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Lesley Lu Spencer turned her head away from the window and tried once again to find a comfortable position in the hard wooden wagon she found herself situated in. Her parents, the loving family folks that they were, had made sure that she could take the railroad as far as possible but from there on she had to take a mail route to the small town of Charlesville Arizona, population: a handful.
She looked towards her shoulder with a frown, an elderly woman was resting against it, her walking stick banging against Lu's brand new white kid boots. Next to the elderly woman was her luggage and across from them when a very large, very rude man who took up the entire seat.
She could practically see him smirking underneath that dark black Stetson cowboy hat that was pulled over his face, his legs stretched out as far as they could be, ankles crossed over one another, silver spurs clearly visible on his cowboy boots.
He looked like a drifter.
Lu was familiar with them, after all she was born and raised in the west, but nearly four years ago her mother had her sent back east to finishing school where Lu learned the fine arts of being a lady and how to care for a home for her future wealthy husband.
She had no idea where she would find that man in Charlesville but she was certainly going to look.
When she had first arrived in Philadelphia she was unhappy with her surroundings. Growing up with a brother that wanted nothing more than to be a cowboy left her following his dust on her very own mustang bought for her at the age of ten by her father. Lu loved that horse and was more upset about leaving the animal than she was about the dusty town. The minute she stepped foot in the big eastern city she had planned to purchase a new horse with her monthly allowance given to her by her mother.
That was quickly taken away by the school's headmaster and Lu learned how to ride sidesaddle.
At first the thought made her nauseated but then it grew on her, as did the other wonderful things back east. There were dances and boys that bathed at least once a week, they dressed up nice and brought flowers by when they came courting. Lu was able to wear some of the prettiest dresses she had ever seen and began to wonder why she ever thought rounding up cattle would be more fun than enjoying afternoon tea with the girls.
Now she was once again torn away from the stability that she had known, pulled back into the untamed west because her mother missed her, her mother wanted her only daughter to come home and enjoy the forthcoming reunion of her mother and her long lost brother. Lu wasn't happy about it and came back without a fight on the condition that she would be able to go back east as soon as possible.
After all, there were boys waiting.
Smiling softly and letting her eyes roam back towards the desolate landscape Lu was startled when they hit a large bump in the road and she was pitched forward in her seat, right into the lap of the stranger across from her.
He was definitely smirking now.
Lu tried to push herself away from him but found that her white glove covered hands connected with a very wide, solid chest that didn't seem to want to budge. His hands were settled around her waist, his hat was on the floor and his eyes were promising wicked things.
"Sir, if you please!" she huffed.
She turned towards the woman behind her, hoping that she would be decent enough to insist that this ruffian unhand her and allow her to get back to her uncomfortable seat, but the elderly woman was still asleep and now she was spread out over the whole entire bench which left Lu no place else to go.
"I'd be willing to share my seat with you, ma'am," he said in a smooth drawl, his voice sliding over her like the warm silk nightgowns she had purchased from the store that was forbidden for woman her age.
She felt her cheeks redden at the thought and heard the low rumble of laughter that he tried to keep trapped in his chest. She was furious now and her blazing blue eyes showed it. She pulled herself away from him, nearly stumbling again and yanked the elderly woman's suitcase from the bench and sat that down next to him. She then plopped down on the seat, ignoring his chuckling and resumed eyeing the dreary landscape ahead.
Home, she didn't miss it as much as she thought she would.
"Is there a party in this town we weren't invited too?" Emily Alcazar smiled as she approached Alexis Lansing, who was standing just outside the Lansing Mercantile, her eyes on her younger daughter who was across the street talking with Bobbie and Laura Spencer.
"No, just the mail cart arriving," Alexis said with a small laugh, "It happens to have Lesley Lu Spencer in it."
"Lu is coming back today!" Emily squealed, "Oh I had no idea! Lorenzo!" Emily called turning to her husband who was busy making sure that the horses were hitched properly so the wagon wouldn't disappear, "Lorenzo, Lu is coming back into town today. I'm so glad that we decided to drop in to get supplies."
"I am as well," Lorenzo smiled as he bent down and kissed Alexis' cheek, "How are you, Mrs. Lansing?"
"I'm quite well, Mr. Alcazar," Alexis smile, "Ric is…"
"Right here," Ric Lansing smiled as he stepped outside the door behind his wife, his arm naturally coming around her waist, "I think we should have thrown a party," he laughed, "Everyone is out in the street practically waiting for Miss Spencer to arrive home."
"But no Lucky," Alexis said.
"Where is he?" Emily asked, "Is he okay?"
"I'm afraid he's worried that Lu hasn't changed a bit and that the minute she steps off that stage she's going to run home for that mustang and want to go chase something or other out in the desert," Alexis said shaking her head, "From what I heard from Laura that's the last thing she is going to want to do."
Emily nodded, "Laura did mention that Lu was having a wonderful time back east. I wonder what brought her home."
"Luke said they were planning a celebration next week, welcoming Lu home and Laura's brother, Jeff Webber, into town," Ric said, "They're due any day now."
Lorenzo looked down at his wife and took her hand, squeezing it, "The good news we've been waiting for."
Emily smiled softly as she ran her hand over her stomach, "Yes, it is."
"I can't believe it's been four years," Laura said as she held the handkerchief to her chest, "Four years and I'm finally going to see my baby again."
"Woman, you're supposed to cry when she leaves not when she comes back," Luke growled rolling his eyes.
"Luke, hush," Bobbie said as she wrapped her arm around her sister-in-law, "Don't listen to a word that man says. Lu is going to be thrilled to see you, to see all of us. I'm sure she was impressed with all that fancy stuff back east but once she gets back home she's never going to want to leave again."
"I can't wait to hear about all the exciting things that happened to her," Kristina Lansing smiled, "I mean Lu told me things already but I think to hear them in person would be much different. I'm sure she met a lot of beau's. I wonder if any of them were willing to follow her out here," Kristina sighed wistfully, "That would've been wonderful."
"No, it wouldn't have," Luke said eyeing the red head beside him. He had never met a girl like Kristina Lansing. She thought life was wonderful and that everyone was going to live happily ever after like those stories her mother had told her when she was a child.
Alexis should've moved to Charlesville before she filled this kids head with those fancy notions. Once you got to this dot on the map you weren't getting out. His daughter had a rare chance to escape and she was still being sucked back into the black hole.
"I think I see it in the distance!" Laura exclaimed, "The dust being kicked up by the wheels. Just a few more minutes and I get to see my baby."
Samantha McCall held the black silk robe tightly around her body as she stared out the window of the overheated room at The Devil's Gate saloon. Lying behind her, in a bed with sheets made of the same material she was wearing, was the owner Michael 'Sonny' Corinthos, asleep after a long night of drinking, gambling and love making.
Sam turned back towards the bed with a sad smile. He would never consider it love making.
She didn't know what else to call it, the words used by the normal drifters, cowboys and even prominent businessmen that stopped in during the late evening hours to enjoy her company, were crass. They handed her the coins, let her lead the way up the stairs and did things to her that would have made her ears turn red less than six months ago.
But times had changed for the McCall's when the reconstruction had come to Atlanta Georgia. It was still so hard to believe that she had watched her childhood home burn to the ground, the fire leaping into the night sky and going as far as igniting her favorite peach tree outback where she use to sit in the shade as a child and read her favorite tales to the kitten her father had brought home one day.
It was gone now, all of it, her father and only brother casualties of the Civil War, her mother who committed suicide when she found out that the Yankees were coming through and there was no place to run. Sam had struggled to survive, conserving her money and trying to ration her food but the Confederate money meant nothing to the Northerners and the food was stolen by the blue coats.
She was left penniless, starving with no place to go and that was when she turned to her body.
At first the idea repulsed her and she ran out of the room, tears in her eyes, when the solider offered her a warm meal if he was able to 'stick it between her legs.' She didn't realize what he meant but then the pieces came together and she was mortified, she swore that she would never stoop that low. Then things got progressively worse and she had made a promise to herself a long time ago, she was going to be strong, she wasn't going to give up like her mother did, she was going to survive.
And while she felt that she was living in hell she realized that she was still very much living.
Sam would never again be able to go to beautiful balls and the future that she dreamed about, the one with the husband and the children, with the mansion and the maids, would never come true, but she was breathing, in and out, and she hoped that she would be able to save up enough money one day to move on from this tiny town, maybe to California, where she could start fresh and no one would know about the Southern Belle that turned into a soiled dove.
She turned back towards Sonny when she heard something scrapping against the floor and she saw that an envelope was slipped under the door, a large white one that held something square inside of it. She was tempted to go forward and see what it was but there was an unwritten rule in this parlor house; don't touch Mr. Corinthos' things.
She was a little startled when Sonny sat up in bed and pushed the sheets aside, unabashed by his nakedness as he climbed out of bed and bent down before the door, picking up the envelope, turning it in his hands. He must have felt her eyes on him because he looked towards her and gave her that famous grin with those irresistible dimples that made the decision that this was the place that she wanted to work.
He reached for his own black silk robe and put it on, loosely tying the belt as he sat back down on the bed and ran his hand over his face before reaching inside the envelope and pulling out the card. His eyes quickly scanned it and when nothing was forthcoming Sam went back to looking out the window, watching as the mail stage started to appear at the edge of town.
She heard him approach, then felt his arm slip around her before his most lips encountered her neck and she was unable to stop the sigh that escaped from her full lips. She turned towards him and his hands delved into her hair, pulling her closer for a passionate kiss.
When he pulled back he was smiling and then placed another kiss on her cheek, his fingers holding up the card that had mysteriously appeared under his doorway.
"Invitation to a dinner that is being held in the honor of Lesley Lu Spencer."
Sam nodded and turned away again. It was a dinner he would attend, something that was meaningless to him but meant so much to her. What she wouldn't give to be able to sit amongst the wealthy people again, enjoy conversation with other women that weren't fallen.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and massaged them gently, "What's going on?"
"Stage arriving," Sam said quietly, "Miss Lesley Lu Spencer is coming back to town."
"Hello Michael," the slender blonde smiled as she slipped behind the bar in her purple cotton robe, "Isn't it a little early for you?"
"Hello Miss Rachel," Michael grinned as he watched her pull a bottle of gin from beneath the bar, "Usually is ma'am, but I'm waiting for the stage to come so I figured I'd come on in here out of the heat."
"I'm keeping him company," Courtney Matthews perked up from his lap.
"I'm sure you are," Rachel murmured into her glass as she took a sip of her grin. It was a hell of a way to start the morning, especially since she didn't get to bed until the sun was rising but the only way to chase away a hang over was with the same thing you were drowning in the night before, gin it was.
Her eyes moved back towards the stairs from where she came a few minutes ago as she took another sip. The card arrived a short while ago requesting Mr. Corinthos' presence at the Spencer family home for the celebration of their daughter's return. She was smart enough not to open it but Michael had opened his and once she found out what it was she made sure it was delivered promptly.
Sure, he was behind locked closed doors with that Southern slut but if he was going to invite any of his girls to that party she was going to make sure that it was her. She had the grace and beauty of an eastern woman even though she was practically raised to be a whore. Her mama told her from as far back as she could remember that she had no daddy and women were good for only one thing.
Rachel Adair made sure that she put that one good thing to use, be it on Sonny Corinthos or his only child.
"Does that mean you win?" Courtney asked as she tugged on a piece of her blond hair.
"Yes, it means I win," Michael said as he looked up at her with a small smile. Thank God she was pretty, "It's only Solitaire. I need to keep my hands quick and ready for the card games."
"And you need to keep your eyes sharp so nobody shoots ya!" Courtney giggled, "See, I remember Michael, I don't forget everything you tell me."
"And what's the most important thing I tell you?" Michael asked with raised eyebrows.
"Don't ever get into a bar fight," Courtney frowned, "Because if I lose my looks, I loose everything."
Michael placed a kiss on her shoulder, "Good girl."
"Stage is unloading," Sonny said as he came down the stairs buttoning his shirt, "Morning Rachel."
"Morning Sonny," Rachel smiled as she moved away from behind the bar, "Sleep well?"
"I'm sure you know how I slept, Rachel," Sonny grinned as he winked at the woman, "Courtney, I think you should at least put a robe on if you want to see the stage arrive."
"I'm going to get changed," Courtney said jumping up, "Rachel and I are going shopping today. The stage is supposed to be bringing in new material from back east. I can't wait to see what they've got. I'll be back soon Rachel, wait for me, don't leave like you did last time."
"Sure," Rachel said and rolled her eyes. She then frowned when she noticed Courtney saying a running hello to Sam as she headed up the stairs. The black haired woman seemed to cling to Sonny, "I figured you'd be in bed."
"Once I'm up, I'm up," Sam said quietly, "Do you know if anyone has made any coffee?"
Rachel shrugged, "Try the kitchen."
Sam shook her head and walked a few steps further, towards the swinging door entrance of the famous saloon that had cowboys coming in from all ends of the county on their payday. Sonny was standing just outside of them talking to his son, a smile wreathed on his face.
He was a very handsome man to begin with but never more so than when he stood with his son, proud to be the father that he was.
She didn't want to intrude on the intimate moment so she took a step back towards the window but found that she was still able to hear most of their conversation from there.
"I'm assuming that you're here waiting for Lu?" Sonny asked as he watched an elderly woman being helped out of the stage by the driver.
Michael nodded, "That and I wanted to ask you when I could start moving my things in."
Sonny rolled his head from side to side, wanting to avoid another argument, knowing that he would only wind up losing in the end. The only person he would allow himself to lose with was the blond hair boy beside him, a product of the undying love Sonny Corinthos had for a woman that was murdered many years ago.
"I can't fight you on this, not any longer," Sonny said quietly, "You're eighteen now and if you want to move out of your grandmother's boarding house and into here, well," he shrugged, "That doesn't mean that you run the place and it doesn't mean that you can do as you please. You're still my son and I don't want you…"
"I'm here every night," Michael said, "I deal the cards, I give out some drinks, I flirt with the girls. I pay my own way, I have since you let me start working, I'm not expecting freebies from Rachel and Courtney and…" Michael let the other well known prostitute linger between them. In the last few weeks very few men had the pleasure of sleeping with Samantha McCall, not since Sonny started bedding her.
Sonny nodded, "Just…" he looked over his shoulder back towards the saloon, "Don't settle for Courtney. I know that your mother would want more for you. She wouldn't want this."
"I'm still trying to figure out what I want," Michael said as his eyes noticed a dainty ankle appearing from the stage a block away, "I'm going to take my time…" the bottom part of a dress came next, puffed out by layers and layers of petticoats, then the side view of a woman appeared, before she turned slightly, smiling at the woman who was rushing towards her and Michael got a tiny glimpse of a woman who had left Charlesville a little girl.
"That's…"
"Lu," Michael whispered as he took a few steps on the wooden boardwalk beneath him but then he faltered and his father came up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Michael didn't see much but he saw enough to know that the tiny kid who was skin and bones had definitely filled out the fancy clothes from back east. More like she was straining against them.
"That," Sonny said trying to hide a smile and clear his throat, "Is what your mother would want for you."
Michael looked back at his father about to say something when he noticed the look on his father's face, "What is it, Dad?"
Sonny watched the tall man that emerged from the stage behind Lu, the familiar cowboy that stretched out and settled the black Stetson on his head, "That's Johnny O'Brien."
Elizabeth Webber tried to block out the ramblings of her sister Sarah who was seated beside her. She felt as if the girl had talked the entire fourth months of the trip which was seemingly endless now, one brutal hot day after another.
She never wanted to see another mesquite bush in her life.
And the yellowish sand seemed to go on forever. It was what made the west primal and barren and it had gotten all over her, her clothes and permanently settled into her frizzy chestnut hair. She was beginning to feel like the pampered woman that she had fought being her entire life.
The youngest daughter of Jeff and Mary Webber, Elizabeth had been born into a prominent family. Her great grandfather was a doctor as was her grandfather and now her father. Her mother and sister worked tirelessly beside him in the office while she attended a lady's school, polishing up her skills so that her mother could marry her off to a rich attorney because well, they needed a lawyer in the family.
Elizabeth enjoyed working in the doctor's office on the weekends, she especially loved being able to help with the children patients who couldn't stop crying over a scrapped knee. Elizabeth thought it was a wonderful trait for a mother to have, Mary Webber thought she was too sensitive and wondered if there was schooling for that.
She was quite surprised to find that her mother wanted to move out West with her father. Jeff Webber was aging and he wished to spend the remaining years in his practice in close proximity to the only family he had left; his sister Laura Webber Spencer and while he called her husband a drunken gambler he still felt the need to pick up everything and everyone and travel four months in two wagons to settle into a town they had never heard of before.
Everyone was grateful they were only a day away.
The travel wasn't bad at all, in fact they had made good time, but they had to camp every night at dark and make sure to stay on the roads traveled by stage and mail coaches. The further they got out west the more they came to realize they were still susceptible to ex-Confederate soldiers and Indians who felt that the government was encroaching on their land.
Jeff said there was enough to go around, Mary called them barbarians, Sarah shuddered at the conversation and Elizabeth knew that fighting solved nothing.
Sarah was going on again about the prospective men in the tiny town of Charlesville. Her blond sister had always been popular with the boys while humble, shy Elizabeth tended to concentrate on her studies and her family's medical practices even though her mother was forcing her into social events. Elizabeth would be happy if the only men in this town were elderly folk and tiny children.
With her luck there'd be twenty eligibly bachelors.
Raising her head slightly, Elizabeth stared at the horizon before her. There was nothing but a wide dip ahead and then an endless amount of bushes and sand before her. It was a beautiful land and she was sure she was going to enjoy it more when her backside wasn't planted on a hard wagon seat for ten hours a day.
She turned to Sarah, ready to ask her to take over the reins when she heard a loud cry and then her mother screaming. Her father pulled up hard in the wagon beside them and it was then that Elizabeth saw it, Indian's, riding up from the dip below, straight towards them, weapons raised in the air, bright sloshes of paint streaked across their bodies and that of their animals.
As her sister screamed beside her and her mother from across the way, her father reached behind him for the rifle that he carried for protection but Elizabeth knew that it was no use. An arrow had found its mark on her father's chest before he was able to get a shot out, her mother was being pulled off of the wagon by two large Indian's on horses. Someone was next to Sarah and with a swift strike of his hand she was knocked unconscious, collapsing to the ground below.
Elizabeth stared, unable to move, unable to speak to the Indian who came to a halt beside her, five others surrounded her wagon as her mother's cries and the dragging of her sister's body away from the wagon echoed in her ears.
His voice was low and the words left his lips in barely audible grunts and halting English while his mouth twisted into a sadistic smile on his scarred face.
"Prepare to die."