by Keta Diablo
"Afternoon, Deputy."
Jolted from his thoughts, he turned to see Mary Ellen in the saloon doorway wearing her usual low-necked, short-skirted costume. Her bruises had faded to an uncomplimentary yellow so she appeared sallow and worn out.
"How are you, Mary Ellen? Looks like you’re healing up."
She made a face. "No thanks to Cruger. If I never see him again, I’ll be happy."
Burke hooked his thumbs into his waistband and cocked one leg. "Near as we know, he’s left these parts."
"Good. You coming in for a drink?" She slithered closer and rubbed his arm with her hand.
"Uh, not right now. Got rounds to make."
"Drop by later. Maybe we can have some fun in my room. Would you like that?"
No, but he couldn’t say that. "I’m sure I would, but not while I’m on duty."
Her face fell. "I know. Some day, maybe."
"Yeah. Some day."
Burke moved on. Sundown would be here soon. The shadows lengthened by the minute. He cut through an alley in time to see two boys about seven and nine snatch apples from a crate on the rear porch of Henderson’s General Store.
"Hold on there, boys."
Looking hangdog, they stopped and faced him, chins dipped low. "We’s hungry, Deputy. Pa ain’t brought home no money in weeks and Ma has nothing to fix us to eat," the bigger boy said.
They gave every appearance of being starved, all right. He’d never seen such skinny kids, with their cheeks sunken in their faces and their eyes big as saucers. "You have brothers or sisters at home?" Burke asked.
"Only Sissie. She’s four." The younger boy swiped at his eyes as his brother spoke. "Had another sister, Bella, but she died las’ month. Lost Baby Joe too."
Burke sighed. Such tales were pretty common in 1881, and he hated hearing them. "All right, boys. We’ll let this go this time, but if I catch you stealing again, I’ll have to take you to Marshal Jameson. Understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Gosh. Thank you, sir."
Burke picked several apples out of the crate and handed them to the boys. "Take these home and share them with your family."
Their faces brightened. "We will. Thank you."
He watched them run off and noted the house they entered with their bounty. Then he went inside the store and paid for the apples.
That night when he arrived home, supper awaited. Sliced ham and fried potatoes with onions. Every bite he took, he thought of the two boys, and his appetite fled. When Nellie questioned him, he told her about the little thieves he’d caught. Shaking her head with sorrow, she promised to take the family a basket of food.
"I’d appreciate that, Nellie. I hate seeing kids go hungry like that."
She rose and began clearing the table. "So do I. Clori, I can do these dishes myself. Why don’t you go for that walk you wanted to take."
Clori glanced out the window where dusk had settled in, and shadows dominated the landscape. "Oh, I don’t know. It’s getting dark. Maybe I’ll wait for another time."
"If that’s what’s bothering you, I bet Burke would be happy to escort you and keep you safe." Nellie gave him a sly smile.
Clori looked at him, and he thought he saw hope in her eyes. "I don’t want to impose. I’m sure he has other things to do."
"Actually, a walk sounds good." Just the chance he’d been waiting for. He rose and pulled out her chair for her. "I need to take Spook for a run anyway. Let’s go."
She hesitated, but finally fetched her shawl and followed him out onto the porch where Spook and Ruff waited, tails wagging. After petting the dogs, the foursome continued down the steps into the yard and the path to the stream at the back of the property, one of the few places trees and shrubs could still be found. The dogs bounded along beside them, often taking off, outdistancing them, then racing back when Burke whistled for them.
"It was kind of you to help those children," Clori said. "I worry about them. Someone should take them in and give them a decent home. It’s obvious their parents can’t properly care for them."
"I agree. I’m afraid I’m not in a position to do it, though, being single."
She stopped. "You mean you’d take them if you had a wife and home?"
"Yes. I would."
She remained quiet for a long time. Burke wracked his brain for something to start a conversation. Finally, he said, "Ted tells me you’re thinking of opening a seamstress shop."
"Yes. If I could get together enough money. And a place to rent. I had hoped to find the gold Horace had hidden away but didn’t have any luck with that."
"He had gold?"
"From his mine. He preferred letting us starve rather than spend it."
He heard the resentment in her tone and didn’t blame her. He made a mental note to go back to the Halstead house and search for the gold for her.
"Did you make that dress you’re wearing?" The simple dress boasted no bustle or massive draping of fabric. A simple blouse with tucks down the front on either side of a row of tiny buttons, a Mandarin-type collar trimmed with lace and long sleeves. A skirt of matching fabric, a tiny floral print in pale blues and yellows on black. Plain black collar and cuffs. Her petticoats rustled as she walked.
"Yes. I make all my clothes."
How women survived in the old days wearing so much paraphernalia he found impossible to imagine. He would have suffocated. Of course, dressed properly for the era, he would have on underclothes, a shirt, vest, coat, and trousers. More than he cared to wear on a warm fall day.
He picked up a stick and threw it. Spook sped off in pursuit, Ruff behind. "You’re very talented."
At last, a smile. "Thank you."
They walked along the stream in silence, until Clori glanced up at him, her brow slightly furrowed. "Do you know how to get rid of ghosts, Burke?"
He stopped and faced her. "Usually, a blessing from a priest or a minister does the job."
"Oh. Such a simple thing."
"Clori, do you want me to help you get rid of Horace?"
Her face reddened. "You read me so well, for a stranger."
"We’ve known each other, lived in the same house, for a couple of weeks now. Not strangers anymore." He stoked up enough courage to reach for her hand. She didn’t snatch it away. "Let me help you, Clori. I-I think highly of you, and dislike seeing you suffer."
Her blush deepened. She continued walking.
Spook hadn’t returned from fetching the last stick Burke had thrown. He scanned the bushes and finally spotted him standing perfectly still in point position by a large tree.
"Excuse me a moment, Clori. I need to see what Spook’s found over there."
"Of course."
He hurried toward the dog. As he drew close, Spook relaxed, tail wagging, and waited for him. "What is it, boy? What did you see?"
Spook whined and licked Burke’s hand.
"A ghost, huh?" Burke peered through the bushes and trees but saw nothing. Not that he expected to. Spook had pointed out ghosts numerous times, but Burke had not seen all of them. Which one was it this time? Not Horace. Burke believed he lived and lurked around spying on his wife. He hated to think about that. It meant Clori was unavailable unless willing to file for divorce. To do that in 1881 would create a scandal she might not want.
At that moment, she shouted his name.
Burke sprinted back to where he’d left her.
"He...he was watching me," she cried as he drew up in front of her. Her shaking hand pointed to the willows across the creek.
"Wait here. Spook, stay." He waded directly into the cold water and up the bank on the other side.
Rustling in the bushes up ahead said whoever he chased was no ghost. Burke would bet his left arm it was Horace. Damn the man. Why couldn’t he just go away and leave Clori in peace?
After three- or four-hundred yards, the trail vanished into the creek and did not appear on the opposite side. He searched for another hundred feet and found nothing. Frustrated, he returne
d to find Clori kneeling on the ground, her arms around spook.
"Did you see him?" she asked.
"No. But I heard him." He helped her up.
"I need to know if it’s a ghost haunting me, or a live man." She swiped a piece of hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. Had she banished a tear as well?
Burke put his hands on her upper arms and peered at her intently. "I’m going to find him, Clori. Is there anything you want me to tell him?"
An expression of resolve came over her face. "Yes. Tell him to leave me alone. If...if he’s alive, I want a divorce."
Burke nodded, pleased by her decision to be quit of the man. "All right."
She blew out a breath and pressed a hand to her waist. "Oh, why bother? I wish I could believe he’d heed my words. But he won’t. Ghost or not, he’s determined to terrorize me."
With that, she turned and ran back to the house.
A sinking feeling in his chest, Burke followed.
* * *
Burke hadn't meant to fall asleep in the metal bathing tub. He stretched, yawned, and stood up, soapy water sluicing down his naked body. He had to admit the bath had been pleasant. A towel lay folded on a stool nearby. He used it to dry off then looked for his pants.
Gone.
"Hey! Who took my clothes?"
Ted stuck his head inside, grinning. "Figured you'd be wanting to know that. Nellie sneaked in while you slept and took them to wash. You were holdin' up the process, boy."
"She came in here?" He pointed to the floor, then looked down at himself and snatched the towel back over him. "But I didn't bring my new things in with me."
"I'll fetch them."
Ted disappeared.
A mirror hung over the sink. Burke dropped the towel onto the stool and leaned in to see if his beard needed trimming. Behind him, the door opened. He turned. "Thanks, Ted..."
Clori stood in the doorway, her mouth open, her eyes wide with shock. Her gaze traveled down over his naked body, her cheeks growing redder by the second.
"Shit!" Burke grabbed once more for the towel. "What are you doing in here?"
"I...You...." Her gaze slid down the length of his body. "Oh, my."
To hide the activity taking place beneath the towel, he moved it out away from his body. Clori blinked and licked her lips. Her gaze flew to his, and he saw a flood of emotion he could not identify.
"Clori..."
She whirled and fled.
Head hanging, Burke stood there wondering what would happen next.
The door opened again. Ted walked in and handed him his new clothes. "What in thunder was Clori doing in here? She nearly ran me over trying to escape."
"Now, don't get riled." Burke laid the shirt and pants on the stool and held up his hands in a stop gesture. "My guess is she didn't know I was in here and thought to take her turn in the tub."
"Well, that's a double-damn turn of events if ever I heard one."
Both men were quiet for a moment. Burke picked up his new, old-fashioned underpants and pulled them on.
Ted's bowed his head. His shoulders shook suspiciously.
"Ted?"
The lawman slapped his knee and burst out laughing. "Did you see Clori’s face?"
Burke had yet to see the humor in the situation. "She was shocked and mortified. I feel downright rotten about it."
Still chortling, Ted slapped him on the back. "Aw, it ain't like she's never seen a bare-skinned fella before. She was married, you know."
"Yeah, I know." Burke thought about the way her gaze had traveled down over him from nose to bare toes. Her skin had turned a pretty pink. What he wouldn’t give to know what went on in her head when he saw that jumble of emotion reflected in her brown eyes.
"Reckon it is kind of funny," he admitted with a smile.
"You bet it is. Don't mention it in front of Nellie, though. I have no intention of telling her what happened, and I'm dead sure Clori won't."
Burke grinned. "Hm. Maybe I can use this to blackmail Clori into giving me a smile now and then."
Ted bent over, howling.
* * *
Clori rushed into her room and locked the door behind her. Her entire body felt flushed. Her pulse raced.
But not entirely from embarrassment.
Gracious, but Burke James was handsome. Never had she seen a man with such a fine physique. Of course, she hadn’t seen a naked man other than Horace. Her husband had looked nothing like Burke.
Such broad shoulders.
Horace’s torso could be described as boxy. Burke’s tapered to a narrow waist and hips, and below that legs bulging with muscles.
Oh, my. She doubted she would ever succeed in banishing that image from her head. Thinking of it roused disturbing sensations in her body she’d never felt before and centered at the moist apex of her legs.
Pleasant sensations.
She wanted more.
Around his neck had hung a medallion on a heavy chain. The pendant didn’t appear of a religious nature, such as a St. Christopher’s medal. Clori couldn’t help but be curious about it.
He had grabbed up a towel to hide his genitals, not close to his body but away from him. Only one reason could account for that.
He had become aroused.
By her.
She suspected the strange sensations that coursed through her body were caused by her own physical needs, something she’d never experienced with Horace.
Heavens, how would she ever face Burke again?
* * *
Breakfast passed with little talk. Burke didn't dare cast a glance Ted's way. The man looked like he would break into laughter any moment. Burke couldn’t help but glance at Clori out the side of his eye and note her high color. Because she couldn’t stop thinking about the incident in the bathing room?
Because she liked what she’d seen?
A stirring in his groin brought him immediately to his feet. He excused himself and went to the stables. Spook raced up with a stick in his mouth. Ruff stole it away but let Burke take it. He threw the stick as far as possible, hoping the activity would calm his body. In seconds Spook returned with the border collie at his heels, ready for another go around. The Vizsla ran faster, but Ruff was sneakier.
He and the dogs were still at it when Ted showed up.
"I'm going into town, but figured out something you can do to repay your advance if you're willing."
"Sure. What do you need done?"
"You see the far side of the corral over there?" The marshal pointed to the far side of the pasture bordered by a stand of quakies. "Something or someone saw fit to knock down a few poles. How about seeing if you can put 'em back in place?"
"I'll take care of it. You want me in town when I'm done?" Burke helped himself to a pair of work gloves from the tack room.
"Unless you have something else you want to do. Nothing going on today that I know of, so the town should be quiet." Ted started walking toward the road. "Unless you want to round up another posse and search for that missing rider again."
"I’ve gone out there and scoured the grounds every chance I’m had, maybe half a dozen times, and haven’t found a thing. The man must have found his way home."
"Guess you have a free day ahead of you then, son."
Burke smiled. He loved hearing his great-granddad call him son. Ted’s long legs ate up the road. Burke raised his voice and called, "In that case, I might take a ride out to the Halstead place to see if my partner's showed up."
"Go ahead. I hope you find him this time. Come to the office afterward in case I need you for something."
"Will do." Burke watched his great-granddad make the turn onto the road and disappear before he crossed the pasture to look at the fence. Three top poles and two bottom poles were down. After fetching the necessary tools from the tack room, he went to work.
He had one more pole to lift into place when Spook barked and took off running. Shading his eyes with a hand, Burke watched. He expected Spook to dive
into the bushes along the stream and vanish after some critter. Instead, the dog stopped and pointed.
Burke glimpsed a flash of gray, like a wisp of pale fog.
Silver?
Why would he be pointing at Silver?
From a bit further downstream came a woman’s angry raised voice. Sounded like it came from the spot where three large quaking aspens shaded the yard and stream. Who was Clori with? What happened that made her so angry?
Already running, Burke shouted, "Clori?"
Halfway across the yard, he saw her struggling with a man under a tree while Spook danced around them barking. The man tried to drag Clori into the willows along the water. Muffled cries, barking, and masculine curses carried on the breeze.
What had she been doing out here alone? He’d told her in no uncertain terms that she was not to leave the house without having someone with her. Damn. She had to know Horace would watch and wait for an opportunity to snatch her.
Burke wished he hadn't left the hammer behind. He needed a weapon. Damn his decision to leave his gun belt on his bedpost.
Without slowing, he snatched up a fallen branch a yard long and thick as his wrist.
He no longer saw Clori. "Clori?"
Only rustling tree limbs answered. And Spook barking.
Burke thrashed frantically through the bushes, following the dog's cacophony and looking for Clori. In a pause between barks, a twig snapped behind him. He swung around in time to see a club swinging toward his head.
Burke grabbed the arm wielding the weapon and twisted hard. The man yelled, cursed, and struck out at him with his free arm.
As they fought, he caught a glimpse of Clori—Dead? Alive? Impossible to tell. She lay in a heap on the grass with Spook going crazy running between him and her in his efforts to save the people he loved.
Burke had no time to give to the frantic dog. Doubling his fist, he dealt his assailant a right cross, once, twice. The man staggered, regained his footing, and came at him again.
His club. He'd dropped it. Where? Where?
They fought hand to hand. Burke took every advantage of being the larger man. He delivered a blow to the chin—a whiskered, receding chin beneath a thin, hard mouth. Blue eyes paler than the sky on a dull day glared at him.