“I could see that,” Marshal Kincaid replied.
Chapter Eighteen
Tumbling P Ranch
One of the first things Sylvia did when she got back home was to reestablish a friendship she had with Linda Stallings. The two girls had been best friends when they were in school.
“I have missed you so much,” Linda said. “There have been so many fun things to do that I just knew I would have enjoyed more if you had been here to do them with me.”
“Well, we’ll just have to make up for lost time, won’t we?” Sylvia said.
“Oh, I know what we can do tonight! There is a dance over in San Jose. Do see if your father will let you go.”
Nate was close enough to have overheard the conversation between his sister and her friend, and with a roguish smile on his lips, he came over to them.
“I know how to get Pop to give you permission to go,” he said.
“How?”
“If Linda would agree to let me escort her to the dance, then you could come with us.”
“Why, Nate, if you are wanting to court Linda, why don’t you just say so? There is no need for such subterfuge,” Sylvia teased. “But,” she added hastily. “I think that is a wonderful idea.”
San Jose, New Mexico
Rex Ross, of the BR Ranch, and the ranch foreman, Dean Kelly, stopped for a moment to read a sign that was posted at the edge of town.
FIREMAN’S BENEFIT DANCE TONIGHT
Come One! Come All!
Dunn Hotel Ballroom.
Fifty Cents.
“Hey, Dean, do you think there’ll be any women at that dance?” Rex asked.
Dean laughed. “Have you ever been to a dance where there weren’t any women?” he asked
“I know we’re over here to book some railroad cars for Pa, but I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t go the dance tonight, do you?”
“No, I don’t see any reason at all. Sounds like a good idea to me.”
“Then, we’ll go. Only, what do you say we get us a beer first?”
“Ha! That sounds like an even better idea,” Dean agreed.
A few minutes later the two men dismounted in front of the Nippy Jones Saloon.
“Look,” Rex said, pointing to a couple of the other horses that were tied up at the next hitching rail. “Those horses have the Tumbling P brand.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” Kelly said.
When they went inside, Kelly stuck his hand out to stop Rex.
“I’ll be damn,” he said. “Them wasn’t just cowboy horses. There’s Nate Poindexter himself.”
Nate Poindexter was standing at the far end of the bar, nursing a drink. Gabe Mathis was with him, and both of them tensed when they saw Rex Ross and Dean Kelly come into the saloon.
The town of San Jose was ten miles northeast of Thirty Four Corners. It was the closest railhead, needed by both the BR and the Tumbling P, so by mutual understanding, the long-running feud between Ben Ross and Morgan Poindexter would recognize a truce in this town.
“It’s all right,” Rex said. “We’ve got a truce here. Hello, Nate.”
Nate glared at Rex, but said nothing.
Rex and Kelly stopped at the opposite end of the bar from Nate and Gabe and ordered a beer.
The others in the saloon, well aware that the long-standing feud had recently turned violent, grew quiet and attentive at the sight of two of the principals in the disagreement.
“That son of a bitch has some nerve coming in here,” Nate said.
“Easy, Nate,” Gabe said. “You know what your pa says. We can’t afford to get into trouble over here, we need the railhead.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not going to keep me from telling him what I think,” Nate said. Tossing down the rest of his drink, Nate walked to the opposite end of the bar, then stopped just a few feet away.
“I wouldn’t think you would have the guts to show your face after everything that you have been doing,” Nate said, his voice low and menacing.
“Nate, if you are talking about the boy, I swear to you, I didn’t have anything to do with that. And if any of my men did, and I find out about it, they will pay for it.”
“It’s not just Jimmy. It’s what you did to my pa and my sister. Or at least, what you tried to do.”
Rex gave a genuine look of surprise in response to Nate’s challenge.
“Your pa and your sister? I don’t have the slightest idea what you are talking about.”
“Don’t lie to me, Ross,” Nate said. “You had your men waylay them on the road on the way back from Los Luna.”
“Why the hell would I do something like that?”
“That’s what I want to know. Why would you do such a thing?”
“Mr. Poindexter, we don’t even know what you are talking about,” Dean said. “But I promise you, whatever happened to your pa and your sister, the BR had nothing to do with it.”
“Nate,” Gabe said, reaching out to put his hand on Nate’s arm. “Come on, let’s find us another place to drink.”
“Why should we go somewhere else?” Nate asked. We were here first.”
“You were, indeed, here first,” Rex said. “We’ll go somewhere else. I’m sorry about young Jimmy Patterson, and I’m sorry that someone accosted your father and sister. I wish you a good day, my friend.”
“I am not your friend,” Nate said between clenched teeth.
Rex nodded without responding; then he and Dean left the saloon.
“I thought that went rather well, didn’t you?” Rex asked.
Dean laughed. “Where do you want to go now?”
“Tell the truth, if we are going to go to that dance, I’d like to get a hotel room and take a bath,” Rex said.
“Since the dance is going to be at the Dunn Hotel, we may as well take a room there,” Dean suggested.
“Good idea.”
Rex took the key to his room upstairs. Before he went to his room he walked down to the end of the hall to one of the bathing rooms. He went into one and started a fire in the water heater. Then he walked down to check out his room while he gave the water time to warm up.
He had a front room so he walked over to look out the window. From here he had a good view of the main street. The street, scarred with wagon ruts and dotted with horse droppings, formed an X with the track. The railroad station was halfway down the street and from here he could see the cattle pens that made this town so important, not only to the BR and the Tumbling P, but to many other ranches in the county. Thirty Four Corners had started out as the largest town in San Jose County, but the railroads had made both Los Luna and San Jose larger.
Rex saw a train, heading west, just now pulling away. It would be in San Diego by this time tomorrow night.
On the far side of the track he saw a scattering of adobe buildings. On this side of the track the buildings were false-fronted and made of unpainted, rip-sawed lumber. Right across the street from the hotel was the livery stable. Below him and two doors down from the hotel, was the Nippy Jones Saloon, where he had just had his encounter with Nate Poindexter.
Because the saloon was under him, he couldn’t actually see it from his window, but he could see the bright splash of light it threw into the street, and he could hear laughter and piano music. He wished he had not had that encounter with Nate. For a while, when they were in grade school, Rex and Nate had been friends. It was only when they got old enough to realize the animosity that existed between their families that their own relationship changed.
He left the room and walked down to the end of the hall to take his bath.
Sylvia Poindexter and her friend Linda Stallings had taken a room at the Dunn Hotel.
“I’m looking forward to the dance tonight,” Sylvia said. “It’s a shame we have to come this far, though. How often do they have them in Thirty Four Corners?”
“Oh, Sylvia, you’ve been gone too long if you actually think that’s ever going to happen,” Linda said. “That isn’t possible. Not a
s long as the feud is going on.”
“Oh pooh. This feud is the dumbest thing. I wish it would stop.”
“I think everybody wishes that, but now that people have been killed I think it’s just going to get worse,” Linda said.
“You know what Papa says. He says that he thinks a lot of people are just using the feud. They’ve got their own reasons for wanting to shoot someone, so they do it, and then they say it is because of the feud.”
“Then why won’t your papa and Mr. Ross shake hands, and call this thing over?” Linda asked.
“I don’t know. I believe Papa would, if Mr. Ross would.”
“It may have gone too far for that now,” Linda said. “What with the killings that have happened.”
“Yes,” Sylvia said. “I heard about those, a man who worked at the BR and a boy who worked for Papa. It’s awful, it’s just awful.”
Linda smiled. “Well, there’s no feud here, at least. And we’ve got a dance to go to tonight.”
“We must get dressed, because I don’t want to miss any of it,” Sylvia said.
Rex was just getting into the tub when a woman opened the door. He stood there for a moment, so surprised by her unexpected appearance that he made no effort to cover himself. He was totally nude and the woman gasped in shock at having walked in on him like this.
“Miss, as you can readily see, this room is occupied,” Rex said calmly.
“Yes, I do see,” the woman replied. “I’m sorry. I was told that if the bathing room was unlocked, that meant it was available for anyone who might want to use it.” She stared pointedly at the man’s nudity and, realizing he was coming under such intense scrutiny, Rex smiled audaciously, shamelessly, then slowly sat down in the water.
“I would invite you in, but I don’t think there’s room in the tub.”
“I . . . the door was unlocked. I was sure that meant that the room was unoccupied.”
“I’m sorry. I must have forgotten to lock the door.”
The woman smiled self-consciously. “Yes, well, perhaps I should have knocked.”
“No harm done,” Rex said. “There’s another bathing room next door.”
“Yes, thank you, I’ll use that one. Oh, and I’ll knock first,” she added.
“That might be a good idea,” Rex said.
Sylvia stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her. Never in her life had she been so embarrassed, and now she looked up and down the hall to see if anyone had seen her make such a colossal mistake. She felt a heat that wasn’t related to the ambient temperature, then, fanning herself, stepped into the bathing room next door to the one she had just entered. She made certain that the door was locked before she began to draw the water for her bath.
As she slipped down into the tub a few minutes later, she could hear the man in the room next to hers. He was singing. Had he forgotten that she was just next door to him? Or did he remember, and he was singing just for her?
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay!
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay
I’m not extravagantly shy
And when a nice young girl is nigh
For her heart I’ll have a try
Sylvia smiled, and slipped farther down into the water.
“Oh, Linda,” she said when she returned to the room she was sharing with Linda. “You’ll never believe what just happened.”
“What?”
A broad smile spread across her lips. “I suppose I should have knocked,” she said, as she began the story.
When she finished the story, both she and Linda were laughing heartily.
“And what I like about the song he was singing was when he said he wasn’t extravagantly shy,” Sylvia said. “I’ll say he wasn’t extravagantly shy! He was anything but shy!”
They laughed again.
A short time later, just before it was time to go to the dance, Sylvia was standing in front of the mirror examining herself. The dress was green, with a narrow waist, and a deeply scooped neck. She was beginning to have second thoughts about wearing this dress, and she said as much to Linda.
“What? No, what are you talking about? That is a beautiful dress, and you look beautiful in it.”
“But I don’t think I realized how low it was cut in front. Why, it is practically scandalous.”
“Nonsense. You’ll be the belle of the ball.”
Chapter Nineteen
Rex was standing by the wall when he saw the two women enter. He had a quick intake of breath when he saw the woman in the green dress. Had she come in totally naked, he did not think she could have presented a more provocative appearance. And yet, he could tell by the hesitant expression on her face that she was not used to wearing such a revealing dress. He also thought that he had never seen a more beautiful woman—then, suddenly, he realized that he had seen her before. This was the same woman who had walked in on him in his bath!
Someone walked to the platform and signaled for the band leader to play a trumpet fanfare that got everyone’s attention. Once the fanfare was played, he held up his arms.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please? First of all, thank you all for coming. As you know, this dance is to be a benefit to raise money to buy a new pumper for the fire department. And to raise money, we are having a silent auction with dozens of donated items to bid on, so please stop by the table where Mrs. Kellogg and Mrs. Clayton are sitting. Make generous bids on whatever catches your fancy. Some of the ladies have knitted some nice scarves, and others have made cakes and cookies. It’s all for a good cause, so don’t be stingy.”
At the conclusion of the announcement, there was generous applause.
“Now if you would, choose your partners for the grand march.”
Rex walked over to the lady in green, smiled at her, and offered her his arm.
“I wonder, ma dame en vert, if you might be my partner in the grand march.”
Sylvia returned his smile; then she gasped. “It’s you!” she said.
Rex chuckled. “Yes, but as you can see, or in this case, not see, there isn’t quite as much of me.”
Sylvia couldn’t repress her own laugh. “I must say, sir, you seem to have taken it in all good cheer.”
“What would you have had me do? Scream and make an effort to cover myself?”
“No, on hindsight, I think your reaction was proper, bringing about the least amount of embarrassment for both of us. Ma dame en vert? What is that?”
“That’s French for ‘my lady in green,’” Rex said. “I was just showing off, trying to impress you.”
“Impress me? Or confuse me?”
Rex laughed. “Good point,” he said, keeping his arm out. Sylvia took it, and the music began.
As the procession began, they marched, two by two and arm in arm, to the far end of the floor. Curving around, they came back to where they had started. Then, as the music continued, the marchers weaved back and forth until their numbers increased to four. Then the numbers in the file increased again, until there was the grand finale.
On the following dances, Rex danced with the lady in green as often as he could, making a conscious decision to dance with nobody else except her. There were more men than women at the dance, which meant that sometimes he would have to stand against the wall and watch her dance with other men. Then, when he finally claimed her for one dance, he asked if she was tired.
“Why do you think I might be tired?”
“I would think that you might be, because you have danced every dance. Would you like to skip this one? Perhaps we could step outside for a breath of fresh air.”
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, thank you, that is a wonderful idea.”
Rex took her by the arm and led her outside, where, in the dark, they walked over to stand under a tree.
“We can stand in the shade here,” Rex said.
She laughed. “What do you mean shade, silly? It’s nighttime.”
“Perhaps I should have said that we could stand in the shadows
,” Rex said. “As long as we are here, nobody can see us, even if they step outside.”
“Why do you not want to be seen?”
“Because I want to kiss you. And I thought that you might not want to be seen.”
“Oh.”
Rex moved toward her, and when she offered no resistance, he did kiss her.
“I know that was very forward of me,” Rex said. “I hope you aren’t angry.”
“Not at all. After all, I was forewarned that you would try.”
“Forewarned?”
“Didn’t you sing a song that said you were not extravagantly shy, and when a nice young girl was nigh, that for her heart you would have a try?”
“You were listening, to me from the next room, weren’t you?”
Sylvia smiled, and even in the shadows Rex could see her white, even teeth. “Wasn’t it your intention that I listen?”
“All right, you caught on to my secret. Yes, it was my intention for you to listen. I guess I must be a pretty good singer, huh?”
“Why do you say that?”
“It worked. I got you to kiss me.”
“I wanted you to kiss me,” Sylvia said, easily.
Rex laughed.
“What is it?”
“Here we are, kissing each other, and I don’t even know your name, other than Lady in Green. What is your name? My name is . . .”
“No!” Sylvia said, interrupting Rex in midsentence and putting her fingers to his lips. “Let’s not share our names. At least, not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Don’t you think it is more romantic if we don’t share names? This way we can be Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another, Only a look and a voice; then darkness again and a silence.”
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