Now Playing: Save the Girl!
Episode Twelve concluded with:
Philip lifted
Princess Maria from atop the bar and hurried her out of the saloon. Most of the
men in the Big Diamond yelled good-bye at Maria and punctuated their farewells
with whistles and whoops. It took a few minutes for business to get back to
normal in the saloon. Dehner mused that Princess Maria had disrupted the
routine at the Big Diamond more than his gunfight with Briscoe Parker.
The entire
incident seemed to have put Jerri Mae in a somber mood. The woman’s head was
down and she was moving her index finger over the table as if writing out a
message for help.
Rance decided on
a direct approach. “For a woman who says her job is to keep cowboys happy, you
don’t look very happy yourself.”
Episode Thirteen
Jerri
Mae looked at him directly. Her eyes were moist. “You don’t sound so jovial
yourself. Why not?”
The
detective’s voice was low and forceful. “Because a fifteen year old girl who is
only guilty of being naïve is about to have her life ruined. Right now Maria is
a princess, in a few weeks she’s going to be…”
Dehner
stopped talking and Jerri Mae said nothing. In the background, they listened to
a drunk curse the roulette wheel and a saloon girl purr encouragement to him.
“Try again, honey, your luck has just got to change.”
“Men
are fools.” Jerri Mae’s face flamed with hatred. She paused, taking a bit more
control of her emotions. “He does this about twice a year.”
Dehner’s
voice remained low and he softened it a bit. “You mean, twice a year Philip
Richardson goes to Dallas to hold… auditions?”
Jerri
Mae nodded her head. “He brings back about a half dozen girls. They can all
sing and dance a bit.”
“And
one of them is always his special girl?”
“Yeah.
The star of the show. Some star. After the show closes she gets sold to the
highest bidder.”
“What
do you mean, Jerri Mae?”
“Like
I said, men are fools. They see a girl prancing about the stage in a frilly
costume and they’ve got to have her. Richardson always follows the same
routine. The show runs for three nights. Then, Phil holds a private auction.
The girls in the chorus are the first to be up for bid. The highest bidders get to spend a night with a chorus girl. Then comes the big prize, a night with the
star. This time it’s Princess Maria.”
Dehner
paused and looked around the Big Diamond. The jasper who had cursed the
roulette wheel was still losing. “What if a girl doesn’t cooperate?”
The
woman gave a scornful laugh. “What can the kid do? She’s in a strange place
away from everyone she knows. Phil owns the law in this town.”
Dehner
gave a long sigh. “And I’m sure there are some jaspers who find pleasure in a
girl who puts up a fight.”
“Yeah,
some do. Like I said--”
Dehner
finished for her. “Men are fools. Yes, some are. How about Richardson? Does he
take liberties with his leading lady before the auction?”
Tomorrow:
Episode Fourteen of Save the Girl!
