“I should get dressed,” Jane pointed out with a yawn as she held out her pink robe and looked down at it.
“There isn’t time. You must hurry, Jane. No dilly-dallying. Get Dr. Brubaker to come. It might be best if you stay at his place.”
“And miss everything?” Jane gasped out. “No.”
“All right, all right, come back with him if you want to. Just don’t forget to tell him to bring his gun.”
“Yes, I’ll do that. That’s exactly what I’ll do,” Jane said with a decisive if somewhat lopsided nod.
“Good.”
Fancy leaned Jane up against the wall by the door. “Stay there,” she ordered. Then she went behind the bar and retrieved the shotgun Callie Mae kept there. Quietly she walked to the doorway between the bar and the kitchen and stood for a moment, listening intently. She heard nothing. For a moment she considered putting a chair beneath the kitchen doorknob to prevent anyone from getting in easily. She’d seen her parents do that a number of times when they couldn’t afford to pay the bill at a hotel. But that might make things worse. Trouble would come through the kitchen door. It was the only one hidden from view of the main street. If she blocked it, whoever was helping Lilly might move to the front of the building putting Jane at risk. In fact, she couldn’t even let Jane go out until she heard something.
Looking behind her she saw that Jane has sunk down to the floor and was snoring softly. Hell, she might not even be able to wake her up. Maybe she should drag her somewhere and hide her. Glancing at the clock she saw that it was nearly five in the morning. It would be light soon and she wondered why Lilly had waited so long. Surely, she’d meant to have whatever she planned over and done with before the town began to awaken. Maybe Fancy was being, well…fanciful and letting her imagination run away with her. She placed the shotgun butt end down on the floor and leaned on it.
Then she heard it, the faint sounds of a wagon approaching. The sounds slowly got louder until they finally stopped. She could hear horse’s hooves, stomping in the cold night air and the sound of men’s voices. Racing to Jane she took hold of her arm and her hair and pulled her to her feet.
“Jane, you must go now,” she whispered urgently, giving her a shake.
“Ow,” Jane hissed. “All right, all right, but tell me where I’m going again?”
Fancy rolled her eyes and ground her teeth.
“When I open this door, you’re going to run to Doc’s place and beat on his door until he answers. Make him come back with you and hurry!”
“Yes, that’s what I’m going to do,” Jane sleepily agreed.
“Good.” Quickly Fancy unlocked the door and shoved Jane through it. Then she closed it behind her and raced to the swinging door separating the rooms. The conversation was quite clear.
“What took you so long?You should have been here hours ago!” Lilly hissed.
“Tain’t none of your concern,” a guttural voice replied. “We got other things to do here in town besides help you out with your little problem.”
“Yeah, Drake’s right. In fact, we don’t rightly know if we should a got involved in this at all. Wally ain’t gonna like it if we get caught.”
“Shut up, Carl! This here’s a way to put a little money in our own pockets for a change, instead of givin’ it all over to Wally. The less said about it the better.”
“Speaking of money, how are you planning to get my share to me?” Lilly asked.
“Huh?”
“My share of the profit you make from selling the girls. After all, I’m taking quite a risk to help you?” she insisted.
“Help us? Hell, this was all your idea,” Earl shot back. “You’re the one who come to us with this plan. I don’t figure we owe you nothin’.”
“Well, I want my share,” Lilly hissed.
“Bullshit! Consider yourself damn lucky we don’t toss your skinny ass into the back of the wagon with the girls. Even a cold-hearted bitch like you should fetch a few dollars,” he said with a laugh. “Now where are them girls? We need to get out of town before daylight!”
“They’re upstairs, and forget the money,” she finally replied. “Just getting rid of them will be satisfying enough. They are sleeping. I’ve given them a good dose of laudanum so you should be able to wrap them up in their quilts and carry them out with no one the wiser.”
“Laudanum? Are you sure you ain’t killed ‘em. We don’t need to be cartin’ no dead whores to Dodge City,” Earl stated in a harsh whisper.
“No, they are not dead, simply unconscious. The only one who might give you some trouble is the red-haired whore.”
“And that would be me,” Fancy said with a smile as she moved forward, opening the swinging door and standing firm, a shotgun pointed straight at them. “Now this here gun is loaded with scatter shot,” she informed them. “Which means I can do some serious damage without even being a good shot, which by the way, I am. Why don’t you gentlemen leave quietly right out that door you came in? I’ll give you three minutes to think it over and if any one of you makes a move toward your guns, I’ll shoot.”
“What about this here woman?” the guttural voice that she now knew belonged to Earl asked as he grabbed Lilly and yanked her in front of him, his arm across her throat.
