Tombstone; D.H.

CHAPTER NINE

The storm had arrived rather quickly, enveloping the town in dust as the wind began enforcing its fury. That is, until the rain began to pour and calm the blowing sand back to the ground.

I stood, ready to run, on the front porch of the Grand Hotel. The air had cooled considerably, so I had donned my heaviest coat from my small suitcase in my room. Even so, I was still chilled to the bone already, before setting foot out into the rain.

After a group of drovers rushed past the hotel, I hoisted my skirts up and bolted. The Crystal Palace seemed farther away than before as I ran. Darting down the alleyway toward the back entrance from which I left during my last encounter here, I prayed that the door was unlocked. Thankfully, it was.

Darkness shrouded the hallway where I entered, two figures at the end of the hall to my left shifting where they stood to look at me. I wasted no time in turning the other way, striding quickly to Ike Clanton's office. However, he was nowhere to be found. Instead, the light eyes of Johnny Ringo quickly looked up at me from the papers he had been peering over atop the dark wood desk at which he sat.

"Well howdy, Joanna," he grinned, leaning back into the chair. I saw his eyes quickly roam over me, taking in my damp appearance.

Relieved to see his familiar face, I sighed and wiped the droplets of rain off of my face.
"Hey Johnny. What are you doing here? What happened to Ike?"

"Called away on business yesterday. Should be back tonight some time late," Johnny answered, "You can sit if you'd like, Jo."

Nodding, I sat in the chair opposite him. The desk sat sturdily between us.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to run in to you, but I really needed to see Ike."

Johnny's grin slowly fell, indicating to me he had hoped I'd come here for him.

"I just need to pick up the medicines I ordered. The ones I ordered that day you...saved me out in the saloon," I reminded him.

He cleared his throat and sat up straight.

"I believe I can help," he said, looking from me to the pile of papers on the desk.

I sat silently, watching Johnny's hands slide down the pages as he read through the ledger. He stopped suddenly, stood, then walked to the back of the room where cabinets and tables overtook that half of the space. His red sash swayed slightly as he stopped at the back table, looking over the items placed there. My eyes caught the glimmer of his white-handled pistol on his right hip and I was suddenly hyperaware of Doc's pistol, nearly identical in appearance. I felt it in my skirt pocket, the weight of it seeming to increase by the second. I couldn't imagine having to use it now that Johnny was here...

"Here we go," Johnny said, making me jump slightly.

He picked up a small burlap bag and came back over to the desk. As he set the bag down, he spoke; "You wanna make sure everything's there?"

"Yes, thank you," I swallowed, standing and moving to look into the sack. Of course, now we were standing shoulder to shoulder at the short end of Ike's desk. He was close enough that I could feel his chest rise as he breathed. Out the corner of my eye I noticed Johnny's head turn ever so slightly as he looked down at me.

The contents of the sack were in order, and I folded it back up. I turned to Johnny, telling him that everything was as it should be and asking him what Ike had established for payment.