The Hen House

by Sharon Sala

  Robert Lee smiled. He didn’t mean to. But when Letty got her feathers in a fluff, he just couldn’t help it. There was even a small part of him that felt sorry for the blue-ass officer in his hot, wool suit.

  Carson, on the other hand, was stunned. He got up, laid the letters in Letty’s lap without saying another word, and then sat back down.

  Letty glared at him, thanked Delilah for the glass of water she brought to her, and took a long drink as Delilah served whiskey to the men.

  Robert Lee took a small sip, savoring the fire it put in his belly.

  Carson Mylam downed his fast and neat. He figured he was going to need it, and more, before this meeting was over.

  Letty chose the letter from the president to read first.

  “Look, Delilah. Abraham Lincoln wrote me a letter. He’s wondering if I would be interested in helping fund his war. Isn’t that something?”

  Carson started to smile with a bit of relief until Letty finished what she’d been saying.

  “I’d like to know where the hell he was when I was servicing drunks for fifty cents a poke to keep from starving to death.”

  Carson choked on his own spit.

  Robert Lee toasted Letty with a smile and what was left in his shot glass, and then downed it in one gulp.

  Delilah grinned.

  Letty laid the letter aside and picked up the other two. She scanned them quickly, then folded them and laid them on top of the first.

  “Okay. Let me see if I understand you right. You traveled all the way from Philadelphia to see me because I’m rich, and because you’re thinking that, in my womanly wisdom, I might be swayed to donating a good sum of money so that men could go kill each other? Is that about it?”

  Carson’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.

  “Delilah, maybe you ought to pour the man another drink. He doesn’t look as if he’s feeling well.”

  Delilah filled the shot glass.

  Carson downed it, wheezing slightly as the liquor hit his belly.

  “Mrs. Potter, I don’t think you’re getting the full picture, here,” Carson said. “There are people down in the south who—”

  “I know all about slavery,” Letty said. “I’ve been one, but it wasn’t finding gold that set me free. It was the man who became my husband who did that for me. He’s dead, and this has been the saddest year of my life because of it. If you think that I’m going to donate money to something that is going to widow thousands of women, and cause just as many mothers to weep over lost sons, then you’re crazier than you look, sitting here in this hot house, in your fancy wool uniform with the gold buttons and gold braid.”

  Carson wondered if he was in as much danger as he felt, and decided to toss out a small threat. He wasn’t sure if it was the truth, but it sounded good.

  “Mrs. Potter, you do know that the government could confiscate your gold mine for the good of the country.”

  At this point, any kind of threat to Letty lit a fire under Robert Lee. He leaned forward and fixed Carson Mylam with a cold, angry stare.

  “Now that you’ve shared that bit of information with us, there’s something you need to know, as well. I put the last man who messed with Letty Potter six feet under. Now you can sit there and think it would be a small thing to remove me from the picture, and you’d be right. However, you might want to know before you start messing with this woman, that she rode down the man who killed her husband, shot him between the eyes with a rifle she didn’t know how to reload, then burned the bastard down to his bones, and brought them back to the sheriff to bury. Threats don’t scare her, mister, but they do piss her off, and threatening her, pisses me off, too.”

  Carson didn’t believe a word Robert Lee had said until Letty stood up and handed him the letters. She shoved them into his hands and then thumped his chest with her finger, tapping sharply on each gold button as she spoke.

  “You take your sorry ass back to where you came from, and you tell your president and your generals that I will not be donating to their war. As for trying to take the mine, itself, tell them to come on down and give it a try. I’ll blow it up, and them with it, before I’d see the gold spent that way. They can spend eternity in the belly of that mountain, and see how important their damned war is then.”

  It was the lack of emotion in her voice that told Carson he’d made a monumental mistake. Not only was she serious, but he was beginning to believe she could make good on her threats.

  “I’ll see myself out,” he said, and started toward the door.

  Robert Lee stood up.

  “No. I’ll be the one seeing you out.” He followed the man all the way to the horse he’d tied up outside, then waited until Mylam was mounted before he added.

  “You were the first, and you better be the last who comes harassing this woman about her money and your war, or I’ll be seeing them in hell,” then he gave Carson back his unloaded pistol.

  Carson holstered his gun and rode away. He didn’t breathe easy until he was out of sight of the house. At that point, he kicked the horse in the flanks and ran it all the way into town, got a ticket on the first stage out, and went back to fight a war. At least there his enemies were recognizable by Rebel gray.

  ***

  Letty viewed Carson Mylam’s visit as she might have a disease—one she didn’t want to repeat. It had been her experience that, if something caused her concern or made her sick, then the best thing to do was rid herself of the possibility that it could happen again. A couple of days after he’d gone, she walked down to Robert Lee’s tent and asked him to drive her out to the mine.

  “Why?” he’d asked.

  “I’m rich. Getting richer isn’t going to change my life.”

  He frowned, waiting for her to continue.

  “And, despite what the newspapers are touting, I don’t think that damned war is going to go away any time soon. I fear that the longer it continues, the greater the possibility that someone else will come for whatever it takes to win, and you and I both know that money will make it happen. Whoever has the most guns, the most ammunition, the most food, and the most men is going to prevail. I don’t know if my money will be safe in all those Yankee banks, but I can keep either side from coming after the mine.”

  “How?”

  “By blowing it up.”

  Robert Lee blanched.

  “You can’t be serious. There must be tens of thousands of dollars worth of gold ore still in those shafts.”

  She shrugged.

  “It won’t be going anywhere.”

  “But you could destroy the whole thing by blasting wrong.”

  “So, then we’ll make sure to do it right.”

  “Jesus,” Robert Lee muttered.

  “So, are you going to help me, or am I going to do it by myself?”

  “Hell no, you’re not going to do it… by yourself or with me. I’ll blow the damned thing, but you’re not going to ride all the way out there.”

  “I won’t be riding a horse. I will be sitting in a wagon.”

  “It’s not safe.”

  “I will do it with or without you.”

  “Fine,” he finally muttered. “Whatever happens is on your head, not mine.”

  “Fine,” she echoed. “We’ll do it tomorrow after breakfast.”

  “What if it damages the old cabin?”

  She turned away, unable to think about losing the place where she and Eulis had been the happiest.

  “It can’t matter more than making sure the gold doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

  Robert Lee shrugged and walked away.

  Letty watched him go then went back to the house. She was ready and waiting for him just as the sun came up.

  He helped her into the wagon seat, then took the reins and flipped them across the backs of the mules. The mules took off with their passengers, a box of dynamite, and a sack of fuses and blasting caps.

  Letty hadn’t been to the mine since Eulis’ death, and thought she was pr
epared. But when they came down off the mountain and she saw the old cabin at the other side of the valley, breath caught in the back of her throat. She found herself looking for Eulis, half-expecting him to step out of the entrance to the mine and wave her on, just as he’d done so many times before.

  Robert Lee heard the change in her breathing and got a glimpse of tears in her eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he said softly.

  Letty sighed.

  “Oh, Robert Lee… so am I. So am I.”

  When they reached the cabin, he helped her down from the wagon.

  “I think I’ll just take a quick look inside,” she said, and hurried forward before he could follow.

  Robert Lee knew she was saying goodbye to more than the mine, and wisely kept his distance.

  It was dark inside, and Letty left the door standing open as she entered. It wasn’t the same as when she and Eulis had lived there, and soon realized that Robert Lee had put his own stamp on the place. In a way, it made leaving it easier.

  She glanced back out the door, making sure they were still alone, then moved to the far wall of the cabin where she’d first found the old entrance to the mine. Only when she tried, the door that had been hidden in the wall was no longer there. She didn’t know that, at Eulis’ orders, Robert Lee had rebuilt it. Now, the only entrance into the mine was the newer one that had been dug outside the cabin to connect with the old shaft, which lay about a hundred yards away from the south wall.

  She stood inside the darkened room, eyeing the bed where Eulis had nearly died from the smallpox that had swept through Denver City on their first winter, remembering the injured wolf she’d fought and killed outside their door. They’d had nothing to eat but deer and elk meat all winter. She still disliked the taste.

  Wind whistled through the open door, and for a moment, she imagined she heard a soft, keening sigh, but when she turned, all she saw was Robert Lee unloading the dynamite from the wagon. Lifting her chin, she walked out of the cabin, closing the door behind her without looking back.

  Within the hour, Robert Lee had the dynamite in place. He’d tied up the mules several hundred yards from the blast sight and left Letty with them.

  He didn’t know if what she was doing was the right thing to do, but he didn’t question her right to do it. She’d found the damned mine. It had made her rich, and in turn, the wealth she’d garnered from it had widowed her. He didn’t blame her for wanting to put an end to what must seem like a vicious cycle.

  He glanced back at her once.

  She waved an okay.

  He turned around, took a deep breath, lit the long fuses, and ran like hell.

  The first blast rocked the ground beneath their feet.

  The second one caused the outer layer of the mountain above the mine entrance to crumble.

  When the third one went off, the entrance was already gone. By the time the earth and rocks had stopped falling, tons of debris had settled between them and the gold.

  Letty stared at the dust cloud and the rocks. The blast had laid waste to a large portion of the front of the mountain, leaving bare a wound where grass and trees had once been. In time, the grass would grow back, and unless someone knew what had been there before, it would be next to impossible to imagine the riches hidden deep within.

  Robert Lee brushed at the dust on his clothes as he walked back to the wagon.

  Letty was standing beside the seat, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  She looked at him briefly and then shook her head.

  The expression on her face broke his heart.

  “I’m sorry it came to this,” he said gently.

  Before he knew what was happening, she lowered her head against his chest. A moment of shock swept through him, and then he wrapped his arms around her and held her while she wept.

  ROCK A BYE BABY

  Shock reverberated throughout Denver City as news spread of the explosion at the Potter mine.

  Letty promptly sent a telegram to Major Carson Mylam of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

  Explosion destroys Potter Mine. Stop. Leticia Murphy Potter.

  Carson received it during a meeting with his commanding officer, General Titus Morris. He turned pale, handed the telegram to Morris, and then looked out the window toward the soldiers marching on the parade ground. The telegram was nothing more than written proof of his failure. His bags were already packed. He would be accompanying the troops marching south tomorrow.

  ***

  Back in Denver City, no one would have ever, in their wildest of dreams, imagined the explosion was anything but a tragic accident. But in a way, it signaled the beginning of the end to the gold fever that had rocked Denver City throughout the past two years. The dreams men had fostered of getting rich quick seem to have been prioritized by the intermittent news they received of the distant war. Many left their claims to return to their homelands, concerned for the families they’d left behind. Others opted to go west, vowing if they had to fight, they’d rather fight redskins, than their own friends and families.

  Letty remained neutral about the whole thing, more concerned with having a healthy baby than taking sides in a war destined to be a disaster, no matter which side won.

  And, like every other woman in her condition, she began what Alice and Mary called nesting. Curtains were taken down and washed. Mattresses were hauled out of the house to be aired and fluffed. She cleaned floors already clean, and washed windows that were already streak-free. She counted and sorted the baby clothes they’d all made, then counted and sorted them again.

  Each night as she was going to bed, she would look for the lantern light at Robert Lee’s tent and then go upstairs to her bedroom window, squinting through the oncoming darkness until she located the cross on Eulis’ grave.

  Each night it seemed harder and harder to find, and made a mental note to get the grass cut down between the grave and the house. There was an underlying panic in her need to be able to see it—as if losing sight of it would mean she was forgetting him. And, by the same token, she wouldn’t let herself consider why it was so important for her to know that Robert Lee was close by.

  ***

  By the time October arrived, there was already a strong hint of winter in the air. Mornings were freezing or below, while some days it warmed up some by noon. When Letty’s due date finally arrived, it was just ahead of a gathering storm.

  Alice had taken the wagon and gone into town to pick up supplies, taking Katie and the other women with her. It was the first time Letty had been alone in the house since Eulis’ death.

  She walked through the rooms with a judgmental eye, making mental notes as to what would have to be moved once the baby began to walk. Even as she was planning the changes, she couldn’t help but look back at the changes in her world.

  A year ago, she and Eulis had been in the first throes of learning how to be rich. They’d spent money frugally, until it became apparent that they weren’t going to run out any time during the next hundred or so years. After that, Letty had been generous with her choices of furnishings for the fine house they’d been building. She’d imagined growing old with Eulis in this house, not living a life without him, let alone raising their child alone.

  The house seemed stuffy as she moved through the rooms. Although a fire had been lit in the parlor fireplace, it wasn’t cold enough for fires in all the rooms. And, while the weather outside today was somewhat mild, it was too cold to open windows. She felt aimless—too awkward and too close to delivery to start a new project—but still anxiously awaiting what would be the biggest project of her life.

  The women had been gone for almost an hour when she finally wandered out onto the front porch and sat down. T-Bone jumped up from his spot in the flower bed and ran up the steps to plop down at her feet.

  Letty eyed the dirt on the dog’s side and the big bare spot in the flower bed and frowned.

  “You do know that you’re go
ing to be in trouble with Delilah. She’s not going to appreciate you napping in her flower bed, even if most of them have already frozen back.”

  T-Bone’s tongue lolled from the side of his mouth as he gazed up in adoration. The scar from the knife wound he’d suffered at the robber’s hands was still visible, but slowly fading as hair continued to grow back over the old wound.

  She patted his head, then leaned back in the rocking chair and cupped the girth of her belly, groaning slightly as the baby rolled beneath her palms.

  “Lord have mercy, Little Bit, I’d appreciate it if you’d settle yourself down for a while.”

  When the baby finally stilled, she closed her eyes with a satisfied groan. A few minutes later when she happened to look up, she caught Robert Lee watching her from a distance.

  She raised her hand in a quick hello.

  He jerked, as if surprised that she’d seen him, and nodded briefly before disappearing behind his tent.

  Letty frowned. She’d already made up her mind that he was not spending the winter in that damned tent—not when there was a spare room off the kitchen. She’d mentioned it to the women earlier, and they’d all agreed that they were not only okay with him moving in, but that they would welcome his presence in the house. Now all she had to do was convince Robert Lee of the fact.

  A rumble of distant thunder sounded across the mountains as the wind began to rise. It wasn’t much, but enough to cut the sultry feel in the air. She knew how miserable a winter rain felt in the mountains, and decided that today was the day that Robert Lee succumbed to her will.

  And, in typical Letty fashion, she hefted herself up from the rocking chair, walked off the porch, and headed for his tent.

  ***

  Robert Lee hadn’t intended to be caught watching Letty, and yet it had happened. He cursed the hopelessness of his situation and wished he was hard-hearted enough to just saddle up and ride away. During the past few weeks, he’d busied himself through the days by chopping wood for the coming winter months. He had a wagon nearly full and ready to be hauled to the house to unload. It would be the fourth load that he’d cut and was in the act of splitting up some logs when Letty rounded the front of the tent.