Rayne Comes to Town

by Dannie Marsden

  Emma turned. She put the coffee pot down and rushed over to Rayne.

  “What’s wrong? Are you all right?” she asked. “You look pale. Come on, sit down.”

  She led Rayne to a chair. “Rayne, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”

  “I’m…I’m okay. I just I thought I saw something and it startled me a little more than I expected.” Rayne let out a weak, shaky chuckle.

  “Let me get you some coffee. It might help. Um, would you like some breakfast? I have bacon and some biscuits and I can fry up some eggs real quick.”

  “Just some coffee for the moment, thanks. Guess I’m still reelin’ from a dream I had last night.”

  “Wanna talk about it? Sometimes it helps.” Emma placed a cup of coffee in front of Rayne and sat down with her cup in her hand.

  “I don’t know…its strange…didn’t feel like a dream really…not sure I can explain the feelin’. Felt kinda like I was there. Like it was real. Only it wasn’t here or any place I’ve ever been. Hell, from what I could tell, I don’t think it was even in this century. ”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Felt like it was another lifetime and here’s the thing, you were in it. You were there beggin’ me not to go.”

  “Go where, Rayne?”

  “I don’t know… don’t remember the rest.…” Rayne didn’t want to remember the rest. “Um how about we eat and then hitch the wagon to head to town. I need to talk to the sheriff and pick up a few things and some supplies I was supposed to get yesterday from Gillum’s”

  “Sure, of course. Would you like eggs?”

  “Just some of those biscuits and bacon. It smells great and I’m hungry as a bear,” Rayne said with a weak smile.

  †

  Emma jumped up to grab the small breakfast and was pleased when Rayne ate well. She was afraid that Rayne would still be worried about the dream.

  Once breakfast was finished, she watched as Rayne placed her hat on her head and went outside to hitch the wagon. Once done with her chores, Emma dried her hands on her skirt and looked around satisfied that the place was clean.

  She walked toward the door with a smile knowing that with Rayne she would always be safe.

  Chapter Nineteen

  As they drove down the street, Emma felt the eyes of the town’s folks on her and Rayne. She watched as many stopped and stared openly at them. She speculated that they all knew Rayne punched Sprigs and why she was now sitting next to Rayne. With their shoulders touching, Emma felt Rayne’s back stiffen. It seemed to Emma that Rayne’s hide had thickened tenfold and a wall immediately went up inside her making her sit straighter and taller. Yet, Emma felt a warmth and comfort emanating from Rayne as well. That gave her the strength to look the passersby straight in the eyes. A couple of ladies looked away as soon as Emma looked in their direction, but the majority looked straight at her and a few even smiled.

  Emma knew she wasn’t exactly an outcast in the eyes of the town’s folks but close enough for them to scorn her. Everyone knew that her parents died and that Fern took her in and raised her in the bar and she knew many looked at her in that light. Even when she was only a child and didn’t really understand why, she knew that some of the people in town treated her as nothing more than a saloon girl. As she got older, and understood what it meant to live at the saloon, she realized that many people thought that she would become or already was, just another girl who worked at the saloon, giving her body for money.

  †

  Rayne felt Emma’s unease, as the wagon rolled down the middle of town. Her hand reached over and touched Emma’s leg giving it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry about em or anything they got to say. Not a damn one of em can understand the kind of life you’ve had to live.” When she saw the slight smile crease Emma’s lips, she smiled back. “I won’t leave you alone.”

  Just as the wagon pulled up in front of the sheriff’s office, Rayne saw Sheriff Kennedy walk out into the street.

  “You been readin’ my mind, Rayne. I was just plannin’ on heading out to your place.”

  “Needed supplies and wanted to talk with you.” Rayne jumped out of the wagon and walked quickly around to help Emma out but the Sheriff got there first.

  The sheriff tipped his hat and smiled at Emma as he held out a hand to help her down. “Mornin’, Miss Emma. How are ya?”

  “I’m doing all right. How about yourself?”

  “Doing good.” He nodded in Rayne’s direction. “How about you?”

  “Tell ya what, I’d be doin’ a lot better if I knew what the hell is goin’ on out at my place.”

  Tom frowned immediately. “I think you two better come into my office and tell me what is goin’ on.”

  The three went into the sheriff’s office.

  “I found a section of my fence messed with and I had the strangest feelin’ that someone was watching me.”

  “Did you see any tracks?”

  “No, the ground was too hard. When I got back home, MacMillan came up to me warnin’ me about Sprigs.”

  “I know Mac, he ain’t got a mean bone in his body. If he warned ya then you best take his words to heart. Now unfortunately, I can’t do anything but talk to Sprigs. Keep in mind that you did knock him out and embarrass the man in front of the whole town. Not that he didn’t deserve it, but you didn’t make him a friend by doin’ it. Miss Emma, I’d suggest you keep outta sight for the time bein’.”

  “I’m not gonna go lookin’ for the man but I won’t hide from him either. Do you think I’ll be safe enough at Rayne’s place?” Emma asked.

  “I believe so, Emma. She seems to have won over a quite a few folks since knocking Jeremiah on his ass, um, sorry…his backside. I suppose it’s fair to say that people took to her quickly, so those close by will be keepin’ an eye on her. That bein’ said, I reckon you’ll be safe enough there.”

  Emma smiled. “Thank you.”

  Rayne heard the sheriff’s words and wondered if they were true. While she was friendly toward all the people in the town, she hadn’t exactly had people knocking down her door to extend their hand in friendship. It was nice to know that people, from the sheriff’s viewpoint, were accepting her into their town. Either way, she figured it was good to have others looking out for her.

  “Either I’ll ride out to the place once a day or I’ll have a deputy ride out and check on things,” the Sheriff was saying.

  “I’d appreciate that, Tom.”

  “I want to ride up to the rim of the canyon too and look around up there.”

  “Thank you.” Rayne put her hand in the small of Emma’s back. “We’d best get goin’.”

  “If anything else happens, you let me know.”

  Rayne nodded and guided Emma outside. “Since we’re here, I figure we may as well as get more supplies. Maybe more bullets. Just in case.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Back at the canyon, Sprigs rode down the creek toward the spot where he’d loosened the fencing a couple days before. By his calculations, he could start his plan anytime now. He would do it slowly two or three at a time, space it out so he wouldn’t draw any attention. Extra head of cattle wouldn’t be hard to explain and would go unnoticed. Hell, by the time she notices anything the creek will have washed out the tracks. It wasn’t until he got closer that he noticed she had repaired the fence.

  “God damn it. That bitch found the loosened wire.” Now he would have to spend time he didn’t have undoing the repair job.

  “Wonder where she was goin’ in such a rush this morning. Ah shit, you don’t suppose she went to tell that ass Kennedy about the fencing do ya, Scout?” he asked his horse. With that thought, he nudged Scout and took off out of the canyon, heading toward his ranch. He was sure it wouldn’t be long before the sheriff showed up to question him.

  As he rode toward his barn, he saw that indeed the sheriff was there already, talking to his men.

  “Hello, Sheriff, how’s it goin’?” Sprigs asked as he rode up to the
fence.

  “Well honestly, Sprigs, it could be a whole lot better.”

  “Oh? What’s goin’ on?”

  “You ain’t seen any suspicious activity over on the canyon rim, or near the Mathews place have ya?”

  “Honestly, I ain’t paid a whole lot of attention. I can’t recall anything suspicious. Why? What’s goin’ on?”

  “It seems someone’s got an eye on Miss Mathews’ cattle. She was out ridin’ her fence yesterday and found a spot where someone tampered with it.”

  “Yesterday you say? Now that I think about it, I seem to recall seein’ what coulda been a campfire night before last.”

  “Really? See I find that funny since you were in town that night and I seem to recall that your friends had to carry you home being that Rayne knocked you out cold.”

  Sprigs felt his face turn red with anger and embarrassment. “God damn it, that bitch had no right hittin’ me like that. What are you gonna do about that, Sheriff? Instead of being out here questioning me, you should be out there arresting her for assault.”

  “Here’s the thing, Jeremiah. I’m finding it hard to find anyone that saw exactly what happened. Seems everyone was either playin’ cards or too busy jawing with their friends.”

  “That’s bullshit. What about MacMillan or Bigalow?” Sprigs shouted.

  “Well now, see here’s the problem with that. The only two that are willing to back your story are your hired hands. It seems strange that no one else in the room at the time is willin’ to back your story. You kinda see my problem, don’t ya?”

  “What I see is that you’re chicken shit and probably lookin‘ to put it to that bitch, if ya haven’t already.”

  “Now see here, Sprigs, I do my job and I don’t play favorites. If you got a problem with the way I handle things then I suggest you speak with the town folks and see if they agree with you.”

  “Maybe I’ll do just that.”

  “I’ll be waiting.” Tom turned and reached for the reins on his horse and swung onto the saddle.

  “Boys, thanks for your time, I’ll be seen ya.” He rode away.

  The sheriff rode toward Rayne’s ranch so he could do some looking around for himself. Ever since Rayne came to town, he’d been thinking things over and concluded that something had indeed been on Luke Mathews’ mind the weeks before his death. He didn’t think there was anything suspicious about Luke and Martha’s death since it was definitely illness. But there was definitely something going on with the Mathews’ place.

  When he got to the ranch, he tied his horse to the fence railing and walked around the place. Nothing looked out of place to him but he was determined to look anyway since he just might find something. It wasn’t until he walked around the small house that he heard the deep guttural growl of a dog.

  The growl stopped him dead in his tracks and brought beads of sweat to his brow. “Oh, hell. Easy there, boy. I ain’t here to harm anything, especially you. Tell ya what, why don’t I just back on up to my horse and you stay right there and we’ll call it good?”

  Although he tried to keep his voice calm, he could feel his insides shaking. He stepped backwards. The massive dog tilted his head, his teeth showing the whole time, but just watched and didn’t advance.

  Once Tom had backed up to his horse, he saw the dog turn and trot back to a spot by the tree in the front yard and lay back down. Tom mounted his horse with a sigh of relief. “That was close.” He was thankful that the dog hadn’t felt the need to tear him apart.

  As his horse trotted along the road, he debated whether he should wait for Rayne or head back to town and arrange a time to look around the place when Rayne was home.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Back in town, Rayne and Emma were at the mercantile picking up the things Rayne had ordered and looking for a few things that Emma needed. Rayne figured it was the right thing to do. Since Emma had left with nothing but the clothes on her back, Rayne figured she would need some clothes and personal items. From what Emma had said and what Rayne had gathered from Bessie, she didn’t have much in her room at the saloon.

  “Come on, I ain’t never had anyone to buy for so I’d love buy you some things.” Rayne could feel her excitement at the prospect of buying things for Emma. She looked at bolts of fabric and ready-to-wear dresses.

  “Rayne no, I really…thank you for your kindness,”

  When they left Gillum’s Mercantile, their arms were loaded with packages. The items that Rayne had ordered the day before last were already packed in the wagon. Rayne’s determination to make the little house a home was even stronger than ever. Before Emma, it was nice to go back to the house after a hard day’s work. After last night, when she rode up to the house and saw a light glowing in the window, she felt a warmth that was stronger than she had ever felt before. She knew it was because of the woman that walked beside her now.

  Today, she couldn’t wait to get back and start constructing a nicer table and fixing up the small house. She had even bought new curtains for the rooms. Before, she had been happy with just a blanket to tack up at night. Things had changed.

  As Rayne took the packages and finished loading up the wagon, she smiled a smile that went clear to her heart. It melted the icy coldness in her eyes that had built a home there lately.

  “You look happy, Rayne. What happened to put that shine in your eyes?” Emma asked.

  “I bought some curtains for the house, and some finishing supplies for the new table I’m makin’. Yeah, I suppose I am real happy,”

  Emma flashed a smile of her own. “I like it when you smile like that.”

  Rayne blushed at the comment and couldn’t stop another genuine smiled from crossing her face. She helped Emma up onto the wagon seat and climbed on as well, ready to head back to their home.

  Wait, when did it become our home?

  Rayne liked that thought. She was already thinking of what she could do to make Emma more comfortable and more at home. Jesus, Rayne, you ain’t looking for nothin but heartache thinkin’ that way.

  “So, is there anything else you need?” Rayne asked.

  “Oh, I think I have enough, thank you.” Emma replied. “Rayne, I don’t know how to thank you or let alone know how I’m going to repay you.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Em. Way I figure it, I’ll get fat with you cooking for me. Hell, that would be good enough.” Rayne stole a look out of the corner of her eye and saw the pink on Emma’s cheeks. God, she is beautiful, she thought. The way the bright sunshine made Emma’s hair shine took Rayne’s breath away.

  “Have you given much thought about what you’re gonna do? Not that you have to or anything. I mean you’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like. In fact, you’d be doin’ me a favor.” Rayne, realizing what she just said, felt her cheeks heat up.

  “What do you mean? I’d be doin’ you a favor? How?”

  “Well, honestly. I hate my cookin’and most of the time I just eat a slice of bread for dinner or lunch. My coffee tastes like mud, and me makin’ a pie…you gotta be kiddin’. Last night’s dinner was amazing and I honestly didn’t realize I had the things to make a cobbler in my root cellar, course I never bothered to look in much less find it so I suppose that coulda been part of my problem. But if you keep making me meals like that, I got no problem with you stayin’ for as long as you like.”

  “What if I had plans on movin’ on to another town?” Emma asked. “Perhaps I have some distant relative, or friends livin’ elsewhere?”

  “If you have plans then by all means you should go ahead with them. However, I’d say first off that if you had some distant relative, I highly doubt that you would have spent your life in a saloon bein’ cared for by whores.” Rayne dared not look at Emma and stared straight ahead.

  “Excuse me, but you have no idea about my life or those that raised me. All you have is gossip from a bunch of old women with nothing better to do than speak behind other’s backs. My folks died leaving me alone and helpless. I was
only one year old and an orphan. Fern took me and made sure that I knew how to take care of myself. So did all the other girls at the saloon.”

  Emma’s jaw clenched. “Did you or anyone in this damned town for one second take into account that Fern and all the other girls did what they had so they could support themselves in order to survive? They didn’t have the luxury of relatives leaving them a ranch and money.”

  Emma continued blasting at Rayne. “Did any one of them offer a single ounce of compassion to them or me? No, honestly the only one in this town who never looked down at us was Bessie.” Emma swiped at the tears of anger that fell from her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Em. I didn’t mean to talk bad about Fern or the others. Hell, I know they done what they needed to do. All’s I mean was if you had family, you’d have been raised by them not the ladies at the saloon.”

  “Oh, so all of a sudden they are ladies?

  “Goddamn it, Em. Stop it. You know damn well I ain’t never made a derogatory remark about you or any of them girls at Hank’s place. So I’d appreciate it if you’d stop making assumptions about what I’m sayin’.”

  The rest of the ride back to the ranch was spent in silence. Rayne didn’t mean anything by what she had said and was downright mad that Emma assumed that she had.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Emma thought about her reaction to Rayne’s words.

  Did I overreact? Rayne has no reason to assume I don’t have family elsewhere.

  But Rayne was right. If she had family, there is no way they’d let her be raised in a house of prostitutes. And not once had she heard Rayne make any comments about the women and how they made their living.

  In fact, she stood up for me when it mattered. So why did I fly off the handle like that?