A few days later, Emma realized her worst fears as she walked into the saloon and saw Hank and Jeremiah Sprigs speaking in hushed tones. She saw them look at her and the grin on Jeremiah’s face made her shiver. She knew from Fern that he liked to be rough and to hurt women. Even though no one could be positive that Fern hadn’t been up in her room with someone after Sprigs, Emma knew in her heart that Sprigs was the man responsible for her friend’s death. She had tried all week long to avoid the man and not bring his attention to her, a task harder than she thought it would be. Now, it appeared as if her time of reprieve had run out.
Hank was walking toward her, and she couldn’t quite define the look on his face. As he walked toward her, Sprigs’ smile grew bigger which scared her even more.
“Em, it’s time. I need you to go upstairs and entertain this man. Do whatever he wants, ya hear?”
“But, Hank, him? I don’t think.…”
“Go on and don’t sass me, girl. He’s paying big for you. ”
With no choice, Emma walked toward Sprigs while Hank stormed to his office.
†
Hank tried all he could think of to get Sprigs to choose someone else. He knew how important his money was to keeping the bar healthy but he also knew what the man was capable of and he knew the damage he could cause. That was an experience he didn’t want for Emma but Sprigs had his mind made up on this and there was no changing it.
“Well, shit!” he growled as he threw his half empty glass of whiskey at the wall.
Emma plastered a fake smile on her face. “Good evening, Mr. Sprigs.” She couldn’t stop her voice from shaking as underlying fear coursed through her.
“Evening, Miss Emma, it’s downright nice of you to agree to share your company with me tonight.” Sprigs’ voice oozed with charm.
“Yes, well…how could I refuse such a kind offer.” Like there was no way I could get out of it, she thought to herself.
“Well, shall we head upstairs?” Sprigs asked.
“Wouldn’t you like another drink first? I would be happy to get you something.”
“Now that sounds good. In fact, why don’t we just get a bottle to take up with us?”
“Of course, as you wish.”
Emma knew her time had just run out. She headed toward the bar with Sprigs behind her. A part of her had hoped she would be able to run and get away tonight, but she knew that would only delay the inevitable and make Hank angry with her. She resigned herself to her fate and smiled weakly as the young man behind the bar handed her a bottle of whiskey. Then Emma turned toward the staircase and the nightmare of her new life.
Chapter Thirteen
For several days, Rayne was busy replacing windows and repairing what items in her house that she could. When she first had come back from town, she and Tom had ridden around her ranch looking for suspicious tracks. They found none. Then the cows arrived and she spent time settling the herd into their new pastures. The days were long and at night she had the feeling of a good hard day’s work behind her and she knew she had earned those tired, restful nights.
Each day started with her riding the fence to make sure no breaks had occurred. Throughout the week, Rayne had tended to the plowing and planting and decided it was time to head back into town. She needed more supplies, including a couple more planks of lumber to finish repairing a broken stall and enough extra for a rough dining table.
Rayne decided she was tired of her own cooking and figured she could spare enough for a drink at the saloon along with a nice dinner and one night at Bessie’s place. Just the thought of the steak and potatoes Bessie served was making her mouth water. Truth was, she missed talking to Bessie. Rayne smiled as she realized that she considered Bessie her friend—she couldn’t say she had a lot of those.
While sitting on Apache and surveying her land, Rayne made the decision that she would head out early and stop off and see Mark and Emily. She wanted to thank them again for taking care of Apache and Delilah when she had gone to Cherokee Falls for her cattle. Once decided, she lightly kicked Apache in the flanks and tugged on the reins and the horse trotted toward the house.
Rayne grabbed her towel and a bar of soap, clean pants, and shirt, and headed toward the creek that ran behind her house. Given the heat of the day, she couldn’t wait to feel the cold water on her skin. Sure enough, once she stripped her clothes off and walked into the deeper part of the creek, she felt the cold water flowing like ice over her and cooling her down completely.
“Yup, this is gonna be quick,” she told herself, teeth chattering.
She quickly lathered the soap, washed her hair, and her body before rinsing the soap off and running out of the stream to dry off. Lucifer, who was lying on the ground, kept watch over her.
†
It was mid-day when Rayne made it into town. Her first stop was at Gillum’s where she placed her order. It wasn’t long before she, the storeowner and the sheriff were deep in conversation.
“How’s the house looking there, Rayne? Sure was sorry to hear about the going on’s out there,” Cyrus said.
“Starting to look like home again, and thank you for your concern. Tell ya what I sure do wish to hell I knew…who had it in for me bad enough that they’d destroy my house.”
“Howdy, Sheriff, how are ya?” Cyrus said as the tall man walked up to the counter.
“Howdy, Cyrus, doin good. How about yourself? How are you, Rayne?”
“Doing fair,” Rayne shook hands with the sheriff. “Any leads on who paid me a visit the other night?”
Tom shook his head and placed his order on the counter.” I have some ideas but I ain’t ready to talk about them yet,” he replied, his attitude letting Rayne know the subject was closed.
“I’ll be back later for my order, Cyrus,” Tom said as he moved toward the door.
“I’ll get mine tomorrow morning…I’m spending the night in town for a change. See you both later,” Rayne said turning toward Mark’s office
†
Mark looked up and immediately smiled. He liked Rayne and was glad she had stopped by. They spoke for a bit and Mark gladly closed his office for an hour so that he could accompany Rayne to his home. In all honesty, he was happy for the interruption and he was always willing to head home to see his pretty wife. Rayne had just given him a reason to do so.
The three enjoyed their visit and before long, evening was falling and Rayne decided it was time to say goodbye even though they repeatedly asked her to join them for dinner and offered her the use of the guest room.
“No. Thank you for the invitations but I thought I’d stop in and see an old friend.”
“Rayne, I don’t like you being out anywhere all alone especially since the other night,” Emily said.
“Rayne, I have to agree,” Mark added. “But I understand you wanting to have a normal life. Just be careful, please.”
“Rayne, please reconsider.” Emily watched as Rayne stood and placed her hat on her head.
“It’s a very kind offer, and I promise I’ll take you up on one of your fine dinners. For now, I best be heading on out.” Rayne stepped off the porch where they had been sitting enjoying the late afternoon warmth.
†
Rayne decided her next stop was going to be the saloon. She hadn’t had a hard drink in quite a while and it was time the people got used to seeing her stop in from time to time. The piano was playing loudly in the corner and the combination of laughter and talking filled the room. Scattered tables with men playing cards peppered the room as well as women dressed in frilly, tight fitting dresses. The women were either serving drinks, sitting on laps, flirting, or had their hands on a particular man’s shoulder.
With her hair up in her hat allowing no one to see her long tresses, Rayne was certain that everyone would ignore her, figuring she was a man. She walked up to the bar and ordered a whiskey before turning to look around. Soon she spotted a vacant table and, picking up her drink, she decided to sit there. Rayne’s view fro
m the table let her see most of the saloon and she enjoyed watching everything that was going on. She spotted a couple of card sharks and quickly learned which players to stay away from and which ones were actually in it for the draw of the game.
She had been studying a particular man and his game when all of a sudden, the hair on the back of her neck stood up and her eyes traced to the staircase. A beautiful blonde woman was coming down the stairs, her complexion and eyes marred by tears that streamed down her cheeks shimmering over the telltale redness of embarrassment. Behind her walked Sprigs, with a huge smirk of total satisfaction.
Sprigs walked toward a table where a couple of his grimy workers sat and announced. ”I’ve just taught that woman a thing or two about how a man likes things. She’s a good little piece.”
The comment made the woman turn even redder. She looked away.
Hank turned and looked at Sprigs. “Leave her alone, Sprigs. Why don’t you just go home?”
Sprigs glared at Hank.
Something in Rayne snapped. She silently stood, walked over to where Sprigs sat with his smug looking face and one hand wrapped possessively around the girl’s arm.
“Yep, I gotta say I think I broke her in real good. Though, I might have to have another go at her after a while and see if she learned anything.”
Rayne wrapped her fingers around Sprigs’ shirt, yanked him up, and spun him around forcing him to let go of the girl.
The surprised look on Sprigs’ face quickly turned to anger.
Before he could react, Rayne punched him square in the face and Sprigs fell to the floor in a heap. The two men with him stood so fast that their chairs tumbled to the floor. Both reached for their guns.
Rayne’s cold, clear blue eyes dared them to pull out their guns. “Go ahead. Let’s see how fast you are,” Rayne growled.
Both men shook their heads and grabbed for Sprigs. They pulled him up and carried him out of the bar.
Rayne took off her hat and wiped the sweat from her brow. When her long black hair fell around her shoulders, she remembered where she was. She looked around and saw everyone in the saloon looking at her and murmuring quietly to one another. Rayne walked toward the blonde, grabbed her hand, and led her out of the saloon.
†
When Hank heard Sprigs snide comments and saw Emma’s tear streaked face, he wasn’t so sure he had made the best decision in letting Sprigs take her upstairs. He felt like shit over it. His greatest desire at that moment was for Sprigs to leave and never come back.
Deep inside, Hank held great appreciation for what the woman had done. She had come to Emma’s rescue and put Sprigs in his place and Hank felt ashamed that he hadn’t the courage to do the same. He decided that Rayne would always be considered a friend and be treated as such. He never really wanted Emma to be one of the girls or end up like Fern. He should have known that with Sprigs interested in her, Emma didn’t stand a chance.
Chapter Fourteen
Rayne, not yet saying a word, walked with the blonde back toward her room at Bessie’s place. They entered the boarding house, walked up the stairs, and into her room where she sat the woman down and draped a blanket around her shoulders. Despite the warmness of the night, the young woman was shaking.
“You don’t need to be afraid now,” she told the girl. “It’s going to be okay. I won’t let that man or any man do that to you again. I’m going to arrange for some food and a bath for you. Is that okay?” Rayne spoke in a calm, tender voice with her eyes never leaving the girl’s face.
Emma nodded.
“I won’t be long.” Rayne desperately wanted to pull the girl into a hug but knew it was not the time. She left the room and headed down the stairs to find Bessie.
“Bessie will you bring a warm meal up to my room and prepare a hot bath?”
“Sure will. You ain’t eatin’ in the dining room?”
“No. Look, I was over at the saloon and I saw this working girl being totally humiliated by Sprigs and it made me so mad, I punched him and pulled her out of the place. She’s up in my room now and I would appreciate it if you could go to the room with me and sit with her until I get back.”
“Not a problem. Let me order the meal and arrange the bath and I will be right with you.”
Rayne tapped lightly on the door before she opened it. “How are you doin’? This here is my friend, Bessie, and she is going to stay with you while I take care of something. She’s real nice so you don’t have to be afraid. Is that okay with you?”
The girl nodded and Bessie made her way toward her. “You poor child. I’ve got some soup and bread comin’ for you and the bath is getting ready.”
Once she saw that the girl was accepting Bessie’s presence, Rayne left the room.
Rayne walked back to the saloon needing to speak to Hank. She found the man behind the bar.
“Can we speak in private?” She saw surprise on his face.
“Sure, let’s go to my office.”
“I wanna apologize for my actions earlier. I’m not ashamed that I hit him, but that I did it in here. I should have taken it outside. I don’t know what the woman’s name is but I can promise you, sure as I’m standin’ here, that she will not be returning. So, if you feel I owe you anything, speak now and I’ll compensate you for a night or two. Otherwise, I’ll expect to not hear how I cheated you or anything like that on the streets.”
“Now, Miss, I can assure you ya ain’t gonna hear nothin’ bad from me. I want ya to know that putting Emma out on the floor to work was honestly the last thing I wanted to do, especially once I knew old Sprigs had an eye out on her.”
“Her name is Emma?”
Hank nodded. “Any money I took from them girls went to feedin’ and clothin’ em, nothin’ more. With Fern gone and Emma not bringin’ nothin’ in…well, I just couldn’t see a way to make it all work. I’m still short a girl but it’s better that it’s not her. With her now in your care…” he eyed Rayne. “She is in your care now, right?”
“Yeah, I suppose she is. I’ll see to her needs from now on,” Rayne answered.
“Right then, with you takin’ care of her I ain’t gotta worry about it, and well, I thank ya for gettin' her out of Sprigs’ way. Can’t prove it, but I know it was him that did Fern in.” He looked down at the floor.
“Well, if he did…trust me he’ll pay. No way will he do the same to Emma.”
“Thank you.” Hank put his hand out.
Rayne took his hand and shook it. “No need to thank me. Something about Sprigs just made me see red when I heard what he said coming down those stairs and I saw the look on her face. Ain’t no need to talk that way ‘bout anyone.” Rayne shook her head and turned to leave.
“Miss Mathews, anytime you’re in town, please stop by. Your next beer is on the house.”
“That’s mighty nice of ya. I’ll do that.”
Rayne, for the first time, took a good look at Hank’s face trying to see if the man meant what he’d just said. With a good feeling, she realized he did.
Chapter Fifteen
Rayne walked back into the boarding house and found Bessie waiting for her and motioning her to join her. Rayne walked into the dining room and sat down with Bessie.
“How is she?”
“As good as can be expected, poor child. Look, I know you’re new in town and wouldn’t know this but that poor girl has been through a lot,”
“Okay, so tell me about it.”
“Well, her name is Emma Rodgers. She lost her ma when she was only a year old. Seems her folks were passing through and her pa died on the trail and her ma ended up here sick and dyin’ too, probably childbed fever. One of the girls that worked for Hank found ‘em both. Wasn’t long after that her ma passed and Fern took a likin’ to the child and raised her. Now, don’t you go holding Hank to blame for nothin’. He was only doin’ what he had to….”
“Bessie, I already spoke to Hank.”
“All right then. So what are ya gonna do now, young
lady?”
“When I pulled her out of there, I guess I sort of assumed responsibility for her. So I take her home and provide for her if that’s what she wants.”
“Em and I spoke a bit. Now mind you, she is scared and upset and well, it bein’ her first time and all…well, any ways, she is of the mind that she is sticking with you for the time bein’. She asked me if that was what you had a mind to do. Now, I told her I had no idea, but that you are a good woman. Rayne, make sure you realize exactly what it is you’re doin’ before you cause that child any more hurt, please.”
Rayne nodded as she stood to leave. “I will never hurt her,” she declared.
As she walked to her room, she did indeed think about what she was doing. She knew in her heart that there was no way in hell she could let that poor girl go back to the saloon and she knew she couldn’t allow her to wander the streets. Something about the girl was calling to her and drawing her heart. Emma is her name. She had never met the woman before but her soul told her that she had known of her whole life.
As she approached the door, she stopped as the full ramification of what she had just accepted hit her. Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened the door and entered, feeling as though from this moment on her life would never be the same.
As Rayne opened the door to her room, she saw the girl, wrapped in a blanket, sitting on the bed. She looked up as Rayne walked in, and the moment their eyes met, Rayne felt as if their souls recognized one another. Every molecule in her body felt charged with electricity with the overwhelming need to protect the blonde.
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