A Woman’s Touch
By Purple Lacey
Vin Tanner was a hunter, and a very accomplished one at that. He understood how prey thought and reacted. He could anticipate his quarry’s actions in a way that was almost uncanny.
A lot of his knowledge came from his own personal experience with being a hunted man. He had spent three years on the run for a crime he had not committed and only recently had the bounty on his head been revoked and he was able to stop looking over his shoulder. He had breathed the sweet air of freedom once again and relished it.
It was disconcerting to discover he was once again being hunted. The hunters this time were utterly ruthless, and without conscience. They were also wholly determined. Vin was not ashamed to admit he was running scared.
“Mr. Tanner,” Ezra’s voice reached the tracker as Vin slid inside the stable doors and hid behind a stack of hay bales right inside the entrance. “Whatever are you doing?”
Vin threw him a desperate look and made a slicing motion across his throat to indicate the need for silence. Ezra watched, amused, as the man tried to become a part of the wall behind him when the sound of feminine giggling was heard approaching the stables. The swishing of petticoats announced the arrival of two of the town’s unmarried ladies as they stopped for a moment in the doorway and looked in to the stable.
“Good day, Miss Amelia, Miss Jeannette,” Ezra said giving a small, gallant bow to the two young ladies standing there looking around inquiringly. “How are you lovely ladies this fine day?”
“Oh, good morning, Mr. Standish,” the blond haired Amelia Lovell said politely. “We are quite well, thank you.”
“Yes, good morning,” her brunette sister, Jeannette, replied absently as she craned her head this way and that looking around.
“May I be of assistance ladies?” Ezra inquired, his amusement at his friend’s expense expertly covered by a politely questioning look.
“Have you seen Mr. Tanner?” Amelia immediately asked. “We were wondering if he would like to join us for a picnic this afternoon. It’s such a lovely day that we thought it would be shame to waste it.”
Ezra assumed a mildly distressed look as he answered, “Alas, I’m afraid our dear tracker had some business that needed attending to this afternoon. I am very much afraid he will not be able to accept that so very gracious invitation. I’m sure he will be heartbroken when he hears he has had to forgo the delight of your company. Such a shame.”
Their two lovely faces pouted of a moment before Jeannette sighed and replied, “Oh well, we’ll just have to trap...ah... I mean invite him another time. Good day, Mr. Standish.”
Ezra tipped his hat as he replied, “Adieu, ladies,” and watched them walk away.
“I believe you may come out now,” Ezra said with a cheeky grin, “Your pursuers have moved on to other...pursuits.” He began laughing.
“It ain’t funny, Ezra!” Vin growled as he cautiously stood and stepped out from behind the hay. “I’ve been dodging women for damn near two weeks now. I can’t hardly step foot off my own front porch without trippin’ over some female or another. It’s down right embarrassin’. If it’s not the young one’s bothering me, then it’s the old ones. I swear if I hear how my house needs a woman’s touch or Buck needs a Mama one more time I’m gonna scream!
Ezra thumped the other man on the back and chuckled, “You must face the truth, my friend. You have become the prize catch in this town. You are a young, unmarried gentleman of property with a fine home, an adorable son, and money in the bank. Letting you remain single and unattached is an offense to the sensibilities of every woman in this territory. They will not rest until they see you properly shackled. You might as well accept your fate, and give in gracefully.”
Vin shoved at the laughing man making him stumble back a few steps.
“You ain’t helpin’,” Vin growled.
Ezra smirked and replied, “I thought i was very helpful, but if you prefer I can go and call the ladies back.”
“NO!” Vin yelled and grabbed at the gambler’s arm as he feigned walking out the door.
<<<<<<<< ψψψψ >>>>>>>>
Vin slipped in the back door of the saloon with a sigh of deep relief. He had used all his skill at moving quietly and discretely through the back alleys -- and even some of the backyards -- of Four Corners to reach this haven without falling under the watchful feminine eyes that were on the lookout for his carcass today.
Casting a cautious eye toward the saloon door and windows first, he walked over to the table that Chris Larabee had claimed as his own. The table that let the gunslinger, and leader of the band of peacekeepers, sit with his back to the wall and was positioned to allow him to view the front and back doors of the establishment without barriers.
Vin growled out a warning at the lopsided smirk that had formed on the older man’s face as the tracker slunk in.
“Looking a little harried there, Pard,” Larabee told him while he pushed an empty glass toward the longhaired blond and proceeded to fill it up from the almost full bottle of whiskey that sat in front of him.
“Not a word, Larabee.” Vin grabbed the glass up and slammed the shot back, ignoring the burn down his throat.
Chris grinned back at him. “Just wondered if you ran into any trouble on your patrol is all,” he said with patently false innocence.
Vin scowled. The fierce glare he threw the other man was hot enough to melt steel. Unfortunately it seemed to have no affect on Larabee.
Chris leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his own drink. “I saw the Widow Sanders this morning. She was looking for you. It appeared she had this apple cake that she had made for you and that “charming little boy” of yours. Seems to think you both need fattening up a mite.” His hazel eyes danced with humor as he informed the other man.
Vin couldn’t help the instinctive flinch as Larabee mentioned the widow who was a good ten years older than him and outweighed him but at least fifty pounds. The woman’s seemingly endless supply of badly seasoned, overcooked dishes had become the source of several nightmares over the last week for Tanner. The smitten woman, who had so obviously thrown her cap at the harried bachelor and sought to win his heart through his stomach, was a source of much merriment to his so called friends.
“Buck and I used her sugar cookies as targets for his slingshot lessons,” Vin injected indignantly, inwardly wincing at the whining tone that snuck into his voice, “They held together longer than the cans we were using.”
The unsympathetic Larabee laughed long and hard earning himself another scowl from Vin
“The damn saloon’s the only place I can get away from the females of this town. It’s enough to make a man want to lock himself in his house and never come out.” Vin grabbed at the bottle and helped himself to another shot.
“I wouldn’t count on that staying the case for long,” Chris warned him with another smirk. “From my experience, even respectable ladies will dare to breech those swinging doors when they’re properly motivated. And you sure do seem to be motivating them to beat the band right now.”
Vin groaned and let his forehead drop to the table top and then banged it a couple of times against the surface, his right hand still holding the shot glass in a tight, desparate fist. Larabee’s laughter rang out again.
“Just you wait, Larabee.” Vin looked at his laughing friend and glowered. “Wagon wheels travel in a circle, you know. One of these days, this one’s gonna come spinning right back around to you. When it rolls right over you and flattens you like a flapjack I’m gonna be laughin’ just as hard as you are now.”
His prophecy didn’t check the other’s man’s humor one bit.
Vin pushed back his chair and rose to his feet. “I’m gonna collect Buck and head back home,” Vin said in disgust.
“You goin’ out the front door this time?” the other man asked with amusement, wiping his eyes of the tears that had gathered from laughing so hard. Vin didn’t dignify the question with an verbal answer, but shot a rude sign at his friend that set the other man to laughing again.
Tanner headed for the saloon storeroom where Inez had been letting Buck take his nap while Vin did his afternoon patrol. He pushed the door open and entered quietly so he wouldn’t startle the boy if he was still sleeping. Inez was sitting in one of the saloon chairs she had pulled into the storeroom with a napping Buck held securely in her lap.
“Inez? You didn’t have to hold him all this time. That’s why I brought some blankets and made him a pallet over in the corner. I didn’t mean for you to have to do that,” Vin whispered contritely as he walked toward the woman.
Inez Recillos, manager of the saloon, smiled sheepishly at the concerned father and replied, “I know. To be honest, Señor Vin, I just like holding him. He is such a wonderful little boy, and so precious when he sleeps, that I could not resist. I hope you do not mind.”
Vin grinned. “I don’t mind, and I’m pretty sure Buck doesn’t either. I know what you mean about him being so cute when he sleeps. I’ve spent quite a few evenings just watching him do it, too.” The man shrugged. “He just gets to ya.”
Inez nodded and looked down at the child in her arms with a gentle, adoring gaze. “Si, that he does. He’s going to be a heartbreaker when he grows up.”
Vin stood looking down at Buck, his face softening with love for the young boy that had become his responsibility when he had promised the boy’s mother as she died that he would take care of him. The child had claimed a piece of his heart since the first moment he had run into him – literally-- in Tascosa. Now the black-haired, blue-eyed little rascal owned the whole thing, and Vin had never been happier.
Vin looked back at the woman apologetically and said, “We need to be getting back home.”
Inez sighed regretfully and nodded. She started to rise but Vin stopped her and lifted the sleeping child from her arms to cuddle him against his shoulder. Inez quickly gathered up the blankets Vin had brought and folded them before handing them to the tracker who draped them over his free arm.
“Thanks for looking after him for me, Inez,” Vin told her quietly.
Inez smiled and waved away his thanks. “I should be thanking you for leaving him here. I never smile as much or laugh as hard as when Buck is here. You know he is always welcome.”
Vin raised his blanket shrouded arm to tug at the brim on his hat in response before leaving the storeroom. Ignoring the black clad man watching him leave – through the front door, by gosh—Vin carried Buck from the saloon.
He turned toward the stables hoping to make it out of town without drawing the attention of any of Four Corners’ ladies, but his luck was running true to form. He heard Mary Travis call out to him as he passed the open door to her newspaper office.
“Vin!” the blond called hurriedly as she wiped an ink stain from her hand onto the leather apron that protected her dress. “May I have a word with you, please?”
Vin pulled up with a silent curse. Mary hurried out to join him.
“Something I can do for you, Mary?” Vin asked politely. He had to bite his tongue to keep the words he really wanted to say at the thwarting of his plan from escaping.
“I was wondering if I could get you to give me an interview for the paper.” Mary Travis smiled brightly as she suggested this. “I have had several requests. Most folks know so little about you about you or your life before you came to our town. I think it would make a wonderful edition to The Clarion News.”
Vin looked at her with something very close to horror. “I... I ... ah ... I can’t ... uh... I mean...That’s so,” he stammered trying to come up with a way to refuse without being rude. He started backing away warily.
Mary was a friend and he liked her a lot, but there was no way in hell he wanted his life spread out for the whole town to gawk at. He wasn’t comfortable with the idea at all. He would rather face a whole war party of furious Comanche while armed only with a spoon than spill his guts to Mary Travis so she could print it up in her newspaper.
Before he could manage to come up with an acceptable excuse, the afternoon stage rattled into town. The noise woke Buck who pushed back in his father’s arms with one hand while he rubbed at sleepy eyes with the other. Vin looked down at the boy as if seeing heaven’s salvation.
“Hey, buddy! Did you get a good nap?” Vin asked with a relived grin.
Buck looked at him blankly for a moment as the last cobwebs dissipated then smiled back. The little arms wrapped around Vin’s neck and squeezed.
“You’re back!” Buck said with bright happiness.
Vin returned the hug gladly and answered. “Yep. I did my patrol and got back to town while you were sleeping. Something tells me you’re not going to want to go to bed at the regular time tonight.” Vin poked a gentle finger into ticklish ribs as he said this and Buck squirmed away from the digit, giggling with delight.
“Vin?” Mary tried to get his attention again.
Vin turned to her quickly and tugged at his hat as a quick farewell and said, “Sorry, Mary. I really need to get Buck back home. I got some chores that won’t wait. I’ll see you later.” He spun on his heel and started up the boardwalk at a fast clip pretending not to hear the woman calling after him.
Vin had just pulled up even with the rapidly emptying stage coach when he felt Buck straighten in his arms and gasp. The man’s head whipped down to look at the child to find Buck’s attention focused on the stage coach.
Vin followed the boy’s gaze just as Buck yelled out. “Miz Molly!”
Vin stood, astonished, as the little grey-headed woman in a dust covered, faded brown dress and worn leather boots stepped down from the stage with the help of the driver and stood in the street looking up at the pair with a grin that split her wrinkled face.
“Well this sure does make things a whole lot easier for me,” the woman said. “I was sure I was gonna have to go looking through half the country before I managed to hunt you down, but here you are. It’s gotta be some kinda sign. Now I know I made the right choice.”
Vin set Buck on his feet when he began to determinedly wiggle to get down. The boy raced down the steps and threw himself at the old woman’s knees. The force would have knocked the old woman onto her backside in the street if the coach driver hadn’t managed to grab her elbow to steady her. Vin leapt off the boardwalk after his son and folded the old woman into his arms in as eager a greeting as Buck’s.
He could hardly believe his own eyes. The old woman had come to mean a lot to him in the short time he had known her. The last time he had seen this woman he was getting ready to leave Tascosa behind and all the rotten memories it held. He had departed the town for what he thought was only going to be a few hours but due to unforeseen circumstances had never gotten the chance to return. He had meant to give her a proper farewell but the situation had demanded he, Buck and Chris set out for Four Corners without returning to the dusty Texas town. Only Ezra had gone back and even then only long enough to explain what had happened to Molly and collect their own and Buck’s belongings before stealing away again. Vin had regretted not being able to tell the feisty old saloon cook goodbye, but Buck’s safety had come first. Now there she stood, and Vin was so excited he didn’t know if he could string two words together coherently.
“Miz Molly! What are you doin’ here. Is everything alright?”
“Ever’thing’s fine,” she assured him. “Well, it will be. I got a story to tell. I just need a chance to settle in somewhere and then I’ll be telling it. They got a hotel in this here town?”
“They do, but you won’t be staying in it,” Vin stated leaving no room for argument. “Not when Buck and me got empty bedrooms just crying out for somebody to stay in ‘em. You’re coming home with us.”
“I reckon that sounds like a right kind invitation,” the woman grinned. “Thank you.”
Vin grinned and handed the blankets he was carrying to the woman. “If you’ll hold these for me I’ll see to your bags. I’ll go borrow a buggy and then we’ll head for home.” Vin stopped and swept the woman up for another hug all of a sudden. “You’re sure a sight for sore eyes,” he told her with touching sincerity shining on his face. “I’m so glad you came.”
The old woman sniffed to hold back the tears that threatened at the reception she had received and answered. “So am I, boy. So am I. Now what say you get my bags off of that stage before they take off for San Francisco on their own.”
Vin laughed and flashed her an appreciative grin then followed instructions and helped the driver to unload the three battered bags she had brought with her. Then he hurried off to the livery stable.
“Miz Molly! Miz Molly,” Buck yelled, bouncing in excitement at the woman’s feet and tugging on her skirts to get her attention. “Guess what! We gots our own house! And we gots our own barn, and our own cow, and our own horse. Well, Papa has a horse. He says I’m too little for one, but he’s gonna get me one when I’m bigger but I don’t know how much bigger I gots to be before I get one but Papa says he’ll let me know as soon as I get there and then he’s gonna get me a big splashy colored one, only Papa says that’s call a paint, but I don’t know why they call them that cause Uncle Chris says they ain’t really painted, not with real paint like Uncle ‘Siah uses on the church but Uncle ‘Siah says that’s just the name they gave ‘em cause they was painted with God’s paintbrush. I didn’t know God gots a paintbrush but Uncle ‘Siah said he does so he must have.”
The woman watched with affection as the excited child stopped to draw in a quick breath. This was the boy that she has missed like her own flesh and blood for the last few months. Seeing that little face alight with joy and happiness fill those crystal blue eyes was worth every mile of the grueling trip up from Texas. Hearing that little voice again filled her old heart with peace.
The lively reception had not gone unnoticed by the rest of the town and especially its protectors. Chris and Ezra approached readily when they saw who their friend was greeting. Nathan, JD, and Josiah were a bit more circumspect, letting the others approach the old woman and waiting patiently for an introduction.
“Miss Molly, as I live and breathe!” Ezra approached the woman and took her hand, graciously bowing over it as if she were royalty. “Greetings. Dear lady! Please let me escort you off this dusty street. You must be exhausted from your journey. Allow me to assist you to someplace more comfortable.”
“Appreciate the sentiment,” Molly assured him gruffly. “But Vin is gonna bring around a buggy and then we’re takin’ off for his house. He was nice enough to issue an invite to stay there.”
“Miz Molly,” Chris approached and dipped his hat respectfully then smiled. “It’s good to see you again. What brings you to our neck of the woods? Nothing bad I hope?”
Both Chris and Ezra had become fond of the old lady whose crotchety exterior hid a kind and generous heart.
The old woman shook her head. “Not quite sure how to answer that one. Like I done told Vin, I got a story to tell, but,” the woman looked the gunfighter squarely in the eye as she replied, “there’s no trouble followin’ me, if ya know what I mean.”
Larabee nodded his understanding. Molly had just let him know that none of the men that Buck’s grandfather or uncle had hired to find him was likely to be suspicious of her leaving Tascosa and coming to Four Corners.
She had known Buck and his mother before Vin had ever met them. Molly was one of the few people that knew that Buck was not Vin’s natural son. She knew the full story of the boy’s background and the danger that hung over his young head like a Damocles sword.
Buck had been fathered by a wealthy man’s son. Buck’s father, Beau Chesterton, had never let anyone know of his marriage to Emma, Buck’s mother, or of Buck’s birth while he had been alive. It was only after his death and his will had been read that Buck’s paternal relatives had discovered his existence.
The grandfather had wanted to find Buck to raise him up to follow in his father’s footsteps. His Uncle Charles was too greedy to share the grandfather’s fortune and just wanted Buck dead. Vin had promised Emma that he would never let either of them get their hands on Buck, and Vin’s fellow peacekeepers had vowed to do likewise.
“Brothers,” Josiah’s resonant voice broke into the silence that had fallen as the woman’s declaration. “Perhaps you might make some introductions?”
“Certainly, certainly,” Ezra stepped forward still smiling. “Miss Molly, may I introduce Mr. Josiah Sanchez, Mr. Nathan Jackson, and Mr. John Dunne, known to his friends as JD. Gentlemen, Miss Molly Vickers.”
The others responded to the introduction with polite nods and words.
“Miss Molly hails from Texas,” Ezra continued, “and is a friend of our inimitable tracker and young Buck. Mr. Larabee and I were most honored to make the lady’s acquaintance on our sojourn to Tascosa. The lady is a true artiste of the first water in the kitchen. Heaven’s ambrosia is a constant fixture at her table, I can assure you with complete honesty.”
“You’re anglin’ for another peach pie, aren’t ya?” Molly looked knowingly at the gambler who grinned, not even trying to refute the accusation.
With a rattle of harness and wheels, Vin pulled up in a buggy he had rented from Tiny, and tied the reins around the buggy whip. His horse was tied to the back of the buggy. He hopped down lithely and hurried toward the waiting woman and his son.
“We’re all set, Miz Molly,” Vin assured her as he started hoisting her bags into the back of the buggy.
Buck grabbed Molly’s hand and began dragging her toward the vehicle. “You’ll like our house, Miz Molly. It’s real big and we gots lots of beds, and they’re all real soft. And we gots a real good rockin’ chair that Papa and me rock in every evening before I go to bed. And we gots a front porch that’s real good for sitting and watching the grass grow after a long day , at least Papa says it is, but I don’t see why anybody would want to sit and watch grass grow cause it’s boring, but Papa says someday I’ll understand.” The child shrugged his shoulders in patient acceptance of this kind of adult absurdity. “We gots to get home so Papa and me can milk Wilbert. That’s our cow. She’s a real good cow. She gives lots of milk.
And we gots to feed Papa’s horse ‘Tillo, too, though usually she doesn’t eat much at night after she’s been in the livery in town for awhile cause Tiny and Yosemite feed her there and spoil her rotten Papa says.
You can come watch us do the chores if you want to. Or you can go ‘xplorin’ the house if you want. It’s got lots of interestin’ stuff to see. Did you know we gots our own pump that brings water right into the kitchen? We don’t gots to go to the well like you had to back at the saloon.
And you know what? I gots my own horse, kinda. His name’s Magic but he don’t go anywhere cause he’s made of wood. Papa and Uncle ‘Siah and Uncle Ezra made him for me. I’ll show ya when we get home. You can ride him if you want.”
The men listening to the child were grinning like the indulgent uncles they were at his lightening fast recitation. Molly wasn’t fazed by it as she had gotten used to Buck’s habit of talking at break-neck speed when he was excited during the time the boy and his mother had been living in the saloon where she worked.
“Maybe I’ll just stay in the house and see about whipping up some vittles for us all,” the woman offered. Buck’s face lit up with anticipation.
“You will not,” Vin called as he hoisted the last bag onto the buggy and hurried around to where Molly was now standing with Buck at the side of the conveyance. Vin reached out a hand to help Molly climb into the buggy as he said firmly, “You just got off the stage after a long trip. There’s no way I’m letting you wear yourself out cooking for us after that. Besides you’re our guest. As much as I know we would enjoy any meal you put on the table, we’ll just have to make do with my cooking tonight.”
“I’d be willing to lend a hand with that, Brother Vin, if you don’t mind having an extra place set at your table,” Josiah offered.
He was curious to meet this wizened woman who had captured the affections of his fellow peacekeepers so thoroughly. He also wanted to hear exactly what had caused her to seek out Vin and Buck. He didn’t think she was the kind to deliberately bring trouble down on his friend’s head, but he didn’t want to chance Vin’s or Buck’s safety on his gut feelings. He wanted to be there when that woman got around to telling her story.
“If I might be so bold,” Ezra stepped forward with a smile. “I would be honored to procure a sufficient quantity of the succulent roast beef that is the claim to fame of the restaurant in our municipality if you would allow me to join the festivities this evening.” Ezra wanted to hear what Molly had to say as well.
“I’ll bring the potatoes,” JD offered hurriedly, not wanting to be left out.
“If you don’t mind the extra company, Vin, I think we’ll take care of dinner tonight,” Chris broke in authoritatively, one raised eyebrow silently questioning if the tracker minded them horning in on his reunion with the old saloon cook. “You could just concentrate on getting Miz Molly settled in and leave the meal to us.”
Vin’s grin let them all know they were more than welcome. “Sounds like a plan to me,” Vin said with relief. He knew he was a passable cook, but he was not anywhere near Molly’s level. He was glad the woman would have a decent meal after her long trip.
With the dinner arrangements in place, Vin tossed Buck up to sit beside Molly on the buggy seat then climbed up after him and untied the reins. He grasped them securely in his hands then paused before urging the horses forward.
“We’ll see you boys at the house,” he said and dipped his head to the watching peacekeepers then flicked the reins and the buggy pulled away.
“You heard the man,” Chris said turning to the others. “Let’s get a move on.”
As a group, the men headed for the restaurant arguing over who was going to provide what dish for the meal.
<<<<<<<< ψψψψ >>>>>>>>
The stars were just starting to be visible in the darkening sky as the sun went down while the peacekeepers sat comfortably in the chairs on Vin’s front porch after dinner. Vin had helped Molly into a chair, her old bones having gotten a bit stiff from sitting for so long in the badly sprung stage coach. He had gotten her settled then found his own chair and allowed Buck to crawl into his lap. He wrapped his arms securely around the boy and sighed in contentment.
“Thank you boys again for that fine meal,” Vin said looking around at his friends with gratitude. “I appreciate it.” The man waited a beat then continued with a grin, “And I’m sure Molly appreciates that she didn’t have to eat my cookin’.” The others laughed with the tracker.
“It was excellent fare, indeed,” Ezra observed, “but it in no way compares with your own culinary genius, Miss Molly.”
Molly grinned at the gambler and shook her head at his flattery. “Thanks for the grub, boys. It filled the hollow in my stomach real good.”
The group sat enjoying the cool evening air and watching the brilliant sunset being painted in front of them for a few minutes before Molly broke the silence. “I reckon it’s about time to tell that story I promised.”
The men straightened in their chairs and turned attentively to the woman.
“Well it all began about a month ago,” Molly began. “The weather was turning bad, real bad. The sky was getting that green glow that always signals when things a gonna be their worst, you know what I mean?”
The woman looked toward Vin. He nodded his understanding. He had learned at his mother’s knee to be cautious when the Texas sky took on that pale green tint to which Molly referred. Some of the most frightening memories of his childhood had begun with the very phenomenon of which she spoke.
Molly continued, “Well, it was a Wednesday morning, and the sky was already getting green when I got up that mornin’. I took one look at the sky and almost crawled back into bed and pulled the covers over my head, but I had people to feed so I didn’t. Anyway, along about ten o’clock I started hearing this loud hissing sound that grew into a roar loud enough to split you head open just from the sound of it.
These old bones have been through a lot in their time. I knowed a twister when I heard one, so I hightailed it out of the kitchen right away, leaving the pots and pans right where they were, and headed to the root cellar behind the saloon.
It was the scariest thing I can ever remember. Things were shaking and for a minute there I was afraid the cellar doors were gonna be pulled right off their hinges, but, thanks be to the good Lord, they held. I kinda lost track of time so I don’t know how long I was down there but it eventually got quiet again.
I waited a spell to make sure it was really over then went to leave. I had a hard time getting the cellar doors open at first cause something had landed across ‘em but eventually I managed to get one open enough to squeeze out.
I hardly recognized the town, I got to tell you. Half the buildings were gone, including the saloon, and the other half were looking pretty beaten up. People were wanderin’ around lookin’ like they was in a dream, all dazed like. Couldn’t hardly blame ‘em none.
Anyway, my boss took one look at the pile of boards that used to be his saloon and decided it wasn’t worth trying to rebuild it. He headed back east, so I was out of a job.
Nobody else in the town would hire me, either because of not being able to afford it with having to pay to rebuild their place, or because I had been working in a saloon and wasn’t respectable enough to work in a regular house.” The last was said with scorn dripping from every word.
“I knew I couldn’t stay there no more, so once they got the telegraph operatin’ again I wired my sister Emily in Frisco.
I really hated having to do that ‘cause the good Lord never made anybody more holier-than-thou than my sister. She’s the most tiresome body to live with, let me tell you.
Well, she wired me back to come on out and live with her and her husband. So, I packed up what all of my stuff I could round up after the twister, and got on a stage for Frisco. I got as far as the city limits when it occurred to me that you and little Buck was almost on the way to Frisco so I decided to take a little side trip to come see you.”
The woman looked at Vin and he could see a wariness darken her eyes before she took a deep breath and finally got to the point of her visit. “ I was wonderin’ if you might have need of someone to cook for ya, and help ya look after little Buck. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to come a callin’ and ask.”
Vin hardly let her get the words out before he was answering. “YES! Yes, yes, yes! If you think I’d turn down the best peach pie in the whole country you’re crazy! Consider yourself hired! We’ll work out your wages later. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
Molly smiled and relaxed. It appeared she had been worried for nothing. To her very great relief, it looked like she wasn’t going to have to rely on her sister’s heavy-handed charity after all. Life was definitely looking up.
“I would like to extend my own offer of employment,” Ezra said while casting a teasing look at the suddenly frowning tracker. “Our Mr. Tanner will no doubt soon be taking a wife if the good ladies in our community have anything to do with it. I would hazard to say that my offer would hold a great deal more in the area of job security under the circumstances.”
The other men laughed at the blushing tracker. “I done told you I ain’t marryin’ anybody! And stop trying to hire Miz Molly away. You don’t even have a house to put her in!”
“A situation that could be remedied in a matter of days,” Ezra informed him with a mischievous grin.
Molly laughed at the irritated look on the tracker’s face. “So the females in this town have got your scent, have they? They running ya to ground?”
Vin nodded and gave her a pitiful look. “I can’t hardly stick my nose out of my own front door with one or another of them on my trail.”
Molly reached over and patted the man’s arm. “I think we can take care of that for you.”
Vin looked at her with sudden hope. “You really think so? I would be in your debt forever if you could do that, Miz Molly.”
“Don’t have to go that far. Yep, I know exactly the way those kinda women think. I’m pretty sure I know a way to put off those would-be brides and their mama’s,” the woman assured him confidently. “We’ll have to go into town and do some shopping, visit a few other places, but I think we can take care of the problem for you.
If I drop a word about how devoted you were to Buck’s Mama and how bad her passing affected you...,” The woman looked at the man cannily, “Well, I think I can get ‘em to see that not only are you not over her yet, but that you’d seriously frown on anybody that tried to take her place and be so upset you’d never be able to look at that female as a possible wife in the future when you was ready.”
“Whatever you say!” Vin told her with enthusiasm. “You just tell me what to do and I’ll do it. Anything to get them ladies to leave me in peace again.”
“It’s a deal then. I’ll make breakfast in the morning, then we’ll head into to town. Shouldn’t take long for word to get around.”
“I just want you to know that my offer was an honest one,” Ezra threw in. “If you should ever find yourself unhappy in your employment with Mr. Tanner, please, be assured that you always have an alternative open.”
“It’s always nice to be wanted, I reckon,” Molly said complacently.
“You just go find your own cook and leave mine alone, Standish!” Vin looked at the gambler with a scowl.
Ezra grinned back at him unrepentantly.
“You know Miss Molly,” Vin said looking at the gambler with a cagey look crossing his face, “Maybe the best way to get them women off my tail is to point ‘em in someone else’s direction. It just occurred to me that Ezra here does seem to make a darn good living. He always seems to have plenty of money. I mean, you just heard how he was just bragging on being able to buy a house whenever he wanted. You think the ladies could be made to see him as a better catch than me?”
Ezra sat up in his chair and began to look alarmed.
“You wouldn’t dare!” he gasped.
Vin smiled evilly.
Molly chuckled and played along with Vin. “You know, that just might work.”
“My dear lady! Surely you wouldn’t...”
Molly’s laughter stopped his pleading. The other men started laughing, too. Ezra looked embarrassed to have fallen for the woman’s joke, but relieved as well.
“Well if you fellers don’t mind, I think I’ll turn in for the night. It’s been a long day for me.” The men rose politely to their feet and called their goodnights.
Buck hopped off Vin’s lap and rushed over to grab the woman’s hand. “I’ll show you to your room, Miz Molly. It’s downstairs close to Papa’s room. That way you don’t have to climb the stairs all the time.”
Buck chattered away to the woman as he led her inside. Molly listened to him patiently.
Vin watched them go and sighed with contentment. He had a much better attitude about tomorrow. He had not only acquired a great cook but also someone to help him care for Buck that shared his adoration for the child. And his problems with husband hunting women were fixing to be solved.
Vin sat back in his chair and stretched his leg out in front of him, crossing them at the ankles. He slumped in his chair comfortably and placed his linked hands behind his head.
For the first time in weeks he breathed easy. Things had started to turn around and were definitely looking up with Miss Molly’s arrival. He chuckled to himself as he acknowledged that all those old biddies in town had been right. All he really needed was a woman’s touch. Thank God for Texas Twisters!
The End.
4/10/05