They stripped Chet of his coat. He wore an ingenious holster, invisible from the front, that held a small pistol. Zac took the pistol. It held just two bullets, but that was enough to kill two men.
And ruin Zac's business.
"Give him his chips, boys," Zac said, tossing Chet his coat, "and help him to the front door."
"They're all on the floor," one of the gamblers said. "How're we going to make out who gets how much?"
Zac glanced down at the floor and a broad grin spread slowly over his face. "Now look what you've done," he said to Chet. "You've mixed everything up so nobody can tell what belongs to whom. Divide the chips equally, boys."
"Most of that's my money!" Chet Lee roared.
"I know, but no one knows how much," Zac said, his voice deceptively pleasant. "The only thing I can see to do is divide the chips among all the players except me. I already lost mine."
Chet struggled to break loose, but he was no match for the two bouncers.
"Escort him outside, boys," Zac said. "I'll get one of the cashiers to take his money to him."
Zac turned his back on Chet Lee and walked away.
"I'll kill you for this!" Chet roared. "You've cheated me for the last time."
As he was dragged away, he continued to call Zac by every filthy name he could think of while promising to kill him.
"I can't take that money," one of the gamblers said. "I didn't have more than a hundred left."
"Keep it. Give it to charity or light your cigars with it," Zac said, no longer interested.
"What are you going to do about Chet?" one of the men asked.
"Forget him as quickly as possible."
"But he said he was going to kill you."
"Lots of men get drunk and make threats. Then they sober up and forget all about it. Chet's been threatening to kill me ever since Virginia City."
"What happened there?"
"I won his shares in a gold mine. They turned out to be worth about a million dollars."
"Damnation! I'd want to kill you myself," one man said.
"He'd just won them off some poor fool with a wife and seven kids. I gave them back."
"You gave them back!" several stunned men said almost in unison.
"Well, some of them," Zac said, grinning despite his irritation at a situation which could have been quite dangerous. "It doesn't pay to be too greedy."
* * * * *
Bella Holt was standing on the steps, her hands on her hips, a forbidding scowl on her face, as Lily came up the sidewalk. Lily turned to the three men who had accompanied her from work to the rooming house.
"I'm certain I would have been perfectly safe walking by myself," she said, "but it was most kind of you to see me home."
"No trouble."
"Glad to do it."
"I'll be delighted to see you home every day."
"Go on about your business," Bella ordered as she came half way down the steps.
"They were only trying to help," Lily said, as she started to climb the twenty steps from the street.
"I know what they were trying to do," Bella said, "and I'll not have them doing it around here."
Lily waved to the men before going inside. They waved back, not one of them moving as long as she was in sight.
"You can't be walking the streets trailing men like ribbons from a hat. People will talk. No telling what Mrs. Thoragood will say."
"I only let them accompany me because you said it was unsafe for a woman to walk the streets alone. Zac said the same, so I figured it must be true. I didn't think it would be a good idea for me to be seen walking home with just one man."
"Quite right," Bella said.
"So I let all three accompany me," Lily said, quite pleased with her foresight. "That way nobody can accuse me to behaving imprudently with anyone."
Bella groaned. "My dear, three men are not better than one."
"I don't see why not."
"No men are better than one or three or a dozen."
"I'd never let a dozen escort me home," Lily said. "There wouldn't be room for them on the sidewalk."
* * * * *
Zac had just won his third big pot of the evening when Lily walked into the saloon. The oddest wash of feelings swept through him. He felt pleased, irritated, relieved, and apprehensive, all at the same time. He had never been prey to such contradictory emotions, and it aggravated him.
He looked at his cards. Another winning hand. He needed it. In the last week he hadn't won enough to pay for Dodie's brandy. He'd hardly won anything since the night Lily arrived. Why couldn't she have waited until tomorrow night?
But then Lily looked at him with those robin's-egg-blue eyes, and resentment died. With a barely audible sigh, he laid his hand down on the table and got up.
When he did, he realized every man within fifty feet was staring at Lily like there were no other females in the saloon. All around him wheels spun unheeded, counters paused in midair, sentences remained unfinished.
All the protective, and possessive, instincts that had been bred into male Randolphs for generations came rearing and snorting out of their long confinement. He had to get her out of the saloon as quickly as possible. In the meantime, if any man so much as touched her, he'd pitch him out into the street.
He took Lily by the arm and hurried her toward the room he and Dodie used for an office. "I told you not to come here again."
"I had to," Lily said, almost stumbling to keep up with him. "I wrote to you twice. I waited, but you didn't come."
Zac thought of the two notes in a coat pocket somewhere in his closet. He had read them but decided it would be better if he didn't go. It was nothing Bella couldn't handle.
"I've been busy," he said.
"You just didn't want to bother. You probably thought I was going to cause you more trouble," she said as he ushered her into his office. "And you're right."
"What have you done this time?"
"I haven't done anything."
He could see she was agitated. He hoped the problem wasn't too serious. He was anxious to get back to his game.
"Then why did you say you were about to cause me trouble?"
"Because I've lost my job," she said, on the verge of tears.
Zac was prepared to feel angry at Lily for being so inept, worried she would start waking him at nine o'clock again, frustrated she couldn't take care of herself. He was surprised to find, however, that his primary feeling was one of sympathetic understanding. She seemed so upset, so unhappy, so genuinely sorry she was bothering him again, he felt like a villain for thinking of his own comfort first.
He reached out and put his arm around her. "What did you do wrong?" He had expected to feel like a big brother comforting his sister, but there was nothing brotherly about the feelings that jolted him. He guided her to a chair. Once she was seated, he backed away. He didn't trust himself.
"Nothing," Lily said. "At least I don't think I did anything wrong."
"Didn't they tell you why they fired you?" Zac backed up until he could sit on the corner of his desk.
"Mrs. Wellborn said I brought too many customers into the store."
"That's crazy. She should have been jumping for joy."
"That's what I thought. Well, not exactly jumping. Mrs. Wellborn is nearly seventy, but I did think she'd be pleased. Instead she said I was driving off her customers."
Lily dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. Zac started to get up then thought better of it. He folded his arms across his chest and told himself to sit still.
"It was the men, you see."
"No, I don't see." He should have though. Anything to do with Lily was bound to involve men sooner or later.
"Well, all these men kept coming in to buy things for their wives or daughters or mothers. Mrs. Wellborn said she didn't think they had any daughters or mothers, certainly not who needed as many underclothes as they were buying. She said normally she wouldn't mind the extra business, but she didn't think I'd stay wi
th her long. Then the men would disappear."
Lily paused and looked up at him like she expected him to say something. Zac got up, went behind his desk, and sat down. "Go on."
"She said all these men were driving her regular customers away. She said they didn't like to see big, rough men putting their hands all over garments they intended to wear next to their skin. I said I thought they looked quite presentable, but she said it was the principle of the thing. She agreed to let me finish out the day, but said I wasn't to come back."
Zac had an unexpected desire to visit Mrs. Wellborn and have a few well-chosen words with her. He rejected the idea for two reasons. First, he'd never had the desire to protect a female in quite the same way he wanted to protect Lily. It confused him and made him uneasy. It wasn't the same thing he felt about Josie and the others. He'd always hated to see women mistreated, but this went beyond that. He wanted to do harm to a little old woman just because she'd hurt Lily's feelings.
In the second place he didn't go because he wasn't in the habit of making a fool of himself. Verbally assaulting an old woman because she'd fired Lily for being too pretty would make him look like a fool, a lovesick one at that.
Despite the oddness of his feelings at this very moment, Zac knew he wasn't in love. In lust, definitely. In love, no. He might not be very experienced in warm emotions, but he did know the things he wanted to say to Lily, to do to her, were not the things you said and did to a woman you wanted to be your wife.
"You should have asked Bella to help you."
"Mrs. Wellborn is Bella's friend. I expect she feels she did her a disservice by talking her into hiring me."
"That's nonsense," Zac said. "We're going to see her right now. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to get this all cleared up."
* * * * *
It took a little more than that.
"I haven't refused to help her find another job," Bella explained. "But we need to wait a few days until things have time to die down."
"What things?" Zac demanded. "She worked only a few days."
Bella pursed her face in an I-told-you-so expression. "She's been entertaining men."
"You're full of . . . oh, come off it," Zac said, stumbling over his choice of words. "Lily wouldn't know how to entertain men."
"Ask her if she doesn't lend a sympathetic ear to their stories. Ask her if she wasn't seen publicly in their company."
"I couldn't very well tell them not to talk to me," Lily said, "especially when they're making a purchase. As for being seen in public with them, one young man spotted me when I was eating lunch. He's going through a particularly dreadful time. I couldn't turn my back on him when all he asked was that I listen."
"It'll ruin your reputation," Bella said.
Zac decided respectability didn't agree with Bella. It had turned her into a sanctimonious prude.
"Papa would say a person shouldn't worry about her reputation as long as she's working for the good of mankind."
"That may be fine in Salem," Zac said, "but there' aren’t a lot of good men in San Francisco. You can take it for gospel that if your friend approached you in the street, he's not one of the few. Now that's taken care of," Zac said turning to Bella, "I don't see why you can't start looking for a job immediately."
"Because of Mrs. Wellborn," Bella said. "She's been talking to everyone who'll listen. In a few days they'll have forgotten. Then we can try again."
"But I must have a job," Lily said. "I can't keep letting Zac pay for everything."
"Don't worry. I'll wait until you can pay me," Bella said.
"I can't do that," Lily objected.
"Then you'll have to go back to Virginia," Zac said. He realized with some surprise his words didn't sound very convincing, even to himself.
"I'm not going back," Lily said with some asperity. "I've already told you why. I wish you wouldn't refer to it again. You're getting to be tiresome on the subject."
"Me, tiresome!" Zac had been called many things, quite a few of them unflattering, but no one had ever called him tiresome and turned away like he was a little boy whining about something he couldn't have.
"Close your mouth, Zac," Bella said not trying very hard to cover a smile.
"I suppose I have no choice but to ask you to let me postpone payment of what I owe you," Lily said reluctantly, "but you've got to let me pay you interest."
Chapter Eight
Lily jumped down from the California Street cable car and picked her way across the cobblestones to the boardwalk. She had turned her ankle once before, and she was taking care it didn't happen again.
She never tired of the view of the bay, the mountains in the distance, the city flowing down the hill to meet the shore. Yet by turning her head only slightly, she came face to face with the Barbary Coast district, the ugly side of San Francisco.
Lily was quite near the young woman before she noticed her. She appeared to be arguing with a man. She looked badly frightened. The man wasn't hurting her, but it was obvious he wanted her to do something she didn't want to do. She kept shaking her head, trying to draw away from him. He kept reaching out to her, trying to caress her cheek, touch her arm. She appeared to recoil from his touch as much from revulsion as fear.
Lily didn't know where she got the courage to intervene. Actually, she didn't think about it. She just acted.
"There you are, Susan," she said to the stunned girl. "Mama wondered where you'd got to. It's time to start dinner. Papa and the boys will be home from the docks soon."
The man stared at Lily, the poor girl momentarily forgotten. Lily was a little frightened by what she saw in his eyes.
"Why don't you forget your family and come along with me," he said. "They can't be much fun if they keep you dressed in black."
Lily took the girl's hand and started walking away from the man as quickly as she could. The girl looked confused and frightened, but she followed.
So did the man.
"I'll take you both," he offered, running to get in front of them. "I got a friend who'll pay plenty for a bird like you."
"I'm not a bird," Lily told him. "As you can see, I'm completely without feathers. Nor do I squawk, fly, or scratch for worms." She didn't slow her steps.
When the man showed no sign of leaving them alone, she looked around for refuge.
"Aw, come on, let's have a bit of fun. A gal like you could have just about anything she wanted."
"I've got what I want," Lily said. "At least I will when you leave off pestering us."
The man got an ugly expression on his face. Lily didn't think he would assault them in broad daylight on Kearny Street, but she wasn't sure. For the dozenth time she wished Zac wasn't in the habit of sleeping all day. She would give anything to see his tall frame advancing down the street.
But there was no hope of Zac. He'd just be getting out of bed about now. It was up to her to get this girl safely to Mr. Thoragood's. Once there, she was confident the minister could handle the situation.
The man blocked their path.
"Let me by."
Lily tried to go around, but he moved in front of her. She'd never had to deal with anyone like this in Salem. She had no idea what to do except run away. But she couldn't with the man blocking her path.
"If you don't move, we're going to be late," she said. "If we don't reach home soon, father and the boys will come looking for us. They're always angry when they have to wait for their supper."
The threat made the man pause long enough for Lily to slip past, but it wasn't long before he was blocking their path again.
"I'll bet you don't have a father. I'll also bet you're not sisters. You're just hoping to catch a bigger fish. Well, not tonight gals. Tonight both of you are going to have to settle for me."
Lily might have come from the mountains, but she knew men wanted the same things from women in San Francisco as they did anywhere else. She spied the butcher shop where Zac had tried to get her a job. She didn't know the butcher's name,
but she remembered he was a big man and had a wonderful collection of very sharp knives. Taking firm hold on the girl's hand, she darted inside the shop.
The man followed.
The butcher was busy serving a customer, but Lily didn't feel she could wait.
"I'm back. I found Susan strolling along like she hadn't a worry in the world."
The butcher froze, his knife raised in the act of cutting. He stared slack-jawed at Lily. Lily didn't wait for him to gather his wits. Pulling the girl behind her, she hurried behind the counter and disappeared through a door leading to the back of the butcher shop.
Lily felt like she'd stumbled into an oversized smoke house. Partially dismembered carcasses of chickens, rabbits, turkeys, ducks, and geese lay on tables, piled in tubs, hung from racks or nails in the ceiling beams. Larger animals, a beef and a sheep Lily guessed, hung in what liked like a cold locker. Yards and yards of sausages rested in sacks hung from the ceiling. Livers, gizzards, and parts Lily didn't want to identify lay in piles along a counter.
A very surprised woman looked up from her work.
"I apologize for barging in here," Lily said, "but this young woman and I are being followed by a man who insisted we go with him for purposes I'd rather not have to explain."
"No need," the woman said, immediate understanding and sympathy in her expression. "Where is he now?"
"Out front."
"Don't worry. My husband will take care of him. You can wait here until he's gone."
But Lily didn't want to wait. She was used to helping her mother prepare fresh meat, but this overwhelmed her. Everything seemed raw, red, and bloody. She was certain she'd be unwell if she had to stay here very long. The girl looked like she felt the same.
"Can we use your back door?" Lily asked.
"Sure. If you go up the alley, you'll come out on Grant Street."
"Thank you," Lily said. "Where were you going?" she asked the girl once she was certain no one was following.
"I was looking for a job when that man started to follow me."
"How long have you been in town?"
"Three days. I've been to dozens of places, but no one will give me a job."
"What can you do?"
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