Opposite Numbers

The hotel room lay shadowed in the pale light of the crescent hanging tall in the black sky. Gwendoline sat next to the window in the big arm chair in a white sleeveless nightgown; her beautiful hair fell in thick curly waves over her shoulders and she could feel its tingling on her bare neck and arms. Sinead Loreen lay sound asleep in the bed, her cheeks were rosy from the slumber and her breath was soft and quiet.

Gwendoline was counting a small bunch of dollar bills over and over again, with the same result. Too few to be of any real good, but enough too keep the hunger away for another week. Still though, it was all the money they had left…

She got up and walked the few steps over to the bed. She tucked the quilted blankets better in around the sleeping girl, and placed a light kiss on her forehead. Then she slowly returned to the chair, thinking about the next day. In her purse she found the letter from the editor at the Rock Creek Gazette. He had invited her to come and write a column in the newspaper, telling her to start tomorrow. It was a big chance certainly, and she was looking forward to it, but it was not the real reason for her trip to the West. The real reason… for the one hundreth time, she tried to push the thought away, but this time she couldn't escape and the memories got the better of her… Ireland…The foreign soldiers setting fire to the cottage, like they did to the homes of everybody fighting for Irish liberty…The heavy smoke all over and the stench of burning flesh as her family perished in the flames... only she and Sinnead Loreen had gotten away and they had fled into the waste moors. But in the end, they had been captured by the soldiers… Then later the same horendous day - the cold feeling of the golden ring, which General Jack Brighton had ungently pushed down over her finger, with his fishlike eyes staring greedily at her. What happened after the wedding, later in the night, Gwendoline was no longer able to remember, be it forgotten or repressed. She pulled her legs up in the chair and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on the knees. The memories were strong after being kept in darkness for so long and for the first time since the steamboat had left the harbour in Ireland, she gave in for the tears. In one way, it seemed like an eternity had passed since that day and in another way it was like it just happened a week ago… All she had known was that there was only chance in her life left, and had gone straight across the Atlantic Ocean. No matter how much she loved Ireland she was unable to stay there. Capital punishment awaited her if she stayed, for a crime she could not remember… The moon had hidden behind some ragged clouds and left the small hotel room in total darkness. She finally cried herself to sleep in the big arm chair.

In the other end of town, James Butler Hickock tossed and turned in his bunk all night, hardly able to find any rest. He kept forcing his memory to focus of the left hand of Gwendoline O'Cavanaugh, but no matter how hard he tried to remember it, he couldn't recall if there had been a mark on her fouth finger or not. He hoped that Teaspoon had been wrong about this, but a long line of lost hopes had taught Jimmy to expect nothing but the worst. What if Gwendoline really was a married woman? - He already had way too many feelings for her to just accept this. What a stupid idiotic thing to fall in love with her- after knowing her not even half a day! But why wouldn't she be married - he could hardly be the first man to see her charm…

It was not until the time when the night turned into day, that sleep came to his troubled mind.

The pink light of dawn rose over the town of Rock Creek and soon after, life began in all the little shops and homes. Morning greetings were being exchanged across the street between the townsfolks as they got out into this beautiful sunny day. Later in the morning, an express rider came down the main street, speedily as the wind, and was soon out of sight. His -or rather her- brown hair was jumping up and down in the face and the horse left a long trail of dust behind it.

Jimmy yelled a loud "Ride safe, Lou" after the departing rider, but she was already gone, and he crossed the street. He was anxiously looking for Gwendoline and he found her outside the general store, she came walking from the newspaper office. Her burning red hair was tied up in a large knot in the back of her head and a smile rested upon her lips. It grew wider when she saw Jimmy and she started running a little towards him.

"So did you get the job?" He asked when they met in the middle of the dusty sunfilled street.

"Oh, yes! Jones, the editor, loved my story - in fact, I am going to have my own desk in the office, can you believe that?" Her eyes were filled with exitement. "I'm just on my way to pick up Sinnead Loreen from Rachel. Jones said that she could play with his grandaughter, isn't that great? I'm going to work there everyday and I'll have every Sunday off!" She talked very fast and practically jumped up and down in happiness.

Jimmy could hardly get it over his heart to ask what he had in mind. He forced a smile up to his lips, it didn't reach his eyes though, and said in a toneless voice: "I'm sure that your husband will be happy for you!"

"What?" she just stared at him, now motionless.

"You are married, right?" Even though he had been practicing for this conversation all morning, it sounded kind of insecure and he had to do the utmost effort to keep his voice from shivering.

"No, I'm not…what on Earth makes you say that?" Gwendoline asked and looked like a question mark in her face. Jimmy didn't hear the hidden panic.

"You have a mark from a wedding band on your finger" He pointed at her left hand.

"Oh…" she stared at her finger and searched her mind for a suitable lie but didn't find any. Damned, why hadn't she thought of that the stupid ring might leave a mark? The band had been stuck to her finger all across the Atlantic only because she couldn't get it off. And now its mark had given her away, even though the ring had been sold long ago!

"Well, I…" She began but realized that it was no use. His eyes pierced hers and she felt it like he could read her mind just by the bare look of her face. Some people can't be lied to, and he was definitely one of them. But she had to try anyway - the truth he never would believe.

"You better spit it out, Ma'am!" he demanded and the last word seperated them by miles. She knew that it would take hard work to make him trust her again. Maybe she even had to reveal the truth, But that will be the end of me… she thought.

"Can we go someplace and talk?" She had to win some time, to make a story up.

"No, I like an answer right here and now. It outt'a be quite easy, just a simple yes or no to my question will do!" He grabbed her arm and forced her to look into his eyes again.

"No I'm not married, Jimmy. This mark is from my engagement ring. I was engaged to be married, but my fiancee left me in front of the altar…"She bend her head down, unable to look into his brown eyes as he swallowed the lie. She blinked a lot to get her eyes look moist and tearfilled.

"Oh…Oh, I'm so sorry for you, Gwen… Please forgive me…I' didn't mean to upset you!" He said in a concerned tone, truly sorry.

"It-it's alright Jimmy. Don't think about it. I just don't like to talk about it, it's kind of embarrassing…" Miracoulously, he had believed her. Thank you, Holy Virgin! she thought and quickly ran through a prayer while she wiped not-existing tears away from her eyes. Suddenly, a touch of guilt hit her for deceiving him. She cast the thought off a quickly as it came to her. He would never get to know the truth. A little white lie was better than the black truth.

Jimmy stroke her red hair comfortingly, as a small gesture of compassion. What lousy creep of a man could ever abandon a woman like her? it ran through his mind. He was relieved that she didn't have a husbond waiting around the next corner. He just wished to put the incident behind them and suddenly he got an idea.

"Gwen…?" A smile showed in the corner of his eye and he looked teasingly at her. He picked a straw of grass from the roadside and began chewing it.

"Mmm?" Gwendoline looked absentminded at him.

"I just thought of something."

"Is that so? Sounds like it's something mighty clever!" She couldn't help but return his bright smile.

"It's 'bout that shooting of your's yesterday…I ain't never seen a lady shoot that well, so I just thought to myself: 'It gotta be beginner's luck'!"

"Beginner's luck?!" she looked shocked at him and snorted.

"You can't be all that good! I challenge you to a contest, Miss!" He said in a dryly provoking, yet friendly tone and spat the grass straw out of his mouth, and tried looked wicked for fun.

"So I can't, huh? You will be sorry you said that, sir! All right, I accept your dare…That is if….you dare?" she looked viciosly at him and rose her brow, even though a second later a little smile rested in her eye and played at her lips. They both knew they just were playing a game.

"Sure do." With a slow underacted movement, Jimmy unholstered one of the ivory Colts hanging around his hips and almost threw it at her. She looked at the gun with superioriority, then she gathered her hoopskirts around her and walked two steps in front of him to the spot behind the station house where the riders used to practice shooting. Six cans were lined up on the fence in the other end of the enclosure.

"Okay, best out of three, six shots in each" Jimmy commanded in a harsh voice and leant against the fence. "Ladies first, ma'am! Give me your best shot."

Gwendoline walked up close to him, so close that he could feel her breath on his face. She penetrated his brown eyes with her emerald green, totally cool and without blushing or blinking. Jimmy did both even though he tried to keep her look captured. His heart pounded like it tried to run away. "I take orders from nobody, sir!" she hissed in a low voice. Then she turned very quickly and almost without aiming, she shot five of the six cans down from the fence, one by one. The last can she missed by only half an inch.

Damn! Jimmy couldn't help thinking, while she carefully and mostly for the show of it blew the smoke off the barrel of the gun and sent him a "I-told-you-so"-look and a wry smile. This was nothing to do with accidently good luck or beginner's luck, he could clearly see that. She must have been praticing shooting for many years and was extremely good at it! God only knows who taught her - it must have been one hell of a gunman! Suddenly, a cold feeling ran down Jimmy's spine. He had known quite a few of this type of gunmen and he did not like the picture of an attractive woman like Gwendoline in the company of any of them…

With her green hoopskirts broadly swaying over then dusty ground, she went down and placed the cans at the fence again.

"Your turn, sir," she smiled stubbornly, but Jimmy saw a slight glimpse of irritation in her eyes for not hitting the last can. Then she held her head high again and in seconds reloaded the gun.

Jimmy stepped forward, aimed carefully at the cans and shot them all down. Each of them were hit with a loud ploink and with a a hollow sound they all landed on the ground.

"Hey, who's winning?" Cody hoarsly yelled as he, Buck, Kid and Noah appeared from behind the bunkhouse.

Jimmy sighed inside and hoped they would go away soon. He had a feeling he could not win this contest easily and it would bother him to let the boys see this woman wipe the floor with him. For a second he even regretted having challenged her to the contest.

This time Gwendoline aimed more careful at the cans and shot them slowly down one by one, all of them. A sweet childish victory smile crossed her lips. She placed her self on the fence, with the dress like a green lake around her. Jimmy was about to take aim again, when he was disturbed by a loud calling from behind. Teaspoon came running over the dusty enclousure, his hat in the back and his grey hair like always in a mess. He stopped in front of Jimmy, halfway out of his breath.

"Boys….boys…boys!" He gasped and coughed.

"Oh, Mr. Spoon just learnt himself a new word today!" Noah laughed out loud.

"The bank has just been robbed by a bunch of outlaws! I need y'all to help getttin' them! They rode off in direction of Blue Springs - Buck, Noah, Cody - you boys take the main road to there - then Jimmy, Kid, and I will cover the high land! We all meet at Point Deer in an hour! Go, move it, move it!" Teaspoon made some hurry-up movements with his hands and pushed Noah, Buck, and Cody towards the stables. Suddenly he saw Gwendoline, gun in her hand and a surprised look on her face.

"You operate that thing in your hand, Miss?" He asked, pointing at the Colt.

"Well, I…" she wasn't allowed to finish the sentence before Teaspoon interrupted her.

"Fine, I need everybody who can shoot a gun. Do you mind comin' with us?"

"No, but I might be better of with my own Derringer." She handed Jimmy the Colt back, bend down and picked up her silver gun from her bootleg.

This time it was Teaspoon and the remaining boy's turn to look surprised.

She saw their surprise and shrugged with a charmingly smile. "Well, you never know when outlwas come across your way, do you?"

"True words, Miss! I take it as you're with us?" Teaspoon said.

Gwendoline tilted her head and answered , more at Jimmy than at Teaspoon, "Always!"

"You take the sorrel mare in the stable then. And then we're all outta here!" Teaspoon hurried off to the stables.

And few minutes later, with the thunder of sixteen metalshoed hoofs, the posse flew out over the prairie.

To be continued…Chapter 5

Copyright 1998-This work is not to be reproduced without the permission of the author

The Way Station
Campfire Tales

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