Get Along Little Dogies (Arkady)

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty’d grown up around the Saloon. It were her whole life, really. And she’d never met a man who didn’t wanna kiss ‘er when she offered, but she had never actually felt the way she felt now. Never once had she felt ‘er heart beat so fast in ‘er chest. And she’d never cared ‘bout a man she’d only just met so much. Ever’thin’ ‘bout this whole thing were wrong, but it felt so right. She were awful confused.

She kissed Caden a little desperately. She couldn’t help it. Honest. She liked ‘im more’n she oughtta. He were just gonna leave like ever’body else and she were’nt gonna mean a thing to ‘im. She were just another Saloon girl, ‘cept that she’d got ‘im in trouble and then out of it all in the same few minutes. But it didn’t matter ‘cause he were gonna leave and she were just gonna be another Saloon girl to ‘im. Life would go on, but just fer right now, she wished time would stand still.

But time didn’t stand still. That were just life. Dusty pulled away from Caden and just leaned ‘er forehead against his. Her heart were poundin’ and she just wanted a moment here in ‘is arms afore real life crashed down on ‘em. “Congratulations on winnin’,” she whispered.

[Deleted]

This was more than just a congratulations kiss. The longer it went on, and the more desperate it became, the more it felt like a good bye kiss... and the less Caden wanted it to be. She sure knew what she was doing, but if this was some act she pulled on all the men then damn if she wasn’t good at her job. It sure felt real, more than just some kiss between strangers.

Only when it was over did he realise he had pulled her closer, that he had been kissing her back just about as desperately as she had been him. Breathing a bit heavily, he didn’t open his eyes when she leaned her forehead against his, nor did he remove his arms from her waist.

“Thank ya, Miss Dusty,” Caden breathed, finally opening his blue eyes.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty couldn’t think o’ what else ta say. She’d said congratulations and that were all she could say without soundin’ desperate. This were just so hard. And ‘er heart were still beatin’ faster’n it were supposed to. It didn’t help that even in the moonlight Caden’s eyes were the kinda blue color that a girl could get lost in.

She pulled away, slowly unwinding her arms from ‘round ‘is neck. “We’d best get back.” She pulled ‘erself completely away and then smiled. “Ever’body’ll think I up and ran off with yah,” she teased, tryin’ ta get back inta a playful, saloon frame o’ mind. If’n she were gonna face the other men it’d have ta be with a smile. She were a saloon girl. She didn’t get attached. She just had ta keep remindin’ ‘erself o’ that.

She pulled the door open. “Come on, I’ll get you a drink.”

[Deleted]

Caden were disappointed when she pulled away, even though he knew it was silly to be so. He just didn’t want to let her go so soon. He didn’t want to let her go, period. When she joked about running away with him he couldn’t help but mutter “Would that be so bad?” under his breath before clearing his throat loudly.

He was being foolish again. Like someone like her would ever want to run away with him. Hell, he’d told her he wouldn’t be leaving until the morning and she had still been ready to tell him good bye tonight and let him go off to spend the night here alone.

Absently straightening his coat, Caden followed her to the door. “How ‘bout if my money’s still there waitin’, I buy you a drink?[/i] he offered, making it sound like a joke to save himself the embarrassment of rejection if she refused.

[Dusty Fae]

Would that be so bad? He mighta muttered it, but Dusty heard it anyhow. If’n she were honest it prob’ly wouldn’t be so bad. Not that that would happen anyhow. What man would run off with a Saloon girl anyway? There were plenty o’ other girls out there that didn’t work is Saloons. Who’d want a Saloon girl when you could have a nice regular girl?

She almost giggled at Caden when he offered to buy her a drink. “Well ain’t that real nice of yah,” she said smilin’. She’d never had someone offer to buy her a drink, though that were prob’ly because she didn’t haveta pay for drinks. “Well I may just take you up on that offer.”

She stepped through the door and led them back to the front room. She gave Annabelle a nudge and the other girl gave her a grateful smile then went off to mingle with the men afore hoppin’ up on the stage. She surveyed the men at the bar. “So, who’s drinkin’ what?” she asked, proppin’ ‘er hands on ‘er hips.

[Deleted]

Heading back into the saloon, Caden let Dusty go on back to her job at the bar while he went back to the car table. Surprisingly the money was still there [cause I said so]; the girls must have done a good job of keeping the men away from it. Any other saloon that that money would’ve been gone the second he turned his back on it.

Gathering up his own winnings, he noticed that Clyde and Emmett must have scooped theirs up before escorting Barrett out, but the cheater’s pile was still there as well. Hesitating a moment, Caden gathered that up too. If the other two men returned tonight and wanted their share back then he’d divvy it up, but otherwise...

Pockets full again, and even more than he had started with, he regained a bit of his confidence by the time he bellied up to the bar. Dusty was busy pouring drinks, so he just settled himself at one end and watched her, spinning one bit on the bar to pay for their drinks when she was ready. Whether she had to pay for her own drinks or not just wasn’t the point.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty were pourin’ drinks for a very thirsty crowd it seemed like. It were a big crowd tonight and the girls were doin’ well on stage it looked like. It were almost time fer Maisy to sing and she were awful good at singin’. The crowd wouldn’t be so riled up when she were singin’. It’d get calm for a minute ‘fore the place would roar with applause and hootin’ and hollerin’.

She poured a couplea drinks before headin’ over to Caden, twirlin’ his money on the bar like that. Looked like his money’d still been there, just like she said it would be. “Looks like I were right after all. The money were right where I told it’d be.” She smiled. “Well then, what’ll it be?”

[Deleted]

Smiling back at Dusty when she approached, Caden very carefully stopped the spinning coin with his finger, managing to keep it up on it’s edge instead of pressing it into the bartop.

“You sure know this place better than I do. Last town I stopped in if I’da left even one coin on the table, it’a been gone before we even set foot out that door,” he replied, catching the coin between his fingers and holding it up. “I’ll have another whiskey, and the lady can have whatever her heart desires.”

It was cheesy, for sure; something his momma used to say, and Caden weren’t real sure why he was saying it now, but he was determined to kick the gloomy mood that had settled over him and just have a bit of fun here tonight before hightailing it outta town in the morning.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty chuckled at Caden’s comment. ‘Course she knew this place better’n he did. This were the saloon she’d grown up in. She knew it pretty well. “My momma runs a tight ship ‘round here. Ever’one ‘round here knows better’n ta mess with my momma.” From what she’d heard from men that came and went, this Saloon weren’t like most.

She took the coin he were holdin’ up, then leaned across the bar ta kiss ‘is cheek. He were real sweet that were for certain. “One whiskey and one Scotch,” she said pullin’ back and busyin’ ‘erself pullin’ out the glasses and fillin’ ‘em. She pushed the whiskey towards Caden and raised ‘er own glass. “To the rest o’ tonight.” Then she downed ‘er scotch in one go. She wanted ta have a good night ‘fore Caden had ta leave and she’d never see ‘im again.

[Deleted]

Caden found it a little unusual, a woman not only running a place, but running a place so well that even the rowdy, greedy men mostly behaved. She must have been some woman, and judging by her daughter he could fully believe that.

“She must be some woman,” he said aloud. “I ain’t been nowhere before you could leave money on the table and it still be there when ya get back. Not a place.”

Giving up the coin, he blushed a little when Dusty kissed his cheek. Sure, she’d given him a proper kiss out on the porch, but he’d been prepared for that, it had been his reward for winning and her way of saying goodbye. Although only a quick kiss, this one was just... because, and somehow that made it mean more.

Taking his whiskey, Caden raised his glass, then proceeded to gawk a little when Dusty downed her drink in one. What a woman.

[Dusty Fae]

It mighta been unusal for a woman ta have the kinda power that Dusty’s momma had, but she had a real head for business and knew how ta run a real good one. Dusty were awful proud of ‘er momma. She’d come a long way from growin’ up as an orphan and then a Saloon girl and single mother. She’d done real well for herself. Dusty grinned at Caden. “She sure is,” she agreed. “She runs this place better’n anyone ever has.”

She caught ‘im gawkin’ at ‘er. Must be that most women didn’t down drinks the way men did. “You gonna drink that or are yah just gonna stare at me?” she teased. She didn’t mind the starin’ really. A lot of men stared at ‘er for different reasons. She’d gotten used to it. She worked in a Saloon after all.

The girls up on stage finished their number and the music stopped. The men cheered and the girls came down off the stage to mingle among the men ta give the piano man a moment ta rest. Dusty quickly poured a glass for ‘im and handed it ta one o’ the girls as they passed by the bar. She’d know ta give it to the piano man. He certainly deserved it.

[Deleted]

It was real sweet how proud Dusty was of her momma. Caden got that. Even though he’d left home and gone a bit wild with himself, deep down he loved his parents dearly; and even though he often regretted his family’s lot in life, one of their own choosing, he couldn’t help but feel a little proud of his own momma for giving up everything she had for love. He only hoped that he’d have the courage to do the same if he ever found himself in the same situation, not that he really had anything to give up.

Looking down at his drink, Caden blinked and nodded a bit quick. “I wasn’t meanin’ ta stare,” he said. Now normally he would just sip on his whiskey, make it last a while, but what kind of man would he look like if he nursed his drink after a woman had just pounded hers back? The kind that got laughed at, that’s what. So screwing up his nerves, Caden downed his own drink in one gulp.

He then proceeded to cough and sputter a bit as the alcohol burned its way down his throat. “Good... stuff...” he choked out.

[Dusty Fae]

Caden…well he just weren’t like the other men here. He didn’t mean ta stare and he downed his drinks and nearly choked. May the good lord help him. Thank heaven he were a sweet man. She’d been in the middle o’ pourin’ other drinks when she heard him sputterin’ and chokin’ and looked up. She almost laughed but instead she pressed the side of ‘er fist to her mouth, smilin’.

“Slow down there, cowboy,” she told ‘im pullin’ ‘er hand away from ‘er mouth. “Yah ain’t gotta drink it like that. Take your time. Don’t choke.” She poured ‘im another glass. “Slow down this time. It’s all right.” He sure were sweet, but maybe he weren’t the brightest man she’d ever met. He probably just needed some guidance along the way and he’d be fine. She had ta stop thinkin’ that she could look after ‘im if’n she’d go with ‘im. That wouldn’t ever happen. She were just another Saloon girl. She weren’t any different than the others. He’d never want her to come along too.

[Deleted]

If he thought he couldn’t be any more embarrassed after everything else that had already happened tonight, he had been dead wrong. He would have been better off sipping his drink like a girl than what had become of his attempt to shoot it. And now Dusty was practically laughing and treating him like some silly child. Dang it, this was not what he had been going for.

“Thanks,” Caden muttered as she poured him another drink. Taking a small sip this time, he slumped slightly in his seat as he let his eyes rove around the bar. Only the people nearest to him had noticed, and they had already lost interest in him. With so many pretty girls around to catch their attention it was no wonder.

Too bad there was only one pretty girl here that Caden couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of, and he was well on his way to making her think he was a complete idiot by now. “I ain’t usually like this,” he said more to himself than to her. It was mostly true. Normally he was more focused on the cards than the women like her, and by the time he lost all his money and was ready to turn his attention elsewhere, the girls wanted nothing to do with some penniless kid.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty didn’t mean to embarrass anybody, ‘specially not Caden. He were so sweet and nice, but he were full o’ pride. A man’s pride made ‘im do a lotta stupid things. Men always thought that they had ta meet ridiculous standards. It weren’t like anyone cared anyhow. The other men didn’t care much. They had other things on their minds.

“I know,” she told Caden with a soft smile. She was gonna say somethin’ else but someone called ‘er name and she turned to face the mildly drunk man at the bar. His name her Charles and he were real nice man. He had a farm in the area. She smiled at ‘im.

“Miss Dusty, how come a pretty young thing like you aint married yet?”

This were a question that she got asked real often. “Well I guess I ain’t found a man I liked well enough ta marry,” she told ‘im wipin’ down the bar at the same time.

“Well, I’ll marry you, Miss Dusty,” Charles offered.

Dusty put ‘er hands on her hips. “Why Charles, you already got a wife,” she scolded playfully. Then she turned to the man sittin’ next to ‘im and pointed a finger at ‘im mock accusingly. “And you got a wife too, so don’t you be askin’ neither.” Then she turned back ta pourin’ drinks, hopin’ no one else were gonna ask any other silly questions.