The Chili Queen (11 page)

Ned was always an admirer of sunrises. From his
first days in the West when he was a runaway boy, he had been gladdened by the dawn over the prairie. He loved the beauty as the day began to break, the black sky softening into gray, the faint streak of yellow light, then flash following flash of violent color—rose and purple and magenta—as far as the eye could reach. He never failed to hold his breath as the sun slid over the horizon like a giant gold watch. If he rode late at night, he waited until sunrise to bed down. And when he stayed at The Chili Queen, he sometimes rose at dawn just to watch the day begin, going back to bed only when the color in the sky faded into blue, the pale shade of a shirt that had been washed again and again. Once, when the sunrise filled the heavens with streaks of pink and orange, Ned awakened Addie to see the wonder of it, but she muttered she had never seen a sunrise that was worth missing two minutes of sleep. She’d take a sunset any day. Not Ned. Sunset was the beginning of darkness; sunrise meant a whole new, glad day ahead, filled with the gift of surprise. From the first time Ned had seen the western sunrise, with the daylight washing over the prairie, turning the brown grasses to gold, he had felt his boy’s heart lift and was filled with a sense of freedom he’d never even dreamed about at his father’s farm on the Mississippi.

Ned turned to look at the sunrise over his shoulder that morning, as he drove west in the wagon with Emma beside him. He didn’t say a word, but gestured behind him with his head, and she twisted about to see the spectacle.

“The orb of day,” Emma said, as the orange ball popped up over the horizon, all but blinding Ned when he turned to look again.

“What’s that?” Ned asked.

“It’s what the poet calls the sun,” Emma explained.

She was a smart one. Ned liked sitting beside a woman who read poetry, not that he’d ever read any himself. Still, he appreciated an intelligent woman.

“It’s the best time of day. The world is deserted. I can believe I am the only one about,” Emma continued.

“Well, you are,” Ned said, “except for me.” He turned to smile at her, but it was too dark for Emma to see his face. Besides, she was looking straight ahead now, down the road, away from Nalgitas.

They had been in the wagon for two hours. Ned told her they would leave early because the drive was a long one. That was true, but he was anxious to be on the road before Addie awoke with another reason why robbing the bank at Jasper was a bad idea. So he’d gotten up at three, put on a new shirt, hitched the horses to the wagon, then gone to The Chili Queen to awaken Emma. When he reached the house, he found her fully dressed, arguing in heavy whispers with Welcome. The two grew silent when they heard Ned’s footsteps on the back porch, and he wondered if they had been talking about him.

“I’m short of gladness to see you here,” Welcome told him.

“She had hoped you’d oversleep and not awaken until it was too late for us to leave,” Emma laughed. “But never mind her. I, for one, am glad to see you, glad to be going.”

“You haven’t no right to taken her,” Welcome told Ned.

“You just want Emma around to do your work,” Ned replied. He was even more cheerful than usual.

Welcome sniffed. She finished packing a dinner in a basket and gave it to Emma. Then she picked up Emma’s carpetbag and handed it to Ned. “If you let her be captivated, I’ll raise revolution.”

“I reckon she’s not your concern,” Ned said. “For a hired woman, you sure do mind other folks’ business.”

“It’s terrible dangerous what you are setting out to do, and I got money on her,” Welcome responded. “What if she don’t come back?”

“Welcome is only being protective. Women alone are like that. They look out for each other,” Emma explained to Ned. She had put on the black traveling dress and bonnet she had worn on the train, but had draped a cape over her shoulders, since early mornings on the prairie were cold.

“Why’s that?” Ned asked, wondering how Emma knew such a thing. He started for the door.

Emma seemed to read his mind. “A woman knows,” she replied vaguely. She turned to Welcome. “Now don’t worry. We shall come back as good as ever.”

“And quicker than a chicken can fly, I expect,” Welcome muttered sourly. She followed the two out onto the back porch and watched them make their way to the barn, wringing her hands under her apron.

“You tell Addie not to worry, either,” Ned called softly, so as not to awaken her. He knew Addie never worried about his safety, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

In the end, Addie had agreed to Ned’s plan, maybe because she realized there was no way to stop him. But she’d refused to let him take her horses. Somebody might recognize them and then where would she be? Ned knew that wasn’t the reason. Addie hoped that if he had to arrange for horses himself, Ned would reconsider the robbery. But he was stubborn, and his pride was at stake, not just with Addie but with Emma. He wasn’t much of a man if he let the madam of a whorehouse tell him what to do. Ned wasn’t sure why, but it mattered to him what Emma thought. So, he’d gone into town the night before and bought a couple of nags—black ones. Addie shuddered at the sight of them, although Ned didn’t know why.

Addie hadn’t said anything about not using her wagon, so Ned had hitched the horses to it.

He opened the barn door and led the horses out. Then he helped Emma onto the wagon seat. She turned and waved to Welcome as they pulled out, but Ned couldn’t tell if Welcome waved back, for the woman was hidden in the darkness with only her white apron visible. He could see the apron like a flag until The Chili Queen disappeared from view.

Ned and Emma didn’t talk much the first couple of hours, and when they did, they kept their voices low, as if they were afraid someone would overhear them. Ned felt Emma shiver beside him, and he reached for a blanket and handed it to her. She took off her bonnet, and wrapped herself in the blanket, with the fold over her head. When he glanced at her, Ned thought she looked purely Mexican. It was a good thing she could change her looks like that. When you were on Ned’s side of the law, you wanted to confuse people about your appearance. As good-looking as he was, Ned, too, could make himself unmemorable. That was why he was daring to rob a bank so close to home. With the Santa Fe bank, he’d been foolish to brag about the haul. This time, he would keep his mouth shut, and no one would connect him with the robbery.

The horses plodded along, and Ned remarked that he did not believe they would out-travel even a man on foot. He explained to Emma that they had been the only animals available. The blacksmith had just bought a pair of fine horses, but he’d run them to ground before he’d sell them to Ned or Addie, even at a good profit.

Emma didn’t ask why. Instead, she said, “I am reposed in the belief these horses are fine. People would wonder about dirt farmers with animals as good as Addie’s. And a wagon is the ideal mode of travel. It would be unseemly to arrive on horseback.” It was uncanny that Ned was also thinking there was an advantage in traveling as they did. He nodded and slapped the reins over the animals’ backs, although the horses kept on plodding.

“You can change your mind anytime,” Ned told her. He’d been saying that ever since they’d agreed to rob the Jasper bank. “I mean, you can change your mind right up till we walk up to the bank door. I wouldn’t hold it against you.”

Ned had expected Emma to back out even before they left Nalgitas. But she had told him, “You shall not find me a reluctant companion.” He was surprised that she had agreed to the plan in the first place. But then, he had already decided Emma was not altogether what she seemed.

Ned had been thinking about the Jasper bank for several weeks and had brought it up because talking about a thing helped him think about it clearly. Usually he sounded out Addie, but they hadn’t had much time alone since she’d returned from Kansas City. He was shocked when, after she heard him out, Emma said it was a job for two, and nobody would ever suspect a man and woman. “I suppose I shall go to hell for robbing my brother. The devil will be just as happy to see me if I have committed two offenses,” she explained. “I’m of a mind to join with you temporarily in your life of crime.”

Ned didn’t think much about heaven and hell, but he did think about jail, and he was not comfortably safe with the idea of a woman as a partner. He told her straight off, no. Why, he’d never even heard of a woman robbing a bank. But after he thought about it, that was precisely why he found it an interesting idea and began to reconsider. “What happens if somebody shoots at you?” he asked.

“Then I shall shoot back. I can handle a gun, you know. I’m not helpless. No, I am not.” Emma had laughed then and said, “I crave adventure. If that were not so, I would not have left Palestine, Kansas, to come to New Mexico in the first place. I think I have a level head and that I will not let you down.”

He hadn’t brought up the bank the first time they’d gone out riding together. In fact, the drive that day had started out so poorly that Ned expected he’d never exchange a civil word with Emma again. She sat on the buggy seat as far away from Ned as possible. Ned slumped forward, to make it clear he did not want to talk. He drove the horses too fast, giving them their heads and letting the buggy jerk and snap on the poor road. He hoped Emma would be too scared to ride with him after that. Then he’d tell Addie he’d done his part; she couldn’t blame him if Emma refused to go out with him. But Emma hadn’t seemed to notice how fast they were going—until the buggy lurched, catching Ned off guard, and he dropped the reins. Feeling their freedom, the horses began to run. Ned reached for the reins, but Emma grabbed them first, and standing up in the buggy, bracing herself against the seat, her skirt swept back against her legs, she pulled until the animals were under control. Emma doubtless felt exhilarated with the exertion, her body taut, her bright eyes flashing. When the horses stopped, she handed the reins to Ned, who looked at her in awe. He’d never seen a woman react so coolly to danger.

“I have lived my life on a farm and know as much about horses as any man,” she said. “If you are trying to frighten me, you will have to find a better way to do it.”

Ned lowered his head and looked sheepish.

Emma laughed. “I know you are showing me about not out of the goodness of your heart, but because Addie has ordered you to do so. Of course, I don’t blame her. I am not unmindful that I am an impediment to her business.” Despite the pretty speech, Emma did not seem in the least contrite. “I am not a twit. I am used to keeping my own company and often prefer it to tolerating fools. So I am happy to sit here on the prairie the day long, whilst you entertain yourself elsewhere.”

“What’s that about fools? Do you think I’m a fool?” Ned asked.

“Not at all. It is an expression only. I hoped to make the point that I do not mind being alone. You are neither of you fools—you and Addie. I do not underestimate you.”

While Ned thought that over, Emma stepped down from the buggy. She opened the little watch pinned to her jacket. “Go about your business, and come back for me at five o’clock. I shall entertain myself until then, and no one will be the wiser. Tomorrow, I will bring along my sewing. I propose that neither of us tell Addie about the arrangement.”

She started for a tree some distance from the road.

Ned hadn’t wanted to spend his time with Emma, but now that she made it clear she didn’t care to be with him, he was hurt. Women generally didn’t avoid his company. “Hey,” he called. “Come on back. There’s snakes out there.”

“There are snakes in Kansas.”

“Rattlers. They’re fierce.”

“Then I shall look for a stout stick.”

“It might rain. You’ll get wet.”

“Welcome says it hasn’t rained in weeks.”

“It’s dangerous out here,” Ned yelled, but Emma walked on. “There’s outlaws. You wouldn’t want to meet up with one.”

“I already have.”

“Hey,” he called again.

Emma stopped but didn’t turn around. She waited.

“I’ve got cookies.”

Emma was still a moment longer, then turned around. “Now, I believe you have hit upon something.”

Ned held up a small basket. “I’m going to eat in the shade, and since there’s only one tree out here, you’ll have to sit with me, unless you want to be in the sun.”

At that, Emma laughed. “You have the advantage of me,” she told him.

Ned led the horses to the tree, unhitched and hobbled them, then he sat on the ground while Emma found a rock to perch on, and they took turns sipping from the bottle of water he’d brought along, too. Ned took out a handful of cookies and handed one to Emma.

“If we are to go out again tomorrow, I would like to ride on a horse instead of in a buggy. Do you think Addie would be shocked?” she asked, then broke off a piece of the cookie and ate it.

“Addie’s a whore.”

“You are unkind. She is your sister, or so she says—and a friend to me.”

“No, ma’am, I am stating facts. Addie is what she is, just like I am. We don’t make excuses.”

Emma nodded. “I suppose I must get used to this new world I have chosen.” She ate the rest of her cookie, then brushed crumbs from her skirt. “She would not mind, then, if I rode a horse?”

“I wouldn’t think so.”

“Astride.”

Ned glanced at her. “Well, maybe not astride.”

“A sidesaddle is cumbersome. I always rode astride at home. I prefer it.”

Ned shook his head. “Addie might not like it. She’s funny about some things.” He finished the cookies he’d taken out, then reached into the basket for more. They were a different kind, with raisins in them. Ned picked out the dried fruit. “I don’t like raisins. Never did.”

“I’ll remember,” Emma said. “If we leave before Addie’s awake, she’ll never know about the saddle.”

“I like nuts better,” Ned said.

They didn’t talk about the saddle again, but the next day, Ned put a man’s saddle on Addie’s horse and led it out of the barn for Emma, who was wearing some kind of skirt that was split in the middle like pants. Emma was right. She was as good on a horse as any man. In fact, when they returned to The Chili Queen after their ride, he was more tuckered out than she was.