The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,197

quiet.

“Two beds, please, and a meal. And do you, by any chance, have a bath house?” He pointed to Letty. “Letty, here, favors a tub bath real highly.”

The woman nodded briskly while eyeing Letty’s manly style dress.

“Bath house out back. Got hot water on the stove. It’ll cost extra.”

“Lovely,” Letty said, and then pointed to the small dry goods store. “Got any shoes for sale?”

“Women’s shoes?” Mrs. Cocker asked.

“Actually, no. I need something sturdy. I’ve about walked the soles off of these things. Besides which, it’s coming on winter.”

The woman peered down at Letty’s feet then motioned for her to follow.

“Come with me. Maybe a small pair of men’s shoes will fit. Since you’re already wearing men’s pants, I don’t suppose you’ll mind.”

Letty heard the sarcasm. Once it would have hurt her feelings. Now it just pissed her off.

“Yeah, I’m wearing men’s pants because my last dress burned up when I fell into the campfire. And the rest of my business is none of yours. Do you want to sell shoes and rent us a bed, or do you want to criticize my fashion sense?”

The woman didn’t blink. “I’ll sell you anything you need,” she said. “Have a seat.”

The moment passed. Letty found a pair of shoes that fit, but they didn’t look new.

“These have been worn,” she said.

“Oh, yeah, those belonged to a kid named Pete McKay. Young Scots. Red hair, freckles, big smile.”

Letty stared down at the shoes on her feet.

“What happened to him?”

“Pneumonia. Died last spring. Broke his father’s heart. He packed up the family and headed for California. Doubt if they made it past that damned desert, though.”

Letty felt sick at standing in these shoes, as if she had transgressed on someone’s grave.

“There’s a desert between here and California?”

“That’s what I hear,” Mrs. Cocker said. “Never seen it myself. Don’t plan to, either.” She pointed at Letty’s feet. “You want the shoes or not?”

“Yes.”

“That’ll be four bits.”

“I’ll give you two, and that’s more than enough. They’re used.”

“Done,” Mrs. Cocker said. “So you want the beds or not?”

“All of it,” Letty said. “For one night, we want it all. Beds, bath and meals.”

Mrs. Cocker nodded, then eyed Letty one more time. “That kid… Pete McKay.”

“What about him?”

“I got some of his clothes, too. Throw in another two bits and you can have them, too.”

Letty thought of their dwindling cash, but winter was coming, and she couldn’t exist on Eulis’s cast-offs through ice and snow.

“All right.”

“I’ll gather them up later, but for now, follow me. I’ll show you to your beds and then get the hot water for your bath.”

“I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven,” Letty murmured, more to herself than to Mrs. Cocker, but the woman heard her just the same.

“Honey, if you’re not careful, you could die here at that. It’s a hard place here, these gold fields. Men do bad things to good people for a little color, and you’d better beware. This place isn’t heaven. It’s closer to hell.”

Letty glanced at Eulis, who was staring at the woman with a hard look on his face.

“Sorry to dispute your word, ma’am, but this ain’t hell. We already been there and come out the other side. Maybe this is somewhere in between, in which case, I feel comfortable in tellin’ you that me and Letty, here, are gonna be just fine.”

Letty’s heart swelled as she looked at Eulis with pride. If she hadn’t already told him she was proud of him, she would have said it now. As it was, all she could do was follow him and the innkeeper to the dormitory where the beds were set up side by side, to be had for nominal cost.

“Not much privacy here,” Letty said, as she gave them two beds near a window.

Mrs. Cocker turned around and looked at Letty.

“If you don’t mind my saying so, you might need to rethink your business here. In the gold fields, only the strong and the tough survive.”

Eulis looked at Letty, wondering what she was going to say, but then she caught his eye and to his surprise, she started to grin.

He grinned back.

She chuckled, and then looked away as she sat down on the bed, looked at him again and laughed out loud.

He was still grinning as he sat on his bed. He threw his hat on the floor, and then chuckled as he watched her laughing. She was doubled over on the bed and trying to take off her new boots. But the harder she