Page 76 of The Enchanted Land

Ivy told her daughters of Seth’s wife. They were both upset, but they finally decided to turn their interests elsewhere.

Crossing the desert was more of a hardship than anyone had imagined. Everyone on the train turned his thoughts to dreams of water. It was a tired, ragged group that arrived in San Francisco in May of 1850.

Chapter Sixteen

“REMEMBER, if you ever need anything, just look us up,” Mr. Chandler called to Seth.

The girls watched him walk away, leading his horse. “Whoever his wife is, she’s a very lucky woman.”

“I want to marry a man just like him, big and quiet, who walks just like that.” Both girls watched Seth, then giggled.

“If Mama heard you, you know what she’d say.”

“I know, but it’s hard for Mama to understand—she was never faced with a man like Seth Colter. Any woman who would leave him must be crazy.”

Seth tied up his horse and walked into the saloon. An explosion of laughter came from three well-fed men in business suits at a near table.

“Ol’ Charlie here paid three thousand dollars for some Chinese wallpaper just because the little gal said she would personally supervise its hanging. Three thousand dollars for three days’ company! Pretty expensive, huh?”

The man with the red face laughed. “Of course, hedidget to keep the wallpaper.”

“That’sallhe got, though. He sure didn’t get anything else.”

Again, the explosive laughter.

“The smartest thing that pretty boy ever did was buy the little lady from Madame Nicole. My wife loves that fella, but I never could abide him. He’s so pretty. I thought he belonged on the mantelpiece instead of walking around. But with that sweet little Morgan, he can spend all the time he wants at my house. Course it sure costs me a lot for the opportunity of lookin’ at her.”

“Hey, mister, we say somethin’ to interest you?” The man’s tone was slightly belligerent.

Seth smiled, slow and easy. “I was just listening. Heard the name Morgan. Used to know a girl named Morgan.”

“Come set down with us and tell us about your Morgan. I can’t believe there could be another woman like San Francisco’s Morgan Colter.”

Seth tried to hide his emotions. ItwasMorgan! And the little bitch had the gall to use his name. You’d think she’d at least use another name. “Seth… Blake’s my name.” The three men introduced themselves—Charley Farrell, Joe Beal, and Arthur Johnston.

The red-faced man was Joe. “Our Morgan’s a real beauty. A little blond thing, big blue eyes and a bodywooeee.” He grinned and looked to the other two men for agreement.

“Couldn’t be the Morgan I knew. The one I knew was probably not as pretty as your horse.” He grinned and took a sip of his beer. “This Morgan of yours sure sounds like something. What’s the chances of getting a, shall we say, private showing?”

The three men all started to talk at once and Charley quieted them. He leaned back in his chair. “Well, Mister Blake, this little gal comes real high. I mean real high.” He gave furious looks to the other two men to quiet their protests. “You see, she used to work at Madame Nicole’s place, a real classy cathouse. You practically have to show your teeth along with a carriage full of gold just to go look at one of Madame Nicole’s shows. Well, this little Morgan was the star at Madame Nicole’s place—used to go on stage and have two girls undress her for everybody to see. Of course, that was a special-invitation show only.” Again he gave warning looks to the two other men, both of whom were staring, open-mouthed, wondering at this fantastic story.

“Now she’s left Nicole’s and works for this blond feller. He’s so pretty, and he looks like Morgan. They’re a real pair, struttin’ around town, goin’ to the opera. Well, as I was sayin’, this little lady is expensive. She and this feller sell you things for your house. If you’ve got enough money and buy enough stuff for your house, you get a little extra on the side. You know what I mean?”

Seth managed a smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I guess I do know what you mean.”

Charley continued. “Art, here, just finished decorating a whole house, and it was a real pleasure, wasn’t it?”

Arthur nodded, silently.

“See, me and Joe are still workin’ on our houses. So far, I’ve only spent three thousand dollars, and that ain’t near enough for me to enjoy it yet.”

Art coughed nervously. “You come to try your luck in the gold fields, Mr. Blake?”

Seth drained his beer. “Yes, I think I will.” He turned back to Charley. “Whereabouts does this Morgan live?”

Charley could hardly contain his laughter. “Boy, you won’t have a chance dressed like that. Even at Madame Nicole’s she wouldn’t entertain no goldminer. You need fancy duds like these.” He gave Seth directions to Theron’s house and Seth left the saloon.

Charley waited until the big man was out of the building before he allowed his laughter to escape. “The man’ll try everything to get her. He’ll see her and think she’s for sale and…” He realized the other two men weren’t sharing in his laughter.

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