After that, it would be a matter of waiting until the water began to recede. Instead, it was raining again.
He looked up at the sky, squinting against the rain drops peppering against his face. Only God knew how this all would end.
Letty woke up with a start and glanced toward the window as she sat up. It was still raining.
“Eulis.”
Eulis woke abruptly.
“Hmm? What? Is ever’thing okay?”
Letty frowned.
“No. It’s still raining.”
Eulis threw back the covers and sat up, then rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he, too, looked toward the window.
“Yep. So it appears.”
“I think we just made a mistake building this house,” Letty muttered.
Eulis frowned. “How so, honey?”
“We should have built ourselves an ark, instead.”
Eulis grinned. He got the biblical reference quickly.
“Don’t worry, we’re safe and sound up here.”
“I’m not worrying about us. I’m worrying about what’s going to happen to the town below. If everything floods, then that might mean the end of the gold strike, and if that happens, people will begin leaving. I’ve seen it before. We’ll wind up living in this big old house without another living soul within a hundred miles except critters and Indians.”
Eulis lifted an eyebrow. “Well, that’s a pretty drastic statement. If I was you, I wouldn’t set myself up for Denver City turning into a ghost town just yet. The rain will stop. It has to.”
“But the claims along Cherry Creek are ruined.”
Eulis nodded. “Yeah. I thought about that myself.”
“That could put us in danger,” Letty muttered.
“How so?” Eulis asked.
“Think about it,” Letty said. “If you’re starving to death and your gold claim just went downstream with the flood, then there will be some who’ll look to where gold is still intact. That means people like us. Mining isn’t the same as panning. I’m afraid for you.”
Eulis leaned over and kissed the top of her head.
“I’ll be fine,” he said. “Remember, we’ve got Robert Lee.”
“He can’t be everywhere at once,” Letty muttered.
“Stop fussin’,” Eulis said, and then sniffed the air. “I smell coffee brewin’. Seems like our cook might be earnin’ her keep.”
Letty watched Eulis crawl out of their bedrolls and dress quickly, combing his hair with his fingers as he walked out of the room. He was probably going outside to relieve himself. She needed to go, too, but wasn’t in the mood to get soaked. Still, until their furniture arrived with all the accessories that came with it, like slop jars and wash stands, she didn’t have any other options.
Muttering as she dressed, she opted for her boots, rather than the slippers she liked to wear around the house. No need to get her slippers all wet and muddy when she had to go out. She dug through their trunk until she found a clean shirt to go with yesterday’s pants, and dressed without fuss. By the time she got downstairs, her stomach was growling from the enticing scents coming from the parlor. If she wasn’t mistaken, she smelled frying fatback and hot biscuits.
She paused outside the doorway to the parlor and peeked in. Alice Mellin was bent over the fireplace, poking at the fire with a poker.
“Morning, Alice,” Letty said.
Alice looked up.
“Oh! Good Morning, Ma’am. Breakfast is—”
Letty frowned.
“Not ma’am… Letty… please.”
Alice flushed. “Yes, ma—… I mean, Letty.”
“Something sure smells good,” Letty said.
Alice beamed in spite of herself.
“Thank you. It’s ready when you are.”
“I’ll be right back,” Letty said.
Alice went back to her cooking, while Letty made a run for the back door. They’d dug a well and built an outhouse before they’d dug footing for the house, and that was where she headed. At the time, it had seemed reasonable to put it a distance away from the back door, but this morning she was doubting the wisdom. Still, no one wanted to be greeted with the scent of an outhouse while enjoying the view. There was nothing to be done but make a run for it.
She noticed as she stepped off the porch that T-Bone was already there, nosing around the outhouse door. She hoped a skunk hadn’t taken shelter from the weather where she intended to pee.
Water splashed up on the legs of her pants as she ran, while the falling rain dampened her long, curly hair and poured down the back of her neck. By the time she made it to the outhouse, she was soaked. T-Bone was whining and woofed softly as she reached for the door.
“Is it a skunk?” she asked.
The pup didn’t have much to say on the subject other than