While we lived in Alaska, I was deeply involved in the local commercial salmon fisheries, and as the years went by spent more and more time away from the homestead. The nearest town, Ugashik, accessible by plane or boat in the summer and plane or dog sled in the winter, was nearly 150 miles away. Invariably, that meant a night or two in the local hotel.
As you might expect, Ugashik was the end of the road for a motley and very colorful set of characters. The town's population at that time was around 260 people, yet it supported five bars. One of those bars was owned by a former prostitute. Patsy wasn't shy about discussing her former trade, and was often heard to say that she recognized many of the more prominent men in the Territory only when they had their pants off, but she never forgot a cock.
One old timer, Bill Weiner had an Eskimo woman living with him. I saw Peggy only a few times, mostly in Bill's cabin, but once under my bed.
I had been involved in a prolonged negotiation on behalf of the local fishermen with the cannery owners and operators regarding the ensuing summer's fish prices. After supper and a few drinks with the boys, I trudged upstairs and turned in.
As I lay in bed reviewing the day's events, I heard a strange rustling sound. Finding a small animal in one of Bob Bartlett's six hotel rooms was unusual, but not unheard of, so I put it out of my mind and was just drifting off to sleep when I heard someone sneeze.
What the hell??
I jumped out of bed and turned on the light. There was no one in the room, so I looked under the bed. There was Peggy.
"Come out of there! What the hell are you doing under my bed?"
Peggy crawled out from under the bed and looked up at me. Oh, boy! Bill had given her a licking. Her black hair was matted and covered with dust balls froom under the bed. She had a swollen lip and a black eye, and obviously had been crying. Her clothes, a nondescript sweatshirt and a pair of dungarees, were as dirty as if she had been rolling around in the dirt road, which was also possible.
She looked at me, with pleading in her black, shiny eyes. "Bill, he kick me out," she said in a soft voice. "I got no place to go so I hide here."
"Why did he kick you out?"
"He t'ink I fuck Ronnie Olsen," she whispered.
"Did you?"