Chapter Text
She didn't mind the warmth. It was the sun she could deal without, but the warm, dry air was nice. It was different from what she was used to. If she didn't get out of the sun soon, though, she was afraid she would pass out.
The air hit her face and nearly blew off her hat, but she fixed it and held on tighter to the reins. Her black horse's hooves struck the ground and kicked up dust that marked the trail behind her, but no one bothered to follow her. Good.
About a mile away, a small town grew larger on the horizon. She kicked her spurs into the horse and guided it in that direction.
When she hopped off of the horse, she adjusted her hat again, making sure the shadow it cast covered her face. She tied the reins to a post by a bank and, tucking the small pouch under her shirt, looked around the town. It wasn't a ghost town, but it wasn't bustling either. The streets were empty, yet the buildings seemed newer. Across the street, four horses were tied to a post by a saloon. A hotel with a clean wooden porch stood next to the saloon. Next to that, a jail. She looked up, blocking herself from the sun with her hand, and saw a large barrel filled with water. On it was the name of the town printed in fading letters. Dust swirled around the barrel, so she covered her mouth and nose with the bandana across her neck.
Even though the bank was closest, that wasn't the place she wanted to go. The pouch under her shirt felt a little heavier as she trudged over to the saloon, heaving with every step. The music from the saloon grew louder the closer she got, and it continued as she pushed open the door. As soon as the artificial lighting hit her face, she sighed in relief and sauntered over to the table farthest from the door.
"Hey there, sweetheart. You here to take my order?" One of the two men said with a light laugh in his voice. She glared at him and looked at the other man.
"I'm sure your mother would love to hear that you were here, Will."
"She'd love to hear that you're here too, dear sister."
"She chooses not to associate with me. Who's this?" She signalled to the man sitting across the table, who waved. His face was red with the heat of the day and the booze in his glass.
"I'm Kirsch. Nice to meet you, beautiful."
"Who's this?" She repeated.
"Kirsch works at the bank here. He's good company." Will said.
"So you know most people here?" She asked Kirsch.
"Sure do."
"Who's that on the stage?" She pointed to the short woman who was singing and dancing to the lilting piano music.
“That’d be Laura Hollis. Sings here." The curls in her long hair bounced as she moved, and her eyes glimmered in the reflection of the spotlight.
"Doesn't pay a lot, does it?" Will asked. Kirsch shook his head.
"Next to nothing. I've offered help, but she's hell-bent on supporting herself. Even lives upstairs to save some of the money she earns." He laughed under his breath. "I gotta hand it to her, though. She's doing better than I'd be if my daddy got rid of me that early." She raised an eyebrow and moved her black curls out of her eyes. "Her daddy caught her with a woman. Wasn't pleased and left her with nothing but the clothes on her back to fend for herself. And I've tried to help support her or convince him to help out, but she doesn't want anything to do with me."
She smiled. For a moment, they made eye contact, but Laura quickly looked away to finish her song.
Another song began and ended, and she slowly stood up and made her way through the crowd of tables and patrons to the stage.
"Good show there." She said, making Laura jump.
"Sorry -- uh -- you startled me there."
"It's all good." She smiled.
“You did a good job up there.” She raised her eyebrows a little bit and smirked.
“Thanks… stranger.”
“Can I tip you?”
“I can’t accept tips. Part of my job.”
“What about if I...” She tried to slide money onto the piano behind Laura, but Laura slapped her hand away.
“If my boss sees that, he will fire me. Just… no.”
“Alright.” She held her hands up in defeat. “Sorry. No harm done.”
“I hope not.” She looked around the room for a door or some sort of escape. “I, uh, I have to get ready for my next show. Sorry.”
"See you around, then."
"Yeah whatever, whatever-your-name-is."
"Carmilla."