Elizabeth left Jim the winner of their race. She was still feeling excited from her victory, her heart racing in her chest as she walked Sal towards the livery to give him his prize treat. Because her hair had fallen out of her braid and was messy from the race and the wind, she did a messy braid and stuffed it under her hat. As she was walking, Elizabeth heard a voice called behind her.
"Boy, can you see to my horse?"
Elizabeth didn't turn around because of course, they couldn't be talking to her. That is, until he called again, this time louder and with barely disguised irritation.
Out of curiosity of who he was speaking to so rudely, she turned around. His steely glare was fixed on her!
She didn't recognize him at all, nor his black horse. Some rude man passing through.
"Can you see to my horse boy?" He got off his horse and tossed her his reins, "I'll be back out shortly. Do a good job and you'll get a half a dollar."
He walked past her without so much as a glance. Speechless and offended, Lizzie just stared after him. Once he had pushed open the batwing doors to the saloon did she finally snap out of it and tie the horse reins to the hitching post before going in after him.
She was barely inside, just in the way, scanning the room when she finally spotted him.
The man in black was standing by the bar, his back to her.
Elizabeth was about to cross the room to tell him to take care of his own horse when she saw Jim inside with his friends.
"Hey, what are you doing in here?" he stood up and quickly walked over to her to speak in a low voice. "If you're trying to make me look good in front of the guys can't it wait until I'm outside. Your mother would skin me alive if you came in here for me."
"What?" Lizzie turned to frown at Jimmy in confusion, "No, I didn't come in here for you."
Unfortunately, she was being ushered back out of the saloon by Jim just as she caught the man in black's gaze.
Damnit!
She walked back to the horses, ignoring Jim's warnings of her mother finding out she had gone into the saloon. She was more annoyed at the guy who had treated her like some stable boy. A boy!
Elizabeth looked down at her clothes and sighed. Well, yeah she was wearing her hat and trousers, but did he not see her face?
Sal called for her and so did his new companion.
She patted blackie's long nose.
"Your master is a real piece of work." she murmured.
Taking the horse's into the livery, she decided to deal with, Mr. Arrogant's horse first, taking off the saddle, which took a lot of work with the different straps, and then brushed her down.
"You have a rude master you know. If I were you, I'd run away from him the first chance I got."
The horse made a snorting noise and Elizabeth smiled, patting the nose. "Do you go on lots of adventures? You probably get to travel a lot. That must be nice. Me and Sal here will someday." With a tired sigh, she got back to work.
Food and water were placed before the magnificent creature and Lizzie moved onto her horse.
Sal had been showing interest in his new acquaintance, their heads slightly touching as Lizzie attended blackie. Now, she moved Sal into the empty stall next door and took off her saddle.
As she was working on brushing down Sal, she heard footsteps enter the livery. The sound of spurs jingling made her recall the man in black wearing them, though it was a passing thought beforehand. She stepped out of Sal's stall and watched him as he took his saddlebags from where she had set them. She wasn't surprised when he checked to make sure everything was still inside.
Elizabeth noticed the sweat on his face, probably from the rising temperature and his poor sense of apparel. Lord, he must be hot in all black! Serves him right.
"I doubt you'd have anything that I'd want if I even bothered to look, but I'm not nosey."
He looked at her with a doubtful expression. Patting his horse's side once, he came out of the stall and towards her. He stood a good foot taller than her and she begrudgingly had to tilt her head back to make eye contact. Without a word, he pushed the side of his duster out of the way. This action had her look down to see his gun and gunbelt. She stepped back, not sure what he was planning on doing.
Did people shoot other people if they weren't satisfied with how they groomed their horses?
His hand slipped into his pocket and pulled out some coins and took one of her hands to place the fifty cents in.
She stared at the money in her hand in disbelief before looking up at him incredulous.
"Is this how you normally treat people you don't know? Ask them to do something they don't have to do and give them a few coins as if that's going to make up for the insult?!"
For an instant, the man looked confused before his hand went back again and Lizzie again thought he was going for his gun. He pulled out more coins and handed them to her.
Now she had a dollar in her hand.
What is with this guy that he doesn't understand?
"If you're expecting more money then you can forget it," he said when she frowned at him again.
"Are you one of those men who just throws money around? You know a simple 'please' and thank you' wouldn't go amiss."
He stepped closer and she forced herself to stand her ground.
"Know that you are beneath me, and I can have you flogged for your impertinence," he said in coolly.
The thought of him trying to threaten her with a beating had her laugh at the irony. What continued to make her laugh was the confused expression on his face.
Her laughter wasn't high like her mother or younger sisters which bordered on sounding like a shrill. It was definitely not manly though, not deep which he might have expected from a boy he thought she was.
When she was done, she puffed up her chest and squared her shoulders, a defiance in her eyes, wanting him to try and go against her.
"I'd love to see you try and go through with your threat. Your head would be around a piece of rope so fast, you wouldn't know it happened before you were swinging."
The man didn't get angry, but just stared at her and watched her go into the neighboring stall to get a small bag before walking past him with her head high. Elizabeth had no doubt that he was still watching her until she was outside of the stable.
Once she was out in the heat again, she took a deep breath. Never before had she met such an intimidating man, one who also carried a gun. The only time when he wasn't brooding was when he was surprised and confused by her defying him. It made her laugh.
Even intimidating looking men could be laughed at.
Elizabeth was walking down the boardwalk when she spotted Mr. Bingley coming out of the bank.
"Mr. Bingley, it's good to see you again." she smiled warmly.
"Please Ms. Elizabeth, Charles is fine. How are you today? Are you out by yourself?"
"Yes. My sister Jane is helping my mother at home today. I came into town to visit a friend. And if we are to quarrel over names then I must insist you call me Elizabeth or even better, Lizzie."
"Very well than Lizzie." Charles laughed, "It does seem to be getting hotter today. May I get you something refreshing to drink, that is unless you have important affairs yet to attend to."
"None at present." Elizabeth grinned.
He gallantly offered her his arm and she laughed but took it. They walked to the restaurant where he ordered them both some lemonade.
She had finally been able to remove the sweaty hat and wipe the sweat away on her handkerchief. Charles only laughed as she complained about the heat.
"How are things with looking at the property?" she asked after sipping at her cool drink.
"Quite well, or rather, I haven't looked at it yet. I was just over at the bank so I can lay down the deposit. My friend just arrived to help look over the land with me to see what needs to be done. He shall be assisting me on the matters."
"That's very good of him."
"Yes, it is. He already owns some property and can help me make decisions that I would definitely miss. As I said before, Lizzie, I'm not that observant."
Lizzie sat her cup down and shook her head while she swallowed, "Indeed you are. I just ran into a man who mistook me for a boy."
Charles's eyes widen in surprise, "But how? Clearly, it is obvious."
"Not to him. He was calling out to me saying, "boy, come take care of my horse'" Lizzie repeated in her deepest voice, "I couldn't believe his rudeness. I was planning on going in after him in the saloon but I was kicked out. For the horse's sake alone, I took care of the poor thing. Then when I was finished, he checked his bags as if I went snooping in them! It's not my fault he was stupid enough to forget them. He handed me fifty cents and when I was trying to explain to him that I was doing him a favor for putting up with him and taking care of his horse, he just handed me fifty cents more!" She shook her head, "Well, at least I got a dollar out of all of this."
Charles's smile had faltered during the retelling, but Lizzie hadn't noticed as she kept going.
"I told him he should at least learn to say 'please and thank you' but he only replied that he could have me flogged for my 'impertinence'. What the hell, right?"
"Uh, yeah, it was quite rude of him."
Over Lizzie's shoulder, Charles saw the man in question walk in. They made eye contact and when the man was about to start walking over, Charles gave the slightest head shake and the man diverted from his original course to order something real quick before heading back out. Luckily, Lizzie was still too wrapped up to have noticed.
Once the man was gone, Charles looked back at Lizzie, his expression serious.
"Lizzie, should I go talk to that man for you? I'm sure I can get him to apologize once he understands."
Elizabeth shook her head, "No, I should not dream of having you go up against such a man. I didn't tell you, but he carries a gun. No doubt he's dangerous and a killer. Since he thinks I'm just some boy, he may not shoot me. You, however, he might actually think you're challenging him or something and kill you. I can't have that now. True, I am insulted, but I may yet have my revenge."
"Revenge?"
"Yes. You see, while the Bible teaches us to forgive, I have never been one to turn the other cheek like my sister Jane." The last thing Elizabeth wanted was for the man her sister fancied to get shot all to defend her honor. If she was to someday be a bounty hunter, she can do so herself.
"If you insist, but please come to me if you ever need anything," Charles asked. Though he promised not to, he would still have a few words with the man.
"Thanks. The last thing I want is for him to find out that I'm a girl before I wish it. For is he did try to hit me, I will feel that I've had my revenge."
Charles only nodded and was able to change topics, to his pleasure, they contained information on Jane. Once Lizzie left to ride home, Charles went to go find his friend.
He walked over to hotel and up the stairs to the second door on the right. He rapped his knuckles on the door until it finally opened to reveal the man in black. He was still looking irritated from the last time Charles had seen him twenty minutes ago just after his arrival.
Instead of waiting for the man to invite him in, he walked passed the taller man and entered the room. The man in black only closed the door behind him before continuing to shed the layers of clothes he had on.
"Darcy, you remember that one boy you said was rude and was slow to do as he was told. 'Acting above his station'."
"How can I forget," Darcy grumbled, tossing his sweaty clothes on his bed, "The little bastard basically dared me to flog him. I should've right then and there and set him straight" He stopped himself from saying it was the boy's sparkling eyes that kept him from actually going through with his threat.
"No!" Charles said a little too loud that Darcy jerked his head from his thoughts to frown at the man's outburst. The younger man took a deep breath and tried again, "What I mean is, I think you should definitely apologize to them. Just do that and walk away."
"Why should I be the one apologizing?" Darcy scoffed, sitting down to remove his boots, "Look, I know you don't like violence and don't want me doing something when you might be moving into this godforsaken town, but if all young lads are allowed to go around disrespecting those above their rank-then I really don't see the point in staying. Your sisters would probably want to stay somewhere closer to the bigger cities anyhow."
"Darcy, you look like a gunslinger in all those dark garbs. You've no doubt scared half the town already. No one would suspect you're a man of wealth with that gun on your hip and an ever fixed glare on your face. You haven't met the people here like I have. They are wonderful and very pleasant."
Darcy sighed, "So there's a girl then."
"You're changing the subject."
"And you haven't answered me. Look, I don't mind if you've found a girl you fancy, but just don't get her hopes up."
"I'm not. Now back to the discussion before. Promise to not raise a hand to her-them. They're a friend and I don't wish for any strife to exist. They are well respected and are special."
"I wouldn't hit a woman, Charles. What kind of man do you think I am?"
Charles let out a grateful sigh in relief, "Oh that's a relief, I thought you didn't know, but then I felt that impossible since you're so observant."
Darcy arched a confused eyebrow, "What am I supposed to know and be observing?"
"What do you think I'm talking about?" Charles tested.
"The girl you're smitten about."
"Oh." was the other man's reply and he looked away in barely disguised disappointment.
"Was there something else or someone else you were referring to?"
"It's not important if you're being thick-headed. Just don't hurt the 'boy' okay."
"So you were talking about the boy then. Is he from a well-respected family or something around here?"
"Yes, and before you say anything about looks, I believe you're a prime example of looks being deceiving."
"I don't see how that's a good comparison," Darcy grumbled.
"In time I'm sure you two can become friends. You both love books and can probably talk for hours on the subject."
"I doubt he's read anything besides dime-store novels like the rest of the boys his age."
"How old do you think they are?"
Darcy thought about the question, remember the face and height of the stable boy, "I'm guessing seventeen or eighteen."
"Eighteen!" Charles gaped, "Eliz-" he stopped himself again from saying anything that would give Lizzie away. It was easy to get caught up in Darcy referring to Lizzie as a boy, but he still had to be careful of slip-ups, "He's not eighteen. Older in fact. And you don't think he has read anything of importance? I'll have you know he told me several titles he's read that I'm pretty sure you've told me about."
Darcy allowed himself to be impressed. The boy did have an intelligence about him. He took off his gun belt and set it on the back of his chair.
"Must you carry that everywhere you go? I doubt you'll find Wickham here for you to be able to shoot him."
"It's a precaution. That man has a habit of showing up where you least expect it. You're not the only reason I'm this far west. He's close, I know it."
"Well can you at least help me secure a property before you go running off with gun blazing."
"No worries, Charles, I'm planning on staying here at least a week."
Charles found a chair in the room and sat down while his friend washed up in the wash basin.
"You know you're the only other person beside the sheriff with a gun in town."
"I have no doubt, and like I said, I'm not going to start anything here."
Elizabeth returned home and was cornered by her mother to tell her about her friends in town. Again, Lizzie forewent telling her mother about Bingley and decided to give her something more exciting to sink her teeth into. She told Mrs. Bennet about the rude man in black with a gun.
Mrs. Bennet, though Lizzie was not her favorite child, was in her corner almost instantly. She repeated several times how awful the man must be an equally ugly. That he should never be welcomed to Longborne. Expressed that men like him probably had no friends and would no doubt be single and lonely for the rest of their short lives. For a man without a woman, to her, was nothing and would wither away. Lastly, she exclaimed that she would have every one of her friends in her little circle know his rudeness to her daughter.
Lizzie thought it best to leave out the part about him threatening to flog her because she was sure that if her mother knew, she would tell her father. Her father may actually allow his wife the pleasure of being the one to rally everyone to see him strung up.
"Mama, while I don't mind you telling the others, I rather it not be known to him just yet that I'm a girl."
"Why on earth would you hide your gender child? This is why I told you to stop wearing trousers. None of this would've happened."
"True, but if he is to continue to act unjustly towards me, then that way we can speedy his departure."
Her mother thought about this and then agreed that the best way to have this horrid man gone faster was to let him 'continue on being a fool' according to her mother's words.
Later that night Lizzie told her sister Jane the full story and then added her conversation she had with Mr. Bingley.
"Papa said he'd go into town tomorrow to visit him. That way, we may see more of him." Jane explained their father's plans.
"Shall we go into town tomorrow and see if we can catch up with him after his meeting with papa?"
The sisters agreed and then they went to bed.