The Stranger

Author's note: Thank you to CandyCaner, Saige, KainMcAllister, Celery, and Ikkichi for reviewing. You make me feel loved! :D. So, I didn't intend to post this so quickly, but a wave of inspiration hit and I just started writing like crazy. Let me know what you think!

And Away We Go!

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I managed to haul the bags upstairs to my dressing room before that bell tinkled again, signaling someone wanted a beer. Dammit, I’d forgotten to clean up the broken glass.

I rushed downstairs with my key ring when I almost ran into Lawrence.

“Oh! I thought you were another customer Lawrence. Sorry I just bout ran you down.”

“It’s no problem Millie. What the hell happened in here?” He was staring at the toppled over chair and broken glass. Having something broken this early in the day was unusual; all the glass shattering usually took place at night time.

“That Indian that was in here passed out drunk. Dropped his glass and fell to the floor, he did.”

“And the woman?”

“She took him to the settlement those Dine’s have down in that gorge. She offered, so I took it.” I walked over to the closet, unlocked it, and pulled out the broom and dust pan. I glanced at his face as I started to clean up the glass. He looked skeptical, almost worried.

“I don’t know if I like that woman Millie. She seems real strange. How did she take that redskin back to the settlement?”

“She had a horse.”

“A woman? Riding a horse? Was she at least riding side saddle?” He was shocked.

“No, she rode like a regular cowboy. It looked like she had been travelling on it for a long while too. She had bags packed to the brim with her belongings.” I didn’t tell him that those bags were currently waiting upstairs for her arrival. “What’s with all the questions? Didn’t I just tell ya to leave it alone a little while ago, Lawrence?”

“Well, she’s just strange and… well, I don’t think she should stay in this town. She should just leave. Plus, you’re gettin that look in your eye, Millie. The one you get when you read of listen to a good mystery. You just love unraveling the stories people hide a little too much.” He was trying to be intimidating but he was wringing his hands like a nervous mother.

“Knock it off Lawrence. So what if I find her interestin’? It won’t do no harm to get to know her. Make her feel welcome at least. Lord knows the gossip will be flyin in no time.” That is if she came back at all. I hoped she would.

“Fine.” He shut up and went back to his piano with a huff. He was not happy with me, that was for sure. He took out some sheet music and a pencil and started scratching away. I dumped the broken glass in the garbage bin and got the bar ready for the night time rush.
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It was pitch-dark out before I climbed the stairs to the second story of the building. The guys and girls would keep the bar running for only a little while longer, clean up, lock up and leave. The noise wouldn’t bother me as I tried to fall asleep; I had grown used to it by now.

I walked into my dressing room to strip down and wash the dirt off my face from the basin. I nearly tripped over her bags.

I had dropped them in a hurry when that bell went off. My fingers were itching to open them up and take a look inside. I could probably get to know her very well if I just took one little peek…

I had to forcibly stop myself from digging through those saddle bags. That woman was just so tempting though! She just had to go and be all damn mysterious. Didn’t even give me her name. How rude.

“C’mon Millie, stop this. You’re the nosiest person this side of the U.S. but don’t let momma down. Respect the woman’s privacy.”

I peeled the dress from my skin and hung it up in my closet, kicking off my shoes as I did so, and then I slipped my bustier and knickers off my body. I I placed them in my dresser and pulled out my sheerest night gown. It was hot as the devil’s oven tonight and I knew I would be sweating all night long. I was tempted to be audacious and sleep nude, but I didn’t want to tempt fate too much.

I walked over to the basin and filled it with water. Our town was situated nice and close to a lake so we were able to get water and plumbing easily. We didn’t even have to share water with the Indians since they had their own little pond. The lake came with its downsides though; it would make the air sticky and worsen the heat as it was doing that night.

I grabbed my rag, dunked it in the water, lathered up and began to scrub away at my face. I rubbed off all the dirt and dust that had settled into the cracks of my face. I then dunked the rag in the water again and worked it down my petite body, washing my arms, working it over my full breasts, down the curves of my waist and hips, and over my legs and feet.

I reached for a dry towel and pat my face and body dry as a bone. Don’t need to give the humid night any help in keeping me awake.

I hung up both towels to dry and sat down in the chair in front of the bowl and looked into the mirror; I saw my freckled, blue-eyed face topped with wavy, long red hair staring back at me. I then looked down my body and looked at a scar that made a long gash across my hip on the side. I brushed my fingers over the tender flesh and sighed. That scar…

I brushed through my hair with a comb that was an heirloom given to me by my mother. It was sort of my ritual to somehow be closer to her. I was sad when my parents were killed by a pack of thieves that had stormed into the big town we used to live in. They left me enough money to skip town, settle here, and open up “Sheafer’s Saloon.” It was almost as good as the one my daddy, momma, and I ran back in Yellastin, but not quite as grand.

When I had finished with this nightly ritual, I slipped into my nightgown and padded through the door leading into my bedroom. It was a sparsely furnished room. After buying the building and furnishing the bar so nicely, I barely had much to spend on myself. I just had a small mattress, a table with a chair, and my safe filled with the money I made from the bar and my very special valuables.

I nestled into bed, throwing off the heavy covers beforehand. It was much too hot for that.

“Go to sleep. Go to sleep.” I whispered this mantra over and over. My body wouldn’t listen though. She invaded my thoughts.

Who was she? What was she doing in Long Canyon? Where had she come from? Why was her face so emotionless? Had I really seen those flickers of emotions in her eyes? Ugh, why do I torture myself like this?

I had to admit though, she was beautiful. Her face was gracefully built and tanned. Those midnight eyes bore deep into my own whenever both pairs met. I could easily imagine those eyes boring right through me or staring down an outlaw as she shot her hand to her pistol. She had lines on her face though, deep lines that dug into her face. It seemed like she had either frowned or smiled a lot in her past. I hoped it was the latter and not the former.

Her voice, while rough, didn’t have as much of a drawl as mine did. She sounded sophisticated, almost. I would believe she was if she had been wearing a dress or something.

Suddenly, an image of her in the same sheer nightgown I was wearing popped into my head. She was even more beautiful in the vision that was in my head. The nightgown clung to her beautifully, but didn’t squeeze her too snugly, like it did me. It stopped a good deal higher up on her legs than on me. And, most importantly, she had a smile on her face.

I heard a moan fill the somewhat silence of my bedroom and I giggled.

Wait a minute…

Had that come from me?

I shook my head, trying to clear it of the visions. That woman just wouldn’t leave my damn mind. I barely knew her! I huffed and crossed my arms. Stupid woman with her stupid clothes and her stupid horse invading my damn mind. I didn’t need this right now.

I tossed my body, trying to get comfortable somehow.

What was her name? Sarah? No… too conventional. Charlotte? A little too sophisticated, I think. Pauline? Doesn’t seem to fit this powerful woman’s attitude. Damnit.

“Ignore it, just go to sleep Millie!”

The only noises coming from downstairs were just the sounds of my crew cleaning up. Had that much time already passed? I think I was thinking too much.

It was just so difficult to shut my mind down that night. My mind was going a mile a minute about her, what stories will be floating around about her, if any of them would be true and every other fucking question in between.

I slammed a pillow over one ear and mashed my other ear to the mattress, as if that would keep the thoughts from floating around in my mind.

The tinkling of the bell from downstairs floated up to my bedroom and I knew I was finally alone for the night. Didn’t make me feel much better.