“Only got close enough to see she was okay, then came back. But don’t talk to her about it.”

“Why not?” Mary asked.

“I don’t want her to think I was peepin’.”

“Did you see her naked?” Gentry asked.

“Nope.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. She was deep in the river while I was there.”

“Good.”

“You save me any fish?” I asked.

Scarlett laughed. “There ain’t enough fish in the whole damn river for the appetite you worked up tonight. But we saved you a share.”

I looked at Gentry’s face in the fire light. “You told ’em?”

“There was no use denyin’ it,” she said.

“In case you care, I won the bet,” Mary said.

“Shut up, Mary!” Gentry snapped. To me, she said, “I’m sorry, Emmett. I was proud, is all.”

“No harm done,” I said. “So, what was the winnin’ number?”

“Seven fingers,” Mary said.

I frowned. “That don’t seem like a lot.”

Mary laughed. “It ain’t.”

“Who guessed the highest?” I said.

“Gentry guessed ten,” Scarlett said, laughin’.

“Wait. There are seven of you. You mean someone picked four?”

“Emma only used her left hand,” Mary said.

The women guffawed and spent the next twenty minutes talkin’ about how many fingers their biggest customers measured. All their stories started well above ten, though Gentry was kind enough not to speak of her experiences in front of me.

“I’m coming into camp,” Phoebe called out.

“We were worried about you,” I said.

“I’m sorry. I enjoyed the water so much I lost all track of time, and it turned dark before I knew it. I had to pick my way back carefully, so I wouldn’t turn an ankle or tear my clothes.”

“Well, we saved you some fish,” I said, though I was sure Shrug had fed her.

“Oh, I’m not hungry,” she said. “Please, divide my share and enjoy it.”

“You seem happier comin’ back than when you left,” Hester said.

“It’s good to be clean, and this close to Springfield,” Phoebe said.

“Well, it suits you,” Scarlett said. “This is the most I’ve heard you talk the whole trip.”

Mary said, “While you were gone, Gentry fucked Emmett.”

“Why, thank you for sharing that with me, Mary,” Phoebe said.

 


 

 

 

21.

 

We trotted into Springfield around 9:30 the next mornin’, and went straight to the little ranch where Rose kept the oxen and wagons. Though only twenty, Rose owns the ranch and ten acres that surrounds it. She also owns houses in Wichita, St. Louis, Denver, Seattle, and San Francisco. Claims she inherited ’em when her various husbands passed on. I don’t know how much to believe about Rose, but I put nothin’ past her.

“I’ve set the table for ten,” Rose said, as we approached.

“How’d you know there was nine of us?” Leah said.

Rose studied her a moment. “You won the titty contest?”

Leah nearly fell off her horse.

Scarlett crossed herself and said, “Don’t even look my way!”

Monique, seein’ the fear in Scarlett’s eyes, crossed herself too.

Phoebe leaned toward me. “How does she know these things?”

Rose turned to Phoebe, and smiled. “I bet you slept well last night!” she said.

Phoebe blushed, and I forced myself not to smile. All mornin’ I’d been wonderin’ what would cause a woman like Phoebe to fornicate with Shrug.