examine each rose carefully, talk to them while gently clipping off one before moving to the next grouping. He swore they were bigger and more fragrant this year. Dominic put his cup of coffee down and walked down the path. He turned her around and kissed her. “You need to talk to me. I can’t take seeing you so sad all the time.”

  She put down the basket and kissed him. “I love you so much. But I need something to do other then cut roses? Before you came home, I was allowed to do whatever I wanted and I stayed busy.” He wondered if she would be happier once she started having children. “Dominic.”

  “Yes Darling.”

  “Do you mind if we don’t have any children for a while.”

  “And how to you intend to do that unless you intend to deny me when I pull you into my bed?” She looked at him biting her bottom lip.

  “I’ve been taking something to stop me from being with child.”

  “You are intentionally avoiding having children.”

  “I didn’t think becoming a father during the war was…”

  “Mirisa, I married you in case I died in this war. I wanted children who would go on if I didn’t.”

  “I didn’t want to burden you.”

  “And you couldn’t talk to me?” He ran his finger along her jaw as she held his eyes. “Mirisa, I want children and I want you to have them. I could have married anyone if all I wanted was children. You fell in love with the Plantation and the people who live here, you even fell in love with the damn chickens and I fell in love with you. Should I not return I want to know you have my children to fill the void.” He realized she was trembling so he lifted her chin. “I love you and I hope that that is enough for you to wish to have children with me. I believe you are going to be a very loving mother and my children deserve no less.”

  The tears ran down her cheeks as he held her tight. He stroked her hair as he wondered how she was able to keep so much from him because he thought he was very perceptive. She was too young and inexperienced to be able to outwit him so easily.

  Mirisa spent a lot of time upstairs writing in her journals and just reflecting on the last year as the plantation prepared for the gathering. Her grandmother’s letters sat unopened on her lap but only because another one came that week and she knew it was extremely mean to not respond for so many months. How did she go from being so close to her family to being so estranged?

  She was surprised to find that the letters were written by her mother. The first one was pleading with her to reconsider the decision she had made and to come to Philadelphia. Her mother blamed her father for not thinking it through and Dominic for what had happened but wanted to put that aside and just fix things.

  The second letter started out with a lot of guilt over not hearing from her launching into a lecture on her age, her immaturity and the fact that she was ruining her life. She put that one down and just thought for a while.

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bsp; The third was scathing to say the least. She guessed she deserved that more than the others. Now she was demanding that Dominic bring her to Philadelphia immediately. Mirisa smiled because she knew if she told Dominic she wanted to go north he would submit for at least one second before telling her no with as much passion as her mother was demanding she come. Then finally the question on whether or not he had taken advantage of her and gotten her with child. Mirisa looked away from the question wondering why she could not have a mother who would be seeking the good news of grandchildren as she did with her brothers. What had she done to cause such hate from this woman who demanded complete control over Mirisa’s life?

  The final letter was the heartbreaker as she had feared. Her mother brought her up to date on her older brothers and how proud she was of them but not a word on the younger boys or her father. Mirisa’s mother told her how much she missed them all but mostly she was anxious to return to her home. It was a longer letter than the others pleading with her to just come home.

  Mirisa wanted to respond but really had no words that would satisfy her mother in a letter and going to Philadelphia was not going to happen. She would never leave Dominic. Mirisa got dressed and went downstairs to check on the cookout. Dominic was standing out on the lawn talking to Garnett when she joined them. He didn’t stop his conversation but automatically put his arm around her waist and brought Mirisa closer. How could the mere touch of a man capture her?

  “I didn’t know if you would come out of your room today.” Dominic looked at her as if questioning how she was feeling.

  “I finally read my mother’s letters and she thinks you are a horrid man.”

  Dominic laughed. “I would think that too if you were my daughter.”

  “Can I do anything?”

  “You can go check and see if anyone plans on feeding us lunch.”

  “Alright.” She walked toward the kitchen entrance and stopped for a moment to talk to the two young girls working in the kitchen garden. Simone’ mysteriously appeared at her feet and sat waiting for her to continue into the kitchen.