River Queen (28 page)

“What in the world is happening?” Julienne asked.

Grimly Dallas replied, “This lady says that two men kidnapped her and locked her in the barn, and she’s afraid they’ll harm her when they get back.”

“I’ve got to go,” the girl said desperately. “I’ve got to run.”

“Wait just a minute, ma’am,” Dallas said. “I’m going to help you. I’m sure not going to let any men hurt you. Now, why don’t you just come with us—”

At that moment two men came staggering down the alley by the barn. Both of them were clutching gallon whiskey jugs. When they saw the four of them standing there, they came to a sliding stop that would have been funny under other circumstances. With care they set their jugs on the ground, and then they both started running, and the bigger one yelled, “Hey, you! What are you doing? Robbie, you git back in thet barn right now or I’m gonna whip you like a stuck mule!”

Dallas stepped in front of the women and waited, arms crossed.

The two men stopped running a few feet from Dallas. They were sorry-looking sights. One was obviously older, a tall skinny man with an enormous bobbing Adam’s apple. The younger one was shorter and though he too was skinny, he had a round pot belly. A scraggly greasy long black beard rested on it. Both of them were wearing clothes so soiled that the only color one could see of them was dirt-brown. Dallas eyed them and saw the bulge at their sides under their long canvas coats. His face grew dark and dangerous.

They hesitated, then with ill grace the older one said, “I’m Milt Meacher, and this here’s my brother Zeke. You got our girl there, and we’ll be a-taking her back now.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Dallas said calmly. “She doesn’t want to go with you.”

“Well, that don’t matter none, now does it?” Milt sneered. “’Cause she’s ours, we own her. Her mama sold her to us, fair and square. Cost us a whole fifty dollars, that girl did, and mean as a snake she turned out to be too. Never woulda paid that much for her if we’d-a knowed it.”

“You don’t own me, you stupid sniveling son of a skunk!” the girl yelled. She actually started around Dallas, but rolling his eyes he held her back.

“I never heard of any white women slaves,” Dallas said slowly. “I don’t know where you’re from, but that bird’s not gonna fly down here.”

With an air of superiority Milt said, “I didn’t say she was no slave. She’s our denture servant. All fair and legal, denture to us for seven year.”

“That’s ‘indentured’ servant, you moron,” Dallas said. Then frowning, he looked down at the girl. “I guess that indentured servants are still legal, ma’am, but if these men are any threat to you, then me and them are gonna have a problem with it, legal or not.”

“It’s not legal,” she cried. “I’m eighteen years old, my mama couldn’t sell me legally! And besides, I told you they’re going to kill me!”

“Eighteen year old? Kill you? You’re gonna get struck down for lying, girl!” This time it was the younger brother Zeke that spoke, and, swaggering forward a half-step, he shoved one side of his coat back so it hung behind the holster on his hip.

Julienne murmured, “Oh, Lord, no,” and clutched Carley even closer.

The whites of Milt’s eyes flashed when he saw how his brother was showing out, but he only swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing rhythmically. Zeke continued, “That there girl is sixteen year old, just look at her, you kin tell she’s just a girl. Kill her? Why, that would be stupid, for me and Milt to kill her. We told you we done paid fifty dollar for her. Kill her and lose that money for nothing? That’d be stupid!” he repeated.

As he spoke Dallas’s face had darkened until he looked as if he might simply swat the man down like a worrisome gnat. But by the time Zeke finished, he couldn’t help a sort of desperate amusement from coming over him. When he spoke, though, it was still in such a quiet, dangerous tone that Milt took a half-step backward and ducked his head. Zeke held his ground, resting his hand on the butt of his holster.

Dallas said, “Now, listen, uh, what’s your name? Meat? Listen, Meat. This girl isn’t going anywhere with you. In about ten seconds you’re going to see her for the last time.”

Zeke seemed to swell up; at least, his gut inflated out rounder than ever. “Are you threatenin’ me, mister? Are you blind
and
dumb? Cain’t you see I got a gun here?”

“Funny. So do I,” Dallas said, and pulled his coat back. A pistol was stuck in his trousers, at his side.

“Now wait just a minute here, Mister,” Milt said in a much weaker voice, and holding up his hands in surrender. “Ain’t no call for us to go wavin’ around no guns.”

“You shut up, Milt, you ain’t never had no sand,” Zeke snarled. “Whatcha gonna do, Big Man? Gun me down dead right here in front of your pretty wife and daughter?”

“No, I wouldn’t do that. But if your fingers so much as twitch on that gun, I’m going to shoot your toe off,” Dallas said in a death-knell voice.

The brothers were a little slow on the uptake, so it took some time for them to work through what Dallas had said. Then Zeke looked back at Milt, and Milt looked at him, and they started laughing. “Didja hear that? Scairt me bad, it did,” Zeke said in a jolly voice. Then he turned and said, “You’re not just blind and dumb, you’re crazy. I’m through messin’ around with you, I want you to git outta my way, and—”

He clasped the butt of his gun, and Dallas shot his foot.

It happened just like that, as if the man had suddenly been struck by a bolt of lightning. Dallas stood there holding the smoking gun, Julienne and Carley stopped breathing, and the girl’s red full mouth made a round
O
. Milt’s eyes were so big and round they looked like they might pop out of his head and his Adam’s apple hopped up and down crazily.

Zeke’s mouth fell open, he looked down at his foot, and then he sat down heavily. Reaching down, he grabbed his foot and pulled it up onto his lap. He howled, “OOOOOWWWW! You shot my toe off! Clean off! My big toe!”

“Tried to tell you,” Dallas said regretfully. Unhurried, he went to Zeke and bent down, and Zeke flinched. But Dallas simply gently removed the gun from his holster and turned to Milt. His hands shaking, carefully with two fingers he took out his gun and handed it to Dallas. “I’m going to throw these in the river right down there,” he said. “You can swim for them.” He tucked them into the waistband of his trousers.

“You shot my toe off! OOOOOWWWW!” Zeke bawled, and then started a low monotonous moan.

Dallas turned back to them, took the girl’s arm, grabbed Carley’s hand, and said gently, “Carley, take Julienne’s hand.”

Carley reached up and took Julienne’s hand, and all together they walked off. The girl kept looking behind her with hatred, but after a few moments she said, “Thank you, mister.”

“You’re welcome. My name is Dallas Bronte. You can call me Dallas. This is Miss Carley, and this is Miss Ashby.”

“I’m Robbie. Robbie Skinner,” the girl said, as if she were in a dream. “Thank you, Dallas.”

“You’re welcome,” he said again. When they got to the river, he stopped and tossed the two guns far out into the water.

They reached the boardwalk and climbed the steps. Silently they made their way along, and all of the human traffic of the port started passing them, slave women carrying goods on their heads, male slaves bent over with big boxes strapped to their backs, river men shoving and cursing, children running in and around the adults, catcalling to each other, prostitutes sashaying along in a cloud of scent of old sweat and rose water.

Suddenly Julienne stopped short, let go of Carley’s hand and threw her own hands up, palms out. “Stop! What are you doing? Where are we going?”

“Back to the
Queen
, Julienne,” Dallas answered, surprised.

Julienne stared at Robbie. “We can’t take her back to the
Queen
!”

Dallas’s mouth tightened. “She can stay on the
Queen
until we get this all sorted out.”

“Sorted out? How? Why? She’s not our responsibility! Even though you did shoot a man over her!” Julienne snapped.

“He only shot his toe,” Carley said in a small voice.

Robbie stepped forward, between Julienne and Dallas. “Ma’am, Miss, I’m so sorry but I forgot your name. If you could just help me out a little, please, Miss. I don’t have a nickel, I had a little bit of money but they took it from me. But I can work. I can cook, and clean, and sew, and I’m strong. I work hard, I’ll do anything, you don’t have to pay me. If I could just have somewhere to sleep, and something to eat, I’ll work harder than two women.”

“You? You lied. You said that those men were going to kill you,” Julienne said between gritted teeth. “We thought your life was in danger.”

Robbie’s eyes dropped to Carley’s interested face, and she murmured, “And would you have been so eager to help me if I had screamed that some men were going to try to kiss me? I could see you all, through the cracks. I could see her,” she said, nodding downward.

When the meaning of her words sunk in, Julienne hesitated but then she turned back to Dallas and continued her conversation with him. “We can’t do this, Dallas. We can’t take this girl in, it’s impossible!”

“Why?” Dallas asked simply.

“Because—because—” Julienne stuttered.

“So what do you think I’m going to do with her? Drop her off at the Blue Moon?” he said evenly.

Her mouth shut, and then she sighed. “All right. But just until we can find her a suitable situation.”

“Fine,” he said, shrugging. “Don’t worry too much, Julienne. She’s kinda little, I doubt she eats much. She can always have oxtail soup.”

Julienne shot him a deadly glance and they fell in step together, unconsciously, walking along and talking about the details of what they could do with Robbie.

She fell into step behind them, and Carley took her hand. Looking up at her, she said, “I like your name, Robbie.”

“It’s really Roberta, but no one ever calls me that,” she said, but she looked worried.

Shrewdly Carley said, “Don’t pay any attention to my sister. She usually ends up doing what Dallas says. She just always has to argue with him first.”

“He sure is handsome,” Robbie said appreciatively. “Is he your sister’s man?”

“Dallas? Oh, no. I’m going to marry Dallas,” she said confidently. “Besides, Julienne doesn’t like him. Well—I don’t know. Sometimes I think she does, and then sometimes it seems like she doesn’t. But he helps us, see. On the
Queen
, he’s our pilot.”

“Oh,” said Robbie with interest. “So your family has a riverboat, and that’s where we’re going?”

“Yes, the
River Queen
. That’s where we live now. And you’re coming to live with us. Your room is gonna be really dirty,” she said, her face wrinkling with distaste, “and you’re going to have to clean it, because my Aunt Leah says that cleanliness is next to godliness, so we all have to scrub a lot, except my mother, because she’s a lady.” A worried look came over her pixie face, and she asked, “Robbie? Is that true, what that man Meat said? That your mother sold you to them?”

“I’m awful sorry you had to hear that, Carley,” Robbie said in a low voice. “But you just don’t worry about it. You and your sister and Dallas came along, and you’re helping me, and I’m going to help you, I promise.”

Carley nodded. “I’ll pray and thank Jesus that we found you, and that Dallas shot Meat in the toe, instead of having to shoot him down dead.”

Though Robbie said nothing, privately she wished that Dallas had shot him down dead.

They got back to the boat, and Dallas gathered the family at the old dining table, and the explanations began. Robbie stood the entire time as if she were a prisoner in the dock, her sky-blue eyes darting to each of them.

It stunned Julienne that neither her mother nor her aunt seemed to be as utterly horrified as she had thought they would be. They were shocked and seemed upset for Robbie’s plight. When Dallas finished the story, her aunt took over and said, “Robbie, you’ve had a terrible time, I’m sure. Come along with me, and I’ll take you to one of our staterooms. I’m afraid you’ll find it in sad shape, and all we can offer you right now is a cot mattress, but my feeling is that you should rest awhile, and then we can talk about how you can help us out here on the
River Queen.
”

“Oh, but, no, ma’am! I want to work, I feel fine, I can work right now!” She sounded panicked.

Leah studied her for a few moments, then took her arm, threaded it through her own, and patted it. “Listen to me, Robbie. You’re safe now. No one is going to do you any harm here, nothing bad is going to happen to you from now on. So stop worrying, and just get some rest. Come along,” she said firmly. Obediently Robbie followed her through the double doors to the stateroom hallway.

Roseann said, “That poor child. She looks scared to death. She’ll be all right in a few days, I’m sure. Dallas, would you be so kind as to ask if someone could set up my chair and the pavilion? I’d love to sit up on the hurricane for a while.”

“Can I come with you, Mother?” Carley asked. “I’ll be quiet and let you rest, I promise. I’ll look at my geography book.” She pronounced it, “joggerphy,” and she loved to study it, to everyone’s surprise.

“Of course, dear,” she said. “I’d love to have the company.”

“I’ll set up the chairs and tent for you, Mrs. Ashby,” Dallas offered, and she and Carley followed him out to the stairwell.

Julienne and Darcy looked blankly at each other. Julienne said, “I can’t believe it. Has this noxious air driven us all insane, or something? How did we just la-di-dah adopt a girl, for heaven’s sake?”

Darcy grinned, his old devilish grin that had been so subdued after his and Dallas’s “talk.” “She’s a real looker, and I do mean a prize. No wonder Dallas wanted to bring her home.”

Julienne stiffened. “That’s ridiculous, Darcy. He couldn’t see her when she was having that screaming fit in the barn and he galloped to her rescue.”

Darcy looked puzzled. “What’s the matter with you, Jules? I mean, I guess I was kinda making a joke, but it doesn’t seem like saying she was ‘having that screaming fit’ sounds very kind. She was in a real bad situation, and I don’t blame her for screaming.”