Jake (2 page)

She and her father, Billy, originally came from the coal mines of West Virginia. Some said they were rebels because West Virginia was in the south during the War of Northern Aggression. But that was so long ago and there’d been many, many stops along the way. Becky barely remembered the place anymore. She supposed the only reason she didn’t forget it altogether was because she’d lived there with Grandma Bess. Those were the memories she liked to remember. Grandma Bess was so good to her, but then she had to go and die. Then there was just Billy and new place after new place

Every time she hoped this might be the spot, the one where they could put down roots. But it never was. Billy leached the goodwill from the townsfolk until there was none left and they had to move on.

She’d gotten lucky with her education. One of the ladies she worked for took pity on her and taught her to read, write and speak so she was able to get better jobs as time went on. But not good enough to keep Billy supplied which was why she spent all day in the cold river panning for whatever gold, flake or nugget, she could find.

She went into
The Gem
and saw Billy, face down on one of the tables next to the door.

“Hi, just came to get Billy,” she said to the man behind the bar.

“Ah, if it isn’t Miss Finnegan. Where are your bruises Becky? Guess Billy’s been keeping his fists to himself lately.” Al Swearengen, owner of The Gem and procurer of flesh, said from in front of his second floor office.

“No thanks to you and all the whiskey he downs here,” she said. There was a running dialogue that she had with Al, every time she picked up Billy.

“Thanks for that. I love the gold Billy spends here every night. He almost single-handedly keeps me in business.”

She rolled her eyes and looked over at Billy, wondering if she really could be related to the reprobate. She’d get the barkeep to load him on the mule and then, when they got back to camp, she’d untie him and let him slip to the ground. She used to try holding him up, to slow his fall, but too many times, she’d ended up trapped beneath him until she could shove his heavy body off her. Totally ignorant of the whole situation, he blissfully slept off the effects of his alcohol fueled stupor.

There’d been just as many times she left him at
The Gem
and let them deal with his sorry ass..

Dan, the barkeep said, “you get your father and get out. I keep telling you, this ain’t no place for a girl like you to be seen.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Dan,” said Al looking dapper in his black three piece pinstriped suit. He wore no tie and his shirt was open at the collar. Becky craned her neck to look upward at him. “We could give her a job that’s a lot easier than working that claim. Wouldn’t you like that Becky? No more standing in the cold river. You’d be flat on your back, but you’d be warm.”

He leaned on the hand rail of the second floor walkway. The small porch like structure went along the whole back of the building, all of the doors to the whores rooms were off of it and visible from the bar where the barkeep could keep track of the comings and goings of the men from the rooms.

“Not today, Mr. Swearengen, but I’ll be sure and keep your offer in mind.” She hoped the sarcasm came through in her voice.

Swearengen laughed. A great rumble from deep in his chest. “You do that. Help her load Billy on to her mule,” he said to the barkeep then he turned away and went back into his office. “See you tomorrow, Becky,” he called over his shoulder.

She nodded, then looked at the fancy women lounging around the room in varying states of undress and silently agreed with Dan. She should get out. She didn’t understand how they could do what they did. She’d rather work day and night in the creek than let any man with a dollar in his pocket touch her in that way.

~*~

The road leading to Deadwood was jammed for miles with wagons of every shape and size. Families, merchants but mostly lone men, all of them were seeking their fortunes in the gold fields.

The last part of the journey took almost the entire day to go just the final two miles distance to get from the top of the hill overlooking the settlement to Deadwood itself. The town had sprung up practically overnight after word of the gold strike reached the outside world.

Structures of every size lined the main street. Tents were thrown up in front of the buildings. The largest of the buildings were
The Gem
Theater
, the
Grand Hotel
and
The Bella Union
. Weary miners could spend their hard earned gold on liquor, women and games of chance in the saloons and whorehouses of
The Gem
and
The Bella Union
. Places where they could remember easier, happier times when they were farmers, ranchers, lawyers and sailors. The people came from all walks of life, having given up or lost everything in the Panic of 1873.

Jake watched from atop his horse as he rode behind Liam’s wagon. He and Zach had taken turns riding point in front of the wagon and now it was Zach’s turn. After more than five months of traveling, he began to wonder if they’d ever get to Deadwood. Constantly looking over their shoulders, waiting to see if the Army was going to find them before they could get out of the State of Missouri, had them all on edge for the first half of the 1000 mile trip.

Deadwood was on Indian land and, therefore, not subject to the laws of any government. That little fact could keep them safe, at least for a while. He hoped their luck held and he and Zach could fade into obscurity there.

When they finally reached the main street they immediately went to the mercantile. Liam said the owner of the claim he’d bought ran the store. Jake went in with Liam and Zach stayed with the kids and the wagon.

The store was owned and run by Lily Sutter. Her brother, Horace, had died on the claim and she didn’t want anything to do with it, so she placed an ad in the newspapers and sold the mine to the first person who responded with the money. That was Liam.

Miss Sutter was a pretty little blond woman, who seemed quite capable of running the business without any help from a husband or a brother. Definitely not the simpering miss type to be treated with kid gloves. She was all business and didn’t take shit off anyone. Yet, there wasn’t a miner or merchant or mother that walked out of her store without a smile on their face. Jake was impressed.

Liam approached the counter with Jake in his wake. “Miss Sutter? I’m Liam Anderson,” he said using their real name, “and this is my brother, Jake.”

“Misters Anderson, I’m glad you finally made it.” She wiped her hands on the front of her white apron and then held her hand out to Liam.

He took the dainty appendage and said, “So am I. Can you give me directions to the claim? I’d like to get set up before nightfall.”

“Certainly. The claim is still being worked for me but now that you’re here, you’ll be able to do the work yourself. I’ve got a map all done for you. I didn’t know when you’d be here, so I’ve kept the paperwork ready. Here it is.”

She reached under the counter and got two pieces of paper which she handed to Liam. A map was drawn on one and the transfer of the claim to Liam was on the other.

“Thank you, Miss Sutter. I appreciate your keeping the claim open for me by having someone work it.”

“Not at all, sir. It was in both our best interests that I do so. The person that is mining the claim for you needs the money I pay. Plus I let her keep fifty percent of the gold she finds in addition to the nominal daily rate I pay, so the situation is a winning one all around.”

“Her? Your miner is a woman?” asked Liam.

“Yes. She and her father have the claim next to mine…er…yours.” A pretty little blush crept up her neck at her error. “The situation was ideal to ask her to work the property to keep the find active so I could sell. If it’s not active, anyone can take the mine over. A lot of the Chinese take over the inactive ones. I didn’t want that to happen so I asked Becky to work the mine for me.”

A customer came in and Miss Sutter held up one finger. “Excuse me. I’ll be right back,” she said before leaving to help the man.

In a few minutes she was back. “I’m sorry for that, but my regular business must come first. I thought our discussion would be lasting a bit longer than I wanted the man to wait. Anyway, yes, Becky Finnegan pans the gold for me. Her father is supposed to work with her, but well, he’s pretty useless if you ask me. Will you need supplies?”

Jake was trying hard to keep up with the conversation. Miss Sutter was a ball of fire. Jumping from one thing to the other.

“Yes,” said Liam. “We’ll need basic supplies for about a month. Sugar, flour, coffee, salt, cornmeal and beans. We also need some bacon rind. Do you have eggs? We haven’t had eggs in more than two months and I know it would be a treat to have them for dinner tonight.”

She nodded. “I do carry eggs. How many would you like? They are one dollar and fifty cents a dozen. I know that’s expensive compared to what you are used to, but you’ll find that all the prices are higher in a gold town.”

“I understand. I’ll take two dozen. As I said it’s a treat.”

“There’s a woman on the street behind my store who bakes bread for a living. You might want to go see her.”

“Thank you. I’ve gotten pretty good with cornbread, but baking bread still eludes me.”

Miss Sutter laughed. Jake expected a soft girlish titter but she had a glorious full laugh that came from deep in her belly. He thought she was charming, for an older woman. After all she was probably close to thirty.

Liam and Jake loaded the wagon with the food. Zach was busy keeping five year-old Hannah occupied and out of the traffic on the street. Men, animals, and wagons, all jockeyed for right of way. He couldn’t let her down for a minute, she’d be trampled. The journey had been long and Hannah and David had both done very well but after five months they needed some stability.

“Let’s go. I want camp set up and supper on before dark,” said Liam, as he put the last bag of flour in the Conestoga. He climbed up and slapped the reins down on the butts of the four horses that pulled the large wagon.

Jake had to admit he was ready for the travel to be done, too. He would be glad to wake up and not have to face another day in the saddle.

~*~

The new owners of the Discovery #9 claim had pitched their tents. Becky watched from behind one of the trees on the bluff that rose high above both of their properties. Each of them owned half of the land the cliff overlooked.

There were three men and two children, the youngest looked like a girl. The poor thing. Growing up on a mining claim was hard. Hopefully, her da wasn’t like Billy. Maybe, with there being three men, they would keep each other sober. Billy didn’t pay her any mind except when he’d try to butter her up so he could get money and go to
The Gem
. The rest of the time Billy ignored her. Considered her a kid and not worth listening to. Kid!! She’d been doing adult chores most of her life, having to take care of Billy since she was seven.

The thought of her seventh year brought deep down sadness, and she wondered if the pain would ever go away. That was the year her Grandma Bess died. Grandma raised her after she was born, when Billy didn’t want her. Her Ma died giving birth to her and Billy blamed Becky for her death. Still, when Grandma Bess died, Billy had done right and took her in…for labor. She’d taken care of him ever since.

Now at twenty-three, she felt old. Certainly older than other women her age, except maybe the whores at
The Gem
. She imagined they felt pretty old sometimes, letting all those nasty men do whatever they wanted to them. She shook her head. She didn’t want to think about those poor girls.

She went back to looking at the new arrivals and supposed she ought to make their acquaintance. Meeting them was the right and proper thing to do and her Grandma Bess would want her to do it. Besides, they’d see her nearly every day riding by on her way to and from Deadwood to fetch Billy.

Pushing away from the tree she was hiding behind, Becky worked her way down the path to her and Billy’s claim. Then she saddled Buster, her mule, and started toward Deadwood. She needed to go to Sutter’s and pick up supplies anyway.

Becky admired Lily Sutter. She hadn’t closed down for mourning when her brother died. Said he was never home anyway, since he’d gotten gold fever, and she had a daughter to provide for.

That was the other thing about Lily. She had a daughter out of wedlock and wasn’t ashamed of it. She and her brother could have lied about it but she’d said Gemma was the best thing that ever happened to her and she’d never let her think that Lily was ashamed of her.

They held the funeral after regular closing time and there was absolutely no disruption of the normal course of things. She treated her brother’s death like it was just another day and Becky supposed it was.

She rode into the newcomer’s camp and was immediately greeted by the boy. He had dark brown hair that was a little overly long under his black Stetson. His clothes, a little baggy, were just like hers.

“Hello. Who are you?” he asked eagerly

“Hi there. I’m Becky Finnegan. My da and I have the claim next to yours,” she pointed back the way she’d come.

As Becky slid from Buster, the men came over to greet her, followed by the little black haired girl.

“I’m David Anderson and that’s my pa there with my sister.”