Gold (11 page)

“
Then I’m afraid we don’t have much to offer
you.”

Harry glanced at Selena before his eyes re
turned to Rhynne. “You’re going to make a nice
bundle with your drinks and your card games.
Men’s persuasions unfortunately being what they are.”

“
I expect to turn a fair profit. I deserve one.
I’ve got a big investment in the Empire.”

“
I heard tell your store’s not doing too well,”

“
It’s only the first day, Harry. I’m a patient
man.”

“
I concede patience is a virtue.”

“
As is charity. Faith, hope and charity, these
three. And the greatest of them is charity. At
times I think you could stand more charity,
Harry.”

Varner harrumphed.
“Even the devil can quote scripture.”

“
And we all hope and pray it will help lead him
to righteousness when he does.”

“
You don’t really need the store, Rhynne. Soon
you’ll be looking around for more space for your
hotel. You could easily tear out the wall and ex
pand into where the store is now. You know and
I know Hangtown’s not big enough for two stores
selling the selfsame provisions.”

“
And you were here first, eh, Harry? Sort of
squatter’s rights?”

“
I was about to say something like that, yes. I
was here first.”

“
Listen!” Rhynne swept his hand in a great arc
encompassing the town around them. “Tell me
what you hear.”

“
I hear Jessop’s wagon hauling a load of logs.
I hear chopping where they’re building Felton’s
cabin down by the church. I hear shouts of
drunken revelry from inside the place where you worship Mammon.”

“
You’re wrong,” Rhynne said softly. “This isn’t my place of worship. When I want to be near my
maker, I go among the young. They’re still un
spoiled. Or I go into the forest. ‘Knowing that
Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.’
Harry, you’re a sly devil yourself. I was about to reveal a truth to you and now see how you’ve derailed me.”

“
I don’t think I ever heard a man talk more and
say less than you do, Rhynne.”

“
What I was trying to point out was that there’s
building going ‘on all around us. Hangtown’s
growing. There’ll be room for both of us here,
Harry, if you’ll be patient.”

Varner repeated slowly,
“The town’s not big
enough for two stores.”

“
I can recommend a teamster with reasonable
rates if you’re planning to move on.”

Harry kicked the porch step with his boot.
“This
pine makes fine kindling. Once a fire gets started
there’s no stopping it. A fire could burn you out,
Rhynne. I’d hate to wake in the night to the clang
ing of the bell and find the Empire aflame.”

“
Harry, if I didn’t know you for a simple God-
fearing man, I’d suspect you were trying to tell me
something. That you were speaking in parables.
Knowing you, though, I realize you’re just chat
ting with me, passing the time of day.”

“
You can think what you like. Some folks think
because I’m short they can take advantage. Run
all over me. I’m telling you, Rhynne, they’re mis
taken.”

“
When I was a youngster in New Orleans,”
Rhynne said, “I traveled among men of evil and
I learned evil ways, one of those ways being the
knowledge of the game of skill and chance called
poker. And as the fates would have it, I became
adept at the game, or thought I had, and I gath
ered much money unto myself from the purses of
my fellow men. I became, I’m afraid, puffed up
and proud.

“
I went to the Bayou Hotel where men even
more evil than myself lived and played this game called poker in the back parlors. Being young I en
tered their smoke-infested gambling hells and chal
lenged them at this pastime at which I had become skilled. Lo, in the space of two nights and one day,
I was parted from my wealth, becoming in the
process a much poorer and a much wiser man.
And the lesson I learned was this: Don’t bite off
more than you can chew. And I pass the moral
along to any who may have use of it. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, Mr. Varner.”

Varner snapped his suspenders.
“It’s been a rare
pleasure talking to you, Rhynne,” he said. “Miss.”
He nodded to Selena, who looked away.

“
Likewise,” Rhynne said.

They watched Varner
walk off along the street in the direction of his grocery.

“
Did he mean he’d actually try to burn down
the Empire?” Selena asked. “Do you think he
would?”

“
Man is capable of infinite evil, Selena.”

“
Mr. Rhynne!” She tugged at his sleeve impa
tiently. He looked down at her with his dark eyes.

“
Not with me, Mr. Rhynne, don’t play your games
with me. Talk straight.”

“
Selena, you constantly surprise me. What a
woman you’ll be one day. I hope I’m around to
see you then.”

“
I am a woman.”

“
No, you’re on the brink of becoming one. To
be a woman you must have loved and lost and
learned to love again.”

“
Wordsworth?”

“
No, W.W. Rhynne. To answer your question
straight out, Selena, yes, Harry Varner’s capable
of burning down the Empire, or trying to at least. If he was pressed hard enough he’d be capable of
burning this town down. He’s a Sunday Christian.
In return for his obeisance and his tithing, God is supposed to give Harry Varner a twenty-fold re
turn. If Harry doesn’t get it, he’ll claim the dealer’s
stacked the deck. In this case, I’m the dealer.”

Selena walked to the edge of the porch and
looked up at the sun shining through wispy cloud
remnants scattered across the great arch of the
California sky. “Oh, Rhynne,” she said, “why must men be so petty and mean-spirited in such a glorious coun
try? On such a glorious day?” She stood on tiptoe,
her arms reaching upward as though to touch the
sky.

He looked up and down the length of her body,
half-smiled, then sighed and turned on his heel.
“I’m needed inside,” he said, leaving her abruptly.

Looking after him, Selena put her hands on her
hips. They had told her in San Francisco that
W.W. Rhynne was an evil man. Her mother had
warned her time and again about him. But he
didn’t seem evil to her. Devious, perhaps, yet he
worked hard, he was careful and patient. Quick
to correct her though equally ready with a compliment. Certainly not evil. Selena frowned. She was a little, just a little, she told herself, disap
pointed.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Selena waited until her mother was asleep be
fore she slipped from her bed to put on her new
pale green gown. Although she couldn’t see the dress in the darkness of the cabin, she knew the snug bodice flattered her. The neckline dipped in
a bold vee. She was saved from immodesty only by
a lace chemisette covering her from breasts to
throat.

If only she had a crinoline. Pamela had sent for
one but it hadn’t yet arrived and she hadn’t found
anything she could use in its stead. She didn’t
quite dare to borrow her mother’s only remaining petticoat. The lack caused the green gown to outline her hips in a manner that made her feel both
uneasy and daring.

She eased open the door—a piece of canvas
stretched over a wooden frame—and went out
into the cool night. The town lay silent around her
except for distant shouts and singing from the Empire. When Pamela had insisted they have a cabin of their own, Selena had objected, wanting
to live at the Empire as Rhynne did. Pamela had
been firm and now, listening to the distant tumult,
Selena admitted her mother had been right.

Holding her skirt off the ground, she started up
the path beside the muddy road, the air around
her sharp with the scent of sawn pine. The valley
and nearby hills had been denuded of trees to
build Hangtown.

Footsteps came toward her. Selena retreated
into the shadow of a cabin as a man, muttering to
himself in a gruff and slurred voice, lurched down
the path. “Hangtown gals,” he sang, “Hangtown
gals,” repeating the words over and over as though
he didn’t know the rest of the song or maybe was satisfied with just the first two words.

Selena drew back as he came near her hiding
place. He stumbled, cursed, then went on without looking either right or left, intent only on finding
his way home. As soon as he was gone Selena hur
ried on, the noise growing louder as she neared the Empire. The road swung to the left and she
saw the hotel.

In the daytime, the Empire was a dowdy ma
tron. Now, with two torches flaring outside the
entrance and with the lower windows glowing a deep red, she was an enticing lady of the evening,
luring men with the promise of forbidden delights.

While Selena watched from the road, the door
opened and two men appeared. Abe Greene,
Rhynne’s barman, held a miner’s arm twisted be
hind his back and was shoving him across the
porch. When the miner tried to grab the rail, Abe
hurled him down
the steps to sprawl in the street.
Then he shouted something Selena couldn’t hear
and went back inside. The man got up, brushed
himself off, and wandered into the night.

Selena almost turned to flee back to the cabin.
No, she told herself, she was no longer a child,
no matter what Rhynne thought. Drawing a deep
breath, she walked quickly past the store and
around to the hotel’s small back stoop. She opened
the door and had to step back as she was assailed
by the stench of smoke and stale liquor. She
blinked and peered inside. Though the oil-lit
chandeliers burned brightly over the gaming tables
and the bar, the periphery of the room was shad
owed, making it seem much larger and grander
than she knew it was.

She was beginning to cringe from the curious eyes of the men when Abe Greene spotted her in the doorway.
“Miss Selena,” he said, coming to
ward her from behind the bar. “What are you
doing here?”

“
I’d like to see Mr. Rhynne, Abe. Please tell
him.”

Abe nodded, turning away, and Selena stepped
outside and waited. In a few minutes Rhynne appeared in the doorway, hat on, wearing a red vest
beneath his frock coat, a cigarillo in his hand.

“
You asked after me, Miss Selena?” He was not
surprised at seeing her--he looked almost as if he’d
been expecting her.

“
I’ve come to--to sing,” she told him hesi
tantly.

“
Are you sure you want to?”

Just then voices were raised behind him. A man
cursed. Rhynne glanced over his shoulder but
after a moment the voices subsided and he looked
down at Selena again.

“
Are you certain you wouldn’t prefer to go
home and be tucked safely in bed?” To Selena, the words sounded like a challenge.

“
No,” she said, angry now. “I’m here to sing.
I can sing, you know.”

“
Not looking like that. Not here.”

She glanced down to see if her dress, put on so hastily in the dark, was in disarray.
“There’s noth
ing wrong with the way I look,” she told him.