Girl with a Gun Page 6

  Michante continued to weep, occasionally pushing the tears from his face with the back of his hand, but Nakota stood proud, his face a mask of stoicism—or anger.

  The Colonel spoke kind words of his affection for Kimi, and how he loved her like a daughter. Annie’s stomach churned. She did not understand the relationship between Kimi and the Colonel, but couldn’t help her disappointment at the Colonel’s blatant disregard of his true feelings.

  Annie glanced at Twila standing just behind the Colonel, her attention focused solely on the whimpering baby. She wondered if Twila’s apparent disinterest in the service indicated a need to seem nonchalant. Was it an attempt to disguise guilt?

  The Colonel turned to LeFleur and gestured for him to say a few words. He cleared his throat, placed his fist against his mouth, and then lowered his fist to his chest.

  “Kimimela was a good girl. She never shirked her duties and lived with quiet dignity. We shall miss her.” He stared straight ahead, without even a glimpse in Kimi’s direction, then shook his head. “Such a tragedy.”

  After a few quiet moments, the Colonel removed his hat, approached Kimi’s body, kissed her on the cheek, then strode out of the tent. Twila and the baby followed. Twila did not pause to pay her respects to Kimi, and baby Winona gurgled, happily unaware of what had transpired in the last few hours.

  LeFleur, too, wordlessly departed, leaving Annie with Michante and Nakota, their eyes remaining transfixed on their sister’s body. Annie felt compelled to stay with them.

  After an hour or more of silence, LeFleur escorted two deputies and the coroner into the tent and asked Michante, Nakota, and Annie to pay their final respects so the men could remove the body. The brothers bowed their heads for several minutes, clearly reluctant to depart from their sister, who looked so beautiful, even in death.

  Annie walked to the bier, raised her hands and pressed them together.

  “May God bless you, Kimi, on your journey. May he bless your brothers and sweet Winona.”

  She motioned for Michante and Nakota to follow her out of the tent. Michante strode toward the Indian quarters holding his hands against his face, but Nakota turned to Annie.

  “I appreciate the friendship you showed my little sister. She spoke highly of you.”

  “I admired your sister.” Annie smiled at him. “She was so kind. I wish I could have done more for her. She seemed so . . . unhappy, troubled.”

  “She was never the same, after he . . .” Nakota’s chin quivered and he crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

  “I know that the Colonel is Winona’s father. Is that what you’re trying to say?”

  Nakota gave a curt nod.

  “Did he . . . did the Colonel force—”

  “No.” Nakota answered, perhaps to spare her the embarrassment of saying it aloud. “Kimi is—was young, her feelings for the Colonel, confused. She cared for him, and at one time she did give her heart to him, but because he raised us as his children, she recognized the inappropriateness of their relationship. Kimi turned away from him. When the Colonel learned Kimi was with child, he could not bear it. He denied Winona. I know in my heart he felt ashamed of what they—he did.”

  Annie could see why.

  “You don’t think the Colonel would ever harm Kimi, do you? He would not have raised a hand to her, would he?

  “I do not believe he would harm her. He promised never again to bring violence against another. He vowed that his battles were behind him, and he treats us with more dignity than most. His family has cared for us.”

  Kimi had said the Colonel’s wife raised them for a time. Annie wondered what the Colonel’s wife, who was miles away, would think of his dalliance with Kimi. Did she know about the baby? Did she know about Twila?

  “What about Twila Midnight?”

  “The woman is not kind.” Nakota’s face darkened. “She was never kind to my sister, and when Winona arrived, she was angry, very angry.”

  “Jealous probably. That necklace, the one with the butterfly pendant, around Kimi’s neck, Twila told me that it belonged to her.”

  Nakota’s brow wrinkled in confusion.

  “No, it was a gift from the Colonel. Kimimela means ‘butterfly’ in Sioux. He gave it to Kimi long ago, when we were children. When Winona was born, Kimi did not feel it was proper to wear the necklace anymore. She gave it to me for safekeeping.”

  Annie considered this new information. Twila’s behavior was growing more and more characteristic of the jealous lover by the minute. Annie redirected the conversation.

  “Is there a reason, any reason, why you think Kimi would have fallen to the ground unconscious like that? Had she been weak or sick? Have others in your family . . . had troubles with their heart?”

  Nakota shook his head, his mouth set in a grim line. Annie wanted to ask him if he knew of anyone else who would wish to harm Kimi, but it seemed too harsh for the moment, and she didn’t want to stir up a hornet’s nest if her suspicions were wrong.

  “Sitting Bull says you have a fierce heart with a kind and gentle spirit,” Nakota said. “I am glad my sister enjoyed her last days with you.”

  “That’s a very kind thing to say.” Heat rose to Annie’s cheeks.

  “I must go now. I will be leaving soon.”

  “You’re leaving? But why?”

  “I was here to protect my sister and I failed. I can no longer honor the Colonel knowing the shame he feels in his heart. Bad feelings will now grow between us. I can bring him no peace, nor he me.”

  “Don’t you want to know what happened to your sister?”

  “She is gone. Nothing will change this.”

  “What about Michante—and Winona?”

  “Winona is the Colonel’s responsibility. My brother is simpleminded and will be happy here. He will stay for Winona.” Nakota looked into Annie’s eyes for the first time. “Will you look after him—and her—when I have gone?”

  “Yes, of course, you can rely on me.” Annie laid a hand on his arm. “But are you sure you won’t stay?”

  “I cannot.” Nakota held up his hand, palm facing her—his face morphing back to its stoic mask—and then turned and walked away.

  CHAPTER 5

  “Wild West Show Performances Temporarily Cancelled. Ticket Sales Will Resume at the End of the Week.”

  St. Louis Times – April 13, 1885

  Annie woke early the next morning and tiptoed out of her tent, curious to know if the county sheriff and the coroner agreed that Kimi’s sudden death was suspicious. They had not. LeFleur told her that they did not find the bruises on Kimi’s body damaging enough, or recent enough, to be related to her death. The coroner announced his conclusion that Kimi died of natural causes.

  Back in her tent, flipping through her Bible, Annie ruminated on the news. She slipped her hand in her dress pocket and pulled out the gold coin she’d found last night. She turned it in her fingers, studying it. Heavy scratch marks marred the image and lettering, making them impossible to decipher. She let the coin fall into her palm and closed her fingers around it.

  Where had it come from?

  Annie considered asking Lillie if it belonged to her, but would Lillie tell the truth? She might use the opportunity to claim the coin as hers.

  Annie decided to hang onto the coin for a while longer. It might mean absolutely nothing, but still would probably be worth keeping.

  Annie thought the announcement of Kimi’s “death by natural causes” perplexing. When she had to face Vernon McCrimmon in court, the trial didn’t last an hour, but more questions had been asked in that time span than had been asked about Kimi’s death in the last two days. In fact, no questions had been asked about Kimi—no deputies or sheriffs queried her about anything. LeFleur asked a few questions right after they discovered the body, but then stopped talking about it, seemingly no longer concerned about Kimi’s death. No one else talked of it either, except maybe Nakota, but he too accepted the coroner’s word and planned to leave the sh
ow, his brother, and his niece behind. Annie figured Nakota knew that white men didn’t show much respect for the lives or deaths of Indians, particularly a female Indian with a half-breed child, and felt powerless.

  Bobby popped his head through the tent flap.

  “Lillie in here?”

  “No, I haven’t seen her this morning.” Annie didn’t tell him Lillie never showed up at all last night. She didn’t think it her right or responsibility to keep tabs on the girl.

  “Well, if you see her, tell her that the Colonel wants her at practice today. He won’t put up with her missing any more.”

  “Will do.”

  Annie’s irritation still lingered at Lillie’s refusal to attend Kimi’s service. Many people held grudges against the Indians because of the Indian Wars, and maybe Lillie did, too, but her resentment seemed more hateful than a grudge.

  Bobby cleared his throat.

  “Was there something else?” Annie asked.

  Bobby hesitated, started to leave.

  “I’ll let Lillie know if I see her,” Annie said, not sure if she would.

  Bobby nodded but didn’t move. His eyes sought hers, and Annie could see the pain in them, their bright blueness now dark and dull. His once-buoyant face looked like it had been dragged down into the depths of sorrow.

  “Are you all right, Bobby?

  “I can’t believe we go right back to our routines, as if nothing has changed.” Tears welled in his eyes.

  “If you want to talk about Kimi, I’m a good listener.”

  Bobby placed his hat back on his head.

  “The Colonel says the show must go on and told us to be prepared for a full house tomorrow, at both the morning and afternoon performances.” He shifted his weight from one leg to the other and twisted his mouth as if he had something more to say.

  “Bobby, please tell me what’s wrong.”

  “She didn’t die of natural causes,” he said, his voice so low Annie couldn’t be sure she heard him correctly.

  “What’s that?”

  “You heard me.”

  Before she could reply, he ducked under the tent flap and left.

  Annie shook her head, confused by Bobby’s behavior. Why did he feel the need to say that to her? Annie sighed, not sure what to believe. She knew one thing, though, she needed to see her horse—a being who, by nature, could not deny, avoid, or hide his feelings, and whose nearness always made her feel better.

  Approaching the stables, Annie saw Buck in the distance, picking at a stack of hay on the ground, not munching with his usual abandon. Even from this far away, she could tell he still didn’t have much of an appetite. He hadn’t eaten much at all since they’d arrived in St. Louis.

  Buck raised his head and whinnied at her, galloping to the fence line. He hung his head over the railing and nudged her with his nose.

  “Hey there, fella.” Annie stroked the soft skin of his ebony nose. He closed his eyes, luxuriating in her attention.

  Like a darkening thunderstorm, a sudden cloud of sadness bloomed in Annie’s heart. Bobby’s words played over and over in her mind. Did he know what happened to Kimi? She’d have to see if she could get him alone again, to talk. If Kimi didn’t die of natural causes, then what? It didn’t appear she’d hurt herself—she had Winona with her, and Annie couldn’t imagine Kimi abandoning her child. Kimi hadn’t complained of feeling ill or hurt, despite her bruises, which had been ruled out. The only other conclusion was murder.

  Thinking the word murder sent a cold river of chills down Annie’s spine. She couldn’t imagine taking another’s life, although she’d been accused of attempting it—something she hoped she’d never hear about again. She could still see the villainous look on McCrimmon’s face when Sheriff Brody questioned her:

  “Miss Mosey, were you provoked to shoot Vernon McCrimmon?”

  McCrimmon jumped up so fast, his chair screeched across the dusty hardwood floor. “You aren’t going to let her go on with these lies are you? You don’t believe her?”

  “Sit down, Mr. McCrimmon, and don’t interrupt my questioning again.” Sheriff Brody leaned forward, glared hard at him.

  McCrimmon plopped back down in his chair with a snort.

  “Miss Mosey, were you provoked?”

  The image of Buck’s legs crumbling under his body as Vernon whipped him over and over sprung to Annie’s mind.

  “Yes. He was beating the horse.”

  “His horse?”

  “Yes, Buck was his horse, but he kept him half-starved and near death. Buck couldn’t pull the load, so Mr. McCrimmon thrashed him with a whip, again and again. I shouted for him to stop, and then he came at me with his fists balled up, full of rage. I knew if I didn’t do something, he would kill me.”

  Annie aimed for his ankle, never intending to kill him. She was brought up to believe that violence was sinful. If she had wanted to kill him, she would have aimed for his heart—and she wouldn’t have missed. She never missed.

  Thinking about the past, Annie stroked Buck’s golden neck, sad at the injustices of the world, sad about Kimi. They’d been like sisters. Soul sisters, both out of place among the players of the show, and both with a past filled with sorrow and unhappiness. In Kimi’s company, Annie had felt a little less alone in the world, and she felt compelled to find out what had happened, who had murdered Kimi.

  Buck sensed her uneasiness and again nudged her with his head. She scratched the soft spot between his ears.

  A few cowboys and Indians gathered with their horses, getting ready for their rehearsal of the cabin scene where the Indians surround the cabin, the cowboys emerge, and a great gun battle ensues. The scene always entailed lots of whooping, yelling, and shooting, and the crowds loved it.

  Something behind Annie diverted Buck’s attention. She followed his gaze and saw Lillie walking toward them, the fringe on her jacket and chaps swinging. The plump figure stalked toward Annie with a man’s gait, all of Lillie’s femininity lost in the unisex cowboy outfit.

  “So this is the ‘Wonder Horse.’” Lillie reached up to give Buck a few stout slaps on the neck.

  The girl didn’t have a soft moment about her. Loud, aggressive, and attention grabbing, which became worse when she drank too much whiskey—which she did often—Lillie always had to make her presence known.

  Not in the mood to deal with her, Annie sighed.

  “Hey, I’m sorry about Kiki . . . Mimi . . . your friend.”

  “Her full name was Kimimela. It means ‘butterfly’ in Sioux.”

  “Huh. Well, isn’t that lovely? Hey, we need to talk about the act. I have an idea that people will be wild for—”

  “You need to run it by the Colonel or Mr. LeFleur,” Annie said. “They come up with most of the ideas.”

  “Frank and I have already discussed it. We just need you to go along with us.” Lillie took a cigarette out of her pocket, ran a match down the fence post, and lit it. “Think you can shoot this out of my mouth at thirty paces?”

  “I think I could shoot it out of your mouth at fifty paces,” Annie glared at her. “Not that it’s a good idea. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

  Lillie’s eyebrows shot up. “Fifty paces? Okay, you’re on. But I get a shot, too.”

  “How do you know you won’t miss?”

  Lillie squinted at Annie, took the cigarette out of her mouth and snubbed it on the fence post.

  “Well, we’ll just have to find out, won’t we?” She blew smoke in Annie’s face and then walked away.

  Annie’s hand squeezed hard around Buck’s lead rope, so hard her nails sank into the fatty part of her palm. What did Lillie Smith bring to the Wild West Show, except trouble? Only Twila wanted her there, but since when did Twila make those kinds of decisions?

  “Hey, Lillie!” Annie called after her.

  Lillie stopped, but didn’t turn around.

  “Better show up for practice. The Colonel doesn’t cotton to slackers.”

  Annie
saddled Buck so they could take some warm up laps around the arena. Despite Buck’s dwindling appetite, when Annie urged him forward, he performed with his usual amount of enthusiasm. The heat and humidity of the rare early Missouri spring seemed to sap the energy out of everyone. Already, Annie’s cotton shirt clung to her arms and neck, and the lining of her wool riding skirt stuck to her sweating legs, making them itchy and uncomfortable.

  Fiddling with the guns in his gun belt, Frank and his horse Fancy trotted into the arena, almost running Annie and Buck down.

  “Whoa! Gosh, I’m sorry about that, Annie. Didn’t see you.”

  Annie tilted her chin up in a greeting.

  “Hey listen, I’m awfully sorry about Kimi. She was a sweet kid.”

  Frank ran a hand over his blond mustache, smoothing it.

  “Thanks, but something is bothering me about her death.”

  Frank frowned. “Really? Like what?”

  “Did you know her well?”

  “Not really. I saw her around some, but I’m not sure we ever exchanged two words. Why?”

  Annie tapped her fingers on the saddle horn, wondering if confiding in Frank might be reckless. She couldn’t help herself—she had to know what happened.

  “She had bruises on her back.”

  “No kidding? Bad bruises?”

  “Yes. I can’t stop thinking about it. Who would do that to her?”

  Frank tilted his head back, as if thinking.

  “I saw Twila get after her once, pretty rough about it, too. In case you haven’t noticed, Twila isn’t the nicest person in the Wild West Show.”

  “I have noticed. I thought she only hated me.”

  “Nope. She hates everyone. You’re in good company.” He flashed her his signature smile, his eyes lingering on her face, causing a tingling feeling to crawl up and down Annie’s arms. Must be the heat, she reasoned.

  “Lillie told me about your new act idea. The cigarette?”

  “That gal is plumb crazy.”

  “She said you wanted to add it.”

  “I said nothing of the kind. We got a little drunk last night and—”