The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,243

I promise she’ll take good care of you.”

Eulis wiped the ends of his fingers on his pants, just in case he’d gotten some axle grease on them, and then went back inside to get his share of snake.

Beggar Man

A couple of days passed with no more problems from the men. It was just after sunrise when Letty stepped outside to toss the dishwater, and saw a stranger walking across the valley. T-Bone saw him, too, and bounded up from his bed beneath the trees, barking as he ran.

“T-Bone!” Letty yelled.

The pup stopped immediately, looked back at her, and then trotted back to where she was standing and sat down at her feet.

“Good boy,” she said softly, and laid a hand on his head, giving him an absent pat as she watched the stranger’s arrival.

The trail across the valley didn’t go anywhere except to their cabin, so whoever he was, he was obviously coming to see them.

Letty glanced back at the doorway.

“Stranger comin’,” she called.

Eulis was inside shaving when he heard Letty call out. He wiped the last of the shaving cream from his face and stepped outside.

“What did you say?” he asked.

She pointed across the valley.

“Stranger coming.”

Eulis strode across the yard, his steps slow and measured. When he got to Letty, he put his hand on her shoulder, never taking for granted his right to do so, and thought how pretty she was in the early morning light.

The tension in Letty’s body eased. As long as she had this man by her side she could face the world.

“He looks right poorly,” Eulis commented.

Letty nodded. The man was little more than a mirror image of the way the pup had looked upon his arrival. His clothes were in rags and his body was bone thin. Even though he was still a distance away, Letty could see the hollows beneath his eyes, and the sunken places in his cheeks.

“Is he packin’?” Letty asked.

Eulis squinted. “I can’t tell from here.”

“Better get the rifle, just in case,” Letty said.

Eulis stopped her.

“Just wait.”

Letty didn’t listen, but walked straight to the cabin, grabbed the rifle leaning against the wall inside the door, and walked back to where Eulis was standing.

“You don’t trust anyone, do you, girl?” Eulis asked.

“That’s not true,” Letty muttered. “I trust you.”

The pup whined.

She looked down at the dog and grinned.

“And maybe, T-Bone.”

At that point, they stopped talking and waited. The oddity of it was that the closer the stranger came, the more familiar he seemed to Eulis. It wasn’t so much that he recognized his facial features. It was more about the way his shoulders tilted just a tiny bit to the right, and how his fingers on his right hand curled slightly inward, like he was about to grab onto something important.

His hat was wide-brimmed and black, although it appeared more white than black from the dust covering the surface. His boots were as dusty as the hat and run-down at the heels, and he was sporting at least a week’s worth of whiskers.

All of a sudden, there was a hitch in Eulis’ breath.

Letty felt it, but before she could ask what was wrong, the stranger had arrived.

“Ma’am,” he said, and took off his hat as he acknowledged Letty’s presence.

Letty nodded back without speaking.

The stranger’s gaze immediately moved toward Eulis.

“Reckon you’d be Eulis Potter?”

Eulis nodded.

“They told me down in town that you might be hiring.”

Eulis exhaled slowly, as if he’d been holding his breath.

“I’m hiring miners.”

“I can do that,” the stranger said.

Letty saw Eulis’ eyes narrow. She knew something was up, but couldn’t tell if it was good or bad. She shifted her rifle to a more comfortable position and settled her hand right on the trigger—just in case.

The stranger saw her and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

“I mean no harm,” he said softly.

“Got a horse?” Eulis asked.

“Shot out from under me.”

“How did you come to Denver City?”

“I walked.”

“When did you last eat?” Eulis asked.

The stranger’s face turned red, as if he’d just been insulted. He hesitated answering, and then it seemed that hunger won out over pride.

“Maybe a day or two back.”

Eulis glanced at Letty.

Letty still didn’t know what Eulis was doing, but she recognized his intent and offered a meal.

“There’s biscuits and fatback left over from breakfast. I’ll heat up some coffee.”

Letty saw the man swallow, and knew it was pride that was going down with the spit.

“I’d be real thankful for the food,” he said.

“Eulis, maybe you could show him where to wash up,”