Mox Mox used another bottle of whiskey over Ella and the children before he was satisfied. He kept mumbling in annoyance that he should have bought a pack of lard at the last town he went through, that it would have made the children squeal more to have their eyes smeared with grease, cooking them as the hot flames licked at their defenseless bodies.

Ella shuddered at his words, more than glad that he didn't have anything of the sort to prolong the agony that was before her. It was more than enough knowledge that she knew the whiskey would make the fire burn hotter. She bitterly wished she didn't know this fact, perhaps if the intense heat had come as a surprise it would not have seemed so bad but despite the realization that her fate was mere moments away it was the seemingly endless waiting that was torture, she became sure that it was worse than burning alive although she was also glaringly aware that this theory would soon be tested to its fullest extent.

She couldn't help her thoughts turning once again to Joey in this moment. The guilt ate away at her core; it could have been the fear of knowing that she would not now be in this position if he had never found out about her past, or if she had told him. Her thoughts swelled, perhaps she had betrayed him… after all he had told her of his mother and her men, his suffering… she could almost understand why he saw her past as a harsh betrayal of his trust. But Ella did not think Maria was a bad woman for taking so many men into her home and having four husbands, after all someone to be a companion and love, to share everyday mundane tasks with was something most people longed for and Maria could not help the fact that three of her husbands had been killed, one by Joey himself… still Ella did feel more than a slight pang of guilt, she had never felt truly guilty about her past before, ashamed perhaps but not guilty. It had not been something she was proud of or something she would willingly talk about, she knew she had done it to live but still Joey had made her feel remorse for her past in a way that she had never experienced.

It had all seemed like an easy way out the night she met Johnny Duke in Fort Stockton, Texas. She had been living on the streets rough for how long she couldn't remember, but it had felt far too long to a fifteen year old girl with no money and little food. She missed her mother, Grace, terribly despite her cruel words and actions towards her own daughter that had made Ella up and leave in the first place, wrapping the best silver spoons in a linen table cloth. Not because she needed the money they would bring, Ella knew she could have taken her mother's jewelry or fancy tortoiseshell hair combs if she wanted a good price, but Ella's mother prized those silver spoons highly and she had taken them only to punish her, to make her regret speaking to her own daughter in such a fashion. Just because Grace's menfolk were starting to notice how pretty her young girl was had no bearing on Ella, she wasn't interested in such old men. Ella had liked Adam Porter, a young lad that worked at their neighbors helping with the dairy cows, she had spent many a morning or lazy afternoon whiling the hours away chatting to him as he worked. He was pleasant to talk to and had a fair face with dark brown hair and the greenest eyes she'd ever seen, she could still see them vividly every time she thought of Adam even all these years later. Adam Porter would most likely be married by now with a family of his own, Ella wondered if he had missed their conversations, she'd even dared to hope in those balmy days of innocence that he would ask her to marry him one day… but Adam would not be pleased to see her again, not now, not after her meeting with Johnny Duke.

Johnny had seemed like quite a dandy then to Ella, he was well dressed in an expensive suit and hat and walked with a silver topped cane, he looked every part the gentleman. He stopped nearby her as she huddled by some wooden steps under a dirty old blanket trying to gain any kind of warmth into her cold limbs on that bitter autumn evening. Johnny pulled out his golden pocket watch and glanced at it before looking at her.

---

"Isn't it a little late for such a lovely young lady to be out on the streets? It's not safe in these parts."

Stella sniffed and looked up at him, her face was dirtied with streaks of dust and days of going without a good wash. She licked her dry cracked lips, not quite believing someone had actually noticed her, normally she was passed by as if people couldn't even see her, only bringing their attention to the fact she existed if she asked them for food or money. She was usually sneered at or they would pretend they hadn't heard her; people didn't have time for a stray teenage girl. She studied him for a long moment, taking in his fancy clothes and features. He was not a young man, perhaps in his late forties but he had a handsome, clean look to him. A brown long, bushy mustache adorned his features and gave him an almost fatherly appearance, but his eyes glinted with youth and cunning. The only mar to his looks was a thin, long scar that started just below his right eye and finished near his jaw.

She stared up at him with mournful eyes, it was a look Johnny had seen many times and 'The Duke' knew exactly what he wanted from this young girl, she was pretty enough, perhaps more so once she had been cleaned and dressed in scanty clothing. Johnny's specialty lay in finding strays, they were always willing if he honey coated the right words into their ears and he hadn't failed yet, each new girl turned him a nice profit and for a while they were grateful for the food, warmth, shelter and little money he gave them for personal items. But they always became bitter and resentful after a while, of course it was only normal once they figured out he'd tricked them, but by that point it was too late for them to turn back. 'Soiled Doves' were not welcome in most places even if they left their profession behind, once a whore always a whore to most minds, just the way Johnny liked it, it meant he could hold on to them longer if they felt there was no way out or at least no options open to them if they did leave.

"You should go home." He said in false kindness.

Stella couldn't help her eyes becoming teary at the mention of home and at the occurrence that someone was actually paying her attention, talking to her in a way that made her feel like she mattered.

"I don't have no home to go to mister." She said shakily wiping her hand roughly across her eyes.

"Well then, that's not good news at all, you look half starved… would you like some food?"

Stella's eyes brightened and she nodded eagerly. "I haven't eaten nothin' for a whole day now."

"I can help in that at least, come along." Johnny said and began to walk away without a backwards glance, he knew she'd follow… they always followed, like he was the pied piper leading a merry dance.

He walked to a large building, it was quite fancy looking for the town, white washed with potted plants lining the large porch and heavy red curtains blocked all view of inside. There were a few of his girls sat outside enjoying the brisk late evening air, awaiting their first customers of the night.

"Evenin' girls." He greeted tugging the brim of his hat towards them and flashing a dazzling grin. The older of the three women gave him a disgusted look, Blanche was thirty three and a pretty woman with deep red hair, green eyes and the sweetest, plumpest lips of any woman he'd seen, he'd even nicknamed her 'Rosey Lipped Blanche' in compliment to her best feature. She had been with him since she had been twelve years old after he'd bought her from some traders and she had been one of his first girls. She had always given him good and brisk business, the men liked her curves, red hair and sweet nature but Johnny was fully aware she hated him with a blazing passion and would rob him blind if she ever got a chance, he liked being especially cruel to her on occasion if the mood took him.

"You brought a new one Johnny?" Her voice hissed with venom like a rattlesnake that didn't want you near its resting place in the sun, her eyes focused upon Stella who stood timidly behind him.

Johnny ignored Blanche's comment as a pretty young girl demanded his attention, her hand sliding down his chest. Pearl was a sweet nineteen year old. Her father had been black and her mother white, because of this fact she'd had very little choice of how she earned any money after her parents died from small pox and fever. But he'd taken her in without a second thought when she came asking for a job, she was beautiful and full of fun, amusing all of her men endlessly with her pretty laughter and seductive nature and even after a few years of being with him it seemed she still enjoyed her job, in fact he felt she was one of the few that would never bore of it or resent him, he rarely beat her unless she upset a customer and she was his favorite, his 'Black Pearl'.

"Did you win anything big?" She asked giving him a sly wink. "You said if you won big you'd buy me a fancy corset, I'm still holdin' you to that Johnny." She giggled and Johnny grinned at her.

"Not yet Darlin' not yet, soon I promise."

Pearl pouted in mock disappointment. "Well you just see you keep that promise." She winked at him again.

The last woman watched silently, she was plumper than the rest of the girls he had working for him but the extra weight gave her ample curves and a large bosom, she was never short of admirers, in fact Johnny felt sure Katie was his best girl, she had regulars that would have none of the other girls but her. Katie was twenty eight and had only been with him for three years, her husband had lost his farm gambling and then left her for a Mexican woman, with no money to her name she had turned to Johnny for help, willing to do whatever it took to survive. She was sweet natured even with the most brutish of men, Johnny suspected many of them came just to talk with her and unload their problems on top of having a little fun. He'd named her 'Sweet Katie' and the punters seemed to like her nickname as much as she did, she often said that she liked it better than any other name because it sounded coy, this always made Johnny laugh, a whore being coy was an amusing thing to him.

He'd ushered the young straggled girl into the house and to the kitchen where an old black woman served as cook and maid.

"Evenin' Evey." He said charmingly, the old woman had a habit of being in a bad temper and Johnny was always as sweet as pie to her to make sure all his meals didn't taste as bitter as her anger.

"Same to you Johnny." She said with a firm nod, she held no airs and graces around him or any that lived in the house.

"Would you happen to have a scrap of food for this poor girl I found?"

Evey turned and examined Ella with suspicious eyes. "Another one!" She said in annoyance.

"Ah now Evey you know we have a spare room now Nell's gone."

Nell had been one of the few that didn't care what happened to her once she left the comfort of Johnny's house. She'd had more than enough of the life she was leading and one night when everyone was asleep she had packed up and left without a word taking an old mule that belonged to him. Johnny hoped she'd frozen somewhere out there in the harsh desert, if there was one thing he couldn't stand it was his girls being so ungrateful and stealing from him to boot!

Stella was sat down at a table and given a bowl full of nourishing broth, she thought she had never tasted anything so wonderful before and she felt her strength renewed and her spirits lifted for something as simple as a good square meal. When she had finished she looked up at the man that had brought her here, she was young and naive but she wasn't stupid. She'd seen 'boarding houses', as the pious women of her town had called them when they had to be discussed, she knew to an extent what went on within them, that women sold their bodies to men for money. She'd also grown up seeing men come and go from her mother's bedroom, she'd even made the mistake of peeking in once when she had been younger, she knew what men and women did together even if it was only a hazy knowledge. Stella was aware this meal would not be free, this man wanted her to work in his house and as she ate she mulled the idea over in her mind. The house was well furnished, elaborately so in some rooms and she was sure that the bed she would be given would be comfortable and her pillow feather soft. She felt as if she'd lived so long without any comforts that having them dangled before her was more temptation than she could take… and it was only her body, if she got money and a nice place to live what was that to her… She knew she was trying to convince herself, the mere thought of lying in bed with many strange men was not something she wanted to do, but the tempting thoughts would not leave her… warmth, comfort, home. Perhaps if she just tried it first, if she didn't like it she could go back to how she was, alone and on the streets, she'd be no worse off.

"I'm Johnny, what's your name?"

Stella looked up at him, his question shaking her from her thoughts. Her eyes widened for a moment, she didn't feel like telling him her name, she'd heard too many Indian tales as a child to want to give such a large piece of herself to this man.

"You can give me any name." Johnny said with an amused smile. They never did use their real names, he doubted if he knew the true Christian name of any of his girls.

She considered his words before speaking. "Stella." She replied with a smile.

"Well, Stella how would you feel working for me awhile? I'll give you a nice room and food for no charge and pretty dresses too." He winked, trying to be friendly but his eyes danced with the look of a hard businessman.

Stella pushed back the feeling that wanted to warn her, that wanted her to march right back outside to her spot by the steps, huddled under her smelly, old blanket. Finally she managed to nod in reply to his question, the small gesture sealing her into a life she could only pray would be better than the streets.

---

A week had passed since she had come to Johnny Duke's boarding house. Stella had been cleaned and groomed, dressed in pretty low cut dresses and paraded along the line of punters. Johnny's idea was to get them all salivating over the new girl before he started offering her services. Men often liked to be teased in such a way, having what they couldn't have right under their noses seemed to make them want it more and the fact his 'Little Stella' was innocent to men made them clamor all the harder. It was the first time he invited all the men interested in his newest acquisition into his house to perform a kind of auction. The men stated what they would pay to have Stella on her first night working, Johnny thought it best to ease the girl into things, he felt quite noble for allowing only one man with her that night but he'd told her by her second night she'd be expected to get on with business just like the rest of his girls. The men that piled into his study, eight if he counted right, were men from nearby towns or ranches, some old, some quite young. The man who placed the highest amount was called Nathan Madigan, he was in his early thirties and was the son of a rich rancher. It was a well known fact that Nathan was not remotely liked by his father, he was a gambler and a drunkard. His father gave him money to stay away from the family home, perhaps he hoped his youngest son would drink himself into an early grave and rid the world of such a troublesome drain on his income. Nathan was handsome with light brown hair that had grown a little too long to be fully respectable. His upper lip was crowned with a long, thin mustache, his face had a smooth, charming quality to it, a fact he used on many women and men alike to get what he wanted.

"Nate, you win the prize my boy, well done." Johnny reached out and shook the man's hand.

Nate grinned. "Well I best be on time then if I'm havin' to pay up front."

"That you should, but remember you got all night now, no need to rush." Johnny said grinning back as Nathan handed over his wad of money.

"You should by rights be payin' me to break in one of your girls." Nate said with a slight amused sneer.

"Well, I guess you may be right there, she might be like a dead fish the first few times, but then I know you like girls that ain't been near a man."

"That I do." Nate said with a sly smile.

---

Stella sat on the edge of her bed. Everything had happened so fast that she still felt as if she couldn't fully understand it all, the hours she had spent fretting and worrying over what would be now seemed useless and worthless. She couldn't quite believe so many people made such a romantic fuss over men and women lying together if that was all there was to it… it seemed so… redundant and pointless. She'd heard tell from the other girls of the house that it would be pleasurable and it had been... for him… for Nate, but she'd felt nothing, nothing expect that uncomfortable pain.

The man that had introduced himself as Nate now slept snoring softly beside her, he smelt strongly of whiskey. He was handsome enough she supposed, she'd been worried that her first man would be old, fat and ugly so in a way she felt lucky that he was young and pleasant to look at. They'd talked a little at first enjoying a drink together and laughing, he had made her laugh… or giggle nervously she wasn't sure which it really was. Then he'd told her to stand up and he had pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Stella had always wondered what a kiss such as this would feel like and she found she was bitterly disappointed, it was far too wet and sloppy and she felt nothing from it, no feelings of wonder or desire… but the kiss had only been the start of her disappointment. He'd undressed her, the liquor taking effect on him so he rushed a little, then he too had undressed, she'd blushed a little at the sight of a fully naked man but had been given no time to dwell upon the matter. Nate had told her to lie back upon the bed and she had done as he asked. The first time was over quickly; all Stella could think about was the pain as he had thrust into her, clumsily and drunkenly. He'd rolled off her after he had finished his grunting, catching his breath and partaking in some more drink before he again took her and then again…

Stella found she'd lost count, she'd remained silent throughout, her lips too tightly pushed together to make a sound, but the pain seemed a little less each time and she was at the very least thankful for that small mercy. He'd finally rolled off for the last time and fallen asleep without uttering a word to her, now he'd gotten what he wanted it seemed all pleasantries were forgotten.

Ella glanced down at the stain of blood upon the bedding, she wasn't alarmed by it, she felt it only right that she bleed a little after that kind of pain. She pulled on a cream satin robe and wandered over to the window, it was late and even the saloon across the street was closed, no lights shone from any of the buildings, the town below looked a little spooky in such darkness. Her thoughts drifted back to the events of the night. She didn't know if she regretted her choices but she also didn't know if she could continue like this… do this every night. She had thought it would be easy, she kept telling herself it was only her body not her soul, mind or heart, but her soul felt melancholy, her mind uneasy, her heart bruised… and her body was sore.