Crescent City in The Rockies Pt. 02

"After all, many married couples do not share the same bed," Merilee went on.

She poked her finger into Billy's sunken chest.

"But make no mistake, Mr. Benhurst, I will be sleeping in the bed above my Pere's office," she said.

"Besides," Merilee cooed, no smile on her face. "It is right across from the Main Street Saloon, where you like to take your noon meal."

"I uh, what?" Billy stammered.

"After speaking with my Pere, I walked across to the saloon, and whom should I see, acting as a seat for Marissa?" Merilee asked, light blue eyes darkening.

The following morning, Norma checked carefully. The floor was not slick with lard. The door was not slightly ajar. There was no thread across the doorway.

"Hmm," Norma thought. "Perhaps her father did impress upon her that she is but a guest in my home. I should let her see her Pere more often."

She gripped the door knob and attempted to twist it. Her hand went around but the knob did not turn. She twisted her hand the other way. Again, her hand slid along the well-greased knob, but she could not gain purchase. She gripped the knob with both hands and twisted, but again, her hands just slid along the surface.

"You damned churlish little child!" Norma screamed at the door.

"Billy, I do believe it is for you, dear husband," Merilee said from the other side of the door.

"What?" Billy groggily asked.

"Yes, something about a child," Merilee said.

"Open this door at once, Merilee Benhurst," Norma screamed, banging her fist on the door.

On the floor below, Will sighed heavily. His wife had much complaints about their new daughter in law. He had been thrilled when Billy seemed to see that whore-mongering was but an idle use of his time. Will had been gratified that Billy had selected, had wooed such a beauty as Merilee Burgess. She was a well-spoken young woman, seemed quite intelligent, and certainly seemed to be from hearty stock.

Now? After his wife's shrill complaints ringing in his ears, Will was beginning to wish Billy had perhaps selected one of the dressmaker's daughters instead. A correspondence courtship only reveals so much of a person's true nature, after all.

Upstairs, Norma scowled hatefully as the door of Billy's bedchamber was opened.

"Ah, you have learned to knock," Merilee smiled sweetly.

"That will be cleaned off at once," Norma snarled, pointing to the greased door knob.

"Then you best busy yourself doing such," Merilee said as she walked past her simmering mother in law.

Norma found much for Merilee to do that day. Knowing that it would be the last day of her servitude, Merilee bore the weight with a beatific smile that infuriated Norma.

As they prepared the evening meal, Chloe watched with interest as Merilee coated three of the drop biscuits with cayenne pepper. Her eyes went wide as Merilee placed those three biscuits onto Mrs. Benhurst's plate.

After Will's utterance of the meal's blessing, Merilee nudged her husband. Billy pretended to not notice.

"Mmph!" Billy grunted as the toe of Merilee's pump caught him solidly on his shin.

Norma gasped as her throat seemed to explode in a burst of fiery heat. Merilee smiled her beatific smile as Norma gulped the glass of milk.

Merilee then nudged Billy again. When he made no move, she again kicked him, quite hard.

"Damn it, woman," Billy roared.

"Speak, or I will," Merilee ordered.

"Speak about what?" Will asked.

Billy remained mute. Merilee glared at the immature youth, then sighed. Even another gasp from Norma did not remove the scowl from Merilee's face.

"Fine, you weak-willed child," Merilee sighed.

"Will, Mr. Benhurst, Mrs. Benhurst, I shall be returning to the apartment over my Pere's office," she announced.

She glared again at the pale, uncomfortable Billy.

"It is up to my husband whether he shall be joining me or not," she said.

"What? But why? I mean, haven't we..." Will stammered.

"You shall not be leaving my..." Norma shrilled, enraged.

"Oh, I shall, and I will," Merilee snapped.

She stood from her seat.

"You have done much to make my stay here as unpleasant as possible," she accused her mother in law.

"I knew you didn't have the fortitude..." Norma sneered, feeling quite victorious.

"I've had the fortitude to resist snapping your dry brittle neck like a chicken, dear Mother in law," Merilee snarled. "Do not test my fortitude any further."

Merilee walked to the staircase.

"I go now to pack. Billy, I will not force you to leave, just as you will not force me to stay," Merilee announced.

"Should have married that Polly," Will muttered.

"Mother, father," Billy finally said and stood.

Merilee paid little attention as she could hear the three Benhurst people yelling at one another. She busied herself with carefully folding her clothing and placing them into the lovely carpetbags her Pere had given to her. Anything that her husband, or Will and Norma Benhurst had given to her, Merilee set aside. She did not want to be beholden to them for anything.

She was genuinely surprised when a sullen Billy entered their bedroom and began packing his own clothing into a foot locker. Silently, the two packed. Finally, Merilee's closet was empty.

"You, the brush and comb set," Billy finally said, pointing.

Merilee looked at the solid silver comb and the silver handled boar's bristle brush her husband had given to her on their wedding day. She smiled softly.

"I had planned to use them in the morning," she lied. "Then I would pack them.

"Oh," was his simple response.

They lay down in their bed.

"That uh, Marissa, I uh," Billy said, trying desperately to think of a plausible lie.

"Billy, I do not care," Merilee sighed heavily.

She looked at him. In the flickering lamp light, his pudgy face looked pale, misshapen. She sighed heavily again.

"I do not care," she repeated. "And that truly does bother me; that I do not care."

"Well! I should think you should care," he protested.

"Billy, just know that, if you seek your pleasures from such women? You'll find no pleasure with me," Merilee warned.

In the morning, Merilee did giggle. She'd laid no traps for Norma. But Norma was as skittish as a long tailed cat in a room of rocking chairs. Merilee watched as the woman took a cautious step, looked around, then took another cautious step. Progress from door to bed took nearly a full minute.

Then, just as Norma reached out to roughly jostle Merilee awake, Merilee lashed out.

"Ha!" Merilee screamed as she slapped her mother in law's face with the down stuffed pillow.

Norma's scream reverberated through the house.

One floor down, Will sighed heavily. Whatever the girl had done, he was sure he would pay dearly for.

Merilee dressed and followed her still fuming mother in law down the stairs. Chloe and she worked deftly together and prepared the morning meal, while Norma found much to criticize.

"I miss you something fierce, Missus Benhurst," Chloe confided.

"I shall miss you as well," Merilee said. "And I do feel badly, leaving you to your fate."

Merilee brought the breakfast plates out. She served her father in law first, then her husband, then her mother in law. She almost laughed when Norma bade Billy trade plates with her.

"Billy, you did bring our baggage down?" she asked.

"I uh, no, I thought," Billy stammered.

"Billy, you normally eat and then dash off to the office," Merilee said calmly.

Underneath the calm words, Billy could hear the anger in his wife's voice. She scooped up some potatoes with her fork.

"This morning, before you go to the office, please have the baggage put into the buggy," Merilee said.

It was not a request. Billy nodded.

"Oh, no you shall not be using our buggy," Norma declared.

"Mr. Benhurst?" Merilee said calmly. "The buggy?"

"I uh, well, you see," Will stammered.

"The mayor of Benhurst? And you have no spine?" Merilee asked, voice heavy with disdain.

"Now see here," Will snapped.

"It is fine," Merilee sighed. "I shall bring what Missy can carry upon her back."

"Missy? Who's Missy?" Norma demanded.

"My horse, my mare, that my Pere gave to me," Merilee said. "You've no claim to Missy."

"Use the buggy, child," Will said, shooting a nervous glance at his wife.

"Thank you, sir," Merilee graciously said.

That evening, after a long, uncomfortable day at the office, where father and son avoided speaking, Billy almost turned toward Benhurst Ranch. Then he remembered, he had new lodgings.

He used the back stairs to climb to the apartment. Merilee greeted him cheerfully, with even a soft kiss to his lips. She did ask of his day at the office as she finished preparing their evening meal.

"The blessing, dear husband?" Merilee said.

Billy uttered a blessing and they ate. Afterward, Billy tried to teach his wife a game of poker, five card draw. She quickly mastered the game, soundly trouncing him several hands.

"I do hope you do not gamble; you would surely lose," Merilee said.

"I, uh, I am allowing you to win," Billy lied.

He then showed her how to play seven card stud. She grasped the concept, noting that the suits were the same as in five card draw.

"And if I do not like what has been dealt, then I simply fold, correct?" Merilee said.

"Yes, but you do have to ante in order to receive any cards, so you lose whatever you've opened with," Billy explained.

Again, she soundly trounced him. The couple played for pebbles; there were no shortage of rocks and pebbles strewn about the ground.

"Dear husband, should you gamble? Only bet what you can well afford to lose," Merilee advised as she gathered up the handful of pebbles.

She was quite affectionate that evening. Again, their coupling was over within moments, but Billy was heartened by her snuggling with him afterward.

"I love you," he muttered.

"That's good to hear, dear Billy," she said, gently patting his face.

She roused early, prepared their morning meal, then kissed Billy and bade him a good day. Merilee then carefully brushed out her long brown hair, dressed in a good dress, and walked down the stairs to the outer office.

"Good morning, dear Pere," Merilee happily greeted as Daniel unlocked the front door.

"Good... What, you will be my assistant again?" Daniel asked happily.

"Of course; as pay for my apartment," she explained.

"You've not to pay for that, the apartment is yours," he stated and took her small hands into his large ones.

"I know, but it is what I wish to do, dear Daniel," she said.

She pulled herself onto her toes and gently kissed him on his lips. She peered happily into his eyes, then flounced away to sit again behind her desk.

Daniel was in his inner office, preparing the surgery area when he realized something. She had addressed him as 'Daniel' and not her customary 'Pere.' He did wonder at the change in terms. But then became too busy to dwell on it overly long.

As he prepared to leave for the day, Daniel was again given a soft kiss, lip to lip. He stepped out into the warm evening then locked the outer door while she traipsed up the stairs, to her apartment.

Merilee prepared the evening meal. Then she sat and waited. By eight o'clock, there was no Billy so Merilee ate the now quite cold ham and potatoes. At nine, she prepared for bed. At eleven o'clock, a quite drunk and bitter Billy roused his wife.

His slurred speech made him difficult to understand. But bit by bit, Merilee deciphered that he'd gambled away nearly seventy dollars at the Golden Nugget Saloon that evening.

"While I sat, your evening meal on the table? You frittered away..." Merilee shrilled.

He slapped her pretty face. The alcohol fueled his anger, anger with himself for being duped and hornswoggled by some shifty characters that happened to be playing seven card stud that evening. Billy was angry with himself, but Merilee was an easier target to lash out at.

"You, you..." Merilee said, stunned.

Then she burst into tears.

Any satisfaction Billy may have felt when he slapped her quickly dissipated at the sight of her tears.

The next morning, Merilee greeted Daniel with a soft kiss. Then, as he cleaned his office, she asked him if she could ask him a question.

"Well, I believe you just did," he teased her.

She gave him a soft smile.

"Sit, child," Daniel said as he pulled his own chair toward the patient's chair.

"Daniel, I'm no child," Merilee quietly said.

"No, no, I suppose you're not, are you?" Daniel agreed.

"Daniel, your wife, did you, would you ever strike her?" Merilee asked.

Annette had angered him on occasion, with thoughtless statements. Her spending extravagances irritated, sometimes baffled him. Daniel quietly told Merilee as much.

"But, no, no my dear Merilee, even when she bore a Negro's child, I have never struck Annette," Daniel quietly said. "I may have wished to, but violence is the actions of a weak man."

"Thank you, Pere, Daniel," Merilee said quietly.

She rose from the chair, leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was a tad bit long, a tad bit intimate. As she had leaned forward, her bodice did drape open and Daniel was afforded a tantalizing glimpse of her large, firm breasts. As she pulled back from the lingering kiss, Daniel was again treated to a glimpse of her charms.

Merilee then playfully ruffled his hair. She laughed when he playfully slapped her on her posterior.

Two friends carried a third; he'd fallen from the roof of his stable and had broken his leg. Merilee burst into tears at the sounds of the man's anguished screams as Daniel reset his broken leg. Even the patient smiled at the sight of Merilee's tears.

"Child, looks like you feeling worse than me," he groaned.

"Just lucky didn't break the skin," Daniel said, tightly wrapped the man's leg and set plaster of Paris around the gauze.

Looking at the box of plaster of Paris, he did wonder briefly of Nguyen Moo. Most likely, she had reached New York City by now, perhaps would even be on a steamer bound for Paris, France.

"Come back in about six weeks; we'll take a look at it," Daniel ordered.

Merilee wrote down the patient's information and showed him the charge for the service.

"Damn!" the man complained. "Least when a horse break his leg, you shoot it!"

"Bullets cost extra, Mr. Tisdale," Merilee said, face blank.

Charlie, you cheap penny pincher, pay the girl, huh?" one of the man's friends ordered.

"And there is the matter of the tooth extraction from May twentieth," Merilee continued, flipping back several pages in the ledger.

"Better pay before she go back a few more pages," Charlie's other friend laughed.

"And Mr. Porter, while you're here?" Merilee asked sweetly.

"Charlie, I'm tempted break the other leg, hear?" John Porter laughed as he settled his own outstanding bill.

"You don't know me, ain't never seen me before," the third man quickly said to Merilee.

"No, no I've not seen you before, Mr. Michaels," Merilee agreed.

Merilee put the collected money into a heavy cast iron box, then securely locked the box. With a 'bang' she slammed the desk drawer shut and greeted the young Mexican girl that came into the outer office.

Merilee's Spanish was improving and she was able to determine that the girl had a wisdom tooth that was coming out. The tooth had broken through the gum so the girl was in severe pain.

"Merilee, Sweetheart, you got any money?" Billy demanded, barging into the office.

"Yes, I've seventy, oh, no, I'm mistaken, my husband foolishly gambled that money away," Merilee said, face dark.

"Do you have any money or not?" Billy snarled.

"Not," Merilee snapped.

"What? You mean, Doc Danny doesn't pay you work here?" Billy yelled.

"He pays me; we have a place to live, Billy, or did you forget about that?" Merilee yelled in return. "Now, do stop with the yelling; this is a place of business."

"How much do you need, Billy?" Daniel asked quietly.

"About five, um, ten dollars?" Billy said hopefully.

"I can let you have two; try to make do with that," Daniel said quietly, handing Billy two coins.

The moment the door closed behind her husband, Merilee fished two dollar coins from her coin purse. The moment the Mexican girl left, she stormed into the inner office and thrust the two coins at Daniel.

"My husband must learn to live within his, our means," she snapped. "Daniel, my dear sweet Daniel, you are never to do such again, do you hear me?"

He looked at her, an amused smile playing across his lips. He took the two coins and slipped them into his pocket.

"Truly? Truly, dear Merilee?" he asked, his amusement etched across his face. "You stand there and order me about?"

"Yes, "she giggled, thumping him on his muscular chest. "Do be careful or I shall order you about even more so."

Again, as the evening drew near, Daniel wished her a good evening. Merilee rose up on her toes and kissed him. Then she walked up to the apartment.

This evening, she prepared herself a meal. Taking from the larder what she'd prepared the previous evening, she lighted the stove and reheated what she would eat. Billy could either learn to fix his own meal, or, should he apologize, she would reheat some ham and potatoes for him to eat.

At eight thirty, Merilee put aside the Bible she'd been reading by the flickering lamp, lowered the wick in the lamp and readied for bed.

It was once again near to eleven o'clock when Billy entered the bedchambers. Merilee screamed; her husband was not alone.

Two men, one on either side of her husband, stood and grinned foolishly at Merilee as she cowered beneath the sheets.

It was unseasonably warm that evening and, deciding decorum be damned, Merilee had shrugged out of her shift.

"Merilee," Billy slurred, wobbling unsteadily. "I lost again."

"Out, out, damned you, get out!" Merilee screamed at the three men.

"And he done lost real bad," one man chuckled.

"And they seen you and said I let them have you..." Billy tearfully said.

"What? Are you mad? I, there will be no such..." Merilee sputtered, outraged.

Both men giggled and shuffled, grinning widely as she sat up in the bed. The sheets fell away, exposing her large breasts in the lamp light.

"Clem here going go first," The taller man said and Clem stepped forward.

"Are you, do you not hear me?" Merilee bellowed.

She clutched madly at the sheets as Clem yanked them down. Both men gawked then giggled as they saw the dark triangle of fur at her cleft.

The other man jerked Billy out of the bedchamber, but not before Merilee could see that her husband's manhood stood erect and proud in his trousers. Clem moved to climb into the bed and Merilee scrambled to reach the other side.

Clem grabbed her, rolled her onto her back and wiggled between her flailing legs.

Merilee felt a sharp pain in her groin and knew that this man, this stranger had just entered her dry vagina.

"Well?" she asked as he began to thrust into her. "Are you just going to rub yourself against me? The proper way to couple is to place your manhood, if you even have one, into the woman's cleft."

A moment later, Clem stiffened and Merilee could feel his seed entering her.

"Are you in me yet, little boy?" she asked venomously.

She used Billy's pillow to wipe Clem's drool from her breasts.

Clem continued to grin mawkishly at her as he buttoned his breeches. Then he left the bedroom.

The other man entered and Merilee fought against her squeal. The man's manhood looked quite large, imposing. She was grateful that Clem's seed did lubricate the way as the man thrust into her.

"I'm sure your mother is quite proud of you," Merilee hissed hatefully.

"Momma liked it just fine," the man admitted.

Then he stiffened and spent into her.

"And Momma didn't lay there like no corpse neither," the man said and backed out.