The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,173

he’s giving us a wagon and team, and a grubstake to get us going.”

“You’re not serious?” Letty said.

“Dead serious,” Eulis said. “And there’s more.”

Letty leaned against the bed post. “I’m afraid to ask.”

“There’s talk in town of a gold strike in the Rockies.”

Letty’s heart skipped a beat. “Gold?”

“For the taking. Anyone can stake a claim.”

“Are you giving up preaching?” Letty asked.

“Not totally,” Eulis said. “If the need arises, I reckon I could always… well… you know.”

Letty was frozen with fear. After all they’d been through, was it coming down to this? She would rather be dead than go back to being a whore.

“So, what do you think?” Eulis asked. “Would you like to give this a try?”

“You mean I’d go with you?”

Eulis frowned. “Well, yes. We’re in this together, remember?”

For a moment, Letty was too moved to speak. She cleared her throat and got up from the bed, retrieved the wet rag from the floor and dropped it into the basin.

“Of course, I remember,” she said. “Now go see if they’ve got that vinegar. I don’t want to be smelling so bad I can’t go see that wedding tomorrow.” Then she grinned. “If it’s your last one, I don’t want to miss it.”

Eulis slapped his leg and laughed as he ran out of the room.

Letty sat down on the side of the bed.

“Gold. He wants to find gold.” Then she started to laugh. “Well, why the hell not? We’ve already found religion, and for two sinners like us, that was near to impossible. After what we’ve been through, finding gold oughta’ be easy.”

Blessed Assurances And The High Road

There was a glint in Fannie Smithson’s eyes as she fastened the makeshift veil to her hair. Her father had already yelled at her once to hurry or they were going to be late, but she wasn’t worried. Myron knew she was coming and he would wait.

With a last look in the mirror, she pinched her cheeks to give them more color, tucked a stray lock of hair beneath her veil, and tugged at the neckline of her dress. It was her newest dress, only a year or so old and it was yellow, which was her favorite color. For the first time in her life, she actually felt beautiful, and she knew it was because Myron loved her.

Before this day was out, she would be a married woman in her own house. It was with no small amount of relief that she learned Myron had a house on the south side of town. At least they wouldn’t be living over the saloon. She couldn’t help but wonder what the house would be like, and then accepted the fact that she didn’t care. It would be hers—and she wasn’t being married to a man who had needed to be bribed to propose.

She felt a moment of sadness; longing for her mother’s arms around her, but her mother had been dead all these many years, and she’d been doing just fine on her own. Confident she had it all under control, she lifted her chin and walked out the door without once looking back, willing to leave the only sanctuary she’d ever known to be Myron Griggs’ wife.

Letty poured the last of the vinegar into the basin. It was her third bath since last night when Eulis had brought her the jug. Truthfully, she couldn’t tell if it was helping or not. The scent of skunk was so strong in her nostrils that she feared she’d never smell anything else again.

Last night, when she’d tried without success to fall asleep, she’d even snorted some vinegar up her nose in hopes that it would clear out the scent, but all she succeeded in doing was strangling. She’d coughed and then puked, and this morning, her tongue was sore and a tiny bit numb, as if she’d eaten something too hot.

Lesson learned. Do not inhale vinegar, no matter what the need.

Now, in less than an hour Eulis was going to marry Fannie Smithson to Myron Griggs. As the traveling associate of Preacher Howe, it was her duty to be in attendance. But unless this last vinegar bath did more good than the other two, she was going to be standing a good ways downwind.

She was scrubbing at her arms when a knock sounded on the door.

“Sister Leticia… it is I. May I enter?”

Letty rolled her eyes. Eulis was obviously already walking in preacher shoes, so she gave him back an equally flowery response.

“But, of course you