He screamed in his native tongue at her. Finally, his English kicked in. “You fired. Do not come back. You fired.”
Meg opened the cash register and counted out what was owed her and left the rest. It was tempting to take what wasn’t hers, but that wasn’t money she’d earned. She only took her wages and then slammed the drawer shut.
“Goodbye, if you ever need another seamstress don’t call me.” She walked out the door.
The money she’d earned was less than sixty dollars. Not enough to pay off the loan completely. If they paid off the bank loan in full, there would be no pressure to save the farm. There would be no pressure to take jobs that were demeaning and paid less than a crib girl’s salary.
*
Ruby heard the gunshots and rushed outside to see who was shooting. Annabelle had set up the tin cans on the fence where Papa had taught them to shoot. One by one she knocked off the cans.
“Hey,” Ruby called.
“Hi,” Annabelle fairly grunted.
“You okay?” Ruby asked, noting the rigid set of Annabelle’s shoulders and the tense lines around her mouth.
Annabelle raised her pistol; her eyes focused on the target and then pulled the trigger, knocking the can to the ground. “See the face on that can?”
“You drew a face on a can?”
“Yes,” Annabelle raised her pistol, sighted her target and fired at the can. It flew off the fence and landed with a bounce on the ground. “I’m killing my boss.”
Ruby gave a little laugh. “You’re speaking figuratively, right?”
Not sensible, logical, and rational Annabelle. Of the three, she was the least likely to commit bloodshed. What had happened to make her want to kill her boss?
“Maybe, I haven’t decided yet.” Annabelle looked fierce, madder than Ruby had ever seen her. “I’m going to put a bullet through his forehead.” She fired her Baby Dragoon Colt. “Bull’s eye.”
Ruby laughed, lifted her skirt and pulled out her own gun. “Let me have a try. That can is Clay Mullens.”
Taking aim, she pulled the trigger and knocked the can off the fence. There was satisfaction in pretending she’d just shot a man who’d tried to rape her. The law would never do anything to stop him, and she feared his family would somehow retaliate if she were to have him arrested. It would be her word against his, and he would win.
“Knocked his head clean off? Now I think I’ll aim for his man parts.” She fired again, and the next can flew off the fence and rolled along the ground, making a clattering noise.
Annabelle turned and stared at Ruby a moment, her gaze suddenly suspicious. “Why are you aiming for his man parts?”
Ruby lifted her arm, gripped the handle with both hands and sighted the target. Pulling the trigger, she released the tension that had gripped her all day. “The asshole tried to rape me today. I wanted to kill him. I raised my gun and was ready to put one in his head, but I knew I’d go to jail. I fired close enough he heard the bullet whiz by. I think he might have messed his pants. Then I quit.”
Tears of anger and fear at the experience bubbled up inside, overwhelming her as she realized what would have happened if she’d had no gun. “I’m sorry. I worked hard; I did what I was told, but I wasn’t going to have sex with him. I just wasn’t.”
Now, she would hear the lecture on how it was time to grow up and think of the three of them. Now, Annabelle would make her feel like a complete failure, but it wasn’t her fault. Not this time.
Annabelle laid her gun down on the fence and walked over to Ruby and hugged her close. “It’s okay. I’m so glad he didn’t hurt you. You know Meg would have killed him if he had.”
Ruby held onto her sister, her body shaking with the realization of how close she’d come to being raped. “I was so scared, Annabelle. My cheek is sore from where he hit me. Other than that, I’m okay.”
“You’re not going back there,” Annabelle said, her hand gently touching Ruby’s bruised cheek.
“No, I was fired.”
Annabelle laughed and stepped out of her sister’s embrace. “I was let go today as well.”
“What?” Ruby stared at her sister in surprise. Annabelle had been fired, as well?
“Yeah, Rusty’s wife caught him grabbing my ass and told him he had to let me go.”
“He touched you inappropriately?”
“Yes,” Annabelle said quietly. “I did nothing to provoke him.”
“Me neither,” Ruby responded, thinking of how she’d only spoken to that creep once. Just once.
Annabelle had dealt with an unwanted man touching her, and Ruby had a young man who tried to rape her. Poor Meg was continually working, doing the mending, and hoping Ho Chinn would pay her. They all had horrible jobs, except that Annabelle and Ruby were now fired.
Annabelle picked up her gun, took aim, and fired at another tin can. “But he promised me he’d give me a good recommendation.”
“You or your ass?” Ruby laughed and wiped away her tears. She loved Annabelle and now realized how she had let Deke Culver, the sorry maverick, come between them. Never again.
Annabelle smiled. “Probably my ass.”
Ruby picked up her gun and fired at the last tin can, knocking it down. Annabelle hurried over and set them all up on the fence again. “Okay, so let’s tell our bosses how we really feel about them and then shoot the can that represents their sorry, butts. You go first.”
“Touch me again, and I won’t hesitate to put a bullet through your brain.” Ruby fired the gun, sending the can flying through the air before it landed on the ground.
The image of his face swam before her and a rush of pleasure erupted inside her at the idea of target practicing with his face.
Annabelle lifted the revolver and aimed. “Put your hands on your wife’s butt, not mine.”
“I’m not a calico queen,” Ruby spat and then knocked the can to the ground.
“Tell your wife she’s one unlucky woman to be married to scum like you.” Annabelle took aim on the can and fired.
What had Annabelle put up with before his wife caught the jerk? Why hadn’t she told them?
Ruby aimed her small Baby Dragoon Colt. “Just because I work for your family, doesn’t mean I’m your personal whore.”
Annabelle steadied her pistol and aimed it at the can. “No, I don’t want to become a painted cat.”
A painted cat? A saloon girl? Where had that come from? Surely Annabelle didn’t think they would be so desperate they’d have to work in a saloon. No, Ruby wasn’t ready for that job, and she’d do everything she could to keep from having to sell herself. Today had shown her she didn’t want anything to do with men.
“All men are outlaws, even you, Deke Culver,” Ruby said, firing the gun.
Annabelle frowned and glanced over at Ruby. “You’re not in love with him any longer? When did that change?”
Oops! She shouldn’t have mentioned Deke’s name. Yet anger rose up in her and gripped her hand, pulling her trigger finger. The tin receptacle flew off the fence, clattering when the bullet hit the metal.
“I was in infatuation, not love. But all that changed this afternoon when I came home. I don’t think he’ll be back anytime soon.” Ruby raised her gun. “We both dodged a bullet with that one.”
“How do you know?” Annabelle asked, staring at Ruby with those all-knowing eyes that always found out whenever Ruby did anything wrong.
“He told me I was a child. He wouldn’t…”
Annabelle started to laugh. “So he is a good man and wouldn’t take advantage of you. You need to leave him to a woman.”
“Oh yeah, you want him, and I should leave him for you. Well, let me tell you, I don’t think he’ll be coming around again, after I fired my gun at him.”
Twice today she’d aimed her gun, at a man close enough to send a message. A leave me alone message. Still, Deke was no different from any other man she’d ever met.
“Ruby?” Annabelle said. “You fired at our gue
st.”
“Yes, after he kissed me and then wouldn’t continue.”
Oh, she probably shouldn’t have told her sister that little piece of information. But it was true. Why wouldn’t he continue kissing her? Didn’t he enjoy kissing her? Why had he stopped?
Ruby took aim with her pistol and fired at a canister. “That’s for you, Deke.”
“You know, I never was really attracted to him. But I would like to have a man in my life. Someone who cared for me. Someone I could make a life with,” Annabelle said gazing off in the distance.
Stunned, Ruby looked at her sister in surprise. She didn’t want him for herself? Then suddenly it dawned on her. “You were trying to keep me from him.”
“I don’t think you’re ready for a man,” Annabelle said softly. “But maybe I was wrong. You’re growing up, and we’ve all been through so much. Maybe I should just stay out of your way.”
Ruby smiled. “Thank you, but Deke is not who we thought he was. He’s not a man who…” she trailed off. So he wouldn’t bed her. Didn’t she want a man who respected her? Or did she just want a man she could manipulate?
For a moment, Ruby considered her thoughts, leaving her all tied up. Finally, she raised her gun, aimed, and fired at a can on the fence.
“What in the hell is going on here?” Meg called out, standing behind Ruby and Annabelle.
They both whirled around, startled at the sound of her voice. “It sounds like you guys have started a war.”
“We just may,” Annabelle said. “I was ‘let go’ today.”
“I quit.”
Meg started to laugh, her voice sounding hysterical.
Ruby laid her gun down and went to her older sister’s side. She’d never seen Meg so vulnerable. So on the edge that she worried her. She laid her hand on Meg’s arm. “Are you okay?”
“What’s so funny?” Annabelle asked, gazing at Meg like she’d lost her mind.
“I got fired today too,” she managed to get out from between her hysterical laughs.
For a moment, Ruby’s stomach sank, and she felt nauseous and light-headed. They had no money coming in. None. What would they do?
Annabelle took a deep breath and handed her the gun. “There’s one can left. It’s your turn.”
Meg dried her eyes and glanced at the gun she held in her hands, and then she looked out at the tin left on the fence. She raised the pistol and just as she pulled the trigger said, “Die you bastard, die.”
The can clinked against the ground as it rolled.
“Should I set them up again?” Ruby asked, wondering if Meg needed to do more shooting to let off some steam.
“No, we need to save our bullets,” Meg said with a sigh. “But thanks for helping me let off some frustration. He wasn’t going to pay me.”
“The son tried to rape me.”
“Ruby, are you all right?” Meg asked, touching Ruby on the arm. “He didn’t harm you?”
They weren’t mad at her, and that made all the difference in the world. Ruby had never tried to make this boy like or want her. She’d done nothing, and he’d taken advantage of her. “I’m okay. I did what Papa taught us; I pulled my gun on him.”
“Rusty’s wife caught him grabbing my ass. She doesn’t want me around anymore,” Annabelle said, taking aim with her pistol.
“You continued to work there after he’d grabbed you on the ass? Do I need to go take care of him?” Meg asked.
“No, I think his wife beat him up pretty good. I hated that job.”
Ruby stared at her sisters, and a fierce feeling of love and affection consumed her, overflowing her heart and filling her eyes with tears. They were all she had. They were the two people on this earth who cared what happened to her, and she would do whatever was necessary to help protect them. No matter what else happened, she could always count on them.
“What about you? How did you get fired?”
Meg bit her lip. “I finished the mending and still he wouldn’t say when I’d receive my pay. I don’t know if he ever would have paid me, so I took what was mine.”
Annabelle laughed. “You took money from the cash register, didn’t you?”
“I only took what was owed me.”
Ruby shook her head, staring in wonder at them, yet she also had such fierce love for her sisters. “What are we becoming?”
Meg glanced at her and sighed. “I don’t know. What are we going to do now?”
“I refuse to work as a maid again.” Never again would Ruby be on her hands and knees in someone else’s kitchen while their son lingered in the shadows waiting for her. Never.
Annabelle shivered. “I’m not going to be a waitress again.”
Meg didn’t say anything. “Let’s go eat dinner. We’ll worry about this tomorrow.”
“There’s still Zach.” Ruby said.
She wondered if Meg wanted to marry the good-looking sheriff. He wasn’t bad on the eyes, and she’d appeared to enjoy kissing him the other night when they’d peeked out the window at them.
“The deadline is tomorrow,” Meg said.
***
Meg went to the bank and paid the balloon payment. The expression on the banker’s face as she counted out the bills and asked for a receipt was one she would treasure. The old buzzard had been expecting to repossess and instead she’d paid him for the year.
They had one year to collect enough money for the next balloon payment. One year, no jobs, and no income. She didn’t have to marry Zach, she had some time now, but part of her didn’t want to let him go. She wanted to marry Zach.
Annabelle and Ruby were at the general store buying supplies and stocking up on food items. They would have enough to get them through the summer, and then they had twelve months to earn the money for the next balloon payment. Twelve months.
They were three women in a small town, in desperate need of a way to make a living.
Meg had to know Zach’s decision. She had to know if he would marry her and become a partner on the farm.
Walking down the wooden sidewalk, her boots made a clunking noise as she strode towards Zach. Outside the sheriff’s office, she noticed the wanted posters up on the wall. Wanted for stealing—fifty dollar reward. Wanted for murder—five hundred dollar reward. Wanted for robbery—two hundred dollar reward. No wonder Papa had been a bounty hunter.
She opened the door and walked into the sheriff’s. One of the deputies sat behind the desk. He glanced up at her and smiled a knowing smirk that left her uneasy.
“Where’s Sheriff Zach?”
“He’s down at the bath house. Don’t know why he likes to bathe so often. Heard he planned on doing some courtin’ tonight. Heard your name mentioned. Also heard him mention the saloon.”
Meg frowned. He mentioned the saloon? If he were going to marry her, he wouldn’t be going to the saloon.
“Thanks, tell him I came by,” she said and walked out the door.
He was at the bathhouse. Maybe she should go back to the house and just wait for him, or find someplace and sit and rest a spell while he finished. No, she needed an answer. She needed one now. No decisions about what to do could be made until after she’d talked to Zach.
The sun was dipping below the horizon; the small town was shutting down, and the saloons were beginning to wake from their day of slumber. Meg wanted to get home before the rowdies came out to play.
Annabelle and Ruby drove up in the buggy and pulled alongside her as she sat on her horse.
“Did you talk to Zach,” Ruby asked.
“No, I haven’t found him yet.” Never would she mention to her sisters that he was at the bathhouse, and she intended to go find him. They would never understand her need to know his answer now.
Annabelle gazed at Meg a frown on her face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Nervous, but fine.”
“We’re going home so we can get everything unloaded and put away before dark,” Annabelle said, nodding her head.
“Okay, I’ll
meet you at the farm.”
“Good luck. See you at home,” Ruby called as Annabelle clicked the reins of the horse, and the buggy pulled away.
What should she do? Wait here in the street for Zach or go to the bathhouse? She was tired; she was ready to go home, and she needed her answer now.
With a flick of the reins, her horse trotted down the street to the bathhouse. When she arrived at the establishment, she swung her leg over her horse and dropped to the ground. She tied the reins to the hitching post and took a deep steadying breath. Going into the all-male establishment would not be easy.
By now the street was cloaked in a dusty shade of orange as the last rays of the sun shone before it sank beneath the horizon. Good, decent folks were starting to go inside, and soon the street would be filled with music from the saloons. Men would be carousing the streets, drinking and gambling. She would talk to Zach and then get home.
Meg walked to the door and went inside. A man met her at the door. “We don’t allow women.”
“I know,” she said impatiently. “I’m looking for the sheriff.”
“He’s in the back and you can’t go in there.”
“The hell I can’t.” She began to walk to the area he’d pointed to.
After only a few steps, she heard the laughter.
“Those pants she wears fit her real nice.”
“Yeah, her ass looks sweet and tempting.”
“I don’t want any sage hen who can out shoot me and doesn’t dress like a woman.”
Heat flooded her face as embarrassment gripped her. She felt like her chest was ripped open, leaving her vulnerable. They were serving her up, talking about her. They were making fun of her because she dressed like a man. Pain spiraled through her; tears welled up and threatened to spill. How could they be so unfair?
She wanted to wear a dress, she wanted to look and act like a woman. She dreamed of owning a dress shop, but right now she had no choice in her outfits. She didn’t even own a dress that fit her any longer. She’d given her last dress to her sisters and taken to wearing Papa’s pants. She longed to design a pattern and stitch a dress, but there was no money for the cloth.
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