The Streel Page 7

  Professor Pete gave a harsh laugh. “He was in a long line. She had

  more men dangling than any other fancy lady I know.”

  A buckboard pulled up to the side of the road. A short man with a dark

  overcoat on and a thatch of white hair stepped down from it and lifted his hat to us, then walked toward the body.

  “That’s Doc Hammer. I sent someone for him,” Professor Pete told

  me. “I reckon he’s come to take the body.”

  People were gathering at the edge of the yard to see what the commo-

  tion was all about. Ill news flies fast enough. The doctor walked up to Lily and bent to see her better, going down slowly as if his joints ached. He ran a finger across her cheek and then lifted one of her hands and looked at her fingernails. He let the hand drop and patted her on the shoulder as if consoling her.

  When he stood, two men walked forward with a blanket. They set it

  down on the snow and brushed her off and then, gently, lifted her onto it.

  Other men from the crowd rushed forward and they carried her in a sling

  to a wagon.

  The sheriff shot his rifle off into the air. The sound of it thumped on

  my chest. Padraic came out of the house and put a hand on my shoulder.

  The crowd looked up at the sheriff as the men on the buckboard reined in their horses. He had everyone’s attention.

  The sheriff raised his voice. “We are looking for Seamus Reardon in

  connection with this kil ing. Anyone who has any information should

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  come to my office this afternoon. Or bring him in. I want to talk to that damned Irishman.”

  Padraic squeezed my shoulder and whispered in my ear. “Don’t worry.

  He’s off. I told him to head to Cheyenne. The sheriff has no jurisdiction there.”

  My brother gone so soon. I shivered as I wondered when I would see

  him again.

  9

  It was Christmas, after all, and I tried my best, but the chicken came

  out half- burnt, half- raw; the woodstove cooked that uneven. I boiled

  potatoes and Billy helped mash them. We had turnips and onions for side

  dishes. I found a jar of peaches in the cupboard and divvied them up into three bowls. There were no matching plates but at least there were three of them. I found some mugs we could use for the cider Padraic set on the table. He pulled a lump of butter off of the windowsil , where it had been placed to stay cool.

  I couldn’t help but think of where I might have been— in the warmth,

  security, and grandeur of the Hunt mansion. Instead I was serving a dinner to Irish men in a place that seemed at the edge of the world. How I wished I was setting one more plate.

  The three of us sat down together. We all missed Seamus. With him

  we would have had such a festive meal. Without him the dinner was empty

  of joy.

  “Haven’t had a feast like this in ages,” Billy said and piled food onto his plate.

  Padraic put out a hand to him and stopped him. “I think we need to

  say grace before we dig in.”

  A banging at the door caused us all to stand up. Padraic pushed his

  chair back and went to answer it. Before he could get the door, it was flung open and the sheriff came in. “He’s not at the claim. And no one’s been

  there today. I need to search the house.”

  Padraic said to the sheriff, “That would be fine. Let me go with you.”

  He told Billy to stay with me.

  I covered the bird to keep it warm. Billy and I sat down at the table

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  again and listened to them go into each room upstairs and tear things

  around. Billy swore under his breath, then begged my pardon. I told him

  I was cussing in my mind. The messing they did would just give me more

  cleaning to do tomorrow. Then they all were clattering down the stairs and looked into the back room.

  “Where is he?” Manning asked, standing close to my chair.

  I decided I might as well speak. “Maybe he heard about Lily, coming

  back from the claim. He might be hiding out someplace. As it is, you’re not giving him a chance to clear himself.”

  “Wel , this sets it up just fine. He kil s a girl and runs off. I’d call that a pretty clear case of guilt.”

  “Or he knows the sheriff he’s up against,” I said.

  I got him to think twice on that one, not sure if it was a compliment

  or not.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt your dinner, ma’am.” He took off his hat and

  dipped his head. “If Seamus shows up here, we want to know.”

  “You can be sure you wil , sir,” I promised, knowing full well we’d not

  see my brother again until his name was cleared.

  Then they left. Padraic slumped down in his chair. Billy kicked at the

  table. I uncovered the chicken and cut it up.

  “How do you come to have such a confidence with men about you?”

  Padraic asked me.

  “You know what they say— a woman sleeping equals three men wak-

  ing.” I didn’t feel like tel ing more.

  “I want to know,” Padraic said, “what have you done with yourself

  since last we saw you?”

  “For a year I fed a dozen men three times a day in a boardinghouse. I

  learned how to handle much of their talk and antics.”

  Padraic looked at me with admiration. “I’ve no doubt of that. Now I

  still think we need that prayer.”

  “Fine idea,” Billy said. Then they both looked at me. We rested our

  hands on the table together and bowed our heads. I thought of the home

  I had known in Ireland, my family gathered around the table, my mother

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  pinching someone’s ear to make them behave, patting another on the back

  of the neck, father smoking his pipe. I said the prayer that we would say before many meals:

  Remember the plentitude of five loaves of bread

  And two fish shared with five thousand.

  Let us ask for abundance from this bountiful King,

  May He give us our fair portion.

  I dished out the food and they ate with a semblance of manners. We

  had a quiet meal, eating all that was in front of us in our hunger. When we finished, we sat and looked at each other.

  “Who could have killed Lily?” I asked.

  Padraic leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. “That is the

  question, right enough.”

  Billy laughed. “Any one of her many men could have been waiting for

  her at the Gem. All he’d have to do is threaten her, walk her back to this house, and stab her. Everyone knew about Seamus and Lily. No secrets in

  this town.”

  “That’s the job of the sheriff,” Padraic said.

  “He’s so determined that it’s Seamus, he’ll look no further,” I reminded them.

  Padraic nodded. “Not to worry. It’ll blow over like a bad storm. Sea-

  mus will find his way to Cheyenne. The sheriff won’t be bothered to leave Deadwood. We can sell the claim as soon as Hunt gets back and join him

  there.”

  “You don’t plan on doing anything?” I asked him.

  “There’s plenty of work to be done.”

  “So we’ll do nothing to clear Seamus’s name?”

  Padraic put out a hand to calm me. “Seamus is safe enough right now

  wherever he is. Things will sort themselves out.”

  In my heart, I doubted his words and thought of what I might do to

  help my brother. For he needed my help.

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  A few hours later a knock came at the door, a gentler rapping than before.

  We were all gathered around the fire in the front room, and Billy got up to answer the door.

  The woman who walked in looked familiar. I was sure I had seen her

  on Christmas Eve. She turned and let Billy slip her coat off her shoulders, which were broad indeed. She was what was called a strapping lass. A

  lovely green satin dress clung to her ample figure. Her hair was swept up into a chignon. Black beads decorated her ears and her throat. She was not really pretty, but she had a generous air about her.

  She turned to say something, but all that came out was, “Lily.” Then

  she burst into tears. Billy patted her on the back.

  When she quieted down, Billy introduced us. “Nel ie, this is Seamus’s

  sister, Brigid. I don’t think you two met last night.”

  “Hello,” I said. “I’m so sorry about Lily. She was your friend?”

  Nel ie col apsed into a chair that Billy held out for her. “Like a sister to me she was. Through thick and thin, and I’m tel ing you, sometimes it got pretty thin. What will I do without her? Damnation, why would someone want to go and kill her?” Another gale of tears approached, and Billy headed them off by asking if she would care for a glass of cider.

  “I think I need that, I really do.” She sniffed. She looked around the

  room. “Where’s Seamus?”

  “He’s gone away to do some business. He’s very broken up about Lily,”

  Padraic explained, then asked her: “You don’t think Seamus did it, do you, Nel ie?”

  “Lord above, that boy was as smitten as could be. Which doesn’t mean

  that they couldn’t have had a lovers’ quarrel, but no, Seamus was not one to kill a girl. I’m tel ing you, though, I do want to find the son of a bitch who killed her.”

  I decided to jump right in. “Professor Pete said she saw many men.” I

  grew embarrassed when I realized how silly that sounded. That was, after all, her line of work.

  “Oh, Lily was very popular indeed.”

  “Nel ie, we need your help. You knew Lily so wel . Could you tell us

  what other men she was seeing? Were there any who might have a jealous

  streak, who might not want her to marry my brother?”

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  “I can list the men who saw her if you have all day.” Having said this

  she burst into laughter, then wiped at her tears again.

  “I do.”

  “Oh, you’re a smart one. Lord knows we need a few bright women

  around here.”

  “You’re not working then tonight, Nel ie?” Billy asked as he cozied up

  next to her.

  “I told Al that there simply wasn’t nothing going to make me work

  tonight. I put my foot down. I’d guess he understood. We’re not as busy as you might think. The weather is turning bad.”

  I thought of Seamus out on the trail and sent out a prayer for his

  wel - being.

  Padraic said, “We’ll need to get out to the claim tomorrow, Billy. Make

  sure no one’s touched anything. I wouldn’t put it past the sheriff and his posse to have put some holes in our equipment just to teach us a lesson.”

  Billy stirred the fire, then struck a pose. “And now a prayer for our dear departed Lily, who’s gone down the flume before us. Brigid, you’re the one who knows them all. Give us a prayer for Lily.”

  I thought a short one would do as well as any. “Hour of grace, our

  hour of death, this hour is good, by God’s will and by Mary’s.”

  I heard a howl come out of Nel ie and saw hard tears again running

  down her face. She threw her arms around Billy. He wrapped an arm

  around her shoulder and the two of them slowly went up the stairs, wish-

  ing us a good night. I couldn’t help wonder what had become of me that I was staying in a house where an unmarried man and woman slept together.

  “What will happen to us, to Seamus?” I asked Padraic as we sat together

  by the fire. The question burst out of me with an anger and sadness that surprised me.

  Even saying my brother’s name caused me sorrow. I missed my brother

  so much I wanted to kick something. After such a long time of seeing none of my family, I only had a day with him. Not even that. How could he leave me? I felt myself becoming furious at Seamus for getting involved with a

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  woman like Lily, getting too drunk to know what he was doing, and then

  leaving me in the mess he had created.

  Padraic only shook his head, not looking at me.

  “What is he up to, this brother of mine? Does he have no sense?” I

  asked.

  Padraic lifted his head and looked at me. “Sometimes more than the

  rest of us, but, when it comes to the ladies, not much.”

  “And now see what it has brought on us all.”

  We sat for a moment, then I asked him what had been on my mind for

  a while. “What would the sheriff do if he caught up with Seamus?”

  “Wel , that depends on all sorts of things. But Manning isn’t so aw-

  fully unfair. He’d probably bring him in. However, justice can be pretty rough here. A man was hanged last year for hiring a horse from a livery

  stable and not bringing it back. A ‘suspended sentence’ can be adminis-

  tered on the spot.”

  “I had no idea,” I murmured. I put my head in my hands. All the weari-

  ness from the last days of travel came back upon me. I did not cry. I simply closed my eyes and breathed deeply.

  “Brigid,” Padraic said.

  “I’m fine. Tired,” I assured him. “What can we do for him?”

  Padraic shrugged. “I don’t want any more trouble.”

  “But trouble has landed on our doorstep. We need to clear Seamus’s

  name.”

  “The man who killed Lily won’t want to be found, you know. Looking

  for him would be dangerous.”

  “It was dangerous for me to come here, dangerous for all of us to come

  to America. We faced danger, together, on the ship.”

  At the mention of that horrible night, Padraic tensed. “You’re right

  there. I’ll do what I can, Brigid.”

  “Thank you, Padraic.” I stood to go to my room.

  “Stay a moment. I have not forgotten the day.” He slipped his hand into

  his pocket and brought out a small brown package. “Merry Christmas.”

  I held the package in my hand and did not know what to say. I hadn’t

  had a present since Seamus gave me the little wooden bird. “Oh, Padraic,”

  I said, words for once failing me.

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  “Are you just going to stare at it? Open it, you silly girl.”

  I unfolded the coarse brown paper and found a piece of tissue paper

  inside. Unwrapping that, I held up a simple chain with a golden locket. I had never had anything so elegant before in my life. I opened the little clasp and found two places for pictures. “Oh, Padraic, isn’t it grand? How did you ever manage to get such a lovely thing?”

  “’Tis nothing much. I bought it today when I went for supplies. I

  thought the day called for a present.”

  “Would you help me put it on?” I knelt down by him and turned my

  back so he could work the clasp. He seemed awkward with it, but finally he patted my back and said, “There you go.”

  The locket hung down onto my dark dress and made such a nice glow.

  “Such a fine thing.” I settled back into my seat.

  Padraic stretched his feet out in front of the fire. “I haven’t had a day off like this
in many a week. We’ve been hard at work at the claim.”

  “I’d like to go see it and help if I can.”

  “Oh, it’s awful work, Brigid. But you sure can come to see it. In fact,

  you’d better.” He smiled at me. “Just before he left Seamus told me he had signed his part of the claim over to you. Congratulations. You’re part- owner of a gold mine.”

  10

  When I walked out the front door the next morning, I heard a

  swishing noise coming from next door. A young woman with

  a large red scarf was sweeping off her front steps with a broom. I had heard nothing about our neighbors and wondered who she was. She looked

  close to my age.

  I stood still in the sun for a moment and let it warm my face. Then I

  called over, “Good morning.”

  She lifted her head with a jerk. When she saw me, she smiled and

  waved me over. “Good morning.”

  She pushed her scarf off her head and her hair shone brown with shots

  of gold in it.

  “I’m Elizabeth Wel ington,” she told me. “I saw you yesterday but didn’t get a chance to introduce myself.” She had the flat nasal sound of someone from out East, born in the States.

  “I’m Brigid Reardon. Seamus is my brother.”

  “Seamus has been so very nice. All those three. They help me now

  that my husband is gone.” She sighed. “It was horrible to spend Christmas alone. My husband, Wil iam Wel ington, that is, wanted me to stay behind in Yankton, but I didn’t know anyone there. I wanted to be with him. We

  were only married six months ago. I’m originally from Philadelphia. Have you ever been there? It’s a lovely city.”

  “No, I lived in New York for a while, but I’ve never been to Philadel-

  phia.” I walked up closer to her and stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up.

  “I think it is the nicest city back in the States.” She looked down and

  her lip quivered. “I can’t believe I am out here in the wilderness. Wil iam warned me. He told me I wouldn’t like it, but I didn’t believe him. He was 69

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  right. And now he won’t listen to me when I am so lonely. He says I asked for it. But how could I have known?”