OLD DEADWOOD DAYS (Tales of the Soiled Doves)
Chapter Seven
The Day The Blondes Descended On Deadwood (part two)“I don’t know exactly what it was that old Swearengen made Tricksie tell Miss Jenn but I can guess. And it sure enough got the reaction he wanted. I ain’t surprised none, Tricksie Lynn was always a convincing bitch, even growing up back at Mrs. Booker’s. Anyway, Miss Jenn blew higher than a kite and really lit into poor Jo in her office. Pretty soon, the both of them was yelling and cussing to beat the band. Then Jo stormed out. I ain’t seen her since.”The man that Swearengen put in front of Miss Fourcade’s Academy For Young Ladies just managed to hurry back to the Gem before the angry Jersey Jo stormed out the front door. She slammed it so loud the noise woke up the dirty scruffy drunk known as Uncle Furry, who was sleeping one off by the side of the building. He yawned, scratched himself, blinked his red eyes, staggered to his feet, unsteadily opened the door and stumbled inside. A minute later, he was hurtling through the air, thrown out by the giant Albino. He landed facedown in the muck of the thoroughfare, rolled over and fell asleep again. Two prominent citizens, A.W. Merrick, the publisher of the
Black Hills Pioneer, and George Wagner, the owner of the Grand Central Hotel, dragged Uncle Furry out of the street before a wagon could run him over.
Swearengen watched the furious blonde stomp past them down the boardwalk. After Jo was out of hearing distance he turned to the spy and said, “Well?”
“Oh, they was hollerin’,” the spy grinned. “So loud I heared them from where I was standin’.”
“Good,” Swearengen grimaced. “That Tricksie can be a convincing whore when she wants to be.” He clapped his man on the back. “Better put your hat on. The shit is gonna start flying soon.”
“The way I figure it, Bill, an’ I gave it some thought . . . With Cleever still in Deadwood looking out for us, Swearengen had to keep his nose clean. He couldn’t just go right out and start trouble. But he could work it so trouble would start up without it looking like he done it. An’ that’s just what happened.”Jo needed to think. Her mind was racing almost as fast as her heart. The way Miss Jenn attacked her, accused her of going over to the other side. Like that would ever happen! Jo was loyal to Miss Jenn, she owed her more than she could ever repay. Just like she did with the rest of her girls, Miss Jenn took Jo in when she arrived on the Barbary Coast, the cross-country trip almost killing her in the process. After her midnight escape from the Blackwell Island Asylum, Jo slowly worked her way west a few miles at a time, always looking over her shoulder for some Pinkerton man sent by “Boss” McGloin of the Sixth Ward to bring her back. When she stepped down from the coach on Pacific Avenue in San Francisco, she was sickly, frail and on the verge of nervous collapse. Miss Jenn just happened to be back in San Francisco recruiting girls for the Lucky Strike in Virginia City. She was passing by the coach at that exact time, took the blonde in and Jo had been with her ever since.
Jo STILL had no intentions of leaving but Miss Jenn’s angry words really hurt the confused girl. She walked past the Langrishe Theatre, not noticing her actress friend Miss Sara Atherton standing in the doorway. Sara was watching Jack Langrishe as he tacked up a large rectangular piece of cardboard on the wooden signpost in front of the building. Written on it in crude letters was an announcement of an upcoming performance of Mme. Emilie Duchard, the French-Canadian songstress from Montreal.
Sara watched Jo hurry past, saw the look on her face and started to follow but Langrishe called her back, wanting to know if he had attached the poster straight or crooked. By the time they got it to both of their likings, Jo was nowhere in sight.
“Lurlene Johnson really wanted Jo to join her. She wanted her bad. Not only because Jo is blonde and beautiful and is real popular with the miners. She also wanted to put one over on Miss Jenn. One of these days, Bill, I’m gonna find out why they hate each other so much. An’ when I do, I’ll be sure to tell ya.”The Lucky Strike (Miss Fourcade’s Pleasure Palace), Virginia City, Nevada Territory, 1868
“ ‘H’ wants you to take the girl in, as a favor to him.”
With a critical eye, Miss Jenn inspected the tall scrawny stringy-haired blonde girl standing next to C.C. Cleever in the parlour of her establishment. She wasn’t very impressed by what she saw.
“You look like a bloody scarecrow,” she said finally. “What’s your name, girl? And how old are you?”
“Lurlene Johnson,” the teen stammered. “Just turned sixteen, in May.”
The girl’s watery blue eyes kept darting over to the tray of sandwiches on the table. She licked her lips hungrily, then quickly looked to see if Miss Fourcade or Cleever had noticed. If they did, she couldn’t tell.
Miss Jenn had noticed. Very little escaped her. From the looks of her, the girl probably hadn’t had a decent meal in a while. She gave a quick nod to the Albino who had been standing, silent as always, by the door. He moved over to the girl who paled and shrunk in terror as the giant approached. But he placed a huge hand gently on her shoulder and led the trembling blonde to the table, pulling a chair out for her and easing her into it.
Lurlene quickly grabbed a sandwich, froze with it halfway to her mouth, and looked over at Miss Jenn and Cleever.
“Eat, girl,” Miss Jenn said. “Put some meat on you. You’re no good to anyone if you’re skin and bones.”
The girl ate hungrily, washing the sandwich down with the milk poured for her by the Albino. She looked up at him in wonder, her blue eyes wide. Never before had she seen a man so tall. And so pale. With snow white hair, even though she could tell he was a young man. Her mouth full, she managed a grateful grin. The Albino blinked his reddish eyes and a slight smile formed on his face.
“Looks like she made a friend already,” Cleever commented with a smirk.
Miss Jenn frowned. She stamped her foot.
“You! Don’t just stand there. Go chop some wood for the fire. Move!”
Ever obedient, the Albino nodded and left the room. Lurlene watched him go, then peeked over at Miss Jenn. She knew the older woman was upset, couldn’t understand why, but secretly enjoyed the effect her harmless flirting had on the giant Albino and how it bothered Miss Jenn. She turned back to her sandwich and smiled as she chewed, already planning and scheming. Lurlene Johnson had learned at a very early age how to manipulate people to get what she wanted. And she knew that, if she played her cards right, she’d eventually have her way. Like always.
Miss Jenn watched the blonde girl’s back as she ate, half listening to Cleever as he muttered quietly. Something about the blonde rubbed her the wrong way. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what it was.
“You know I have no say in this. It’s all ‘H’. He took . . . ”
Miss Jenn took his arm and led him quickly to the far side of the parlour, away from the table so the girl couldn’t hear.
“I know, C.C. I know the story,” she cut him off. “It’s bloody happened before. He took a liking to her. Felt sorry for the little wench. Felt something else for her too, I bet. Can’t set her up on his own, no, the wife won’t like that. Best to let Featherlegs look after her like a mother hen.”
Cleever grinned. “Yeah, that’s just about the size of it. The way ‘H’ was going on, seems like this one is pretty special.”
Miss Jenn glared at the girl. “Oh, she’s special, alright.”
At the table, Lurlene smiled.
Oh yeah, she thought to herself, I’m really gonna like it here.“So much was going on, Bill . . . kinda like a whole mess of runaway horses all headed for the same spot from all different directions. It was just a matter of time before they all ran smack into each other head-on.”Kassi Delight, Miss Johnson’s other top girl, was also on the lookout for Jersey Jo. When she was fourteen, the European-born blonde had fled the poverty of her home country with her family to find a better life in America. They eventually ended up in Minnesota but Kassi didn’t take very long to realize that farming just wasn’t the life for her. She left home and worked her way first to Idaho and then down to Virginia City in the Nevada Territory where she became very popular in the melodeons and concert halls working as a hurdy-gurdy girl. Lurlene Johnson soon heard about the pretty blonde who danced to the music of the hurdy-gurdy and was such a favorite of all the miners. She convinced Kassi to join her little ‘family', along with Silky Heidi who happened to be Kassi’s best friend.
Silky Heidi was also a favorite at the melodeons and especially at the concert hall where she would be perched above the stage on a red velvet swing. As the music played, the petite blonde would slowly swing back and forth as Kassi and the other girls danced. As she swung, Heidi would smile and stretch her black-stockinged legs out as far as possible with a swish of her skirts and the miners would go crazy.
Kassi hit it off with New York City born Heidi right away. They were more like sisters than just friends. Wherever one went, so did the other. Today they were both walking the Deadwood thoroughfare looking for Jo. Miss Johnson also told them to keep their eyes open for any other blonde who might be a good addition to their group.
Kassi spotted Jo first as the Jersey girl was leaving the Bella Union saloon. Badly needing a drink to calm her nerves after the argument with Miss Jenn, Jo spent a few minutes shooting the breeze with Tom Miller, the owner, and a couple of his girls. Business was slow that early in the day, the girls were either still sleeping or lounging around. After she finished her drink, Jo left the saloon, practically bumping into Kassi Delight as she passed by.
“Well, you’re just the girl I was sent to find,” Kassi said with a bright smile.
Even though she knew, Jo decided to play along. “Oh? Sent by who?”
“I think you know who, sweetie. And I think you know you’ll be a lot happier being with your kind.”
Jo fought back a laugh. “My kind?”
Kassi shrugged her shoulders. “We blondes have to stick together. The rest are just trash, plain and simple. You’re wasting yourself with that old Featherlegs. Come with me. Meet Miss Johnson. You’ll see you belong with us.”
Jo opened her mouth to reply but happened to notice Clemmy and Tee Poo coming her way with bundles of dirty linens. They were headed for the Chinese quarter and the washerwoman who did our laundry. Jo quickly elbowed Kassi aside and started to move away. The European blonde grabbed Jo’s wrist.
“No need to be rude, you know,” she hissed.
Jo jerked her arm free and shoved Kassi hard enough to send her staggering back into the wall of the Bella Union.
Jo snapped at Kassi, “Do yourself a big favor and stay the fuck outta my way!”
Before the startled girl could reply, Jo ducked down the alley by the Bella Union and disappeared behind the livery stable. Her blue eyes flashing, Kassi glared after her until Jo was out of sight. Then she turned and saw Tee Poo and Clemmy standing there, watching her, small satisfied smiles on their faces. Kassi blushed angrily, turned and hurried off in the other direction.
“We’ll see who’s laughing when this is done,” she muttered.
“We all knew Jo was loyal, Bill . . . Well, at least me an’ Tee Poo, Clemmy an’ Gemma knew it. I think Miss Jenn knew it too but she was all wound up on account’a that Johnson woman, well, she wasn’t thinkin’ straight.”“Talkin’ to yourself, Little Bit?”
Kneeling by Bill’s grave, I gasped and gave a start at the sound of the voice behind me. I whirled around to see a tall goofy corn-haired beanpole of a boy, all gangly arms and legs, leaning against a burned dead tree.
“God’s Teeth, Sethro!” I yelped out, using a favorite expression of Miss Jenn’s, one I’d heard her say dozens of times. “Ain’t you got sense enough not to sneak up on a girl like that? You pretty close scared me to death!”
“Well,” he drawled, “You wouldn’t have too far to go for the burial!”
“Ha ha!” I snapped.
Sethro was kind of a pain in the ass to all of us. Always saying something stupid. Or mean. Or nasty. Usually I enjoyed teasing him because his face would get beet red, he’d stick his big old buck teeth out like a gigantic chipmunk and start stammering. But not now. Not here. Not next to Wild Bill’s grave. Right now I just wished he’d go away and leave me be.
“What are ya doin’ up here all by yourself?”
Not looking at him, I started pulling weeds from around the marker. “I heard you was standing stud, Sethro, an’ I thought I’d rest up a bit before I came looking for you.”
“Very funny. You know what I think? I think you was sweet on the high an’ mighty Mister Wild Bill Hickok. That’s what.”
“You don’t know shit, Sethro. And that’s a fact.”
“I know he was a famous man. A by god legend. An’ all you are is a little whore.”
“You’re so right, Sethro. He was way too good for me. Only kinda guy I’ll end up with will be some lousy miner or farmer who’ll beat the shit outta me every night when he gets drunk.”
“With that mouth of yours you deserve a good lick or two!”
“You just try it, Sethro, you’ll be heading down this hill without your balls.”
His grin grew bigger, his gigantic horse teeth made him look like a smiling skull.
“You’re a feisty little filly, ain’t ya? I heard tell they used to call you something else other than Little Bit. That true?”
“I been called Little Bit as long as I can remember,” I answered truthfully. “But, yeah, when I first came to whoring in Yankton I was called something else. But that didn’t last long.”
Sethro was so giddy, he actually started jumping up and down, doing a strange silly dance. “An’ I know what it was,” he cried out. “They called you Tit Bit. Right? Tit Bit!”
“Yeah, some called me that on account of I’m short. It don’t mean what you think it means. Nobody ever bit either of them, thank you very much.”
That news stopped his little dance. “That’s too damn bad,” was all he could think of to say.
“Go away, Sethro.”
********************
After her embarrassing encounter with Miss Jenn that left her little pink parasol ruined in the muck, Silky Heidi carefully moved along the boardwalk, holding her skirts up, avoiding the mud as much as possible. She knew by now that her shiny black high-topped button-up shoes were covered with the muck but that couldn’t be helped.
As long as I don’t get it on my stockings and skirts, she thought to herself, I’ll be happy.
She looked up and down the street, trying to catch a glimpse of Jo. Or Kassi. Neither were anywhere in sight. She did see a very pretty well-dressed petite blonde exiting the Grand Central Hotel with Wagner, the owner.
Sara Atherton paused in front of the Hotel. “Mr. Wagner, please tell Aunt Lou that was probably the best fried chicken I ever ate. And her biscuits! Why, I could live on them every day!”
Wagner smiled, his thumbs hooked in his vest pockets. “I’ll do that, Miss Atherton. And I thank you for the pleasure of your company at my table.”
The actress smiled prettily. “It was my pleasure, sir. And I hope we see you at the theatre this evening for our production of
Trodden Down.
“I’m looking forward to it. Do you have a starring role in it?”
“Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I play Nellie, the daughter whose father succumbs to the evils of strong drink.”
“Ah,” the hotel owner scratched his head. “It’s a message play. I don’t think the miners will like that message very much.”
“Well,” Sara laughed, “there’s singing and dancing and pretty girls to take their mind of the message.”
They said their goodbyes and Sara walked back down the boardwalk toward the theatre. Heidi caught up to her just as she was about to go inside. Taking Sara’s arm, Heidi led the actress away from the doorway to the side of the building where she introduced herself and extended the invitation to work for the Queen of the Blondes.
Sara listened politely. Then with a friendly smile, she said, “Thanks for the offer but I’m not looking for another job right now.”
Heidi persisted, “But you’ll be happy with us.”
“I’m happy doing what I’m doing.” Sara tried to pass by but Heidi blocked her path.
“Don’t you get tired of all the traveling? If you join us, you’d be able to stay in one place.”
Sara’s smile started to get a little forced. “Until the law runs you out.”
Heidi laughed. “That’s what makes Deadwood the perfect place to be! There is no law here! It’s an outlaw camp.”
“Law is coming. You’ll see. There’s been talk around camp of making Seth Bullock sheriff.”
“We’ll worry about that when it happens. What do you say? Will you at least think about it?”
Patiently, Sara said, “Again, thank you for the invitation but I really . . . ”
“Think about all the nice clothes you’ll get to wear! The beautiful dresses, some straight from Paris, France! And the most elegant black silk stockings . . . ”
Sara took a step back and modeled the exquisite dress she was wearing. “I’m doing just fine on my own. This might not have come all the way from Paris, France, but it’s not a burlap sack or prairie gingham.”
Heidi grabbed the actress’ wrist again and tugged. “Won’t you at least come with me and see Miss Johnson? I’m sure once you meet her you’ll change your mind.”
“Bill, some say what happened next was an accident. An’ others say it was on purpose. I wasn’t there so I couldn’t say for sure which it was. But I do know Sara Atherton. She’s a real good friend of mine. We’ve all got real close since the day she sang at your funeral an’ then saved me an’ Clemmy from those crazy Celestials. Sara knows the score. She had a real good idea what that gang of blondes was up to. So I’m thinking it maybe wasn’t no accident.”Trying to pull free, Sara jerked her arm back while giving Heidi a shove with her free hand. Both girls struggled to keep their balance and stay on their feet on the wooden boardwalk. Finding herself right at the edge of the boardwalk with the foul muck and mud of the thoroughfare at her feet, Heidi managed to pivot on one foot, twisting her body around so she was facing the street.
When Heidi let go of her arm, Sara stumbled backwards into the wall of the theatre building. Her feet may have got tangled up in her skirts, or maybe the impact of hitting the wall knocked her kind of off-balance, or maybe she was just feeling a bit ornery. Whatever the reason, Sara ended up bumping into Heidi just as the silky blonde regained her balance. But not for long. The actress’s knee made contact with the soiled dove’s backside and, with a loud screech, poor Heidi ended up facefirst in the foul mud.
Coughing, spitting, spluttering, she pulled herself up to her hands and knees, all covered in muck. Shaking her head slightly in mock sympathy, Sara turned and went inside the Langrishe Theatre. Aware of the gawking spectators and burning with humiliation, Heidi got to her feet and, with as much dignity as possible considering what just happened, walked away.
********************
Tee Poo and Clemmy couldn’t wait to tell Miss Jenn what they saw. Without a word, the older woman sat at her desk, listening to the tale, her finely manicured fingernails tapping the oak surface in a steady beat. She remained there after the girls left. Her anger and fury building, she suddenly slammed her palm down loudly on the desktop and rose to her feet. Her mind made up, she hurried out of the room, brushing past the Albino, who had heard the noise and was coming to investigate.
“Stay here, keep an eye on things,” she ordered him as she passed. “I have business to attend to.”
Miss Jenn stormed down the hall, out the door, and onto the Deadwood thoroughfare. Her destination was the establishment of one Lurlene Johnson, also known as the Queen of the Blondes.
“Alright, bitch,” she muttered. “This has been a long time coming. Today we settle it, once and for all!”
TO BE CONTINUED
