CHAPTER3
Blanche watched Mrs. Newton walk slowly and carefully with a book on her head. They were working on Blanche’s movements. She rushed into a room, her steps determined, knowing where she was going, and not letting anything get in her way.
Not the movements of a true lady.
When she had arrived at the house yesterday, the first thing Mrs. Newton had done was make her bathe and change from her men’s clothing into a dress the matchmaker had given her. She’d also been given women’s undergarments.
Those damn garments were torture devices that made her lady parts lift up and suck in. She hated the corset and would love to take it out and use it for target practice. But she was trying to change and she had to accept the new rules.
Her papa had never bought her anything that looked like what Mrs. Newton had given her. Sure, he bought her dresses with petticoats, but she only wore them on special occasions. No sense in ruining them while she worked on the farm.
The farm…tears welled in her eyes and she quickly swiped them away. She must concentrate on the here and now and not on what she’d lost. Besides, old man Jones must have shit his pants when he arrived to take over. Nothing left but the land and the house.
“Now it’s your turn,” Mrs. Newton told her. “Remember, you are a lady. Ladies glide across the room. It should look like you’re walking on air.”
Like that was possible.
With a sigh, Blanche stood and Mrs. Newton arranged her skirts. She pulled her shoulders back and lifted her chin. Remember, glide…
“Ready?”
“Yes,” Blanche said, feeling so uncomfortable. Stiff.
Mrs. Newton placed the book on the top of her head.
“Walk across the room slowly like you’re dancing.”
“Never been to a dance,” she said, thinking that her father had kept her from so many things. Even though he’d gone out to the saloon in town plenty of nights. Gambling their life away.
The thoughts caused her to glance down at her feet and the book tilted and landed on the floor.
Giggles could be heard in the background. She whirled around to see who was laughing at her. If it was Alice Burns, she would take her down and pummel her beautiful face with her fists.
The girl had been her archenemy since grade school when she tormented Blanche for not having a momma. Though she herself did not have a father.
“Girls,” Mrs. Newton admonished, “go to your rooms.”
“Blanche, let’s start again. I want you to walk across the room five times without losing the book before we move on to your next lesson.”
She hoped to hell the next lesson was not as tedious as this one. But she got the feeling that none of this was going to be easy.
Mrs. Newton pulled her shoulders back and tilted her chin up and then the hated book was placed on her head. Glide slowly…
“Again,” she said.
Blanche began to walk, carefully keeping the book on her head. She made it across the room four times when she heard Alice’s voice.
“She has no momma. It’s whispered that her mother ran out on her and her trashy father. Took off with the pan salesman.”
The woman was deliberately trying to make Blanche angry and it was working. Fury spread through her as the girl told her malicious gossip. She felt the book wobble. One more pass and then she would beat the hell out of her.
“I hear she’s just like her tramp of a mother. It must be passed down,” Alice said loud enough for Blanche to hear her.
Mrs. Newton shook her head and Blanche knew she also heard Alice’s voice.
When she finished the fifth lap across the room, she removed the book and handed it to Mrs. Newton. Then she walked into the hallway and grabbed Alice by the front of her dress, bringing her up close to her.
“One more word and that pretty nose of yours will be crushed. Do you understand me?”
The girl’s blue eyes widened with fear.
“You may have gotten away with tormenting me in school, but it’s not going to be so easy here. I will kick your ass all the way down the street after I break your nose so that no man will look twice at you. Do you understand me?”
“Girls,” Mrs. Newton said, coming between the two women. “Alice, that was uncalled for. You deliberately baited Blanche. Go to your room. One more incident like this and you’ll be staying in Charleston. Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said, straightening her dress and giving Blanche a mean, disgusted glance.
Then Mrs. Newton turned and glared at Blanche. “We were doing so well. Your conduct and your threats are not ladylike. Do not let me hear them again or you will be staying in Charleston. Now back to work. The rest of you, practice your needlepoint. Stay in your rooms, until we are done.”
The women scattered and Blanche sighed. She couldn’t afford to lose this opportunity. She wanted to get to Montana and find herself a rancher for a husband.
“I’m sorry, but she has tormented me since I was a child. I will no longer accept her saying horrible things about my mother or me.”
Mrs. Newton stared at her. “How do you think a lady would respond to her?”
“I don’t know. All I know is how to use my fists. That’s what I was taught.”
The woman smiled. “And now you’re going to learn a new way. Sit down and let’s practice.”
What were they going to practice? What other way was there?
“Have you heard about Blanche’s mother?”
Her spine stiffened and she felt her fingers clench.
Mrs. Newton took her hand. “Now say something nice back to me.”
Confusion filled her as she tried to remember what she’d been taught about her mother.
“I heard that she was beautiful. Papa said she had the sweetest laugh. He missed her right up until the day he died.”
She squeezed her hand. “Perfect. Not only did you respond in kind, but you gave us new information that we didn’t know about your mother.”
“But it’s hard to think that way when someone is taunting you.”