The Legend of Bo Keap

"You're not the only one who has been smitten. Since that first night, you've been on my mind. I look forward to every time I can come see you. Is it possible for me to be exclusive with you? Yes, you have captured my heart. The only thing I ask is that you be sincere. I don't know if I could survive being used and discarded."

"Oh Henry, it is I who should fear being discarded. You know that I am no tender virgin -- are you sure you can live with that?"

"I have already thought about that. I have tried to paint you in a bad light to dissuade whatever force is within me that drives me to you. But yes, I can live with the reality of the past. I came west looking for a story to write ... in you I have found a story to live. And just so you know, I have no living family. We can go wherever we choose and be whoever we want to be. I know this seems rushed. But truly, I have been thinking on this since the first night we spoke."

There are no more words to be said. The two lovers come together in another kiss -- a more confident kiss -- a kiss of confirmation. It's Charlotte who leads the way forward as she places her hand on Henry's inner thigh. Softly she rubs and then sighs in contentment when Henry places a hand on her breast. To her pleasant surprise, Henry proves to be all man -- the heat from his hard swollen member feels hot through his stylish city clothes. But as wonderful as this moment is, she is conflicted -- torn now between her maturing love for Henry and her loyalty to Lou. Her one task was to get information about what Henry knows -- not fall in love. When Henry's hand snakes under her skirt to return the soft caress on a soft thigh, Charlotte lets every question and worry drift away... '< i > I'll pick up the pieces later ... I'll tell Lou ... she'll understand ... she'll know what to do< /i >.'

"Come with me Henry. Let's take this to my room."

Henry grabs the wine and the glasses and follows her a short way down the hall. She stops and uses a key to unlock the door.

"Welcome to my humble abode Henry."

To Henry's eye, it seems a nice room -- nicer than his above Archer's. Tidy and neat. It's a first time experience, being in a woman's room -- and being in a brothel bedroom.

"You're already nice and clean Henry. If we're going to get into my bed together, I'd like to wash up a bit. Will you mind?"

"Uh, oh ... yes, yes, I can wait outside."

"No silly. You just pour yourself another glass of wine and I'll run down and get a bucket of hot water. I'll be right back."

Henry decides another glass of wine is a good idea. His nerves are a bit shaken, he's never lain with a women. His education, then his work consumed his interest and his time -- but that was before. It does seem like intimacy is Charlotte's plan.

And just as she promised, she's back with a bucket of steaming water. He considers offering again to wait outside ... but seems nailed in place as he watches her every move as she first pours part of the hot water into a basin sitting on a small washstand. When she begins unbuttoning her dress, his attention sharpens and his pent-up desire kicks up to a more urgent level. Under the dress is a light white cotton thing ... like another lightweight dress, that she pulls off over her head. Henry is feeling his fulness grow, Charlotte is naked except for a pair of bloomers. Her breasts are bare, her skin like alabaster -- the pink nipples peaked in the cool evening air. He adjusts himself in his pants, sips his wine and watches this lithe young beauty bathe her body. She starts with her face and neck, then each breast in turn. Rinsing the wash rag, each arm is washed and under each arm the sparse hair is scrubbed with soap -- then rinsed with clean water.

Glancing at Henry, she smiles and turns her back to him. As the bloomers flow down over her bottom, Henry's breath comes faster and his arousal is more intense than ever in his life ... until she turns to face him. It's all there for him to see. The pretty face, the breasts -- a perfectly matched pair, the matted triangle of curly blonde hair where her thighs meet her body. Again she rinses her washrag, and using two fingers of one hand to spread her folds she gently washes herself. Henry sees a mystery of pink flesh -- for the first time in his life. Charlotte turns her back to him, bends to rinses the rag one more time and then bends farther to wash her feet. With her gaze turned away, Henry stares openly, hungrily at all that is now revealed. She's open and so exposed ... he stares at her puckered pink butthole -- and lower to an even greater mystery of pink flesh -- all so new -- all so beautiful. With the most wonderful throbbing in his too tight pants, he get's up and walks to where she stands. Turning, she looks into his his eyes. Henry has never felt like this before -- he reaches out and pulls her body close against his. If there was any doubt of his infatuation before, there is no doubt now.

As if reading his mind, Charlotte begins unbuttoning his shirt -- then slides it off and hangs it on one of the clothes hooks. While looking up into his eyes, she lets her hands roam over his smooth chest -- his own nipples now hardening with the cool air and sensuous touch.

"Sit over here again Henry, I'll take your boots off."

Like a lamb, Henry follows where she leads and sits watching her every move. It's like a dream -- but it's real.

"Okay, stand up and I'll help you get these pants off."

For a split second, he thinks it's wrong to be ordered around like this -- but the split second speeds by in a flash and he stands up for the last act of this part of the play.

Charlotte had wondered how well endowed he was -- that is, until earlier this night when she felt him through the cloth of his clothes. But feeling and seeing are two different experiences and she eagerly unbuttons the row of brass and slides the pants to the floor. As he lifts one foot at a time, she removes his pants, folds them and lays them on the chair. Looking up, she finds Henry looking down at her, she smiles and with an unusual anticipation she lowers the cotton underpants as their eyes speak in silence. And then, he is there before her in all of his male glory. Her first thought is again his clean smell -- her second thought is to take him into her mouth.

Henry's knees almost buckle -- never in his life had anything felt so good as Charlotte's lips and tongue on his cock. Being a bachelor, and not being in the company of prostitutes back home ... well, Henry is as virginal as a new born. He has a feeling inside that he should be the one in charge ... but it's so much easier to leave it up to her -- so that's what he does.

"Well, big boy -- are you ready to take me to bed?"

"More than ready. Here, take my hand."

She gets up off her knees and together they walk to Charlotte's bed. Together they snuggle under the covers, only now realizing the chill in the night air.

"Uhh, I guess I should tell you that I've never done this before."

"That's okay. I can tell just by seeing you that you're a natural born stud. Did you like when I sucked it?"

"Yeh, I liked that a lot."

"Would you like to lick between my legs? I washed it just for you."

"Is that something you enjoy? I mean, I guess I don't know much about lady parts."

"Oh, it feels good to me like it felt good to you. If you want, we can do it together."

"That sounds like fun, let's do that."

"Okay. I'll go down there and put mine up here. Then we can do it together."

With some rearranging and shifting of the sheet and quilt, Henry feels that wonderful warm, wet sucking sensation on his cock again. Charlotte plants a knee on either side of his head -- her freshly washed and open feminine treasure just inches from his face. Open and so enticing -- her feminine scent heavy in the air he breaths -- then he puts both hands on her hips and pulls her moist folds to his mouth. It turns out to be just like a baby's first breath, after the first kiss -- the fist lick -- the first taste, it all just happens naturally.

The aroused scent of a woman fills the air he breaths as together they explore and pleasure one another. The virginal man of the educated world on the bottom and the lady educated of the night riding on top. Each one in their own bubble of bliss, yet joined together in a shared moment of discovery. For Charlotte, the experience is unique because of the love she feels. For Henry, it's unique because it is his first time and his first love. Together, in their joined -- but unique -- experiences they each begin their singular journeys ... filled with hope and a happiness neither had before.

*****

The next morning after making love again, Henry hastens to see his fellow newsman Bill Parker at the Cripple Creek Crusher. Bill is sitting at a desk writing when Henry hurries in. "Bill, good morning. Just thought I'd check in so we can share any new information on the goings on around here."

"Morning Henry, there's coffee in the pot on the stove -- help yourself. You sure look in good spirits this morning."

With his coffee in one hand, Henry pulls up a straight-back chair with dry leather skin laced onto the frame for a seat. "Bill, I've been hearing information that confirms that the real crooks are the ones on the top of the pile. I've been up most of the night writing this that I'm planning to send back east. I thought I'd run it by you and see if it jives with what you've learned."

Bill takes the few sheets of paper and begins to read what he and Charlotte had composed after making sweet love the night before. Henry get's up and paces the floor -- taking a sip of his coffee every once in awhile. Finally, Bill clears his throat and Henry turns from looking out the front window to hear what he has to say.

"Henry, this is in line with what I've been hearing. But just like me, you've got no eyewitness testimony to back it all up. As much as I think we both believe this all to be true, for it to count we have to have some names of real people who can back it up."

"Dammit, I know you're right Bill. But for the life of me, I can't figure any way to get one witness -- two seems impossible. Are these crooks really going to get away with this?"

"I think the only person who might be able to shed some real light on all of this, besides the big crooks themselves -- is one Bo Keap. He's the one who knows the names of these men -- both the ones he was able to help and the ones he couldn't -- and the ones he wouldn't help for all the tea in China. I've come to the conclusion that this whole thing isn't about the gold or the money. It's a crusade that only Bo knows the 'why' and 'what for' that pushes him on."

"I ran into that same wall. Without some real inside facts ...."

"This may sound crazy, but hear me out Henry. I've been thinking the same things. There's people out there that know Bo Keap helped them, but they won't talk. Old man, we have to get in touch with the outlaw himself. That's the only way we get the information we need to bust this open to the light of day."

"You have any ideas about how to go about doing that?"

"Nothing solid. But here's what I've toyed with at night laying awake thinking about this. I think Bo has more than one pair of ears in this town. What I've been wondering -- what if we put the word out we'd like to meet up with him and hear his side of the story? So far, it's all been about him being an outlaw. What if we talk about wanting to get the real story out. Maybe he would get in touch with us?"

"Well, that might work Bill. But might it not also get us killed?"

"I suspect you know as much as me, but I haven't heard any hard evidence of Bo killing anyone. Have you?"

"No sir, I have not. In fact, I have a draft article I've been toying with that points out that very thing. I think we'd be hard pressed to discover any person around here who can prove anyone's been killed. But the way the facts are lining up -- well, I'm starting to wonder if the local gold kings we anger might be the bigger threat. But putting that aside, I think your plan is the best we can do. Of course, you know more people than I do, since you've lived here awhile. But I'll do my best to spread the word too. I've met a few locals in my time spent at the Lucky Strike. I can lose a few more games of cards and spread our word there."

"Henry, I think it was providence that brought you here today. I have fretted and pondered this but all alone it seemed too big a risk. Together, well at least were not out on the limb all alone -- misery does love company, I've heard."

"And so it shall be. And rest assured, when we write this story both of our names will be on the byline."

"I appreciate that Henry. I shall also publish what we find -- and send the news up to Denver. I think we shall both shake things up around here."

The two men hug as brothers, both knowing that what they propose to do could be dangerous and there are dangerous men on all sides of the game.

Henry, now resolved to win this game, hurries to the Lucky Strike to talk to Charlotte. With her local knowledge it is she who he can trust to talk to the right people. Alas, when he arrives the main doors are locked and he realizes he has arrived too early. Still eager, and rather than trying the back door he decides to let Charlotte sleep and vows to come back later. He begins his stroll around town asking strangers, merchants and even asking one man loudly while he was in the cafe eating breakfast. His question; "Can anyone identify anyone who has been helped by Bo Keap?" Of course, no one came forward -- but the hope is that one of Bo's confidants has heard and will pass the news to Mr. Keap.

After spending the rest of his day in his room writing, Henry stands and stretches, dons his coat and walks to the Lucky Strike again. He stands in the crowd searching for just one face. She sees him and puts her arms around him from behind his back. Turning, his spirits lift and the cloud of this day drifts away. "I was wondering where you were. Have you had supper yet?"

"No, have you?"

"No, can you slip away so we can go someplace more quiet?"

Together they leave the saloon and walk up the street toward the diner -- or Eatery, according to sign out front. The brisk breeze makes the cool of the evening bite and Henry slips free of his coat and drapes it over his lady's bare shoulders. Too anxious to wait to tell her of his day over dinner, "Bill Parker and I concocted a plan today that might help us find Bo Keap. We're spreading the word that we'd like to talk to any of the people he has supposedly helped. We need some real proof if we're going to include the rumors of his good will into our story."

"I think your plan is working, I overheard two men talking about this very thing not long before you showed up tonight. Do you think this is safe? Bo may see it as a threat."

"Yes, we both know the risk. But we can't come up with any other way to verify the claims of his righteousness."

"I hope a news story is worth the risk. It may be more likely you'll get a visit from the man himself asking why you're in his business."

"Bill and I both are on the trail to bigger crooks. If Bo is after the same crooks, then we could perhaps work together. I personally would like nothing more than to sit with him face to face and hear his story -- the real story with real names of the crooks he claims to be fighting."

"Henry, you know I'll tell you anything I hear. But it's not just Bo you should worry about. If the stories are true of the crimes being done in high places, those men are as dangerous as Bo."

"Yes, I know. Bill and I discussed this very thing and we both felt obliged to go forward."

Charlotte's heart thunders in her breast. While Bo may or may not be a hero in disguise, to her surprise, Henry is obviously a brave man to face such risk on both the right and the left. If Bo doesn't kill him, the gold barons likely will. In her heart she knows that she must tell Lou of this news as soon as possible.

*****

Scene#10: Early Fall 1893 -- Lou's Search For Bo

"Yes, he and Bill Parker just decided together that they want to find actual witnesses that Bo has helped. They know it's risky, but Lou they really do want to entrap the real thieves -- they're risking their lives and I'm not sure they really know how risky this is. The gold barons can just hire an assassin to murder them any time that's convenient ... and then blame it all on Bo. Lou, I also want you to know that Henry and I have spoken of love -- please help me to keep him safe. Can you get in touch with Bo and let him know that they are just trying to expose the real crooks? Maybe he can think of some way to help?"

"Thank you for coming to me Sweetheart. Yes, I will try to get word to Bo and let him know what's happening. Your job is to do your best to make both Henry and Bill understand that the real danger now is not from Bo -- the real danger now are the one's they are trying to expose. These men have more money than they can ever spend, so hiring an assassin is peanuts to them. Tell both Henry and Bill that I'm going to come forward to confirm that Bo Keap gave Angelie a start for a new life after being raped. Bo told me the name of one person here in town I could contact if I ever need to get in touch with him. I will go see him and get word to Bo about all of this. I think it best that you not divulge anything about Bo and me being together at times -- we don't need that to get out, knowing it wouldn't help anyone."

Charlotte is in tears by the time Lou explains what is to be done. The young woman instinctively embraces Lou and they hold one another tight. She has always been her favorite, almost like the daughter she never had. As they stand in silence, Lou realizes that the time has come for her to also take stock of her life ...'after Bo leaves, is this saloon all that life has to offer ... do I even have a chance with him?' Pulling herself together she tells Charlotte, "Okay, we don't have time to have a breakdown, you go talk to Henry and Bill -- I'll try to get word to Bo. I think it's too late to put a lid on all of this now that Henry has spread the word -- try to make them realize they've done enough to get the ball rolling and they must stay low and out of sight now. Remind them that they have also become targets by stirring this hornet's nest."

"Okay, I'll do that Lou. Should I stay with them?"

"Baby, I don't think so. You'd just be in the way if bullets start flying. I'm pretty sure Henry wouldn't want to put you in danger. You come back here. I'll let Ming and Jess know what's happening and they can beef up security. Now you go, and I'll do the same."

After speaking to Ming, who would alert Jess, Lou leaves by the back door wearing the everyday clothes of a wife going about her daily routine. The walk takes her west into the less organized part of Cripple Creek where the houses are small and of a temporary nature. With a basket on her arm and a bonnet covering her head and obscuring her face, she winds her way to the abode that Bo had told her to go should she ever need to contact him. Following the map he had drawn, she sees the sign she's been looking for -- a bleached buffalo skull on a post in front of a cordwood cabin with a sheet tin roof. Knocking on the door, she wonders who it is that she will meet when the door opens. "Hello, my name is Lou and I'm looking for Phillip Garner. Is this the right house?"

"Come in Lou, Bo told me you might one day drop by."

Despite the smallness of the cabin, it's cozy and surprisingly tidy. As she looks around Phillip asks her, "Would you like to sit -- I have tea warm on the stove."

"Thank you Phillip, but I came to let you know that I need to get in touch with Bo. He told me to come see you if I ever needed to contact him."