Chapter Twenty-One
Twenty-one
Ellie and Beau’s was a short wedding, as weddings under duress often are.
It was held on the banks of the creek in front of the trading post. The bride wore rose pink and held a bouquet of swiftly picked seedy grasses, because the wild roses wouldn’t bloom until June.
The groom wore blue broadcloth and a rolled brim derby and was attended by his brothers, one of whom was armed.
The bride was attended by her maid of honor, who wore watermelon pink and carried a posy of pine branches, and a flower girl who chose a nosegay of nettles.
After the ceremony there was dancing under lanterns, and a party which ran late into the chilly night. Everybody who was anybody attended.
Aside from the nuisance of an unnecessary shotgun ruining the perfectly romantic wedding, the only other hitch was when a caravan of whores arrived in the meadow, causing the consternation of the shotgun-toting brother.
The girls from the cathouse had been invited to join the party by one Junebug Everleigh McBride, who counted that day as one of the best days of her whole entire life.
Not least because that was the day she knew for sure that she was going to see a circus…