Page 15 of The Saloon Girl's Only Shot

Temperance finished tying on her bonnet and hurried through the batwings that hung in the arched doorway into the saloon, arriving in the empty foyer. The door to the street was next to a stairwell to the upper floor. As she pulled the door inward, she backed herself onto the first step up the stairs, then let the door close.

Had anyone noticed? While belligerent voices argued and footsteps shuffled toward the foyer, she quietly backed her way up the stairs. At the top, she waited around the corner, listening to the saloon empty out.

If anyone had spotted her or tried to follow her up here, she would have screamed herself to death—which she would also do in the streets if someone accosted her on her way home, but she doubted anyone would help her there.

Goodness, drunken men liked to wag their jaws on their way to saying good night. It sounded as though Mr. Dudley was relenting and pouring one more round. Was Owen still among them? She couldn’t tell.

Ugh. This was taking forever. She shuffled closer to the chimney where she slid down against the wall to sit on the floor. Warmth from the bricks soaked into her shoulder. It felt really good after such a long day.

As soon as the men were gone, she would slip down the stairs and make her way… She yawned. Make her way...

She jerked awake with a sharp inhale. Her sensation of falling had come up against the rough bricks of a cold chimney. She tried to get her bearings in the dim light of?—

She was still above the saloon!

She bit back a groan of remorse that turned to agony as she pushed herself to stand. Her neck was wry, her lower back frozen into a scooped C. She desperately needed a privy.

Idiot, she scolded herself and felt into her purse. Her money was still there, at least. She’d gotten away with hiding up here. Now she only needed to get away.

Peering down the stairs, she saw that the front door was still secured with its deadbolt. At least she didn’t need a key to get out.

Slowly, quietly, she tiptoed down the steps. Each time one creaked, she paused and took a slow breath, listening to her heart pound in her ears.

When she was on the bottom step, she peered over the batwings into the dark saloon. It was lit only by the faint predawn light penetrating the shutters Mr. Dudley had closed overnight.

She would have to leave the front door unlocked, but if no one on the street saw her leave, they’d have no reason to presume the saloon had been left unlocked. Right?

She bit her lip and shifted to stand at the door where she squinted through the shutter vanes to see if anyone was outside. Blast. It was late enough the sky was silver blue. Men were hugging their jackets tight as they moved down the boardwalk across the street. She would have to be ready when her opportunity arrived.

Carefully, she slid the bolt, jolting at the loud squeak-click as the bolt fell into its notch.

“Is someone there?” Mrs. Dudley’s voice scared her out of her skin.

Trying to muffle her scream with her purse, Temperance turned to face the batwings as one pushed inward toward her.

“No?” she squeaked.

“Miss Goodrich.” The older woman was still in her nightclothes. She held a few sticks of kindling that Temperance very much feared would be used to stab her through the heart.

“I am so sorry.” Temperance held up a staying hand. “I was trying to avoid some unpleasant men last night. I went upstairs while they left. I didn’t meant to fall asleep.” Her pleading was only making the other woman stand taller.

“Go.” Mrs. Dudley used her handful of sticks to point at the door behind Temperance. “Do not come back.”

Temperance had never said anything worse than ‘damn’ in her life, but she found herself muttering some very fetid curses after arriving on the street.

Chapter 5

As she walked the handful of blocks to Mrs. Pincher’s, Temperance retrieved the key from her purse, then hugged her purse close under her jacket.

Her feet were sore from being on them all evening. The morning was cold and dry enough to sting her nostrils. The sky was such an intense blue it nearly broke her eyes. When she glanced at the mountains, they stalled her step, mesmerizing her with their towering height and their painfully white caps glittering above granite gnarls. The lace of leafy trees painted the slopes in skirts of red and gold.

She took a moment to admire that view before she finished her walk. Despite the fact she had fallen behind on rent, Mrs. Pincher had continued to serve her meals, but the beans she’d eaten before having another ‘early night’ had worn off hours ago. Her stomach gave a clench of anticipation for hot oatmeal and tea as she neared the boarding house and saw smoke coming from the chimney.

Oh, shoot. Smoke from the chimney meant that Mrs. Pincher was up.

Temperance detoured to use the outhouse, hoping to bluff her way into the house as coming back from a visit to the john despite being fully dressed.

The back door opened as she left the john. Clarence came waggling out to snuffle at Temperance’s feet while Mrs. Pincher stood in the doorway glaring at her.

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