CHAPTER TWENTY
With four men working on the saloon, the building was finished in just over a week. The bar area had been expanded, four new rooms built on at the back and the existing ones cleaned out and given new beds and curtains. Hank and the three girls now had a room each and there were three spare. Hank had it in mind to get one more girl and keep the remaining two rooms for guests passing through who needed a place to stay.
The minute the bar area was fit to be seen and the supplies had arrived, Hank announced the place was open once again. Loren and Jake were the first through the doors that afternoon and were soon followed by enough men to fill the place. Hank and Clarice worked the bar, serving beer and whiskey to the crowd while Lissy and Myra flirted with the customers. Myra was shy and awkward, but did her best to copy the slightly older girl.
By the time afternoon rolled into evening, one of the customers had requested Lissy's company and paid Hank for her, leaving Myra alone in the bar. She began to look increasingly nervous until Lissy appeared again a while later and drew her aside for a brief chat. Hank eyed them with a frown.
"Hey! Lissy, yer paid to work, not gossip," he said.
"Sorry, Hank."
"Hey, Hank." It was Jake's voice. He was leaning on the bar, an empty glass in his hand, glancing from the bottle Hank held to Lissy and back again, apparently trying to make up his mind which to choose. Hank grinned.
"Thought you was gettin' short on money."
"Found some savin's." He put five dollars on the counter.
Another man appeared at the bar at that moment, a large fierce-looking man with a bristling ginger beard and straggly hair.
"Ya busy, honey?" he asked Lissy.
"Hey, I was here first," Jake frowned. The larger man turned and glared at him and the barber retreated a step.
Lissy slipped around to the other side of the bar and stood on tiptoe to whisper in Hank's ear.
"How about ya let Jake have Myra? He'll go easier on her than most. Ain't too experienced, from what I saw."
"That right?" Hank smirked. "Go on then, that other fella looks like he don't wanna be kept waitin'. Myra! Come here!"
She approached the bar quickly, eyes wide and anxious.
"Ya got yer first customer," he said, indicating Jake.
The pair glanced at each other and the disappointment at missing out on Lissy left Jake's face as he took a proper look at Myra. She smiled tentatively at him and slid her hand through his arm to lead him off to her room. Hank pocketed the ten dollars left on the bar by the two men and surveyed the busy room.
"Looks like yer gonna do well," Clarice said to him. "Must be just about every fella in town here."
Hank grinned. "Better place a bigger order for whiskey next time; this lot're gonna drink me dry in a week."
"Ya need more girls too," added Clarice. "Unless…."
"No," Hank cut in.
"Maybe ya'll find one in Manitou," she added with a smile. "Ain't too far to ride from what ya said."
"Yeah, maybe I'll go there Sunday," he nodded.
Things continued to run smoothly at the saloon. Hank found a new girl in Manitou on Sunday; a voluptuous blonde named Janie. She was on her day off from the saloon there and Hank ran into her in the street. She didn't have a contract and only earned a dollar fifty a time so was delighted to accept Hank's offer of two-fifty. She had few belongings and packed up what she had there and then, returning to Colorado Springs with him that afternoon on the back of his horse.
Janie fitted in well with the other girls and proved popular with the customers. As time went on the money rolled in and Hank made further improvements to the saloon, including a smart green-topped poker table which helped keep the men there for hours on Friday and Saturday nights.
Clarice's pregnancy had begun to show now and although she often worked the bar, she began spending more and more time in her room away from the customers. Much to Hank's surprise she stopped complaining about everything and remained affectionate, frequently spending the nights with him until she found it too uncomfortable.
During this time a new family came to town and began having a large building constructed opposite the saloon. Ethan and Charlotte Cooper had recently sold up their farm in Topeka after Ethan heard there was gold to be had in the mountains surrounding Pike's Peak. He built a mine there and with it came miners who spent their wages on Hank's whiskey and girls. The new building across the street became a boarding house which Charlotte Cooper ran, offering rooms and food to anyone passing through.
Clarice called on her once to buy some food for Hank and the girls and was delighted to discover that she was also a midwife. She had a baby of her own, a boy named Matthew. Clarice began making regular visits to her, finding a friend in the older woman and a much appreciated supplier of proper meals.
For a few short months, Clarice seemed to have accepted her pregnancy and even looked forward to the baby's arrival. However, her improved nature only lasted until the end of her seventh month and then the complaints and the outbursts began again. She felt uncomfortable and unattractive, she hated not being the centre of attention, her feet and her back hurt and she was bored out of her mind. She lashed out at Hank at every opportunity and threatened to return to work the minute she had recovered from the baby's birth. She seemed to expect Hank to do his best to appease her, but since becoming owner of the saloon and master of the girls, he adopted a sense of pride and refused to continue pandering to her. On the few occasions he did bend, his attention to her had little effect and he began to feel it was a waste of his time to make the effort.
Clarice eventually realised her tantrums were getting her nowhere and sulked instead, sometimes shutting herself away in her room for days on end, emerging only to go the outhouse or to get food and rebuffing any attempts Hank made to spend time with her. However, when she did see him, she complained she barely saw anything of him.
"Ya won't let me near ya!" he reminded her, feeling that he couldn't win whatever he did.
"Yer too busy with yer girls anyhow," she muttered.
"I ain't touched 'em," Hank said bitterly.
"No?"
"No. Though I'm sorely tempted, the way yer carryin' on. If you ain't screamin' at me, yer avoidin' me."
"Go to hell, Hank," retorted Clarice.
"Ya see? Nothin's ever good enough for ya," sighed Hank. "What d'ya want me to do?"
"I don't care what ya do."
"Fine." Hank backed out of the room and closed the door, torn between fury and hurt and longing to hit someone or something.
"Hank?"
He jumped and spun around to face Myra.
"Are ya alright?" she asked.
"Get back to work!" he growled.
Myra turned and walked off without a word and Hank remained in the corridor, pacing up and down until he felt like returning to the bar, although he remained bad-tempered and uncommunicative for the rest of the night, unable to get his mind off Clarice. Things had been so good with her for the most part, oddly enough since he slept with Myra, and he'd gotten used to her teasing and flirting with him again, creeping into his room and being probably more loving than she'd ever been. Now she was worse than before. He told himself she'd be better again after the baby was born and that he'd just have to put up with her until then, but whenever they came into contact with each other he doubted she was going to change.
The girls kept out of his way as much as possible that night until the saloon closed in the early hours, then all headed straight for their rooms rather than wait for him to hand out their earnings, which he normally did every day rather than try to figure it out after a week.
"Hey, where ya'll goin'?" he called after them. Lissy halted and came back although Myra and Janie continued to their rooms.
"Figured ya didn't want botherin'," she said.
Hank shrugged and handed over her money and five dollars each for the other two.
"Y'alright, Hank?" she asked then, stepping closer.
He said nothing, but raised one hand and idly ran it through her hair, then rested it on her shoulder. She turned her head and brushed her lips against his fingers. Hank just stared down at her for a moment or two. He wasn't about to start spilling his guts to her, but she could sure do something about cheering him up. He dropped both hands to her waist, lifting her onto the nearby poker table, shoving her skirts up to her waist. Lissy lay back on the table at once, pulling both knees up and folding her legs around Hank as he bent over her, pinning her down with his body, one hand fisted in her hair. Minutes later he let her go and pulled away, adjusting his clothing and watching as she sat up and shook her dress down over her knees. Neither one of them spoke, but put out the lights and walked to their rooms in silence.
Hank lay awake until dawn, thinking about Clarice in the next room and wondering if there was any point to it any more. He wasn't even sure if he still loved her although the pain he felt most of the time indicated he did, and she sure as hell didn't act like she loved him. She constantly punished him for her own dissatisfaction and he found himself turning to his whores for comfort; the physical kind anyway. It wasn't any kind of relationship any more and God only knew what she was going to be like when the kid was born – probably blaming him for it all over again.
The next few weeks dragged by for all concerned. Clarice grew bigger and more uncomfortable and even more unhappy. She began fighting with the other girls, even Lissy who was her closest friend. It seemed as if everyone was awaiting the arrival of Clarice's baby in the hopes her attitude would change afterwards and eventually her time came late one Sunday night.
Hank was disturbed by a loud scream from Clarice's room and he threw himself out of bed and ran down the corridor half-dressed to see what happened. The other girls appeared too and all joined Hank as he opened Clarice's door. She was lying on the bed, clutching her stomach and moaning. Lissy and Janie rushed to her at once.
"She's in labour," Lissy said.
"Leave me alone," Clarice groaned, pushing Lissy away. "I ain't doin' this."
"She's been drinkin'," said Janie, picking up a bottle from beside the bed. "She smells real strong of whiskey."
Hank frowned, remembering a few instances where bottles seemed to have gone missing from the bar without explanation and wondered if she had been drowning her miseries alone during those times they didn't see her all day.
"I wanted somethin' to stop the pain," said Clarice, tears flooding her eyes now.
"How long've ya been havin' pains?" asked Lissy anxiously.
"Dunno. Since before supper." Clarice threw her head back, writhing on the bed and shrieking in agony again.
"Oh, my God, that was hours ago," gasped Janie. "Why didn't ya call us?"
"Myra, fetch Charlotte Cooper," Hank said over his shoulder. "Hurry up!"
Myra fled and Hank walked into the room, going to Clarice's side.
"Can I do anythin'?"
"Haven't ya done enough?" she said through her teeth. "Get away from me!"
"Leave it to us, Hank, she'll be alright," Lissy said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
He backed away, but hovered by the door until Charlotte arrived minutes later with Myra. The midwife promptly ushered him out of the room and Myra too.
"There's enough folks in here, go on," she said and proceeded issuing orders to Janie and Lissy to fetch clean towels and hot water and so on. Hank retreated to the bar with Myra and poured himself a large whiskey, then gestured with the bottle towards Myra. She shook her head and sat down at one of the tables.
"How long d'ya reckon it'll take?" asked Hank.
"I dunno. I heard it can go on for a day or two."
Hank swore under his breath. "She probably made things worse for herself drinkin'." He sat down heavily at the table and took a large gulp from his glass, wincing as Clarice screamed again at the top of her lungs. "I think she's been doin' it for a while, I noticed a few bottles missin' now and then. Maybe it was my fault."
"I don't think so, Hank, ya did the best ya could," Myra said.
"Ya think so?"
"I like Clarice, mostly, but she ain't an easy person. Seems like whatever any of us does right now, it's wrong."
"That's for sure." Hank sighed heavily. "She never wanted a kid. Blamed me for everythin'."
"It takes two," Myra said softly.
"Yeah, that's what I said. Still feel like I failed her, though. Probably gonna make a lousy father an' all, if she even lets me near the kid. Just like my own pa."
"What was he like?" asked Myra.
"Ya saw him once," Hank admitted. "When we was leavin' Denver he called out after us. Hell knows why, he was never interested in nothin' I did before. He always resented me 'cause my ma died when I was born." Surprising himself once again by his sudden desire to talk, Hank told her about his father and brothers and his unhappy childhood before he went to work at the farm with Billy. Meanwhile Clarice continued to cry and scream through the night, the baby still showing no signs of coming into the world as dawn came.
Eventually at around seven o'clock, Charlotte walked slowly into the bar looking exhausted. Hank and Myra turned towards her immediately, suddenly becoming aware that there had been silence for quite a while and no sound of a baby crying. Hank's guts clenched as he waited for Charlotte to speak.
"It's a boy," she said.
"Is he alright?" asked Myra. "We ain't heard him cryin'."
"They're both alright, so far as I can tell," Charlotte said. "Clarice lost a lot of blood, but she'll recover, I'm sure. She wouldn't have had such a hard time if she'd been sober at the beginnin'." She glanced at Hank disapprovingly at this point as if she thought it was his fault. "The baby...he's strong, but he was blue an awful long time after we got him out. Didn't start breathin' for long enough." She sighed heavily now. "Sometimes they don't make it after that and if they do, sometimes they ain't right."
"Not right? What d'ya mean?" asked Myra. Hank seemed incapable of speech, staring at Charlotte with growing horror.
"Well...sometimes when they get older, they don't talk or they act funny. They have somethin' wrong in the head."
"Ya think Clarice's baby'll be like that?" Myra said anxiously.
"I don't know, it's impossible to tell until he gets old enough to walk and talk. I gotta get back to my own kid now, his pa'll be wantin' to get to work. You send for me if there's any problems."
"Sure, thanks, Mrs Cooper," said Myra and got up to let her out. She closed the door and turned back to Hank who was still sitting at the table. "Ya goin' in to see them?"
Hank shook his head slowly. Myra left him and he poured another whiskey from the half empty bottle in front of him, his hands shaking. If only he'd paid more attention to Clarice; maybe he could have stopped her drinking; maybe he could have made her happier; maybe she wouldn't have laid in her room half the night getting drunk and hiding the fact that she was in labour instead of calling for him. Now there could be something wrong with the kid and it didn't seem to matter how Clarice had behaved any more; all he could think was that somehow it was his own fault.