by Chloe Carley
Sara Jane listened to their conversation, biting back a smile at how uppity they both sounded. Unable to remain hidden without giving herself away, she rounded the wooden stand holding the fabric bolts and found herself face to face with the young man. “Oh, excuse me. I didn’t realize anyone was on the other side.” Sara Jane used her sweetest voice and included the older woman in her greeting. “I don’t believe I’ve seen either of you around Rio Arriba before. My name is Sara Jane Lawson.”
The young man returned her smile and Sara Jane found him somewhat attractive, but not in the same way she did Carl. Where Carl was tall, dark, and had mesmerizing dark brown eyes, this young man had curly blonde hair and blue eyes. He was dressed smartly in a suit jacket and matching trousers. He had on a white button up shirt with a fancy tie that Sara Jane had only seen in advertisements from back East. His hat was also something that no self-respecting cowboy living in or around Rio Arriba would wear, with its satin ribbon around the base and flat top. The men here wore cowboy hats that provided ample protection from the sun and weather. The hat he was wearing looked like it would go flying at the first stiff breeze.
The young man bowed his head slightly, touching the brim of his hat as he did so, and then told her, with an obvious accent, “My name is Mark Lawry. I’m the new schoolteacher here in Rio Arriba, and this is my mother, Cecilia Lawry. We’ve just arrived in your fair town this morning.”
“Welcome. It’s very nice to meet you both,” Sara Jane told them. “So, you’re the new schoolteacher? When do you start classes up again? The kids have been without a proper school schedule for more than a month.”
Mr. Lawry nodded and pursed his lips as he replied, “That is precisely why I wish to begin classes in two days’ time. I was told the local pastor could make an announcement during the Sunday church service to that effect?”
“I’m sure Pastor Russell won’t mind doing that. Have you stopped by the church and spoken with him yet?”
“No. That is our next stop and then we’ll locate the living quarters for the schoolteacher and get settled in.”
“Well, locating the living quarters won’t be any hardship as they are located directly behind the school.” Sara Jane eyed the older woman, wondering what her reaction would be to the accommodations currently being discussed.
“Really? How convenient. Mother, did you hear that?” Mark turned to his mother and Sara Jane was sure she’d never seen a woman look more displeased. “Mother?”
“I heard. You can’t really be insinuating that the schoolteacher and his family live in that … that … shack? We rode past the schoolhouse and I must say, it is lacking in numerous areas.”
Sara Jane hid her smile and nodded. “The students don’t seem to mind it. As for the living quarters, it has a separate bedroom and I hear it is quite comfortable. Of course, it was designed for a single schoolteacher, and the last one we had here was a long in the tooth spinster. It was she who told me the housing was adequate to her needs.”
Sara Jane watched as Mrs. Lawry’s mouth opened and closed several times, her composure slipping. She finally took pity on the older woman and added, “If those accommodations aren’t to your liking, there is always the boarding house.”
“Boarding house?” Cecilia’s eyebrows went up and she nodded. “Well, that may be more suitable in the short term. Where is this boarding house?”
“Big blue house at the end of the main street. They haven’t had a chance to change the sign up so it might say something else, but it’s the only two-story blue house in town. You can’t miss it.”
“Well, we will certainly check it out. I wonder if I might trouble you to give me a tour of the town?” Mark asked.
“Of course, although today I admit to being on a tight schedule. My friend is visiting the doctor even as we speak. I need to get her back to the ranch as soon as possible.”
“Is your friend ill?” Mark inquired politely.
Sara Jane shook her head. “No. She’s expecting her first child … er, children. We think.”
Riley joined them and raised a brow at Sara Jane, silently asking for an invitation. After introductions were made, Riley asked, “How are you enjoying Rio Arriba so far?”
“It’s a far cry from Philadelphia,” Cecilia replied.
“I imagine it is.” Riley turned to Sara Jane and whispered, “Mrs. Pedersen is willing to hear us out. Right now.”
Sara Jane nodded and then gave Mark a smile. “I need to tend to my reason for being in town this morning. Would tomorrow be a good time for that tour you requested? It being Saturday, plenty of people should be in town.”
Mark inclined his head. “That would be perfect. Maybe you could introduce me to the townsfolk so that I can develop a sense of how things work here. I hope to start classes first thing Monday morning.”
“Of course. I’ll stop by the schoolhouse tomorrow afternoon.”
“We’ll also check out the boarding house,” Cecilia added.
“You do that, and tell Jasmine that Sara Jane sent you.”
“Jasmine. Got it.”
Sara Jane followed Riley to the back storeroom of the mercantile. “Did you honestly tell that man and his mother to find accommodations at a boarding house that doesn’t even exist yet?” Riley asked.
“I did. We’ll see Mrs. Pedersen and then go straight to talk with Jasmine. They can easily knock down the sign.”
“Okay, but if that woman finds out you suggested she take a room at a brothel, she’s liable to come undone. I’ve never seen a woman so uptight.”
“Living in Rio Arriba will fix that soon enough.” Sara Jane couldn’t keep the smile from her face as she thought about the many surprises in store for the older woman. Rio Arriba was indeed a far cry from Philadelphia—in all aspects.
Mrs. Pedersen joined them and after a heated discussion, she finally agreed to help them. “This could very well cost my husband and I our business, you know?”
Sara Jane asked, “And for how long will those ladies who choose not to shop here be able to maintain that position? You are the only mercantile in town. Will they start making their own lavender soap, or find another store selling ready-made clothing nearby?”
Mrs. Pedersen smiled. “You are so right. I’ve never felt so powerful as I do right now.”
“Just use that power to help better those women’s lives,” Riley asked.
“Of course. In fact, there’s probably more that could be done for them. I’ll speak with Mr. Pedersen and see what he suggests. We’ve been thinking about hiring some extra help here as my arthritis tends to flare up when it snows, and Mr. Pedersen suffers from the gout something terrible. It would be nice to have someone who could come in and help out from time to time.”
Riley said, “I’m sure Stephanie would be more than willing to help out. She’s the youngest woman living there. One of the men who comes through the area a few times a year found her wandering in the desert. Her family was murdered by Indians and she had a large wound on her head when she arrived at the boarding house. That’s what we’re going to call it from now on.”
“That sounds like a good idea. So, Stephanie stayed there because she had nowhere else to go?”
“The women nursed her back to health, and she decided to stay with them. Polly told us she had no other family that she knew how to contact. I’ve not personally met her, but I’ve been told she is quiet and reserved, and a hard worker.”
“I will make a trip over to the … boarding house … and make her acquaintance this afternoon. I’ll also speak with Polly and the others. It’s time the ladies of this town who believe they can control things by spewing their vile opinions about others were brought to heel.”
“Here, here.” Sara Jane grinned. “Because of them, I have to dress like this when I come to town.”
Mrs. Pedersen gave her a sly grin and then asked quietly, “Are men’s trousers really that much more comfortable?”
Therein ensued a lengthy discussi
on about the benefit of ladies being able to wear trousers. After which, Mrs. Pedersen promised to take the idea under consideration. She wasn’t quite ready to don a pair of her husband’s trousers in public. At least, not yet.
“We’ll let the women know you’ll be stopping by this afternoon,” Riley offered.
“Very well. Sara Jane and Riley… thank you for seeing a need and trying to solve it. So many people would just leave those women to suffer or try to run them out of town rather than deal with their actions and perceived sins. You two have made me see that above all else, they are women. Just like me, they have wants and needs, and for me to turn my back on them in their time of suffering would not only be un-Christian, but I would be held accountable on the day of judgment.”
“Sounds like our work here is done.” Sara Jane smiled. “Thank you.”
“You tell your parents hello from me.”
“I will. You should come out and see Ma, she’d enjoy the company,” Sara Jane suggested.
“Maybe I will. In fact, I have some ideas for the Christmas bazaar I wouldn’t mind running past her. Would tomorrow …”
“Tomorrow would be fine. I’ll let Ma know to expect you.”
Mrs. Pedersen smiled and nodded. “I’ll come out right after lunch.”
Sara Jane and Riley left the mercantile. Mark and his uptight mother were still inside it and Sara Jane felt his eyes follow her out the door, but she didn’t give it much thought. He was the new schoolteacher in town and if he intended to start classes on Monday, he would have his work cut out for him.
Riley was giggling as they descended the stairs and climbed into the wagon. “You had Mrs. Pedersen eating out of your hand.”
“She’s a good woman to have on your side.”
Sara Jane directed the wagon back down the street. “Shall we go check on Lily? How about I park outside doc’s office, and you can go check on her and I’ll go speak to the women at the boarding house? I truly do intend to have us back at the ranch before noon.”
“That sounds fine. Lily and I will wait for you at the wagon once she’s finished.”
Sara Jane stopped the team in front of the doctor’s office. She could see Lily was still inside. “I’ll be back shortly,” she told Riley as the other woman climbed down.
“Good. She needs to get back to the ranch and rest.” Riley headed inside to speak with Lily.
Sara Jane went straight to the boarding house, eyeing the sign, that declared the establishment as a brothel, with distaste. She knocked once on the door and then let herself inside. Polly and Jasmine were coming down the staircase and greeted her warmly.
“Sara Jane! What are you doing here?”
“Well, I came to tell you some good news, but first, we need to get rid of that horrible sign.”
The women looked at one another and then nodded. “We can do that.”
“Can I help?” Sara Jane offered.
“Yes. We can get to it from the second story windows. That’s how we put it up there,” Polly told her.
They went up to the second floor and, after some persuasion, managed to knock the sign loose from the nails holding it in place. The house sat all by itself at the end of the street and the three women took great joy in sending the sign off of the eave of the porch and crashing to the dirt on the side of the building. When it landed face down, they all cheered.
“That felt really good,” Jasmine said with a big smile.
“Now begins a new life for all of you. Mrs. Pedersen from the mercantile will be coming by to talk to Polly about offering her sewing skills to the fine people of Rio Arriba. She’ll also be talking with Stephanie about coming to work at the store a few hours a week. Jasmine, you are now the new hostess of Rio Arriba’s only boarding house. You’ll need to prepare some bedrooms for paying guests, and maybe the widows can help provide meals for your guests.”
The women looked at her in shock and Sara Jane grinned. “Riley told you we were going to help you become respectable. This is the first step toward doing that.”
“You managed to accomplish all of that in a few short weeks?” Polly asked her.
Sara Jane shook her head. “No, just this morning. It was amazingly easy. Not that I’m expecting things to be that easy with other members of the town. But with the right people on your side, you girls are going to be fine. Now, I have to go. It seems that Lily might be having more than one baby and is at the doctor’s right now.”
“Ooh!” Polly clapped her hands. “Twins. I always wanted to make twin clothing.”
“Well, hold up until she knows for sure. And we won’t know if she’s having boys or girls for another two months.”
“Twins always come early,” an older lady with snow white hair piled atop her head said as she came down the staircase. She was wearing a bright purple dress with a bright yellow apron over the top. “Hello, dear. I couldn’t help but hear all of the commotion and thought I would come and see what was going on. I hear we are now operating a boarding house?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m Sara Jane Lawson.”
“Ah, the friend of Riley’s I’ve heard so much about. My name is Tara Johnson. I know quite a bit about twins as I worked at a hospital as a nurse back East. I came West with my husband, but sadly, he didn’t live long enough to see California. I ended up here and have made Rio Arriba my home now.”
“Why did you choose to live here?” Sara Jane asked.
“Why not? These girls needed the wisdom I could offer, and I was able to help support them with the wealth my husband and I accumulated prior to his death. I feel as if it’s gone to good use.”
Polly and Jasmine smiled. “Tara is very wealthy, and she pays for most of the bills.”
“So, I’m confused,” Sara Jane told them. “Do you, or do you not entertain men here with the expectation of payment for services rendered?”
“There was a time prior to Tara coming to live with us where we did consider that kind of life. Luckily, Tara came along and made that option no longer viable. We haven’t truly entertained gentlemen for over a year.”
Sara Jane was elated to hear this. She clapped her hands and smiled at all of them. “It’s high time you girls let the fine people of this town get to know you, then. Don’t hide away from them. Now, I need to get going. I’ll be in town tomorrow afternoon and I’ll stop by to check on how things with Mrs. Pedersen went and to hear how things are going with the Lawry’s.”
Sara Jane turned for the stairs and explained about meeting the new schoolteacher and his ma at the mercantile. “Now, I know it’s not very Christian to judge people, but Mrs. Lawry is a bit snippety and I think it would be in everyone’s best interest if the only thing she knew about this place was that it has a clean room and decent food for her and her son.”
Polly and Jasmine laughed and nodded. “Guessing you’re thinking this Mrs. Lawry wouldn’t take kindly to knowing she was sleeping in a former brothel?”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Sara Jane told them.
Sara Jane left the women talking in the drawing room and she headed for the wagon where she could see Riley and Lily were already seated, waiting for her. She climbed up, asking, “How did it go?”
Lily was grinning from ear to ear. “There are definitely two babies. The doctor used his stethoscope to listen to my stomach and he could hear their heartbeats.”
“That’s wonderful news,” Sara Jane told her. She decided to keep the warning Tara had given about twins coming early to herself. She’d share it with Ma once they were back at the ranch and from here on out, Lily was staying at home. Sara Jane would see to that.
Chapter 6
Later that afternoon
“Have you seen Sara Jane?” Carl asked as he dismounted and started removing the horse’s tack. He hefted the heavy leather Western saddle up and over the side wall of the stall and then removed the bridle and hung them on a hook next to the saddle.
“She hasn’t come in yet. She went out with Jam
es to check that the fence lines between the pastures of yearlings and mamas, and the bulls, were in good repair. They should be back soon.”
Carl nodded and grabbed a curry comb and started brushing his mount. He remained quiet until he heard Sara Jane and her pa return. Then he put his horse in its stall and wandered over to help with theirs. “Fence line okay?” he asked.
“It’s fine,” James said. The man heaved a sigh and his shoulders sagged more than usual. “Carl, can I have you finish seeing to my horse? I’m completely worn out from the cold and wind today.”
Carl stepped forward, laying a hand on the horse’s neck. “Sure thing, James.”