The Prettiest Girl in the Land (The Traherns #3)

by Nancy Radke

  “I expect he did exaggerate.”

  “I have a hard time recognizing us. Dare I go outside?”

  “You go with Lila and get yourself another dress and some other things. I received a message from the bankers that they want to meet you and Gage tomorrow. So you’ll want something nice for that meeting.”

  “Walking out of the mountains, I didn’t carry much extra.”

  “Right. You’ll need to buy most everything. Things are expensive here, so at first just get your essentials. For a nice dress to meet the bankers, I’ll have Lila take you where I usually go. She’s a shrewd shopper and will help you out.”

  “Don’t you need her?”

  “I got along without her before she came. She’s given me a wonderful break. But I’m seeing a wedding in the near future--my son is sweet on her and her on him. Don’t say anything. It’s just that I can see it in their eyes. She’ll make a lovely daughter. So kind and considerate. So let her help you.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Jones.”

  “Now how about something to eat?”

  “Anything that isn’t full of sand.”

  She laughed and led me into her private dining area. “Sit here.”

  She had some biscuits she’d made for breakfast that she’d kept warm on the back of the stove, and she threw on some eggs to go with them. A fresh peach to start off with, then eggs, biscuits that almost fell apart, and butter and her homemade jam. It had been almost over a month since I’d had anything fresh, and that peach tasted like honey. This woman knew how to cook.

  “Mrs. Jones, would you mind giving me some cooking lessons? I’d pay you for them.”

  “Can’t you cook, Ruth?”

  “Survival cooking. My ma and pa died while I was young, and us kids took care of ourselves. I started cooking at eight, and I knew some things, but never had the chance to learn things like these biscuits. Mine are always rock hard.”

  “You just mixed them too long. With biscuits, the less you mix the better. Just enough to get them started, then you press them into shape.”

  “So that’s what was wrong.” The boys could barely eat what I fixed. They were all as skinny as a rail.

  “I’ll gladly show you some cooking. You come in and help me fix some things before and after your job. Your help will be payment enough.”

  “Thank you.” This was wonderful. I’d like to be able to feed my Boaz.

  “Lila’s ready to take you shopping. There’s a cab that swings by here about now and she went out to stop it. Do you feel up to at least being measured for a dress?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  I went with Lila and we stopped and bought me some undergarments, socks, shoes, and a nightie. The shopkeeper went through my coins like they were pennies.

  “Lila, I’m not going to have enough to pay the dressmaker.”

  “Mrs. Jones said to put them on her account. You can pay her later.”

  Now I didn’t like to be beholden to anyone. The Bible says to owe no man anything, and that the borrower was the slave of the lender.

  But it looked like I didn’t have much choice. As soon as I got me some money from my job, I’d pay her back right quick.

  The dressmaker said her price was always pretty much the same. The cost of the dress was in the material. She had some silks from China that I couldn’t touch with my rough hands, but she let me feel them with my forearm. I asked for her cheapest cloth, and it still looked better than anything in the mountains. And much more expensive.

  “It costs so much to ship it here, that it doesn’t pay to bring in cheap things,” she said, and I could see the reason for that.

  “What you want is something pretty and substantial, so it will last a long time. Then the cost is spread out and in the end isn’t so bad. I’d get any of these fabrics, but would recommend the blue print. You have beautiful blue eyes and it will make them more noticeable.”

  It was at the wrong end of the cost, but I couldn’t complain. I put on the undergarments Lila had helped me buy, then the dressmaker used her tape and wrote me down. “I’ll have this ready for you tomorrow morning. Come here before you go to your meeting.”

  “That fast?”

  “Mrs. Jones is a good customer of mine. She gets ladies in fresh off the ships and sends them here for their dresses. Lila says you are to meet the bankers tomorrow at one. You come at eleven and we’ll put in the hem. Your work dress may not be ready then, but the one you’ll need to meet them will be.”

  “Thank you very much. And Ma’am, could I get some of the cloth scraps?”

  “I’ll give you some right now, already cut to size.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I always have some ready.”

  When we got back, Gage was up and heading out the door, clean shaven and back in his broadcloth outfit.. He stopped, looked me up and down, and smiled.

  “The dirt does wash off,” he said.

  “Thankfully.”

  “I love your hair that way. Looks beautiful.”

  “Thank you.” I wasn’t used to being complimented on my looks. Lila had done an outstanding job.

  “I’m off to find work,” he added. “Mrs. Jones showed me the newspaper. With that kind of recommendation, I should get some quick.”

  He was back at suppertime, saying he’d got a job as a driver hauling freight to the mines. “The miners pay for it in gold dust, so the company wanted someone who they could count on not to take the money and skedaddle.”

  I’d spent a wonderful afternoon in the kitchen, learning how to make a soup stock and pies with flaky crusts. It felt grand to be able to actually enjoy what I’d cooked.

  I told Mrs. Jones that I always burned everything, and she said I had my stove too hot and was trying to cook things too fast.

  She had a huge stove with two ovens, but a lot of it was extra top. There were different spots on the top, one where she could set a pot to simmer all day, and another to boil potatoes. And it had a warming shelf. I think anyone could cook using that. I watched her careful like, seeing what I’d been doing wrong most of my life, asking questions and having her show me.

  Her other boarders came back from work, so we had a table full. Twelve in all. They asked Gage and me so many questions that we almost didn’t get to eat.

  Afterwards Gage asked me outside. He wanted to sit on the porch swing that Mrs. Jones had there, but I told him I needed to put Travers outside once more. So instead we went to my room, opened the door for Travers, and followed him out into the backyard.

  “I got a shovel and dug a hole over in that corner of the flower bed,” Gage said, pointing. “We can use it to keep the yard clean. I talked it over with Mrs. Jones and she agreed. We’ll leave the shovel here by the house.”

  “I don’t like keeping Travers in this small space.”

  “I have two routes. One short, one long, with a day off between routes. I could take him out on those days. And you’ll be free on weekends. So some days we could take him out together.”

  “I’ll ask Mrs. Jones where we could let him run. When do you start work?”

  “In two days. I need to get a change of clothes. Can’t live in these all the time.”

  “That’s where I was today. Buying a dress for the meeting with the bankers tomorrow. And just to have a nice dress.”

  “That meeting. You’re right. I should get something better to wear. I don’t know where to go to get something in that short of time.”

  “Ask Mrs. Jones.”

  “I will. Come with me. Travers will be all right here.”

  We went inside, Gage holding the door for me as I went through. He was always doing little, thoughtful things like that. In that, he reminded me of Trey, who had always helped me when he was around.

  Mrs. Jones considered our request and sent Gage to her storeroom.

  “I had a gent about your size who left without paying, so I never sent his trunk on. Go see if there’s anything in it you can wear. H
e was a smart dresser, but I think he did it to hide the fact he was broke.” As Gage opened the storeroom door and went in, Mrs. Jones added to me, “The man was a gambler. Don’t ever marry a gambler.”

  Gage came out carrying a suit of clothes. “The length looks right. I’ll have to try it on.”

  “Do that. Wasn’t there a hat?”

  “Well yes, but...”

  “You put that on and impress those bankers. They’ll want their picture taken with you, so you might as well look as grand as they do.” She turned to me. “I’ve a hat you can wear as well.”

  So it was that the next day, Gage and I met the bankers all gussied up, so we’uns looked mighty like city folk.

  They shook our hands and talked a lot, and we all got our pictures took, but the end of the matter was that they handed us each a check for five hundred dollars. This, too, was written up in the paper. We put most of the money in their bank, as they said that way we wouldn’t have to be carrying it around and could use it when we needed it.

  I’d never used a bank before, but with everyone knowing we got that money, I didn’t want Mrs. Jones worrying about someone stealing it.

  Having money can be a bother, I could see that right off. When you didn’t have it, you wanted it, but when you did have it, you had to worry about losing it.

  I went right to the dress lady and paid her off, so I wouldn’t owe anyone anything.

  That evening we joined the rest of the boarders in the living room. It was big and comfortable and had a large fireplace.

  One young man was especially attentive and I wondered if this could be my Boaz. I was still praying hard. And then he spit.

  I backed off as he hit the spittoon next to me and could see Gage grinning. He winked at me, and I nodded back. He’d heard me complaining about trying to clean the rugs after Pa, and knew my opinion on chewing and spitting, as I could give people an earful when I’d get riled.

  Gage didn’t chew. He didn’t spit. I knew that from our trip out, cause several of the men took to it on the trip. But Gage hadn’t.

  We asked about a place for Travers to run. The only places Mrs. Jones or any of the boarders knew of was out on the beach. We were a ways from it and would have to hire a cab to take us there. By the time we took the cab out and back, it wouldn’t give him much time.

  I didn’t like to see Travers cooped up in that back yard, so I asked Gage to take Travers with him. We both liked the idea. He could jump off and run beside the wagon when he wished to.

  The next morning I went to work, wearing my new work dress. That seamstress really knew how to sew, and my dress was the equal of any of the other women on the streets.

  The company was all men. Mr. Debras’ brother showed me the shipping manifests and I went through them, correcting the mistakes, costing them some money, but saving more.

  “I never was one for figures,” he said. “I’m glad Henry sent you.”

  “What else do you want me to do?”

  “Well, you just did in two hours what takes me the whole day. So I don’t know what to have you do. Why don’t you figure out the wages? I pay the men once a week, and if you can make sure that is being done right, it would be a big help. How much is Henry paying you?”

  “We never talked about it. He said I’d saved him enough to pay for my trip out, and then sent me.”

  “I’ll give you the same as any day clerk. And I’ll assign a man to walk you to and from the cab area. This part of town can get rough, sometimes.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “You’re welcome. I thought Henry was out of his mind, sending a woman, but I see you are exceptional. I need to protect you here. The men in the company will help guard you; it’s the riffraff in the streets who are the danger.”

  I nodded. “It don’t look right, in this dress, to be carrying my rifle.”

  He chuckled. “A lot of women carry a derringer in their purses. But if you get caught in a mob, you only have one shot.”

  “Are there mobs around here?”

  “Yes. They form quickly for the slightest of reasons. The country is still on the move now that the war is over, and people haven’t settled and found their place. The restless, shiftless ones gang together. They can be dangerous.”

  I told Gage this when I next saw him. He didn’t want me to go back working there, but I told him I felt obliged to put in a few weeks to fill out my agreement. Two weeks later I went in and found that Mr. Debras had sold the company to Wells Fargo.

  His brother explained that Henry figured with the railroad being pushed through that freight companies would go out of existence, except for the side routes. He sold while the price was still there and invested it in the railroad.

  I lined up with the rest of the workers as the foreman sat next to a man with a money box, paying everyone their weeks’ wages, plus a full day for this day even though we hadn’t worked. He was also giving out letters to us all, recommending each as a good worker. He had the letters all written, and just put the person’s name at the top.

  Most of the men figured to rehire with Wells Fargo. They asked me what I was going to do.

  “I don’t know. I figure an outfit as big as Wells Fargo will already have a person to keep their records.”

  “You could try a bank.”

  “Maybe. I got me some thinking to do. If I hire back on, I won’t be free to go see more of California.”

  “That’s what you want to do?” one asked.

  “That’s my intention.”

  “Good luck then.” They all wished me well. They were a fine bunch of workers.

  I put my wages and my letter inside my purse and then took me a long walk to do me some ponderin.

  Wages were high here and I’d just been paid more for a week than I could earn in a month elsewhere. I knew how fast money could leave when none was coming in, but I also knew that if I didn’t live in San Francisco, my money would last me a whole lot longer. I could go see Gage’s folks and look at those trees, see something of California, and then go back to work.

  I hadn’t forgot I was looking for my Boaz. I didn’t see how I could find him here. Everyone was in such a hurry, you didn’t get a chance to really know anyone. I remembered the ladies at home setting down and making quilts together. Y’all learned all the news and then some that really shouldn’t have been repeated. But long walks and serious-like talk didn’t seem to be a part of city life.

  I just plain missed the mountains and the mountain folks.

  It was time for me to move on. I’d look the rest of the country over. If’n I didn’t find Boaz, I’d go back to the mountains. Just not to Jonas. Maybe to one of the settlements.

  I’d been walking a long way and realized I was headed towards the company where Gage worked. So I continued walking and got there an hour before he was due in. I picked me a spot in the shade where I could see down the street, sat down in a chair placed in front of the building, and enjoyed watching the people pass by. This warn’t the best part of town, but it was probably the busiest.

  I wondered if Gage would want to go north with me. I’d gotten used to traveling with him and really wasn’t looking forward to going it alone anymore. In fact, I’d really miss him.

  Then I wondered if Travers would stay with Gage or go with me? Without either one, the trip sounded lonely and not inviting at all. If I had to do it alone, I’m not sure I wanted to.

  I had come to enjoy Gage’s companionship. Yet, even if he didn’t want to leave San Francisco, perhaps I should leave. I didn’t want to make myself dependent on him. When he found the girl he was looking for, he’d settle down and I’d still be needing to find my Boaz. I doubted I’d find him here in this town. I should set my course and get myself going. Maybe my company being sold was God’s way of moving me on. How was a person supposed to know? It were a puzzlement. “God help me find my Boaz.”

  “Are you all right, Miss?”

  I looked up at the man standing there. Where had he come f
rom? A well-dressed stranger, but concerned with someone looking sad and a little lost. I’d been praying silently, but moving my lips, so maybe I looked strange to him.

  “Yes, thank you. I’m waiting for the wagon to come in from the mines. I know the driver. Gage Courtney. He’s got a big dog with him.”

  “He came in awhile ago. He’s already unloaded. They don’t come here in the front.”

  “Did I miss him?” I jumped up from the ladder-backed chair.

  “I don’t know. You want to come around and look?”

  Now freshly green out of the hills, I would have walked with him through the empty building and out back without question. But I’d been in Frisco long enough to get myself some caution. My derringer only had one shot, and it was in my handbag, not my pocket. Wisdom said I was safer out in front of the building where people passed by than in the back.

  “Please go tell him I’m here.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “I’m the dog’s owner.”

  “There he is.” He opened the door and pointed inside. I could see through the building out an open doorway into another outside area. Had Gage just walked past?

  “I don’t see him.”

  “I did. Come on.”

  “I’ll wait here,” I said.

  He shrugged and walked away, down the street.

  I watched him go. Was he a worker here? Or had he just known about Gage and Travers from seeing them on the street? Or the newspaper picture?

  I opened the door into the building and whistled. If Travers were anywhere around, he’d hear me.

  Nothing. I could hear men working out back. The temptation to walk through and find out for myself was strong.

  “Ruth,” I spoke to myself, out loud, like I used to do in the hills. “There’s bravery and there’s foolishness. You’ve faced wolves and bears when the emergency ‘rose. But you’re in no position to face a handful of men with one bullet and no dog. This is not the part of town for you to be in, so get yourself to a cab and go wait for Gage at the boarding house.”

  I turned and looked down the street. There were two cabs, waiting to pick up workers.

  Also, a wagon coming in with a big dog setting next to the driver. Travers looked right proud of his position. I waved, Gage waved, and that dog came flying off with one bound, past the startled horses and up the street to me.