Taming of Jessi Rose (20 page)

He was dressed in black, propped his big gun by the door and looked around. “Pleased to meet you. Looking for Griffin Blake. Is he still here?”

“Yes, have a seat. I'll get him.”

But Griffin was already on his way into the kitchen, and seeing his old friend made him smile. The two men grabbed each other in a manly hug, spent a few minutes
smiling and laughing, then Griffin took a seat at the kitchen table as well.

The Preacher was an average-looking man of average height, with light brown skin. His eyes were arresting, however: green as grass and seemingly lit with an unearthly light.

“What happened to your face?” he asked Griffin.

Griffin told him everything, and just as he'd done with the Twins, he began at the beginning, with Darcy's land grab and the murder of Dexter Clayton, then brought him up to the present by ending with the events of the last few days. “I'm glad you got my wire and came so quickly.”

“What wire?” Preacher asked, puzzled. “I never received a wire. I'm on my way back from Mexico. Stopped in Austin. Rosita told me you were here and I thought I'd stop by on my way up to Denver and say hello.”

“Oh,” was all Griffin could say.

“Rosita said the Twins were on their way here too. They arrived yet?”

“Yesterday.”

“Are they still mad?”

“I think so. Neil is, at least.”

“They know what I do for a living.”

“That they do.”

The Preacher then looked over at Jessi. “So this Darcy is making your life uneasy?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I guess I can stay around for a few weeks or so,” he said. “Shouldn't take any longer than that. What do you think, Griffin? Between me, you, and the Twins, we should be able to do this in a short time?”

“I'm not sure. We have to do this by the law.”

“Why?”

Griff told him about the job he'd agreed to do for Judge Parker and Dixon Wildhorse.

“Is that how you got out of the penitentiary?”

“Yep, and they made me a deputy marshal to boot.”

The Preacher's green eyes widened. “They made you a deputy marshal?”

Griffin grinned. “And gave me the power to appoint some help if I need it. Do you want to wear a star while you're here?”

“Sure, why not?”

“I'll give you yours when I give the Twins theirs.”

Jessi and the Preacher stared.

Jessi asked, “You're going to make the Twins deputies?”

“Sure. It's no more far-fetched than me being one.”

Jessi had only met the Twins briefly but knew that it was far more far-fetched. The Preacher didn't respond but he smiled and solemnly shook his head.

Like the Twins, the Preacher decided to head to town. He too wanted to sample the wind and find a room. After Jessi gave him the names of a few boardinghouses he might try, he tipped his black hat to her, shook Griffin's hand in good-bye and rode off.

“Well,” Jessi said as they watched him ride off, “so that's the Preacher. He seems a bit more serious than Neil and his brother.”

“I've known prairie dogs more serious than those two, but there's nobody better to guard your back. Now that all my pieces are here, we can play a little chess. We have a king, me. A queen, you. A bishop, the Preacher, and two jokers posing as knights. Not bad.”

Jessi smiled at her champion king. “Not bad at all.”

A
fter the Preacher's departure, Jessi and Griffin spent the rest of the day making love, talking, and enjoying each other's company. By the time dusk rolled in, he knew that Jessi's favorite food was ice cream and she knew that he had a real fondness for blueberry pie. He learned that she loved the color green; she learned he'd been kicked out of the church youth choir at age fourteen after being caught kissing the deacon's daughter.

“Really?” Jessi asked, laughing.

“Really.”

They were out on the porch enjoying the night's descent Jessi was seated atop his lap.

“So you've always had this fondness for women?”

“Can't deny it.”

Jessi wanted to ask him about this Rosita she'd been hearing about for the past two days but didn't have the nerve, mainly because she had no claims on him and therefore no right to pry. “I enjoyed my holiday, Griffin.”

And she had. As she'd noted earlier, it had been a day for firsts and she wouldn've missed it for the world. “It was far more fun than doing the wash.”

“Told you so.”

She reached up and lovingly cupped his strong jaw. “Thank you,” she whispered.

He turned her palms to his lips and placed a soft kiss on the palm. “You're welcome.”

“Now, can I do the wash in the morning?”

He kissed her softly. “Yes, you may.”

The next morning she was up drawing water when Griffin stepped onto the back porch. It was at least an hour before dawn, but she already had two cauldrons heating on the fire in the pit out in the yard.

“Morning, Jessi.”

“Morning, Griff, did you sleep well?”

“Yes. How about you?”

“Just fine. I didn't wake you, did I?”

“No, but I wish you had. I had plans for you this morning.”

Jessi grinned. “I would've liked that, but this is an all-day chore, even when Joth's here to help. With him gone, it's going to take even longer.”

She walked over to the heating cauldrons and held her hand above them to gauge the water's temperature. “So, the sooner I get done, the sooner I get to enjoy your company. Are you going into town to check on your friends?”

“Nope. Staying here and helping you with the wash. The sooner you're done, the sooner we can play.”

“That isn't necessary you know.”

“It's purely selfish.”

She smiled. “Well, grab the coffee and I'll meet you on the roof in a few minutes. We'll take in the sunrise and then get right to work.”

As Jessi had predicted, the work took up a large portion of the day. There were sheets, denims, towels, and pillow slips. There was lye, hot water, and Texas heat. Standing over the large tin washboard, Jessi scrubbed the clothes and wiped at the sweat pouring down her
neck. She had on her oldest blouse and skirt. Her few pieces of underthings were in the wash, so she had nothing on beneath. As a consequence, the blouse, wet from all the water and heat, clung to her skin, outlining her bare breasts perfectly. The bareness helped, though; if she were fully dressed, she'd've melted like her beloved ice cream.

Griffin found the sight stimulating. The old blouse had lost a few buttons in its time, and every time she bent over the washboard it added even more spice to the tempting display. As he helped her hang the items on the ropes that ran from the house to a pole in the yard, he feasted his eyes, and doubted he'd ever had this much fun on a washday.

But his glee was a tempered as the day went on and he saw how weary she'd become. Though she didn't complain, he knew her shoulders were aching from bending over the washboard, and her arms were tired as well. Her eyes were red from the lye fumes and he suddenly regretted keeping her up so late last night. Until this day, he'd never really thought about what a woman might have to do after he left her bed. Seeing Jessi made him decide to be more aware of that in the future.

At last they were done. Having pinned up the last piece of wash, Jessi came out from between the lines of flowing clothes to find Griffin pumping more water into the cauldrons. She called out, “We're done, Griffin. We don't need any more water.”

He continued pumping.

As she approached, he lifted the now full container, placed it on the restoked fire, and began to fill another. “I don't know about you, but I need a bath,” he told her.

“We had a bath yesterday.”

“And?”

“And, I usually wait until nightfall and wash out here at the pump after washday.”

“Why?”

“Because that's what I've always done.”

By now the second cauldron was filled and was soon next to its twin on the grate. “Don't you think you deserve to soak off all that lye and sweat in nice hot tub, no worries, no complaints?” Griffin asked plainly.

Jessi thought about it, and yes, she found the scenario very appealing. “But it's a waste of water, Griffin.”

He shook his head. Walking over to her, he gently cupped her face with both of his large hands. Staring down at her, he said quietly, “Sometimes you are too practical for your own good, Jessi Rose Clayton. Treat yourself, you've worked hard today. If I knew where I could get you some ice cream, I'd get it for you.”

Her answering smile was tender.

“As your maestro, I demand that you do nothing for the rest of the day.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off.

“Nothing,” he repeated. “You are going to into your room and lie down. I'll bring in the water. You will soak, and you will like it. You will then have some supper, and when the time comes you will go to bed and sleep. Do you understand?”

Jessi could see that he was quite serious. He cared about her, she realized, and she'd never had a man in her life who had before, not in the way she sensed Griffin did. Jessi had no idea what to do with the knowledge, but her heart was so full, she could feel the tears stinging her eyes.

He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “Are we in agreement?”

“Yes, Griffin,” she managed to whisper.

So once again, Jessi Rose Clayton did as she was told; she soaked in the tub and she liked it, a whole lot; she
had some supper, and when the time came, she went to bed and Griffin held her cradled against him until she fell asleep.

The Twins showed up around midday, arguing over something that had to do with a casket. Jessi wasn't sure what all the fuss was about, but she followed the arguing giants into the kitchen with the hope that Griff could sort it all out.

“I was the one in the casket!”

“No, you weren't!”

As well as Jessi could figure out, one of the Twins had posed as a corpse in a casket during one of their more memorable train robberies, but it wasn't memorable enough, it seemed, because both men kept claiming to have been the corpse.

Griffin let them argue for a few more minutes, then said, “The two of you have told that same lie to so many women over the years, neither of you remembers the real story anymore.”

Two Shafts folded his arms across his chest. “Meaning?”

“Meaning,
I
was the corpse in the casket that day. Neil, you don't like closed in places, and Shafts was too large to fit in the box.”

Silence.

Then Neil said to Two Shafts, “I think he's right.”

His brother conceded, “I think he is, too.”

Jessi asked with a laugh, “You pretended to be a dead man so you could rob a train?”

“Yep, and when I pushed up the casket lid after the train left the station, the express agent took one look at me rising from the dead and fainted right there on the spot.”

Jessi found the story amazing.

With the casket question now settled, Griffin asked, “Did you see Preacher while you were in town?”

Neil replied, “Yep, he bought us drinks last night. You'll be glad to know we've patched up our differences.”

“I'm glad.”

Two Shafts added, “He shouldn't be too far behind us on the road. He said he'd meet us here by noon.”

The Preacher arrived promptly at noon. Once they were all gathered around the kitchen table, the talk immediately turned to Reed Darcy and how best to neutralize him.

Neil said, “I say we string him up. There isn't a court in the land that'll convict us for making a backshooter swing.”

Secretly, a part of Jessi was all for the idea, but in her heart, she knew that tactic would make her no better than Darcy, so she said, “There's already been enough violence. I want him strung up legally.”

“A man like Darcy doesn't deserve legalities, Miss Jessi,” Neil pointed out.

“She's too nice, Griffin,” Two Shafts told him. “How in the world did she meet an hombre like you?”

“Deputy Marshal Wildhorse.”

“The Indian Territory marshal?” Two Shafts asked with surprise.

“Yep, he was the one who got me out of prison and sent me here. Made me a deputy marshal, too.”

Neil laughed, “You lie so well, Cheno. No marshal in his right mind would give you a star. We weren't born last night.”

“Or this morning,” Two Shafts added sagely.

“And all of you are going to be deputies, too,” Griffin announced, ignoring their sarcasm.

“Not me,” said Two Shafts. “My ancestors will spin in their graves.”

“So will mine,” Neil July chimed in.

Neil leaned over to Jessi and said in a loud whisper,
“Maybe you should take him back to the doc. He was hit harder with that chair than we thought.”

Jessi chuckled.

Griffin let them have their fun, then went to his bedroom to retrieve his saddlebag. Upon his return, he pulled out the extra stars. He tossed one to each of his friends, then said, “Preacher, get out your Bible.”

Seemingly stunned, the twins stared first at the stars, then at Griffin.

“You're really serious, aren't you?” Two Shafts asked.

Griff nodded.

“I'm not wearing this,” Neil stated flatly.

Griff countered, “Yes, you are. If I have to have one, so do you.”

“The Comanche do not wear symbols of American authority,” Two Shafts said.

Griffin shook his head at their antics, then to Two Shafts he commanded, “Put the damn thing on so the Preacher can read the oath.”

“Oh, no,” Neil July said, “I'm with Shafts, I'm not taking any oaths. I'm a Black Seminole, remember.”

Watching all this, Jessi shook her head too.

The Preacher, Bible in hand, stood. “Gentlemen, stand, please.”

The Preacher's stern voice seemed to settle the matter because the Twins reluctantly complied. He made each step forward in turn, place his hand on the Good Book, and repeat the oath after Griffin.

When the short ceremony ended, Two Shafts declared, “I'll wear it, but I won't like it.”

“Amen,” said Neil. “Amen.”

The Preacher spoke up. “We should find out if there are any warrants on Darcy's men. If there are, we can rid ourselves of at least some of them first thing. I
wouldn't mind going home to Denver with a little extra gold in my pocket.”

“The sheriff should have all of the latest bulletins, shouldn't he?” Jessi asked.

Griff answered, “He should, but he's already declared which side of the road he's on. He won't give us any help if he doesn't have to.”

“Did you get to talk to anyone in town?” Jessi asked the Twins.

“Nope, we're strangers; folks are too scared of Darcy, I'm guessing—at least for now.”

The discussion and the planning went on for most of the afternoon. At one point, Two Shafts said, “The easiest thing to do would be to make Percy confess to killing Miss Jessi's daddy. It'll be real easy to put a noose around Darcy's neck after that.”

“That's providing he did it on Darcy's orders,” Preacher noted.

“True,” Griffin said, “but I think we ought to make that our first job.”

“Can we play with him first?” Neil asked.

Jessi had no idea what that meant, but Griffin laughed and said, “I don't see why not. Preacher, do you oppose our friends having a little fun?”

“As long as it isn't directed my way, I say fine.”

The Twins smiled their satisfaction.

It seemed Neil was quite an accomplished cook, and after the talk came to a close, he and his brother began bringing in barrels and sacks and bags of foodstuffs from a wagon outside. They had potatoes and corn, flour and lard. There were rashers of bacon, what appeared to be half a crate of lemons, spices, rice, sugar, and so many other items Jessi could only stare.

“I like to cook,” Neil told her matter of factly, as he carried in a butter churn.

“And I like to eat,” his brother chimed in with a
smile, as he entered the kitchen hauling a crate filled with cooking pans and skillets.

“Where in the world did you get all of this?” Griffin asked. He'd been on the road with the Twins before, so he was accustomed to their eccentricities, but even he was bowled over by the sheer volume of goods they were bringing in.

Neil began unpacking his pots and pans. “We got most of the food between here and Austin, the rest we got in town at the mercantile.”

“Abe sold these things to you?” Jessi asked.

Neil looked up. “He wasn't supposed to?”

“Nope. It's against Darcy law to sell to anyone associated with me.”

“Maybe he doesn't know yet. Either way, we have just about everything we need.”

So the Terrible Twins and the Preacher made themselves at home, and when Neil asked if he could take over the kitchen duties, Jessi didn't balk. They set up a camp outside on the field behind the house with tents to shelter their bedrolls and gear. Jessi's once quiet house was now filled with supplies, booming male laughter, and the sweet, savory smells of Neil's chili cooking on the stove.

Later, a silent Jessi and Griff sat on the steps of the front porch, enjoying the beautiful night. The day had been full of surprises, and thinking back, Jessi chuckled. “I can't believe the fuss they put up over those stars.”