Page 18 of Mrs. Victoria Buys A Brothel

C hapter 18

Earl Stanton

She froze in pure fear.

Everyone turned to the man standing near the door. There was nothing special about him. He was of medium build, neither handsome nor ugly. His hair was almost completely grey, his clothes were of good quality. He did seem a bit posh and out of place among the cowboys.

“Her name is Victoria Stanton ,” he spat. “My wife, who ran away to become a whore!”

Victoria was shaking. The only thing keeping her upright was Paul’s hand.

She felt the crowd slowly turn back and stare at her.

“See here,” said the Sheriff, “there’s no need to make a scene, Stanton…”

“I’ll fucking make a scene when I find my fucking wife showing off her fucking cunt!” He turned back to Victoria. “How dare you? You’re a mother! You disgraced our good name—”

“You’re the disgrace!” shouted back Consuelo. “We all saw what she looked like when she arrived here!”

“Shut up, whore, I’m not talking to you.”

“Her arm was broken!” she shouted back. “Her face was just a big, black bruise! Ask anyone in town!”

“Consuelo,” whimpered Victoria. “No, don’t make him angry…”

Lisette reached up. “Come on, climb down,” she said, gently.

She could not move.

Earl had turned to the Sheriff once again. “Tell your men to stand down, I’m taking her back.”

The Deputy and several other men had their hands on their holsters.

“No one is leaving if they don’t want to,” said the Sheriff.

“She’s my fucking property, you have to respect the law!”

“Maybe in Utah, but this here is the beautiful territory of Wyoming, Stanton. Mrs.Montgomery is a respected member of this town, and no one’s taking her anywhere.”

“Her name is Stanton , we’re married—”

“That’s your word, though,” he said. “Mrs.Montgomery? Do you know this man?”

Deep inside, she could understand the out the Sheriff was giving her. She could simply say no, and everything would be over. He would be chased out of town and she would be left alone, to live her life.

But she could not move. She could not talk.

“Enough!” snapped Earl. “You’re coming back home, now!” He stepped towards the bar.

She jerked back, instinctively, and one of her ankles twisted. She screamed and lost equilibrium. Paul pulled strongly on her arm, the bad one, and it flared in pain. But she fell forward instead, into his arms, and the arms of half a dozen of her admirers.

She was put back on her feet, shaking.

Earl was still advancing. “You dirty whore, you’re coming home with me right now—”

“No, please,” she shook her head, tearing up. “No—”

Paul stepped in his way. “You’re being rude.”

Earl looked furiously around. There seemed to be no sympathy in the crowd.

“Stanton,” said the Sheriff, “she doesn’t want to go. Just leave my town.”

“Not without her!”

“You’re causing a disturbance. A night in the drunk tank should make you think. We’ll escort you out tomorrow. Mr. Mason?”

Paul grabbed Earl Stanton by the collar and brought him out by force. He yelled the entire way to the jail.

Before Victoria could recover, she was herded to the kitchen by the girls. She was soon crushed in a three-way embrace, all of them talking at the same time. The familiarity of it brought her back.

“I… I’m okay,” she mumbled. “I’m okay.”

“You’re not,” whispered Lisette against her shoulder. “That’s alright too.”

“That was the jerk?” asked Siobhan. “I thought he’d be taller.”

“That’s not the point,” said Consuelo.

“Still, I could take him in a fight. Lisette could.”

“I would kick his ass,” nodded Lisette.

Her language brought out a laugh out of Victoria. She gathered her composure back.

“It’s alright, he’s behind bars right now,” said Consuelo. “And tomorrow, he’ll be gone. You won’t have to face him alone, now. You’ve got us.”

“And all of the cowboys in Wyoming, apparently,” added Siobhan. “What have you done to those guys?”

“They want to call me mommy,” she sobbed, half-hysterical.

“Yeah, some of them do that,” said Consuelo, fixing Victoria’s hair.

There was a long moment where they just breathed. On the other side of the door, the saloon was emptying.

“Can today be over?” yawned Siobhan. “Too much work, too much drama. I just want to go to bed.”

“There’s still lots to do,” said Consuelo. “We need to clean, put the tables back, and…”

“Tomorrow, please .”

“Well, at the very least we need to go to the bank. We can’t leave all this money here overnight.”

They went back. Paul and the Sheriff were waiting at the bar.

“He’s locked up for tonight, got Rogers watching him,” said the Sheriff, gruffly. “You can sleep easy, Mrs.Montgomery.”

Victoria shook her head. She would never be able to sleep again.

They were escorted to the bank. The street was empty, the men having crawled back to their camp. The bank clerk, annoyed at being woken so late, let them deposit everything in the safe and shooed them out.

Victoria could not stop staring at the Sheriff’s office, next door. Earl was in there, at that very moment. He was in Swainsburg.

Consuelo gently grabbed her by the shoulders and walked her back to the brothel.

The place was a disaster. They would need days to put everything back in order.

Victoria figured she should change and go to bed. There was mass the following morning, after all. But she found she could not move from her spot.

“Fuck all that,” said Siobhan. “Let’s get drunk.”

“Yes,” said Consuelo, locking the front doors. “I’ve been drinking lemonade all night; I can’t stand it anymore. Barkeep, pour us some shots.”

Victoria moved by pure reflex, but was stopped with a gentle hand on her arm.

“Not you,” said Consuelo. “Siobhan?”

“On it.”

Victoria grabbed her glass and gulped it down. The fire was welcome, it pierced through the fear and brought her slightly back to reality. When she stopped blinking, she found their eyes on her.

“Talk to us,” said Consuelo.

“He knows where I am,” she whispered, pouring herself another shot. “I’m not safe here, not anymore.”

“Are you going to leave?” asked Lisette.

She shrugged. Drank.

Consuelo coughed to divert the conversation. “Can’t believe we have to go to church tomorrow. And then work some more. I think I’m going to take a page off your book, Siobhan, just lie there and wait for them to be done.”

“I keep telling you.”

“They’re going to be sad if you don’t spank them a little bit,” said Lisette.

“Alright, a little bit,” she chuckled. “Paul made me a wooden paddle, with my name carved on it.”

Siobhan thought for a moment. “So you can smack your name on their asses?”

“He’s very imaginative,” she said with a soft smile.

Lisette looked uncomfortable. “I think there’s some pie left.” She disappeared in the kitchen.

The other two turned to Victoria, who simply shook her head. This was not her story to tell.

Consuelo frowned. “Is this about Dav—”

There was a muffled scream in the kitchen. The door opened and Earl Stanton stepped out, twisting Lisette’s arm behind her back, holding a gun to her temple.

“Not a sound,” he said. “You move, you yell, you call for help, and I blow her pretty brains off. Understood?”

Victoria covered her mouth to keep the terrified scream inside. No.

“You two, behind the bar, and shut up. I’m here to talk to my wife and I don’t want interruptions.”

He twisted Lisette’s arm further, and she whimpered. Consuelo and Siobhan nodded, frightened.

Earl turned to Victoria. “Evening, my wife.”

She stepped back, shaking. No.

“Shame we didn’t have time to catch up, earlier. It’s been a while.”

When she did not answer, he shook Lisette, who bit off a scream. “Don’t you have anything to say for yourself? Talk!”

“Please,” whispered Victoria. “Please let her go.”

“No, no, I won’t do that. I’m not letting you run away again.”

She said nothing.

“You left ,” he hissed. “You left me, you left our home, you left your responsibilities as a wife! You ran away to some godforsaken town in the middle of nowhere, to become a whore!” He spat on the floor. “How do you think this makes me look? People have been asking where you are! I can’t tell them you’re a fucking prostitute, now, can I? I worked hard for my reputation, and here you are, shitting all over it!”

Lisette whimpered, and he seemed to remember her existence. He sat her down forcefully on the nearest chair and placed the gun against her head, among her impeccably coiffed ringlets.

“Please,” begged Victoria, her voice shaking. “Please don’t hurt her. I’ll do anything you want.”

“Is that what you tell the other men who fuck you?”

“I don’t— I don’t do that. I just manage the building—”

“Don’t lie to me! Dressed like that, lifting your dress for everyone to see? Don’t make fun of me!” He waved the gun around. “This is what you left me for?” He put it back against Lisette’s head. “This hovel? You had everything! I provided for you, you never wanted for anything! And you left, in the middle of the night, without even a word! Why the fuck would you leave?”

“You know why,” she whispered. “You hurt me.”

“That? Just that? Are you fucking kidding me? You deserved it, you made me look bad in front of important people.”

“Not only that time.”

“Are you still on that? I apologized every time, didn’t I? You said you forgave me. Were you lying?”

“I wasn’t— I wasn’t—”

“You think you’re the only wife that gets punished in this country? You think you’re special? That you don’t deserve everything I gave you? The other wives take it and they stay loyal! You’re so fucking pathetic.” He sneered. “I kept you when you got old, when you got fat. Even though you talked back, and didn’t deserve my patience.”

“Earl, please, let her go. We can talk. I won’t make you mad, I promise.”

“I even kept you when you couldn’t give me an heir worth shit,” he sneered. Victoria whimpered. “He was too much like you, he didn’t have any respect for his father. You let him go, and now you don’t even know where he is. You even left your own son. What kind of mother are you?”

“Do— do you know where he is?” she gasped.

“You think I would tell you if I knew? You want him to know his mother is a whore?”

“Earl, please, I need to know!” She stepped forward, desperate.

“Stand back!” he shouted, pushing on Lisette’s head with the gun. “Or I’m going to blow her fucking head off!”

Victoria jumped back; hands raised. He caught his breath. “Henry doesn’t have to know. No one in Salt Lake needs to know. You can come back and be the good fucking wife you should have been all along. Obedient. Silent.”

“Earl, please, just let her go—”

“I’m going to lock you up and you won’t ever dream of running away. I had to trace your fucking jewels to find you, I can find you again.”

“What—”

“I know everyone ,” he hissed. “The bankers, the lawyers, the politicians. I can buy anyone, just like I did right now. The deputy just let me walk out. There’s nowhere you can hide from me.”

He breathed loudly, in the silence of the night. His face went from rage to a placid, almost amicable expression.

“I can be forgiving. You can cover yourself and come home with me. We can say you were visiting relatives. No one needs to know about this. It can all go back to normal.”

Victoria wanted to throw up.

“What do you say?”

“Will you let her go? If I say yes, will you spare them?”

“I don’t care for some common whores. They can live if you come with me. Now.”

Victoria looked at Lisette. She was crying silently, her face twisted in terror.

“I… I will.”

“That wasn’t so hard, see? Go get changed. I can’t stand to see you like this.”

“Victoria,” said Consuelo from behind the bar. “Your clothes are in my room.”

Earl turned to her. “I thought I fucking told you to be quiet, cunt.”

Victoria raised her arms. “It’s alright, she was just reminding me. I’ll go change.”

Victoria had changed in Consuelo’s room. That was where she had left her clothes and Sebastian Díaz’s gun.

She walked back to the stairs, keeping him in sight. She climbed the four steps and reached the landing, when he stopped her.

“Wait.”

He pointed his gun at the general direction of the bar, not even looking at Consuelo and Siobhan. He walked up to her.

“I’ll get changed, just like you said,” she tried.

“I’m going with you.”

“It’s fine, I don’t need help—”

“Of course you don’t need help to take off your clothes,” he sneered. “How much did you charge them?”

“I told you, I don’t—”

“You think I’m going to believe you, after what I’ve seen tonight? You want me to believe half the country hasn’t fucked my wife ?”

“I swear I haven’t—”

“Go up.”

“What?”

“Climb those fucking stairs!” he spat. “Get your fat ass on a bed and prove to me that you’re still MY WIFE!”

“No, please— We can leave, I’ll just get changed—”

He struck her. The girls, downstairs, reacted, but he pointed his gun at them. “Not a noise. Stay out of this.”

Victoria covered her mouth with a hand. The white glove got stained with blood.

Before she could react, he grabbed her bad arm and twisted it until she fell to her knees. The pain brought tears to her eyes.

“No, please!”

“I don’t like to do that, but you leave me no choice,” he said through gritted teeth, pulling painfully at her arm. “You don’t listen. I give you simple instructions, and you keep arguing, you lazy, ugly, sack of—”

It only took a moment of distraction. While he was looking at her, the gun wavered away from the girls. In a single, swift movement, Consuelo grabbed a shot glass and threw it. It hit him right on the temple, near his eye.

He screamed in pain and folded in two.

Victoria made a grab for the gun. She gripped the handle and tried to take it from him, but he was stronger. He snatched it back and pointed it at the girls.

“You fucking dirty cunts!”

Victoria spat on his face. He turned around, furious. “How dare you…?”

He released her arm to strike her again, but she twisted away and ran up the stairs.

“Fucking pig!” he ran after her. “I’ll make you regret—”

He grabbed the lace at the bottom of her skirt and pulled. Victoria pulled back, ripping off the seams, and ran up.

She would not have the time to get the gun in Consuelo’s room.

She reached the second floor and turned around.

It was instinct, at this point. She had practised that kick for weeks. It felt completely natural to simply strike up. A perfect cancan kick.

She hit him square in the face.

He fell back in an almost graceful arc. Time seemed suspended for a moment. He fell back, on the stairs, and landed on his neck.

He stayed there, unmoving. The silence stretched.

Consuelo was the first to move. She ran from the bar and took his gun away, pointing it at him.

“Victoria, go get the shackles near my bed.”

Victoria could not move. She could only stare at her husband. So still.

“I don’t think we’re going to need them,” said Siobhan in a small voice.

“I don’t want to take chances. Someone check if he’s still alive.”

Victoria watched absently while Siobhan searched for a pulse. She found nothing.

“Lisette, are you okay?” called Consuelo. Lisette nodded shakily from her chair. “Victoria? Victoria, we need you to snap out of it. We need to do something about this.”

When Victoria still said nothing, Consuelo grew impatient. “Come on, what do we do? Do we call the Sheriff?”

“Are you insane?” blurted Siobhan. “There’s a dead body in our home! We’re going to jail, for this!”

“We can explain,” tried Consuelo, unsure.

“How can you be so stupid? You think they’ll be nice and understanding with an Irish and a Mexican whore? They’re going to blame us, no matter what we say!”

A whimper came from the other side of the room. Lisette stared back; her eyes huge. “David was seen around, earlier tonight!”

They stared in silence.

“Victoria, what do we do?” asked Consuelo. Victoria realized, at that moment, that she was still very young.

They were all so young. Barely adults.

That seemed to bring her back from the shock. “We tell no one,” she said, climbing down slowly. “He was supposed to be in jail. If no one knows he came back, it can’t be traced back to us.”

“What do you want to do, bury him in the backyard?” asked Siobhan.

“No, we go farther. We can—” She closed her eyes. “We can bury him near the stream. There’s a patch of softer land, without crops.”

“…Near Mrs.Díaz” property?” asked Consuelo.

Victoria nodded, feeling horrible. On that wonderful afternoon, they had ridden the horses to the stream. It felt strange to remember that day.

“We’re going to need shovels.”

“She has a couple of them in the shed, out back,” said Victoria, not believing her own words. “We can borrow them, do it quick, put them back.”

Consuelo nodded, a bit jerkily. “Alright. That’s a plan. Okay. We need— Let me think. We’re taking Doctor Sampleton’s cart. Siobhan, go check if that, err,” she pointed at the body, “if that jerk left his horse nearby. Lisette, bring a blanket, the biggest you can find. Victoria, come on, we need to get him off the stairs.”

Victoria grabbed him by the armpits. He was still warm. He felt strange, and small, like this.

They could not lift him, so they mostly slid him down the remaining steps. With Lisette’s help, they rolled him in a flower-patterned bedspread from Victoria’s bed.

Siobhan came back and started filling a crate with whisky bottles. “You were right, the horse was tied in the backyard. The Doctor’s cart is ready. But there’s still the cowboy camp, out there.”

“What are you doing?” asked Lisette, panting from the effort of moving the body.

“If anyone asks, we’re getting drunk elsewhere.”

“We need to leave,” pressed Consuelo.

“Can we change, at least?” asked Lisette.

“No time, just the shoes. Come on, everyone, hurry!”

It took a minute to change into everyday boots. Siobhan carried the whisky and the three of them grabbed the fabric and pulled the body across the saloon floor, through the kitchen, then the back door.

They lit off all the lights, leaving them in darkness. The carriage was almost invisible against the night. A mile away shone the lights of the cowboy camp, where some of them were still partying.

It took the four of them to lift the body in the carriage. They pushed him against the side, placed the whisky crate next to him.

“Maybe if we sit on him,” suggested Siobhan.

“Get on, I’ll drive,” said Consuelo.

They climbed aboard and sat awkwardly, a mountain of frills and delicate lace. Consuelo gently guided the horse out of the alley. The main street looked deserted. They turned and drove off.

“Hey!” came a voice behind them.

Sheriff Buckley was walking towards them, holding a lamp.

“What do we do?” whispered Consuelo frantically. “We run?”

“If we run, we can’t ever come back,” whispered back Siobhan.

“Hide him, hide him!” said Lisette.

She and Victoria sat on the body, covering it with their skirts. The Sheriff reached them and raised the lamp.

“Ladies? Where are you going, so late at night?

“Hello again, Sheriff Buckley,” said Lisette with her sweetest voice. “We’re celebrating!”

Siobhan drank directly from a bottle to prove her point.

Victoria forced herself to smile indulgently. “The girls wanted to party. I don’t know where they find the energy.”

“But where in hell are you going?”

“To Mrs.Díaz’s house,” she blurted. “I don’t trust these cowboys to leave us alone tonight. If my girls want to get drunk, I’d rather keep them away from these ruffians. And to be honest, I rather dislike the idea of being there when my husband gets released.”

She tried to read his expression. Supposedly, Deputy Rogers was the one who had released Earl, but she had no idea if the Sheriff had participated, or even noticed.

“Fair,” he said, his expression revealing nothing. “But all dressed up like that?”

“Don’t you think we’re pretty, Sheriff?” asked Lisette, batting her huge eyes.

“Why, yes, of course. Pretty as a summer day, Miss Lisette.”

“Sheriff Buckley, you’re a sweet-talker!” she beamed.

He chuckled. “Mercy, don’t turn the charm on. Do you ladies need an escort?”

“We’ll be alright, Sheriff,” Victoria smiled. “I’d feel safer if you stayed to make sure my husband leaves town, tomorrow.”

The Sheriff looked at her for a moment too long. “Alright, you be safe, now.”

“Goodnight, Sheriff!” waved Lisette.

Consuelo started the cart once more, and they softly left town. The road stretched in front of them, dark and silent.

When they were far enough, Siobhan let out her breath. “Fucking hell, Lisette. You could charm an angry bear.”

“I was so scared!” she whispered back. “Hand me that bottle, I need to calm my nerves.”

They moved off the corpse and cuddled at the other side of the chariot.

“You think the Sheriff let that jerk go?” asked Siobhan, kicking the body.

“Maybe,” said Consuelo. “Maybe it’s just Deputy Rogers. We can’t trust either of them, anyway.”

Victoria could not stop staring at the pale shape of her husband. Her eyes were getting used to the dark, she could see the flowers on the bedspread.

“I can’t believe it’s him, in there,” she whispered. “He looks so small.”

Lisette handed her the bottle, and she drank. The fire pushed back the wave of feelings menacing to overwhelm her.

She had killed her husband.

She needed to stop thinking.

She drank more.

“Victoria,” said Consuelo, from the front. “I hate to say this, but you incriminated Mrs.Díaz.”

“I know,” she whispered. She could not think about the guilt, either.

“We can’t bury him on her grounds.”

“No. We need to go further,” said Victoria. “We can still borrow her shovels. The shed is far enough from the house, she won’t hear us.”

They reached Natane’s land. Consuelo turned left, blindly following Victoria’s directions. They stopped near the shed and Victoria climbed off to open the door.

“Hurry,” she whispered.

“It’s pitch black,” said Siobhan. “How do you expect us to find anything in—”

Loud barks broke the silence of the night.

Two enormous shapes ran towards her. The dogs jumped at Victoria, trying to lick her face.

“Oh no!” She pushed them away. “Down! Guapo! Feo! Get down! Hush!”

Lisette placed a hand on her heart. “Oh my God, I thought they were going to kill us.”

The back door of the house opened. “Who’s there?” shouted Natane.

Relief and terror submerged Victoria. “Natane, it’s me! Please don’t shoot!”

“…Victoria?”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Please, ignore this, go back inside, I promise I’ll keep you out of this mess, but please, we need to borrow your shovels…”

Natane walked up to them, only wearing her nightgown and boots, rifle in hand. She saw them, still in their pretty dresses and holding shovels.

“Victoria, what happened?”

“Nothing! I can’t tell you; you can’t know. Please, go back inside.”

“What? Of course I won’t. Just tell me what happened.”

Victoria felt like crying. This was too much.

“I… My husband. He came here tonight. He… He’s dead.”

Natane gasped. Before she could ask anything, Siobhan tapped the chariot. “We got his body right here. Victoria kicked him down the stairs. It was kind of beautiful, to be honest.”

Natane took a moment to process everything. Victoria pressed the heels of her hands in her eyes. “This is my fault, but no one is going to believe it. Not when they could blame Siobhan, or Consuelo, or David. We need to hide it.”

“We just need to borrow the shovels,” added Consuelo. “We’ll be out of your hair in a moment.”

“You can go back to bed,” reassured Victoria.

“Are you insane? Victoria, do you really think I’m letting you leave like this?”

“But… I thought you were mad at me!” She blurted. “I haven’t seen you in so long!”

“I’m not mad, I’m— this is not the time. Give me a moment, I’ll get dressed. Don’t leave without me.”

She walked back inside. Victoria held herself, on the verge of tears from the guilt of mixing Natane to all this.

“So she gets to change,” muttered Lisette, trying to stop the dogs from licking her face.

Natane came back with her horses. Victoria saddled Sir Isaac Newton, the movements automatic. She climbed up, not even thinking about the indecency of riding in a short dress. There was a ringing in her ears.

“Leave the shovels,” said Natane. “We don’t have the time to dig a hole deep enough before sunrise. We need to drop the body somewhere. I know a spot.”

They rode off. Natane opened the march, Victoria next to her.

“Are you okay?”

No , wanted to say Victoria. Nothing was alright. Her worlds had violently collided. Her safe haven had been breached, her husband had found her, he had pointed a gun at the girls. She was seeing Natane for the first time in weeks. Riding together was supposed to be joyful. She had killed Earl. The juxtaposition was eating her inside. Her arm hurt.

“Yes,” she said. “Let’s just get this done.”

They rode for an hour, until the terrain changed from a grassy plain to rocky outcrops. It became harder to see the path, even in the moonlight, so they climbed down and led the horses on foot. Natane turned right and guided them carefully.

“Watch your step, the terrain is full of cracks. There’s a small ravine, over there, we can throw him. No one but my mother’s people come so far from the road, and they won’t care for a dead Englishman in a ditch.”

They stopped and took the time to breathe. In the light of the moon, there was the darker shape of the ravine ahead of them. “Don’t come any closer,” said Natane.

Consuelo made grabby hands for the bottle and chugged several gulps. “Let’s dump this fucker down a ravine,” she said, handing the bottle back.

They all drank, and then they pulled the body to the floor and unrolled him.

“Take his stuff,” said Siobhan. “Make it look like thieves.”

The girls removed everything they could from him: money, cufflinks, shoes, surcoat. Victoria could only stare at her husband’s unmoving face.

Natane handed her the bottle, and she drank, and drank. The thing inside of her was not quieted.

“I was so scared,” she whispered to Natane. “All the time. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t scared.”

“It’s over, now.”

She nodded.

The girls pulled the body near the ravine. “Do you want to do the honours?” asked Consuelo.

Victoria walked up to him, feeling detached from reality. Here she was, in her pretty wedding dress, in the middle of the night, about to…

She stopped above him. How small he looked, like that.

With her foot, she pushed him over the edge. And down he fell.

The girls cheered at the sound of the body hitting the bottom. Consuelo opened another bottle to celebrate. Victoria drank from hers, feeling the something inside her grow, and grow.

She sobbed.

“I’m free,” she whispered.

She burst out laughing and the girls laughed with her. She felt heady with exhaustion, relief, and a million emotions she could not begin to describe. She was crying.

“To Victoria!” shouted Siobhan, raising the bottle.

“The best cancan dancer in the country!” said Lisette, wiping her own tears.

Victoria laughed and cried at the same time. Natane placed a hand on her shoulder, and Victoria threw herself in her arms and squeezed. She could get drunk just with this.

“I’m free,” she cried in Natane’s shoulder. “I’m finally free.”

Natane held her close, placing a hand on her hair, making gentle shushing noises.

This was too much. Victoria was drowning. The something inside her roared, demanded to be set free. She was delirious with feeling.

Shaking, she raised her head and, through her tears, saw Natane’s face, beautiful in the moonlight.

Without thinking, Victoria kissed her.

Her heart roared. Yes , it howled. Everything clicked into place, the world burned bright.

A gasp.

Natane stepped back, her face horrified. Near them, the girls were staring.

Victoria blinked, her head swimming. “I—”

Natane took another step back. No. “Victoria, you’re drunk.” Her voice trembled.

No , she wanted to say. This is something else . This is what she had been looking for.

But she could not find the words.

After a moment, Consuelo coughed. “We need to get back. It’s almost sunrise.”

Lisette gently took Victoria’s arm and led her to the chariot. She sat her down and covered her shoulders with the bedspread. “I’m sorry, I know it’s all dirty, but you’re shaking.”

It felt like a dream. Lisette held her close while the others dealt with her mess. They released Earl’s horse to the wild and harnessed Sir Isaac Newton instead. Siobhan sat at the front with Consuelo, neither of them looking at Victoria.

Natane took the lead, and did not say anything.

They rode in silence. They reached the town before the rooster’s call.

Siobhan was the first to break the silence. “I can’t believe we have to go to church, now. I’m dead on my feet.”

“We need to keep up appearances,” said Consuelo. “We can’t all skip.”

“Victoria is in no state,” whispered Lisette from the back of the cart.

“People know what happened yesterday. They’ve all seen her husband, they’ll understand if she’s not there. But we need to go.”

“Can she even go to mass, now?” whispered Siobhan. Then, glancing sideways at Natane. “I mean. Not the,” she made a gesture over her mouth. “You know. I was talking about the other thing.” she mimed pushing a body off a cliff. “You know what I mean.”

“We don’t,” hissed Consuelo. “Keep your mouth shut. Mrs.Díaz? Thank you.”

Natane said nothing.

They left the chariot back in the alley between the brothel and the Doctor’s house. Natane unbuckled the harness. Victoria wanted to say something, anything, but the sound was too loud in her head.

Lisette led her inside, and the moment had passed.

“Let me help with the buttons,” she whispered. Victoria let herself be moved around. Soon, she was wearing her nightgown and was gently pushed on the bed.

“We need to find you a new blanket,” she said, covering Victoria with a sheet. “But the night is warm, you’ll be alright for now.”

Victoria did not answer. She was asleep.