the edge of the huge feather bed next to Caroline, "and we all want to thank you for takin' us in."
Caroline shrugged her shoulders. "No thanks are necessary, Jenny. How could I leave you to fend for yourselves? The least I could do was offer you shelter while I'm here."
Jenny reached into the deep pocket of her gingham apron and withdrew five dollars in paper money. "Take this," the girl said, pushing the money into Caroline's hand. "Sarah found out the goin' rate at the Last Stop."
"I couldn't—"
"You got to, Miss Caroline. My ma brung me up never to accept charity no matter how kindly it's meant."
Caroline inclined her head in thanks. "I understand, Jenny, and I appreciate this gesture. The Last Stop's loss was my gain."
"We don't know what we're going to do when you and Abby head back east," Jenny said, tossing her ginger-colored braid over her bony shoulder. "Don't look as if these men are as all-fired matrimony-bound as we were told."
"You intend to stay?" Caroline asked in amazement. "Dear God, Jenny, they won't even allow you girls shelter. What on earth will you do?"
"We don't know," Jenny said bluntly. "Sarah's thinkin' of moving up to Virginia City but I still got hopes the men will come 'round and lose this marryin' fear."
Caroline chuckled and looked down at the money in her hands. "How often I wished my father would acquire this marrying fear. There seems to be no middle ground in this life, does there, Jenny? A man either keeps taking wife after wife to his bosom in search of the perfect spouse or he turns tail and runs each time a woman mentions matrimony."
Jenny's serious face lit with understanding. "Is that why you feel the way you do about taking the vows, Miss Caroline?"
"One reason among many. Truth to tell, Jenny, I doubt if there's many a man who would willingly take on a woman as set in my ways as I am."
"I seen the way men look at you, Miss Caroline. I doubt you'd have yourself a lick of trouble findin' a willing man."
"Willing and worthy are two different things. Usually those attributes are not found in the same man."
"I gotta admit you don't always make total sense to me, Miss Caroline, but I sure wish you and Abby were stayin' on a little longer."
Caroline sighed and patted Jenny's hand. She and Jenny were but four years apart in age, yet Caroline felt as if a lifetime of experience separated them. Unlike Caroline, Jenny had been raised in a household complete with a mother and a father, sisters and brothers, and a menagerie of dogs and cats all vying for love and attention. No matter what happened in Jenny Wilder's western adventure, a soft bed and warm food would always await her at home in Kansas and that's where Caroline was different from the rest of the women in Silver Spur. No soft bed and warm food awaited her for she had no home, no family, no one to care if she lived or died.
"I'm going to miss you and the girls, Jenny," said Caroline, tucking the money into the drawer of her nightstand and rising. "I do believe this has been the most interesting week of my life."
Jenny stood up and smoothed the front of her plain apron. "They're going to be real sorry I couldn't convince you to stay."
Caroline linked her arm through Jenny's. "It isn't your fault. How can I stay here when I have no means of supporting myself? I had believed this to be a thriving saloon but you can see the folly of that." She sighed as they headed down the stairs. "Why, in another two weeks I shall have completely run out of funds to pay Abby's wages."
"The other girls'll be mighty disappointed," Jenny repeated. "They were lookin' forward to living here at the Crazy Arrow until their weddings took place."
"I wish it could be otherwise, Jenny, but I could never make do with but six boarders and an establishment this size. Why, I—"
"Six boarders?" Jenny laughed. "There's more'n six waitin' to live here at the Arrow, Miss Caroline."
"More than six?" Caroline stopped dead in her tracks on the second
Caroline shrugged her shoulders. "No thanks are necessary, Jenny. How could I leave you to fend for yourselves? The least I could do was offer you shelter while I'm here."
Jenny reached into the deep pocket of her gingham apron and withdrew five dollars in paper money. "Take this," the girl said, pushing the money into Caroline's hand. "Sarah found out the goin' rate at the Last Stop."
"I couldn't—"
"You got to, Miss Caroline. My ma brung me up never to accept charity no matter how kindly it's meant."
Caroline inclined her head in thanks. "I understand, Jenny, and I appreciate this gesture. The Last Stop's loss was my gain."
"We don't know what we're going to do when you and Abby head back east," Jenny said, tossing her ginger-colored braid over her bony shoulder. "Don't look as if these men are as all-fired matrimony-bound as we were told."
"You intend to stay?" Caroline asked in amazement. "Dear God, Jenny, they won't even allow you girls shelter. What on earth will you do?"
"We don't know," Jenny said bluntly. "Sarah's thinkin' of moving up to Virginia City but I still got hopes the men will come 'round and lose this marryin' fear."
Caroline chuckled and looked down at the money in her hands. "How often I wished my father would acquire this marrying fear. There seems to be no middle ground in this life, does there, Jenny? A man either keeps taking wife after wife to his bosom in search of the perfect spouse or he turns tail and runs each time a woman mentions matrimony."
Jenny's serious face lit with understanding. "Is that why you feel the way you do about taking the vows, Miss Caroline?"
"One reason among many. Truth to tell, Jenny, I doubt if there's many a man who would willingly take on a woman as set in my ways as I am."
"I seen the way men look at you, Miss Caroline. I doubt you'd have yourself a lick of trouble findin' a willing man."
"Willing and worthy are two different things. Usually those attributes are not found in the same man."
"I gotta admit you don't always make total sense to me, Miss Caroline, but I sure wish you and Abby were stayin' on a little longer."
Caroline sighed and patted Jenny's hand. She and Jenny were but four years apart in age, yet Caroline felt as if a lifetime of experience separated them. Unlike Caroline, Jenny had been raised in a household complete with a mother and a father, sisters and brothers, and a menagerie of dogs and cats all vying for love and attention. No matter what happened in Jenny Wilder's western adventure, a soft bed and warm food would always await her at home in Kansas and that's where Caroline was different from the rest of the women in Silver Spur. No soft bed and warm food awaited her for she had no home, no family, no one to care if she lived or died.
"I'm going to miss you and the girls, Jenny," said Caroline, tucking the money into the drawer of her nightstand and rising. "I do believe this has been the most interesting week of my life."
Jenny stood up and smoothed the front of her plain apron. "They're going to be real sorry I couldn't convince you to stay."
Caroline linked her arm through Jenny's. "It isn't your fault. How can I stay here when I have no means of supporting myself? I had believed this to be a thriving saloon but you can see the folly of that." She sighed as they headed down the stairs. "Why, in another two weeks I shall have completely run out of funds to pay Abby's wages."
"The other girls'll be mighty disappointed," Jenny repeated. "They were lookin' forward to living here at the Crazy Arrow until their weddings took place."
"I wish it could be otherwise, Jenny, but I could never make do with but six boarders and an establishment this size. Why, I—"
"Six boarders?" Jenny laughed. "There's more'n six waitin' to live here at the Arrow, Miss Caroline."
"More than six?" Caroline stopped dead in her tracks on the second
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