The Prettiest Girl in the Land (The Traherns #3) (10 page)

“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. He 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 from? 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.

Both Gage and Travers looked purty good to me, right then. I
guess I wasn’t comfortable starting off alone anymore.

Travers ran up and thrust his muzzle in my hand, his way of
greeting a person.

“What you doing here, Ruth?” Gage asked, stopping his team next
to me.

“My company got sold, and the workers paid off. I took a stroll
and ended up here.”

“That’s about a five mile stroll. Were those shoes up to it?”

“Not like my traveling shoes, but these are purty comfortable.”

“Get in and come around back with me.”

Gage set the brake, jumped down and helped me up into the wagon.
He joined me, and Travers jumped up on the other side, so I was between the
two. It was fun.

Gage loosed the brake and started the horses. I could tell they
were glad to be back at their stables, as they jerked that empty wagon to life
and pranced around the corner of the building, down an alley and into the yard.

“They don’t seem very tired after the trip,” I said.