A Promise Kept

Of course, such thoughts didn't help my pecker any, for it sure as heck wasn't going to stay soft. And it hadn't, for it was as hard as I'd ever felt it. Truth to tell, I felt hornier than I could ever remember, too. I took a gentle hold of my pecker and started to take myself off. I paused, thinking of Hannah's clean sheets. There was an old shirt in my pack, one I'd used for dirty jobs. Even washed, it was still a sorry excuse for a shirt, so I grabbed it, ripped off a sleeve, and held it ready to collect my seed. My hand went around my pecker again and I took myself off on the journey to climax.

A short journey. I was too excited, even seeing as how it had been only two days since I'd last done any pecker-bashing, and I groaned as I emptied my seed into the old shirt sleeve. I waited until the pulsing had ceased, wiped myself off, and settled myself for sleep, sleep which was a long time coming.

I don't know how long I'd been asleep when the nightmare came again. I'd had it once or twice before, and the image of Pa beatin' Mary senseless was something that haunted me, because when I thought about it in the cold light of day I knew that it could happen. It woke me, and at first I was confused, wondering where I was. Then I remembered. I think the other thing what woke me was a creak from the floor boards, and I watched, startled, as the door opened, and Hannah came in, her nightdress a dim white shape in the darkness.

"You awake, Jack?" she murmured softly.

"Yeah, I guess I am now. What is it? Is something wrong?"

She sat on the edge of the bed. "I couldn't sleep. You were moanin', an' I thought I'd better check on you."

"Sorry, Hannah, didn't mean to disturb you. I guess it was a nightmare. I've had it before."

"Something on your mind?"

I laughed, softly, but I wasn't going to lie. "Yes. Mary."

"Ah. Worried about her, are ye?"

"Aye, Hannah, I am. My Pa, he's a changed man since Ma died. Heck, before that. I thought, maybe, when he brought Mary home he'd change. He did, for a while, but then he started turnin' mean again. I've tried not to think about it, but I'm dreadin what I might find when I get back. I just pray that she's alive and well."

"You cain't do a thing about it until day after tomorrow, when the train runs, Jack." She laughed, softly. "And you on my mind." She took a deep breath. "Jack, remember I told you I owed you for Billy Esdon--"

"No! You owe me nothing for Billy Esdon. Nothing, you hear me? What I did to him was of his own making, in picking on me."

"Jack," she said, her voice still soft. "That's as maybe, but I feel that I owe you, and I was wondering what I could do about it. Then I had an idea. I saw you lookin' at me, and tryin' to hide it, an' I thank you for not starin', but Jack, I have to ask, do you like me?"

"Of course I do. What's not to like? You're beautiful, kind, and a damned good cook."

A soft laugh in the darkness. "Okay, you like me. You think I'm a desirable woman?"

I groaned. "Do you need to ask that? You only have to look in the mirror, woman."

There was a long pause, and when she spoke again I could barely hear her. "Do you want me, Jack? Do you want to make love to me? Do you want me in your bed?"

I groaned again, and all the want was in my voice when I spoke. "Oh, my god, yes! God forgive me, but I do. But, Hannah, I can't! Mary..." I hesitated, in an agony of indecision. Oh, Mary! Forgive me!

Another soft laugh, a little wry, and her voice was warm when she spoke again. "I hoped it was so, Jack, that you might want me, because I want you, too. I loved to feel Danny's hands on my body when we made love. I loved to feel his prick in my quim, Jack, and I wanted to feel yours there." She stood, and I wondered, but she bent to give me a quick, light kiss. "But I won't ask you to betray your Mary, Jack, it isn't right."

The next thing I knew she was gone, as quietly as she came, and I lay there in the darkness, cursing myself for a fool.

She was subdued when she made our breakfast next morning, avoiding my eye.

"Hannah? Is something wrong? Was it something I said, something I did?"

She looked at me then, and shook her head. "No, Jack, it's me. I made a fool of myself and embarrassed you. I'm sorry."

I took her hand, making her face me, and shook my head. "No, Hannah, it's me that's the fool, turnin' you down. It was me embarrassin' you, and I'm sorry for that. I wanted you." I chuckled. "I guess I still do, but I have to know about me and Mary, before I dare let myself think about anyone else."

"Of course you do, Jack. Of course you do." She smiled. "I'm pleased that one of us was strong. Now? Well, Jack Riley, now it's time for our breakfast. Then you can give me a hand with the pigs and the hens."

"Yes, ma'am!"

We were easier with each other after that, but Hannah was on my mind and I reckon I was on hers, but we said nothing, and the day was peaceful, and the night, undisturbed this time by nightmare. Or by Hannah, and I still don't know whether I was disappointed or relieved.

When it came time for me to leave, Hannah hugged me, and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

"I'll miss you, Jack Riley. You're a fine young man." She looked away for a moment, and then back at me. "I think I would have enjoyed your touch, Jack. Don't misunderstand me, Jack. I like you, yes, I do." She gave me another quick kiss. "I think I proved that. But I don't love you. Women feel urges too, you know, and to have a man like you in my bed for a night or two, knowing I'd probably never see you again after you left, well, it would have been a little bittersweet, but it would have been good, I think. There's a man in town has asked me to marry him. A good man. He's asked me three times now, and when I see him again, this time I'm going to say yes, for you've reminded me of the pleasure I feel in a good man's touch. I'm glad you came to stay with me, Jack, very glad. And yes, I'll miss you, but you're going back to rescue your Mary, and I don't want you to feel obliged to me." She gave a soft laugh. "I think you would have been making love to your Mary as much as you were to me, if I'd come into your bed."

I nodded, a wry smile quirking my lips. "I think you're right, Hannah, Mary would have been on my mind, that's for sure." I pulled her to me and kissed her. "I won't feel obliged to you, Hannah. But will you let me be grateful?"

She laughed. "Aye, Jack. I can manage that."

"And tell this man, tell him, that if he hurts you, I'll do a Billy Esdon on him. Understand?"

Hannah laughed again. "Yes, Jack. I understand." She kissed me. "I won't come to the depot with you, Jack. As far as anyone else knows, you're just Patrick's friend, who lodged with his cousin for a couple of nights."

"I understand, Hannah." I kissed her, and she clung to me for a moment, before gently pushing me away.

"Go with God, Jack Riley, and I hope, I trust, that your Mary is safe and waiting for you." She smiled, a little wry. "She'd better be worth it, Jack, for you're a fine young man."

"She is, Hannah, but maybe I'm not worthy of her."

"Because you almost bedded me?" I nodded, and she laughed. "Jack Riley, it takes a man with the strength of a saint to resist a naked woman slipping into bed with him and asking him to love her. Call it a lesson, Jack, a lesson to help you love your Mary. Go, and make Mary feel good, for I think you can."

I stared at her for a long moment then nodded. I knew the guilt over my temptation would linger, but please God, it would make me a better man, somehow, for Mary deserved the best. "Thank you, Hannah, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Now, you take care, you hear?"

"I will, Jack. I will. Now, go! Else you'll miss your train."

And I went. I knew I'd never forget Hannah Gilroy, and I wished her well. But as she'd said, I was on my way to rescue my Mary. I'd left the gold eagle on the dresser with a note, a note that said. 'A wedding present, Hannah, a wedding present to you and your husband-to-be, with my grateful thanks', I hoped I'd be long gone before she found it.

Chapter Five

The train ride took three days, and even when I left the train, I still had nigh on to forty miles to go. I debated with myself as to the best way to travel, thinking about Mary, and spent some of my hard-earned dollars on a buckboard and a bay gelding. The only thing I'd ever driven until then was Paddy's wagon and my chuck-wagon, but it only took about ten miles before the bay and me settled into a good working relationship.

I knew the back trail to the cabin, and I pulled the buckboard off the trail, tied the bay, and moved through the trees until I could see the cabin. I studied it carefully for a while, puzzled, because I could see neither Pa nor Mary. Instead, it was strangers, a young couple, with a couple of kids. I knew there was only one way to find out what the situation was, and that was to ask, so I tooled the buckboard back onto the trail and drove to the cabin. The two kids, maybe four or five years old, were playing when I drew the bay to a halt.

"Hi, kids," I said. "Your folks about?" Movement caught my eye, and the woman came out onto the porch.

"Help you?" she said, careful, suspicious of strangers.

"Good day, ma'am," I said, doffing my hat. "Last time I was in these parts, this was the Riley place. Know where I can find them?"

Her face cleared. "In town. Mr. Riley took over the Last Chance saloon. They live there now. They sold us this place."

"Last Chance saloon? In town?" She nodded. "Obliged, ma'am. Good day to you." And I drove away, wondering. Pa? Taken over a saloon? Where in tarnation could that drunken brute of a father of mine find the money to take over a saloon? I knew the saloon, pretty much the first--or last, depending on which way you was travellin'--place in town. At least when I left, it was, but now it was in the middle of a row of small businesses. The only saloon in the row, I noticed. Could do with a coat of paint, too.

Inside, it was gloomy. Not enough lamps, maybe, and the windows needed cleaning, too. I recognized Mary immediately. Still as slender and lovely as I remembered, and I wondered how she managed it, married to the brute that was my father. And where was he, I wondered? Then I spotted him sitting at a table in the corner. Probably drinking the profits, I guessed.

Just the sight of her had brought back all of my half-remembered feelings and I knew that Hannah had been right. When I'd been thinking about making love to Hannah, it had been Mary on my mind. Just the sight of her told me that, without there bein' any doubt in my mind, the dark red hair in a roll at her nape, the green eyes downcast, so that I couldn't see them, but I remembered their loveliness.

Mary was tending bar, and I made my way over. There was no-one in earshot, and I took a moment just to look at her, my fists clenching in sudden anger just at the sight of the fresh bruise on her cheekbone. She misunderstood my action and flinched; but I unclenched my fist and she relaxed a little.

"What'll it be?" she said, careful, her eyes avoiding contact.

"Hello, Mary," I said, my tone soft. "I'm back."

Her gaze lifted and she stared at me for a long, long moment, then her eyes widened. "Jack?" she whispered. "Is it you?"

"As ever was, Mary. I told you I'd come back." I gave her a rueful smile. "I hadn't meant it to be quite so long, though."

"I didn't think you'd ever come back," she said. "I wouldn't have blamed you," she added, her voice warm, soft.

"Oh, Mary, Mary, I'm sad you should think so little of me. I said I'd be back, and here I am."

She half-smiled, dashing the back of her hand against the sudden misting in her eyes. "'Tis good to see you, Jack." Her smile became real. "I missed you, Jack."

"Are you ready to leave, then, Mary? Come away with me? Leave all this--this splendor--behind?"

Ever-practical, Mary. "Got enough money for the both of us, Jack Riley?"

I nodded. "Enough and to spare, Mary."

"Where are we goin'?"

"Anywhere you like."

"California?"

"We need to get to the railroad, sell my buckboard back to the man I bought it from, and buy our tickets, but we can be in California by Saturday."

"You tellin' me true?" She stared at me, hope beginning to show on her face.

I made a cross over my heart with my finger. "Tellin' you true, Mary." I could see the decision in her eyes the moment she made it. She discarded her apron, and came round the bar, taking my arm.

"Where in hell's name do you think you're goin'?" Pa's voice shouted from his corner.

"I'm leaving you, Jake," said Mary. "You've hit me once too often."

Pa looked me up and down. "With this son of a bitch?"

I grinned. "Yes, Pa, with me."

"Jack?" There was surprise, yes, and shock, too, in his voice. "Over my dead body, you bastard."

"I'm your son, remember. You tellin' me you and Ma wasn't married?" I kept my tone light, but I was poised, ready. With an inarticulate cry of rage, he charged. I'd been scared of him, fearing his fighting skill, but that was before Paddy showed me how. I stepped inside his wild swing, sank my fist in his belly, broke his nose with a head butt, just as he'd broken mine, and put my knee into his face to straighten him, then hit him with the best punch I could manage. He was out cold before he hit the floor and I swear he slid across the floor for six or seven feet before coming to a standstill.

I stared at his unconscious form for a long moment, trying to feel something, but there was nothing. And that, I guess, is what my Pa had become to me. Nothing. I looked around, at the few men in the saloon, but none of them looked as if he wanted to say, or do, anything to stop me. It might even have been approval I saw on one or two faces.

Mary had watched, impassive, but her eyes were bright as she took my arm. We turned toward the door and I stopped dead in my tracks. The star on the man's shirt kinda' gave away the fact that there was a sheriff between us and the door. I don't think he recognized me, not at first, but I sure as hell recognized him.

I nodded. "Alec. Goin' to arrest me?"

He frowned a little at my using his given name, but his tone was blunt when he spoke. "Tell me why I shouldn't?"

"Fair enough. Family dispute, Alec. Pa didn't want me takin' Mary away."

He was surprised. "Jack? Jack Riley?"

"As ever was, Alec."

"You're takin' Mary away?"

"He is, Alec. And I'm more than willin' to go with him," said Mary.

"So it's not kidnapping, or anything bad?" said Alec. "Nothing I need to worry about as a duly appointed officer of the law, Mary being an adult and all?"

I think he was trying not to smile, particularly as I could hear someone being sick behind me, and no prizes for guessing who.

"That's the way of it, Alec. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all."

He stepped aside. "Look after her, Jack."

"I will, Alec. My life on it."

"I'd leave town, I was you, Jack. Your pa's a mean cuss."

"I know, Alec, I know."

Outside, I turned to Mary. "Clothes? Coat? Anythin' you want to take with you?"

She nodded. "I'll get my coat, it's about the only decent thing I have."

"What about your other things?"

She gave me a wry smile. "What other things, Jack? I have this dress I'm wearin', a pair of shoes, and two pairs of stockings, and that's about it."

"Grab anything you want, or need, and I'll buy you fresh stuff when we get to the railroad." I grinned. "There's more choice there than there is here."

She looked at me, and then stepped across and hugged me, hugged me hard, taking me by surprise, but I hugged her back, feeling good. She broke away, a smile in her eyes, a light there that hadn't been present when I stepped into the saloon.

"Wait here, Jack, I'll only be a moment."

"No, Mary, I'm not lettin' you out of my sight again, not until we're safe away from here."

She nodded, seeing the resolve in my eyes. "This way." She led me around back of the saloon, and up an outside stairway. There was a door at the top of the stairs, unlocked, and she ducked through. There was a battered dresser, a narrow truckle bed, and some hooks on the walls. She grabbed a coat, stockings, a tattered shawl, and a blanket, threw the shawl across her shoulders, wrapped the blanket around the other things, and turned to me. A hesitant smile appeared on her face. "What is it, Jack?"

"I don't see any of Pa's stuff."

"Your pa sleeps downstairs. I wouldn't let him touch me after you left, Jack." She gave me a wry look. "Most of the time he was in no fit state in any case. Cost me a few bruises, but worth it." She gestured. "Let's go, Jack."

That was the last I ever saw of Pa and his Last Chance saloon. We grabbed a few supplies at the store to supplement what I had, and well before sunset we were leaving the town behind us. I drove until the sun was touching the hilltops and looked for somewhere to camp. A stream crossing the trail promised water, and I turned the buckboard off the trail, into a clearing among pines about a hundred yards from the trail. I unhitched and picketed the bay, got a fire going, and finally turned to Mary, who had just been sitting on the grass watching me. I smiled at her.

"The menu is a little boring, madam, I'm sorry to say. I can offer you bacon and beans, or bacon without beans, or beans without bacon. Anything else will have to wait until we reach the railroad." To my alarm, Mary burst into tears. I hurried across to her, kneeling beside her. I reached out to touch her, hesitant, and she turned, flinging herself into my arms, sobbing fit to bust.

"What is it, Mary?" I said softly. "I got you away, you're free." I felt her squeeze me, and figured best thing I could do was just hold her, and wait. I didn't have to wait long, as her sobs eased and she sat up, dashing her tears away with the back of her hand. She gave me a wan smile.

"Better now?" I said, and she nodded. "What is it, Mary? Something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No, Jack, nothing is wrong. Anything but, in fact. It was just the realization that the last time anyone did anything for me, anything nice, it was you. And that was over two years ago!"

"I can see I'm going to have to make up for lost time." I grinned at her. "Hungry?"

A startled look appeared on her face. "Starvin'!"

After her comment, there was no way I was going to have her cook for me. She sat with the shawl around her shoulders, watching me while I sliced some bacon into the skillet I'd brought, and hung a pot of beans from a pole across two forked sticks, over the fire. Cooked, I dug out the two tin plates, and served us a portion each. Mary looked at hers, and laughed.

"Tryin' to build me up, Jack?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. There's not a lot of meat on you, Mary."

"You like big girls?" She seemed genuinely interested, and I grinned.

"No, Mary, it's not that, I just prefer not to see the bones stickin' through everywhere." I passed her a fork, and we got dug in. It was nigh full dark now, and when we'd finished I dug out my bedroll, and passed it to her. "You use that for tonight, Mary. I'll use the tarpaulin, and I'll borrow your blanket, if I may."

She looked at me for a long moment. "Jack, that purely doesn't make sense. Gets a tad cool out here at night, right?"

"Aye, it does."

"We put the tarpaulin down, put my blanket on top, pull your bedroll over the two of us, we sleep cozy. Make sense?"

I nodded. "It does. You'll be okay like that?"

She held my eye. "Yes, Jack. You, I trust."

I managed not to let the bulge in my jeans touch her, breathing a sigh of relief when we turned over and she snuggled in behind me. I wanted her, I'd realized that as soon as I saw her again, in the saloon, but there was no way I was going to rush into anything. She was too important to me to take a chance of spoiling things, and it wasn't a quick coupling I wanted, but something better, something to last.