Read Online Showdown by Edward Gorman / Ed Gorman - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Edward Gorman / Ed Gorman
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was sureâin his hand.
He saw her and nodded hello.
Her instinct was to run away, flee. It would be humiliating to see him after writing him such a mushy and forlorn letter, a letter that basically begged him to ask her to stay in town. Not leave.
He didn't wait for her to walk up to him. He walked up to her.
"Haven't had time to read it," he said, holding the letter up.
She could be pretty damned bold sometimes. And right now was a good example. She tore the letter from his fingers.
"Hey," he said, "that's mine."
"No, it isn't," she said. "It's just a silly, stupid letter that belongs to the silly, stupid girl who wrote it."
She froze in place. All street sounds fadedâclatter of wagons; shouts of day's end children; corner conversations of loafers and idlers and riffraff; neigh of horse, cry of infant, laughter of flirty young girls. All of it faded and there she stood on some plane of her own makingâsome plane that displayed her to all as the fool she was.
Prine must have sensed this, because he took her arm and said, "Where you headed?"
"Madame Missy's," she managed to say.
"I'll walk with you."
She didn't object. Couldn't. Needed his strength now. Had none of her own.
Oh my God Tom why did you quit loving me?
Walking. Him saying, "You're doing the whole town a favor. Checking those prostitutes the way you do."
One of the jobs she had as a hospital volunteer was to visit the two cribs each week and see if any of the girls had rashes, discharges, pain, runny noses and eyes that were bothering them. Syphilis flourished in manyâtoo manyâwestern towns. Her girls liked Lucy and her high spirits and her sympathetic eyes even if the madams didn't. The madams found her an imposition. The only reason they allowed her in was that Sheriff Daly demanded weekly talks with somebody from the hospital. At first doctors and nurses came. But there was something so cold and official and disapproving about them that neither the madams nor the girls would cooperate with them.
Lucy was a compromise. She didn't examine the girls physically, and that helped. And she certainly didn't make moral judgments about the girls. She liked many of them and felt sorry for all of them.
She was gradually beginning to breathe normally, becoming aware again of her surroundings, feeling less embarrassed about having been so open with Tom.
"I think I'll try Denver."
"Denver's a good place for a young woman, Lucy. No doubt about that."
"Or maybe Cheyenne."
"That'd be good, too."
"One of the girls at the café thinks I should try California."
"Heard lots of interesting things about California."
"Then there's always the East."
"There sure is, Lucy. I'd like to see New York myself someday. Stand down on the street and look up at all those tall buildings."
"Another girl said I could get a lot of New York things in Chicago and I wouldn't have to travel as far."
"That's true. And they're planning to have the world's fair there in a few years."
"The world's fair," Lucy said, "imagine that." Then: "Of course, you don't have to even leave the town limits here to see mansions and things. The Nevilles' placeâ"
"Well, technically that isn't in the town limits, but I see your point." He pressed her arm gently, and they stopped walking for a moment. "So you heard."
"Heard?" All innocence.
"That Cassie Neville invited me out to her place last night."
"Oh, yesâI guess I do sort of remember hearing about that. But it skipped my mind."
"Uh-huh." He smiled and then did the thing she least wanted him to do and the thing she most wanted him to do. Kissed her. Only briefly. Only briefly. But kissed her nonetheless.
"I take it that's what your letter was all about. Me going to the Neville place."
"I guess I did mention it in passing."
"Given that temper of yours," he laughed, "I'll bet it was more than 'in passing.'"
"You know, when I finally get out of here, wherever I goâChicago or New York or Denver or
He saw her and nodded hello.
Her instinct was to run away, flee. It would be humiliating to see him after writing him such a mushy and forlorn letter, a letter that basically begged him to ask her to stay in town. Not leave.
He didn't wait for her to walk up to him. He walked up to her.
"Haven't had time to read it," he said, holding the letter up.
She could be pretty damned bold sometimes. And right now was a good example. She tore the letter from his fingers.
"Hey," he said, "that's mine."
"No, it isn't," she said. "It's just a silly, stupid letter that belongs to the silly, stupid girl who wrote it."
She froze in place. All street sounds fadedâclatter of wagons; shouts of day's end children; corner conversations of loafers and idlers and riffraff; neigh of horse, cry of infant, laughter of flirty young girls. All of it faded and there she stood on some plane of her own makingâsome plane that displayed her to all as the fool she was.
Prine must have sensed this, because he took her arm and said, "Where you headed?"
"Madame Missy's," she managed to say.
"I'll walk with you."
She didn't object. Couldn't. Needed his strength now. Had none of her own.
Oh my God Tom why did you quit loving me?
Walking. Him saying, "You're doing the whole town a favor. Checking those prostitutes the way you do."
One of the jobs she had as a hospital volunteer was to visit the two cribs each week and see if any of the girls had rashes, discharges, pain, runny noses and eyes that were bothering them. Syphilis flourished in manyâtoo manyâwestern towns. Her girls liked Lucy and her high spirits and her sympathetic eyes even if the madams didn't. The madams found her an imposition. The only reason they allowed her in was that Sheriff Daly demanded weekly talks with somebody from the hospital. At first doctors and nurses came. But there was something so cold and official and disapproving about them that neither the madams nor the girls would cooperate with them.
Lucy was a compromise. She didn't examine the girls physically, and that helped. And she certainly didn't make moral judgments about the girls. She liked many of them and felt sorry for all of them.
She was gradually beginning to breathe normally, becoming aware again of her surroundings, feeling less embarrassed about having been so open with Tom.
"I think I'll try Denver."
"Denver's a good place for a young woman, Lucy. No doubt about that."
"Or maybe Cheyenne."
"That'd be good, too."
"One of the girls at the café thinks I should try California."
"Heard lots of interesting things about California."
"Then there's always the East."
"There sure is, Lucy. I'd like to see New York myself someday. Stand down on the street and look up at all those tall buildings."
"Another girl said I could get a lot of New York things in Chicago and I wouldn't have to travel as far."
"That's true. And they're planning to have the world's fair there in a few years."
"The world's fair," Lucy said, "imagine that." Then: "Of course, you don't have to even leave the town limits here to see mansions and things. The Nevilles' placeâ"
"Well, technically that isn't in the town limits, but I see your point." He pressed her arm gently, and they stopped walking for a moment. "So you heard."
"Heard?" All innocence.
"That Cassie Neville invited me out to her place last night."
"Oh, yesâI guess I do sort of remember hearing about that. But it skipped my mind."
"Uh-huh." He smiled and then did the thing she least wanted him to do and the thing she most wanted him to do. Kissed her. Only briefly. Only briefly. But kissed her nonetheless.
"I take it that's what your letter was all about. Me going to the Neville place."
"I guess I did mention it in passing."
"Given that temper of yours," he laughed, "I'll bet it was more than 'in passing.'"
"You know, when I finally get out of here, wherever I goâChicago or New York or Denver or
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