Colin Winnette - Haints Stay

“What is your name?” said Gretta.

“Isabella,” said Mary.

“That is a pretty name,” said Gretta.

“I like it very much, thank you,” said Mary.

“Where is your family?” said Gretta.

“Pardon?” said Mary. She was slurping the stew they’d prepared: beef, potatoes, carrots, and peas.

“Your family,” said Gretta. “Where are they?”

“Oh,” said Mary. “I haven’t got a family. I came here with a boy, but we are not related.”

“Where is he?”

“He is finding work as a gunfighter, ma’am.”

“Oh my,” said Gretta.

“It is a foolish pursuit. He cannot shoot and has but one arm.”

“He has something to prove then,” said Gretta.

“You are correct,” said Mary. “I’d like to talk about something else now. I’ve been with that boy for too long and I’m losing track of what it was I enjoyed besides.”

“Where were you raised?”

“On a ranch some distance from here,” said Mary.

“Where are your parents?”

“You’re hounding the girl,” said the clerk. “Let her eat.”

“Father is dead and Mar — … Mother is in the wilderness,” she said.

“In the wild?” said Gretta.

“Pardon?”

“Where is your mother?” said Gretta.

“In the wilderness,” said Mary.

“Why?”

“Gretta, please,” said the man.

“She is hunting down a man who murdered half a town.”

“Which town?”

“I do not know.”

“Your mother is hunting down a killer?”

“She is very strong and brave,” explained Mary.

“She must be a special woman,” said Gretta.

“She is,” said Mary.

“I’m finished,” said the clerk.

“Then take your sleep,” said Gretta. “I am talking with the girl.”

“Why doesn’t she like me?” said Ramon. He and Bird had made their way back into the bar and Ramon was ordering them drink after drink.

“Who?” said Bird.

“Your wife.”

“She does not like many people,” said Bird. “She’s a contrary bull.”

“Do you like working with a gun?” said Ramon.

“It’s why I’m here,” said Bird. “I would like to become a marshal, or a bounty hunter. I would like to head out and meet evil head on.”

“A committed man,” said Ramon.

Bird nodded.

“A dedicated man,” said Ramon. “Here is to dedicated men.” He raised his glass.

Bird did as Ramon did. They drank, and Bird coughed. These were his first tastes of liquor. He felt sick and then warm and then sick.

“You are not a drinker,” said Ramon.

Bird shook his head.

“But you are a gunfighter.”

Bird nodded.

“A one-armed gunfighter,” said Ramon.

Bird withdrew his pistol with a clap then set it back behind his belt. One man startled, but the rest in the bar began to laugh. Ramon clapped Bird on the back.

“Brave boy,” said Ramon. “You are in the lion’s den. But we are friends. Here is your money.”

He handed Bird a small pouch of coins.

“There is more than that too to be made,” said Ramon. “We like each other, no? You are getting to like me?”

Bird nodded. He opened the pouch and counted the silver. It was two hundred even.

“Who was the man I killed?” he said.

“He was a bad man,” said Ramon. “He was a killer and a drunk.”

Ramon ordered two more drinks and toasted to Bird again.

“To our newest hired gun,” said Ramon. “You’ll sleep with us tonight. In the mission.”

“Where is it?”

“At the end of the road. You cannot miss it. You will like it. Your wife will like it. There is a bathhouse nearby, and you can use it as you see fit.”

“I did not expect this to come as easily as it has,” said Bird.

“You were ready for it,” said Ramon. He set his hand on Bird’s bad shoulder, and Bird flinched but did not pull away.

“I am ready for it,” said Bird.

“To fight evil,” said Ramon.

“To face it head on,” said Bird. “With everything within me.”

“You are a very brave boy,” said Ramon.

Bird found the postal office locked when he set to fetch Mary. He peeked in the windows and spotted nothing. He went around the side of the building and into the back alley. There, he spotted the shack and the smoke and approached the front door. He knocked and Gretta answered.

“Have you seen my wife?” said Bird.

“I have seen no wives,” said Gretta. “It is late and you are drunk, boy.”

“I can’t find her,” said Bird. “Her name is Mary.”

“She has likely run away or is staying with her mother.”

“What are you saying?” said Bird.

“She is likely with her mother,” said Gretta again.

“She doesn’t have a mother.”

“Then you have yourself a problem, boy. Do you know what time it is?”

“I am not a boy,” said Bird.

“You are no bigger than my gut,” said Gretta.

“I am bigger than your gut,” said Bird.

“You must go now,” said Gretta. “My husband is sleeping and he will not be happy for you to wake him.”

“But I cannot find my wife,” said Bird.

“I know this,” said Gretta. She shut the door.

Bird stumbled back into the alley. A cat darted past and vanished beneath a crate.

“That cat is like my wife,” Bird said, to no one.

Ramon was waiting for him at the staircase. He was bent over, as if talking to the eagle.

“We have drunk, my friend,” said Ramon.

“I’m sick,” said Bird.

“You are not a drinker,” said Ramon. “But you will get better.”

“I do not trust you, Ramon,” said Bird.

“Nor should you!” said Ramon.

Suddenly, Bird was laughing. Then Ramon was laughing. They were drunk in the street together and the stars were out. The windows around them were lit and dark and in-between. There was singing coming from the bar. Someone was banging out something on a loose-keyed piano. A man led his horse down the center of the road. Bird withdrew his pistol and stuck it back behind his belt.

“Come,” said Ramon, “to the mission. We’ll sleep now and get baths tomorrow. I’ll introduce you to the boys and to the boss. I have a bottle in my room. We will drink before bed and in the morning to cure our stomachs and clear our heads.”

“You are not the boss?” said Bird.

“I like you, little bird,” said Ramon. “Do you like me just a little?”

Bird said nothing.

The mission was raucous, but clean. Men and women crowded the halls, and the enormous chapel space at its center. Corridors of rooms lined the edges and Ramon took Bird to his. It was sparsely decorated, but lined with empty bottles. They drank on the rug in the center of Ramon’s room, and when Ramon began to touch him, Bird did not resist. Ramon removed Bird’s shirt, and then his own. He touched the scar where the boy’s arm had been.

“I was pinned beneath a rock,” said Bird, “and I freed myself.”

“You are a very brave boy,” said Ramon. He kissed him then, and Bird retracted.

“No,” said Bird.

“My mistake,” said Ramon. “I thought you liked me.”

“I will sleep outside,” said Bird, and he gathered his shirt and dressed while exiting.

As he left the chapel, Ramon followed. The men and women in the hallways laughed at themselves and then at Ramon and Bird. They went back to laughing at themselves as Bird and Ramon left.

Outside, Bird found a fountain with a smooth bench carved into its outer wall. He set himself on the bench and told Ramon not to come any closer. He withdrew his pistol. When Ramon stopped, Bird set the pistol at his side.

“I will be fine here,” said Bird.

“I can show you to your room,” said Ramon. “I will leave you there.”