I frowned.“That her husband?She mentioned someone named Albert.”
Trick snorted.“Yeah, that’s her husband.I told her not to trust the bastard.”
“You did?”Oscar said.“Why?”
Trick shrugged.“Had a feeling, that’s all.He was awful nice to Cal when he was purchasing her services.A little too nice, you know?I had my suspicions.”
Miss June sighed and put a hand to Trick’s shoulder.“As did I.And I told her to be careful, that sometimes the things men say to a woman when they want something aren’t entirely sincere.”
“I think,” Trick said, playing with the brim of the hat she held in her hand, “she was so happy to have a man who accepted her the way she was, bein’ that she had…you know, those parts that a woman ain’t supposed to have.”
“No, he didn’t mind that.Paid for the pleasure many times,” Miss June said, her eyebrow arched.“But Cal was in control of it, and she could have denied him.I wonder if, as soon as she left here, that man took her over.”
Trick nodded.“And now he’s got Cal all to himself, he don’t have to pay for it no more, and he can hold that secret over her to keep her loyal.’Twas a suspicious business all along, if you ask me.”
Miss June looked miserable.“But we did what we could, didn’t we?We couldn’t have forbidden Cal to take a chance at marriage and a respectable life.”
“No, that’s a fact.She’d have gone anyway and never spoken to us again.”
They exchanged a glance and Trick said, “Though she ain’t speakin’ to us now.Didn’t sound like she was gonna come by.”
“It almost seemed like she was more upset to see us than anythin’ else—and that she would rather not have,” I said.
“Which don’t make any sense at all,” Oscar stated.“We were her friends, and we’d come all this way to see that she was all right.If she was really all right, wouldn’t she have laughed, apologized for causing us all that trouble and come back with us to see Miss June?”
“I reckon that would have made more sense.”
“Something’s not right about this,” Trick said.“And I aim to find out what.We ain’t gonna give up on Cal, not now.I reckon she’s in some kind of trouble and needs our help, but she’s too scared or ashamed to ask for it.”
Chapter Sixteen
A Strange Discovery
The next day we were even more eager to head out.We were convinced there was something up with Cal, and we wanted to know what it was.Her behavior had been suspicious and uncharacteristic.
Trick came up with a plan.She knew the area a little, whereas Oscar and I were less familiar with the surroundings.
“Let’s head out toward Wildman’s Creek and start there.There’s bound to be some homesteads in that area, though I doubt there are any grand ones.From what I know, ’tis where a lot of poorer folks are set up as best they can.If we don’t find Cal’s place, we’ll ride out along the road where the wealthier folks live.Maybe Cal was tellin’ the truth, and she lives in a fine home with a loving husband.”Trick sounded doubtful.
“All right,” I said.
I watched as Oscar swung up on his horse and brought Onyx around to face the direction we wanted to go.He had good form, and the two of them seemed right out of a horseman’s catalogue.He had gained in confidence, and it looked real good on him.’Twas a fact that I might have coddled him in the past, because we both enjoyed it in the sheets.But maybe ’twas time I treated him like a man when we were in public.That had been a difficult thing to wrap my head around back in Port Essington, but ’twas getting easier.Oscar was clever and capable, and I had a mind to remember that.
“What?”Oscar said, noticing the way I was watching him.“You’re lookin’ at me all queer.”
Trick glanced my way as I smiled and shook my head.
“Simply admiring the view is all.You’re a handsome fucker, you know.”
“Aww, shucks,” he said, acting shy.But there wasn’t anything at all bashful in the look he threw me.
“Now, now,” I said, bringing Dixie alongside Oscar and Onyx.“Don’t get me all worked up when we got a long day of riding and searching ahead of us.I need to concentrate,” I said.
“You started it.Maybe keep your eyes on your reins and not my ass,” Oscar said, and Trick guffawed.
“Yeah, Jimmy.Jeez,” she said.“Try to control yourself now.”
I grinned, and we headed out toward Wildman’s Creek with hope and humor.The good feelings only lasted as long as it took to reach the first broken-down homestead.
