Chapter Text
The dust hung thickly in the air, clouding after horse’s hooves and swirling around the poor souls that wandered the streets of the harsh western town. When the stage finally rattled to a stop, two young children rushed forward, unkempt and filthy, to try and open the door before the other.
“I got it first!” the younger girl stammered as the older boy shoved her out of the way and yarded on the stage door.
“No I did!”
“Get out of here you street rats!” the coach driver shouted as he climbed down from his seat, sore and crippled from the long road. The children scattered as quickly as they’d come.
“Sorry about that ma’am,” he said, tipping his hat to the passenger inside the stage compartment and proffering his hand “You gotta be firm when dealin’ with the likes of them vagrants.”
A lavender gloved hand rested on top of his and a woman stepped out on to the ledge of the stage, shaking her gown a bit to right it before being lowered to the dust and dirt of the street. A large feather-brimmed hat was perched atop the beautiful woman’s glorious red curls and her full red mouth was something the coach driver certainly noticed.
“Next time you have problems with… ‘vagrants’,” Kitty spoke, the first words he’d really heard her say since they left Dodge City, “You might try a little kindness.”
The man’s face fell at her words, “I’m sorry Miss. Didn’t want them gettin’ you dirty, is all.”
Kitty didn’t smile, “This town does a pretty good job of that on its own.”
When the man went for her bag she stopped him, “I’m only staying a few hours. I won’t be needing that.”
The stage driver nodded, “We leave in 3 hours whether you’re on it or not.”
Kitty’s expression never faltered, “I’ll be on it.”
----
Al Swearengen leaned on the bar, his hooded pale eyes scanning the crowded saloon only briefly before settling back on the focus of his evening - Miss Kitty Russell. Sure he knew who she was now, she was unmistakable. Her reputation as the notoriously beautiful and enchanting proprietress of the Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, preceded her. She'd turned every head in the room since she'd come in and had not given one man the time of day - not even him. But what now was she doing in Deadwood?
Al wiped an oily cloth across a dirty counter top. Kitty Russell.
She’d appeared at the door of the saloon only twenty odd minutes before, looking so out of place and pristine that she’d killed the rowdy atmosphere within seconds. Men had stared at her like animals stalking prey, practically drooling and rubbing themselves. Al snickered to recall it.
She'd ordered a drink not long after she’d arrived and had begun talking to one of his girls, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was one of his younger girls, plain but in her own way attractive. She serviced a lot of men though because of her blond hair and green eyes that paired nicely with her youthful smile. But now, she sat occupied at the table with Miss Kitty Russell in all of her vivacious glory and it made Al's lip curl. He put down the glass he was cleaning and circled the bar towards them.
"Well Miss... I do appreciate your business but if you want to spend this much time with one of my girls, you're going to have to pay like the others." Al spoke loud enough for the other patrons to hear and smiled meanly.
The men around them roared with laughter and Kitty's blue eyes rose to Al's, her lips set in a firm line as she scrutinized him, aware of his tactic, "Is that so?"
Kitty looked back at Elizabeth and Al glanced down at the generous amount of cleavage that showed above the top of her pressed, frilled and lady-like gown. Kitty cleared her throat when she caught him looking and a brow rose with disinterest, "How much?"
Al's smile widened, "Depends on how long you plan on sampling her goods."
Kitty Russell looked around at the faces of the laughing men surrounding them and turned a deadly smile on Al, "Well, a pretty young woman like this can't be rushed. I'll take the night."
Around them, men's mouths fell open in surprise and silence spread around the room as Al's own smile faded into a look of confusion. She dug into her reticule and retrieved what she'd read at the bar earlier to be the appropriate house fare and let the coins drop to the wooden table top. Then, taking Elizabeth's hand, she led the woman towards the stairs, the obvious route to the upstairs rooms, dismissing the crowd of men with the swish of her silken bustle.
Al grumpily ordered the men to get back to drinking or to get the hell out of his establishment before moving back to the bar and pouring himself a glass of hard whiskey, watching the two women ascend the stairs.
What was this vixen up to?
----
The door to Elizabeth's room closed with a quiet thud behind them and Elizabeth leaned against it as she watched Kitty circle her room, eyeing the scarce and dilapidated furnishings. Elizabeth flushed, embarrassed to have a woman as regal as this, looking at her things in the room where night after night she sold herself for tokens and board.
Kitty stopped and turned towards her, clasping her lace gloved hands at her stomach and offered a very gentle smile in her direction. Elizabeth smiled back shyly and began moving her fingers to the back of her skirt, loosening the buttons.
Kitty's expression suddenly changed and she raised her hand, stilling Elizabeth's movement, "No, Elizabeth. I didn't pay to have you entertain me. I wanted to get you out of that bar so we could talk properly. I want to know more about your contract... why you're here, where you've come from."
Elizabeth nodded slowly, her cheeks burning bright red as her eyes fell downcast. For a long moment she didn't say anything and Kitty stepped closer towards her, lifting her head to meet her gaze with the tips of her gloved fingers, "Well what's wrong?" she asked incredulously surprised to see the sadness in the young woman's eyes.
Elizabeth's teeth raked over her lower lip for a moment and she whispered, "I was kind of hopin’ you did want me..."
Kitty's brows climbed towards her hairline, but her expression soon softened when she realized what the younger woman meant. She had seen it time and time again with her own girls. Brothels, saloons... they had adopted a romantic charm in the west and they'd been referred to as places for giving and receiving ‘love’. But rarely did a working girl see any type of love from her client, and they certainly didn't return it.
Elizabeth was a young woman, no doubt having found herself with very little option and having entered the trade a virgin like so many before her. She'd probably seen man after man since then, never having been taught the true value of care, love and appreciation.
Kitty's fingertips tickled across Elizabeth's smooth chin, stroking gently before gliding the lace covered fingers across her jawline, just under the gentle curve and down the front of her pale throat to rest just above her racing heart. Then, Kitty smiled gently and leaned towards her, her thick lashes covering her blue eyes as she pressed a soft kiss to Elizabeth's cheek. It was tender and careful, a gift without the request of return.
For a minute there was silence and Kitty wasn't sure exactly what she would do next to put the young woman at ease. Elizabeth stared at her, an indiscernible expression on her youthful face.
“Elizabeth,” Kitty began quietly, “I want to help you out of here. I want to buy out your contract.” She spoke factually and slowly, making sure the young woman knew why she was here and that there would be no mistaking her further intentions.
Elizabeth swallowed, eyes widening at the suggestion, “My contract?”
Kitty nodded.
Elizabeth shook her head incredulously, “Why?” she asked, “Why would you do that for me?”
Kitty smiled warmly. For a minute she contemplated sitting down on the bed until she caught a quick glance at its filthy oil cloth. She remembered those from one of the earlier houses she’d worked in. Sometimes she’d entertained three or four gentleman on the same cloth in one evening and unless she could clean it and dry it overnight it would remain that way for days, even weeks at a time, growing more disgusting with each satisfied man. Her stomach turned.
“Elizabeth, I knew your mother, Maggie.” Kitty divulged, finally getting to the point of her visit, “She was one of my dearest friends.”
“Was?” Elizabeth asked, her voice like a child’s.
“Yes,.” It visibly pained Kitty to relay the tragic news, “Your mother died only a few years ago.”
Elizabeth’s eyes immediately welled up and Kitty stepped forward, taking the young woman’s dirty hand in her gloved one. Kitty’s throat tightened as she went on, “When Maggie knew she was dying, she sent a letter to me asking me to find you. She didn’t know which saloon you worked at.”
Kitty squeezed the girl’s hand sadly, “It took me this long to find you here in Deadwood. It was my second to last stop.”
Elizabeth wiped her tears on her other hand, “I always thought I’d see her again.”
Kitty sighed softly, “We always think we have time.” She had been there many times before though mostly with saloon girls she’d once held dear.
“Miss?” Elizabeth choked.
“Kitty, Elizabeth. My name is Kitty.” she replied and gave the girl’s hand another squeeze.
“Kitty, I’m awfully glad you’re the one to tell me.” Elizabeth spoke through caught breaths.
“I’m going to buy out this contract of yours and we’re going to go back to Dodge. I own the Long Branch Saloon and I’m taking you there,” Kitty said, looking around the girl’s room, “If you have anything worth taking, I’d like you to gather it now.”
Elizabeth nodded slowly and pulled a small and filthy carpet bag from under the old wooden bed and a ripped shawl from the bedpost. Kitty opened the door and looked down at the men below, now involved in uproarious talk and laughter, having moved on from the earlier scene downstairs.
“Elizabeth, is there a back way out?” she asked, knowing full-well that the two of them going back down the staircase would cause more trouble.
“Yes.” Elizabeth answered, and looked around Kitty cautiously.
“I want you to take it. Please go directly to the stage driver with this,” Kitty retrieved a small reticule from a tie under the waist of her skirt and handed it to Elizabeth, “Enough for your fare. I will meet you there as soon as I handle Mr. Swearengen.”
Elizabeth closed her hand around the coin purse and moved to leave the room but Kitty stopped her with a hand on her forearm, “Elizabeth, if I don’t make it on to that stage, you leave without me, alright?”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened with trepidation and she opened her mouth to speak but Kitty interrupted, “That money will see you all the way to Dodge City. When you get there you ask to speak to Marshall Dillon and tell him I’ve sent you. He’ll take care of you.”
“But Miss Kitty,”
“Elizabeth, you do as you’re told this time, will you? This is very important to your mother and to me, now please go,” Kitty insisted and finally, Elizabeth offered a solemn nod and disappeared down the hall and around a corner.
Kitty swallowed and inhaled deeply, her shoulders setting and her eyes steeled as she prepared for a business negotiation, one saloon owner to another.
----
“Do we have a deal, Miss Russell?” Al asked, his greasy dark hair framing his ruggish face.
Kitty would ordinarily laugh at the outrageousness of the suggestion but there was nothing about this man that made her the slightest bit amused, “Mr. Swearengen, I came here to discuss the girl, not me.”
Al leered, “But we all know Miss Russell that you’ve entertained for years. What’s one more knock on your bedpost?”
Kitty’s eyes darkened, “I don’t entertain anymore.”
Al sighed and took a long swallow of whiskey, “Oh come now Kitty,” he scoffed, “You used to do that little trick with the --”
“I said I don’t entertain anymore,” Al was startled when Kitty smashed her hand hard against the wood of the countertop, rattling the glasses set down around them, “Listen Mister, I’m making you a good, honest deal for the girl. You wouldn’t make what I’m givin’ you on her wages if she works past her good years.”
Al sighed and paused for a moment, “It’s the principal Kitty, merely the principle.”
He pointed a dirty finger up the stairs, “It’s my final offer. You take it, or you leave it. Oh and don’t think I didn’t see her slippin’ out the back way Miss Russell. She’s stayin here if you don’t take what I’m offering, I can guarantee it.”
Kitty felt the options closing in and reluctantly she set her jaw and nodded just once. Al’s wicked smile grew wide across his face and he circled the bar so he was standing beside her.
“After you Kitty,” he stroked his dirty fingertips along the pale, freckled skin of her decollete, “I can hardly wait.”
----
"A deal's a deal, Miss Russell." Al Swearengen warned as he circled the elegantly dressed lady, as a cat would circle a doomed field mouse.
"How does it feel to be on the other side of the door again? Been too long has it?" Al asked, stroking her face with his knuckles. Her blue eyes were void of emotion as she stared blindly in front of herself, her lips set in a firm line.
"Miss Russell..." he whispered against her ear, "You're free to go anytime. Just remember, Eliza stays if you do."
Her shoulders set as she reached behind her and grasped him through the material of his trousers.
----
Eliza sat in the stagecoach, toying with a fraying string on her shawl and glancing nervously out the window. It was getting late and the coach driver had made a point to declare he wasn't waiting if her “companion” didn't arrive in time for their scheduled departure. She could not imagine taking the trip alone, especially a distance such as that from Deadwood to Dodge City. Her teeth had imprinted her lower lip and she’d considered getting off of the stage more than once.
As the time grew shorter, and the driver mounted his perch to start the horses, Eliza fumbled with the wooden door. The latch suddenly gave and the door swung open just in time to reveal the red headed woman from before, skirts billowing behind her as she hurried for the door and climbed into the coach at a run.
“Go!” she demanded loudly from the stage window to the confused driver who reacted immediately at the tone of the woman’s voice. The horses strained forward and jolted the younger woman out of her seat and almost into Kitty’s lap. She placed her hand on Eliza’s forearm and helped her sit back up before stealing a worried glance out the window.
“Did something happen Miss Kitty?” Eliza asked, finding her voice though she knew she sounded afraid.
“Nothing I can't handle,” Kitty answered, her deep voice soothing to Eliza’s ears.
----
“You fucking whore!” Al Swearengen bellowed from an upstairs room at The Gem Saloon, causing three of his girls to leave their company and rush to the sound of their employer’s shout.
Swinging open the door, one girl slapped a hand over her lips to conceal a laugh and the other girls stared in bewilderment.
Al Swearengen lay on the floor, trousers around his ankles, erect and bared for the work to see, and bound by ankles and wrists to an old wooden chair.
“I’ll make the bitch pay when I find her,” he growled, red-faced and straining at his bindings, “Kitty will rue the day she came to Deadwood.”
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To be continued...