#amwriting – Page 6 – Rebekah Lyn Books

Go West~Chapter 27

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Twenty Seven

Ellie

As Ellie’s spirit quieted, she began to see her surroundings again. When she looked up at the Ferris wheel she saw that it was slowing to a stop, and that someone was waving and calling to her from a gondola.

“It’s getting late and the Signora is probably wondering how to get a taxi back to the hotel.” Aldon said standing up.

“Look over there, she’s on the Ferris wheel,” Ellie said.

“Hoo, hoo,” Lia waved and called again, and they walked over to wait until the attendant released her.

“Where have you been!” Lia demanded. “I have lost Enrico!”

”Are you all right?” Forgetting her own former emotional state, Ellie slipped her arm around Lia’s shoulders. “

“Am I all right?” Lia said shaking Ellie off. “You left me without a fare-thee-well, and now Enrico has disappeared. No, I am notta all right. We must find him so we can go back to the hotel.”

“I’ll get him.” Aldon strode away, and the women hurried after him so that he wouldn’t become as lost to them as Enrico already was. As fast as they walked, Lia could still chatter, and because she didn’t lower her voice people kept stopping and staring at her.

“Really, that Enrico, he is too bad. He has no self-discipline. He is always going to the saloon in town, I give him money and money and he always needs more. If Giovanni knew how he was taking from me, he would have a heart attack.”

“I presumed Enrico was in the suite with you and the Signor at night, or in his own room.” Ellie tried to keep an eye on Aldon while weaving through the crowd and conversing with Lia.

“He comes home broken every night.” In the garish carnival lights, Lia stopped and rubbed her fingers together in Ellie’s face. It was the ancient sign for money.

“You mean broke?” Ellie asked, imagining how the local people would say it.

“Yes, n-ever no m-oney and in his chips, as well.” In her anger Lia stammered.

“In his cups, you mean…drunk?”

“Drunk, yes. I will tell my Giovanni he must send his grandson to Switzerland, or Italy, or wherever he wants to go. I want my peace back. I want my home again.”

As the crowd thinned on the outskirts of the amusement park, Aldon cut between two tents toward the sound of men’s threatening voices. When the women came into the small alleyway, they saw Enrico crumpled against a tent wall like a rag doll. A man came at Aldon, but Lia, in her hurry to get to Enrico, rushed past and the man accidently knocked her down. Ellie rushed to her, but Lia was getting to her feet unharmed.

“Stop this nonsense at once,” Ellie cried. When Aldon heard her voice, it took his mind off protecting himself. A punch landed on his jaw, and he fell. The three men looked for someone else to punish, but could find no further victims. One of them ran over to where Enrico lay and went through his pockets. He pulled out a roll of bills and shoved them down his shirt. He nodded to the others and they took off.

Ellie rushed out onto the fairway looking for help, and a policeman, who must have heard about the fight, came on the run, waving a nightstick. He pulled back to hit Aldon but Ellie grabbed his arm and held on as hard as she could.

“Not him,” Ellie said, shaking all over. “The bad guys are already gone. See if that other man is all right.”

“A word to the wise,” the policeman said trying to get Enrico to his feet, “Take this man home and don’t bring him back to town again. He don’t pay his gambling debts. They were only after what belonged to them. If I ever see any of you again, I’ll arrest you all.”

Aldon took Enrico from the policeman and Ellie put her arm around the young man’s waist to help support him. Lia followed them to the Packard Six, and Aldon stuffed Enrico into the back seat. He shoved him over, and got in.

“You’ll have to drive,” Aldon told Ellie. “I’m still woozy from that punch. We leave for the valley at six o’clock in the morning.”

Go West~Chapter 24

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Twenty Four -Shopping in Denver

Ellie

Ellie couldn’t help a sigh of relief at being surrounded by tall buildings and noisy traffic. She loved the mountains and the clear fresh air in the valley, but she supposed most people felt more at home in the kind of place where they grew up.

Denver, she had heard, was the capitol of Colorado and growing fast. She could hardly believe that when it came time to choose a capitol, one of the small towns in the Wet Mountain Valley had lost the designation by only one vote. Just think, if it had won, it would be the city, now and maybe Denver would be the almost abandoned ghost town. At the hotel, bellboys carried the luggage to the separate third-story bedrooms assigned to the three of them.

Ellie’s room had a large double bed with art-deco designs in the duvet and pillows. A window looked out over the busy Denver street. She went into the tiled bathroom and washed her face with a generously sized, pristine-white wash-cloth.

A knock came at the door, and when Ellie opened it, Lia swept into the room, walked straight to the window, and stood looking down at the traffic.

“Are you ready to go shopping, now? Enrico is waiting.” Lia had changed into a light summer dress. The skirt floated out as she turned back to Ellie. “He is excited to get his measure for the new suit. He wants a black fedora, two ties, shirts, and I believe I will buy him a set of diamond cuff-links. What do you think of that? I did not want to wear any of my old hats. They would not fit now that my hair is cut. We will select a new one first thing and they will let me wear it. We will tell them to throw the old one away. Straw, I think.

“Am I all right like this?” Ellie asked. She was wearing the same blue serge suit she’d traveled in.” Looking at Lia’s voile made her feel hot and uncomfortable by comparison.

“Oh, poof, you are, of course, fine. For it will be a new dress, perhaps of the chiffon for you. That suit will go into a box and be sent back here. You must have also a light summer jacket for evenings. We will buy dresses for Molly’s birthday party and for the Independence Day Dance. No one in the valley has ever seen any such as we will be in our finery. Come now.” She led the way to the elevator and they went down to meet Enrico in the lobby.

“Please go ahead,” Ellie said as they walked along the crowded street. “I’ll catch up with you at the store. I assume you’ll be in men’s outfitters or ladies apparel?” She nodded first at Enrico who stood in his soiled white suit with his hair falling over the collar of the jacket. “They may have a barber shop.”

“Oh yes,” said Lia. “He will have a hair-cut.”

“Yes, signora,” he bowed, then turned and stalked off. Ellie noted that Lia and her step-grandson were not getting along as well as they had at first. Enrico’s appearance was not her business, but he wasn’t as attractive now as she had at first thought. He could never approach Aldon in manliness.

Ellie went into the bank on the corner to cash the check her grandmother had sent for the wigs and postiches she had made from Lia’s hair. The hair that had grown all her life was a gold-mine for Ellie. She would thank her again for the gift of it. Grandmother was thrilled with the strength and thickness of the wigs and with Ellie’s workmanship, too. She had surprised Ellie with a large amount of money, and Ellie knew the profit for the store would be good, as well. She could well afford the two dresses, new summer coat, a Stetson, a pair of boots, a long-sleeved tailored shirt, and trousers that would stand up to riding.

After cashing the check, she waited for the light to change and crossed the street to the May Company. In the elevator, she watched the numbers climb. When it stopped with a ding the operator slid the door open and Ellie emerged into the ladies department. When she heard Lia’s voice shouting, she knew exactly which direction to go. She saw three clerks in long-sleeved black dresses rushing back and forth with piles of chiffon and taffeta over their arms before she saw Lia. One of the clerks nodded in the direction of the voice which was coming from a dressing room.

“Go to the men’s department,” Lia commanded when Ellie stuck her head through the curtains.“See to Enrico. He is such a child! The suit will have to be measured perfect because it will come in the mail barely in time for the parties and there will be no time to send it back so they can alter it.”

Ellie went downstairs where Enrico postured while a tailor attempted to wrap a measuring tape around his waist. She decided to wait a few moments before she approached the two men, each intent on a goal.

“Yes sir,” sighed the clerk, at last, bowing in mock humility.

For the rest of her time in the men’s department, Ellie nodded or shook her head over the clothes and accessories offered to Enrico. He tried on a black suit and the hat he wanted. He and Ellie then went to find Lia who, when she heard them talking, stuck her head between the curtains and commanded, “Enrico, you sit over there in the slipper chair and Ellie you come in here with me. I have selected a few things for you to try.”

When Ellie saw the pale green-gold frock with gold embroidery on the wide belt, she threw off her skirt and blouse and tried it on over her chemise. It flowed over her slender body as if cut and fashioned just for her.

“You will wear this one to Molly’s birthday,” said, Lia. “And here is mine,” she picked up a rose colored with layers of gathered silk falling to mid-ankle in tiers. Ellie admired how it balanced Lia’s small hips with her larger top.

They bought casual clothes, too and when they stepped into the lunch room each of them wore something new.

DiVoran’s Promise Posters, Paintings from Go West as well as other art can be purchased as note cards and framable art

Creative Arts

Meditation Musing~Maturity

Go West~Chapter 23

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Twenty Three

Aldon-The train to Denver

One day Molly came out of Signor’s office to tell Aldon the master wanted to see him. When he opened the door, Signor Solano motioned for him to be seated. “Aldon, I have ordered a Packard Six automobile for Father Contenti and I want you to go to Denver on the train and bring it home. The Fitzgerald boy will teach him to drive so he can visit his parish. I hadn’t realized that he had to either ask the Pastor to take him or wait until Rudd went out before he could go. I invited him to apply to come here, he is my countryman and friend from my boyhood, and I’m sorry it took me so long to see what he needed.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll be glad to do that. Is it all right if I go on Friday?” At Signor Solano’s nod, Aldon rose and turned to leave. Then he paused and turned back. “Sir,” he said, “Miss Ellie is looking tired. I think she’d enjoy a rest from her work here. Would it be all right if I took her along? I’ll be staying at the Cattleman’s, but she could stay somewhere else for the sake of propriety.”

After Signor Solano gave his permission, Aldon asked Ellie to go along. It didn’t take much to persuade her, but she refused to admit that she needed to get away. The whole plan changed when Lia heard about the jaunt. She invited herself to go too. She and Ellie could shop for clothes to wear to Molly’s birthday party and to the Fourth of July dance. Lia insisted they take Enrico, after all, he was family and a guest in their home. So the plans were made. Lia said that Aldon could stay at the Cattleman’s Hotel if he wished, but the rest of them would be at the Brown Derby, the best hotel in Colorado.
The train left Clifton at seven on a Friday morning. Aldon talked the conductor into letting him and Ellie stand out on the caboose platform so they would have a good view of the highest suspension bridge in the world as the train went along under it in the Royal Gorge canyon. Lia and Enrico sat inside grousing about getting up so early.

“Hey, kid,” said Aldon bringing up something he’d been wondering about. “I got the notion you were afraid of horses.”

“Yes.” Ellie dipped her head then looked up into his eyes. “The first horse I ever rode ran away with me and I got banged up. No broken bones, but after that, I thought I’d stay away from horses.”

“I noticed that you kind of like your mare and colt, though. Do you … like them all right, I mean? Summer is coming along fine in her training.”
“Yes, she is. You’re a good trainer. If someone had taken the time with that first horse, and if I’d had a few lessons I would have loved horses from the beginning.”

“You’re a natural and I have some more things to teach you.” Joy surged through him. “That young’n is having fun too. He’ll need hardly any training when he grows up.” Aldon slipped his arm around Ellie’s shoulders. He intended to give her a quick, one-armed hug, but the train lurched throwing him back against the caboose. When Ellie fell into his arms he braced himself and tightened his arms around her to keep her from falling. The minute she reached around him to hold herself steady, a blend of peace and pleasure flowed through him like hot coffee on a cold morning. He didn’t want to let her go. Then he recalled the time he’d held her at the beaver dam and how she had rared back and hit him saying, “Let me go you big lug. I can’t breathe…” Wait a minute, though. She had regained her balance and still she leaned into him. Sadly it didn’t last.

She pulled away as soon as she realized what was happening, but hope poured into his heart when she said, “Thank you for catching me, and thank you for teaching me to love.” She took a deep breath. I mean thank you for teaching me to love horses.”By this time they were out of the canyon and heading east toward Artesia.
When the train swept past the Colorado State Penitentiary where some the worst criminals in the west were incarcerated. Aldon thought about Cookie and his wife and granddaughter.

“I heard that Kate’s husband ended up in that pen,” Ellie remarked.

“Yes, he was here, but he’s not here any more.”

“What happened?”

“Everybody in the valley knew about it.”

“What did he do,” she asked.

“He killed a man.”

“What?” Ellie gasped. “That can’t be.”
“Cookie Fisher was a good man all right,” Aldon nodded. I told you he helped on cattle pushes and round-ups. His real job was at the saloon where he was the chief cook and bottle-washer.”

“What did he do?” Ellie asked.

“He had saved money to send for Kate and Seraphina and enough to build a cabin but it was time for Slick’s yearly visit to Clifton.”

“Slick? That’s a strange name for a man.”

“Not if you knew Slick,” he said. “He was a traveling gambler. People knew he cheated, but somehow he always got at least one sucker at a poker table. Cookie wanted to buy Kate furniture for the cabin. He ended losing the game and it was the last straw. He was still the underdog. The day after the game, he made a separate pot of chili for the gambler.”

“What did he put in it, arsenic?” Ellie asked.

“How’d you know? But I’ve got this to say for him, he put in enough so that Slick didn’t suffer long. My friend Sheriff Oates came up from Artesia to arrest him. After Cookie was tried, he was electrocuted – the first in the new electric chair.”

“Oh, poor Kate. She must be grieving so… I thought she was just standoffish.” Ellie put her hand on Aldon’s sleeve as if looking for comfort.. Aldon nodded and covered her hand with his until she drew away.
When the train pulled into the station, Aldon walked Ellie, Lia, and Enrico to a taxi. He held Ellie back for a moment.“I’m staying at The Cattleman’s and I’m going to the stockyard. After that, I’ll pick up the automobile. I’ll come get you then. I’d like it to be just the two of us.”

“Could I come with you now?” Ellie asked. He thought he heard a sweet message in her voice.

“You’d better ask the Signora, we don’t want her mad,” he answered. He went around to ask the driver to wait and in a moment Ellie was at his side telling him the answer was no.

“Mrs. Solano needs me.” Aldon saw that Ellie was sad and yet she squared her shoulders and climbed into the backseat of the taxi, which immediately pulled away.