The Stranger

Author's Note: well well well, I see that cliffhangers get far more traffic than others... hmmmm... I won't do that every chapter because then I might get ignored by Ikkichi and she's my favorite person to bug on Tumblr because she bugs me right back. Thank you to Saige, Dark Delta, Ikkichi, CandyCaner, and Fogu-s_Tofu (had to check the spelling on that one) for reviewing!

Here ya go peoples!

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My breath hitched in fear and I closed my eyes, trying to make the situation go away.

His hand grabbed my leg, pulling the skirt of my dress up to my thigh. He reached under and cupped my rear, squeezing so hard, I knew there would be bruises.

I whimpered. I kind of wanted him to punch me so I could be knocked out for whatever he was planning to do.

“Now, you be a good girl and listen to me Millie.” My eyes scrunched tighter.

“Are you listening?” I didn’t answer.

“I said Listen!” He yelled and slammed my head back against the wall. I yelped and pain flashed through my skull, forcing me to let out another whimper.

I opened my eyes and looked into his own. I nodded violently, gulping down the bile that was trying to force its way up my throat.

He stroked my cheek gently with one hand. His other hand, the one that had been on my rear, slithered up my body and grasped my jaw tensely. I was trying to sink as far back into the wall as possible.

“That woman, I’ve seen people like her before. She’s what we call a lesbian; a faggot. She deviates from god and will burn in hell for it. I think I also saw her consortin’ with a timber nigger the other day. You stay the fuck away from her, ya hear? I don’t want her filthy way of life infectin’ ya, so you keep your distance, Millie. Do you understand?” Tears had leaked down my face at this point. He had never been this violent and scary before. I just wanted to run away from it all.

The door from the bar creaked opened and in came Lawrence. My eyes snapped to him and I let out a huge sigh of relief.

He took in the scene quickly roving his eyes to Deputy Ferguson who was snarling in my ear with his hands gripping my face tightly and then to my crying face and fear-filled expression. His eyes filled with a rage that I had never seen before. I whimpered, begging him silently to help me.

“What’s goin’ on here?” He was yelling in that rich voice of his. “Deputy, I’m gonna have to ask you to get your hands off Millie, right this instant or I’ll have every man in the bar pullin’ their guns on you!”

Thank God for Lawrence.

Ferguson snapped his head towards Lawrence and he growled.

The bar patrons on the other side of the door had heard Lawrence’s yelling and all went quiet. One of my girls propped the door open, and everyone had crowded around the door frame to witness the scene. I was relieved and at the same time, humiliated.

Ferguson narrowed his eyes at the witnesses. I let out another whimper and the crowd began to get restless.

The men began to reach for their guns.

Ferguson dropped his hands to his sides and he stormed away.

The bell tinkled. He had left.

I sank to the floor, bawling like a little baby, letting every ounce of fear, anger, pain and resentment roll out of me at that moment. The girl that had opened the door pulled it closed, shielding my breakdown from the customers.

I felt myself being pulled into a big hug.

“It’s okay Millie. I got ya. He won’t be back for a while.” Lawrence stroked my head, which was still tender. I hissed in pain through my tears.

I cried for a while, letting everything out before pulling away. I took a steadying breath and opened my watery, red eyes.

“Thank you, Lawrence.”

“It was no problem, Millie. You’re a good friend, and he’s a right bastard. Hopefully he won’t try something like that again.” I nodded, hoping for the same. He opened his mouth, but paused.

“Just go ahead and say what you wanna say Lawrence. Tonight can’t get much worse.” The day had been great, but Ferguson had to just go and screw it over.

“I wanted to come here and apologize for bein’ so weird about that woman. She’s just very different and you’ve got a good reputation ‘round here. I don’t want you to get into any trouble.” I snorted.

“Too late for that Lawrence. The Deputy did what he did just now because he was mad that I wanted to keep talking to Lynn, so I’m already in trouble.” I sighed and looked down. We were both kneeling at the bottom of the stairwell like little children. I looked up at him and continued.

“What makes you so wary of her, Lawrence? I spent all of today talkin’ to her. She really is nice and sweet. She’s quite gentle, and she’s a doctor too!” I would have to ask her about something for bruises. I knew I would get them on my rear, head, and face from how hard the Deputy had groped me.

“You were talkin’ to her?”

“Yeah. I took her down to that hill, south of the town, and asked her all kinds of questions. She told me a lot of stuff about her life. She’s actually very kind, and soft-spoken.” I then remember how she had snapped at me for insulting the Indians. “Well, soft-spoken about most things.”

He looked away, lost in thought. He was more than likely conflicted about siding with me and siding with the Deputy.

“Is she good with that gun she had strapped to her?”

“Why?

“Just answer me Millie. Please?” He sighed, exasperated, and looked at me. He looked exhausted.

“Well, I haven’t asked her, but probably. She had to make her way here all the way from Southern Texas, so she would’ve had to hunt along the way.” He nodded slowly and was silent for a few more moments.

“I… You’re important to me Millie. I mean…” He paused again. He looked unsure. “I used to fancy ya.” This didn’t surprise me, I had known. “I-I’ve moved on, I like someone else now, but you’re still one o’ the most important women in my life and I want to make sure you’re safe. This woman-“

“Lynn.”

“…Lynn, she seems a little off to me. I just want you to know that, while I may not like you talking to her and getting close to her, I won’t interfere again. And… if she is good with that gun, maybe she might be able to protect ya.” I smiled sweetly at him.

“Thank you Lawrence. That’s all I wanted to know. But… could you explain something to me?”

“Sure, Millie.”

“What’s a lesbian? The Deputy used that word, and I don’t quite know what it means.”

“It means a woman that likes another woman.” I cocked my head confusedly.

“Like two women who are friends?” He let out a soft bark of laughter and stood up, pulling me up with him. He steadied me when I wavered a bit, but I was able to stand properly after a moment.

“No, Millie.” He was silent for a moment before he continued, “You know how a married man and woman love each other?” I nodded. “A lesbian is a woman who likes other women in the way a married man and woman are supposed to like each other.”

“Oh.” I nodded, still a bit confused and he walked out the door after making sure I was all right and telling me to just go upstairs to bed. I began to walk up the stairs and let my thoughts take over.

The deputy had never harmed me like that before. He had pinched my rear through my dress, groped my chest, and slid his hand over my stomach many times, but I always thought he was just being a man. All I had ever felt when he was groping me was disgust and frustration.

The fear I had felt when he had trapped me against that wall was so overwhelming and mind shattering. I shivered and went through the motions of my nightly ritual.

I took off my dress, bloomers, and girdle, putting them in their proper places. I peeled the stockings off my legs and kicked my shoes off. I stepped up to the mirror and turned around, trying to keep my eyes locked on my reflection. I gently ran my hand over my rump, feeling the tenderness of the spots where his fingers had dug in. I would look again in the morning to see how dark the bruises were, letting me know the extent of the damage.

I washed up, dressed in my nightgown, and gently combed my hair, not wanting to pull harshly. My head was killing me from the smash to the wall and from all the crying I had done.

Instantly my mind flashed over the events of the night and the bile began to crawl up my throat again. I rushed to the toilet room and puked into the bowl. The acid burned my throat and mouth and I continued retching until I had nothing left inside me. I collapsed half on the toilet and rested my head on my arm. I had started crying again.

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I don’t know how long I sat there, but one of the girls had come up to check on me to see if I was okay. I sighed and got up off the floor.

“I’m… I think I’ll be okay for the night.” I looked down, ashamed to be seen in nothing but the nightgown. “What time is it?”

“We’re closin’ up. Lawrence told us to check on ya before we left to make sure you’d be all right for the night.” I laughed and nodded.

“I’ll be fine, thank ya. You go on home and lock up tight, okay? I think that the Deputy won’t be coming anywhere near me for a while. He has to brush the suspicion he has risen off first before he tries anything else.” I tried to believe myself… it was hard.

“Okay then. You take care, Miss Sheafer.”

“Thanks, you too. Goodnight” She walked down the stairs and I headed back to my bedroom. I forced myself to keep my mind off the Deputy.

Lesbian… what had he meant by calling her that? I knew the word faggot, the ranchers used it a lot to taunt the boys who didn’t marry the women that they knew.

Lawrence said that lesbian meant… what was it? Oh! A girl who liked a girl the way married people like each other. But why would the deputy call her that?

Was it because she dresses differently? Or, maybe because she had a pistol with her? Or maybe it was because she rode a horse when women aren’t supposed to…

How would he know if she liked girls that way?

My mind flashed to this afternoon, replaying my wonderful day with Lynn.

Wait.

Wait a minute.

Oh god…

I focused in on her actions throughout the day. She was shy around me… she let me touch her hair… her eyes… they hadn’t been looking at my chin… they were looking at my lips.

She- she had almost kissed me!

My heart was racing and my chest was heaving.

Was- was Lynn attracted to me?

And then I remembered my pounding heart as she had been leaning in the kiss me.

Oh fuck… Was I attracted to her?