“Yeah, something like that,” Ty replied. “Where’s Hank?”
“He just went over to the café for supper. Anything I can help you with? I’m giving him a hand now,” Morgan offered, indicating the tin star on his chest.
“Not really, unless you want to go arrest your sweetheart.”
“Callie Mae?”
“That’s the one. That little wildcat pulled a gun on me tonight.”
“What?”
“Yes, sir, she did; threatened to shoot me, if I didn’t let Annalise go.”
“Why? What were you doing to Annalise?” Morgan asked carefully. In any case Callie Mae could not go around threatening to shoot people, but he wanted to know if she was justified.
“I was blistering her fanny,” Ty explained without an ounce of regret.
“I take it that had something to do with you being slightly ah…soggy?”
“Partly, but it all started when she allowed another man to kiss her. Now it was just on the cheek, but we both know those kinds of liberties lead to other things. The point is Callie Mae. She came in the room dolled up in a black dress up to here,” he said, shaking his head and holding his hand near his waist, “and a red feather in her hair. I swear, Morgan, she got the drop on me and I didn’t recognize her for a moment. That little pistol was already in her hand and when she cocked it, I was reaching for my gun. Now, I know she wouldn’t have pulled the trigger, at least I don’t think so,” he continued, his eyes narrowed, “but another man might have shot her.”
Morgan grew angrier by the second as he listened to Ty’s story. He’d already heard about the bath house from several others, but this was far worse. His jaw clenched as Ty went on.
“I don’t know what you’re gonna do about that little gal, Morgan, but you’d better do something before she gets herself hurt, or worse. You know how quickly gun play happens. Lots of men wouldn’t take kindly to a woman pulling a gun on them. I know I didn’t. If I hadn’t already had my hands full, I might have taught her a lesson myself, but seeing everyone knows she’s your girl, and I’ve got Annalise, I thought it best you get it right from the horse’s mouth.”
“I appreciate that, Ty.”
“Well, I certainly don’t want any of the other women to get hurt either. I’m going over to the mercantile and buy some dry duds. Then I’m going to get cleaned up and head back to The Duchess. I don’t like to be too far away when the town’s full up like it is tonight.”
“Then I’ll see you later,” Morgan said, turning to walk away before stopping short. “Hey, Ty, let me ask you something. If there ever comes a time when we have to get the girls out of there, say for a few days, you got any ideas where we might take them?”
Ty thought for a moment and smiled. “We got a bunk house that’s pretty near empty. It’s got all the conveniences and it’s too far out to hoof it back to town. Would that do?”
“It would,” Morgan agreed. “You know they wouldn’t come willingly?”
“I reckon that’s true, but it wouldn’t stop me if I thought Annalise was in danger. Is there something I should know about, Morgan?” he asked, no longer smiling.
“No, just a gut feeling I have.”
“It would take more than the two of us,” Ty warned.
“Mead and Matthew would help if it came to that,” Morgan said. “And I think I can count on Cole.”
“Then this isn’t something off the top of your head. You’ve been thinking about this for a spell,” Ty said as he nodded in understanding. “I have to admit I’ve thought about tossing Annalise over my saddle and carting her away from here. It’s seems a mighty dangerous place for an eighteen-year-old woman on her own for the first time.”
“Agreed. Let’s keep this under our hats. Technically it would be considered kidnapping,” Morgan said quietly.
Ty smiled. “There’s not a man in the territory who hasn’t been hearing about the goings on at The Duchess. I think they’d be hard pressed getting a jury to convict us.”
“Good point and we’d need one more man, maybe two depending on Fancy. She’s a scrapper.”
“I’ll think on it and let you know,” Ty said thoughtfully. “Maybe Doc. He was at the bar with me one night when Jane came downstairs wearing that red dress and about had a fit. Said she was much too young to even be in there, let alone work there. I think he wanted to pull her out of there right then. He called her a little girl playing dress-up or some such thing.”
“Sounds like he’d be a good choice then, Ty, we’ll talk later.”
Ty nodded and rode off as Morgan headed to The Duchess. Having a back-up plan made him feel better.
Callie Mae wasn’t surprised to see Morgan walk through the swinging doors, but he was surprised to see her. The black dress Ty warned him about was gone, replaced by a pair of jeans, a red and white gingham shirt, and boots. Around her hips was a gun belt, complete with a matched pair of 45’s and she had a red bandana tied around her throat. Her long hair was worn in a single braid that ended at her waist.
