Miss Morgan

Twenty-Four

April 1896

Jenny and Ivy enter the abandoned saloon at Emerald Ranch late in the evening. The saloon is dark and littered with bullet holes. It smells like stale beer and Ivy wonders what happened to bring this place to such an empty state. Surely the ranchers here like to drink.

They hesitantly step through the door and the floorboards creak beneath their boots. They both hold up seven fingers as Cripps instructed and at first they don't see anyone. Then a raspy old woman's voice startles them. "You must be Cripps' friends. I'll try not to hold that against you."

They whip around to see an older woman walking toward them from behind the door with a cane in her right hand. She has her white hair pulled into a chignon and the right side of her face is covered in horrific burned scars. Her right eye is cloudy white. She scowls at them. But maybe that's just her face.

"The name's Maggie. Thanks for coming." She walks to Ivy's side as the back door of the saloon creaks open.

"She's back!" Cripps greets cheerfully before Maggie aims her rifle at him. "Jesus what're you doin'? It's me!"

Maggie pulls the trigger and blasts another bullet hole into the wall by Cripps' head.

"What the hell?!" He twists to see the debris falling from the wall.

"I missed didn't I?" Maggie yells back, slamming her cane into the floor. Ivy gets the feeling she doesn't miss though. It was a reminder. "Don't come in like a bull through the fence next time, ya old fool. Your friends here managed to get it right."

Cripps chuckles. "'Lightning' Maggie Fike. We all thought you were dead."

Maggie sets her gun against the wall. "Yeah? So did I. I guess you'll be wantin' a drink? Come on, give me a hand." Maggie grabs a jug of moonshine off a table and hands it to Cripps.

"Biggest mistake of my life... not marryin' this woman when I had the chance." Cripps smirks.

"Yeah, you always did have a colorful memory of things." Maggie rolls her eyes.

Cripps laughs.

"Anyway, it's too late now. As you can see I have gone and hit my prime." Maggie mutters.

"Well, I heard what happened with Hixon. Evil son of a bitch. Where you... where you been all this time?" Cripps sets a glass on one of the dusty tables and pours some moonshine.

"Recovering." Maggie sits down across the table. "Laying low. Couldn't barely get out of bed for six months."

"And your nephew?"

"Lem? Still in jail as far as I know."

"You seen Danny-Lee yet?"

"Oh yeah, I've seen him... cookin' for the Braithwaites now." Maggie shakes her head. "Guess me and him, we're done."

"Well, there's always Marcel?"

Maggie downs a shot of moonshine while Cripps speaks.

"Heard he's not workin' for LeClerk anymore. Feller's a windbag, but he knows his way around a still."

"Yeah, maybe... feels like it'd be much easier for everyone if I just stayed gone. But life ain't about bein' easy, I am takin' back what's mine. I need legs though, and I need muscle."

Cripps gestures to Jenny and Ivy. "Well you'll get that with these ladies and more, I promise you. The three of us already got a nice little business going."

"Long as you know it won't be pretty. I don't do pretty no more." Maggie narrows her eyes at the girls.

"So what's the buy in?" Cripps asks.