busy and eat, Katie picked up a fork and dug into the steaming food. From the corner of his eye John watched her, watched the furtive looks she cast toward the door as if she feared someone would enter the room and take her plate from her.
“It’s all yours, Katie girl,” he said quietly. “No one’s gonna take your food away from you. Just take your time and finish your breakfast. It’s gonna be a long time till dinner, and we’ve got a lot to accomplish this morning.”
With a grateful look in his direction, she did as he said and tackled the eggs and bacon Molly had prepared. A thick slice of bread, buttered and spread with jam was placed on another plate and pushed in her direction as Molly sat down across the table.
“You need some weight on those bones, Katie. I’ll warrant that John here will make sure you have enough to eat from now on.”
“You’re right, Molly.” He agreed with her, his nod determined, thinking that the child looked as though she hadn’t had a decent meal in months. Her arms were thin, her cheeks hollow and she wore the frightened look of a baby bird, just being shoved out of the nest for the first time.
“You won’t be overworked, Katie. There’s just me to look after, and Berta, the cook at the big house, will lend a hand if you need anything.”
“Thank you, John. I could hardly sleep last night, thinking about what will happen today, what with you taking me home with you. I’m not sure just what you expect of me, but whatever it is and wherever you take me, I want you to know that I’ll do the best I can.”
“That’s easy enough, Katie. Like I told you last night, I’ll give you a place to stay and something decent to wear and you’ll keep up my place and tend to my clothes and keeping me fed.” He frowned then and his thoughts became words. “You said you know how to cook, didn’t you?”
She nodded quickly. “I did most of the cooking at the Schrader house. I learned a long time ago how to bake and churn butter and make biscuits. I can tend a garden and can the vegetables and cut up the meat when it’s been butchered.”
She was not yet eighteen years old and already had done the work of a woman full grown. John shook his head, unable to believe that she had been so used, that the family who should have cared for her as a child had instead made a servant of her.
“Well, just cooking for me won’t be too big a load for you then,” he said cheerfully, not willing to let her see his shock at her former circumstances. “Can you keep my clothes clean for me? Do you know how to wash and iron?”
She laughed. Joyously and without restraint, as if she had been given permission to express her happiness. “If you have sad irons, I can use them. If you don’t, you’ll have to buy a pair of them and a handle. I can iron on a kitchen table if need be. I’ll keep your house clean and when spring comes I’ll plant a garden.”
“Looks like you’ve got things all lined up, John,” Molly said with a laugh. “This little gal will make your life a whole lot easier, I’d say. You mind my words.”
“I have to agree with you, Molly.” He met the woman’s look with a nod of approval. “I’m happy with my decision. Katie will be safe at Bill Stanley’s place.”
“I never thought such a thing would happen to me,” Katie said softly, her hands in her lap, her eyes wide as she considered the future ahead. “I’d thought to spend my whole life out there on that farm, just working and trying to please the Schraders. And there wasn’t any pleasing them, let me tell you. They’re a pair of nasty folk, they are.”
“You won’t have to worry about them anymore,” John said forcefully. “I’ll be sure you’re taken care of from now on.” Molly’s coat hung on a hook by the back door of the saloon’s kitchen and in moments it was wrapped around Katie’s slender form, covering her from neck to toe in warmth.
THE GENERAL STORE WAS LIKE a wonderland to the girl who walked in the door beside John Roper fifteen minutes later. She stood behind him as he approached the long counter and only his long arm reaching for her brought her in sight of the proprietor, Shandy Peterson. That gentleman cast her a long glance, then looked back at John.
“You got yourself a girl, John?” he asked quietly.
“I’ve got myself a housekeeper and cook here, Shandy. Katie’s gonna keep house for me. Just as soon as she picks out some things to wear. She needs a new dress or two and whatever else you think is appropriate. Molly said she needs a warm coat, too.”
“Molly? The woman over at the saloon? What’s she got to do with this?” He looked over his glasses at Katie and his brow furrowed. “I don’t believe I know the young lady. You from around these parts, honey?”
“Yes sir,” she said politely.
Apparently she had decided not to elaborate on her background, and John spoke for her. “Katie needs a place to live and Bill Stanley gave me a good-sized cabin to live in when he made me his new foreman. I figured there was room for her in it with me. I’m needing a housekeeper and she looks to be qualified for the job. We’ll head out there as soon as we find some things for Katie to wear.”
“Well, John, looks to me like you’ve made up your mind. Hope it all goes well for you.” And if Shandy Peterson wondered at the woman John had chosen to move into his home, and had any questions as to her background, he kept them to himself. It didn’t pay to be too inquisitive, was the general consensus in this part of the country.
Katie looked over the counter at the glass bins of clothing that lined the wall, her eyes widening as she considered the varicolored bits and pieces therein. Her eyes opened even wider as Shandy brought two bins to rest in front of her.
“These are dresses, miss. Let’s see what we have in your size.”
John lifted Molly’s coat from Katie’s shoulders, readying her for the shopping ahead, then waited for Shandy to show them his wares. With a long look at the girl before him, Shandy picked up several of the dresses from the glass bin, held them up and then refolded them and placed them aside as being the wrong choices, whether by size or by John’s discerning eye, Katie couldn’t tell.
And then, with a flourish, the shopkeeper lifted a blue flowered dress from the bin before him and shook it out, holding it up for her approval.
“That’s a pretty one, Katie,” John said softly. “Do you like it? It looks like it would about fit you, doesn’t it?”
She nodded, reaching to touch the fine percale fabric. “It’s lovely, John. Prettier than anything I’ve ever had. And with the sash to tie in back, it ought to fit me.”
“If it does we’ll take that one, Shandy, and Katie can go into your stockroom if she needs to, to make sure it fits,” John decided. “Now find something else for her. She’ll need another dress and she can choose what she needs to wear under them.”
“I don’t know…” Katie looked up at the man beside her, confusion at the thought of decision making causing her stomach to churn. “I’ve never picked out anything for myself before, just wore whatever they gave me. I won’t know what to get.”
Shandy Peterson looked stunned by her words, but recovered quickly. “My girl, Jessica, is right here in the back room. Let’s have her come out and help this little gal choose what she needs. All right, miss?”
