| Chapter 5 |
| "Good morin� Ms. Christina, Ms. Rachel." "Mornin� Mr. Jacob." "You ladies off to the drug store?" "Yes sir. Quite a lovely day, huh Mr. Jacob?" "Yes ma�am it surely is. Ya know, I have a small question for ya�ll. How is that such lovely young belles such as yourselves are in that there business? Why, I�m almost certain ya�ll could land any man you wanted." Christina laughed and I simply smiled. "Here in Tombstone Mr. Jacob, the men are either outlaws or lawmen. Neither one we choose to live with the rest of our lives. Sides, we�re women, forced to earn a living somehow or other at a tender age. Why, take me and my sisters, Annie and Mary. Our family died in a fire just a few years ago. None of us were old enough to get married, yet we had to live somehow. And Jane, innocent, young Jane. Why, her father is a cruel man. Drinks and gambles away all their money. She�s stuck workin� like this to pay off his debts. As for sweet Rachel over there, why, her husband died, leavin� behind no money for her. So, Mr. Jacob, we did the best thing we know how to do, become Soiled Doves." "And you�re the top of the town." Christina smiled yet it left as a young female marched by, her nose caught up in the air. "Ya know Mrs. Fellowstine, I�m sure if you got your little nose much farther up, something just might fly and land on it." "Why the nerve!" "Don�t look down on us simply because we tend to please your husband more than you ever will. Good day Mrs. Fellowstine, Mr. Jacob," I said, nodding my head toward the older man yet again. Christina slapped her fan open and covered her smile. "That was plain mean Rachel." "Oh, but it�s simply the truth darlin�. That�s one woman I will gladly make mad." "Watch out for her though. Get her on that laudanum long enough, she�ll come causin� trouble with that six shooter her husband has." "She can met up with the rifle I have tucked away in my closet. We�ll see who can get the first shot off." Christina smiled and walked into the drug store, purchasing the few items we needed. "Did I tell you I saw Mrs. Fellowstine today Jane? And Rachel was utterly cruel to her. Why, Mrs. Fellowstine stuffed her nose even higher in the air." The ladies shared a laugh as they cleaned the dinner dishes. |
| "I don�t know what�s gotten to our fellow gals, but something is amiss." "Why do you such a thing sugar?" "Mary and Annie look nothing like themselves Christina. They seem, I don�t know, they�re just not the same girls I know. As for Rachel, honey, she didn�t even know why we needed Vinegar." "But she knew Mrs. Fellowstine. I think she just hit her head rather hard and it knocked some sense out of her. She�s comin� around mighty fine. Look, here shortly the gang will stop by and all will be fine. She�ll be pleasin� those men." "Men?" "Ringo is not her only fan sugar. Just by far the most important one. Oh, I didn�t tell you who else I saw. Mr. Jacob." "He is such a nice old man. What did he say to you today?" "Asked why we were in this God forsaken business. Said were young and pretty belles that we could land any man. But who wants to marry an outlaw or a lawman? Your either scared one�s getting hauled off to jail or laying dead somewhere. Or your scared that he�s out protectin� somethin� that�s goin� get him into trouble!" Jane laughed but nodded her head. "Though, I�d rather have me an outlaw any day. They surely know how to please their women." Christina slapped the younger girl gently on her arm. "My dear young girl, sometimes I wonder if that innocent look isn�t all an act." Jane glanced at her friend from the corner of her eye. "Who�s to say? Though, I certainly attract myself a larger number of guys with that act." Christina gasped at the younger girl and broke into a fit of giggles. |
| "You guys are bad." The two young girls and smiled at Annie. "We�re not persay." "Well, no, we get paid well enough, I guess we�re good." Annie shook her head at her sister�s comments. "How you feelin� sister?" "I�m fine Christina. Just a little tired. I need a break from all this for a night or two." "Billy getting rather tough." "Curly Bill is never tough. Gentle, actually." The two young girls simply rolled their eyes. "He is! Just more demandin� than most." They shared a laugh and groaned as they heard the soft knock on their door. "I suppose I can get it." "Stay Annie, I�ll get it sugar," I called into the kitchen. I lifted my skirt a little over my knees as I walked down the rest of the stairs and opened the door, seeing some young gentleman out there. "Pardon me ma�am, are ya�ll the Wild Gals?" "Yes sir. What can I do for you?" "My name is Howie ma�am. This is my gang, so to speak. We just needed a decent place to catch a quick meal, no questions asked." "Well, Mr. Howie, I suppose we can whip something up for you and your men. Come on in." I stepped aside as the rest of the men followed him in. "Ladies," I hollered. I watched as Jane, Christina and Annie came from the kitchen and Mary come from the pallor. "This is Mary. And Annie, Jane and Christina and I�m Rachel." "Pleasure ladies. This is Nick, Kevin, Brian, Alex, and I�m Howie." "And you wanted a hot meal sugar?" Howie just nodded his head at Annie. "We�ll make something right up." The guys smiled, tipped their hats and followed Annie into the kitchen. I smiled at Mary. "What?" "New men." "No questions." "Don�t want to ask, just wanna do." Mary laughed and shook her head, following the crowd into the kitchen. |
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