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CHAPTER 1
RICH MAN-POOR MAN
It was the dead skunk Harley Tatum's dogs were dragging down the main street of Denver City that was causing everyone to wrinkle their noses in disgust. But it wasn't the biggest stink in town by a long shot. The news that Eulis and Letty Potter had struck a gold bonanza had also struck a nerve.
The news had gone through the tent city faster than last winter's smallpox outbreak, evoking just about as many emotions. Tempers flared. Envy set in like a splinter under a fingernail, burning and festering until something was bound to pop.
Every no-good in the territory converged on the swiftly growing town to see if they could wrangle a way to divest Eulis and Letty of their newly found wealth. Others tried to corner them when they'd come in from the mine in hopes of getting a grubstake or a handout, or — as a last resort — the possibility of a job.
Eulis had grown tight-lipped and stern, fearing that he would not be able to protect the mine, although he'd made sure that it was registered in Letty's name, since she was the one who'd actually found the gold. And, he'd gone out of his way to do the same with the land they'd claimed on a bluff overlooking Denver City, and the house they were having built on the property. It was all in her name.
They'd been working the mine for more than three months now, but Eulis was nervous about the conversations he kept overhearing from his own employees, and from the whispers he heard when he went into town. It appeared that the hired hands were not above trying to steal a little of the gold for themselves. Eulis heard talk from a friend here and there that the men claimed the Potters had so much gold that surely they wouldn't miss the occasional smuggled nugget.
He had kept his fears to himself, unaware that, not only had Letty also heard the gossip, but she was bound and determined to be the one to put an end to the talk, and the fear of God in every man who worked for them.
* * *
Spring had finally come to the Rockies, although the high peaks were still snow-capped. Rivers were gushing with overflow — running wild from the snow-melt above the valley. Tiny purple flowers, hardly more than two or three inches high, were popping up through the winter mulch of dead grass and leaves. Color had come to the mountains in the form of bright red cardinals, sassy blue jays, and the soft buckskin color of spotted fawns. Trees other than the prevalent evergreens were budding. Plum thickets were awash in pale blossoms more white than pink, promising a bumper crop of fruit in the coming months.
It was into this scene that Letty emerged, ignoring the scandalous glances of the few decent women by wearing men's pants and accouterments, and riding astride, as a man would have. Her hat was wide-brimmed and black. Her hair was long and wavy, but tied back at the nape of her neck with a piece of blue ribbon — her only concession to femininity.
She wore a permanent expression of 'don't piss me off' and had become quite a marksman with a gun. She didn't have time to preen or be prissy. Eulis had hired some men to work their mine and it was not only her right, but her obligation, to set them on the right path.
* * *
A new shipment of track for the ore carts, and new lumber to shore up the tunnel had come in on the last freight wagon. Milton Feasley, the owner of the dry goods store, had sent word to Eulis the day before that his order had arrived. Eulis went into town early this morning to meet the men before they left for the mine, and get them to help bring out the load.
Letty was at the mine alone, tossing out dishwater when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. As she turned, she saw Eulis and the men coming down from the ridge, into the wide, verdant valley leading to their old home, and the mine beside it.
Even as she was looking forward to living in a fine home, there was a part of her that was still sentimental about the tiny, one-room cabin where they'd wintered. She'd found herself, and found love there, and was loathe to let that go.
She often watched the workers from time to time, and felt as if they were constantly considering a way to steal. She knew that, if given a chance, there were at least three of them who would try, and one who would most likely kill to have what they had. Moral turpitude was sadly lacking in most of the available workers. The diligent were already engaged in working their own claims or trying to set up as shopkeepers.
Letty and Eulis had to make do with what they had, so she'd made a pact with herself last night as she'd watched Eulis sleeping so soundly beside her. She never thought she would have a life like this, and with a man who treated her like a proper lady. There was no way she was going to take a chance on having it taken away from her by some good-for-nothing lout. As soon as the workers arrived tomorrow, she intended to make a few things plain. Then, if they wanted out when she was finished, there would be no hard feelings or retribution taken.
Originally, the entrance to the mine had been inside the old cabin, but as soon as they'd started working the mine and hauling ore into Denver City to the smelter, they'd dug a new opening away from the cabin, giving them some privacy, and eliminating the aggravation of bringing the ore out through the home. Now that Eulis and the men were coming back with the shipment, it was time to put her plan into motion. She dried her hands, got the rifle and was outside waiting when the men finally arrived at the mine.
To a man, they flinched. Some paled a bit at the threat of an armed woman, while the others heard the truth of her words. Eulis would swear later that, at that moment, he felt a physical shift in their behavior. As for himself, he was torn between the urge to grin, and an overwhelming pride.
Damn, but he'd sure picked himself a winner. His Letty was something else and that was a fact.
Letty leaned forward just the least little bit and then smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile and all twelve men knew it.
"Is there anything about what I just said that you don't understand?" she asked.
Twelve men answered in unison.
"No, ma'am."
"Are any of you planning to give me any trouble?"
"No, ma'am."
"Well then ... that's that. Do have yourselves a good day." She shifted her gaze to Eulis. "Husband, I would appreciate a word with you before I go."
Eulis arched an eyebrow. She wasn't in the habit of asking permission from him to do anything. Still, this was her show and he wasn't going to ruin it for her. He took off his hat as he followed her a short distance away.
"Reckon you laid it on a mite thick?" he asked.
Letty turned in the saddle and stared back at the men.
"No. Those red-headed Scotsmen will be good workers. The three men who call themselves the Dorsey brothers would steal you blind, and that tall, skinny man with the dirty blonde hair is a killer."
Eulis looked askance. "Do you know him?"
"No. Just his type," Letty said.
"Reckon I should fire him?" Eulis asked.
Letty thought about it for a moment, then shook her head.
"No. Probably better to have him under your nose, than out hiding behind some tree waiting for a chance to back shoot you."
"I know," Eulis said. "We've got to have workers and we ain't exactly in a place bursting at the seams with men who are willing to mine someone else's gold."
"Just be careful," Letty said.
Eulis grinned and then winked at her.
"I'm always careful, girl. You mind yourself, too."
Letty nodded. "I'm going to ride up to the new home site and see how the work is coming along. I'll see you later."
Eulis watched her ride out across the valley and up into the trees. When he returned to the men, they were suddenly acting as if they'd taken vows of diligence. Before long, they'd fallen into a kind of rhythm that boded well for the mine. Eulis took it as a good sign.
Meanwhile, Letty's trip to the new home-site had taken a sudden turn for the worse. She had just ridden up to what was going to become their front yard when her horse did a fancy little sidestep, reared up on its back legs, and promptly dumped her into the dirt.
She'd already discovered that the men who'd been working on the property were not on the premises, which meant they'd gotten themselves another grubstake and were out trying to strike it rich. The way she figured it, their big fancy house might never get finished, what with all the fools suffering from gold fever.
Cursing the horse and all manner of males, she was dusting herself off and reaching for her hat when she became aware of a rustling in the undergrowth. Well aware that there were grizzlies fresh out of hibernation, as well as all manner of two-legged varmits, she ran for the horse to get her rifle.
The horse shied once as she made a lunge for the dangling reins and would have bolted if she hadn't caught them. Yanking hard on the bridle, she pulled the horse to a halt, grabbed her rifle out of the scabbard, and aimed it toward the bushes. Within a matter of seconds, a bone-thin, half-grown pup of questionable heritage came slinking out on its belly.
Letty didn't know whether to be relieved or disgusted. The pup stunk to high heaven — all the worse for wear because of a previous bout with a skunk. It was a brown and white short-hair, obviously part hound, with huge feet, floppy ears, and the beginnings of mange. She could count every rib. The humane thing would have been to put a bullet in its head right then and there, but it would have been easier to shoot a man, than a helpless animal who meant her no harm. She tried threats instead and began waving her arms and shouting.
"Get, you mangy critter! Go on! Get away before I put a bullet between your eyes!"
The pup whined as it continued to belly crawl until it had crawled all the way to her feet. At that point, it gave a big groan and rolled over on its back. Submission was all it had to offer and gave it gladly.
Letty rolled her eyes and then stomped her foot.
"Go on now, I said! Get! Get!"
The pup added another soft whine to the belly he'd bared.
"Oh, for the love of —"
Something rattled in the grass behind her. Before she could turn, the pup had sprung to its feet and lunged past her, barking and snarling like a dog gone mad.
She saw the rattlesnake at the same moment that her horse reared up and bolted. Before Letty could aim her gun, the pup had the snake in its mouth, shaking it like a rag doll. Just when she feared the pup was going to get bitten, it turned the snake loose.
It went flying, like a thick brown piece of rope, coiling and uncoiling as it sailed through the air.
Letty blasted the head from the body in mid-air. The silence that came afterward was deafening.
Her heart was pounding so hard she couldn't hear herself breathe. Every hair on the pup's back was standing up like the quills on a porcupine's back.
She lifted a shaky hand to her forehead, swiped away the hair that had come loose from the ribbon and jammed her hat back on her head.
"Well now," she muttered, still eyeing the half-starved pup.
Hearing her voice, the pup turned and looked up at her, as if waiting for a sign.
Letty sighed.
The pup took the sound as some inner signal. Within seconds, the hair on his back smoothed out like the feathers on a duck's back.
"Well now," she said again.
The pup wagged its tail once, like a soldier wagging a white flag of defeat, then sat down without taking its eyes from her face.
Letty eyed the dead snake, cursed the horse she was going to have to retrieve, and then squatted down until she was eye level with the pup and offered her hand. To her delight, the pup reached out a paw, as if it understood what was meant, and together, they exchanged a handshake.
It was a silent, but irrevocable understanding. Without another word, Letty stood up, shifted her rifle to her other hand and started walking toward what was left of the snake.
No longer cowering, the pup followed at a hasty trot, confident that no more begging was needed. Letty frowned, and then glanced up, eyeing the direction in which her horse had gone.
"I don't intend to walk all the way back to the valley, so let's go get that blasted horse."
It took the better part of an hour, but she finally caught her mount, led it back to the new home site, dropped the snake into the saddle bags, and tossed it across the horse's back. The horse did another neat little side-step and rolled its eyes as it looked back at Letty.
"It's dead, so get over it," she said, grabbed the saddle horn and mounted in one smooth motion.
She looked down at the pup, took a piece of deer jerky from inside her pocket, and dropped it on the ground. The pup ate it quickly and looked up at her for more.
"If you're a mind to follow me home, I reckon I can furnish a bit more to go with that."
The pup seemed willing, and when she rode away, it followed.
By the time she got back to the cabin, the men were deep inside the mine.
She took the snake out of the saddle bags, turned the horse out into the corral, and then headed for the cabin. She paused at what passed for their smokehouse long enough to cut off a large chunk of fatback from a crock inside the door, then turned around and handed it to the pup.
It took the meat from her fingers with all the delicacy of a gentleman, and then held it in its mouth until she gave the pup permission to eat.
"Go ahead," she said. "You've earned it."
The pup immediately flopped down and began chewing on the meat. Letty leaned the empty rifle against the door of the smoke house, knowing Eulis would have to reload it for her tonight. She sat down on a stump and waited until the pup was finished.
As soon as the pup had swallowed the last bite, Letty stood. The pup followed suit, waiting for a signal as to what to do next.
"Okay now," she said. "Let's skin out that snake."
By the time Eulis came home for supper, the pup had been doused with axle grease for mange and fleas, and was chewing on the leg bone of an elk that they'd butchered over the winter. A fine stream of smoke was coming out of the chimney, and the skin of the rattlesnake was nailed to the side of the house.
Eulis watched the men mount up and ride off, and then headed for the cabin. It wasn't until he came around the side of the house that he saw the pup lying on the doorstep between him and Letty.
The pup growled softly beneath its breath.
Eulis frowned. "Ease up, fella'. I live here."
The pup got up and sniffed Eulis' feet, then picked up his bone and moved off to the side of the doorway.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence," Eulis drawled, then looked up and saw what she had nailed to the wall.
His flesh crawled as he eyed the snake skin, stunned by the size, and the knowledge that, once again when he was too far away to help, Letty had been forced to save herself. He was torn between pride in her ability to bounce, and a feeling of inadequacy. It seemed that she was always two steps ahead of him.
He looked down at the pup, taking note of the prominent ribs and the careful application of axle grease and frowned.
"Exactly what part did you play in all of this?" he asked.
But the pup had nothing more to say.
Eulis shook his head as he opened the door. The scent of cooking meat and baking bread met him as he entered.
"Something sure smells good," he said, as he hung his hat on a wall peg and kissed the side of Letty's cheek.
"I made some johnnycake," Letty said.
Eulis lifted the lid on the pot cooking over the open fire in the fireplace.
"Snake. My favorite."
Letty's face was flushed from the heat of the fires, but she turned a little redder when she caught the teasing tone of his voice.
"So, I guess you saw the skin on the wall."
Eulis arched an eyebrow. "Well, yes, ma'am, I did. A blind man couldn't a' missed it. Are you all right?"
Letty grinned. One of her favorite things about Eulis was his ability to overstate the obvious.
"I'm fine, of course. It was just a snake. Oh ... you need to reload the rifle for me, too."
"If you're gonna go about shootin' it off all the time, you oughta be learnin' how to reload."
"I guess," Letty said, and kept stirring the stew.
Eulis knew that was the end of the conversation about the gun, and set about waiting for her to talk about the pup, but she didn't.
"So ... I understand how the snake come to be nailed on the wall, but I ain't quite figured out how that greasy, half-grown hound figures into the situation."
"He showed up about the same time as the snake."
Eulis had known Letty for far too long to believe that was all.
"And ... what? You just invited him to supper?"
She knew when she was being made fun of, but when it was Eulis, she never seemed to care.
"Of course not," she said. "He earned it and then some. I rode into the yard at the new house. The workers were gone. The outside of the house is finished and the roof is on, but the windows still aren't in. I didn't get a chance to go in because the darned pup was thrashing about in the brush and scared my horse. I fell off and —"
Eulis grabbed her by the arm, his eyes wide with concern.
"You fell off? Are you all right, girl? Did you hurt yourself somewheres?"
Letty eased his fears with a smile and a touch of her hand against his cheek.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Hen House"
by .
Copyright © 2014 Sharon Sala.
Excerpted by permission of RosettaBooks.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
