The Whip (20 page)

Twenty-Six

The stagecoach was pulling up to the Sacramento Wells Fargo office. Lee was booze blind by now. “We got a hundred for each man comin’ to us in reward money, plus five for Sugarfoot,” he slurred. “What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t.”

“I figure, seein’ as how you’re an amateur and all, we ought to split it five hundred for me and two hundred for you. True, you pulled the trigger on Sugarfoot, but I flushed him out for you and put away them other two critters as well.”

Charley stopped the coach and got down, moving away from Lee.

Lee pursued it. “Hey, now, don’t git your rattle up. Fifty-fifty, hell, I don’t mind.”

Charley turned, and for the first time, looked him in the eye. “I don’t want it. Take it all.”

Lee stopped in his tracks, staring at Charley through whiskey-glazed eyes.

“What the hell did you say your name was?”

At that moment, Jim Birch came running out of the office. “Charley? What happened?”

“Jim, you better get your guards to put the gold back in the safe. We got held up an hour out of town. Got four bodies to remove to the undertaker.”

A few nosy townsfolk, seeing the bullet-riddled coach, were starting to gather around. Lee was looking at Charley, befuddled. His eyes sliding over her. The realization of her identity was dawning on him, through the liquor and the strangeness of the thought. But by the time he’d gathered his whiskey soaked wits enough to do anything about it, Charley was gone.

Twenty-Seven

Tonia woke up to the familiar clip-clop of Charley’s horse. Anna lay sleeping, undisturbed at her side. Tonia lifted herself onto her elbow and stared at her mother’s face. In the starlight that filtered through the window, she could see that her mother’s eyes were twitching under her eyelids…her habitual frown was gone and there was a faint smile on her face. She still has her dreams, thought Tonia.

With mischievous anticipation she slid out from her side of the bed, stepping down with her bare feet. She began to tiptoe towards the front door, taking care to avoid the squeaky spots in the wooden floor.

Outside, the summer night sky was brilliant with enormous stars. A sliver of a moon hung low overhead. What Tonia’s eyes focused on, however, was not that enchanted sky, but Charley’s little cabin.

His door was open tonight, an unusual occurrence she thought; perhaps it was because of the muggy evening. The lantern light streamed out, cutting a sharp wedge of illumination between their two cabins. It was like a pathway directing her. She stepped out onto the dirt and headed towards Charley’s cabin. At his doorway she paused for just a moment before stepping into the rectangle of light outlined by the rough frame. She could see through into the bedroom.

Charley was on his knees on the floor with his back to her, unaware of her presence. What was he doing? She took in the tousled hair and the broad back straining the coarse blue broadcloth shirt. She could hear a sound that might be weeping. Charley’s shoulders rose and fell. He was weeping.

Tonia wanted to leave now, but she couldn’t seem to move. She stood there awkward…anxious, longing to be back in bed safe alongside her mother.

Charley stood up and teetered for a moment. Tonia thought he was going to fall over. He must be drunk she thought.

In a single gesture Charley pulled his shirt over his head. Puzzlement upon puzzlement: Tonia saw that his back and chest were wrapped round with wide cotton bands. An injury? Poor dear Charley—he must be in pain. That was why he was weeping.

Charley began to unwind the cloths. They fell to the floor. In a moment he was finished. His back, naked and pale.

Perhaps Tonia made a sound then, perhaps Charley felt a presence. She spun around and saw Tonia outlined in the doorway.

Tonia’s breath stopped. What she saw at that moment…the shock of the revelation tore through her…disbelief, fear, disgust.

“Charley,” she whispered. She turned and ran.

Charley threw on her shirt and hurried after Tonia. In a few long steps she’d caught up with her and wrapped her arms around the girl. Tonia struggled and kicked.

“Let me go. Let me go. You’re disgusting.”

“Shhh,” said Charley, tightening her clutch around her.

“Don’t touch me. Let me go.”

“Be quiet, Tonia. It’s all right. It’s all right.”

Tonia stopped struggling. She twisted around and looked up at Charley’s tear-sodden face. She had thought him such a handsome man with his etched and sun-darkened skin. When he sat at dusty high speed on the driver’s box, and the sweat-streaked horses responded to the crack of his whip, she caught her breath at the romance of it. She’d admired him so. Fatherless as she was, she was proud of the gift of his special, enviable friendship. The way he’d listen to her sagas of school and support her determined opinions and imaginings. His quiet, common-sense philosophies were so different from those of her drama-ridden mother’s. A woman. A woman? Tonia started to cry.

Charley held the girl close until she quieted. She glanced over at the other cabin. Thank God. No sign they had woken Anna.

“But Charley, why? I don’t understand why. How can you be a woman?” Tonia couldn’t look her in the eyes.

There was nothing else for Charley to do. “Come inside and I’ll tell you why Tonia.” She turned back to the cabin.

Tonia hesitated, then followed. She flashed on a memory of that first time years earlier when, holding onto her mother’s hand, she had followed Charley out of an old life and into a new one.

Twenty-Eight

At dawn, the door opened and the two of them stepped out. Charley’s face was sagging with fatigue and sadness, but also relief. Tonia’s was glowing with exhilaration and new understanding. Tonia now knew as much as Charley could find the words to tell.

“There’s a freedom, my girl, that comes from speaking one’s truth,” Charley said, as they stood in the doorway of the cabin. “I’ve been in and out of men’s britches so much that half the time I don’t know myself what I am anymore. And if truth be told, I don’t much care. But too much has passed between your mama and me as I am, for her to know. If she ever found out the truth about me, she would feel betrayed. It’s my secret that I trust in your hands now, Tonia.”

“But she loves you.”

“I know,” Charley nodded. “But think for a moment about what this would do to her. Finding out. No matter how your mother’s life has been turned upside down by this man or that, she’s always landed on her feet. But this is different. This would shame her.”

Tonia thought about this for a moment. “Okay. I won’t say anything. I promise. It’ll be our secret. I love you Charley.”

“Me too.”

There was a long silence as they walked towards Anna’s cabin.

“You know, if I had the chance I’d kill that bastard Lee Colton for you,” Tonia whispered. “After what he did to you, and Byron, and your baby. I hate him.”

“I don’t even know if I could kill Lee if I had another chance. For years I’ve had dreams of killing him. It’s why I came out west. But I don’t know anymore.”

The front door of Anna’s cabin creaked open, and she appeared, looking stern and rumpled with sleep.

“Antonia. What are you doing?”

Charley spoke up. “It’s all right, Anna. I was up early feeding the horses and Tonia just came out to help.”

“Why are you home so soon? We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

“There was a hold-up.”

“Oh my God. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Just tired. We’ll talk later?”

“Alright. Tonia, come inside and start getting ready for school.”

Tonia hugged Charley and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Following her mother inside, she turned and looked at Charley with a gaze full of affection as she closed the door behind her.

Twenty-Nine

The following morning, while Charley was
grooming the horses, Tonia, carrying her school bag, sneaked unseen through the front door of Charley’s cabin. She rifled through the dresser drawer until she found the gun, the one she and Charley practiced with when her mother wasn’t around. Charley had said every girl should know how to protect herself.

She found it tucked away under a pile of much-darned socks. She checked it; it was loaded. Her heart knocking in her chest, she hid the gun in her bag and then with feigned innocence, walked out of the cabin towards the barn.

As she mounted her horse, Charley called out, “You riding to school with Dwayne today?”

“Yes. You know I always do.”

“Well, tell him to come over after to pick up an old saddle I want to give him.”

“Okay.”

“And have a good day at school.”

“I hate school.”

“That’s a bad attitude. Never hurt a girl to be able to read and write.” Charley winked at her. “Now git, girl. You’ll be late.”

“Bye. See you tonight.”

Charley slapped the horse on the rear, sending it and Tonia out of the barn.

Tonia rode not to her friend Dwayne’s or school that morning, but instead, to the Wells Fargo stagecoach office. She tied her horse to the hitching post out front. Inside was Jim Birch, sitting behind his desk drinking his morning tea.

“Tonia, why aren’t you at school?”

“I’m on my way there sir. But Charley asked me to stop by your office first and find out if Lee Colton is still in town and how to find him.”

“He sure is. For a few more days. We put him up at the old Clinton place.”

“Oh. I know where that is.”

“How ’bout that Uncle Charley of yours? Took down Sugarfoot in one shot!”

“Yes, he told me all about it. He wants to talk to Mr. Colton. I don’t know about what. He just said it was important that he caught up with him before he left town.”

“Glad to be of help. Now I have to get back to work, and you have to get to school young lady. Remind Charley I got a run for him in two days.”

“Thank-you Mr. Birch. See you soon.”

Thirty

Tonia rode up to the old Clinton place. It was just a small one-room shack on a clear and level bit of ground. She was nervous, but determined to see this adventure through. She slid down off her horse and tied it to a small cottonwood tree. She rummaged in the bag for the gun. This she held before her, making her way to the shack.

So much was going on inside of her. She was thrilled with herself. She was terrified. She wanted to pee. Just shoot the gun like Charley had taught her. That’s all she had to do. She would pretend she was on the stage with her mama. She would make Charley proud. She could imagine Charley’s expression later tonight; how very pleased she would be with her. After this they’d be together for life.

Her cheeks were flushed with excitement. Her whole body was quivering. On rubbery legs she walked to the door, took a breath, and tried to push it open. Stuck. It took great pushing and shoving, but she got the creaky door unstuck. No one was home.

The interior of the shack was dark and sparsely furnished and smelled of stale tobacco. Tonia felt a surge of disappointment, mixed with the faintest taste of relief. Her heart pounding, she went inside and looked around. This was the place where the man lived who’d hurt Charley so. And she, Tonia, who believed she possessed a courage beyond her years, was about to show her bravery and loyalty to Charley.

She took a chair and maneuvered it to face the half-closed door, then sat down on it, the heavy gun in her lap. She’d wait.

It must have been half the day before Lee rode up, pausing to observe the unfamiliar horse tied to the tree. Tonia hadn’t quite thought of that. Lee wheeled his horse, moving in toward the shack. The half-open front door creaked in the light breeze. He dismounted a short distance away, then pulled his pistol from its holster and cocked it.

Tonia had fallen asleep in the chair. A low melodious whistle sounded from outside. She stirred, awakening, her eyes opening, her hands closing around the gun.

Lee, back pressed against the outside wall of the shack to the side of the door, swung out his arm. The door banged open.

Tonia sprang up from the chair, bracing herself behind the gun. She spoke, her voice and body trembling. “Lee Colton?”

Lee stepped into the doorway.

Tonia took a breath and squeezed the trigger with all her might.

Lee heard the bullet hit the wall beside him. He fired several rounds into the dim interior. He heard the word “Mama.” Then the sound of a body falling to the floor.

He strode over to the body and turned it face up to get a look at her. “What the hell?” he muttered.

She was thoroughly dead. Who was this girl? Why had she been here? He played it out in his mind. She was in his cabin, waiting for him with a gun. She tried to shoot him. He’d done the right thing. Still: a young girl. He was bewildered and angry. He wondered what to do now. He stomped around the room for a few moments, avoiding looking at the girl’s face, her empty staring eyes.

He left the cabin, leaving her there on the floor where she’d fallen, and went back out to his horse. He’d go into town and tell the sheriff that young girls were now attacking people in their own homes.

A few hours later, Sheriff Halstead arrived at the old Clinton cabin with Lee in tow.

“Fuck,” he said. “It’s Charley’s little girl, Tonia. What the hell? You sure you don’t know her?”

Lee shook his head, “Never met her in my life.”

“You know Charley Parkhurst right? You just did that job together.”

Lee’s breath stopped. Parkhurst? He was right. Shit. That driver was Charlotte. He had been so liquored up. Charley’s girl? What the hell did that mean? Charlotte sent a girl to kill him? Was he going crazy? Was the booze getting to him?

“Hey.” The sheriff raised his voice trying to get Lee’s attention. “When are you planning on leaving town?”

“Uh…I got one more job for Jim Birch in two days. Then headin’ out to Frisco.”

“Well, you’re coming with me first. I’ve got some more questions for you. And plan on sticking around till we get this matter sorted out. Get your damn blanket off the bed. I’m gonna wrap her up and take her body back to her mama.”

Thirty-One

The next morning the birds were singing as usual
.
The sun was shining as usual. The sunlight streamed in through the cabin window onto Tonia’s body, dressed in white, laid out on the bed. Anna was kneeling next to her; her face expressionless as she plaited white ribbons into her dead daughter’s hair.

A short time later a small group gathered around the grave: Jim Birch, Ben, Hank and a few other whips and neighbors, Charley and Anna. The rough homemade wooden box containing Tonia’s body lay at the bottom of the freshly dug hole. The soft spring earth was heaped to one side, awaiting the moment to cover her.

Birch was speaking, “…there is no death. Only a change of worlds…”

Anna was on her knees sobbing. Over and over she sobbed, “
Perch
é
?
Perch
é
?”

The whips were awed by her grief. There weren’t many mothers in their midst. They thought of their own mothers: would they grieve like this at their death?

Charley’s eyes were frozen into an expression of rage…remorse…loss. She knew the “why”—if only she hadn’t told Tonia…if only she had closed the cabin door that night. If only, if only… .

It was time.

She broke away from the group, striding off toward her cabin. She grabbed Byron’s pistol from off the hooks on the wall, loaded it and headed to the corral. A time to every purpose, a time to be born, she was thinking. A time. A time. She saddled up the horse. A time to die. Hell, even the Good Book was telling her it was time.

Charley mounted her horse. As she passed the little group around the grave, Anna looked up for an instant, her eyes like great black stones. It won’t change anything she was probably thinking. You stupid man, it won’t change anything. Anna dropped her face back into her hands. Her body shook with anguish.

Charley glared at the grave, at the sky, at the road, at God. She gave the horse a hard slap of the reins.

This was that moment she had lived in her dream. But the horror in the dream had been that the trigger would not move, no matter how hard she pulled, no matter how she willed it, no matter how she begged God. The trigger was always frozen in place, and she would wake up in bed sweating, shaking. And now this moment felt like her dream. It was hard to know the difference. Just breathe. Breathe. She would move her finger against the curved metal of the trigger. She would pull with all her strength. This time the gun would fire. She would kill Lee. She would finish this nightmare forever.