Upstairs, the Gem Saloon, Al Swearengen's office
Dan Dority slumped comfortably in the wooden office chair, ankle propped on his knee, as he searched for the right words.
"I'd say it was somewheres between a stagecoach and a boxcar, as far as size."
Al nodded. "Go on."
"As for shape…." He pushed the brim of his hat back and sighed. "A lot of it was covered up in brush and scrub. Couldn't rightly see the whole of it. But there was kind of a trap door-looking thing, that Adama hoisted up and went through to get into the contraption."
"How long was he inside?"
"I'd say about a couple of hours. Oh, and it did have a roundish window set in it. I could see him fiddling with something, but I couldn't see enough to tell what the fuck he was doin'. A couple times, looked like he was talkin' to hisself." Dan shifted under his boss's steady gaze. "You know, like men of a…a certain maturity find it helpful to do."
Al glanced over his shoulder at the cupboard.
"Well, that seems natural enough, a man with secrets weighin' on him, needin' to talk things through with that which cannot talk back and cloud his thoughts with fuckin' doubts and judgments."
"Uh…yeah, boss, such was my thinkin', too, far as that goes. Completely natural."
He willed his eyes away from the cupboard. He fancied he could feel black eyes staring at him through the doors, through the walls of the wooden box, if the thing still even had eyes in its head.
"He take anything from the…contraption?"
"Nope. Shut the door and clambered back up on Nelly, headed back here."
Al grabbed a toothpick from his desk and sauntered over to the balcony doors. He absently chewed as he watched the hotel.
"Well, E.B. ain't fled his front desk in horror, so it don't look like Adama and his lady are shakin' the rafters yet. Go over there and tell him I want to see him." He worried at the toothpick with his front teeth.
"And tell him to bring her. Somethin' strange about that woman. I've a mind to observe her and him together, see can I discern whether it's anything that might augment or hinder my understanding of the man."
Dan nodded as he rose and stretched.
"Oh, and Dan?"
He stopped with his hand on the doorknob.
"In as genteel a way as you can put it, get across to Adama that his schoolteacher mistress, or whatever the fuck she is, needs to attire herself like a decent fuckin' woman when she's out and about. I could see her titties bounce clear from my balcony when she walked back from the school. Not sayin' it wasn't something of a treat to the eyes, but what draws attention to her, will get the hoopleheads ruminatin' on him that's fuckin' her. I doubt he'd welcome that."
Dan sighed. Genteel talk was not his forte. "I'll see what I can do, boss."
Dan met Richardson on the stairs of the Grand Central, tray of dirty dishes in his gnarled hands.
"The Adamas in?"
Richardson seemed to have to think on that harder than most, but finally drawled a slow "yes" while Dan impatiently fingered the knife sheath on his belt.
"Well, are they decent? For me to go on up?"
"Been decent to me."
"Jesus, you idjit, that ain't what I meant. They got their clothes on, not layin' up on each other or the like?"
"Oh. They're just sittin' there, leaving others in peace." He looked down at Dan's big buck knife. "I like folks like that."
Old fool's gibberish gets worse every day, Dan thought as he went to their door.
He was already inside, engaged in a quiet conversation with Bill, when Richardson raised his pocket-sized antlers to the moose head in supplication for the couple's well-being.
************
Laura had her schoolteacher persona firmly in place as Bill explained Dan's visit.
"Go over that last part one more time."
Bill rolled his eyes. "I'm not even going to try to repeat Dan's speech verbatim, but the gist of it is that Swearengen wants to meet with us, and…"
"And because he's been staring at my breasts when I pass by, I'm supposed to harness myself into that godsdamned thing before I set foot in his frakking whorehouse?"
He laid a conciliatory arm over her shoulders. "He's got a point, Laura. You do draw the eye like that, looking a bit more…lush than the other townswomen. And we don't need the extra attention."
She picked up the obnoxious corset, laces dangling as she turned it this way and that. She idly wished she'd worn her more structured bra on their flight, but it had looked too stiff under the flowing red and gray ensemble he liked so much. If she'd known….She shook her head. She'd been saying that too much lately. She untied the laces and started pulling one through the grommets.
"Uh, Laura…that's not how it works. " He took it out of her hands, laying it on the bed as he moved behind her to unbutton her dress. "First, you need to be down to your underclothes."
"I knew that." She puffed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. "I was just getting it undone."
He had gotten better with the tiny buttons. In no time, she stood before him in her chemise, petticoat, and a pissed-off attitude. Adopting his best instructional, no-nonsense tone, he continued.
"Now, first, we're gonna unhook these fasteners in front."
"Knock yourself out, Admiral."
He stoically undid each hook and eye until the beige corset lay opened on the bed.
"Now, this goes around you, like so." He stood behind her rigid figure and pulled the two sides together, wrapping his arms around her. "Now, start hooking."
"Excuse me?"
He put his lips to the sensitive spot behind her ear. "You know that's not what I meant. Help me get these things fastened."
Grumbling, she started at the top of the busk, working her way down to his fingers, now level with her waist.
"Okay, now adjust it over your breasts, to where it's...not as uncomfortable."
She shifted and pulled, but it didn't come up terribly far, not more than an inch past her nipples. The bottom skimmed over her hips, covering her stomach.
"Feels kind of loose."
She felt him fumbling with the laces in the back.
"Not for long."
He slowly began pulling the cream-colored laces snug, one row after another.
"How long does this take?"
"Not long. Hold on to the bedrail if you're getting tired of standing." He methodically tugged.
Laura raised an eyebrow as she looked over her shoulder, hands now firm on the iron bedrail.
"How is it that you know so much about how these things work?"
His fingers paused for a moment, then went back to the laces.
"Couple times I met with Swearengen, he couldn't see me right away. Had to wait by the girls' room. They're not big on shutting the door."
She started to turn but he nudged her shoulder back into place.
"I bet that was fun."
He reached the middle of the corset and pulled firmly on the ends of the upper laces.
"Tell me if that gets too tight.
"Yeah, it was lots of 'fun'. Couple were comparing needle tracks and wondering if the infection would clear up. One had a rash on her privates that itched like crazy. One was crying because she 'let a guy ass-fuck her when he'd only paid for pussy' and she was scared to tell Al."
He realized he was pulling a bit too firmly, although she didn't say a word.
"It wasn't like the movies, Laura. It sure wasn't anything to get excited about. But while I was there, a couple girls were getting ready for work and helped each other into corsets like these. I figured at least one of us should know how it worked."
She sighed. "You can a pull a little tighter."
It suddenly seemed like a petty thing to complain about, having to wear an uncomfortable garment for a couple of weeks or so…she hoped.
Bill carefully tied off the upper laces and made quick work of adjusting the lower ones. Laura realized the corset was starting to mold to her body, supporting and lifting her breasts, keeping them immobile. Her back had gotten even straighter than her usual posture, and felt gently braced. As he finished tying the lower laces, she realized her waist had been pulled in enough to be a bit noticeably smaller, at least while in this state of undress.
"How is it?" he asked, with a worried look.
"Well, I won't be picking any socks up off the floor like this, but…it's manageable."
He finally grinned, relaxing a bit.
"That's a nice look for you, Madame President. Might need to take this one back with us."
She slipped into her blouse and skirt, and he made his way back up the button row, kissing the back of her neck at the end.