THE IMPERIAL ENGINEER (4 page)

The man in the middle laughed. "No lady's gonna get up and talk bullshit like she
did. I'll bet she's one of them who're workin' to destroy the family. Advocatin' free
love..."

"I'd take me some of that free lovin'" the man on his right said with a lascivious
grin.

Tao Ni stepped between her and the men. "Gentlemen, I believe you are mistaken.
I have known Miss King all her life and can vouch that she is a respectable woman from a
good family."

"Oh, yeah? But does her 'respectable' family know what she's up to? C'mere,
girlie!"

Before Lulu could move, Tao Ni's open hand had slapped the reaching arms aside.
He thrust her behind him, and in the same blur of motion, tripped the fellow who'd reached
for her. The man fell to the ground.

One of the others made a grab for Lulu, and Tao Ni shouldered him away. At the
same time, he swung his open hand at the third man, who dodged back from the blow and
fell on his behind.

"Here, here! What's goin' on?"

With great relief, Lulu saw the sheriff coming towards them. The man who'd
tripped scrambled to his feet. He lunged toward her, but the sheriff blocked him.

Before Tao Ni could speak, she said, "These gentlemen seemed to think I desired
their company. When Mr. Dewitt attempted to tell them otherwise, they attacked without
provocation." Much as she hated to make enemies, she'd learned that nothing was gained
by acting like a helpless victim.

"That right, Dewitt?"

She could see he wanted to take blame--credit?--for everything. After a short
hesitation, he nodded.

"Well now, Miss King, I'd like to say this is the end of your troubles. But it ain't.
There's lots of folks hereabouts who won't take kindly to the message you bring. I'm not
sure I approve myself, but that's neither here nor there. My job is to keep the peace and to
protect the citizens of Hailey. As long as you do everything legal, you'll share that
protection. Just don't go rilin' folks any more than you have to."

"Thank you, Sheriff. I assure you the last thing I want to do is create dissention.
However, I will not be silenced. This is a free country, and I have the right to speak."

"So do they, Miss King." The sheriff glanced down at the one miner who
remained, sitting slumped on the ground. He seemed unable to rise, for some reason. "So
do they. You'll want to be careful."

The sheriff helped the miscreant to his feet and his embarrassment became
obvious. "Let's go, Elmer. Reckon you'll want to mend those britches."

"Damn fuckin' bitch."

Lulu grabbed Tao Ni before he could go for the man.

"Shut your dirty mouth, Elmer," the sheriff said, giving him a shove.

As the sheriff led the big man away, Tao Ni said, "You're lucky he didn't get his
hands on you. Elmer Mills has quite a reputation for dirty fighting."

"I can defend myself," she said, although she wasn't sure she could. Not against a
man as big and strong as Elmer Mills. And there were others here in town, just as big and
just as strong. In fact, most of the men here seemed much larger than those she
remembered back East.
Why couldn't I have inherited Pappa's size instead of
Mamma's?

Tao Ni took her arm. "Do you want me to walk you home now?"

She looked at him in amazement. "Why ever for? I thought there was to be ice
cream served."

"But you...you've had a frightening experience. Shouldn't you--"

"Tao Ni, I've had far worse experiences, believe me. Thus far I've survived them.
Only a weak ninny would retire, fainting, to her couch after such a forgettable experience."
What she was not about to admit was how shaken she had been. This was the first violence
she'd encountered since...
no, don't think about that now!

"I suppose I should thank you for your gallant rescue." As soon as the words were
out of her mouth, she realized how begrudging they sounded, so she tried again. "I do
appreciate your assistance. The situation was degenerating, wasn't it?" She tucked her
shirtwaist back in and smoothed her skirt over her hips.

"Worse experiences? Where? When?"

"A long time ago and far from here. They're not important." There were still dusty
streaks on her skirt, and her shirtwaist was stained with tomato juice, but otherwise she
was tidy and somewhat presentable. "Ice cream?" she said, forcing herself to smile as if
she hadn't a care in the world.

"Are you all right, Miss King?"

Lulu hadn't seen the two men approach. She smiled at the young man who had
assisted her in setting up a bank account when she'd first come to town. "Yes, indeed, Mr.
Correy. A little stained and wrinkled, but quite all right, thank you."

The other man, a rather stocky fellow a bit taller than Tao Ni, was a stranger. As
she glanced at him curiously, Frank Correy said, "This is Patrick Newell. He's new in
town. Works out at the Minnie Moore. I told him I'd introduce him to the prettiest lady in
Hailey."

Over his shoulder, she saw Tao Ni's raised eyebrow, but ignored it. "Why thank
you, Mr. Correy. How do you do, Mr. Newell?"

He took her hand and raised it to his lips, a gesture she had always disliked
because it made her feel like a toy. As quickly as she could, she pulled free.

"Charmed, Miss King. Absolutely charmed that a pretty lady like you should
harbor such revolutionary notions." His tone told her just what he thought of her
notions.

Lulu was about to respond angrily when Tao Ni said, to her great surprise,
"Notions every woman should listen to."

"What, and become dissatisfied with their lot? Come now, Dewitt, do you really
want seeds of dissention sown among the fairer sex?"

"Any family that respects its women will not be harmed by new ideas, Mr.
Newell," Lulu said in as mild a voice as she could manage.

"Please excuse us," Tao Ni said, before Mr. Newell could speak again. "Miss King
is distraught from her experience. I'll be taking--"

She snatched her arm from his grasp. "I am not distraught!" Nothing infuriated her
more than being treated like a silly, helpless female.

"Of course you aren't, "Mr. Newell said, looking down at her with a curl to his lip.
"A brave revolutionary such as you would never be frightened of loud-mouthed yokels in a
backwater town. Why I imagine--"

"That's enough," Tao Ni said, grabbing her arm again, this time tightly enough that
she knew she'd not be able to pull free. "Let's get you home."

Short of digging in her feet and being dragged along the road, Lulu had no choice
but to go with him.

Once they were out of earshot, she did dig in her heels. "Stop this, Tao Ni! Let me
go!"

"Not until I get you home. Great God, Lulu, are you determined to make yourself
a laughing-stock? You're a mess. And don't call me Tao Ni, damn it! My name's Tony. Got
that? Tony Dewitt! I'll take you to the ice cream social, but not until you've cleaned up.
Let's go."

"You'll take me nowhere," she said, twisting her arm, but unable to free it. "Let me
go!"

"Will you go home and clean up?"

"Oh, very well, if you'll turn loose."

He stared at her for a moment before releasing her.

Taking one step back, she propped her clenched hands on her hips. "Listen to me
Tao Ni," she said in a low tone, "Tony. Whatever you want to call yourself. I am not your
responsibility. I'm not your sister, not your wife. I'm not even sure I'm your friend. Not
anymore. Not if you're going to treat me as you have today. If you ever,
ever
humiliate me like that again, I'll...well, I don't know what I'll do, but you won't like it."

"Like what? Like pulling you away from a crazy woman who was about to bash
your brains out? Getting you away from a mob bent on showing what they thought of your
feminist drivel? Saving you from those miners ready and eager to show you what they do
to women who have no shame? Why you little fool--"

She raised a hand to slap him and found it stopped in mid-swing by his lifted arm,
as hard and immovable as an iron bar. Fingers tingling, she lowered the hand. "I can handle
boors quite nicely on my own, thank you. There was no need--"

"No need?" He laughed. "That's not how it looked to me."

She ground her teeth together. "I am going home now, but not because I am
distraught
. I need to change my clothes and comb my hair. Later I'll come back
and enjoy the rest of the day. Alone!" Before he could react, she spun on her heel and
strode away, her boots kicking up little puffs of dust with each step.

Talk about boors! What else would you call a man who saw you as an
empty-headed, helpless ninny without sense enough to come in out of the rain? A delicate flower
in need of a man's protection?

Distraught my foot! I'll show you distraught, Tao Ni. I'll show you.

This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of
communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.

Western Union internal memorandum, 1876.

~~~

On Sunday, Lulu was invited to dine with the Tellers. Once again the Chinese man
drove her there. This time he almost smiled when she greeted him by name. Mr. Teller
opened the door as they arrived, and waited for her to mount the steps. He led her into the
parlor, where his wife sat with an older lady whom he introduced as Miss Petersham, a
teacher in the grade school.

"I'll see you later, ladies," Mr. Teller said. "Stay out of mischief, now."

As soon as they were alone, Imajean Teller leaned forward, her expression avid.
"Tell me, Miss King, who was that very good-looking young cave man?"

Heat flooded Lulu's face. "A childhood friend. He thought he was being
chivalrous."

"It certainly didn't help the cause. Those barbarians found it hilarious," Miss
Petersham commented acidly.

"I'm aware of that, and so I told him. I doubt he'll come to my rescue again."

"I thought it was fine of him," Imajean said. "I saw the tomato strike your face.
Such a terrible feeling, when that happens." She shuddered. "I always dreaded facing an
audience like yesterday's."

"One becomes used to such things," Lulu said, "although I admit I dislike them
intensely. I've been at many rallies where our detractors threw worse missiles, including
stones."

"At least one stone was thrown," Imajean reminded her. "I heard it strike the stage.
Were you frightened?"

Seeing only support and concern in their eyes, Lulu grimaced. "I was terrified.
One never enjoys being the target of such violence," she said, remembering other times,
other places. Cold fingers of fear climbed her spine, and she forced herself to ignore them.
"But it is far too nice a day to worry about what could have happened. Let me tell you
about the rally in Coeur d'Alene."

The others leaned closer while she related the adventure of her first speaking tour.
By the time Mr. Teller returned to join them for dinner, they had discussed likely places
for Lulu to visit during her upcoming journey to Eagle Rock and thence into the Montana
mining towns. Miss Petersham promised to write and enlist her sister in Virginia City to
the cause.

Body and mind still exhausted from the days of traveling, and still shaken from
yesterday's near-violence, Lulu retired almost as soon as she reached her small apartment
on Carbonate Street. The night was hot, with still air and humidity unusual for this dry
climate. She undressed and donned a short linen shift, unwilling to put on her long cotton
nightgown. Wishing the room was arranged so the bed received any errant breeze from the
open window, she lay down and kicked the sheet and blanket to the foot. Her pillow was
fluffy and far too warmly enveloping, so she pushed it onto the floor.

She forced herself to relax, to think back over her speech on the Fourth.
Obviously, she had not reached the minds of many of the men in the audience. More than
likely she would face many similar audiences on her upcoming tour. What could she say to
open their eyes? She smiled. No, it wasn't their eyes she needed to open. It was their
minds.

The heat and the damp air seemed to press her to the bed. Gradually she slipped
into sleep, only to be troubled by voices from somewhere far off. The words meant little at
first. Then they grew louder, and she saw flickers of light across her curtained
window.

She struggled to open her eyes. Tried to rise, with leaden limbs and a body
seeming to lack all strength.

Mrs. Thomas was standing a few feet behind the open doorway, looking out. Lulu
came up beside her.

Next door, a cross burned in the front yard of the church. Reverend Thomas stood
between it and a mob on horseback, perhaps two dozen figures clad in white, hooded
robes. He was speaking, but Lulu couldn't make out his words, which were drowned by
angry shouts.

She started to move, but Mrs. Thomas caught her arm. "No," she said. "We must
not be seen."

"But--"

"Miss King, there's nothing you can do. Stay here, out of sight."

Almost relieved, Lulu stayed.

Reverend Thomas continued to speak for a long time, long enough for Lulu's
vision to adapt to the flickering dark. Behind the cross, between it and the front of the
church a small group of people--men, women and children--were huddled together. Two
Klansmen stood guard over them, armed with shotguns. Again she started forward, only to
be stopped by Mrs. Thomas's tight grip on her arm. "
No!
You'll only make it
worse."

"No, I--"

"This isn't the first time this has happened. They'll rant and rave a while, maybe
whip one of the men, then they'll go off and drink themselves into a stupor."

Unable to tear her gaze from the drama unfolding before her, Lulu watched as
Reverend Thomas raised both arms, apparently in fervent prayer.

The next instant, he lay on the ground, ridden down by the advancing horde.