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Chapter Three
Daisy questioned me the entire trip, bouncing excitedly in the seat beside me as the wagon rattled down the narrow way to Emma's home. Where were we going? Would we be going alone? How long would the trip take? Would we see bears? Buffalo?
I answered her as best I could, distractedly glancing over my shoulder a time or two; it wouldn't do to be seen approaching Emma's. If we were going away for a while, why would we need to stop and see the new widow?
Emma hurried from her modest home, brows furrowed in question, "So where are you off to?"
Lifting my chin, I announced firmly, "Wherever you're going."
It didn't take long for us to get underway; Teddy was already at Emma's home, preparing her horse for their journey. She was grateful for the addition of the wagon, loading a bag of her own in the bed and perching herself beside Daisy. Teddy took his own horse and tied the reins of Emma's to his saddle.
The first stop on our woefully short list was the neighboring town of Eagleton. It wasn't an overly large settlement, not nearly the size of ours, but there would likely be plenty of men looking for work. The best places to look, I knew, were taverns, saloons, and even the sheriff's, though Daisy wouldn't be allowed in most of them.
I had known that when I brought her, but the thought of leaving without her was unimaginable. And nonsensical. It would have drawn suspicion without a doubt, leaving my most beloved daughter behind while I went on some trip. If Bogue knew, he would have certainly sent someone to my home to investigate. Leaving Beth behind had been difficult, yes, but to leave my home completely unoccupied would have had McCain and his company sniffing about in an instant.
"We can't thank you enough, Millie," Emma interrupted my worrisome thoughts as we entered the town, a grateful smile plastered across her pale face, "truly. With this money, we can hire triple the men we'd hoped. They'll take care of Bogue right quick."
"I hope so," I replied with a heavy sigh, glancing down at Daisy, who hummed to herself and played with the China doll on her lap, oblivious to our conversation, "they'll need to, else he's gonna bring triple the men we hire and destroy the town. We've got one chance at this. I just hope we can find enough good men willing to help us."
"We will," Emma vowed, nodding assuredly, muttering almost to herself, "we have to."
Maneuvering the wagon through the bustling streets, I peered about in contemplation, "There're two saloons up along the way. We can check there."
"And another on this side," Emma tipped her head toward the rowdy building, "and the sheriff at the end o' the street, by the church. Let's check with him, too. He might be willin' to come, too. Bogue can't have loyal men here."
Drawing the wagon to a halt, I watched Teddy dismount his horse and come round to help Emma from the wagon. He threw a thumb over his shoulder, "I'll check these ones out. Ms. Emma, you'll do the others?"
"Course," she agreed, rounding on me, "we'll be back soon. With men. I promise."
"We'll be here."
As the two of them parted ways, I drew Daisy onto my lap and smoothed her hair from her face, querying gently, "Are you hungry, love? When Emma and Teddy get back, we can go to the general store, find something to eat."
"I am, Mama, but where are they going?" she inquired curiously, her eyes wide and brow furrowed as she stared up at me, "why aren't we goin' with them? Shouldn't we go, too?"
"They'll be alright, Daisy," I answered, pinching her cheek and earning a giggle, before she sobered up once more, "But, Mama, what if that man and his friends are here? They hurt Mr. Matthew; they might hurt Ms. Emma. We hafta protect 'em!"
She pounded her little fist on her thigh, her chin lifted defiantly; I fought a grin at my feisty little girl, "They're not here. 'Specially not him. He lives in a big house with bad men far from here. We're alright."
"We're not doin' anything bad, are we, Mama?"
"Not at all, love," I squeezed her to me, resting my chin on the crown of her head, "we're doin' the very opposite. We're gonna stop the bad men from doing more bad things."
"How?" she asked perplexedly.
"We'll find good men, great men, that will help us."
/
Some excitement caught my attention at the saloon Teddy had gone to investigate. Pushing myself upright, I caught Daisy's hand and gathered the reins with my other. A quick flick of the wrist had my inky black stallion, Thunder, trotting hastily toward the commotion.
Men surrounded Teddy, shoving him and jeering, already neck deep in their drinks and ready for a fight.
"-we're not looking for any trouble here, boy!"
"We know what kinda mess you're in down in that sorry ol' town o' yours! Don't be thinkin' about bringin' that our way!"
"Bogue's a devil, Mister, an' we don't want none of his evil spreadin' here!"
"Gentlemen, please, do you really think anyone in their right mind would challenge Bartholomew Bogue?" I laughed derisively, shaking my head and hopping from the wagon. Stalking to Teddy's side, I tugged on his arm and rolled my eyes in aggravation. "My husband's been at the bottle again. Thinking he's some savior or somethin'. We don't want any trouble, either; 'specially not where our little girl is concerned. Think you can do me a favor and keep this to yourselves? It'd be mighty generous of you."
A few men grumbled their assent, while another warned, "He sobers up, you tell him to watch hisself. Bogue ain't no man to trifle with."
"I will, sir, thank you," I beamed, shoving Teddy into the wagon and giving the reins a sharp flick.
Once out of earshot of the now tamed crowd, I exhaled heavily and mused, "Maybe we shouldn't mention Bogue until we get them to join us."
"I didn't," Teddy huffed, tanking his hat from his head and raking a hand through his dampened locks , "ten of 'em said they'd join 'til I said his name. That man strikes the fear o' God into everyone, Ms. Millie."
"He does," I sighed, pulling the wagon around to wait for Emma at the sheriff's, "looks like we'll just have to go farther then. Where's the next closest town? Black Hills? Seven Springs?"
Lifting a shoulder, he grunted, "Black Hills, I think. Might be far enough we can find some fellas ain't afraid of Bogue."
"What we need is men to know it's Bogue they're facing and still be willing to take him on," I mused, peering down at my silent daughter and running a hand through her curls, "thanks for not ratting us out, love."
She regarded Teddy with a critical eye before shaking we head, "Not him, Mama."
Teddy stared at her as though he didn't know whether to chuckle or be embarrassed that he wasn't good enough for her mother. I, on the other hand, couldn't help but laugh, "No? I'm sorry, Teddy, but it's not meant to be."
"No, I guess it's not," he agreed after a moment, shaking his head and releasing a huffing laugh, "it was quick thinkin', though, Ms. Millie. Did you study actin' or something? They didn't question you."
"No, I just learned that it's sometimes safer for people to hear what they want to hear to protect yourself and those you care about," I replied, my mind flashing briefly to the arguments, the lies, the pain. It had been an unbelievably hard time, one that most people didn't understand, and one that I was happy to be free of. Shaking my head, I mused lightly, "I wonder if Emma had any better luck."
But, judging by the furious glower on her face as she burst from the sheriff's office, I hummed with a tut, "Black Hills it is."
Teddy mounted his horse as Emma hauled herself into the wagon, grumbling angrily to herself and patting roughly at her skirts. Her green eyes blazed as she gestured wildly toward the road, "Let's get outta this snake pit. Ain't nobody gonna help us here. Thieves and scoundrels, all of 'em."
"They wanted more than what we was offerin'?" Teddy queried, aghast.
"Double," Emma agreed, holding her head in her hands, "an' a few other unmentionable things; these ain't the kind of men we wanna bring in our town."
"They'd likely side with Bogue before us," I groaned, flicking the reins and guiding Thunder away from the useless town, "even if we could double their pay, Bogue would just double that. If they're in it for the money, we can't use 'em. Teddy, which way is Black Hills?"
/
Black Hills was bigger than both Eagleton and Rose Creek combined. The town had a dozen saloons and even more brothels. I hadn't seen so many people in one place since I'd moved west and I couldn't help but be hopeful that we might find at least one man of value in the town.
"Where to find him," I hummed softly, drawing the wagon to a halt in front of the general store and turning to Emma, "I need to get Daisy somethin' to drink. Do you mind stayin' with our things? We shouldn't be long."
Emma shook her head with a smile and held Daisy's doll until I could set her down on the ground. Reaching back up for the doll, I panicked when Emma's face fell and she cried, "Daisy!"
Spinning on a heel, I cursed under my breath as my daughter dashed across the street, straight between the legs of a tall man in black, and into a damn'dable saloon.
Without hesitation, I darted after her, offering the man only the briefest of smiles as I brushed past him and into the smoky building. Frantic, I scoured through the haze from three dozen men's cigars for any sign of my daughter. The bartender was no help, eying the dark-skinned man at my back cautiously.
Chewing on the tip of my tongue, I straightened my shoulders and made my way further into the saloon. Before I could even say a word, a loud, deep voice called out, "Hey, lady, I think you mighta lost this."
To my right, at the far end of the room, I paled as I took stock of the scene before me. Daisy was at a table filled with rough, gambling men, sitting on the lap of a man with the widest smile I'd ever seen. He bounced her slightly on a knee, shifting his head to blow the smoke from his lungs away from her face. He had one hand on her back to balance her, the other holding a hand of cards in front of him. When Daisy made for the shot glass in front of him, he simply shoved it out of her reach and chided her gently, "Trust me, sweetie, you don't want any of that."
Crossing the room quickly, I fell into the empty seat beside the man and tugged Daisy from his grasp. He let her go easily, turning to a scantily-clad woman behind him and querying, "Couldja bring some water over? Two glasses. Thank ya, doll."
"You don't have to-"
"Faraday, get yer head in the game," one of the other men at the table grumbled, offering me an irritated sneer, "take the damn kid and go."
"Johnson, you wanna watch your mouth around the lady an' her girl?" Daisy's companion questioned. His tone was light, though there was an underlying threat in his voice that had the man's jaw clenching but his words dying on his tongue.
"It's alright," he informed me, shoving himself upright, resting his forearms on the table's edge. He appeared tall, nearly a head taller than me even while seated, with a scruffy, mahogany beard and warm, hazel eyes that were slowly appraising me. He removed the cigar from his mouth and snuffed it on the tabletop. "Name's Faraday. Joshua. This little lady introduced herself as Daisy before takin' a seat. Wasn't expectin' to see a li'l girl in here, but I sure as hell wasn't expectin' to see an angel."
Daisy giggled in my arms, turning and staring up at me with a brilliant smile.
Surprised by his boldness, I blinked rapidly, brows high on my forehead, feeling very much like a gaping fish. Collecting myself, I let out a disbelieving laugh and gestured to his drink, "How many of those you had, Mr. Faraday?"
He let out a loud laugh himself and tipped his head to one side in thought, "Too many, I'd say. I'm not hallucinatin', though, right?"
"Nope," I smiled, wrapping one arm around my daughter and extending the other toward him, "unless my entire life has been the figment of your imagination. Millie Evans."
"Trust me, Ms. Evans, if you were a figment of my imagination, I would not be meetin' you for the first time in some dingy saloon," he winked, accepting my hand and pressing a kiss to my knuckles.
"Call me Millie. Do I even want to know where we would've met?" I inquired with a grin, resting my chin atop Daisy's head and thanking the heavily-painted woman as she returned with two glasses of water. Ensuring the little blonde girl in my lap drank hers before I touched mine, I offered Mr. Faraday a challenging glance, to which he stared for a moment and then smirked, "Maybe. Can't say it in present company, though. She your daughter?"
"She is."
"Her daddy around?" he inquired, gaze flitting around the saloon curiously.
"No," I replied, "I'm actually here with a few friends of mine. We're lookin' for some help. We-"
The swinging doors of the saloon burst open suddenly and the man in black strode in, a hard look on his face and his dark eyes on the bartender.
/
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