No, a chance encounter on the street was the thing, and although there would be little "chance" to it, Mr.
Thunder wouldn't know that. She would not let him ignore her again.
She had arrived in her coach just before two o'clock, but since she had sent it away, the curious it had gathered had also departed, so there was nothing to indicate she was ensconced within the millinery shop. The guards were a necessity she could not get rid of, though, six for this outing. They were sta-tioned at the front and rear exits, those in the front room trying to be inconspicuous but failing. They had quite flustered Mrs. Bourland to begin with. She was not accustomed to so many men invading her small shop. Even one at a time was a rarity. But she was ignoring them now as the prospect of such a large order caught her full attention.
With Vanessa stationed at the window to watch for Colt, Jocelyn kept Mrs. Bourland busy with the vast selection of feathers, flowers, colors, and materials available. Never had she been so indecisive in her choices, but then she had no idea how long she would need to stay there. To describe the elaborate European styles she favored in hats accounted for some time, but not enough. Pretending to be unable to make up her mind was going to become quite frustrating for the proprietress, for Jocelyn too, but it was necessary. If Colt didn't show up before closing, however…
"Jocelyn, dear, I think you had better come have a look at this," Vanessa called from the window.
"There seems to be something. unusual about to happen."
Jocelyn joined her at the window, with Addie Bour-land stepping up behind her. She saw immediately what Vanessa meant. Walking slowly but purpose-fully right down the center of the dusty street were four black-garbed gentlemen looking identical with their black Stetsons, thin bow ties, and drooping mus-taches, not to mention an assortment of lethal-looking weapons. Not so finely dressed were the five men in the vacant lot across the street who appeared to be waiting for them.
"Lan' sakes, this is it, the big one!" Addie Bour-land said excitedly.
"The big what?" Jocelyn inquired.
"Showdown," Addie said without taking her eyes off the street. "It's been comin' a long time now."
"Whatever is a showdown?" Vanessa asked the proprietress.
The woman looked at Vanessa strangely for a mo-ment, but then chuckled. "I thought you ladies talked kinda funny. You ain't from around these parts, are ya?" But she didn't wait for an answer. "A show-down's a shoot-out. That's Virgil Earp, our town mar-shal, and his brothers Wyatt and Morgan coming down the street. The one carryin' the shotgun is Doc Holiday, Wyatt's good friend."
"A doctor about to participate in a shooting spree?" Vanessa had never heard of anything quite so unethical.
"He used to be a dentist back East, ma'am. He makes his livin' now at gamblin'. Surprised to see him up and about so early in the day. He's a night owl, that one."
"And the gentlemen who seem to be hiding in wait?"
"Them no-accounts?" Addie snorted. "Rowdy troublemakers, every one of 'em. Thievin' outlaws too.
They're members of the Clanton gang." At Vanessa's blank look, Addie clarified, "Ike and Billy Clanton, Frank and Tom McLaury, and looks like young Billy Claiborne's with 'em today. You must notVe been in town long if you ain't heard tell of the Clanton bunch. They're arch enemies of the Earps."
"Actually, we only arrived yesterday afternoon. But if, as you say, that is an official of the law out there, why should there be a showdown, as you called it?
Isn't it more logical to assume the marshal just in-tends to arrest those men?"
"Oh, he might intend to, probably does intend to, but it don't make no never mind. Those boys across the street wouldn't be waitin' around to get them-selves arrested. Their waitin' there means they're plannin' to shoot it out. I'd stake my shop on it, 'cause like I said, it's been buildin' up to this for a long time now."
Vanessa exchanged a glance with Jocelyn. Neither of them knew whether to take the woman seriously or not. It was true they had never before seen quite so many men sporting weapons on their persons in such a visible manner as here in Tombstone. Everywhere you looked in the town it was the same. But there must be a reason for this, other than to be prepared for a possible "showdown."
The four dark-clad gentlemen had nearly reached the vacant lot. Jocelyn watched in fascination as they pivoted, spreading out in front of it, their backs to the millinery shop. The five men on the lot spread out also in a half circle, facing them. There was a shouted order, something about giving up arms. It was ignored, and before Jocelyn realized what was going to happen next, the shooting began.
She found herself yanked away from the window and nearly shoved to the floor by one of her guards, as were Vanessa and a protesting Addie Bourland. Jocelyn had no thought to protest, not after hearing at least one stray bullet strike the front wall of the shop. The shooting seemed like it would never end, though actually the terrible noise continued for only thirty seconds or so. She was not allowed to rise, however, until one of her men had ascertained that it was truly over.
Addie had worked herself free before then and was back at the window, avidly counting bodies. "Looks like both the McLaurys got it, and young Clanton too. I ought to pity that boy. He couldn't've been more'n sixteen. But his daddy was a bad 'un and raised him bad too, so what can you expect."
Jocelyn didn't expect to be regaled with the gory details. Good Lord, was there really a sixteen-year-old boy dead out there?
"I–I think we should return to our hotel," she suggested in a shaky voice.
"Best wait a bit," Addie replied. "Ike and young Claiborne took off, but you never can tell. At least wait until the Earps leave the scene. They're helpin' Morgan up now. 'Pears to have taken one in the shoulder.
'Pears the marshal and Doc are wounded too, but they're still on their feet, so it can't be serious." She chuckled then. "No, their wounds ain't serious. They're walkin' away and the street's fillin' up with the curious. Think I'll go have a talk with Mr. Fly. Looks like he seen the whole thing up close."
She had forgotten her order, but didn't forget to give poor Sir Dudley a fulminating look for his un-welcome efforts to protect her before she sashayed out of her shop, leaving the door open behind her. The smell of gunsmoke intruded then, making Jocelyn sick to her stomach. Vanessa was positively pale and hold-ing a scented kerchief to her nose.
"I don't know about you, Vana, but I don't care to stay here another moment. Would you mind walking?
It will take too long to fetch the coach."
Their transportation had been sent to wait incon-spicuously around the block on Safford Street, but Vanessa was quick to agree to depart without it. Even one more second there was too long for her. And Jocelyn's guard, ever diligent and attuned to her wishes without being told, was already stepping out of Mrs. Addie Bourland's Millinery Shop to clear a path on the now crowded boardwalk.
It was the sight of those red-coated figures that drew Billy Ewing's attention from across the street. He had been jostled away from where he had stood staring down at the body of his short-time companion, Billy Clanton, bloody from both chest and stomach wounds, and it was all he could do to hold down the lunch he had finished not long ago. He needed a dis-traction, desperately needed it, and the figure he fully expected to see next would provide it, so he wasted no time in crossing the street, and was there when the two ladies joined their guard on the boardwalk.