Page 43 of The Enchanted Land

“What do you want?”

The little woman kept her head lowered. Her dark hair was greasy, her dress torn and unwashed.

“What do you want?” Morgan asked again. When the woman didn’t answer, Morgan shrugged, stepped out of the tub, and wrapped herself in a large, white towel. Silently, the old woman began filling buckets with the bath water. After several trips downstairs, she had emptied the tub.

Morgan sat in front of the mirror over the dressing table and combed the tangles out of her clean hair. “Seth, please come,” she whispered to her reflection.

Quickly she dressed in the clean shirt and pants. The soft cotton fabric felt good against her skin. As she looked at herself in the full-length mirror, she wondered what Seth would think of her in the shape-hugging clothes. She ran her hands down her body, watching the points of her breasts come alive.

The sound of the door opening startled her. “Ben’d be real good to you, honey.”

Morgan jerked the door open wider and stepped past Ben into the corridor. One dirty hand caressed her hip as she hurried past him.

“You look so much better now, little Morgan.” Cat Man smiled at her. “Now my gift will be appreciated.” His slanted eyes devoured her body, and Morgan felt her face growing hot. He ran a thin finger down her cheek. She turned her face away.

“Why don’t you let me go? I’ve never harmed you. Let me go.” Her voice was pleading.

Cat Man was dressed in black, and the color emphasized his yellow eyes. He took her hand and led her into the dining room, where a table was set with a large meal. He pulled out a chair for Morgan, and when she was seated, he took a chair beside her.

“You will find, Morgan, that often beautiful women’s lives are ruled by their faces and their figures more than by their own minds. You are a woman to be owned—a woman to love, a woman to fight for, possibly to die for.”

“You talk nonsense. I’m not beautiful, and I never will be. All my life people have told me how plain I am. Why do you talk this way?”

Cat Man’s eyes widened for just a second. “It’s difficult to imagine that anyone could be so blind.” He reached for a buttered roll. “But then, I have seen you with a look of great sadness. Possibly your expression, the dress you wore at first, and the way you did your hair have all concealed your beauty. But it is difficult to believe, even so.”

Cat Man continued eating. “The food is excellent. Would you like some wine?” he asked, as he filled her glass. She realized she was ravenous. Without another word she began eating the largest meal she had ever consumed.

Seth watched the town from the ridge above it. He had been tracking Morgan’s captors for seven days, and now that he knew he was so close, he decided to rest awhile before he attempted her rescue. He needed strength. He knew from the looks of it that he’d get no help from anyone there.

There were no riders coming into the town, and Seth knew that his appearance would cause some speculation. He had followed the outlaws to the town early that morning, and knew they could not have arrived much before the previous evening. As he pulled his hat over his eyes and went to sleep, Morgan also slept. It would be hours before she woke to a hot bath and dinner with Cat Man.

He awoke when the sun was low, and he quickly made his way down the hill into the town. As he had conjectured, his appearance caused a stir. Casually, he tied his horse to the post in front of the saloon. He ordered a beer, and made his way to the back of the dirty room to an even dirtier table.

After a few moments of staring, the group began to lose interest in the stranger and returned to their own talk. Seth leaned his chair against the wall, sipped his beer, and watched.

He listened carefully to a group in a corner near him. He heard the name “Boss” mentioned several times, and then “Boss’s woman” and loud laughter.

“You mind if I sit down, or you savin’ this seat?”

Seth looked up to see a woman with red hair staring at him. Her eyes and lips were heavily painted, and she smelled strongly of perfume over her unwashed body. She could have been thirty or fifty. She eyed Seth with wariness. Seth wondered what could have caused her such fear.

“I’d be pleased to have you.” At the gentle tone of his voice, the woman’s look of caution increased. “Could I buy you a beer?” Mutely, the woman nodded.

“Barkeep! A beer for the lady.”

The others in the bar turned toward Seth. They laughed. “You sure are a stranger, mister. Janie’s a lot of things, but she sure ain’t nolady.”

“You don’t know nothin’ about a lady, Luke. That one yesterday sure set you on your ass,” the woman beside Seth answered.

“Why, you!” The fat man came out of his chair toward the woman. She rose also, hands and fingers made into claws.

“I’d hate to have to defend the lady’s honor.” Seth’s eyes narrowed, and his voice was steel. The fat man stopped and appraised the stranger.

“Come on back, Luke. She ain’t worth a fight.”

Luke relaxed his shoulders and smiled. “You’re right, boys. Sorry to have bothered you, mister.” He didn’t want to fight with the enormous stranger. He turned his back on Seth, and returned to his table. “You’re right, that whore ain’t worth anything,” he tossed over his shoulder like a child who had lost an argument.

“Thanks a lot, mister.” Her eyes were adoring now.

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