Chapter 3 – Bed and Bath

I woke to the sound of a fist knocking on my hotel room door. It wasn't the first time I'd woken up that way, and it sure wouldn't be the last. This sounded like an awfully small fist, and I assumed it to be Harper. I wasn't sure what time it was, or how long I'd slept, and I hadn't yet learned (the hard way, I might add) to be more cautious when opening hotel room doors. So open it I did, and fortunately I was right. It was Miss Parish.

"You sleep all day?" she asked as she brushed past me, straight into my room. That's when I looked out the window and saw that it was, indeed, dark outside.

"Evidently," I answered. "You work all day?"

"Evidently," she answered, and laughed. That girl had the strangest sense of humor.

"Shouldn't be in my room, young lady."

"Why not, old man?" She was still laughing; she seemed to be amused by the look on my face when she called me 'old man.' I guess I was, to her. "You gonna bite me?"

"Not me. But somebody else might. And ladies don't go to gentlemen's rooms."

"Well, see, then there's no problem. I'm not a lady."

I sighed, and she sat down on my bed. "What did you want, Harper?"

She finally quit laughing and got serious. "Tomorrow's Friday. Danny gets out on Monday. I think we should leave in the morning."

I had horrible visions of leaving at sunup. "When in the morning?"

"How does nine o'clock sound?"

A lot better than sunup, I'll tell you that. "Nine o'clock sounds fine. When can we buy supplies?"

"How about now?"

I looked in the mirror. Not too bad for having just gotten out of bed. "You go wait for me downstairs. I'll be down in five minutes."

"Yes, sir," she told me, and off she went without further protest. I shook my head and once again wondered just what I'd gotten myself into. Just a few minutes later I rejoined Harper in the lobby and off we went, in search of the General Store.

An hour later we were back at Bonnie's eating supper. I'd had the feeling for quite a while that we were being watched, but Harper had described Red Maxwell and I hadn't spotted anybody that fit the description. Still, I stayed alert and waited to see if we were followed when we left the café. "Where are you stayin'?" I asked the girl, fully intending to walk her home.

"At the livery," was her answer, and it wasn't one that I expected.

"You sleepin' there, too?"

"At the moment. I had a room at Fletcher's Boardin' House but I gave it up to save money. Henry's been lettin' me sleep at the livery for the past month or so."

That explained a lot. Kinda hard to stay 'girl' clean if you're livin' in a barn. "Not tonight. You sleep in my room."

"With you?"

"Not with me. In the bed, by yourself. I can sleep on the floor. That way you can take a bath before we leave tomorrow."

"Are you insinuating . . . "

"Nope, I'm not insinuatin' a thing. I'm tellin' you straight out. You smell just like a horse. Got to do somethin' about that before we leave in the mornin'."

"Next thing I know you'll be wantin' me to wear a dress." It was evident from the way she said it that she wasn't happy with me, but what I'd told her was the truth. Pretty girl that she was, not only did she smell but her clothes smelled. I didn't think Danny Mills would be offended if she was clean when he was released, and neither would I.

"No, Harper, I know you're a girl. You don't have to wear a dress to prove it. But you do have to be clean. Go up to the livery and get your things, and bring 'em back to my room. I'll have 'em draw a bath for you. You got clean clothes?"

She ducked her head and looked kinda sheepish. "Nope. That's why I'm still wearin' these. That an the horses don't care what I smell like."

I might be pushing the issue, but I wasn't riding anywhere with her until she got cleaned up. "Then we're goin' back to the general store to get you some."

The next thing I heard was a big sigh. "If I have to. But I ain't happy about it."

XXXXXXXX

It was almost midnight by the time we got done with everything. Harper looked and seemed to feel a whole lot better once she was bathed and in new clothes, and she sure smelled better. I'd gotten her to pick out clothes that looked a little less masculine, and they fit her a whole lot better. Her hair was so blonde it looked like spun gold, and I couldn't help but smile at her. She really was a pretty girl.

Harper saw my smile and asked me, "What you smilin' at?"

"I'm smilin' at the pretty girl standin' in front a me. I think Danny Mills is gonna smile when he sees her, too. Got a feelin' she's gonna look a whole lot better to him than she did before."

For the first time since I'd known her, I saw her blush. She quickly changed the subject. "You really gonna sleep on the floor?"

I nodded. "That, or in a chair. I've slept in all kinda places."

"Then why can't we sleep in the bed together? It's sure big enough." I'd done that many times with my brother, and would do it many times in the future. But Harper sure didn't look like my brother.

"Cause we can't." That was about all the reason I intended to give her.

"But why? Danny and me slept in the same bed once."

'And I doubt if you looked the way you do right now,' was the first thing that ran through my mind. That's when I realized that maybe the one I needed to protect her from was me. I wasn't that much older than she was. "Too much temptation," I told her, praying that she didn't ask me for an explanation.

She didn't argue with me, and I finally convinced her I'd be just fine. I ended up in two chairs, the way I'd slept many times, usually when I was watchin' over Bret for one reason or another. A gambler learns how to sleep most anywhere, anytime, in or on anything. Wasn't the most comfortable night I've ever had, but I'd had a good sleep during the day and I was fairly well rested.

We were both awake soon after sunup, and it didn't take long to pack everything and get the horses saddled. We took a pack animal with us, a little bay mare that looked like she could run all day and not break a sweat. Harper rode a chestnut gelding; I still had my sorrel stallion. We were earlier than we'd expected to be, so we stopped at Bonnie's and had one last breakfast. Harper seemed pleased that I ate better this morning than I had yesterday, and she was telling me more stories about her escapades with Danny as we headed north, towards the state prison. I was determined to keep my eyes open and make sure we weren't being followed. We had a long way to go, and I was hoping for a quiet and peaceful trip. Hoping being the operative word.