***
“If you don’t hurry, we’re going to be late!” Gloria scolded.
“Relax, I don’t think school can begin until the teacher arrives,” Seth said and she could swear he somehow managed to slow down the team even more.
“But it’s chilly out and I don’t want the children to be standing outside. You’re just mad because the doctor said I could return to teaching!”
“Watch your tone, little one,” Seth said, cutting his eyes to her. “It would be a shame if I have to pull over and take the time to roast your rump.”
Though he’d grinned as he said it, Gloria had no doubt that he would do exactly that. Squirming a bit, she sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just excited about seeing the children again.”
“I know,” he said, dropping an arm around her and pulling her a bit closer. Finally, they pulled up in front of the school, only to see the yard empty though she was easily at least a half-hour late.
Gloria looked up and down the street before turning to him. “Do you think maybe the children came and seeing I wasn’t here, went home again?
“Could be, I suppose,” Seth said, climbing down from the wagon and moving around to help her down. Once she was standing, he reached into the back of the wagon and picked up the wicker basket in which she and Lola had packed the tamales. “Don’t fret, if they don’t show up, it just means more tamales for us.”
Rolling her eyes, she reached for the basket, only to have him lift it out of her reach. “I can take it…”
“As can I,” he countered, offering her his arm. Knowing it would be useless to argue, she slipped her hand through, allowing him to escort her up the steps, not even noticing that he didn’t pause to ask for the key to unlock the door. Instead, he simply pushed it open. It took her a moment to assimilate the sight before her as her students yelled in unison, “Welcome back, Miss Owens!”
Tears filled her eyes as she saw not only her pupils, but their parents as well as the words written across her blackboard. “Happy Thanksgiving,” was printed along with depictions of corn on the cob, squash gourds, big leaves, and was that a… a chicken? The children all gathered around her, little hands reaching for any part of her they could reach.
“It’s our picnic!” Emmy said.
“My momma made a big pot of tea,” Polly said, drawing her towards a long table set up across the back of the room. “Aunt Louise made a cake!”
Seth saw Gloria’s bottom lip trembling and the sheen of tears in her eyes. He held up the basket and said, “And Miss Owens made tamales!”
The day was wonderful. Children and adults alike sampled every dish that had been made, exclaiming over flavors they’d not tasted before. As Gloria closed her eyes after taking a bite of red beans and rice and moaned, Seth chuckled. “Nettie might make the best gumbo but she also makes the best Cajun beans and rice I’ve ever had.”
“Nettie made this?” Gloria asked, her eyes wide.
“Yup, the moment I spread the word that you felt awful about the children missing their picnic, she got together with Louise, Rose, Della and Ruby to arrange for today’s surprise.”
“That’s so lovely,” Gloria said. “There are good people in Culpepper aren’t there?”
“The very best,” Seth agreed and without thinking, bent to kiss her cheek.
“Yuck!”
He pulled back to see a young Hispanic boy standing close, his nose scrunched up as he munched on a tamale.
“Nope,” Seth said, “Just like that tamale is muy bueño, so is kissing your teacher.” He ignored Gloria’s hissed, “Seth!” and just smiled.
Chapter Nine
It was less than a week later when he found himself in town and out of sorts of an evening. Gloria, too, was staying late in town, spending her time catching up on schoolwork. He could see the light still on in the school room and knew she was still there, bent over her papers. He was her ride home, and she had told him that it would be a couple more hours before she was done.
He cautioned her not to overdo it, but she gave him a jaundiced look that said she was going to do whatever was necessary to make up for the time she’d lost.
Knowing he had some time to kill and knowing he needed some sound advice, too, he sauntered over to the Red Petticoat, where he was greeted like a conquering hero by the gems.
“Where have you been lately, Seth?” The girls asked, crowding around him, while Dottie simply leaned against the piano in the lamplight that showed her assets to their best advantage and stared at him, knowing she didn’t have to do anything to get him to come to her.
“Busy, ladies. Busy,” he replied, walking out of their clutches to Dottie, into whose bosom he placed a coin, then gave her a big kiss on her cheek, the primness of which surprised her, but he had different things on his mind, other than what she could offer him. He simply winked at her, touching the brim of his hat and was on his way.
Besides, he acknowledged to himself quietly as he realized that seeing her didn’t stir his desires as it had in the past, he was, apparently, off the market. And the hopeful advancement of that status to permanently so was the reason why he strode up to Gabe’s office and rapped on the door.
“Come.”
Jewel was in there with him, and gave Seth a warm hug and a kiss on his cheek. “You all right? You haven’t been around at all lately.”
He smiled. “I’m fine, thanks.”
“Could it be that little school marm you’ve got under your roof is keeping you occupied?”
Seth smiled. “Something like that, yes,” he said, but wouldn’t part with more than that no matter how she tried to wheedle him.
“Querida,” Gabe said quietly, and she ceased her efforts with a pouting moue. “Why don’t you go make sure none of the gems are getting into mischief? It’s a slow night with this awful weather no one wants to come out. You know what they’re like when they’re bored.”
She crossed to him and gave him a peck on the lips, saying obediently, “Yes, Gabe.”
Seth looked after her for a long moment enviously. “How’d you get her so well trained?”
Gabe snorted. “Don’t let that goody-goody front fool you. She’s only behaving because she got her bottom blistered last night for unbecoming language, and she knows she doesn’t want that to happen again for a while.” He got up and poured them each multiple fingers of a very good Scotch whiskey, handing Seth his glass and coming to sit in one of the easy chairs rather than remaining behind his desk. “What’s going on, amigo? You look like you’re wrestling with something important.”
“I am,” Seth agreed, taking a healthy swig of his drink. “See, Jewel’s right about Gloria and me, sort of. Only it’s not that easy.”
Gabe smiled and tipped his chair back. “It never is, even when it’s the right woman. What’s going on?”
Seth told Gabe everything, knowing the other man would know instinctively to keep it under his hat.
When he finished, his friend whistled. “Well, I’m glad to know that someone’s got it worse than me!” he teased.
Seth glared at him. “That’s not helpful at all, you know.”
“Do you have feelings for this woman, Mack?”
It was the first time he’d admitted it to anyone—or even himself, really—but he nodded his head. “Yes. I love her.”
“No doubts or misgivings?”
“None.”
“Do you know how she feels about you?”
Seth had to laugh. “I don’t think she likes me very much.”
“Sometimes we don’t see what’s right in front of our face.” Refilling their glasses from the half empty bottle he’d had the presence of mind to bring with him, Gabe asked, “You’re absolutely sure that she’s dead set against marriage?”
“Absolutely sure.”
The other man sighed heavily. “You already know what I’m going to say, Seth. Do you really need the words?”
“Yeah, I think I do, please.”
“You’
ve taken her virginity, and she might well be pregnant as we speak. Unfortunately, how she feels about matrimony doesn’t really come into it any longer. You two have to get married, no doubt about it, or your first born child is likely to be a bastard.”
Seth stared into his drink, letting the truth of what his friend had said sink into him.
***
Meanwhile, Gloria realized—while rubbing her tired eyes for what seemed like the millionth time—that she was so exhausted she was utterly useless. The writing in the children’s exam booklets was all running together into one big mess before her eyes, and she knew she wasn’t going to be able to get anything more done that evening.
Unfortunately, she had told Seth to find himself something to do for a couple of hours before she’d come to grips with that fact, and she ended up walking up and down the street, getting a bit wet despite her umbrella as she looked for him. Luckily the weather meant that the streets were virtually deserted, and at least she wasn’t having to step around people and into the giant mud puddles that sprang up in the street every time it rained.
In a last ditch effort to find him, she wandered all the way down to the Grand Central Hotel, wondering if he had perhaps stopped in there, hoping to find a stray piece of some kind—any kind—of one of Miss Nettie’s pies. But, a quick glance inside showed that there was only one customer who seemed to be well into his cups and trying to remedy that fact before he either headed home or tried to mount the stairs to his room.
Riley appeared with a coffee pot in hand to fill his customer’s cup and saw her, greeting her warmly. “Hello, Miss Owens. Can I get you anything?”
She wanted to ask for several pots of coffee, but didn’t, counting on the idea that she was going to find Seth shortly and go home, where she intended to collapse into bed and not move until morning.
“No, thank you, but have you seen Mr. McIntyre this evening? He’s my ride home and I finished early and I can’t seem to find him.”
The poor young man looked as if he’d swallowed a bullfrog, but he didn’t say anything.
Suddenly suspicious, Gloria fixed him with her schoolteacher’s stare. “You did see him, didn’t you, Riley? When did he come in?”
Shaking his head vehemently, he replied, “He didn’t come in, Miss Owens.”
“He didn’t?” she knew she sounded surprised. She would have bet that Riley was hiding something. Her eyes narrowed. “But you did see him, yes?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously as he nodded his head up and down.
“So where, exactly, was he when you saw him, if not here?” she asked, taking a step closer to the unfortunate man, who was obviously ill equipped to deal with the situation in which he found himself and actually took a step back, away from her.
“He… he… he,” another hard swallow, and then he reduced his voice to a bare whisper, bending a bit towards her at the same time. “I s-saw him walking up the steps of the R-Red P-Petticoat, Miss Owens.”
Gloria did her best to hide how taken aback she was, saying in a kind voice, “Thank you so much for your help this evening, Riley.”
Not really knowing what she was going to do with that information, Gloria descended the stairs to stand for a long moment, looking over at the establishment in question.
And didn’t she just get an eyeful of him through yet another window—with Dottie, again, of course—as they stood there in the lamp light in what looked to her to be a lover’s embrace.
Beside herself with a jealous rage she’d never felt before in her life, Gloria determined that she was going to claw that woman’s eyes out and do something to Seth that was going to call into question his ability to ever sire offspring.
But how could she do that? She was a respectable lady. Yes, she had actually eaten there, and enjoyed the meal, but she’d been with the very man she was ready to throttle. And, that had been during the daytime. Despite the fact that evening had begun to fall, it was no where near dark enough to hide the fact that she was not only alone, but unescorted. No, she couldn’t take the chance that any of her pupils’ parents would see her going into a house of ill repute.
The answer came to her in a flash, and she executed an immediate about face, heading for the doctor’s office, which was at the other end of town.
***
Dr. Norwood was surprised to see her, but quickly ushered her in out of the storm. “What are you doing out in this kind of weather, little lady?” he asked, offering her a place to sit and a warm cup of coffee, which she declined with a look of disgust, no longer the least bit sleepy. “Seth will paddle your behind when he finds out you’re tromping around in a storm, getting cold and wet, and he’d be right to do so. You’re barely out of your sick bed, woman. I should paddle you myself, right here, right now! Do you know how hard he and Señora Garcia worked to get you well, not to mention my own efforts?”
“I do, Dr. Norwood, and I know I am remiss in thanking you for doing so, too… thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but you know that that’s not why I said what I did, young lady.”
Gloria frowned. “I do, but there’s no hope for it for the moment. I’ve got to go back out into it, and I’m terribly sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask you for a small favor.”
The doctor looked puzzled. “And what might that be?”
“I would like to know if you have any spare clothes, preferably those of a boy or young man about my size.”
The doctor peered at her closely, then asked, “Are you doing something you shouldn’t?”
Her mouth twitched but before she could reply, he held up his hand.
“Stop. I don’t want to know, or I’m likely to feel morally obligated to stop you, and considering that I think I know who this might be regarding, I’d much rather retain plausible deniability. Let me guess. Does this, whatever it is that you’re doing, involve a serially stubborn rancher we both know?”
About to burst with laughter at his spot on description of Seth, Gloria instead nodded her head once.
The doctor sighed heavily. “I thought so. There’s a pile of old clothes at the bottom of the apothecary closet over there. You might not want to think too carefully about why they’re there, but they’re yours to use if you’d like—on one condition.”
“What’s that?” Gloria threw over her shoulder, already on the way to where he’d pointed.
“That you promise me that when you get home tonight, you’ll dry yourself off and tuck yourself into bed and get some sleep. I can already tell you’re wanting to drive yourself into the ground. I see when you arrive at school and I see when you leave. I’m surprised Seth isn’t stricter with you.”
“He’s got… other pursuits,” she said in a tone that left no mystery as to what she thought of those pursuits, while stepping behind his modesty curtain to divest herself of her clothes to don some very novel, very unfamiliar feeling new ones. She’d never worn pants before, and she’d certainly never gone without a corset. It was delightfully, scandalously, freeing!
When she pulled the curtain aside, she knew she looked like a very effeminate boy, but it would have to do.
Shaking his head, the doctor gave her the once over, then told her to stay put. After returning, he took her face in one hand and used the other to wipe… was that dirt… all over her face.
“What are you doing?” she yelped.
“Stop fidgeting. You look much too clean to be the young boy you’re trying to pass as—for Lord knows what reason.”
She stood stock still and let him dirty her up without another word.
Then he produced a cap that hid her hair and a bulky jacket that obscured her figure nicely, pronouncing her as close to looking like a male of the species as she was likely to ever get.
“I know I’m going to be made to regret helping you, and I’d really prefer not to die young. When you get caught doing whatever illegal or immoral thing it is that you’re attempting here—and if it involves McIntyre in any way—and even
if it doesn’t, should he get wind of it—which I can assure you he will—kindly try to keep my name out of the conversation, or I have a feeling that your man is likely to try to take me apart with his bare hands.”
“He’s not my man,” Gloria said gruffly, although, as she thanked him heartily with a kiss on the cheek, she had to wonder, if she didn’t think he was, then why was she bothering with all of this?
Though she didn’t want to think about what she was doing. She just had to do it.
She marched herself back to the steps of the saloon, and bravely mounted them, trying to ignore how everything she owned was shaking. Taking a fortifying breath, she shoved through the swinging doors.
She’d hoped to blend in with the crowd, but there wasn’t one… not really. The last time she’d been inside, the place had been basically deserted if you didn’t count the dining room, but that was a lunch time. With night falling, she’d expected the place to be packed, but supposed the weather was keeping too many men from enjoying a night out. The men she did see were either sitting at the card tables or standing at the bar, flirting with Amy.
Her attention moved to the piano where a man was playing and a beautiful woman was singing softly. Several other women, red petticoats peeking out beneath their skirts, were gathered around the piano or moving among the tables, carrying drinks to the card players. She didn’t see Seth anywhere, but, she did see Dottie sauntering up to her. She’d rather hoped to find Seth with the woman, in flagrante delicto, in her room, although what she was going to do at that point she hadn’t quite worked out…
Seeing her like this kind of took the wind out of her sails, leaving her feeling a bit confused about what she should do. But she didn’t have a chance to think about it, because Dottie was busily corralling her into a big bedroom that Gloria knew wasn’t hers.
“Jewel? You in here?”
“Yes, Dottie. What is it?”
An exceptionally beautiful woman rose from the vanity where she had been brushing her hair to cross to where Dottie had a firm hold on Gloria’s arm. “Well, who do we have here?” she asked with a smile. Her English accent threw Gloria for a moment but she quickly gathered her wits to answer.
Grading Garnet: The Red Petticoat Saloon Page 12