Buffalo Girls by Larry McMurtry Page B

reassured that No Ears was still around. If he wandered off and died—or if he just wandered off and left her—she knew she was going to be very afraid.
    â€œIt’s the talk of the Territory,” Blue said. “I prefer to stay in camp and trim my toenails on days when the snow’s blowing. I got my directions mixed once in one of them blows and was in the middle of Canada before I noticed my mistake. I had a hell of a time getting the cattle back, too,” he added.
    â€œYes, but you deserve trouble,” Calamity said. “I don’t.”
    Blue was far too nonchalant to bat an eye at her remark. Though his nonchalance was what made him so appealing, there were times when he overdid it. This was one of the times—she felt like kicking him in the kneecaps.
    â€œNow what would tempt you to say a wild thing like that?” Blue asked. “Who’s that dwarf over there?”
    Doc Ramses had just walked through the swinging doors. If he had been a few inches shorter he could have walked under them. As usual he wore his yellow tie with the big stickpin in it.
    Fred, who was perched at the head of the banister, had taken a fancy to Doc Ramses. He walked down the banister and squawked until the Doc came over and offered him an arm to perch on.
    â€œHe’s a fortune-teller,” Calamity said. “He works with Billy Cody. They say he’s even told the fortune of the Queen of England.”
    â€œI bet he made up some pretty lies that time,” Blue said. “TheQueen of England could chop your head off if you gave her a bad fortune.”
    â€œBilly’s been courting Dora,” Calamity informed him. “He brings her champagne once or twice a day. I bet he’d bring her bouquets, too, if he could find one in Miles City in the winter.”
    â€œI seen that dwarf before,” Blue said. “I just can’t think where. I expect he’s a train robber or something.”
    â€œYou’re going to be mighty annoyed when Dora marries Billy,” Calamity said. “You’ll lope into town one day and find she’s gone to China or somewhere.”
    â€œWhy, Dora wouldn’t marry that rooster,” Blue said.
    â€œWhat makes you think she won’t?” Calamity asked.
    â€œWell, what if she didn’t like China?” Blue said. “She’d be stuck.”
    â€œYou’re married—are you stuck?”
    â€œI’m bogged, but I ain’t quite stuck yet,” Blue said with his winning grin. He looked up and saw Dora watching them from the head of the stairs.
    â€œThere she is now—she still looks like my girl,” he said.
    Dora had been watching them for some time, trying to fight down her feelings before descending to the saloon. She was not succeeding, though—it was like fighting down a flood. Struggling with the flood left her trembly in the legs, a feeling she hated. T. Blue looked as happy as ever; she wondered sometimes if he could imagine the heartache he caused her, coming and going. Sometimes she began to fear his going almost at the moment of his arrival. Where was the time for joy in such a life?
    And yet, if he never came, would there ever be a time of joy? Or would it all just be the dumps, as Calamity called her low spells? Was it better to be up sometimes than down all the time?
    There were other questions, no less difficult, that she had had to struggle with lately. Billy Cody had been awfully nice—he was dependable, amusing, unfailingly sweet; and he had convinced her that he meant to divorce his wife. Sometimes her heart ached a little for Billy, at the thought of how hard he was trying.It was sad that the one who tried should always fail, while the one who never tried always succeeded. Just the other day Billy had brought her a sled, and they sledded merrily downhill, once almost shooting onto the frozen Yellowstone. He didn’t fail at making her have fun, at least. Sometimes