LITMIR.BIZ

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up now. I gave her something else to wear. That dress she had on wasn’t fit for wearin’. It was clean, but that was about all you could say for it. And what she had on underneath it was pretty pathetic. Especially the bruises that had her all colors.” Her gaze was sad as she faced John. “She’s just a girl, John. She’s been abused and misused, and it hurts me to see such a thing. I’m hoping your good sense will recognize that she needs help, not the attentions of a man.”

      His lips thinned and he clenched his hands as she spoke. Knowing that he had been right in his estimation of facts didn’t do much to improve his mood. He’d like to take Schrader out behind a barn and show him how it felt to wear bruises. There was nothing meaner than a man who’d hit a woman, and if he ever got the chance, he’d show the man how it felt to get back a little of his own.

      “I’m not looking for a woman thataway, Molly. She’ll be safe with me.”

      A look that might have been relief touched Molly’s countenance. “Sit yourself down and have some coffee while you wait, John,” she said, pouring him a cup from the big pot on the stove. “You have breakfast already? Or did you skedaddle out of there before the cook fed you?”

      “I was in a hurry, Molly. I haven’t eaten.”

      “Well, neither has Katie, so you can take a few minutes and eat with her. The ladies have all finished their breakfast, but I’d thought to share mine with the girl. I don’t mind including you.”

      “Thanks.” He sat and picked up the cup she’d placed before him. It steamed and the scent was pure ambrosia to his senses. Nothing like a cup of coffee in the morning to get a man ready for the day. And then he heard footsteps on the back stairway and his gaze shot to where Katie’s slender form descended the steps, heading in his direction, her steps hesitant, her limp not pronounced, but apparent.

      She looked at him, a flush touching her cheeks, as if she had been thinking of him, and now the reality of his presence had startled her. “Good morning,” she said, crossing to the table where he waited. The dress she wore was clean, but ill-fitting, and he hid a grin at the sight of her slim form wrapped in an old dress from Molly’s closet.

      “Sit yourself down,” Molly said, and Katie did as she was told. Probably used to being given orders, John thought.

      “Haven’t changed your mind, have you?” he asked her quietly, and was almost relieved when her head shook once, back and forth, letting him know that she was still of a mind to go home with him. “I’ll take you to the general store and find you some clothes before we go out to the ranch,” he said and was stunned at the tears that appeared in her eyes.

      “What did I say? I didn’t mean to make you upset,” he said quickly.

      “No. It’s not that,” she said, wiping at her cheeks with a bit of white fabric she had apparently been given to use as a kerchief. “I just didn’t expect to have anything new to wear. Molly gave me this dress and I’d thought it would be fine, long as I can find a needle and thread to take it up so’s it’ll fit me better.”

      Molly snorted. “That dress is about ready to use for dust cloths and scrubbing rags,” she said firmly. “Once you take it off, you’d as well rip it up and make better use of it, child.”

      John nodded his agreement, for surely he could buy her something that would fit her. “You’re gonna be working in my house, Katie. You’ll wear decent clothing and shoes, not heavy boots. You can pick out what you need at the store and I’ll buy it for you.”

      “I knew you had a good heart, John.” Molly turned from the stove and nodded at him approvingly, carrying a plate to place it before him as she spoke. “This little gal hasn’t got much of anything to her name it seems. A new coat will be little enough to pay for somebody keeping your place up, and fixing meals for you. I’m gonna let her use mine this morning, but she’ll need one of her own.”

      John sent Molly a grateful look, and added another black mark to the Schrader family name as he looked back at the girl he’d decided to take home with him. “Just be thinking of what you need, Katie, and we’ll take care of it right after breakfast,” he told her and she only nodded, as if she could not find words to speak.

      Another plate of food was settled in front of her and with an admonition from Molly to get 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

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