know that this newspaper is a member in good standing of the Associated Press and because of that, we receive news articles such as the one you mentioned on a daily basis.”
“I see.”
“Why the particular interest in that article?”
“One of the boats is named after her,” Nabors said.
“Indeed?”
“Not exactly,” Minnie said. “But close enough that it got my attention.”
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed the story. I pay a fortune for the service, and one never knows if the stories I print from the Associated Press are even noticed by readers. I am pleased to see that they are.” With a final wave, Cutler left the saloon.
“Now, all we have to do is come up with a diversion of some sort,” Nabors said after Cutler left.
Nabors and Doc Baker began discussing ideas as to how to get the sheriff and all his deputies away from the jail, but Minnie wasn’t listening. Minnie had drifted off to another time, and another place. She was remembering St. Louis two years ago.
Minnie’s mother had died when she was eighteen. Three months later, her father shocked all of St. Louis society when he married a young girl who was not only the same age as Minnie, but who had been one of Minnie’s high school classmates. She had graduated with Minnie, the graduation taking place just one month before she married Minnie’s father.
The person everyone in Cloverdale knew as Minnie Lou Smith was not, as so many of the soiled doves, a young woman driven to the profession by a state of destitution. On the contrary, the young woman everyone knew as Minnie Lou Smith had come from one of the most affluent backgrounds in America. Her real name was Minnie Kay Culpepper, and her father, Thaddeus Culpepper, was owner of the Culpepper River Boat Company. Thaddeus Culpepper was a millionaire many times over.
“Minnie, I would like for you to meet your new mother,” Thaddeus said, introducing his daughter to his new wife.
Standing beside him was Kristina Dawn Turner. Kristina Dawn and Minnie Kay had known each other for many years, and had long been adversaries, sometimes rivals for the attention of a young man, other times competitors in academic or athletic projects. Until the moment of her father’s announcement, she had no idea that there was any kind of a relationship between Kristina and her father.
Her mother had only been dead for three months. How long had this relationship been going on? How could her father marry this person?
“Kristina is not my mother.”
“I am now,” Kristina said with a triumphant smile.
Minnie was shocked that her father had so dishonored her mother, and she wondered how he could have so betrayed her.
There was no doubt in Minnie’s mind but that Kristina had married her father for his money. In fact, Kristina did not deny it when Minnie made that accusation.
“Tell your father that and see which one of us he believes,” Kristina said with a malevolent smile.
“Be gone with you, girl!” Thaddeus Culpepper had said when Minnie indeed made the accusation against Kristina. “She is my wife, and more than that, she is your stepmother. You will honor her as you honored your own mother, and I will not listen to any more such scurrilous accusations.”
“But Father, you must listen to me. This marriage isn’t right,” Minnie insisted.
“Minnie, if you cannot find it in your heart to accept this young woman who I love as a part of this family, then I will have no choice but to expel you from the family,” Thaddeus said harshly.
Minnie gasped. She had no idea her father would ever consider such a thing.
Then, the longer Minnie thought about it, the more determined she was to deny him the opportunity to ever expel her from the family. She decided to expel herself. A week after that conversation, Minnie left home, taking a night train out of St. Louis. She had no particular destination in mind, but after a series of train rides, she stopped when the last train she boarded reached the end of track in Cloverdale, Nevada.
She had met Janet Farrell on that trip down from Battle Mountain, and Janet introduced her to Nate Nabors and “the life,” as Janet called it. She lost her virginity the first night she went to work, but given everything else that had happened to her, that was almost insignificant. She had not been in touch with her father in the two years since she left St. Louis. She had no wish to be in touch with him now, because she did not want to give Kristina the satisfaction of knowing that she had become a whore.
“I’ve got it!” Nate Nabors said, pounding his fist in his hand. His loud outburst summoned Minnie back from her memories.
“You’ve got what?” she asked.
“Haven’t you been paying attention, Minnie? I’ve got the solution to our problem. I know what kind of diversion to create in order to get the sheriff and his deputies away from the jail.”
Although Minnie wouldn’t admit it, she had been so lost in her memories that she had not been paying attention. She had to regather her thoughts to know what he was even talking about.
“What is the idea?” she asked.
“There needs to be a fight,” Nabors said. “And it can’t be just any fight. It has to be a fight that will get the whole town to come watch.”
“Who are you going to get to fight that would draw the entire town to watch?” Doc said. “Hell, Nate, you know as well as I do that drunks get into fights every day without anyone paying the least bit of attention.”
“Yes, but this won’t just be a couple of drunks,” Nabors said. “And I guarantee you that folks will come to watch these two fight.”
“All right, now you have me interested. Who is going to fight?”
