The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,237

the last thing he would have expected her to say, and yet he understood immediately where it had come from.

“How you reckon to do that?”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at the hill overlooking the main part of town. It was covered in trees without a path in sight, and yet that was where she knew she should be.

“We’re gonna lay claim to that hill up there,” she said. “And we’re gonna build a fine house with a large veranda so that we can sit out in the cool of the evening and watch the city grow. And we’re going to wear nice clothes and have someone clean our house, and someone else cook our food, and when the first preacher comes to town and sets up shop, we’re going to sit in church every Sunday and listen to him preach. Even if he’s not as good as you,” she added.

He grinned.

Letty was wound up now and ticking off the plans on her fingers.

“And when the bankers bring out their wives, and decency comes to this place, we’re going to be ahead of the game. That’s how we’re going to do that.”

“Hey Mister! Mister! Did you really strike it rich? I need a job. Do you need someone to work in your mine?”

Letty looked down at the middle-aged man who was clinging to the side of the wagon, then back up at Eulis.

“Well, Mr. Potter? Do you need someone to work in your mine?”

He looked down at the man, then past the worn out clothes to the healing pock marks on his face and felt a moment of empathy for what they’d both survived.

“Not right now,” he said. “But most likely, I will in the future. When I do, you’ll be the first man I hire.”

The man looked as if he was going to cry.

“Thank you, Mr. Potter. Thank you, Sir. My name is Winston Bailey. Everyone knows my name. When you’re ready, just ask for me on the street.”

“And me!” someone else yelled. “Hire me!”

“And me!”

“I need a job!”

“Hire me!”

Surrounded by the echoes of desperation, Eulis waved everyone away with a promise to post a notice when they needed to hire. Once the mules and wagon were stabled, they started down the street to the restaurant.

It took forever to walk three blocks. Letty clung to the rifle with cold-eyed intent, and had little to say to the crowd that persisted in following them. But Eulis seemed in his element, and once again Letty was reminded of how he’d taken to preaching as if he’d been born to the task.

A slight smile crossed her face as she let her fancy wander, thinking into the future, to the day when this place would be as fancy and proper as any city back east. But it would take time for that to happen. Right now, Denver City was as rough and raw as the people who were building it, and like her and Eulis, it would take years to polish up a shine. By the time that happened, maybe they would be up to the task, but until then, she was satisfied knowing that they fit in here real well.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Eulis had made it plain to all who asked that it was his wife, Letty, who’d made the strike.

“Lady! Lady! Blow me a kiss for luck!” someone shouted.

Letty didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Being called lady was enough in itself to bring tears to her eyes, but thinking of herself and luck in the same breath just didn’t make sense.

“Come on, lady… just one kiss,” he begged.

Eulis winked at her and then grinned.

“Long as you’re only blowin’ ’em, I reckon I don’t mind.”

Letty looked up at him then, into the dark eyes and gentle smile and knew her cup runneth over.

She handed Eulis the rifle, then winked back at him before turning to the surrounding crowd. Before she changed her mind, she pressed both hands to her lips, then flung them outward, as if scattering the kisses into the air.

Men whooped and hollered, then began rubbing each other’s faces, as if trying to wipe off her kisses onto their own cheeks, desperate for what they all called luck.

It was madness.

It was hysteria.

For Eulis and Letty, it was the end of the trail, but the beginning of the rest of their lives.

The Hen House

Finally, it’s done. The last book in the trilogy that I began so long ago.

Like Letty, so much has happened in