Dance with the Deacon

When she returned I waited until I had helped her down from the fence. To save her from further embarrassment I asked. "So what's the word?"

"She is old Deacon, but you knew that. I would guess she had one more trip in her yet." The light in her eye told me the horse was old but sound.

"So okay Hennessey how much for the horse and the little wagon?" I asked it waiting for the inevitable haggling to begin.

"Well forty dollars seems about right to me," he declared.

I was preparing to speak when Edith chimed in. "God how can you say that. He is going to take a wagon off your hands. One that is too small for any other human on the face of the earth. Plus he is going to save you the trouble of burying the gray."

"Deacon, I don't think I wish to continue with this until you have that woman under control."

Hennessey turned to walk away. I took hold of his arm to turn him back. He tried to pull free. I held him in a grip as strong as I could. I know it must have hurt but he didn't show it. In every part of his being he was a man.

"Deacon, I know you are a man of god. I give you fair warning sir, if you don't let me go there is going to be one hell of a fight."

"Then you will lose Hennessey. You might even die."

"Are you threatening me?" he asked it angrily at first. Then he seemed to come to an understanding as my look finally sank in.

"Mr. Hennessey you have a responsibility. You have horses for sale. We have to have one to get to our destination. I am not going to die, nor am I going to allow the lady to die just because we can not come to terms."

"Edith tell me the top dollar. How much is the wagon and the gray worth?" I asked it calmly with Hennessey standing defiantly.

"Twenty five is top dollar," she replied.

"Now Mr. Hennessey keeping in mind you are dealing with a man of god. Will you take the twenty five?" I asked it in a calm voice while looking him in the eye. I did nothing else to change his mind.

"Jarve will be along to find the tack. I want you to load up and leave here." With those words Hennessey walked away. I was a little surprised when Jarve showed up a few minutes later with the tack. He and I wrestled the wagon free from it's host wagon. Like a giant tic it finally broke loose from the larger freight wagon.

I both watched and helped Jarve prepare the wagon for my trip. He and I removed the wheels then he greased the axles. It sounds like a larger job than it actually was. I also watched closely as he attached the harness leather to the wagon. The leather along with the two long poles where the attachments which held the old gray to the wagon. When we finished loading the wagon the day was almost gone. I had considered asking Hennessey for a room but he never returned to the yard. In the end I paid Jarve.

Edith and I headed off into the failing light with an untested horse and tiny wagon. Both our meager possessions could not fill even the tiny wagon's bed. Once we left the gates of the ranch I looked back at the comfortable house with a certain amount of envy. It would have been nice to have a home cooked meal and clean bed for a change. It seemed that even talking hard to a man like Hennessey was enough to get us pushed out into the night. A lesson I would have to remember. It seemed that cold logic and warnings of doom did not make me any friends.

"Well we seem to have tested his hospitality and he failed," Edith said it as she noticed my reaction to leaving the ranch. I was taken aback since she seemed to be reading my mind.

"Yes it appears that Mr. Hennessey is a bit of a sore loser," I replied.

"Deacon, you were a bit hard on him," she suggested.

"Might I remind you Edith, you were the one he wanted to put in her place."

"Mr. Burke, I have no place." Her remark was sad not defiant.

Then why is it I am taking you home, if that is not your place." I didn't have any idea why I asked or even what the question was supposed to mean. It had seemed the right thing at the time but then it suddenly seemed wrong.

"What faith are you Deacon?" Edith seemed curious but also somehow prying.

I quickly reverted to the faith of my childhood. "Why I am Baptist Edith. I thought you knew." I knew better. I suddenly realized that I should have made it known earlier.

Edith looked away into the gathering gloom. She didn't answer me. It was an irritating habit she had. The old gray plodded on toward town. We rode in silence for most of the way.

"Edith there is no hotel in town," I suggested.

"I know that. Why do you mention that now?" Edith was not the most pleasant of traveling companions. Since I was a man forced to live an exemplary life for a while, I could only dream that Edith was a saloon girl. I was about to slip into a day dream. One in which I was taking the three day trip with not one but two saloon girls.

"I asked why you mention that," Edith reminded me. Edith had harshly pulled me back to the reality of my situation.

"Because we are going to be sleeping on the ground tonight. This wagon is not even large enough for one of us to sleep in."

"Deacon, you are again stating the obvious." Edith was a hard woman.

"Tell you what Edith. Why don't I just drop you in town. I think we are not going to be such good traveling companions."

"Why do you say that. Is it because I asked you why you mentioned there was no hotel in town. By the way, if there is no hotel what will I do this late at night. No deacon, you and I are going to travel together because a man of god would not desert a woman in distress."

"What distress would that be Edith. Having to find a family who will take you in for a few days until your husband can get to town." I thought it sounded trivial.

"There is no family to take me in. Our people are a ways to the north. Everyone around here knows who I am." After she made the mysterious comments she thought she was going to just dummy up.

"Who are you? What people are you talking about?" I asked it because I was totally lost.

"Two very good question. On second thought I am not sure who I am. The people to the north probably wouldn't help after all." She was again looking off into the approaching night.

I suffered her silence for several minutes then it slipped from my mind. I had decided after the war that I had little desire to become involved in anyone else's problems. I couldn't fix their lives when my own was such a wreck. I did not pursue her openings also because it was a long trip to Sadie's Gulch. It would all somehow come out. Of that I had little doubt.

The sun was completely down when we arrived in the town at the end of the rails. Sadie's Gulch was south of the tracks, while the work gangs were west of it. I made a choice to move due south for a while to put some distance between us and the workers. A large group of men could mean trouble at any time. Alone I would have been a poor parson traveling west hardly worth any interest at all. However with Edith I was a parson with a pretty young wife. With women being in such short supply even a parson's wife could well incite the passions in a man. While traveling it was going to be inevitable that she was thought to be my wife. Since it would be safer for us both I doubted I would be the one to set anyone's record straight.

All that passed through my mind as I took the road south out of town. Another hour passed without any conversation. I was at the point of deciding just to keep traveling all night when she spoke.

"Deacon, this horse wont be worth a tinkers dam tonight if you don't stop soon." She didn't seem to mind sharing her opinion even though I hadn't asked for it.

"Well that pretty much makes up my mind. We are only a few miles from town but we can stop at the next tree we see." I wasn't at all upset. She seemed to think otherwise.

"Would you rather I not give my opinion?" She wasn't asking to be helpful. She was looking for a fight. I ordinarily would have given her the fight. That night I was tired enough to remember I was a Deacon.

"Give your opinion anytime you wish Edith. It will just take a while to find a place to stop for the night."

"You don't have to wait for the ideal place you know. Any place with a little shelter will do."

"Perhaps you would be happier picking the spot?" I suppose in retrospect, I was a bit snappish.

"Of course I will, if you wish. I imagine I have more experience than you." I couldn't tell whether she expected me to argue or not. She was certainly baiting me, or at the very least prying for information.

"You probably do Edith. Why don't you just pick a spot." I tried to keep my voice neutral. After all it would only be two or three days travel with her at most.

Nothing more was said until we happened upon a small clump of trees just off the road. The trees were barely visible in the moonlight.

"Could we stop over there?" As she spoke she was pointing to the trees.

"Of course," I replied. "It looks to be as good a spot as any." I turned the horse and wagon over the rough ground. Not being able to see the ground was a bit of an inconvenience. We had waited too long to stop. I allowed the horse to find her own way to the trees. Once we were stopped I climbed down stiffly from the wagon seat. I might have helped Edith down had she not have already been on the ground.

I went to the rear of the wagon. Inside the bed I found the large wooden box with the camping gear. When it was on the ground I turned to Edith who had stood watching for the few minutes it had taken.

"Well why don't you cook while I take care of the horse?" I thought it was a sensible plan.

"I would rather take care of the horse while you cook," she suggested. I analyzed her voice but couldn't find anything particularly in it.

"Well if you would rather, that is fine with me." It was too dark to read her face so I began unpacking the camp gear. The new six inch deep cast iron frying pan was the easiest thing to recognize in the dark. The cloth bag with the food, mostly bacon, came from the box next. I also found one of the new tin cans of beans easily enough to include it on the menu.

I found the kerosene lantern inside the corner of the box. The shop keeper had packed the items rather poorly. It the kerosene had spilled it would have ruined the bacon. I got the lantern lit after a short search in the box for matches. In the out of doors the lantern didn't provide much light but it was better than nothing.

I sat the lantern on the bed of the wagon while I began working on supper. Thick sliced bacon and beans was the simple menu. There was some bread that didn't appear to be more than a day or two old. It would be a little stale but I had a taste for stale bread.

The coffee was another thing all together. I made strong coffee a lot of it had to do with the length of time it sat on the fire. It seemed as thick as molasses some days. The coffee pot got filled with water and the coffee grinds dumped into it. After that it was just boil the hell out of it while the bacon fried up. I had supper pretty much finished when Edith finished with the horse.

"That poor old horse is in better shape than I thought. She just isn't up to any really long trips." She said it as she seated herself on the wooden box on which I had replaced the lid.

"That's good to hear." I said that just to acknowledge that I had heard her. "Supper is ready." As I spoke to her I spooned beans onto the metal plate along with three thick strips of bacon.

She sat the plate beside her on the box while she accepted the cup of coffee. She took one sip of the coffee then made a face at me. She stood, lifted the coffee pot from the edge of the fire. She poured the coffee from her cup back into the pot.

"Too strong?" I asked it rather enjoying her look.

"Too many grounds," she replied. She moved to the wagon where she opened her carpet bag. From it she removed a smaller cloth bag with draw strings. From the bag she removed a small piece of fabric. She then returned to the box where she had sat. She fitted the cloth inside the metal coffee cup.

"Now would you pour me a cup of coffee please?" While all that had happened I had stood watching. I hadn't even fixed myself a plate. I poured her a cup of coffee fascinated to see what she would do with the cloth.

With the cup almost full she carefully raised the cloth effectively removing the coffee grinds from the cup. "Well Miss Edith, you do have some strange ways," I said smiling.

"Is it strange to you that I would prefer my coffee without the grinds?" She asked it knowing I had meant something else.

"No ma'am it is strange that you would go to all that trouble over a cup of coffee." I was a little surprised when she continued on the subject.

"Deacon, during the next couple of days you are going to learn a lot about me. One thing I am sure you are going to learn is that I am peculiar. I like things to be a certain way. I do not however insist that you change. I simply adapt to what others do. However in the end the results tend to go my way."

"And how do you react when they don't?" I asked it without realizing how personal it sounded.

"If that ever happens, I will let you know." She sounded very confident. Something women didn't usually do. I wasn't sure at the time how I felt about it.

I ended the conversation with a nod. I dumped the remaining thick sliced bacon into the heavy iron frying pan. I used the serving spoon to eat my supper from the pan. I hadn't bothered to buy more than the one plate. Even it had been a concession to Edith. If it had just been me I would have foregone the plate to save money, weight, and space in the pack.

I did have to agree with Edith about one thing, even though I would never have admitted it. The coffee was pretty bad with the grounds floating around in it. Even so I would not ask her to strain mine. The thought of that scene caused a small chuckle. Edith glanced at me. I simply shook my head.

Life on the trail was quite boring in spite of all the glamorous things written about it. After supper Edith did clean the frying pan and plate for me. I used the time to smoke my one cigarette. I seldom smoked. The reason was simple. I never mastered the art of rolling the damned things. I was tempted to switch to a pipe or maybe cigars. I always ended up with the loose tobacco and rice paper. I was very careful not to waste the tobacco even in my sloppy cigarettes.

I sat on the ground while leaning against the wagon wheel. The misshaped cigarette hung from my lips as I looked into the heavens. The sky was filled with stars at night. Showers of shooting stars were so common no one bothered to mention them.

Edith finished, then poured herself another cup of coffee. I watched as she laboriously filtered it. "You know I am going to miss coffee."

"Why are you going to miss coffee," I asked.

"Coffee is one of the many things that is not allowed on our ranch." I thought she said it rather sadly.

"Edith, if you don't mind me saying so. I wouldn't think you would allow anything to stand in the way of what you wanted."

"Deacon, do you ever get the urge to do something your religion prohibits?" I took a good look at her in the lantern light. She was deadly serious and not a bit flirtatious.

"Of course," I replied.

"Do you do it anyway?" She was dead serious.

I was forced to do a lot of thinking on that one. "Are you telling me your religion does not allow coffee?" The surprise was evident in my voice.

"That and a lot of other things," she replied.

"I see." I didn't know what else to say. I had no idea if a deacon would know about a religion that forbad the drinking of coffee. I racked my brain but could not decide if I were walking into quick sand.

"I'm not surprised you have never heard of it. Unless you are a Mormon or live near one of us there is no way for you to know. Of course we do have missionaries out spreading the word."

"The word not to drink coffee?" I was trying to appear deaconly even though I had no real idea how a deacon would react.

"No Deacon, would you mind if we didn't discuss religion, at least not in depth. I am not on a mission, and right now I am not sure where I fit."

"Okay, I promise not to attempt to make you a Baptist. In return I expect you not to try to convert me to a non coffee drinker."

"You got a deal." She said it with what I hoped was a smile.

We spent a few more minutes looking into the night sky. I glanced over at Edith when I finished the cigarette. She appeared to be nodding off to sleep.

"Well, I guess it is bedtime." I said it as I stood. Removing the large canvass and two blankets from the box left it empty. My possessions were few it seemed. When I unrolled the heavy canvass I found it to be as I had expected. It was a long and somewhat narrow piece of cloth. I could have cut it into two strips six feet by six feet. If I had done that it could never be used as a shelter. I could lay it out in a twelve foot by six foot strip and we could sleep end to end which is what I decided to do.

I had the heavy canvas spread when Edith spoke. "Deacon, I do not mean to question you again, but do you have any idea how cold the nights get here?"

"No I don't Edith. How cold do they get?" I asked it quite simply.

"Very cold," she informed me. "It would be better if we spread the blankets side by side to share our body heat. Also it would be good to lay that ground sheet by the fire."

"You make it sound like it is going to be very cold." I was a bit embarrassed by her comment as I didn't know how to take it.

"I assure you Deacon, I will not attack you." She seemed amused by the very thought.

"That is good Edith. I assure you of the same." The statement was a lot more positive than I really felt.

"If I had thought otherwise I would not be here," she informed me.

Edith did not bat an eye when I removed my coat revealing the English .36 small framed revolver I wore in a shoulder holster. She seemed to accept that a deacon would carry a weapon. I supposed that it was not unusual since one never knew what he might encounter while traveling. I could not help but remember that the real deacon had trusted in his god to take care of him. Evidently his god did pretty good against everything except the deacon's own heart.

I was a bit surprised to find how easy it was to fall asleep with Edith so close. I told myself it was the lack of sleep from the train ride. Whatever the reason I drifted off to sleep easily even with the attractive woman beside me.

I awoke in the early morning. The sky was barely past the dead of night stage. I awoke only because Edith had rolled over and was holding me. I was also cold on the side away from her. The fire had died in the night.

Neither the cold nor the weight of Edith had awaken me. It was pure and simple. I had an uncomfortable erection. It was caused a little by my need to urinate but mostly by the woman pressed against me. I had only to move her arm since we were each rolled in our own blanket. After she undraped herself from me I slipped from the blanket. I made my way to a tree. While standing beside the tree I noticed a slight glow from what I thought was the direction of the town. It seemed to me that there was a light of some kind far off. I decided it must have been some kind of large kerosene light from the town.

I debated relighting the fire before I returned to my blanket. As Edith had promised it was cold, but not so cold that I could not return instantly to sleep. I was tempted to pull Edith to me. For warmth I told myself. I fought back the urge. I decided the Deacon disguise was not such a good idea after all. Then again she would not have been with me, if I had been anyone else.

Breakfast the next morning was more of the bacon with the stale bread heated in the frying pan. The food was heavy in fat and starch but it had to be since it was the only thing available to us. That and the fact that we had a full day's travel ahead. I had been hopeful that along the way we might pass an even smaller settlement where we might purchase or beg a real meal. After all I looked like a parson. I was told anyone would feed a traveling parson. It sounded even to me at the time that food occupied a lot of my thinking. It did because going without it was uncomfortable and dangerous. Being on the trail was not like being in a town or even on a farm. In those places one might go hungry. On the trail it wasn't could go hungry, you were sure to go hungry at least some of the time.