The outpost was connected to the main house by a heavy wooden door with iron banding. The main room contained a couple dozen shirts and pants, assorted ropes, netting, hammers, saws, nails and other hardware, much of which had been previously used. The medicine and knives weren't kept in this building, but in locked trunks in George's bedroom. Behind the service counter, another door led to a small bedroom that George and Marie rented to customers by the night. Those who slept here were usually too sick to travel, so it was more of a treatment room than a hotel.
After supper, while the men talked at the main table, Marie and Johanna put some linens and a blanket on the guest bed and set out a clean chamber pot. Rose fetched some well water for the basin, and Johanna placed a towel and hand mirror beside it.
"Do you have any questions about what might happen tonight?" Marie said.
Johanna blushed.
"I know you've probably seen it done, but this will be different."
Johanna looked down at her hands in her lap.
Marie said, "Well then, I'll just let nature take its course. Tomorrow, if you want, we can talk about what happened.
"Okay."
Marie walked to the doorway, turned, and smiled. Johanna said, "Don't worry, Mrs. Stout. Everything will be all right."
Marie looked at the young girl sitting on the bed, her work dress caked with grime from the day's cleaning. Johanna's hair was a tangled mess, and soot smudges from the fire wood covered her hands and right forearm. There were random smudges on her forehead where she'd wiped her brow. Her legs and ankles were bruised and cut from the brambles and saw grass, and there were chigger bites on her cheek and neck.
It was a pitiful sight to behold.
Marie sighed. "Here, child, let me work on you a bit."
She dipped the towel in the water basin and scrubbed Johanna's face, neck, and arms, then rinsed it off.
She stepped back to survey her work, frowned and shook her head.
"Take your shoes off."
Marie scrubbed the girl's feet, rinsed the towel again and handed it to her, saying, "I'll leave the room a moment while you clean the rest of you."
Marie closed the door behind her and went to one of the cabinets in the store. George and Marie didn't stock luxury items like dresses, but they did have a couple of night shirts. Marie chose one, shook it out, and put it to her nose. It smelled slightly of mildew, but was a vast improvement over Johanna's shift. She waited a couple minutes and knocked on the door. When Marie entered the bedroom holding the night shirt, Johanna jumped to her feet and hugged her tightly.
"I love you, Marie," she said.
Marie smiled and patted her back. "Well, it's the least I can do."
After Marie left, Johanna changed clothes and sat on the side of the bed to wait for Henry. A moment passed and she heard the slightest movement under the bed. She jumped to her feet. Her eyes darted around the room searching for any type of weapon she could use to kill a snake or rat, but found nothing. Fine, she'd use her shoe if she had to. Johanna grabbed a shoe, set her jaw, knelt beside the bed, lifted the low-hanging edge of the quilt and carefully looked beneath it.
She gasped and drew back.
It wasn't a snake or rat.
It was Rose.
Johanna grabbed her by the foot and pulled her out.
"You monstrous child!" she said. "What were you doing under there?"
"Why, waiting for you and Henry to fornicate, of course."