Hardscrabble Pt. 01

Silas walked away, leaving her standing. He went to his room and returned wearing his Colt Peacemaker strapped low on his hip, and then went outside. Gwen was standing there with her hand over her mouth; Kathleen was beside her in a similar position. "What have you done, foolish daughter!" she asked fearfully.

Lilly's complexion turned chalky, and she stood stock-still. 'What HAVE I done?' she asked herself. Her intention in inviting Billy Clement was to make Silas jealous, but what she had accomplished was to make him furious! And he was walking out to confront Billy wearing his gun!

She broke her stillness and hurried out the door. Billy was still sitting on his golden Palomino horse, looking as dashing as ever in his broadcloth suit, smirking down at Silas, who was speaking in a steely tone of voice. She hurried to the edge of the porch and rather loudly said, "Hello, Mr. Clement. I'm so glad you were able to make it. Please come join me in the foyer for a cup of tea."

Silas, and everyone else who heard, recognized her invitation as a repudiation of Silas. What she was trying to do was circumvent the escalation of tension that might get Silas hurt, but no one saw it that way and she drew nasty looks form everyone in the crowd. The nastiest was the look Silas gave her, and she shrank inside. 'Nothing is going as I planned' she chastised herself.

It only got worse when Billy approached her, put his hand on her arm possessively, and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. When she recovered from his breach of conduct, she turned and saw looks of dismay on the faces of her mother and Kathleen, who locked arms and walked away in a clear sign of disdain for her and her guest.

Flustered, she took Billy into the kitchen to introduce him around. He turned his charm on the women and girls, only to be meet with cool if not cold greetings. Lilly now realized she had made a huge mistake, but there was nothing to do but ride it out.

Hoping to find a more cordial greeting in the crowd outside, she took him out the back door. He unexpectedly took her by the arm as if they were a couple, and walked her confidently toward the large gathering. She saw Silas with a beer in his hand, but he turned away as she approached with her date, so she veered off toward Lorenzo, hoping for a friendly greeting.

He didn't look pleased, but Lorenzo did shake his hand and say hello, which is more than anyone else was willing to do. She turned, looking for a pair of chairs where they could sit, when she heard the booming voice of Ben Wallace. "Billy Clement! What are you doing here?"

Ben Wallace stood, and immediately behind him rose his guest and fellow Ranger. Bigfoot Wallace was well over 6 foot tall and weighed over 240 pounds; he was a very big man for that day and time. He glared at Clement, who quickly replied, "I'm here at the invitation of Miss Thomson. I'm not looking for trouble."

Ben Wallace gave Lilly a disapproving look, but said, "See to it that you don't. I'm not sure whether you have any outstanding warrants at this time, but if you start anything William and I will take you back to San Antonio in irons and find out! Am I clear?"

Clement nodded, but Lilly could feel the tension in his body even though they were not touching. She looked at her companion and quietly said, "It appears that you and I aren't welcome here. Perhaps you should leave."

Clement gave her a hard look, one that she had never before seen grace her normally charming companion's face. She watched as he softened it, put his hand over hers, and affected the bon homme for which he was known in San Antonio social circles. "That is not necessary, Lilly. I recognize their jealousy; after all, I am with the most beautiful woman in the state. How could they not be jealous? Let's just have a drink and enjoy one another."

He walked to the table, got two cups of punch, returned, and pulled a flask from the inside pocket of his suit. "I'll add a touch of libation to sweeten the punch, and we can sit and talk a spell."

She started to protest that she didn't drink alcohol, but he had already poured. She looked around and saw the undisguised disapproval of her mother and best friend, Kathleen. She wavered, but remembered her purpose tonight was to show she was a grown woman capable of holding her own in any crowd. She believed that was the kind of woman a young man of promise like Silas was attracted to and would want in a wife, so she took a sip.

She looked over the rim of her cup straight into the eyes of Silas Carr, and saw only disapproval and disappointment.

This was NOT going as she had so carefully planned! He had not only failed to acknowledge the stylish dress she had custom made to flatter her figure, or the upswept hairstyle that displayed her graceful neck and shoulders so perfectly, he was now glaring at her with a look of disdain and disapproval while Billy leaned over and spoke quietly to her about his desire to be alone with her.

Had she misjudged Silas so badly? She had been so successful in playing the boys at school and around San Antonio against one another, and she was confident she could do the same with Silas. She had chosen Billy Clement, who was indeed known in San Antonio as a scoundrel, albeit a good looking and charming scoundrel, because she was certain that would force Silas to fight for her, which would finally give her the upper hand in their relationship.

She briefly prayed she had not erred, but decided in for a penny, in for a pound, and returned to her plan. She batted her eyes at Billy and giggled as if he had said something humorous instead of disrespectful. He of course, took that as her acquiescence, and stood. She was confused, but rose; he took her arm and they walked away from the party, toward the barn to the left front of the house.

She let him lead her until she saw his intention: did he really believe she was going to go in the barn and have sexual relations with him? What must he think of her? What must they all think of her?

She stopped and asked him where they were going. He replied in his most charming voice, "I thought we would go for a walk, away from the prying eyes, and get to know each other better. I can tell that you are interested in moving our relationship forward."

She looked him straight in the eyes and replied, "No, Billy, you are my guest, not my paramour. You will never be that, so please remove that thought from your mind. We can go back and try to enjoy the festivities, or you can leave. I will not be going anywhere else with you because we have no relationship beyond being acquaintances, nor will we ever."

His eyes grew cold, his countenance tense. "So I am here as your foil? Someone to use to make someone else jealous? That boy, is it? I see the way you look at him, but let me tell you, he now despises you. He, and most of the other men there, know me for what I am, and for you to invite such a man to be your companion at his graduation celebration is insulting! He will have nothing more to do with you, nor will the others! You might as well come with me, because your reputation has been despoiled by your actions today!"

Lilly blanched at his words, more afraid they were true than upset at his impertinence. How could she have so badly miscalculated the effects of inviting him? He was considered a 'bad boy' in social circles, which made him 'interesting' to many of the young ladies, and older ladies as well. She had played him perfectly at the ball where they met, and believed she could easily handle him.

Yet, here he was, her arm tightly in his grip, insisting that she come with him since she had already sullied her reputation by even being with him. She had no desire to be with him at all, much less in a romantic way! There was only one man for her, and it seemed now that she had forever ruined her chances with him!

She tried to pull away, but Billy kept her tightly in his grip and growled, "It's time to leave, little girl. We aren't welcome here." He pulled her toward him and kissed her. She struggled mightily, but when he broke the kiss he smirked at her and said, "Tonight we'll turn that passion that burns inside you to good purpose." She slapped him as hard as she could with her free hand; he laughed and pulled her with him toward his horse.

Suddenly he was grabbed by the shoulder and turned back toward the celebration, where everyone was watching as the boy manhandled him. Growling in anger, he turned the girl loose and brought his left hand around quickly, intending to shoot the boy with a hidden derringer. It popped into his hand from the spring-loaded holster and he continued his turn to aim at the boy.

Silas had released his shoulder and was standing behind him, with his back to the house, insuring that any stray shot would not go into the crowd. Just before the derringer found its target, Silas hit Clément's hand with his pistol. The derringer fell to the ground, and he clutched at the broken fingers in his gun hand.

"Did you think I wasn't aware of you being left handed, Billy? Did you trust that I didn't know of your hidden gun, the one you've used to shoot each of the three men you actually faced, 'Three Gun Billy Clement'? You've never won a fair gunfight, always pretending you were going to draw with your right hand but instead killing with the hidden gun in your left sleeve, you coward!

Well, now you are about to get the opportunity to use that right hand in a gunfight!"

Silas returned his Colt to his holster and took a step back. "Whenever you feel froggy, Billy Boy, just grab that hogleg and we'll see how fast you actually are!"

Billy whined, "You hurt my gun hand; it won't be fair fight!"

"It will be a fairer fight than you've given the other men! Now draw, and watch the rich red blood flow out of your liver!"

Billy raised his hands above his head. "If you shoot me, it will be murder! I'm not going to draw!"

"You yellow-bellied coward! You are definitely one of the Clement bunch, because you are a scurrilous coward! You tried to kill me with that derringer! I had every right to kill you then, and I have every right to kill you right here, right now, and no charges will ever be filed!

But I'm willing to give you a chance. Draw that fancy engraved pistol and let's see if you live up to the outlaw billing! Think about your daddy, your cousin John Wesley Hardin, your brother in law, Killer Miller. Think of all the Suttons they killed before the Rangers ended the feud. Do you think they will welcome you back, knowing you crawled away from a gunfight with me?

Go ahead, Billy boy: if you back down the people here will tell this story all over Texas, and you will be the laughingstock of the state! Your only choice is to face me in a gunfight or live as a renowned coward! Which will it be?"

The two Rangers, Silas' dad and uncle, and two other men were standing less than ten feet away, but out of the line of fire. The crowd had silently moved in behind them, so everyone heard what was said.

Gwen was holding a sobbing Lilly, who kept saying, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know! I swear I didn't know!"

Clement looked at the men to his right, at the crowd behind them, and then into the cold eyes of Silas Carr, and knew he really only had one choice. He might have to leave Texas, but he always wanted to see California anyway.

He unhooked his gunbelt and let it fall to the ground. "I'm unarmed, Ranger Wallace. Tell him to let me go. It will be simple murder if he shoots me now."

Wallace didn't reply, so with his hands still above his shoulders, he turned his back on Silas and went to where his horse was hitched. He was confident the boy wouldn't shoot him in the back, although he never had any compunction about doing it; backs hooting was safer than facing them.

When he climbed in the saddle he remembered his .30-.30 and considered whether he could snake it out, shoot the boy, and ride off. "Yes, you should, Clement!" he heard from behind him.

"What do you mean," he asked.

"Go ahead and shuck that rifle," the voice said. "My pistol is holstered; you could probably get me before I could draw."

Clement knew better. "No thanks. I'll need it for protection though, as I ride out of here and out of state. I'll never see you again."

"If we do see each other again, it will be the last time. And don't think about stopping somewhere out in the brush and shooting into the crowd. We're posting sentries, and they will shoot on sight."

"Wouldn't think of it. I'm not much, but I'd never shoot into a crowd with women and children. And Silas, the girl: she didn't know. I kept a low profile around her and her friends. She was just using me to make you jealous, which is something I'm not used to. I'm usually lucky with the ladies, but this time I shot snake eyes. Go gentle on her; she's still young."

With that he rode way, both hands on the reins. Silas and the crowd watched him ride over the hill. Samuel patted Silas on the shoulder, "I'll watch from the barn until he's out of sight over the last hill. Want me to stay and keep watch after that?"

"No, Sam, just until he's over the hills, but thanks for offering. I believe him when he says we'll never see him again."

Part 2 is awaiting editing and will be posted soon.