Title: Black Hills
Pairing: Andy/Miranda
Rating: R
Summary: This story is set in Deadwood, 1877. Andy has to work in the Bella Union Saloon to help out her father. There, she meets the saloon's madam, Miranda Priestly...
Disclaimer: I own nothing... But Belle and Sam Patterson are my own creations :)
Author's note: wow, I'm really ashamed of myself... It's been about 4 months since I last updated. But I have an excuse: I had to study for my entrance exam (which I completed succesfully, yay me! :p I'm going to be a future doctor!!! :D)
But now I'm going to focus more on my fics. Yes, you heard me, 'fics', plural... I'm working on another fic, but I'd like to fcompletely finish it before I post it. It's set in Paris in 1895 and it involves the Moulin Rouge. But I'm in dire need of a beta for that one. This one as well, actually. So if you're interested, just leave message, but I'll also browse the DWP community betalist.

So with my sincerest apologies for my tardiness, here's part five of Black Hills...



Part Five

The first few days after the assault, Andy had a hard time doing her job. It wasn’t as easy to go flirting around as if nothing had ever happened. Her bruises were a constant reminder of that. A big, purple contusion had started to show on her wrist, where her attacker had grabbed her when she’d tried to get away.

But that was the least of her problems. The fact that the left side of her face was all swollen and bruised was quite an impediment to doing her job. Her job description was simple; she had to look good each and every day, she had to be easy on the eyes.

Let’s face it, if you have a black eye and a swollen face, it ain’t good for business.

Putting on a smile had also become a difficulty, which she couldn’t really afford. Her bright, dazzling smile had won her a lot of tip money over the last week, but her split lip didn’t allow that anymore.

Each time she’d try to smile, the wound would burst open again and blood would run down her chin. Not the most attractive sight.

So Tom Miller had decided to put her on ‘cleaning duty’, since she obviously wouldn’t be bringing enough money to the table. Not that Andy was going to complain, she could certainly do a couple of days without male attention. It was also a nice opportunity to catch up with Lily, whom she had barely seen the last couple of days.

Even though she wasn’t around the customers that often (only when someone spilt a drink onto the floor, or something similar), Madam Priestly – no, Miranda – insisted that she took as much care of her appearance as usual. Andy had silently cursed the older woman for it, because scrubbing floors in a corset was complete torture.

But she couldn’t be too angry about Miranda’s insistence, because, even though Andy felt extremely uncomfortable while cleaning, she was also cheery to the point of being annoying.
This had been caused by the new habits the matron had adopted.

The first day after her attack, Andy had been summoned to Miranda’s room. It was then that the silver haired woman had explained that it simply wouldn’t do to have ‘one of her girls’ (Andy could barely contain a smile when she heard the possessive pronoun) walking around with a black eye, even if she was on cleaning duty. She then proceeded, much to Andy’s surprise, to apply make-up on the bruise marring the young woman’s face.

Andy intently watched the matron’s every move, trying to remember every step, because she was certain she would be expected to repeat this everyday on her own. The next day, however, the brunette’s assumptions had been proved wrong...

Like the day before, Andy was asked to come to Miranda’s room, where she was ordered to sit down. Acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary, the matron started to camouflage the bruise marring Andy’s face. The young brunette could only blink in confusion, but after a couple of seconds she decided it wasn’t worth the headache that would follow her incessant brooding. Besides, Miranda’s soft touch somehow made the bruises and cuts feel a lot less painful.

And that’s how the habit of going to Miranda’s room had evolved. Next to the daily, private make-up session, there was another big change that had caught Andy off guard.

It was the second night after the incident. The saloon had cleared out and Andy was still cleaning up the mess some customer had made while being drunk out of his mind.

Suddenly, she heard someone clear their throat. She sat up straight and looked up to meet blue eyes. Miranda was seated on a stool at the bar, her gaze transfixed on Andy’s face.

“Um, hi... How long have you been standing there?” Andy asked nervously.

Miranda’s gaze flicked away. “Not long. I was just making sure you left the bar in a somewhat decent state before you went to bed”, she said with a bored expression on her face.

Andy’s eyes widened in indignation. How dare she! Ever since Andy had been on cleaning duty, the saloon had been spotless. Right when she opened her mouth to give Miranda a piece of her mind, the older woman motioned for her to get up.

“I think that’ll be enough for today. Come and have a drink.”

Andy’s eyes widened again, but this time, it was in delight. A brilliant smile formed as she asked, “A real drink? No sugar water?”

The corners of Miranda’s mouth quirked up in amusement. “Yes, a real drink, Andrea. Now come and sit with me.”

Andy gingerly went to sit on the stool next to the matron and watched as the woman poured out the whiskey. Miranda stared at the brunette as she downed her shot and immediately filled the glass again.

“So, what exactly brought you here, to Deadwood?”, the older woman asked as she nursed her drink.

Andy was sure that if her eyes widened any further, her eyeballs would surely pop out of their sockets. But she still told her story, about the landlord and her father’s financial situation, and how Holden’s proposition had led to her coming to Deadwood. All the while, sapphire blue eyes were intently watching her.

And that’s how the other habit had formed. Every night after closing time, she would sit at the bar, next to the matron and they would talk about inane, trivial things. And now every night, Andy began to look forward to closing time, just so that she could get to spend some time with Miranda.

At first, the younger woman was a bit puzzled as to why Miranda was doing all of this. But then she decided that the matron had to feel very lonely and that she was just looking for someone to talk to, a friend.

 

And that’s how Andy now found herself scrubbing the floors with as much fervour as when she made her rounds in the saloon, trying to get a tip. She’d nearly convinced herself that she did it because she wanted to do her job right, not because she wanted the approval of a certain white haired woman...

Despite being on cleaning duty, Andy still got to spend a lot of time browsing the town. That’s how she came to meet A.W. Merrick, the proprietor of the local newspaper, the Black Hills Pioneer. A bit annoying at times, but a really nice man. He even offered Andy to come work for him in her free time, after she’d revealed to him that she enjoyed writing. And he was the person to go to if you wanted the latest dirt on anyone in Deadwood. He was in the know of nearly everything that went on in the town.

 

That’s why, when the Pinkertons showed up, Andy immediately went to see Merrick.

“Hey, A.W., got any clue as to whom they’re looking for?”, she asked, casually leaning against one of his printers. “Everyone seems to be a bit jumpy right now...”

Merrick shooed her away from his beloved printer and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Well, that’s not all that surprising, considering that nearly everyone in this town is an outlaw.”

Andy shot him a grin. “Well, yeah, there’s that. So, any ideas?”

Merrick furrowed his brow in thought. “Oh, yes, that’s right, they’ve been handing out pamphlets. Apparently they’re looking for a dark haired woman”, he said while handing her the pamphlet.

Andy glanced at the piece of paper. It said: “Wanted: Belle Patterson. Committed 7 train robberies and killed 2 men. Reward: $5000”

Underneath, there was a photo of the woman. Andy’s jaw dropped. She looked just like... No, it couldn’t be her, she’d never do that. Besides, the pamphlet said the outlaw was called Belle.

In the back of her mind, Andy knew that it was most likely that the woman had changed her name, but still, she refused to believe it.

Harriet would never do such a thing.

 

Back at the saloon, she saw Harriet sitting at one of the tables, staring off into space. She walked up behind her and placed a hand on the raven haired woman’s shoulder.

“Holy fucking shit! Andy, God damn it! You scared me half to death!”, she practically screamed after turning sharply towards the brunette.

“I- I’m sorry,” Andy stumbled, “I didn’t mean to scare you...” She hesitantly pulled out the pamphlet. “You know, you’ve got to see this pamphlet, this woman-”

Harriet quickly jumped up and pulled Andy along up the stairs and into their room, where she shoved her onto the bed.

“Listen, you’ve been a great roommate and I really like you, so I guess I owe you the truth”, she said while turning the lock. She turned to face Andy.

“The woman on the pamphlet is me. So you’ve probably figured out that my real name is Belle Patterson”, she sighed and looked out the window when she continued, “I used to be in a gang, along with my husband, Sam. But at the last robbery, everything went wrong... We’d never used any violence, but this time, there were Pinkertons who were already awaiting us on the train. There was a lot of gunfire going on, and at some point, one of the Pinkertons shot Sam right in the head.”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she sniffled. “I was so furious, I just started shooting randomly at the sons of bitches... I didn’t care anymore. That’s how I killed those two men.”

Trembling, she ran her fingers through her hair. “Well, I guess you’re going to hand me over now... But please, let me get a headstart. You at least owe me that.”

Andy put her hand on top of Harriet’s (or Belle’s, whoever she was). “Hey, I’ll keep my mouth shut, don’t you worry. But I guess it’ll be best for you to get out of here as quickly as you can.”

 

Half an hour later, Harriet’s bag was packed and she and Andy had formed a plan. She would ride out to the East and about two hours after her departure, Andy would go to the Pinkertons and tell them that she saw Harriet leave toward the West. That way, if there were still some agents who decided to go East, Harriet would have enough of a headstart to be able to hide somewhere.

When all was said and done, Andy looked over at the empty bed that used to be Harriet’s. Andy and the owners of the saloon had been interrogated about anything Harriet might have said or done, but the interrogation didn’t take too long. Nothing they’d said had been useful.

The night had gone by in a blur, and after her nightly chat with Miranda, she went to bed. But sleep didn’t come to her as quickly as it used to. Missing Harriet’s steady breathing across the room, she stared up at the ceiling. Memories of that fateful night came back to haunt her.

After a lot of tossing and turning, she managed to fall into a fitful sleep.

 

 She was running through one abandoned alley after another. All the while, she could hear a loud panting and the pounding of footsteps right behind her. But every time she turned around to look, she saw nothing. Still looking over her shoulder, she rounded the corner, when she bumped into someone.
The foul stench of sweat and filth reached her nostrils. She looked into the eyes of her attacker, but just as she was about to scream, a hand was clapped over her mouth.
She tried to wriggle out of his grip, but she was pinned to the wall behind her, she couldn’t even move a muscle. Tears streamed over her face as she felt him push her legs open and pull down her panties...

 

Andy startled awake, panting and the tears still running down her cheeks. She was shaking all over. But when she turned to tell Harriet about her nightmare, she remembered that her roommate had left several hours ago.

She sat on the bed, her face buried in her hands. When she finally had her breathing under control, she decided to sneak down to the bar and get a drink. Still shaking, she made her way down the corridor towards the stairs. Just as she passed the madam’s door, a floorboard creaked under her feet. Scared shitless, Andy couldn’t suppress the shriek she emitted.

She heard footsteps approaching the door and in a panic, she tried to make it to the stairs. Unfortunately, right before she could run downstairs, the door swung open and an icy glare was sent her way.

“What in God’s name are you doing up at this time of night?”

Andy tried to think of a reason why she would be sneaking around, but she came up with nothing. “I- um, yeah, well...”, she stumbled.

“Spit it out, I would like to enjoy what’s left of my sleep, which you so rudely interrupted.”

“I had a nightmare”, Andy blurted before she could stop herself.

Clear blue eyes narrowed in thought and suddenly, the matron stepped back, holding open the door for Andy and motioning for her to come in.

The room was dimly lit, and the duo moved towards the chairs in the corner.

“So, tell me about this nightmare”, Miranda said, while sitting back in the chair.

“I really don’t want to bother you with that. In fact, I should let you rest”, Andy answered getting up from her seat.

Miranda rolled her eyes. “Nonsense. You already got me up, so the least you can do is tell me the reason why you’re so shook up.”

Andy sat back down and let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s- I just don’t like talking about it, that’s all... It was about... that night.”

Miranda simply nodded and not wanting to push the girl too much, she steered the conversation in a different direction.

“But what were you doing out on the hallway?”

Andy blushed. “Um yeah, I didn’t really know what to do, so I thought I’d calm down if I went downstairs to get a glass of water or something.”

“Or something, indeed... What normally calms you down, after you’ve just had a nightmare?”

The young brunette furrowed her brow. “Well, it’s been years since I last had a nightmare. My mother used to crawl into bed with me and hold me till I fell asleep.” Her eyes widened as she realised what she’d just said. “Um, so I guess I’ll go back to bed now. It was nice talkin’ to ya”, she rambled, as she tried to make a run for it.

The clearing of a throat, however, caught her attention. When she turned around, her jaw dropped (she feared it was going to get dislocated if things were going to keep happening at this rate).

There Miranda was, already under her covers, which she held open in invitation. Flabbergasted, Andy just stood there, gawking at the sight before her.

“Are you going to get in or not? I don’t make offers like this every day, you know”, Miranda huffed impatiently.

Andy quickly scurried over to the bed and got in, surprised when she felt Miranda’s arm, thrown around her waist, holding her tightly.

She blamed her bad dream for her rapidly beating heart. The warmth of the matron’s body against hers made her feel incredibly safe, and soon enough she felt herself slowly falling asleep.

Just before she passed out, however, she could distinctly hear a murmur from behind her back.

“If you snore, so help me God, I will kick you out of the bed.”

 

TBC