Chapter 22
The soft knock on the door was followed by Emma’s voice, asking permission to enter. Permission was immediate. Emma, in her loose silk wrap, was carrying a silver tray with a champagne bottle and glasses.
Jan stood up, taking the tray from Emma. Emma stripped, then entered the tank, claiming my unoccupied lap. She sat facing me in silence, studying me.
She kissed me; then, as she leaned back slightly, making eye contact, she softly said, “Welcome back, my hero. I do not tell you often enough how important you are to me, and to this house. You go away, and I realize how much you mean to me.”
She paused, shaking her head. Making eye contact again, she continued, “Gabrielle told me you were magnificent. You fought fearlessly, and coming home, you risked your life for their safety. You brought Gabrielle and Jacinthe to me. Thank you.”
Now she was uncomfortable, fidgeting as she looked at me. “I must ask your forgiveness. Gabrielle told me of your anger about the gold -- the mine’s, preacher’s, and ours. I should have told you. She said you strapped her. I ask for the same punishment. Can you possibly forgive me? I am so sorry.” She put her head on my shoulder, and I could feel warm tears.
I looked at my companions, seeing only surprise. K shrugged. I lifted Emma’s chin, gently kissing away a tear on each cheek, saying, “Emma, I was mad. I will be frank; I felt that Gaby and you took advantage. I was very unhappy, because I had a better way planned to move the gold. Losing it to the robbers seemed a waste!”
I kissed her again then, softly. “It is not irreparable, Emma. Next time we will do better. I still have the strap I used to discipline Gaby. Twenty-four strokes on your bare butt would reduce my anger greatly.”
Emma shook her head with a knuckle in her eye, rubbing at the tears. She looked at me skeptically, saying, “Gaby told me twelve with an extra that she would not explain.”
Now my companions laughed as I replied, “Emma, love. You are in charge. Shouldn’t you get more punishment?”
Emma giggled softly, saying, “You are a cruel master.”
Then she looked pensive. “William, you must trust me again knowing that I truly love you. Twenty-four, one-hundred twenty-four, one-thousand twenty-four. Beat me until your arm is tired. Only your forgiveness is important.” Her face pressed hard into the space where my neck joined my shoulder.
I was chastened by her declaration. The gold was delivered and we were safe. Time to move on. Lifting her chin I kissed her, then said, “Emma, it’s time to move past this. Next time you have gold to move…ask. Now dry your tears, and give me a kiss.”
Emma kissed me with those sweet soft lips. As she continued kissing me, I was willing to forgive her for all of her past offenses. More kisses -- I was willing to forgive in advance for any offenses she was going to commit far in the future.
Emma moved now, leaning back against me. She pulled my two hands tightly around her. She laughed, as if at a private joke. Finally, she said, ‘What if I have gold to move NOW?”
I shifted her to the side. Turning her so I could look in her eyes, I asked, “Emma, what do you exactly mean when you say, gold to move now?”
Emma said, “I promised to tell you the truth, just as I should have confided in you before.”
I nodded as I said, “I’m not angry, my love, truly. Just a bit surprised.”
Emma continued, “We often take in far more gold than cash. The carpetbag Gabrielle carried was a tiny part of our stored gold. We always worried about the toughs stealing it.”
I nodded, saying, “Reasonable. Go on.”
Emma smiled as she continued, “I am still holding much gold for all of my employees, in addition to my own stockpile of gold. I have a large amount of unrefined gold ore that I have purchased or bartered services for, that must somehow go to the smelter in Nemo.”
Krista asked, “Unrefined ore, meaning prospector finds it? Or meaning a highgrader sneaks it out of one of the mines?”
Emma laughed as she simply said, “Both.”
I asked, “Ore has a specific chemistry based in impurities that varies by location. Isn’t each mine known?”
Emma nodded as she said, “Yes. My very smart hero, some of my ore would be a problem, for that very reason. That’s why it must be the smelter in Nemo.”
Dan asked, “And Nemo is?”
Emma giggled, “About thirty miles south east. The roads aren’t very good through deep forest.”
The four of us laughed heartily, as Emma looked puzzled.
Jan finally calmed to say, “Nothing personal, Emma, we were just picturing how bad they must be for you to mention it.”
Now Emma did laugh. Nodding, she said, “They’re barely passable even in good weather.”
I asked, “Are we better off waiting for winter and taking a sleigh?”
Emma said, “No one ever thought of that. Snow drifts deep among the trees. I don’t think it would be better. I’m not sure.”
I gave her a kiss as I said, “Okay, Emma, my love. We need to plan another trip to Cheyenne with plenty of room for carpetbags.”
Emma giggled, nodding as I kissed her again.
I said, “This discussing stuff is fun!" I kissed her one more time, saying, “Before that long trip to Cheyenne, we need a shorter trip to Nemo with room for many rocks. We go to a crooked smelter who will try to cheat us. This smelter will, of course, tell one of his other ‘customers’ to rob us on our return trip, earning him a finder’s fee. Oh yeah, if Halliday and the Miners Committee find out you’re trafficking with highgraders they’ll lynch us all and burn this place to the ground. Did I miss anything, love?”
Emma just sat for a moment with her mouth open. She looked astonished as she said, “You did not miss a thing. That is EXACTLY why the massive cache of gold ore still sits below us, hidden in a chamber under this barn.”
Now it was OUR turn to look at each other in shock at her revelation. Emma sat up on my lap saying, “That is not why I came out here.”
She swam to the table, holding her tray with the champagne and glasses. She knelt in the water near the side of the tank as she poured the champagne. Still on her knees, she moved around in the water, serving us from her tray.
Kneeling in the center of the tank holding her glass, Emma said, “The discussion at breakfast reminded me that I have been derelict. You four have served bravely, protecting us from the first moment. You have not asked for and I have quite failed to offer you fair compensation. I came here to remedy my failure.”
We were surprised into silence as she continued, “The usual compensation for the type of protection service you are providing is five hundred dollars each per month and forty per cent of the house’s income. I hope you find this agreeable. The champagne is for us to celebrate our new partnership.”
We sat in shocked silence. K finally managed, “Emma, forty?”
Emma looked at us with visible distress as she wailed, “OH, I’m So sorry. I knew this was not enough. Now you’re mad! It’s ALL I can afford. Please forgive me. Please don’t leave us.”
She continued her babble as I moved to her. I pulled her in my arms, shushing her. Krista continued softly, “Emma, calm down. It’s OK. Actually I thought forty seemed like a impressive number.”
We all nodded at her words. Emma looked at each of us, as we smiled in agreement with K. She smiled tentatively as she asked, “Then you will agree to forty?”
I guess it was up to me again, “Yes, Emma. We agree. Now hold your glass up. You spilled your bubbly.”
I refilled our glasses. We came together in the center of the pool for our toast, touching glasses and sipping champagne.
Again I was struck by the sweet taste. I liked this champagne. Krista, the oenophile of the group, made a face as she swallowed hers.
My arm was around Emma as I sat in the water. She settled on my lap. Emma explained that our protection had made her sporting house one of the safest establishments in Deadwood. The dramatic increase in patronage and income was a reflection of that reputation and ours.
I brought up our visiting the Cheyenne Crossing land, to pick out a building site. Emma enthusiastically agreed. She was ready to go when we were!
Emma gripped my shoulders lightly as she knelt in the tank next to me. She kissed me on the lips; then, drawing back slightly, she said, “I must get ready for tonight. Remember you have only to ask…”
With that, she rose to her feet. She gently rubbed her water slick leg along my chest. Then she giggled. Turning, she stepped out of the tank, leaving the room still naked.
As she stepped outside I looked back at my companions. Tiny, exquisite Jan was approaching me, looking sensual and dangerous at the same time as she navigated water up to her shining eyes.
This time she stood up next to me, pulling me to my feet. She backed me up, until I was sitting on the edge of the tank. She pushed my legs apart; stepping between them, she kissed me, her tongue quickly pushing past my lips.
She moved down, licking my left nipple. When she sucked on my nipple it was an electric current directly to my dick. She moved to my right, licking it then sucking. Moving down my torso, she licked and sucked up the tiny drops of water. My hard cock was bobbing in front of her face. She opened her mouth, taking in the head, while she reached up to pinch my nipple, sending another jolt through my body. I groaned as I reached for her slicked-down hair, cradling her head.
I looked up, to see Dan similarly situated sitting on the tank edge across from me, with Krista kneeling in front of him. As I watched, she sucked his cock deeply in her mouth while she was massaging his ball sac. He had his fingers in her golden curls as her head bobbed over his groin.
Jan’s mouth, engulfing my balls, drew my attention back. She smiled up at me when our eyes met. With my hands back in her hair, Jan again sucked the head of my cock. She began to take more and more of my dick in her mouth. Soon, each travel of her head ended with her nose in my belly.
Every time I looked up, I saw K with her mouth on Dan’s cock, and every time I looked down, Jan’s mouth was on mine! I was more turned on than I had ever been in my life. I began pulling Jan’s head, gently urging her to a faster pace.
She held my balls in her left palm as she used her right hand to massage my perineum. As my balls drew up, she stopped with just my cockhead in her mouth, lashing it with the tip of her tongue. I yelled as I came, pumping cum into her mouth until it leaked around my cock, dripping down her chin and on her chest.
As I started to recover, I looked over to see Krista’s face streaked with Dan’s cum as he stood over her, stroking his hard cock, shooting cum, aiming at her open mouth and extended tongue.
When we both finished our spending, K and J moved to the middle of the pool. They kissed, sharing the cum already in their mouths, then licked up the remainder, pushing it into their mouths. Giggling happily, they finally ducked in the water, cleaning off the last of their ‘pearl necklaces’.
I looked over, grinning, at Dan as we settled back in the water. Now Krista joined me, while Jan joined Dan. K settled on my lap, pulling me into an open-mouthed kiss. When I looked up, J and D were doing the same thing. K said, “This is a big change for you. Are you all right with this?”
I answered softly, but with a big smile, “Yes. This felt just fine. I’m looking forward to more.”
This got a big laugh from all of us. Jan smirked as she said, “He certainly seemed to be enjoying himself.”
That elicited more giggles as we talked very frankly about the changes the ‘time travel effect’ was having on our relationship. We all committed to going with the ‘flow’ but also to ‘speak up’ if we felt uncomfortable. Finally, K said, “I hate to break up the party, but we need to get out of here and get dressed.”
I spoke up. “I’m a bit perturbed. If Emma’s competitors are losing business to her because this place is so safe, they WILL absolutely take steps to demonstrate it ain’t so!”
Dan nodded, saying, “I agree. How do you think they’d do it?”
Jan perked up. “Fire! The fire department sucks. They labor with a hand pumper that just pisses on the fire. If it worked just right, Emma would cease to be a problem.”
We nodded in agreement. That made horrifying sense. K stood up, pulling me to my feet. She kissed me. She helped each one of us up, with a kiss reward. We hugged and kissed each other, then stepped out of the tank drying off. Without bothering to dress, we headed for the house together to get ready for tonight.
K led me to our third floor. Caitlin joined us with our outfits for the evening. This, of course, led to more hugging and kissing with her. Krista decided to wear a man’s suit like mine. Somehow, good looking women in men’s clothes turn me on more than if the women were naked.
Caitlin helped us into our pants and shirts, tying our string ties. Carrying our suit coats, we followed her down the hall, to another third floor bedroom that Dan had converted to our weapons room!
The bed was gone, and tables occupied the floor, with shelves and racks filling the available wall space. Dan and Jan joined us soon after we walked in. We complimented Dan for unloading and organizing all our weaponry.
I selected the Burgess folding shotgun with my two short Colts in the double speed holster as my primary weapons. Dan laid my whip, bola and my shortened bayonet in the leg sheath out, along with the knife we all carried. I shrugged into my shoulder holster. Caitlin helped me strap on the leg sheath. She asked, “What kind of knife is this for?”
I held it up as I replied, “It’s a French Gras sword bayonet with its twenty inch blade shortened to eight inches. Dan cut off the muzzle ring, but left the blade breaker hook, and then he repointed the blade, grinding a very sharp edge while adding a two-thirds false edge. Makes a strong knife with a stiff spine.”
I belted on my sheath knife, positioning it at my back. Then I hung my snake whip from the knife handle. I showed Caitlin my Bola. I said, “This is what the Gauchos, the cowboys of Argentina, use for a lariat.”
Dan had made mine in the classic three-ball pattern, with the balls made out of alloy lead weights. Two round balls were on a single bull hide cord six feet long, with a smaller ‘egg shaped’ ball on a three foot bull hide cord attached to the long cord by a slip knot. The short cord would automatically center the two weights when the ‘egg’ was held as it swung in a circle, with the ‘egg’ then tossed toward the target.
I carried mine in the right front pocket, with the ‘egg’ hanging out. It was virtually invisible, and even if someone noticed it, they never knew what it was. I had practiced enough that I could coil it so it came out tangle free, for a smooth twirl and throw.
Jan belted on one of our new short barreled Smith and Wesson Schofields in a simple straight draw holster, picking up her favorite 38-55 lever gun. Dan, at my insistence, picked out a long barreled Colt that he carried in a cross draw. He strapped on two wrist sheathes for shurikan spikes, tucking his tanto on his right side. Four of his hand made throwing knives went under his arm. His PR-24 with his Bowie was tucked in his belt behind his hip, with his ten-gauge coach gun under his arm. Krista grabbed her speed rig, with her ‘fanner’ in the right side holster. They all had one of our ‘clone’ sheath knives on their belts. Dan handed each of us a pair of the .45 derringers.
Dan walked us downstairs, into the saloon room. Emma had not unlocked the outside doors yet. Dan showed us two of the Colt twelve gauge coach guns behind the bar, with my Yellow Boy Winchester and a Burgess take-down ‘pump’ shotgun with its twenty six inch barrel, standing tucked on one end.
We had no sooner completed our survey, preparing to sit down at our assigned seats, when Krista, Jana and Dan made a ceremony out of presenting me with a brand new white straw skimmer. K kissed me, J kissed me and Dan hugged me. Now I was ready!
I greeted Mei, who was standing behind the bar in her bright red Cheongsam with dramatically slit skirt and yawning cleavage. I kissed her with our tongues coming out to play, holding her tight, and then I held her at arms length, while I studied her attire. I pulled her to me while my hand traveled up her leg, along the opening in her skirt. When my fingers encountered her bare butt, Mei giggled a little breathlessly, saying, “You weren’t supposed to find that until after. It was going to be a surprise for you.”
I kissed her again, whispering in her ear, “It was a surprise, and a damned nice one.”
I released her, promising that we would be ‘discussing’ her surprise later. I moved to my table, close to the door with its sightline outside. Emma brought me coffee on her way to unlock the front door.
With the door open, the player piano and parlor organ started playing. The girls moved into preferred chairs, waiting for their customers. The kitchen girls lit the outside lamps on the building, and then lit the lamps on the poles along the walkway, driveway, and on the fence posts.
One of the first people to walk up the white washed stone walkway was the bookmaker with the top hat and tails who was taking bets on the stagecoach journey. He introduced himself as Roswell Gurdin. I invited him to sit with me. He was here to pay off my bet. I gestured, and Krista joined us.
I was puzzled as I said, “My bet?”
Roswell said, “You bet a twenty-dollar gold piece saying, ‘safe arrival.’”
I shrugged. “I guess. I really don’t remember.”
Roswell laughed. “That’s what I thought, when you didn’t ask for your money.”
He paused, looking at me, then he continued, “You, more than anyone, deserve an explanation. The night you and the stage left I was taking bets, adjusting the odds as I took in money. Trying to even out my play.”
I nodded in understanding as Roswell continued, “It wasn’t fucking working! I made the odds in favor of safe arrival astronomical. I got only one bet in favor the entire time – yours! I made the odds against ridiculous. I was down to one in twenty. Do you know what that means?”
I replied, “Yes. Bet twenty and get one the exact opposite of twenty to one which is bet one and get twenty. It’s a silly bet unless you have an absolute lock.”
He smiled, nodding. “Yep. I tried going lower than one to twenty and several very unpleasant gentlemen told me that it would be ‘dreadfully unsafe’ for me to go lower. Then they each bet huge sums of money that the coach would NOT make it. These men were prepared to guarantee that I could pay off right then and there, because they somehow knew for a fact that you would be robbed.”
He paused. Gaby came by, and Gurdin asked for a beer. Then he slowly resumed speaking. “It got worse. The idiot brother got drunk and told simply everybody about loading the gold strongboxes into the coach up at the mines. There was a stampede to get their bet down against the stagecoach making it. Again I could not close the books because other dangerous men let me know that I just wasn’t fucking closing the betting.”
Gaby returned with his beer. He gulped it down as he remembered the stress. He ordered another, giving her a twenty-dollar gold piece. Roswell continued, “I was philosophical by now. I knew that I had no possible way of paying off all the bets that I had booked. I was resigned to the fact that I would be lynched. That was that!”
I nodded. I fully understood his problem. Roswell went on, “Then reports filtered back about a huge gun battle between the stage and robbers that THE HAT won! Naturally we discounted them at first. The old scout showed up and said he saw the site and the intact stagecoach personally. Nobody was prepared to call him a liar but…”
I laughed, saying, “You must have been able to defer paying out after his report?”
Roswell nodded, smirking, as he said, “Oddly enough, some of the really ‘bad men’ who threatened me, and guaranteed your demise with their immense bets, haven’t been seen in Deadwood recently. Coincidentally with that big shootout at Old Woman Creek.”
Roswell kept smiling to himself as he continued, “Northbound travelers added their weight to those rumors of the stage surviving. People quit pushing for quick payoff. We all decided to wait and see. Then the stage just fucking shows up in the center of town. MY problem is utterly solved. No disputes, no questions – the stage is sitting in the middle of Main Street, surrounded by the entire population of Deadwood as witnesses. Before the night is over, the Miners Committee will verify that every ounce of their gold arrived in Cheyenne.”
He looked over at me with a happy smile on his face as he went on, “All the bets on my books save one were LOSERS. Because of the disparity between betting sides I made an incredible, almost obscene income. Solely because you are a courageous, tenacious individual I am alive to make this profit instead of kicking at the end of a rope.”
He reached down and brought up a carpet bag, as he said, “Now, about your bet. Final odds on the stagecoach making its safe arrival in Cheyenne were one thousand to one. You bet twenty. I owe you twenty-thousand.”
I looked over at Krista, whose mouth was wide open; she looked incredulous. I probably looked the same. Roswell dug in the bag, pulling out a drawstring leather pouch that he set on the table in front of me. It clinked loudly when it hit the table. Roswell, with his hand still inside his carpetbag, went on, “You have absolutely NO idea how much money was bet against you by the citizens of Deadwood, Lead and Plume. This is now MY money. I profited far more than handsomely from your bravery. In fairness you should receive a bonus.”
With that he pulled out five more leather pouches the same size as my first one. Every one clinked when it hit the table. Roswell said, “I, Roswell Gurdin, am now great deal more than a millionaire. Your windfall in these five pouches is one-hundred thousand in gold coins. Thank you for being a man who finishes the job he starts.”
With that, Roswell stood up and shook my hand, saying, “I need to speak with Miss Emma about a couple of girls for the night.”
I nodded and tried to thank him. He waved it off, with a remark about every breath being sweet. Krista alternated looking at the money and at me. Gaby and Jaci joined us, with K quickly relating a very summarized version of the story. Gaby asked, “Emma has a safe in her office. Would you like us to lock this up?”
I nodded, saying, “Let’s get it put away, before some young dimwit decides to try a robbery.”
Caitlin, Gaby, and Jaci began picking up pouches. Each of my ladies received a kiss before leaving with their burden of pouches.
Continued in Chapter 23
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