The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,153

a grin. “Sister Leticia would not be caught dead in a room with a naked man. It’s Letty who’s helping scrub down your miserable self and you know it.”

Eulis chuckled a bit. It had been a while since Letty had let herself go, and he realized he missed the old Letty.

Letty emptied the bucket over his head and then gave Eulis a thump on the back to signal she was done.

“It’s empty,” she said. “I’m gonna go fill it up again. When you’re done, I think I’ll take myself a bath, too.”

Eulis picked up the rag beside the shaving mug, sloshed it through the basin, and began to wash the dust from his face as Letty went out the door.

She met Morris on the step. He took one look at her and clasped his hands over his newly bandaged nose. She ignored the implication that she was dangerous and kept on walking.

Morris eyed her carefully until he was sure they were going in different directions, and then hurried inside, only to come up short when he saw the preacher, naked as the day he’d been born.

“Oh! I apologize for the intrusion,” he said, and started back out the door when Eulis realized he was no longer alone.

“What’s that you say?” he asked, then frowned. “Dang, Morris, you don’t look so good.”

Morris gently fingered the bandage on his nose.

“Neither do you,” he countered.

Eulis sighed and nodded. “I reckon you’re right.”

Morris pointed toward the door. “Sister Leticia…”

“Yeah?” Eulis asked, as he soaped the underside of his chin.

“Well… wasn’t she just in here and—”

Eulis nodded. “Yes, what about it?”

Morris eyed Eulis’s skinny shanks and pot belly, then pointed at his dingus.

“You’re naked.”

“Yeah, well, it’s hard to take a bath without takin’ off your clothes,” Eulis added.

“But Sister Leticia… didn’t she—”

“She went to get some more water so’s she can clean up when I’m done. She’s right partial to her baths.”

Morris thought about it a moment and remembered how she’d been at Forney Calder’s way station.

“Yes, she did insist upon a bath, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, but there was the shit and all. Couldn’t blame her for wantin’ to clean up then, you know.”

Morris nodded then dropped onto the side of a cot. If they weren’t going to be bothered by the situation, he was too tired to care. He glanced down at the dust on his clothes and then eyed the basin of water.

“Do you think I might use some of that soap when you’re done?”

“It’s Sister Leticia’s, but I figure once she’s done she might let you use it, too.”

“What is it I’m going to do?” Letty asked, as she carried in the second bucket of water and set it down on the floor near the door.

Her rapid reappearance startled the men as Eulis automatically cupped his hands over his manly parts and Morris reached for his nose. When she made no move on either of them, they both relaxed.

However, Morris was embarrassed to be in the same room with a naked man, even if he was a preacher, and the woman who was not his wife. He wasn’t even sure they were brother and sister as they claimed, then decided it was to his benefit not to dwell too deeply on these people’s business. Sister Leticia would be a formidable enemy.

“Nothing,” Morris said quickly. “Just nothing.”

Eulis was not so standoffish. “Morris was wonderin’ if he could borrow your soap once you’re done with it,” he said.

Letty frowned. It was one thing to wash up after Eulis, who she’d known for years, but she didn’t know what she thought about letting a total stranger have at it, too.

Morris could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t fond of the idea.

“It’s all right,” he said. “I didn’t realize it belonged to you and I would never presume to—”

“You can use it,” Letty said. “Just make sure you don’t leave any hair on it when you’re done.”

“Oh, thank you, Sister Leticia. I promise I’ll—”

“Save it,” Letty said. “It’s the least I can do after hurting your poor nose.”

Morris patted the bandage. “Yes, well, it was an accident, right?”

“Of course it was an accident,” Eulis said. “She’s a little clumsy, but she’s not outright mean.”

Letty resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

“Thank you for the kind words, Brother Howe, and you’re dripping all over the floor.”

Eulis frowned. “So? We poured water all over it while ago when we were washin’ my hair. A little more can’t hurt.”

Letty chose to complain instead of admitting he