Sunny's Safe Haven (The Red Petticoat Saloon)

by Vanessa Brooks

  Lawrence Black clapped Tey on the shoulder before turning away into the night.

  Chapter Nine

  Early the following morning, Tey waited in the livery as arranged and watched as Kelly and Luke ambled up the street toward him. Kelly punched Luke on the arm and Luke grabbed Kelly in a head lock, knocking the lad’s hat askew. Tey heaved a long suffering sigh, these two were no more than a pair of over grown puppies, not quite what he needed for the job, but they would have to do for the time being.

  “It’s five after six,” he said as they arrived, “Ah said six.”

  “Aw, c’mon!” Kelly back talked.

  Tey levelled a glare at him. “This is no game. This is a job of work, dangerous work for which I’m paying good money. If’n you don’t want the job, jus’ say so now, boy.”

  Both youngsters’ faces fell, then Kelly nodded vigorously in agreement, when Luke adamantly assured Tey that they did want the work. Tey knew that he’d spoken harshly, but they needed to understand that this was no picnic they were going on. This job was likely to be dangerous.

  “All right then, here’s what I want you to do. Ride up to the Merit Mine and report to Mr. Tressaire, the foreman. Follow his instructions to the letter an’ when you get back into town, look me up either at the boarding house, or the Red Petticoat.”

  “That’s it?” Luke questioned.

  “Yup, I’ll pay you if you return, and after each job you do for me, again if you return.”

  They both stood there silently in front of him, the seriousness of the situation seemed to have finally sunk in. For a moment or two, the pair still stood unmoving. Tey shook his head; he despaired for them. “Vamoose!” he ordered, stony faced. Startled, they loped into the livery to fetch their horses. Tey watched them leave with narrowed eyes. He hoped they wouldn’t go getting their foolish selves killed.

  Next he headed over to the bank. He’d put off the task long enough. When he spoke to the clerk, thankfully not Stephanie’s father, he asked for Rupert Stowe, the bank manager, and not Kendrick. He was shown into the office and shook the manager’s plump hand.

  “So, Mr. Tey, what can we do for you?”

  “Well, sir, the Merit Mine has been suffering hijacks of their gold before they can safely get it down to you. I want to deposit small amounts of gold at odd unscheduled times of day so that there is no regular pattern to the gold shipment. I want your assurance that we will be able to deposit the gold in your vault whatever time of day that might be.”

  Mr. Stowe pursed his lips and steepled his hands upon the desk. He appeared to be thinking. Tey sat back and lifted his foot so that his ankle rested on his opposite knee and waited.

  “I can see why you would want to plan such a thing but it inconveniences the bank and could set a precedent. My answer, therefore, has to be no.”

  Tey was unsurprised, he had expected as much. “I can supply security and Sheriff Justice has assured me he will be on hand for every deposit made. The mayor has sanctioned the plan and so the only broken spoke in the wheel seems to be you, sir. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the bank suffer a couple of robberies a few weeks back? The sheriff an’ his deputies put their lives on the line for you and this bank. Don’t you think it might be time for you to put yourself out?”

  Rupert Stowe puffed up like a toad and harrumphed. “Now see here, young man, this bank is an institution of integrity. We operate within business hours with the highest regard for our customers and with a respectful honesty. What you are suggesting is outside our current procedures for the handling of gold. We have a strict protocol that is adhered to, thus ensuring the protection of both our customers’ assets and our staff’s safety. What you suggest is not a simple case of unlock the bank and shove in the gold.”

  “I understand that, Mr. Stowe, nevertheless, I ask that you work out a procedure that would enable the deposits of gold to made outside normal bank hours. I am going from here to the jailhouse to apprise Jeb Justice of your reaction. Expect a visit from him and the mayor at some point today. Good day to you, sir.” Tey unfolded himself from the chair and placed his hat on his head. He left the office with Rupert Stowe muttering and mopping his brow with his handkerchief.

  Next stop along the street was the mercantile, where Tey purchased three new shirts. He intended to throw out two of his worn shirts and keep the best of the old shirts for working. It was a strategy he employed every couple of years or so when he was in funds. True, his shirts could have lasted another couple of months before he enacted any change, but since his talk with the pastor on the previous evening, he was determined to do whatever it took to turn Stephanie away from her plan to wear a red petticoat, and if that meant dandifying himself up a bit, then so be it.

  He wandered over to the jail house and found Jeb pouring coffee. “I think you must smell it brewing,” he said, waving the pot at him as Tey stepped in.

  “Yup, jus’ like you I have nothing better to do than drink coffee all morning, Sheriff,” he responded with a grin.

  “Get in here, an’ fill me in, you damn gunslinger!” Jeb barked good naturedly.

  ***

  Meanwhile, Stephanie had been thoroughly, embarrassingly examined by Doc Norwood, who pronounced her fit to resume normal life. Her flux had diminished and was almost nonexistent now. She felt physically strong again. Internally, it was a different matter; she was bewildered by her own confusingly conflicted emotions. She pondered on the contrast between Tey’s spanking and Gabe’s. She had been furious with Tey after he had spanked her, but after Gabe had punished her, she had realized that Tey had gone easy on her. Either that or she had felt her punishment from Gabe more keenly because Tey had warmed her bottom shortly before.

  Then there was the difference with her reaction to each man to ponder. When she thought about the two spankings, she shuddered with embarrassment at both but inexplicably she found herself quivering with delicious tingles at the memory of lying over Tey’s sturdy thigh. She contemplated how life might be as his wife. Displeasing or disobeying him would perhaps lead to a spanking, but Stephanie had an overwhelming sense of his kindly nature and felt certain he would make a wonderfully fair minded husband. She thrilled at the idea of being Tey’s wife, of being loved by him, held close against his hard body as he thrust into her as Kelly had done. With Tey she was sure it would be different, he’d take her in their marriage bed for a start. Her thoughts drifted back to the spanking he had dealt her. To live as his wife and occasionally be reprimanded and spanked by him excited her, but why did the thought thrill her so? Stephanie had no idea but she was stimulated by her simple day dream of life as Mrs. Tey.

  Gabe’s punishment had been embarrassing but also shaming. She had let her employer down, and Stephanie felt ashamed that he had to resort to chastising her in that humiliating way. No nice feelings or tingles accompanied the memory, only shame and a determination not to break the house rules remained.

  On the one hand, all she could think about was Tey and his peculiar proposal to court her but, on the other, she knew she was more than just a fallen woman, she was a woman who had grown a man’s child in her belly and marriage to another could never be. She’d attended enough fire and brimstone sermons during her life to know the fact of the matter, and it was cut and dried. Add into that conflict her nervousness at wearing a pink petticoat, and the result was a new gem in a highly strung state.

  Charlie was being very patient with her, but today she had two left feet and was as clumsy as a bull in the mercantile shop. Over and over they practiced the Can-can routine until Charlie called it a day and sent her off to take a rest.

  Silver sidled over to her husband from where she’d been surreptitiously watching while she helped polish tables.

  “Why don’t you have a couple of other gems work the steps with her? Sunny is a shy little thing and she needs their support,” she suggested. Charlie nodded his head approvingly. “You know that is a darned good idea, Emilie. I’ll ask the girls who would
like to join in with the practice sessions. The sheet states three to five dancers are best for an impact with this dance but I didn’t want to leave the bar floor unattended.”

  “Opal’s real confident and she can dance a bit, as can Dottie, why not try them with Sunny? We can always dim the gas lights, while you put on your show, so the men will concentrate on the dancing and not demand so many drinks.”

  Charlie looked thoughtful. “You know you’re right. Could you ask Ruby if Jeb or Crawford could be here just for the first show night, to keep the peace if all hell breaks out amongst the punters?”

  “Sure, I’ll ask.”

  “Thanks, darlin’.”

  “You’re welcome. D’you want me to fetch Opal an’ Dottie, so you can talk to them about it?”

  “Yeah, go ahead, why not?”

  So it was the three girls practiced spinning, kicking and shaking a leg until they could do the Can-can in complete unison. Stephanie was so much happier dancing in the center of the other two girls and they benefited from her natural dancing instincts. The day came when Charlie decreed they were ready for a dress rehearsal. So, prettily attired in their matching red sparkle tops and flounced skirts, the three young women took center stage. With arms about one another’s waists they were ready to perform in front of the other gems, Nettie, Madam Jewel and Gabe. Hidden at the back, unknown to Stephanie, was Tey, seated at a table with an off duty Jeb with Ruby cuddled upon his knee.

  The audience clapped as Charlie began the opening line of the gaily, rapid Can-can music. The three girls picked up their ruffled skirts and began to dance. One arm held high over their heads, they kicked and waved their garter stockinged legs at the audience and swirled about the stage with speed and precision. When they turned around and threw their skirts up over their backs, wriggling their pretty pantaloon clad bottoms, the small in-house audience gasped and shrieked with glee. Gabe and the other men stamped their boots in appreciation.

  The girls danced off into a line, arms gripping one another's waists, then they high kicked their right legs, before bending them at their knees as they pointed their toes to the floor and waggled their legs in unison. The finale came when Stephanie leapt forward into full splits. Her arms stretched full length over her bowed head on the floor. The two girls either side of her, swung around and threw up their petticoats, thrusting out and wagging their saucy rear ends. The crowd erupted leaped to their feet with loud applause and whistles. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the girls were going to be, quite literally, a howling success with the patrons.

  Tey grinned from ear to ear, man could his girl dance. He felt proud of Stephanie, yet an uneasy trickle of fear crept down his spine when he thought about all the men who would be there to ogle her. His one consolation was that she was part of a troupe and, since it was a show, the men watching wouldn’t be able to touch her.

  Tey wanted to be there every time Stephanie performed, but he realized that wouldn’t be practical. He was here to do a job and he knew there would be times he might have to rely on Gabe and John to keep an eye on Stephanie. He shifted uncomfortably at the thought. The sooner he married her better. Whoa, where had that come from… he was actually serious about marriage then? He waited for negativity to flood his thoughts but when that didn’t happen, he realized that he was in complete earnest. He wanted to marry Stephanie Kendrick, to take care of her and give her children.

  This security job with the mine was an indefinite thing, he might be in Culpepper for months or years and when that job ended, well, he could always become a deputy. The sheriff had assured him he’d always have work in Culpepper for a skilled gunman like himself and he had never been without work after all. He had a healthy bank balance, his prowess with a gun had paved his way nicely. So much so that he had enough money saved for a small plot of land, where he could build a house and raise a family. The more he thought about it, the more Tey liked the idea. He was done moving from place to place. It was time he settled and put down roots. All he had to do was convince Stephanie that her future lay in his bed and not working as a dancing girl in the Red Petticoat saloon.

  Stephanie was exhilarated. For the first time in her young life, she felt inordinately proud of herself. She was amazed by the praise heaped upon her by the other gems and Madam Jewel. It felt wonderful to belong to the happy troupe of gems and she had proved that she could earn her own living and become one of them. Her only doubts about wearing a red petticoat came in the dead of night, when she lay alone and wakeful in her bed, contemplating rutting with one of the coarse miners that she witnessed spitting brown stained phlegm into the saloon spittoon, night after night. Their dirty beards and teeth turned dark from the same tobacco and long neglect. She worried that she didn’t have what it took to be a red petticoated gem.

  She listened to Opal and Dottie talking about their love of cock; their fully detailed explanations of what they did with these men made her shudder. Her one and only experience was of painful thrusting, whilst flattened against the wooden wall of Albert Thurgood’s undertakers and that experience left her feeling cold and terrified of repeating the experience. She spoke to no one about her fears about going upstairs with the men. So, her relief at finding herself fully capable of dancing the Can-can was enormous.

  She moved about with far more confidence and self-assurance than ever before, feeling contented in her new life, one which gave her the mutual support that she imagined being within a loving family would. She was hidden away from her previous contact with the townspeople of Culpepper Cove, she felt safe and protected within the walls of the Red Petticoat.

  Chapter Ten

  Tey had shown the sheriff the pimp stub that he’d found. Jeb had pondered on who the smoker of store bought cigarettes might be. He pointed out that many women bought them around Christmas time as gifts for their men folk and interestingly he had seen Rupert Stowe, the bank manager, buying packets occasionally. He had promised Tey he would follow up on that and talk to Sam Singleton, who owned the mercantile, to see if any more had been sold recently. Tey decided to visit the jail and check to see if there were any leads.

  When he arrived, he found Rupert Stowe standing talking with Jeb Justice about the gold shipments from the Merit Mine.

  “Howdy, Tey. Mr. Stowe has suggested that we keep any afterhours gold shipments here locked in a jail cell and guarded till morning when the bank opens for business. I think it’s a darn good suggestion. What d’you say?”

  Tey inclined his head thoughtfully. “Yup, works for me, so long as we can stand guard alongside the deputies.”

  “Deputies and the Sheriff… I’m not taking any chances, Tey.”

  Tey nodded. “All right, we tell no one the plan. It’s to be between the three of us, until I bring in a shipment and we need the deputies.”

  “The deputies don’t need to know what they’re guarding. I’ll jus’ tell em they’re workin’ late that night,” Jeb agreed.

  “That’s settled then. I shall inform Kendrick,” Stowe said as he turned to leave.

  “No!” Tey barked.

  “Hell no, Stowe, nobody but us three, not Kendrick, not anyone, got it?” the sheriff stated firmly.

  The bank manager scowled grumpily but nodded his head tersely in acceptance. He pulled his round topped hat on and left without so much as a good-day.

  “I have strong misgivings about that son-of-a-bitch,” Tey muttered.

  “Old Stowe’s all right. We’ve had a lot of outlaw problems, bank robberies and so on, he’s jus’ tired of living with fear, he’s scared. I got a pimp off him but he smokes brown cheroots not white.”

  “Not him I guess, shame, I dislike the man.” Tey narrowed his eyes as he watched Stowe cross the street.

  Jeb nodded. “I know, but he’s an honest man, I’m sure of it. When are those two lads due back from the mine?”

  Tey shrugged. “Soon. Any day, I guess. I bid you good day, Sheriff.”

  “Tey.” Jeb nodded at Tey as he left th
e jail house and walked out into the street where he stepped slap bang into Pastor Black.

  “Jus’ the man I hoped to see!” boomed Black, “There’s a church picnic come Sunday, Tey and I thought you could bring along your little gal. My Callie will be there an’ the sheriff an’ his wife, so bring your gal along, introduce her some. Stephanie used to come to services, but she stopped coming a while back.”

  Tey looked thoughtful. “Y’know, I jus’ might at that, thanks Pastor.”

  “The name’s Lawrence. Good, I’ll see you both in church at ten then.” He strode off leaving Tey with his jaw hanging open. Church?

  Stephanie blushed when she saw Tey weaving his way between tables, coming over toward her. It was the first time she’d seen him since he’d smacked her butt and she had no idea what to say to him. She had thrown him out of her room in a fit of temper and yet here he was with a great big grin plastered on his handsome face, stalking toward her as though they were still the best of friends.

  “Hey there darlin,’ d’you know how proud I was when I saw how good you could dance?” he said when he arrived in front of her. He swept off his dark hat, bent his head and buzzed her cheek with his lips. “There’s a picnic after church on Sunday. I’d like to take you, so I’ll be around about nine forty-five to take you to church and onto the picnic after.”

  Stephanie was horrified. “No, no, no, I can’t possibly go to church, y’know that!”

  Tey’s eyes narrowed. “We’ve been invited special like by the pastor and we’re goin’. You are my girl now, Stephanie Kendrick, an’ let me tell you that you have nothing to be ashamed of. I ain’t letting you hide, Stephanie. Say, did you know the pastor’s wife had been a gem here? An’ a red petticoat gem at that. We’re goin’ Sunday darlin,’ make no mistake.”

  Stephanie glowered up at him crossly. “I told you I can’t. And stop calling me your girl. I can’t be anyone’s girl, y’know that too!”