a story i am working on

i'm pretty positive that i am the only person who reads my own blog, but i'll just keep on posting little details i notice that i might want keep in my memory to use for future stories. or to post bits and peices of the stories i am working on.

this story is part of a scene i am working on, tentatively titled "Excellence, CO"

Her toes were frozen by the time they made it to the little town that the coach had passed more than an hour before. The town was called Excellence though she really couldn’t see why. It was just a bit bigger than the town before it, but it at least boasted a rooming house where that one didn’t. Not that it mattered, she was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be staying there. That was one of the hazards of being a negro.
“What is the plan for tonight?” Stewart asked in a low voice. He had dropped back a few steps to keep pace with her, and she appreciated it. The walk in her little heeled boots had been killing her feet. She wasn’t certain why Stewart had insisted on her wearing a dress and boots instead of the trousers and work shirt she usually wore, but she had gone along with his hunch.
“You stay at the boarding house tonight and see if you can dig up any information about Kerr Stevens, I guess I’ll be camping outside.”
“It’s too cold,” Stewart shook his head. “Maybe they’ll let you stay in the kitchen--”
“Lily Therrieux does not sleep on a kitchen floor!” she hissed a little too loudly. The driver of the coach stopped to listen and she dropped her voice back down to a whisper. “It’s alright, Stew. I’ve slept outside dozens of times.”
“It looks like it is going to get nasty out here,” Stewart lifted his head straight into the wind and gasped from the cold. “It’s windy enough to steal your breath and cold enough to freeze a duck to pond water.”
“Silly old man,” Lily said fondly. She and Stewart had been traveling together for a little over a year and the longer he was with her the more she grew to love him. They were physically mismatched: he was six foot to her five foot; he was white to her black; he was male to her female. but somewhere, deep inside, they were kindred spirits and they fit. There was nothing romantic between them, he had never made an advance, and a few evenings in New Orleans had shown her why, but that made their partnership that much more convenient. She knew that she was safe with him around.
“I’m not old,” he sniffed daintily. He wasn’t old at all, he was just a year older, but still she liked to tease.
“No, you aren’t.” she bent to adjust the laces of her boot for what seemed the thousandth time, and when she straightened she calculated tha the town was less than a half mile away. “Thank the Lord!” she whispered under her breath. The lightly boned corset had been digging into her ribcage since they had left Burlington that morning, and all she longed to do was get alone so she could pull it off.
“Aren’t you even a little disappointed that we didn’t make it all the way to Denver? There is probably a colored boarding house for you to stay in there.”
“A little,” she acknowleged breathlessly. “But we will get there tomorrow, and Kerr Stevens will still be there. I don’t think he’s going to leave the city just yet. He still has all that money he stole in Monterey.”
The continued on in silence, walking behind the half giant of a man who had grunted that his name was Matt Jones when they had gotten on the coach the morning before. It took another twenty minutes to make it to the town square of the little town that was optimistically called Excellence.
Stewart and Lily followed the burly man to the stairs of the yellow house that was the biggest structure on the main street and located next to a restaurant advertising the best chicken fried steak in town. As far as Lily could tell, there was nowhere else to buy another chicken fried steak, so she wondered where the comparison came in.
“You’ll have to stop here,” Matt Jones said gruffly.
“Perhaps they will let her--” Stewart began to say, but he was cut off not unkindly by the driver.
“They don’t allow her kind in there.” he said matter of factly.
“What kind is that?” Stewart demanded.
“Niggers.”
Lily gave a terse nod, she wasn’t suprised in the least.
“She is a respectable young woman!” Stewart’s eyes blazed with an indignace that Lily didn’t feel.
“It ain’t her, it’s her kind. Sorry, Miss,” he finally spoke in her direction.
“The truth can’t be helped,” She shrugged. “Really, Stew, I don’t mind camping out. Like I said, I’ve done it dozens of times. You go ahead. You have a more delicate constitution,” she teased.
“I’ll be back, Lily. I’ll make some kind of arrangment for you,” he followed Matt up the stairs and the two of them disappeared into the cozy looking foyer of the house.
Lily stared up and down the eerily deserted main street of town, she named the buildings in her head. The bank, the dry goods store, the barbershop, the school and the church all marched up one side of the dirt road. On the other was the saloon, a post office, a mill and the restaurant. It was like a lot of other prairie towns that she had been through, so she wondered silently who had thought to name such an unremarkable town Excellence.
Her thoughts were broken by a group of rowdy men who tumbled out the door of the restaurant.
“Time to visit Madame Margo’s bee-you-ti-ful girls,” One of them whooped.
“Been waiting all week to go there,” A shorter blond man yelled.
“Can’t wait!” another agreed.
“Well, lookee here,” the one who seemed to be the ringleader said. “What have we here?” He regarded Lily with steely eyes that should have burned a hole through her clothes.
“Ain’t never seen her before,” the short one spoke. Lily lifted her chin a little higher.
“She’s pretty,” one of the men said.
“For a nigger,” said the short one.
“My daddy always said you weren’t a man till you fucked one of ‘em.” They all moved toward her and stood around her, daring each other to be the first to touch her.
“Move away from me,” she said in a steely voice. She didn’t dare move or show the fear she was feeling.
“Look a that!” the little blond one cackled. “She’s got little claws.” The others laughed and she felt the hair stand up on her neck. The big one, the leader stepped up to her and stood toe to toe with her.
“She’s tiny. She could never hurt any of us.” He spoke to his friends, but kept his eyes on her, daring her to show fear. “You wouldn’t do nothing to us, now would you, darlin’?” he chuckled and slid a finger over her breast.
“Move away,” she warned again.
“Or what?” he threatened. “How about if we go and have a little party, you, me and my boys here.” He grabbed her arm painfully, but she didn’t wince.
“I suggest, Sir, that you let me go and move back,” She repeated for the third time. That made the big man angry. He pulled her close to him, and squeezed her arm.
He turned his head to look at his friends and that was all the time Lily needed to grab his crotch and twist. The man yelped in pain but let go of her arm. He reached down to protect himself, but it was too late. She gave a yank and he cried out again.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” the small blond man cried. He started toward them to save his friend, but she shook her small head. “No,” she said softly.
“I asked you nicely to leave me alone, but you insisted. Now I will let you go if you leave me. Will you?” The tall man nodded eagerly, tears in his eyes. “Your friends too.”
“Is there a problem, Travis?” a voice Lily didn’t recognize said. When she looked up it was into the eyes of a tall, ruggedly handsome white man. Her breath caught in her throat, and she reflexively pulled the man’s privates again. The man screamed. Lily was mesmerized by the man in the long tan coat.
A frown settled on the handsome man’s lips as he took in the scene in front of him. He had walked out of the restaurant after he had seen Travis and his friends stop in front of the window. On an ordinary day they were trouble, but today was payday and they always caused trouble on payday. Matt could almost set a watch by them.
“Are you alright, Miss?” His voice sent shivers racing down her spine. And she stared dazedly at the stranger. “These men aren’t giving you trouble are they?”
“Not anymore,” she said with a shake of her head. “In fact, they were just leaving. Right, boys?”
“Yes,” they all mumbled inaudibly. embarrassed that a woman had shamed their leader.
“Get out of here,” Matt said. “If I see anymore trouble, I will put you in jail. Go!” Lily let the one named Travis go, and they all scampered off, tumbling over each other like puppies trying to run away.
“Do they always travel like that?” she asked the man who had moved to stand next to her.
“Like what?” he asked puzzled. He had never seen this woman in his life, and he wondered what she was doing here and how she had handled four big men all by herself.
“Like a litter of puppies.” she looked up in time to see the corners of his mouth turn up in a tiny smile.
“I never thought about them that way, but yeah, i suppose they do.” he looked down at her, taking quick stock of her, looking to see if she had been hurt. She seemed fine, but she kept tugging at her ear. “Did they hurt you?”
“No,” she said grimly. “But they were going to.”
“They are generally harmless, but on payday they go a little crazy. I’m sorry.”
Lily only had time to shrug before Stewart came out huffing. “They won’t let you stay, Lily.”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “I figured. It’s alright. I’ll camp out for the night back at the coach.”
“It’s too cold!” Stewart protested at the same time the stranger said: “Not with Travis Baker out and about to night!”
“It looks as if there isn’t much choice” Lily said pointedly to the stranger.
“It looks like snow out here, Lily. Be sensible.” As if to make his point, the wind blew through her petticoats making her shiver.
“you can stay with me,” The man said suddenly taking all three of them by surpise.
“I can’t stay with you, I don’t even know your name!” Lily said prissily. Stewart laughed and she swung her head toward him. “Hush!”
“As you said, you don’t have any other options. If the weather doesn’t freeze you, Travis and his boys will come looking for revenge. You’ll be safe in my house, and it is plain but warm.”
“You must be crazy!” she said. WHy would I be any safer with you than camping out?”
“Because, Miss, Im the sheriff of Excellence, Colorado.”

my daughter got a lookee

we were at lunch the other day, and my little baby, who i gave birth to almost 9 years ago was sitting at the table and a little boy who was about her age (maybe a little older) did a double take when he looked at her. it was funny on one hand, but it also made me think...she isn't a baby anymore and she is growing up to look like a really beautiful little lady.

it's hard to think about her being a tween, sometimes it seems to me that she is still a little girl, but everyday she gets older and funnier and more beautiful. I am such a lucky mom. i get all that and she is smart too.

WELCOME TO MY MIND jan. 27

I just found this nifty little feature, and since i was going to ask my dh for a humble site of my own, this worked out just fine.
there are so many things i want to get out of my brain and onto the screen, but i am afraid that i won't get them all out. i have brainfarts sometimes and then i can't remember what it was that i went to find or say. oh well.