Marshall Santos is kneeling down beside a grave marker in Boot Hill Cemetery just outside Dodge City. He mulls over a few things.
"Around Dodge City and in the western territories, there is just one way to handle all the killers and the spoilers, and that is with a U.S. Marshall and the smell of gun smoke. This is Mannysmoke, the transcribed story of the violence that moved west with young America and the story of a man who moved with it. I am that man, Danny "Matt Dillion" Santos, United States Marshall. Out here, I remind myself of how violence always ends, buried in the rim of a nation on the edge of the wild frontier. Some were slaughtered aimlessly, the rest I killed. I'm a lawman and a US Marshall. Law comes hard to the frontier and men like these did not want it. And there are more men alive today who will come to Dodge City that do not want it. They are the drifters and the lawless and they have to be dealt with. I am the first man they look for and the last one they want to meet. It is a chancy job, it makes a man watchfuland a little bit lonely.
Ray pulled Cassie out of Buzz Cooper's dry goods store and down the street towards Matt Reardon's livery stables. Confused, she pulled on Ray's hand and asked him to halt. She motioned him over to one of the town's small private gardens. Once there she asked him what was troubling him.
"Ray I have seen you brand cattle, face a raging steer not one foot away from you and I have seen you break a green horse all with less fear than that which I see in your eyes right now. What is going on, can you think about telling me? I really need to go back to the dry goods store and give Michelle a gift; will you wait for me at the hotel? I will meet you at the livery in a quarter of an hour."
Santos appreciated her not pushing him on this, she obviously knew there was something seriously wrong but in her way she was giving him time to piece it together and tell her at his own pace. What had he ever done to deserve this woman in his life, but what's more what could he do to keep her? After a brief pause, Ray said, "Cassie that is a good idea, I've got some business over at Savings R Us, I'll see you at Miss Vicki's dining room in a few minutes." He drew her close then, almost breaching the grounds of proprietary in this small city, "I love you Cassie, more than my life itself, I surely do."
Cassie was befuddled; the rancher cowboy she married was always a surprise to her but this new torrent of anger and confusion took her aback. Ray was always dependable he had never been rough with her, she was sure it would all work out in the end. Tonight, he would tell her tonight when they were in bed nestled together with the dogs at the foot of the bed.
She called out to her new relation, Michelle Bauer Santos. "Michelle, I've a gift for you. Buzz Cooper just gave it to me. I ordered this little piece of lace when I first met Ray here in Dodge. You will soon see how I could not possibly fit into this little bit of nothing right now," and Cassie once again patted her tummy. Cassie was the epitome of a woman completely in love with her husband and it seemed to an envious Michelle that Ray returned those same feelings to Mrs. Ray Santos tenfold.
Michelle opened the box and slowly looked around to see if anyone was watching. Then opening the box, she retrieved a beautiful lace nightgown; it was very delicate with bows up the front and ruffled sleeves. Even in the glow of candlelight, this fragile material would show Danny Santos every thing that the good lord gave her. She felt she should refuse but it was so beautiful, she realized with a great deal of modesty that the only thing which would keep the gown together were the blue ribbons which tied every 3 inches down the front of the gown.
"Cassie, I cannot take this, Danny and I have not even been intimate yet. It is not appropriate, as you know we are planning an annulment."
"Michelle, I think you are a little idiot to be honest. Any woman married by whatever luck in the world or dealt aces as you have been from God's little deck of cards would be a fool not to consummate as soon as possible. Take the gown. Wear it in my honor sweet girl; please reconsider the attitude you have about Danny giving up his career, his life choice. I mean for God's sake look at the man, Michelle, how have you been chaste this long?"
"Cassie supposing that Danny and I do choose to have um er relations, how can I prevent, um, what can I do so I do not get with child right away?"
"Well, honey, look at me," Cassie patted her growing belly, "I am the last person you should think of asking that question."
Vanessa, Eleni and Colonel Dax's wife moseyed over to where the two new young brides stood chatting. Eleni said, "Do you two need some advice from us women folk?"
Cassie blurted out, "Michelle wants to know what to do in order not to become heavy with child."
Eleni laughed, "Well they say you cannot get pregnant the first time you are with a man. But that is an old wife's tale, I know because that is the night when Frank and I conceived Marina."
Cassie smiled knowingly indicating to Michelle that Cassie believed this was when her time had come as well. Michelle looked to Vanessa and Mrs. Dax. The latter lady,shook her head and said, "Guilty as charged ma'am."
Vanessa stopped for a minute to compose her thoughts, "Michelle, I believe I was given the gift on my wedding night as well. It was unfortunate, not because I had Bill Junior poor misbegotten boy that he is, but I believe if I'd waited, the marriage would have been annulled saving so much pain and heartache for Bill's father and myself. Oh excuse me dear, I should not have mentioned annulment to you."
Then stopping herself once again but then forging ahead, Vanessa said, "You know after that first time, I did always use something for protection during the eight years Bill Senior and I stayed together, that was before Bill Junior's papa took to drinking that grain alcohol and potato vodka. I went to see several of the women in town and they helped me with a remedy. I would suggest you go see Mrs. Drew Kitty or Mrs. Selena Davis. Both ladies are reliable. I just saw both of them having tea and cakes over at the hotel dining room. Perhaps you can catch them."
Cassie said, " I am going there too Michelle, let us walk together arm in arm like sisters for that is how I see us now."
Michelle saw Selena and Mrs. Drew Kitty gorging on pastries. Cassie quietly approached the women first and then motioned Michelle over. Drew Kitty spoke first, "I would be glad to help you Michelle, Marshall Santos, your new husband is one of my oldest friends in this town. He helped me see that I was a good businessperson and now I just run my saloon. I am forever grateful to him. It is a real asset to be able to make your way in this world without the help of a man. I will write down the instructions and send one of my runners over to your hotel with the package. Be sure, to follow the instructions to the letter, and do not use it until your maidenhead has been breached the first time. After that with proper care, you only need replace the sponge once or twice a month. Keep it clean and soaking in vinegar. It is one of the best sea sponges available for purchase. I order mine from Tarpon Springs in Florida. Michelle do not be embarrassed about this, you have your teacher's contract to fulfill, you should not conceive a child right now."
Selena Davis sat squirming in her seat, she obviously had been biting her tongue during this discourse. Finally she could sit still no longer, "Honey with a man like Daniel Santos you had best be careful, a man like that could plant his seed in a woman from 20 paces just by staring at her with those deep dark eyes of his."
Ray walked over to the bank. He saw the man he was looking for and they began a heated discussion over the where's, why's and how's of their usual transactions over the last few years. Then Danny Santos, Dodge City's Marshall walked into the bank and both men grew silent. Ray pulled Danny off to the side and started to ruminate about idle chitchat.
Danny obviously nonplused at this feeble maneuver to throw him off the scent of some suspicious activity, shook his head at Ray and said "Ray your bride is waiting for you over at the hotel, I just saw her with my wife. You'd best head on back to your ranch, you sure were in a hurry before."
When Ray Santos took his leave, Danny spoke with two of the tellers and then with Ben Warren himself. Warren was giving nothing up, that was for sure. Still the Marshall quizzed him on the usual comings, goings, and deliveries of gold and monies via the stage and the new railroad service. He took his leave of the bank personnel and walked over to Mrs. Drew Kitty's saloon. Once there he ordered a boilermaker from Sam the trusty old bartender. Sam was a taciturn man preferring to write his thoughts in a column he contributed to Mrs. Holly Reid's weekly tabloid. Sam was sad of late; it was obvious Mrs. Holly and Mr. Alan Spaulding, the original Rancherinoo were carrying on to beat all get out. Sam uttered one thought that day a few weeks ago when he knew for sure that Holly's love for him was gone forever, "That Alan couldn't track a bed-wagon through a bog-hole. His family tree is a shrub!" Of course, Santos did not understand this, the colloquial sayings of people who traveled and settled out west always boggled him and Sam was in a sense no different from his deputy. Yep, Jesse would say that Sam was just plain unlucky at love, or in Jesse speak he'd say "That Sam couldn't hit the ground with his hat in three throws." This Dodge City was one crazy town that was for sure.
He sat and mulled on things for a bit. Ray was acting somewhat odd of late. Sure, he had married Cassie; a fact odd in itself but when he found out Cassie was with child he couldn't stop bragging about it to everyone. Before Ray had always been a rough and tumble kind of person, a drifter, a love 'em and leave 'em type and the women surprisingly loved him so much that they always forgave him. Ray had also been extremely careful of planting his seed in a woman, he didn't want any little babies running around was how he always put it to Danny. Now everything seemed changed. In addition, it must have been intentional; it could not have been a mistake. Not with all the practice, Ray had at perfecting his target shooting. Yep, with Miss Cassie everything had been different from the get go. Something did not seem right about those two, never had, but recently while he was laid up at the ranch, he saw love between those two, real undeniable passionate love which had thrown him off the scent, until today that is.
It was strange at first, Danny suspected Cassie's fortune as the bait that attracted Ray's attention but then his cousin seemed to have a lot of money himself. Of course, how Ray had amassed his fortune and all of his land holdings were a mystery to him, it all started about three years ago when he and Ben Warren worked up some land deals and transactions.
Truth told if this was Alan Spaulding and not Ray, his cousin, he might have investigated this whole investment scheme and land purchasing fiasco a lot sooner. Heck, even if it had been his other cousin, Mick, he would have checked things out. Ray just had a winning way about him, no one ever thought ill of him. He was as clean and as honest as they came or so it appeared? Nevertheless, why had Ray run out of Buzz's store like that almost pulling Cassie to the ground? What did that woman in black have to do with anything? Why had he stopped to talk to Ben Warren on the way out of town? Lots of puzzle pieces but no end or corner pieces to start framing this conundrum, yet.
Ben Warren wandered into the bar just then and sat down beside Danny. Normally, the Marshall would have minded the interruption from this inveterate gambler and high interest-charging banker. However today was a different story? "So I saw you and Ray talking today at your bank, Warren."
"That is what I've always liked about you Marshall, you are a keen observer of the obvious."
Santos laughed at Warren's attempts to rile him, "I suppose you know that your mutual friend, the woman in black or shall I say the one in widow's weeds is back in town? She saw Ray today at Cooper's store and they exchanged greetings."
Warren started, slugged back two whiskeys and swallowed hard. "What do you mean she is back, she didn't come see me, those bastards the two of them think they can get away with this, well they've got another thought coming, I'll see them in hell if they think they can bilk that little farmer wanta be out of the land and the inheritance." He wheeled around in his stool and stomped off. Danny gladly put down the three bits for Ben's drinks. Warren just saved him at least two days worth of asking around with that information. After a quick interview with Buzz, he might be able to confront the culprits by the week's end.
He paid up his bar tab and that of his deputy (who never seemed to have any money to his name) and was readying to leave when he saw the two new Englishmen prance into the saloon, a sight to see if they never uttered their mouths. These two were the nemeses of his deputy and Jim LeMay. The younger of the two approached the Marshall first, "Well good day there to you governor, toddle that and tipper ho to you and all that rot. Will you buy two starving Europeans a drink, there you go that is a nice chap."
Richard and Edmund sat down and preceded to speak a version of proper but hackneyed English that Danny had not heard since someone read him Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities," at a field hospital back in 1864. Were these two fops fooling anybody into believing they were real English aristocrats? Probably the only ones capable of pulling that over on would be the Lewis boys who according to Jesse were very busy at the moment out tunneling and digging again under the premise of finding some gold dust while the Marshall was laid up out at Ray's ranch.
"So what have you two fine gentlemen been doing in our fair city?"
They both answered at once, problem was they answered differently. Edmund said, "Well we've been enjoying your beautiful countryside and the vistas afforded by the American landscapes."
Richard retorted, "We have been bugging around town meeting some of your usual American authentic western chaps. Even dug up a bit of gold dust recently."
Edmund must have delivered a swift kick to Richard for the latter keeled over1 in his seat in obvious pain. "You okay, there mate?" Marshall Santos responded in his best imitation of English cockney.
Now these two just gave themselves away. With buffoons and leads like these coming his way today, he didn't worry about all the time he was devoting to the pursuit of Miss Michelle Bauer of late. Things in this town were running themselves; it was his personal love life, which was in a shambles. A love life, ha, he laughed, those were words would have been a joke just four months ago. What a mess.
