“Sheriff, honey,” whimpered the redheaded saloon girl, “y’all know we don’t have husbands. Caleb is out of town, so who’s going to bail us out?”
The sheriff shook his head. “Once I get these pillars of the community,”—he glared in Mrs. Boswell’s direction—“out of here, I’ll deal with you and your girls. For now, everybody stay put ‘til I git ahold of your husbands.” He turned and stalked straight out the front door. From her position in the cell, Tori saw him glower at his two deputies, now doubled over with laughter.
She sighed and slid to the floor. Three whores with a challenging stance staked out a small cot in the cell, daring all comers to move them. Mrs. Boswell sat in another cell, but they all could hear her complaining loud and clear about the unjust treatment of ladies. Tori leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.
Jesse ushered Mr. and Mrs. Abbott out of his office after they signed their wills. The last clients of the day, and he looked forward to picking up Tori and taking her out to supper. A warm day for May, and a stroll along the river later tonight would be nice.
He and Tori were finally making progress. When Michael went off to college in the fall, he hoped to have the new house finished so Rachel, Ellie, and Hunter could move in with them. He made a quick note to speak with his contractor. It would be September before you knew it.
Jesse whistled as he strolled to the back of the house to wash, change his shirt, and comb his hair. As he shrugged into his jacket, a loud pounding rattled the door. This better not be anything to delay his date with Tori. He shouted, “I’m coming. Quit banging.”
He threw open the door. The Mayor, Pastor Dave, Mr. Boswell and two other men crowded his front steps.
“Gentlemen,” he said, taking in their unsettled appearance, “what can I do for you?”
“We need your help, Jesse. Can we come in for a minute?” Pastor Dave took off his hat, crushing the brim in his hands.
Jesse groaned to himself. Whatever their problem, it better not take too long.
“Sure. Come on in.”
The men flowed into the entry, then followed him toward the kitchen. From their serious faces, conversation might be more comfortable if they could sit around a table instead of his office. But nobody sat, so he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter. “So how can I help you?”
Mr. Boswell blustered. “You can get out wives out of jail.”
“Jail?” He uncrossed his arms and placed them on his hips.
“Yes, jail.” Pastor Dave wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
“I think it might be a good idea to start at the beginning and tell me why your wives are in jail.” Jesse pulled out a chair, turning it around so he could straddle it. The rest of the men sat stiffly.
They all turned to Mr. Boswell, the apparent spokesman.
“It seems our wives got into a little problem at the saloon today.”
Jesse stared slack-jawed, and then shook his head to clear his hearing. “Did you say at the saloon? Your wives? What saloon?”
“The Bottomless Bucket.” Pastor Dave continued to mop his forehead.
“You kinda took me by surprise here, gentlemen. Why don’t you explain to me why they were in the saloon.” The urge to laugh sat just below the surface, but he worked to keep a straight face. The men before him wouldn’t appreciate his humor.
Mr. Boswell drew himself up in his chair and told the story of the Ladies League for Decency march. Jesse listened, nodding at the proper time, glad Tori told him she would be busy shopping today. Besides, she had too much sense to get involved in such a fiasco.
“So the sheriff took all your wives to the jailhouse?”
“Yes.” One of the other men fidgeted in his chair. “Locked them all up and sent word to the husbands to come get them. We thought maybe we should get some legal advice before we went to the jail. We've never had to deal with this sort of thing before.” He ran his finger around the inside of his collar.
“Well, I’ll be happy to go with you and see what charges, if any, Johnson is bringing.”
“You’ll need to go anyway.” Mr. Boswell sighed as he got up. “Seeing as how Tori needs to be bailed out, too.”
Chapter 17
“What!?” Jesse jumped up, knocking his chair over. “While we’ve been sitting here talking, my wife is in jail?”
Pastor Dave stood and pushed in his chair with the ease of a man who had all the time in the world. “Yes, of course. She’s at the jailhouse, too.”
Jesse raced out of the house and stormed to the jail. The men followed, hurrying to keep up. Sounds of females shouting greeted him from blocks away.