The stone landed in the steam behind Thad with a "plunk", the ripples spreading out in ever-widening circles in the cold water. He started at the sound and turned quickly to see what had caused the noise; the area he was bathing was isolated, and people did not usually come here this far from town.
Miss Dixie sat on a large rock in the midst of the little clearing on the secluded bank, one leg crossed over the other, with a mischievous grin on her face. She playfully tossed another stone into the water, this time a few feet in front of Thad. Ker-plink. A splash of water hit Thad's eye, making him blink.
"Miss Dixie!" he said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
Dixie's grin became wider, the smile lighting up her attractive features. She leaned forward and tossed another stone. This one landed off to the side of young Thad.
Dixie Morgan was an attractive woman in her late thirties. With hair that some called strawberry blonde, but in this light was closer to auburn, she had the firm build of a healthy farm girl in her twenties. Her ample bust strained at the bodice of her low-cut dress and the silk chemise she wore in preference to the corset stays and confining undergarments that prim and proper women wore. Her hips were broad and smooth at the culmination of strong, well-muscled thighs. At 38 she was nearly twice Thaddeus James Petrie's tender age.
"Well young man," she began in her best southern belle accent, "I wanted to have a little talk with you. Seems you and some of your pals from the livery have been spying on my girls on Saturday night when they are using the bath tub."
Thad stood still, very scared Miss Dixie would tell his Pa.
Miss Dixie was the proprietor of Miss Dixie's Dance Hall and Social Academy, a house of ill-fame located in a three story clapboard wooden building on top of the Silver Nugget saloon in Rossman's Lode Arizona, a small mining town in the arid desert of the southwest. Miss Dixie's was next-door to Petrie's Livery and Equipage on the wide lone street that was Rossman's Lode. Petrie's was owned by Thad's father James, known to his friends as Big Jim.
"Seems Yvonne saw you little varmints in the loft over the stable, peering in the window across the alley while the girls were having their bath night."