The dress was belted with a not quite maroon, almost brown, bow. She wore a choker of matching colors with a tiny drop pearl. The whole outfit was modestly covered with a jacket of matching maroon brown with gold piping. It had a wide lapel that branched at the shoulders reminiscent of epaulettes. The wide sleeves had two gold chevrons at the wrists, further adding to the military image, but softened by the addition of gauzy ruffles along the neck and wrists. The woman's hair was swept up and topped with a gold hat embellished with three large maroon plumes. She was stunning.
"Tonio, look at that woman across from us."
The woman seemed to sense Tonio's eyes on her. She lifted her gaze from her cards and smiled at him, coyly lifting her chin to indicate that he join her. Tonio didn't respond. He looked back to Angelina. "The woman in gold?"
"Yes."
"What is it you want me to notice about her?"
"She's beautiful and confident. Her clothes are gorgeous and she plays cards freely with the men. I'd love to be like her, traveling, doing what I want, being admired."
"No, you wouldn't, Angelina." He seemed amused, but his tone held a distinct warning. "That woman is a prostitute and a card shark."
"I don't believe you. She's dressed like a lady!"
"A lady wouldn't be wearing a theater dress midday. Furthermore, ladies don't engage in cards with strange men. My bet is she'll either be kicked off at the next stop or she'll leave with a customer. I hope you're a better judge of character than what you've shown me so far. Idaho is full of crooks and scoundrels just waiting for an innocent to take advantage of."
"Yourself included?" She was irritated that he could recognize a theater gown from a day dress and for showing her to be so foolish.
The door to the car opened, letting a small surge of air and engine noise in.
"Shit!"
She frowned at him.
"That's a description of what just walked into the car." Tonio's attention was focused on a short, wiry, smartly dressed man who headed toward them.
"Tonio! Baker'll be glad to hear you're back." The man spoke to Tonio, but his eyes were on her. He stared in what amounted to a gape, his eyes raking her in a lusty mental undressing. She didn't like him and neither did Tonio. When he didn't respond the man continued, nodding to Angelina as he did, "So that's why you tore out of Idaho. You had a little piece waiting for you back East. Baker wasn't happy when you left so suddenly."
"Sebastiano died, Clell."
"What? Did he leave her to you? What a lucky old man!" He didn't offer his condolences. "You'll have a hard time keeping her to yourself, Tonio. The men won't stand for it. I hope you've got that stiletto of yours sharpened. I might give you a run for her myself. I hear the Italians are screamers. She is one of your kind, isn't she?"
"What makes you think I'm available?" Angelina's adversarial tone broke through her heavy accent.
"She speaks English, all the better!" He spoke as if she didn't exist.
"Drop it, Clell."
Finally Clell spoke to her. "I know you're not his missus. Tonio won't marry up. You get tired of him, you come see Clell. I'll show you what a real man can do." He patted Tonio on the shoulder. "Just passing through. Saw your friend Jim Burte in the car up ahead. Good work Tonio, we need someone on the inside. Come see us when you get back. We might have a big job for you."
"Caccola!"
"Exactly," Tonio said and laughed.
Tonio stood in the aisle outside his berth and tied his tie without aid of a mirror as he dressed for dinner. "You won't change your mind about dinner?"
It had occurred to her shortly after Clell had left that Tonio's friend Jim had also thought she was his mistress. Tonio had corrected her, "No, he thinks you're my paid companion, like the lady in gold." She'd been furious.
"Are you so desperate?"
"Every man in the mining country is."
He wasn't easy to insult.
"We have very few single women. Most of the attractive ones work at the Lux and are as hard as they come." He didn't elaborate. "Idaho isn't Italy and the sooner you get used to it the better. There are no civilized evening strolls or Sunday walks to church where parents chastely parade their eligible daughters before suitable bachelors. It's a valley full of rough, working class men.