Something Borrowed (Jordan-Alexander Family 3)

Silver shook Mary's hand. "Fine. I'll go down to the Ajax right now."

"Oh, but you have business with Mr. Baker," Mary protested.

"No, I don't," Silver answered, as she took Mary by the arm and ushered her away from the Western Union office and Carl Baker's hearing, and out the front door of the depot. "I came here looking for you."

"Why?" Mary asked.

"I left Sherman's a few minutes ago. But while I was there, Jed Buford mentioned you were going to start a school over at the Ettinger House."

"Yes, I am," Mary answered.

"Well, Mrs. Kincaid, I'd like to talk to you about taking on a few of my girls as students."

"Your girls? You mean your daughters?"

"No, ma'am," Silver replied, "I mean my girls… my employees. You see, I own and operate the Silver Bear Saloon."

"The Silver Bear?" Mary thought for a moment. "That's where Judah said the young unmarried men go for—for companionship." She blushed.

"That's right," Silver said. "Look, Mrs. Kincaid, I'll be frank with you. I'm what some people call a madam. I employ young women who provide sexual services for the men in town."

"I see." Mary felt her face turn even redder as she struggled to pretend a sophistication she didn't feel.

"Business is off at the saloon," Silver continued. "It's like Mr. Crane said, except that there aren't enough young unmarried men in Utopia anymore. Or any men—young, old, married, or unmarried."

"Why have you stayed?" Mary asked as they walked down the street toward the Ajax Saloon.

"It's my home," Silver replied honestly. "The Silver Bear isn't much, but it's mine. I worked hard and saved my money and I bought it. I thought about moving on, but it isn't as easy as one would think for a woman like me to start over in another town. At least in Utopia, I know my customers. I know what to expect and how to protect my girls. In another town…" She shrugged her shoulders. "If it was just me, I might leave, but I've got the girls to consider."

"How?"

"Let's just say that in another town things would be different. My business can be dangerous if you don't know who you're dealing with, and if I left Utopia, I'd be starting from scratch, building my clientele, learning my customers' likes and dislikes along with the girls. When I heard that the late Mrs. Gray's brother and his wife had come to take over the mine, I decided to stick it out and see if there was any chance of the mine reopening."

"I don't know," Mary answered honestly. "I haven't been to the mine yet and neither has my husband. We haven't yet spoken to the mine engineers about the possibility of reopening."

"Would you consider it?" Silver asked.

"Of course, we'll consider it," Mary told her. "The mine is Madeline's inheritance, and we would like to have it operating and earning income not only for Maddy but for Utopia."

"That's all I'll ask," Silver promised. "You see, Mrs. Kincaid, I really want to stay in Utopia and so do most of the girls. But we don't have very many customers these days. I'm lucky. I've been operating the Silver Bear long enough to have made my fortune, but the girls haven't. They're bored with nothing to do and no money to spend. And if Utopia dies, so does my business: I won't be able to keep the girls on. That's the problem, because most of my employees can't read or write. Farming and ranching and the kind of work they're doing is the only thing they know how to do. But none of them are likely to meet a farmer or a rancher in Utopia. So, when Jed mentioned that you were starting a school, I realized it might be a solution to my problem. If the girls had an education, they could find other work in other towns and wouldn't be dependent on places like mine."

"So, you're asking me to enroll your girls in school so they can have an opportunity to better themselves."

"That's it. Exactly." Silver nodded, the blue feathers on her hat bobbing up and down. "I'm asking you to clear the way so the miners' wives won't raise an outcry if my girls show up at your school."

"How many girls are we talking about?" Mary asked, already making a mental list to see if she needed to order more desks and more supplies.

"Three or four," Silver answered. "I have two seventeen-year-olds, one eighteen-year-old, and one who swears she's sixteen, but I suspect she's younger—thirteen or fourteen."

Mary stared at the madam, a stern schoolteacher expression on her face.

"I didn't recruit them into the business, Mrs. Kincaid," Silver said quickly. "One's pa left her on my doorstep and rode away, two are orphans I found starving on the streets in Denver, and one came begging me for a job and food and shelter. I couldn't turn them out any more than you could discontinue Tabitha's Gray's practice of feeding the town." She came to a stop outside the door to the Ajax Saloon, Bank, and Assayer's Office.

"No, I guess you couldn't," Mary agreed.

"Will you take them on?"