Dakota Trail

by David R Lewis

  “Goddammit!” he hollerd. “Stay offa my heels. I’ll learn you to pay attention. I swear to Christ I will!”

  He grabbed her by the front a that robe an’ pulled her to her feet. He was just fixin’ to smack her when I got to him. Lookin’ down the wrong end a my Remington’s barrel seemed to git his attention.

  “Mister,” I said, “you slap that young woman, an’ I’ll shoot ya in one a yer knees. You ready to make that kinda deal, are ya?”

  He hesitated a little bit then let go of the girl. I stepped between ‘em an’ holstered my hand gun.

  “This ain’t none a yer bidness,” he said. “I spent good money on this little bitch, and I’ll do with her what I please!”

  “Oh,” I said. “She belongs to ya, does she?”

  “Bought and paid for, gawdammit!”

  That’s when I smacked him on the nose. I couldn’t help it. He fell to a set on the boardwalk an’ blood come to runnin’ down his chin.

  “Folks doan own people in this country no more, sir,” I said, “an’ you damn shore doan own this girl.”

  Marion spoke up. “Slavery is over, bub,” he said. “Unless you wanna spend a few years with a sledge hammer, makin’ little rocks outa big’uns, you git yer ass outa here.”

  “She’s my property, gawdammit!” that fella kindly roared, wipin’ at the blood with his sleeve. “I paid over four hundred dollars for her!”

  “I got this,” Homer said, an’ offered that fella a hand up. He took it an’ let Homer help git him to his feet.

  The minute Homer got him standin’ up he grabbed that ol’ boy by the throat an’ the crotch an’ throwed him off the boardwalk backwards an’ onto the hitch rail. That fella come on the rail, then kindly bounced forward an’ smacked the front a his head agin the edge a the boardwalk. He went face down to the dirt an’ laid there, makin’ little noises that sounded something like a cat cryin’.

  The girl had seen everthin’ an’ was lookin’ at all of us with big eyes. Homer took off his hat, smiled at her, an’ spoke up.

  “Knee-how-ma?”

  I didn’t have no idea what he said to her, but she did.

  “Wa-Hen-How,” she said an’ kindly bowed at him a little bit.

  Then Homer said somethin’ kindly like nee-way shoe-yo eng-ee ma? That girl smiled at him then.

  “Oh very yes,” she said. “I speak Eng-rish much. I no longer belong to Mista Craig?”

  Homer shook his head.

  “Not any more.”

  “I belong to you, then?”

  “You doan belong to nobody but yourself, girl,” Homer tolt her. “What’s your name?”

  “My name Lien hua,” she said.

  “What’s that mean in English?” he asked.

  That girl lowered her eyes.

  “It mean Lotus Flower,” she said.

  “Lovely an’ strong,” Homer said. “I speck that fit you right well, Lien hua.”

  She smiled at him.

  “What you name?”

  “Homer,” he tolt her.

  “Ho-ma,” she said. “What mean Ho-ma?”

  Homer grinned.

  “Good eyesight,” he said turnin’ to Marshal Daniels. “This here,” Homer went on, “is Marion.”

  “Ma-re-on,” she said. “What mean?”

  “Strong and kind,” Homer tolt her, an’ turned to me. “And this here is Ruben.”

  “What mean Roo-bin?”

  “Young an’ purty,” Homer said. She giggled an’ I kindly felt my ears git a little warm.

  “The man who own me, Mista Craig, he not own me now?”

  “Nobody owns you, girl,” Marion said.

  She looked some concerned.

  “Where I stay? How I eat?”

  I spoke up then.

  “Miss Lotus,” I said, “we’ll find you a place to stay an’ git food for ya. Doan you worry about any a that. You’re free now, an’ we’ll make sure you git the care an’ help ya need.”

  “What about night?” she asked. “Which one of you do I stay with this night?”

  Lord. I was some took aback by that question. Marion saved me.

  “You are your own person,” he said. “Nobody is gonna take advantage of ya. That’s over. How old are ya?”

  “I am of ten and two years, Ma-re-on,” she said.

  “Only twelve,” Marion kindly muttered. “Your life is fixin’ to change quite a bit, young lady. We’ll git you a place to sleep in our roomin’ house an’ feed ya until we can git this straightened out. Doan worry about nothin’.

  “I could stay with Roo-bin,” she said.

  Lord. I bet my ears was as red as a sunset.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Miss Lotus walked behind us on the way back to the roomin’ house. She was a tiny little thing, not much more than five feet tall, I speck. Me an’ Homer took a set in them rockin’ chairs, an’ Marion went in the house. She stood over by the side a where we was, her hands stuck up inside the arms of that robe-like thing she was wearin’.

  “Miss Lotus,” I said, “why doan you take a set? They ain’t no reason for you to stay on yer feet.”

  She kindly nodded at me then, an’ set down in one a them rockin’ chairs. It leaned back when she got in it an’ her legs flew up some. She give a little squeak an’ kindly jumped back to her feet. I grinned at her.

  “It’s alright,” I said. “That chair is supposed to rock back an’ forth like that. They call ‘em rockin’ chairs.”

  She eased back into it an’ come to leanin’ back an’ forth some so the chair would move just a little bit. She was smilin’.

  “There ya go,” I said, an’ watched her come to her confidence some until she was grinnin’ real big an’ that chair was whippin’ back an’ forth like they was a windstorm. Homer got a kick out of it an’ spoke up.

  “You never set in no rockin’ chair afore now, Lien hua?”

  “I have not,” she said. “In my crib only floor, one stool, an’ branket. No rocky chair.”

  “You didn’t have a bed a no kind?” Homer asked.

  “Only bed is for Mista Craig. I there most night for small time, but not to sleep.”

  “How long had you been with him,” Homer asked.

  “I not know,” she said. “Maybe month or two. He say he sell me some day.”

  Homer looked out over the street for a spell. I could see he was grittin’ his teeth fair smart.

  Marion come back out in a minute or two with Mister Rafferty behind him, carryin’ a tray with three cups a coffee an’ a cup a tea. He handed that cup a tea to Lotus. She smiled at him an’ spoke up, sayin’ somethin’ like “ay chong gan shay-uh.” She follerd that with “thank you very much.”

  That set Mister Rafferty to smilin’ at her quite a bit.

  “Yer just as welcome as you can be, young lady,” he said.

  “I have told Mister Rafferty about your situation, Miss Lotus,” Marion said. “He has offered you a small room with a bed and such and will pay you half a dollar a day and feed you breakfast and supper for work fixin’ up the rooms an’ such for two or three hours ever mornin’.”

  Her eyebrows went up.

  “This truth, Ma-re-on?” she asked

  “It is,” Marion tolt her, smilin’ some.

  “I do it,” Lotus said, turnin’ to Mister Rafferty. “I work hard, oh very yes. I not eat too much.”

  Mister Rafferty grinned.

  “I reckon you got yourself a job a work then, Miss Lotus,” he tolt her. “An’ you can eat as much as you care to. It’s gittin’ dark. Come with me, an’ I’ll show ya where ya sleep. We’ll git to everthin’ else tomorra.”

  The two of ‘em went off into the house then. Me an’ Homer an’ Marion kindly just set a spell, smilin’ an’ such. Purty soon Marion spoke up.

  “Homer Poteet,” he said. “You speak Chinee do ya?”

  “You heer’d me didn’t ya?” Homer said.

  “You git over to China some time?”


  “You outa know me better than that,” Homer said. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere I cain’t git to on horseback or a train.”

  “Then how in the hell did you know what Lotus was sayin’?” Marion went on.

  “Several years ago when I was still over in Gasconade, a feller come to town in a wagon with four little Chinee girls, an’ went to tryin’ to sell ‘em off for about three or four hunnerd dollars each. None of ‘em looked to me to be over eight or nine years old, an’ only one of ‘em spoke any English. I kicked that ol’ boy’s ass an’ run him outa town. I kept them girls in unlocked jail cells for a couple weeks ‘til I could find somebody to take ‘em off my hands. The Methodist minister, a feller by the name a Blanchard, an’ his wife took ‘em to his congregation, an’ them folks in his church stepped up an’ adopted them girls like, seein’ to they schoolin’ an’ such. It was a fine thing they done. When it was just me an’ them girls in the jailhouse an’ they come to git some used to me, they all set about teachin’ me Chinee. They thought it was some amusin’, tryin’ to learn me they language. I doan remember much of it, but there was enough left for Miss Lotus I reckon.”

  “I’ll be dammed,” Marion said.

  “That surprise ya, does it Daniels?” Homer asked him.

  “Kindly does,” Marion admitted.

  Homer shook his head an’ stood up.

  “All the years that you an’ me has knowed each other, an’ you still ain’t come to understand the fact that I am probably the most capable man on the durn globe.”

  “That upset ya, does it Homer?” Marion asked him.

  “Hurts my feelins quite a bit,” Homer said, pickin’ up his empty coffee cup. “I’m goin’ to the house.”

  He stomped off then an’ left Marion grinnin’ an’ shakin’ his head.

  I was up a little afore dawn the next mornin’ with kindly a plan bouncin’ around in my head. When I got back from the privy, I took a set on the front porch to watch the town wake up an’ enjoy the cool breeze that was comin’ outa the northwest. I was settin’ there, tryin’ to stay full awake, when Miss Lotus come out with a cup a coffee for me. I stood up.

  “Best morning, Roo-bin,” she said, sorta bowin’ to me an’ handin’ me that cup.

  “Best mornin’ ta you, Miss Lotus,” I tolt her. “I thought the sunrise was the purtiest thing I’d see all day ‘til you come out. I guess the sun may as well just give up now that you’re here. Have a good sleep, did ya?”

  “Very yes,” she said. “Are Ho-ma and Ma-re-on awake yet?”

  “If they ain’t, they soon will be.”

  “You are all fine men,” she said. “You have given me a new life. Forever I shall regard all of you most highly.”

  “Mister Rafferty treatin’ ya good, is he?”

  “He make me breakfast this morning. He call it flap jack. Even tea instead of coffee. I respect him very much.”

  It was about then that Marion come out an’ took a set. She wished him a best mornin’, then scurried away to git him some coffee.

  Marion spoke up.

  “It is worth this whole damn trip just to see that girl feelin’ happy,” he said.

  “That’s the truth,” I tolt him. “You an’ Homer is on yer own for a spell. I got some things ta do a little later.”

  Marion smiled at me.

  “You on the Lotus trail, are ya?”

  “Little bit,” I said, pourin’ about half that cup a coffee down my neck.

  “Good for ya, Pard,” Marion said.

  Homer come out in a minute or two, just as I finished my coffee. I looked at him an’ Marion.

  “Why doan I meet you boys for dinner over at Jenson’s Café for some a that ground beef steak late mornin?” I said.

  “You runnin’ off, are ya?” Homer asked me.

  “For a spell,” I said. I set my empty cup on the rail an’ headed off on foot down them steps.

  “Ol’ Ruben,” Marion said.

  I never did see that horse drawed-train car. It took me a while to walk all the way over to Jenson’s Café for a bite ta eat. Miss Lucy was there, hustlin’ around a room near full a customers. She seemed some glad to see me, an’ was surprised when I ordered biscuits an’ gravy instead a that ground beefsteak. I tolt her I’d be back for dinner with my pards, an’ that seemed to satisfy her quite a bit. I kilt some time at Jenson’s then headed out to see Miz Darlene over at that Nora’s Notions for Ladies store.

  They was several women in the place when I got there that was well-dressed an’ some toney. I kindly felt like I was a mule at a horse show. Purty soon, this older lady come up to me to see if she could help me with anything. She kindly limped some. I asked her if Miz Darlene was available. She studied on me for a minute an’ spoke up.

  “I’ll just bet you are a federal marshal and your name is Ruben,” she said, smilin’ some.

  That tickled me an’ I grinned.

  “You’d be right,” I tolt her.

  “Your reputation proceeds you, Ruben. I’m Nora. Darlene is with a customer right now. Could I interest you in a cup of our coffee? I hear you care for it quite a bit.”

  “M’am,” I said, “a cup a your coffee would be the best thing to happen to me since the first time I was here.”

  “Darlene has spoken highly of you, Marshal. If you’ll take a seat at the little table behind the counter, I will join you with some coffee momentarily.”

  I had two cups a that terrible good coffee over the next hour or so, explainin’ to Miz Nora an’ Miz Darlene what had happened with Miss Lotus an’ all, includin’ how we come to find her an’ the fact that she hadden been nothin’ more than a plaything an’ a prisoner, an’ what mister Rafferty was doin’ to help her out and such. Both them ladies went from feelin’ sorry to gittin’ upset about what Lotus had been through, an’ come to praise me an’ Marion an’ Homer for what we had done an’ what we was tryin’ ta do.

  “I don’t get by here for more than an hour or two twice a day,” Miz Nora said. “I have the arthritis and can’t stay on my feet as much as I used to. That puts a lot more weight on Darlene’s shoulders. It could be that we might need some help straightening things up in the afternoons four or five days a week. You think she would be a good worker?”

  “M’am, Miss Lotus has been so terrible used, an’ is so grateful for the little bit that we have did for her, that I believe she would work her heart out for just some consideration an’ a little kindness. Plus, she speaks English right smart.”

  “She might be just what we need around here,” Miz Nora said. “Could you bring her by this afternoon?”

  “I could an’ I will, M’am,” I said. “She ain’t got nothin’ to wear but the Chinee clothes she had on when we found her, I’m afraid.”

  Miz Nora smiled.

  “Look around, Marshal,” she said. “Clothing will not be a problem. We could pay her twenty-five cents an hour for three or four hours a day. If everything works out well, it would please me to give her ten cents more per hour.”

  “Ladies,” I said, “this girl ain’t knowed much kindness in her life, yet she’s got a sweet smile an’ what seems like a fine spirit. I’ll bring her by around three o’clock this afternoon if that’s alright with you.”

  “Three o’clock or thereabouts would be fine,” Miz Nora said. “I am going home in a few minutes and will return in time to meet the young woman.”

  I thanked both a them ladies an’ started to leave. Miz Darlene follerd me to the door an’ give me a little hug an’ a pat on my cheek.

  “What you men have done and are doing for that poor girl is wonderful, Ruben,” she said. “God bless all of you.”

  I went out on the boardwalk then, thinkin’ about what she said. It brung a tear to my eye, is what it done.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  By the time I walked back to Jenson’s Café, it was gittin’ on toward dinnertime. I went in an’ took a set. Miss Lucy seen me right off an’ hustled over, smilin’ real big. I tolt her I
was waitin’ on my friends an’ asked for just a cup a coffee. When the young fella brung it to me, he was totin’ a little plate with a couple a sugar cookies on it. He set it all down, tolt me it was on the house, an’ went off. I looked around, spotted Miss Lucy, an’ brimmed my hat at her. She noticed an’ throwed me a little salute afore she commenced to helpin’ a family that was settin’ at a table near the door. It was then I seen Sheriff Forest Hickman come in the place. He caught my eye and come over. I toed a chair back for him, an’ he took a set.

  “The coffee is on me,” I said, an’ caught Miss Lucy’s eye. I helt up one finger an’ she give me a nod.

  “Heered it mighta been you boys that got into a little fracas yesterday evenin’.”

  “Mighta been,” I said. “What makes you think it was us?”

  “The heavy-set feller with the complaint, a ol’ boy by the name a Craig, had a bandage on his forehead an’ was walkin’ kinda bent over a little bit. Claimed there was three of ya, an’ one was young an’ one a the other two was real tall. Said them three fellers attacked him an’ beat him up. That bandage on his forehead was showin’ a little blood seep, an’ he was walkin’ with a purty fair hitch in his git-along.”

  “He’s a damn liar,” I said. “Only two of us attacked him. I punched him on the nose an’ Homer throwed him off the boardwalk backwards. He hit the hitch rail an’ that kindly knocked him forward. That’s when he went down an’ smacked his head on the edge a the boardwalk. All that happened after I threatened ta shoot him.”

  Forest smiled a little bit.

  “So it was only two a you three that attacked an’ beat up a totally innocent man.”

  “Nope,” I said, holdin’ onto my grin. “That fella is prob’ly a mess a things, but innocent ain’t one a them. He had a young Chinee girl follerin’ behind him, an’ she musta stepped on his heel or somethin’, ‘cause he hollered at her an’ throwed her down on her back, right smart. She hit the boardwalk some hard.”