Beatrice and the Beast, page 5
‘Will I have time to take breakfast do you think?’ Asked Beatrice as she towelled herself dry.
‘I figure you can make time if you’re hungry,’ replied Ella. ‘It won’t harm him to wait for you. Let him know you ain’t gonna jump every time he gives you an instruction.’
Beatrice donned her underwear and travelling garb, the same dress she’d worn on the journey from Chicago, which was a dark brown, high buttoned dress made of wool with long sleeves and a tight bodice.
‘You are so right Ella. He is employed to serve me not the other way around. I will take breakfast and he will simply have to wait for me. He must remember, he is simply an employee if he wishes to get paid.’
Ella smiled but with no conviction. She did not believe for one minute, that a man like Frank Zelletta would allow anyone to put him in his place, let alone some slip of a girl who had lived her whole life in and around the big city, sheltered from the real world.
‘Sam will be having his breakfast before he goes to work if you’ve a mind to join him,’ said Ella.
‘Oh yes,’ replied the girl. ‘I’d like to thank him for his kindness and say goodbye. You have both been like parents to me during the short time I have known you.’
‘Aw hush child. You are alone in a strange place with nobody to look out for you. I think any caring person would have done the same.’
Beatrice joined Sam Chambers at his usual table by the window and made sure Zelletta saw her sit down from where he watched from across the street. He sat astride his horse as still as a statue and simply stared, his gaze unwavering as she ate her breakfast and spoke to Sam. But she knew she was just going through the motions. She felt his eyes on her the whole time and could not prevent her own eyes from continually, moving to the still horseman whose steady gaze never strayed from the window where she sat.
Too soon, Sam announced it was time for him to leave. Beatrice gave him a hug and thanked him for his help and for befriending her in a strange town. He in turn wished her luck and begged her to let him know when she reached her destination. Now that it was almost time to depart, Beatrice began to feel much trepidation and once again her doubts about the journey she was about to undertake came to the fore.
The restaurant was at its busiest when she rose from her chair and made her way to the kitchen. Ella would be very busy, but Beatrice needed to say goodbye to the woman who had been so motherly toward her and made her realize how young she really was and how much she missed her own mother. She also needed to settle the bill for her room and meals. She opened the door to the kitchen and poked her head round it, to see Ella frying something on the large wood-burning stove and Jenny loading food onto plates ready to take out to the restaurant.
‘I don’t want to take you from your work Ella,’ she said. ’But I am about to leave and need to settle up with you for the room and meals and I wanted to say goodbye.’
‘I can spare time for you honey,’ responded the woman as she turned to face her. ‘Come here and give me a hug.’
The girl hurried to the stout woman who enveloped her in her big arms and pulled Beatrice to her bosom.
‘I haven’t known you long child, but I’ve enjoyed having you here and will pray for your safe journey to Texas.’
Beatrice could barely breathe as the big woman crushed her to her chest. But she enjoyed the experience of the motherly embrace and had no intention of easing herself away until Ella was ready to let her go. When she did finally, release the girl, she held her at arm’s length and rested her hands on the smaller woman’s shoulders.
‘Let me look at your pretty little face so that I can get a picture in my mind to remember you by.’
Beatrice smiled as the woman studied her face.
‘How much do I owe you for the room and food?’ She asked.
‘Just having you here was payment enough. The room would have stood empty anyhow and it was a pleasure having you as a guest at our table.’
‘But you can’t run a business on that basis Ella. You can’t give people free rooms and meals simply because you happen to like them, you’d be bankrupt in no time.’
‘I’m not doing it for just anybody, I’m doing it for you and it ain’t as though letting you off with a dollar is going to break me. You have a very endearing way about you girl and it has been a pleasure to have you here. Just make sure you let us know one way or another that you arrived safely.’
Tears welled up in the girl’s eyes.
‘I will Ella,’ she sobbed. ‘I wish I had known you longer than just the short time I’ve been here.’
‘Me too honey. Maybe when you’ve married your rich rancher, you’ll pay me a visit some time. Now off you go. Get outa my kitchen before I start blubbering.’
Beatrice gave her a final, lingering look and turned to flee the kitchen just as Jenny who had left them alone to serve guests, came in.
‘It was nice knowing you Beatrice,’ she said lightly as she stopped before the other girl.
Beatrice leaned forward and kissed the other girl on the cheek.
‘You too Jenny,’ she replied. ‘I think perhaps we could have become good friends had I known you longer.’
Jenny seemed a little surprised but answered to the affirmative as Beatrice disappeared through the door.
‘Yes,’
Beatrice collected her valise and fixed a small pill box hat atop her long dark hair which she had pinned up into a chignon decorated with a black silk ribbon. Then after taking a brief look around the room, descended the stairs leaving the key in the door.
She exited the restaurant and taking a deep breath, made her uncertain way across the street to the waiting Frank Zelletta who watched intensely as she came closer. When she came to where he sat his horse, she stepped up onto the boardwalk and regarded him. He wheeled the horse so that he could face her and spoke gruffly.
‘Y’ ain’t exactly dressed for travel, are you?’
‘These are my travelling clothes,’ she replied annoyed.
‘Ok, how you dress is your problem. You’d better climb aboard so we can make up some of the time you’ve been wasting.’
She gave him an angry glare then regarded the pack mule and spare horse.
‘Climb aboard where?’
‘The damned hoss. You didn’t think you were walking all the way to Texas, did you?’
‘You expect me to ride a horse?’
‘Don’t tell me you ain’t never rode a hoss before.’
‘I’m a very good horsewoman, but I thought I would be travelling by carriage.’
‘Well y’ ain’t. Now climb on the goddamned horse so we can make some headway.’
She regarded the horse which was a small, but sturdy looking sorrel.
‘I cannot ride that horse.’
‘Why, what’s wrong with him?’
‘It doesn’t have a side saddle.’
He stared at her in disbelief.
‘Where the hell do you think I’m gonna get a side saddle in a goddamned cow town? Even if the saddlery was open, it ain’t very likely they’d have what you want. As I see it, you’ve got two choices. You either ride clothes-peg style or walk.’
‘There’s a third choice - I could stay here.’
‘Listen lady, I’ve wasted enough time on you and I don’t give a damn whether you stay or come. Just make up your mind now so I can be on my way.’
‘I’ve never rode a horse clothes-peg style as you call it. It isn’t the kind of thing that’s expected of a lady where I come from.’
‘If you can ride side-saddle you can ride anyhow once you get used to it.’
‘But my dress isn’t suited for riding that way, I would have to lift it up and my underwear would be on show.’
He studied her for a few moments before muttering several expletives that she couldn’t make out, but his anger was palpable and because it was clearly, directed at her, she became concerned for her safety.
‘Why are you so angry?’ She cried. ‘How was I to know what mode of travel you would choose? Can’t you hire a carriage so that I may travel in relative comfort and without having to show my underwear?’
‘I ain’t hiring a carriage, it wouldn’t be suitable for the terrain we’ll be travelling over even if I could find one for hire. So, you can kick that thought outa your head pronto.’
‘But you’re angry as though everything is my fault.’
‘I ain’t angry,’ he growled. ‘Just a bit mad ‘cos you keep finding ways to delay our goddamned departure.’
‘Well there’s no need to swear. I haven’t delayed us purposely.’
‘That ain’t swearing. Wait ‘til I really get mad, then you’ll hear swearing.’
‘I don’t want to really hear swearing and I’m not sure I wish to accompany you if you’re going to get angry every time we are delayed.’
Instead of answering, he turned his horse and headed along the street at a steady walk leading the mule.
‘Where are you going?’ She called.
‘Gonna get you some riding duds, bring the horse.’
She stared at his back in disbelief, but not wanting to lose sight of him, reached up and hung her valise from the saddle horn before unhitching the horse and hurrying after him leading the sorrel which was quite happy to follow in her wake. He turned right on main street with Beatrice, having hitched up her skirts, hurrying along behind in order to keep up. Then a hundred yards farther, he stopped outside a large emporium and dismounted. She came and stood beside him as he scrutinised the closed sign hanging on the door indicating the store would be open for business at eight thirty.
‘Oh dear,’ she said as she came to stand by his side. ‘They’re not open yet.’
The look he gave her was filled with disdain and he didn’t even bother quantifying what she had said with an answer, which made her realise, she had stupidly, stated the obvious, or worse, indicated he was uneducated and could not read. Instead, he strode up the steps and began kicking the door and making a very loud din as the door rattled on its hinges and it seemed the whole building shook. He kept up his assault on the door for nearly five minutes, until finally, a curtain that covered one of the two windows on either side of the door, parted and a thin, whiskered face peered out. When the storekeeper saw Zelletta kicking his door, fright clouded his face and he called his wife from where she was preparing breakfast, to come and open the door figuring the big man wouldn’t harm a woman, especially as he was also accompanied by a woman.
Zelletta, tipped his hat to the storekeeper’s wife who was as fat as her husband was thin and as ruddy faced as he was pale. She held the door wide with her husband standing behind her peering over her shoulder as she looked up to regard the scarred face looking down at her.
‘Sorry to bother you at this time ma’am, but we ain’t got time to wait for eight thirty. We have to be on our way and this gal needs some riding duds and whatever goes with em. I’d be obliged if you’d see to her needs and help her choose something suitable. I’ll pay extra for the inconvenience.’
Beatrice gripped his shirt sleeve and tugged on it.
‘I don’t have enough money,’ she whispered.
He glanced down at her
‘It’ll come out of expenses, so don’t worry about it.’
After the storekeeper whispered something to his wife Nora, she stepped aside and beckoned them inside.
‘This way,’ she said to Beatrice. ‘Over here is where we keep the ladies’ apparel.’
The girl followed Nora to a far corner of the store while Zelletta looked around and pondered on anything else he could add to his well-stocked pack of supplies. His eyes came to rest on a nice-looking Winchester rifle with underlever action and a twenty-inch barrel chained up with other weapons in a case behind the counter.
‘Let me see that rifle there,’ he instructed the storeman. ‘The Winchester carbine.’
‘Yes sir,’ answered the nervous man.
He unlocked the gun and placed it on the counter top while he threaded the chain back through the trigger guards of the other guns in the cabinet. Zelletta picked it up and tested the weight before levering it and squeezing the trigger a couple of times. It was brand new and had a smooth and easy action as well as being light compared to other similar weapons.
‘How much?’
‘It’s the very latest to come from that manufacturer Mister Zelletta.’
‘I asked how much,’
‘Fifty dollars sir.’
Zelletta fixed him with a stare which scared the hell out of the man.
‘I’ll ask you again, how much.’
‘As god is my witness, I will only make seven dollars on the gun if you buy it for fifty dollars. It’s a Winchester M1873 and isn’t even in full production yet. Once they do, everybody is going to want one.’
Zelletta regarded him and figured the man wasn’t trying to cheat him.
‘What cartridges does it take?’
’44.40. Fifty to a box.’
‘Okay, add three boxes to my purchases.’
The man removed three boxes from a drawer and placed them on the counter next to the gun, after which, the gunman moved aimlessly and impatiently, around the store eager to get the girl mounted on the sorrel so that they could be on their way. However, Beatrice wasn’t a girl who would wear just anything and after several changes of clothes and nearly an hour later, she came to stand close by where he leaned on the counter and gave him a brief smile.
‘These will have to do,’ she said. ‘There wasn’t really anything that suited me but I suppose I look presentable enough wearing these.’
He regarded her and the clothes she had changed into and despite himself, decided she looked as pretty as a picture in the tan coloured, calf skin, split riding skirt with matching jacket under which she wore a white blouse. The skirt was mid-calf length but her modesty was spared by a pair of knee-highs, leather riding boots. He noted she still wore the pill box hat atop her head and thought how ridiculous it looked.
‘You’ll need a hat,’ he said gruffly. ‘That thing ain’t gonna keep the sun offa your head and face.’
‘I have a parasol.’
He shook his head and gave her a look full of scorn, before turning to Nora.
‘Have you got a wide brimmed hat to fit her?’
‘I think I can find something,’ she replied.
While the woman hurried to the other side of the store, Beatrice turned to face Zelletta.
‘I can’t wear just any old hat,’ she protested. ‘I don’t want to look silly.’
‘Lady, where we goin’ nobody gonna care what you look like. The only people we likely to come across are Indians and drifters.’
Nora came back carrying a straw sombrero and a brown felt Stetson.
‘You’ll need to let your hair down miss,’ she said. ‘I doubt it will fit properly, over that top knot.’
‘Don’t you have something more ladylike and fashionable?’ Asked the girl hopefully.
‘We’ll take the Stetson,’ interjected Zelletta. ‘We ain’t got time to linger any longer. Remove that foolish headgear and let your hair down.’
Beatrice glared at him for a moment but was wary of antagonising the man and so complied with his wishes. Her waist length, dark hair tumbled luxuriously down her back in thick waves after she removed the hat and unpinned her tresses and the two men and one woman, all found it difficult to hide their admiration of her resplendent locks.
The woman placed the hat on her head and it fitted perfectly.
‘That’ll do,’ grunted Zelletta. ‘What’s the damage for the duds and the gun?’
‘Fifty-seven dollars will cover it Mister Zelletta,’ replied the storekeeper.
Zelletta eyed him for a few moments. He didn’t mind paying a fair price for the right merchandise, but he hated to be cheated. However, he decided the price for the gun was fair considering what a handsome and brand-new weapon it was and he had inconvenienced the couple by forcing them to open the store to him earlier than normal. Therefore, he peeled off sixty dollars in various denominations from the roll of notes he carried in his pocket and handed them to the man.
‘The extra should cover you for the inconvenience,’ he said. ‘Obliged for your time.’
He picked up the gun and cartridges while Beatrice took her dress and hat which Nora had packaged up in brown paper and tied with string. Then Zelletta strode to the door and uttered two words.
‘Come on.’
The way he said it, caused Beatrice to feel like a child or worse, a dog ordered by its master to follow him. However, any protestations she might voice, would be lost, because his long striding gait had already taken him down the outside steps and onto the street. Instead, she gave the couple a brief, embarrassed smile and hurried after him.
Get on the hoss,’ he growled ‘And let’s get the hell outa here.’
Despite her misgivings about him, she could not help her annoyance at the way he spoke to her. Therefore, by the time she had stashed her dress into the valise, her temper had risen to the point where she needed to say something.
‘Stop giving me orders you cad,’ she snapped. ‘You are supposed to be serving me not telling me what I can and can’t do or what I can and cannot wear. Furthermore, I don’t like this hat, it doesn’t suit me.’
‘I’m here to get you to Texas any way I can and that means you will take orders from me if you want me to keep you safe, and the goddamned hat ain’t there to suit you, it’s to save your head and face from roasting in the sun. Now get on the damned hoss before I throw you over the saddle and tie you down.’
He made a move toward her causing her to shriek in fright and quickly attempt to mount the horse. However, in her haste, she found difficulty in reaching her foot up to the stirrup. She sensed him moving close behind her as she frantically attempted to mount the horse. Then without warning, his huge hands almost encircled her slender waist and she shrieked again as he easily lifted her up enabling her to throw a leg over the saddle and settle her backside down into the well. Happily, for her, the horse was satisfied with her light weight and made no move to protest against a strange rider. Zelletta adjusted the stirrups until she felt comfortable despite having never used stirrups on either side of a horse since she was a child. Then the man untied the sorrel and handed her the reins. Once the horse was free, he was eager to get under way and began to move off. However, despite her small size, the girl was far from weak and showed she was used to riding horses by easily controlling him with the reins until he was standing motionless apart from a hoof pawing at the ground impatiently.
