#madam ruby

Continued from 11/15/2023

“Are you sure this’s gonna work?” Sapphire paced the room.

“No, but it’s the only chance we got.” I kept my voice low so that we would not be heard. 

“Why can’t we bring John in on this?” Emerald asked.

“Because I still don’t know if we can trust him, and we’re out of time.”

“What if I can find out for sure?” Diamond suggested. “He’s sweet on me, and I think I can flip him.”

I thought about what she said. “Do it. If you can’t, we’ll stick to the original plan.”

“Ruby!” Eli called up from downstairs.

“All right, here goes everything.” I walked out of the room and down the stairs. “The girls are getting changed now.”

He pulled me closer to him and whispered in my ear, “You’re not plannin’ anythin’, are ya?”

“Only planning on showing you that we may have found something.” I wrapped the lie in a truth. “I found some dynamite, and John helped me rig it to open up a tunnel deeper into the mountain. If there’s silver in the hills, it’ll be in there.”

“How did such smarts get into a pretty woman like you?” He nuzzled the side of my neck.

“God’s Grace.” 

My four girls came down the stairs in their mining clothes. “We’re ready,” Sapphire announced.

Eli stood up but kept his arm wrapped around my torso. “Then let’s get going.” John walked with the girls, followed by the rest of the gang. “Remember what I’ll do if you try anything.”

I escaped from his grip. “Trust me, Eli. I never forget what’s at stake.”

“Good.” He pointed to the door. “After you, my dove.”

I pushed through the saloon doors and hopped onto the wagon that John hooked up for the girls and me. Diamond winked and climbed over the low seat back and sat next to him. She grabbed his thick arm and held onto it while she laid her head on his shoulder.

Eli and the rest of his gang followed the wagon up on their horses. When we reached the mine entrance, I jumped out of the wagon and helped Emerald, Topaz, and Sapphire down. John assisted Diamond, and she gave me the barest of nods that we could trust him. 

I prayed to God that it would not be our downfall. Maybe I should pray to Lady Luck instead, since we’re gonna rely on Her power for most of this.

“Follow me,” I said with no emotion in my voice. I lit a few lanterns and handed them to the girls, John, and Eli. They all followed me down the main tunnel into the large cavern. “Now, there’s three different tunnels that we’ve been working with, so we can split up to cover more ground.” The girls handed the lanterns to members of the gang so they could explore the mine.

“What about the dynamite?” Eli asked when he grabbed my hand.

“That’ll come later,” I promised.

Aaron shouted from the central tunnel, “Boss! There’s silver here!”

Marcus’s voice came from the left side tunnel. “Here too!” 

Eli gave me a look like he did not trust me. He pulled me over to where Aaron was standing and held the light up to the rock. He touched it with his fingertips. Only a couple of flakes came off the wall, the rest stayed and sparkled. “How did the miners miss this?” he wondered out loud.

“Maybe they weren’t interested in small amounts like this,” I answered. “When you’re looking for a vein, you’ll skip over the tiny flecks.”

He held his finger closer to the lantern, and a smile grew on his lips. “We’re rich.” He set the lantern on the ground, picked me up, and twirled me in his arms. “We’re rich!” He tried to kiss me, but I pulled away. He dropped me onto the ground, anger radiating from him.

Aaron took a step away from us.

“How dare you deny me?” Eli growled.

I shot back, “I always dare. Especially on days like today.” 

“You still don’t get it, do you? I own you!”

“Nobody owns me. Not even a murdering bastard like you.”

He backhanded me across the face hard enough that I fell back to the ground, and my lip split. He grabbed me by my hair and pulled me back up to my feet. He dragged me out of the mine. “Saddle up, boys! We’ll be back here later. My wife has somethin’ special for us to celebrate with.” He threw me into the wagon, where my girls all gathered with me.

John looked over his shoulder and handed me a handkerchief to wipe the blood that seeped from my lip. “Thank you,” I whispered. The anger that flared through him helped me to see that Diamond was right. John could betray his gang. She just needs to convince him to do so.

He drove the cart down the trail and back into Silver Hills. Eli grabbed me from the wagon and hauled me over his shoulder. Behind the bar was a set of stairs that led down into the cellar under a trapdoor. He tossed me on the ground and threw the hatch open. He lugged me down the steps to where I kept the alcohol.

“Where is it?” he asked with an edge in his voice.

“What’re—”

He slapped me again. “I know you’re hiding somethin’ down here! Where is it?” He tore through the bottles until he found an old, dusty jar sealed with wax in the furthest part of the cellar. 

“Not that one!” I called out to stop him, but he just pushed me back.

He wiped the dust off the label. “Con-grat-u-la-shuns, Marshall and Ruby. Dated 1865.” He looked down at me. “This is what you’re hidin’?”

“Please, Eli, it’s the only thing I got left of him!” I pleaded.

His smile became vicious. “Then I guess it’s time to erase him from your history.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me from the cellar and set the bottle on the bar. “Serve it,” he whispered with more than a hint of malice in his voice. He stood next to me, keeping his arm around my waist.

I cried while I opened the bottle. Part of me wanted to shatter it on the ground rather than serve it, but I had to think of my girls. I divvied the almost-black contents into glasses, having just enough for the gang. 

Topaz served the glasses to each of the men. Aaron slapped her on the ass when she passed by him with the last glass. He tried to pull her into his lap, but she barely made it out of reach when he grabbed for her.

“I propose a toast,” Eli told his gang. 

I leaned against the back of the bar where the alcohol sat on shelves. I wiped away my tears and apologized to Marshall, I’m sorry, love.

Eli held his glass up in the air. “Here’s to the girls who found the silver in the mine—”

A glass shattered, and I looked over at Diamond who “bumped” into John.

Eli glared at her. “Clean it up!”

I tossed her a rag, and she quickly cleaned the spill. “Eli, there’s none left in the bottle,” I explained when he turned to me.

“Sorry, John, but maybe Diamond there can give herself up in exchange for what she broke.” 

“Maybe it’s best that negros don’t have a white man’s drink,” Aaron chuckled to himself, but the rest of the gang heard it and laughed with him. Only Eli and John refused to join in. 

Eli continued his toast, “Here’s to us becomin’ rich!” 

“Here, here!” his gang shouted, and they all knocked back the dark alcohol. 

Eli’s eyes lit up when he looked at me. “What is this?”

“It was my wedding wine.”

He did not say anything for a second. “Come with me.” 

I fought a little, but after he gave me a cold look, I stopped trying to get away. I gave my girls the signal, and they knew what to do next. My job was to keep Eli occupied while the girls went to work.

He slammed the door to our room open and threw me onto the bed. He leapt on top of me and kept trying to catch my lips with his. “Jus’ accept it, Ruby.” He finally moved my face to be nose-to-nose with him. “You belong to me, now and forever.” He was gentle at first, at odds with the man I knew he was. That softness did not last long. He sat up on my hips and ripped my shirt off of me. He struggled with his belt buckle, and that is when I knew I was free.

“You all right?” I asked, even though I already knew what was going on.

He slid off the bed and stumbled a little while he tried to stay upright. “Wha’ di’ ya do?” he slurred.

“I didn’t do anything,” I replied with a sweet smile. I stood up and put my arms around his shoulders. “Except serve you some cactus wine laced with laudanum.” 

“Wha?”

“Tchtchtch,” I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. “You should know better than to drink on an empty stomach. But it will help you enjoy this.”

“Enjoy wha?” His eyes fluttered a little as he fought with the drink.

I pushed him onto the bed with a thump. “You want me to do my wifely duties, right?” I straddled his hips with my thighs and leaned forward to meet his eyes. 

“Yes,” he breathed. He yanked me down on top of him and stuck his tongue in my mouth. I found the ropes that I hid behind the top of the mattress while he was distracted. I looped them around his wrists but did not pull them tight.

Three knocks on the door, and then silence. I sat back up, tightening the ropes around his wrists. “Looks like your time is up, Eli.”

“Wha’ ya mean?” His eyes tried to focus on me, but the dilution of opium in the wine made it hard.

 “You’ll see.” I smiled and climbed off the bed. 

He tried to sit up and stand, but he might as well have been a turtle on its back. I took off the torn shirt, grabbed another one, and put it on. “Ruby!” he shouted. I blew him a kiss and left the room. “Ruby!” he yelled again.

Sapphire stood by the stairs. 

“How did it go?” I asked her.

She smiled. “See for yourself.”

The gang was asleep and tied up like little presents. “And it ain’t even Christmas.”

Emerald, Diamond, and Topaz sat near a tied-up John. 

“He’s bein’ stubborn,” Topaz mumbled.

I pulled a chair up and sat down in front of him. “Lemme put it to you this way, John. Either you help us, or you die with them. You can become rich from their bounties, or my girls will. You’re not like them, John. You don’t relish in the violence they cause. If you help us get rid of them, I promise that I’ll make sure the rangers don’t look your way.” 

He looked at the gang, then to the girls. “What do you wan’ me to do?” 

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Simple. We need help carrying them to the mine.”

He narrowed his eyes. “That’s what the dynamite was for?”

“Exactly. Or, if you like, we can string them up like they did my husband one year ago. Unless you had something to do with—”

He interrupted me, “I followed the girls out of town. I ain’t have nothin’ to do with that hanging.” 

I looked to my girls. “This true?”

“He’s the one who caught us before we made it to the train station,” Emerald explained.

I stood up from the chair and wiped my hands on my trousers. “So? Which path are you gonna go down? The path to Hell with them? Or the path to redemption?”

“You swear you’ll keep the rangers off my tail?”

“I promise. And there’s the bonus of becoming a rich man.”

He did not take long to make his choice. “I can get them up the hill in the wagon.”

“Ruby!” Eli screamed from upstairs.

“What ‘bout Eli?” he asked as Diamond untied him.

“I’ve got special plans for him.” I put my hand out to him, and he used it to stand up. “You won’t be the one to kill them, if that helps. No need to get blood on your hands where there is none now.”

He gave me an odd look but shrugged. “Let’s get to it, then.” 

We stacked the gang members in the cart. Their feet faced the front and their heads hung over the back end. “We’ll need proof of their deaths for the reward,” Emerald reminded me.

“I think the old preacher had one of them picture takin’ things,” Topaz told her. Topaz, Diamond, and John left to the preacher’s house, then up the mountain to cave-in the mine. Sapphire and Emerald took two horses and headed down to the train station to get a ranger up here.

I went back to the saloon and cleaned it up. I wanted it perfect for when I marched Eli down and outside. Inside my tiny office was a knife that Marshall gave me on our first anniversary. It was made of cherry red wood and had a simple sheath of a cardinal embroidered on it. He had it specially made after I successfully hunted a rabbit on my own. I put the sheath in my boot and covered it with my trousers.

On my desk was a small box. I opened it to show a needle and syringe with a vial laying on its side. I grabbed the needle and syringe, stuck it into the vial and pulled opium into it. It was just enough to sedate him for half an hour, but that would be long enough. 

I also found the lipstick that I wore on my wedding day with Marshall. This is will do the trick. I stuffed the lipstick inside my corset between my breasts. The red was just as bright as my eyes, which is why Marshall bought it for me in the first place.

I found him still struggling against the binds on his arms. He must have worked off the drugs in his system by trying to get free.

“Ruby!” There was rage and fury in his voice, but also something laced underneath. It could have been desire. He licked his lips. “Ruby, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Trust me, Eli. There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Once I get free—”

I laughed. “Oh, darlin’, you ain’t getting out of this one.” I leaned over his face. “But I do want you to see something before you die.”

“Like what?” 

“Like the end of life as you know it.” I stabbed him in the arm with the needle and pressed on the syringe plunger. 

His eyes rolled back as he was filled with the ecstasy that only opium could give. He moaned in pleasure when I lightly touched him with my fingertips. “Please,” he begged.

“Please, what?” I whispered in his ear.

“Please…” he could not finish his thought as another round of euphoria rushed through him. 

I untied his hands and retied them behind his back. I laid him across my shoulders and carefully navigated my way outside. I made sure the rest of the town, whoever was left, watched as I sat him on the ground. I looped the rope around his neck and tied the other end to his horse. I took the lipstick out and meticulously applied it to my lips. 

The sun rose higher over the horizon, and Eli stirred. We had a crowd of the people left in Silver Hills. “Eli Carver!” I yelled more to the crowd than to him.

He looked around and realized where he was. He tried to fight off the noose, but it was too tight to shake off. 

“You are hereby found guilty on counts of train robbery, theft, assault, and murder.” I glanced back at him. “And as punishment for your crimes, you will watch your men killed and then hanged until dead.”

His eyes widened in genuine terror as I sauntered in front of him. “Ruby, don’t do this. I can change.” 

“You lost that chance of redemption when you murdered my husband, kidnapped me, stole my town, and tortured my girls.” I moved to his side, helped him stand, and pointed to the mine on the hill. “Watch.” I took the knife from my boot and flashed the sunlight off of it. 

I received a flash back, and I put the knife away. I held Eli’s head to force him to watch as the hillside exploded. The sound echoed through the town and its valley.

“No…” He tried to shake his head from my grip, so I let him go. He glared at me. “No! You’re not a killer, my dove—”

“I ain’t your dove!” I snapped at him. “I am the wife of the fallen sheriff. I ain’t killing them or you in cold-blood.”

“Then what do you call this?”

I smiled and kissed him on the lips. “Justice.” I moved behind him and guided the horse forward. Eli rose off the ground. This would be the slow death he deserved for everything he did. He kicked his feet and tried to get out of the noose and binds. I used my weight to pull the rope down more and tied it to the anchor in the ground. I let the horse free from its duties, and it ambled back to the front of the saloon.

He hanged there in panic and pain, just like he did to Marshall one year ago. I walked around to the front and just watched. I let the image of him begging, pleading, trying to breathe, and survive burn into my mind. This would bring me the peace I craved. He finally stopped kicking and moving after a while.

I turned back to the crowd. “Eli Carver is dead. But that means nothing after your cowardice killed Marshall. The only reason I don’t string any of you alongside Eli is because Marshall wouldn’t have wanted that. He wanted to build a home here, and I intend to honor him and his memory. If any of you want to leave, go. Those who want to stay, we have work to do to take the stain of Eli and his gang off our town.”

Emerald and Sapphire rode in, just as Topaz, Diamond, and John came back into town. They all stared at Eli hanging there, with the smear of red lipstick on his mouth. They then looked to me, and there was satisfaction in the girls’ eyes. John looked like he was not sure what to think. 

Another horse galloped into the center square and stopped just in front of the gallows. “What’s goin’ on here?”

“Justice,” I answered. “Who are you?”

Sapphire made the introductions. “Madam Ruby, this is Cal Deacon. He’s a ranger.”

His blond hair was cut short to his head, which made his blue eyes pop even more. He looked from Eli to John then to me. He took his hat off his head and bent his head a little. “Ma’am.” It felt like nothing escaped his notice.

“Ranger.” I cut to the chase. “Why’re you here?”

“Heard rumors of Eli Carver’s gang set up a hideaway near here. When these two ladies were trying to send a message to the nearest Rangers’ station, I made my acquaintance.” He gave Eli’s corpse a long look. “But it looks like I’m too late to arrest him. Where’s the rest of his gang?”

John spoke up, “Buried in a mine shaft.”

“And you are?” 

“John. John… Onyx.” He gave himself a last name. “I work for Madam Ruby. She’s the proprietress of the saloon and mayor of Silver Hills.” He looked at the other people left in town and none of them said anything differently.

I raised an eyebrow at the promotion. “Since Eli Carver and his gang are dead, there’s no need for you to stay Ranger Deacon.”

He looked around the small town. “You know, normally, there’s someone here with a shiny badge telling me to get off their turf.” He looked at our faces. “My guess is that Eli killed your sheriff when he first arrived.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Keep talking. You’ll get to the point eventually.” 

“I’m saying that if you’re gonna run a way station town, you need a sheriff. I don’t see anyone else stepping up.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you volunteering?”

“If you’ll have me. Life on the road hunting outlaws gets old after a while. Maybe I can stay here for a while until the wander bug bites me again.” He put his hand out to me. “What say you, Madam Mayor?”

I looked at my girls, then my town. I froze and stopped breathing when I saw what I thought was the ghost of Marshall. He blew me a kiss and bid me farewell. I gathered my wits and exhaled the breath I had been holding. “Welcome to Silver Hills, Sheriff Deacon.” I shook his hand.

Continued from 11/08/2023

I dusted my hands on my trousers while I exited the front of the silver mine. The plan was almost ready, then I will have my revenge on Eli and his men. I held my hand over my eyes to see the town of Silver Hills below me in the rising dawn’s light. The gallows had another body hanging from its rope, and I almost did not care who it was this time. It had been a long year and since those bastards did not help me with saving Marshall. 

I was half of a mind to take my girls and leave. I laughed bitterly at the thought. There was no escape. Not for my girls, not for me. Eli would hunt us down and kill them just to make his point. Just a little longer… I promised myself and prayed to whatever God was watching down on us.

“What’re ya doin’ up here?” A drunken member of Eli’s gang, the man one who manhandled Sapphire when the gang first arrived, stumbled up the ridge. 

I lied, “Eli asked me to take a look at the mine, Marcus.” I pointed to the wide entrance into the cooler darkness. 

Marcus narrowed his eyes at me, but I could tell that he was having issues focusing on me. “Eli asked you?”

“Of course. Why else would I be up here?”

He still looked like he did not trust me. “What’d ya find?”

I hesitated. “You can’t tell Eli, not until I know for sure.” I pulled out a small vial of silver from my pocket. “Looks like the miners might have missed some spots.”

He sobered up quite quickly. “There’s silver still in these hills?” He whooped. “We’ll be rich!”

“Sh!” I shushed him. “I don’t want Eli to know until I can make sure it’s a good vein.”

He ripped the vial from my hands. “How’d ya know if it’s good or not?” He held the silver flecks up to the light.

“My husband taught me how to look for silver in stone.”

“Eli did?” His voice raised in pitch.

I glared at him. “Eli ain’t more than my kidnapper.” I yanked the silver back from him. “Now, I have to get back down to Silver Hills to start breakfast.” I looked back to him while he eyed the mine. “Who was hanged?”

“Doctor. He tried to leave last night, and we can’t have that,” he answered, sounding distracted.

I left him there to star at the mine and walked down the paths to town. I reached my saloon and went up the back stairs. 

“Where is she?” Eli shouted from the dining area. A loud slap echoed through the halls. 

Without changing, I ran down the stairs. “What are you doing?”

Eli held Emerald in his hand while his second and third in command watched. A handprint darkened on her cheek and her green eyes were full of pain and terror. He did not let her go when I arrived. “That’s three weeks I’ve woken up to you missin’. Three weeks wonderin’ if my wife was off consortin’ and breakin’ her marriage vows.”

“Don’t take your anger out on my girls.” I stepped into the dining room. “They are innocent, and if you want to hurt someone, then hurt me.”

He held up Emerald’s wrist and arm. “If I hurt you, you won’t learn. But if I hurt your girls…” He slammed her hand onto the table. I tried to run over to her, but John, Eli’s second, grabbed onto my arm. His dark black hand was at odds against my paper white forearm.

Eli kept his eyes on me when pulled the knife from its sheath. I fought against John’s grip, and Aaron, Eli’s third, grabbed onto my other side. “Stop!” I cried out to him. “Leave her alone!”

“But then how will you learn your place?” Eli’s eyes never left mine as he cut her arm.

Emerald screamed and tried to pull away. He held her in place while he sliced her delicate skin again. John’s hand trembled where he held me. From watching his interactions with my girls this past year, he hated when any of them were hurt. It just solidified what I knew before about him. He was a part of the gang but did not take part in most of the violence.

I wanted to kill Eli for murdering Marshall, but as he tortured Emerald, I knew that I needed to drag the bastard to Hell myself. “I was in the hills!” I shouted, hoping it would get him to stop.

“Why?” He held the knife ready to slash Emerald again.

“I heard rumors that the mine was never fully emptied of silver. I was trying to see if there was anything left.”

“What did you find?”

“Check my left pocket,” I told John.

He took no pleasure in touching me, unlike Aaron who would have lingered and groped. John pulled the vial from my pocket and tossed it to Eli. “Looks like she found somethin’.”

Eli let go of Emerald, and she collapsed on the ground. “Let her go.” John immediately dropped my arm, but Aaron was reluctant. With a second look from his leader, Aaron let go of me as well.

I ran over to Emerald and grabbed some towels. “Sapphire! Diamond! Blood kit!” I shouted toward the stairs and pressed the towels on the cuts to stem the bleeding. 

Sapphire raced down with a medical bag in her hands, Diamond following close behind. She had been training as a doctor assistant on the East coast when he was brought out West in hopes to claim her status as a doctor. Instead, she had been forced into the role of a dancing girl. 

I found her when Marshall and I had visited her owner’s saloon. We stopped her from becoming a soiled dove and brought her here with the promise that we would protect her. Not doing well in that area.

Sapphire got to work on Emerald’s arm, and I knew I was in the way. “Get her upstairs.” I helped the three of them stand as a unit to carry Emerald. Diamond’s dark black skin stood out against the almost white dress she would. Her frizzy hair was cut close to her head to help tame it, which just make her dark brown eyes more striking. John came over and picked Emerald up easily. He carried her upstairs with Sapphire and Diamond leading and following, respectively.

I faced Eli. “You swore you wouldn’t touch my girls.” 

“And you gave your word that you would do everythin’ I say,” he replied with no emotion in his voice. He set the vial of silver on the table. “Tell me about this.” He acted like nothing happened. He pulled me down into his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Better start talkin’, or I’ll have John break Emerald’s fingers.”

“I told you already. I heard rumors about the mine and decided to take a look for myself.”

“And?”

“And I think the miners might have missed a some spots of silver.”

“That sheriff must have taught you more than you’re lettin’ on if you could find somethin’ that the minin’ companies didn’t.”

I balled my fists but did not strike him. I needed to buy time. “Marshall taught me many things, including how to read the land. Even if its underground.” 

“Who else knows what you found?”

“Marcus caught me on the ridge, so he knows about it,” I admitted. “I haven’t told anyone else.”

“Good. This is gonna be our little secret, then.” He kissed the side of my neck. “How long until you know for sure if there’s silver in them hills?”

“If I bring my girls up with me, I can get more eyes on it.”

He laughed. “Don’t think you can trick me, my dove.”

“Just have one of your men escort us, then. I’ve got four girls, plus me, so we can spread out further into the mine. My husband—”

He squeezed my body hard. “Who?” he tried to sound sweet, but there was malice laced under his voice.

“Sheriff Marshall—” I corrected, “—taught us what to look for. I’d show your men, but beyond Aaron and John, how much do you trust your band of lowlifes?” 

He thought about it. “I’ll give you one week to find silver that you claim is in that mine.” He grabbed my hair and pulled my head back. “After that, I’ll make sure that you have somethin’ more important to deal with, like my heirs that you’ll be birthin’.”

I stiffened and horror rushed through me. It was bad enough being married to this monster. Now, he expected children? I needed to check the herbs that would keep me barren. I prayed there would be enough to last until i could get more.

“Then I had better get started,” I choked the words out in a desperate attempt to flee from him.

He released me from his lap. “One week, then you’ll return to your wifely duties.” 

I ran upstairs and into my office. I shut the door and slid down the wood to the ground. I bit back the tears and grief. I had always wanted children with Marshall, but it never worked out. The thought of bearing Eli’s children made me sick. One week. I have one week to put the rest of my revenge plan into place.

I gathered my wits, the mining clothes for the girls, and left the office. John stepped out of Emerald’s room. He moved to the side to let me pass. I stopped next to him. “I don’t know how someone like you came to be a part of Eli’s gang, but if you don’t find your way out, you’ll lie dead in a ditch or hanging from the gallows alongside him.”

John did not move for a second, until he swung his arm in front of me to keep me from moving. He looked down at me. “You don’t know nothin’ ‘bout me.”

“You’re right. I only know what I see. Find where you want your soul to reside, John, because if you keep following someone else’s path, its liable to lead you down into Hell.” I ducked under his arm and went into Emerald’s room.

Sapphire finished bandaging Emerald’s arm. Diamond and Topaz, a girl who came up from the southern border, sat on the bed next to each other. I shut the door behind me and leaned on it. “How are you feeling?”

Emerald winced when she moved. “It hurts.”

Sapphire grabbed something from her bag. “Here, chew on this.” She gave Emerald some bark to gnaw on. Sapphire stood up. “I wrapped her arm with cattail to help stop the bleeding and prevent infection. I don’t have any powdered coyote willow but chewing on it will help with pain.”

“Why not give her some opium?” Topaz tilted her head as she thought out loud.

“Because I’ve seen the effects of opium, heroine, laudanum, and morphine. When I was travelling from New York to here, I saw too many men and women dying from lack of it. They would kill themselves trying to find relief when they ran out along the way.” She looked up at me. “Sheriff Marshall gave me a book and told me what plants can help with different things.”

“Anything that could knock these sumbitches out?” Diamond asked her quietly.

I answered, “I have something.” I moved away from the door.

“What’s the plan, Madam?” Diamond sat up straighter. 

I handed them the clothes. “Simple, get dressed in the men’s clothes and we’re going mining.” I winked at them, so they knew there was more to it. I opened the door and almost ran into Aaron. “Get out of my way.”

His leaned on the doorframe and looked down at us. “Anyone ever tell y’all just how beautiful y’all are? I bet you’d look even better undressed.”

I pushed him out of the way, knocking him off balance. He fell back into the wall behind him. “Leave them alone.” I shut the door behind me. 

He scrambled to stand back up. He towered over me, but he did not scare me like Eli did. He raised his hand to smack me. “You bitch—”

“Aaron, what in the Hell do you think you’re doin’?” Eli asked from near my office.

Aaron lowered his arm with a snap back to his side. “Nothin’ boss.”

“That’s what I thought. Get out of here.” 

The taller male ran downstairs with less dignity that the snakes outside. 

I walked over to the stairwell. “The girls are getting dressed, then we’re heading out to the mine.”

He strolled to me and touched my face softly. “John’s goin’ with you ‘til you find the silver. When you do find it, you will report back here to me. If you dally or try anythin’, John’ll kill your girls.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of wasting time,” I muttered.

“Good.” He removed his hand and allowed me to go downstairs. I waited until my four girls came down the stairs in the clothes I found for them. They crowded around me. “Follow me.” 

We left the saloon. Many of the buildings were empty, and I wondered how many would survive when Eli finally left Silver Hills. My only priority were my girls, but there was a sense of guilt in the other women and children who had died because they did something that put them on the wrong side of the gang. 

Maybe Silvers Hill ain’t meant to survive this. Maybe God is trying to send me and my girls down a different path.Except that Silver Hills was my home. It was the town Marshall and I built from the saloon up. He was the one who found people to inhabit it while I worked the numbers. Another annoying benefit from being a part of Eli’s gang before: I learned numbers and letters. 

John stalked behind us as we hiked up the small mountain to the Silver Hills mine. None of us talked. Not even the rattle of a snake broke the silence that held onto us.

We reached the cross timbers of the mine, and I lit the oil lanterns as we walked into the cool darkness. “Madam Ruby?” Topaz whimpered.

I grabbed onto her hand with mine. She was the youngest of the girls, fresh and dewy-eyed. I allowed my girls to pick what they wanted to do. They could be dancing girls, painted ladies, or anything else they wanted. In more economic times, I could have had more girls and been more ruthless of a Madam, but I wanted something better for these girls than I ever had.

After about a hundred feet, the tunnel widened into a large cavern. The lantern’s light flickered off the shining walls where there were flecks of copper. “Wow.” Emerald’s voice echoed. She came with, even if she was not going to do anything. I never left any of the girls alone with Eli’s gang, if I could avoid it.

“Can you hold this?” I asked her. She walked up and held onto it with her good arm.

John stayed at the space between the tunnel and cave. He did not say anything while he watched as I put the girls to work. 

I faced away from him. “In each of the tunnels ahead, there’s these buckets. What I need y’all to do is to—” I motioned throwing the sand from the buckets onto the walls, then patting the silver flecks down, “—scrape the walls to see if there’s anything underneath. We’re looking for large areas of silver to show Eli.”

They four of them nodded. I helped Emerald light more of the lanterns and sent the girls off down the tunnels. “Emerald, stay here. John seems like he’s a gentleman and won’t touch you. Shout if you need help. I’ll be going down each of the tunnels to look for silver.”

She sat on an overturned crate. “I’ll be here.” 

There were three tunnels, plus the entrance one. I went down the one on the left first. I passed by Diamond with her bucket of dirt and silver flakes and continued down into the darker parts of the mine. 

I reached the end of the tunnel with my small lantern and its focused beam of light. Here was what I needed. I dusted off the crates that were labelled “Nobel’s Safety Blasting Powder.”

“Do you even know how to use ‘em?” 

I jumped and whipped around. John was standing there. “I—well—uh—”

He came up next to me. “Las’ time you were in the gang, you wanted nothin’ to do wit’ me.” He picked up one of the sticks of dynamite then set it back down in the box. “Wha’ changed?”

“I did,” I admitted. He looked like he was unsure how to react to that, so I continued, “When I was trapped with Eli the first time, I saw all of you as monsters. Since seeing how you treat my girls? I knew that you’re a better man than any of the rest of them will ever be.”

He took his time to think about wat he wanted to say. “Eli found me when I escaped slavery before the War. He said that if I followed him and did as he said, he’d not turn me in. When the rails were bein’ built after you escaped, I worked them, tryin’ to get a better life. Then the railroad men said I couldn’ have land or a house because I’m a negro…” He clenched his jaw and fists. “I showed Eli where the railroad men keep their money.”

I debated on whether I wanted to tell him my plan. Too late. He already knows about the dynamite. An intrusive thought popped into my head, Maybe I should kill him to keep the secret… I shook my head to clear it. I changed the topic, “To answer your first question, no, I don’t know how to use them.”

“Good thing I do.” A ghost of a smile crossed his lips.

“Madam Ruby!” one of my girls, Sapphire, called up to my office. The tone of her voice worried me. I had been ignoring the loud hoots, hollers, and screams from outside, but her shrill cry broke through my concentration.

I set down the pencil that I used for keeping tally of debits and credits. I gathered my dark red skirts in my paper white hands and left the small room with its wooden desk and chair. I walked down the hallway and stairs behind the bar where she was trying to get away from a rough and tumble male. “What is the meaning of this?” I asked him with no hint of politeness. 

He turned and faced me. His brown hair was plastered against his head from sweat under his hat. His face was covered in scars and stubble. He dropped Sapphire’s hand, and she fled to me. 

Her bright blonde hair was falling from its style, and her pale blue eyes were full of terror. I gave her hand three gentle squeezes to tell her to get the other girls out of here and to the sheriff then head to the train station until someone came for them. She ran upstairs in her blue body-hugging dress. 

“You own this place?” His voice matched the gruffness of his looks and demeanor. 

“I do. I am Madam Ruby.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “What do you want?”

He spat into the spittoon then whistled.

The saloon doors slammed inside against the wooden walls. A tall man in all black, from his hat to his orange dusted boots, stepped into my bar. The morning light hid his features until he reached an area of shadows. The gas lanterns lit up his face with his scar across his cheek and golden blond hair. 

“Eli Carver.” I recognized his face from the wanted posters in the train station and from personal memory.

He sat his hat on the bar and looked around the room. “Marcus, you said you found the owner.”

Marcus took a large step away from Eli and me. “Eli, this’s Madam Ruby, and she claims to own this here saloon.” He must have been new to the gang because I did not recognize him.

Eli finally looked at me, and a smile played on his lips. “Madam? You’ve moved up in the world since you was a dancin’ girl in Goldfield. Decide to open your own joint after your time as a soiled dove?” There was a playfulness on his voice, but it just made me want to slam his face into the dusty wood of the floor. “Been a long time since I’ve seen your pretty red eyes.”

“Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” I put my hands on my hips to feel stronger than I was. “Why are you here? We’re a quarter day’s ride to the train station, the mines are all shut down, and there’s nothing here for you to want. So, take your gang and hitch your pony somewhere else.”

He stepped uncomfortably close to me. He gently moved a piece of my silver white hair away from my face. “Is that any way to treat your first customer as a whore? I was the only one not afraid to make your albino body mine.”

I slapped his hand away from me. “Customers pay. You kidnapped me and stole my virginity, Eli. Once I had the stigma of being a whore, there was no going back to being the dancing girl I was.” 

“It can’t have been that bad.” He lifted my chin to force me to meet his eyes. “You are a pretty woman, and, from the look of this place, you made good money.”

I took a large step away from him. “Thank you for the trip down Memory Lane of the worst time of my life. Now, get out, before I call the sheriff.”

He laughed, and his gang followed suit. “If you mean the man who’s a bit tied up at the moment, I don’t think I need to worry.” He motioned to the door. “But if you don’t trust me, see for yourself.”

I glared at him, but I needed to make sure that the sheriff, my husband, was all right. I did not even need to step out of the saloon, because once I opened the doors, there was no doubt that he was hanging from the gallows. I covered my mouth behind my hands as I cried out. He was still alive and kicking. 

I tried to run over to him, but Eli grabbed me from behind. “You should really get a better sheriff for your little town.”

“Cut him down,” I said under my breath. “Cut him down, or I’ll kill you where you stand.”

“You can try.” He smelled my hair, so I took the chance to elbow him in the face. He let go of me with a shout.

I pulled my skirts up and ran over to my husband. His tan face was turning purple as he hanged by his throat. His normally pulled back long black here was slick with sweat and out of its tie. “I’ll get you down, Marshall.” I stood under him, letting him use my shoulders as footholds to take the pressure from his neck. I looked around and saw the other people of our small-town staring from their windows. “Help me!” I screamed to them, but none of them moved.

Eli sauntered up and bent down to almost nose-to-nose with me. “No one is gonna to help you. Not after what they saw how easily we strung your sheriff up.”

“Then damn them alongside you to Hell!” Marshall’s weight was hurting my shoulders and back, but I refused to let him die. 

“I might be amendable to cut him down, if you do somethin’ for me.” His smirk told me everything that he wanted.

Sweat covered my face and body as I struggled to keep Marshall from hanging. “I’m married, Eli, and I won’t ever join your bed again.”

He seemed to put two and two together. “Is that why you’re desperate to save this sheriff? He’s your husband?”

I saved my breath for my trembling muscles.

Eli grabbed me from under my husband and shot Marshall then the rope that held him. Marshall’s body crumpled when he hit the ground. “Go grieve for your spouse, because startin’ tonight, this is my town.” He let go of my arm.

I raced over to Marshall and tried to stop the bleeding, but there was nothing I could do. I was not a doctor, and I doubt our town’s physician would come help. I laid his head in my lap, hoping to make his passing more comfortable.

Marshall reached up and touched my cheek with his fingertips. “Atsa.” He called me by the nickname he gave me when we first met years ago when he saved me from my position as a painted lady with marriage.

I cupped his hand to my face. My tears splashed on his shirt. “Don’t talk, Marshall. You gotta save your breaths.”

“You have to stop them,” he whispered. “You’re the only one who is strong enough to stand up. I’m sorry that I won’t be there to help you.”

I cried in his hand. “You’re wrong. If you couldn’t, there’s no way I can.”

“I love you, my Atsa.” He smiled softly and closed his eyes for the last time. I lost the only man to have never used my past against me, the only one who helped me pursue my dream of a peaceful life, and the only one who was willing to help me build the saloon from the ground up.

I bent over and kissed his forehead. “I love you too, Marshall. Rest in peace, and I will try to save our home,” I whispered to his corpse.

Eli’s men ripped Marshall away from me and threw him to the side. I had no fight left in me while Eli dragged me back to my saloon. He sat me down at one of the tables. “Here’s how this’s gonna go…” 

I stared at the wood grain in the table. Memories of meeting Marshall after my escape from Eli the first time flooded my mind. 

Marshall came into the saloon I was whoring at one day. He was looking for a few good men to help him rebuild a town that was abandoned after the mines were empty. He wanted to create a town that would become a waystation from the trains to other parts of the county and state.

A customer had tried to take me upstairs, but I was too enthralled with Marshall. He stood tall and handsome with his high cheekbones and black hair. He saw me trying to fight off the customer and came over to my rescue. “This man botherin’ you, Miss?”

The proprietor laughed as he stood behind the bar to clean glasses. “She ain’t been a ‘miss’ since she was soiled by Eli Carver.” He was pencil thin and refused to stand up for his girls.

“I didn’t ask you,” Marshall snarled at the saloon owner. He turned back to me. “Do you want my help?”

I had to make a choice. Either I refused his help and stayed a painted lady, or I go with him. He said he was looking for a few good men, so maybe he had room for me, if I could prove myself. It would mean that I would lose my job and home at the same time, but I saw a future in Marshall’s light brown eyes. 

I pulled my hand from the customer, slammed my heel into his foot, then elbowed him in the face. I guess my time trapped with Eli’s gang was not a complete waste. “Only if you don’t mind taking me with you?” I hoped he would accept.

He smiled warmly, and my cheeks burned. “I was lookin’ for a few good men, but I can see where you’d be an exception, Atsa.” When the customer grabbed my arm again, Marshall punched him in the face. The man crumpled to the ground.

The proprietor came around the bar. “Now, see here—”

Marshall pulled the pistol from his hip. “The Lady’s made her decision. She’s comin’ with me. If you got a problem with that, then meet me outside.”

The smaller man shrank away. “Her things’re upstairs.”

Marshall looked at me. “There anythin’ you need?”

I looked down at the dress I wore and thought of everything else I owned. “Won’t take me long to get my things.”

He let go of my hand, and I rushed up to my tiny room. It was barely larger than the bed, water basin, and wardrobe. I opened the wardrobe, then found the little notch of the hidden compartment. I gathered the important things, including the earnings I stole from drunken customers and my papers. I smiled at the extra cash that I had been building over the past few years from my customers and the owner’s coffers. I stuffed them into a bag and ran back downstairs.

Marshall held his hand out to me, a perfect gentleman. I grabbed it, and we went outside. “I never caught you name, Atsa,” he said while we walked on the wooden boardwalks toward his horse.

“My name is Ruby. Why do you keep calling me ‘Atsa?’”

He lightly moved a piece of hair from my face to behind my ear with an intimate touch that sent flutters through my stomach. My cheeks burned when he cupped my face in his palm. “Atsa is the color of your pretty eyes and cheeks.”

“Atsa is ‘red’?” 

He nodded. “Stay with me long enough, and I’ll teach you everythin’ I know.” He helped me onto the horse at the front of the saddle, and he sat behind me. “Here’s how this is gonna go…”

A loud crash brought me back to the present. Eli’s fist was sitting on the table in front of me, the glass mug shattered over the wood. “You ain’t been listenin’.”

You’re the only one strong enough to stop them. Marshall’s last words came to mind. “All right, what do you want?” I could pretend to be surly. I could push my grief down until I had my revenge. With the girls gone, I just needed Eli to trust me for this to work.

Eli lifted an eyebrow at my sudden change. There was cold calculation behind his eyes. “You’re tryin’ to figure out how to kill me.”

I gave nothing away. My poker face was a blank mask that he taught me when I was kidnapped the first time.

He waited for any change in posture or movement to that would give away my thoughts. When I did not move, he continued to talk, “As I was sayin,’ this’s my town now. You can either be friendly with me, or I can send you to God, just like I did your husband.”

I clenched my teeth, but he saw that small muscle twitch. He grinned as he stood up. “Only reason I’m keepin’ you alive is because you own this joint. It’s a good place to hide out from the law.” He came around to behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “Then there’s the extra benefit of havin’ my girl back.”

“I ain’t your girl, Eli.” 

He dug his fingers into my shoulders hard enough to bruise. “I think you’ll be singin’ a different tune after a while. Especially if I send my men after your girls.”

I whipped around in the chair. “Don’t you dare lay a hand on ‘em!”

He stooped down to my eye level. “Be a good woman to me, take care of my men as your customers, and run the saloon like the proprietress you claim to be. And if they come back, I’ll keep my gang from harmin’ them.”

It was an easy choice to make. “Why here? You coulda picked the damn town with the railroad going through it. Why did you pick Silver Hills?”

He pulled the chair up next to me. “Simple. I need to be close enough to strike, but far enough away to avoid gettin’ caught. Findin’ you was just a bonus.” He pulled my face to look at him. “And before you get any ideas in that pretty li’l head of yours, if you call for help from the rangers, I’ll kill everyone in this town while you watch. Think of it this way, the life and death of this town depends on you and your actions. Choose them carefully.”

“I do exactly what you say, and you’ll leave the town alive?” I needed confirmation.

“You do what I want, and yeah, I’ll spare your town.” 

I took as deep of a breath as I could. It was shaky, but it only settled my resolve. “You have a deal.”

He smiled, cold and cruel with a promise of the taste of Hell in the future. “Good little dove.” He mashed his lips to mine. 

Continues 11/15/2023