Ghent set down the last of the new chairs. Janus said, "Well, it's a bit fancy for my taste, but it all goes together, and every bit of it's probably more comfortable than my bed."
Betty couldn't help but think that it was a perfect little entrance parlor for a brothel. The furniture represented the partial contents of but one of three sitting rooms from the palatial house Josephine had occupied. New rugs and wall hangings added warmth and color to the room. The furniture was plush and solidly built. Fanciful new oil lamps would create a bright and cheery space once the sun went down.
It looked like a completely different room, which was a good thing, considering what had happened the night before.
"Nice," Ginny said from the doorway as she entered with Lana.
Lana walked over to a chair near the door and sat down with a satisfied groan.
Ginny found her own seat on the smaller couch next to it and said to Janus, "My sister is probably going to keep you up all night."
Betty smiled — remembering the look on Keri's face when she delivered the bolts of cloth and lace. Josephine had a sewing room in the house, and it was well stocked with material, pins, and needles. The sight of fine, colorful cotton had cut through Keri's shocked melancholy almost instantly. Janus had never heard of any other woman entering the house, and Damson's hands certainly weren't fit for sewing, so it stood to reason that Josephine had made at least some of her own clothing.
The kitchen had been likewise stocked with a plethora of herbs and spices — some of which were expensive and exotic. Jan was busy trying to find room to put them and the foodstuffs all away. Though looks could certainly be deceiving, Betty considered it unlikely that Damson was the master of that kitchen. Though there was no evidence of the food that was prepared there, the presence of the spices and the well-ordered nature of the kitchen suggested another hidden — and lost — talent Josephine had possessed.
The evidence of a hidden life had made Betty wish even more that things had gone differently. She shook away her musings and listened to Janus talking to Ghent about the bath.
"The water comes up from a grate cut into the stone of the floor, and it's the clearest I've ever seen," Janus said. "The mortar between those stones is as hard as rock. If it's not magic, I sure wish I knew how it was made. The water doesn't seem to eat at it at all. Goes over a lip into a hole on the other end, and I can hear two falls onto stone. The second has a bit of a gurgle to it. Guessing it's an underground stream they tapped. Has to be magic heating it, though."
Ghent shook his head and chuckled. "Pussy must actually be made of gold to have humped her way into that place."
"Only heard tell of the man that was supposed to own the place," Janus revealed. "Nobody had seen him for a few years even before Josephine moved in, and I've never heard of anybody who knew his name."
Lana rose from her seat, reached into the purse on her belt, and pulled out some coins, which she held out to Betty.
"What's this?" Betty asked.
"Couple of Corra's men were off-duty, and I had nothing better to do," Lana said. She shrugged and said, "They were fine having a hump off in the grass."
Betty took the coins and said, "I suppose it's a good thing the potions we take chase off ticks and chiggers as well as they do lice."
"Now that Keri isn't staring off into space, I'd just as soon get back to work too," Ginny said.
"Not as if we're going to be leaving tomorrow," Lana said. "May as well make the most of it while we're here. I think Lilly is ready to get back on her back too."
"Do you want me to move your beds back into the house?" Betty asked.
Both women nodded.
Ghent said, "I'll get on it, and I'll ask Lilly if she wants me to move hers too."
Jan called from the kitchen, "May as well move mine back too."
"Guess we best get to it," Janus said, and the two men headed for the door.
"It will probably be a little thin," Betty cautioned. "I'm sure everyone around has heard what happened here by now. That will probably scare them off."
"Been having good luck with travelers. A caravan looked like it was on its way in until they saw all the soldiers around," Lana said.
"If that's what you girls want, we'll open up tomorrow while I make a plan to head back to the Kip," Betty said.
"Let Corra's men know, and I bet I can have my legs in the air as soon as Ghent gets my bed set down," Lana said, and punctuated it with a giggle that sounded more heartfelt than Betty would have expected. "We still have a few hours until dark."
"I'll let them know. I'd rather be keeping my books than sitting around thinking," Betty said.
Three murmurs of agreement greeted that.
Ghent and Hoss entered with one of the beds a moment later. Ghent said to Betty, "Woman out there talking to Janus."
"Any idea who?"
"Older woman. Somebody he recognizes," Ghent answered.
"Well, get the beds moved back in. May as well bring ours in too."
Ghent nodded and said, "Yes'm."
Betty stepped outside and saw Janus speaking with a blonde-haired woman who looked to be in her forties. Janus beckoned with a wave, and Betty held up a finger as she walked over to the ranking soldier.
Betty said, "We're going to open up for as long as we're here. Same hours. Pass the word along?"
He answered, "I will. It will do much to straighten slumped shoulders."
Betty laughed, and it felt good. She winked as she walked toward Janus and said over her shoulder, "You could always come by once you're off duty if you're feeling a little slumpy."
His chuckle further improved her mood.
"This is Betty," Janus said as she approached. He then said, "This is Nora. She is one of the women who used to work in town before Josephine."
Nora briefly bowed her head, and then asked, "Is she really gone?"
Betty answered, "Yes, and pretty much every official she had sucking her tits too."
The older woman breathed a sigh of relief.
"Believe me, I know the feeling," Betty said.
Janus said, "I heard a rumor that you'd shacked up with old man Lamisol." When she nodded, he asked, "How'd you put up with him?"
She sighed and offered a half smile. "He softened up a little once I started cooking and cleaning for him. He was actually sort of sweet after I humped him the first time."
"Was?" Betty asked with knowing sympathy in her voice.
Nora answered, "Passed on a few months ago."
"Sorry to hear it. How have you been getting along?" Janus asked.
"Nobody to claim the house, so I stayed. I was doing okay between the root cellar, gardening, and selling chickens and eggs, but some damn critter got a bunch of the chickens and all my roosters two weeks back." She turned to Betty and said, "I can tithe. I've been humping a few men to help get by."
"I'm not established," Betty said. "No right to ask anything from you, and I wouldn't anyway, unless you were working for me. If you need to work, go right ahead. I'm not her."
"Just until I can get my livestock replaced. I'm getting too old for this," Nora said.
"I know that feeling too," Betty responded.
"Do you know where Bella got to?" Janus asked.
Nora winced, and Betty could see the older woman was clenching her teeth. She reached out and caressed Nora's arm. "What happened?"
It took Nora a few seconds to begin. "I was trying to get her to leave for a week once that bitch started sending the law to harass us. Figured we'd be better off together, even though we'd never really got on. I was lucky that I was out humping at a regular's house when they kicked my door in. I knew we had to get out then. I had to practically drag her out. She didn't seem to care."
Nora paused and drew in a shuddering breath. Betty said, "It's okay, you don't have to."
"No... I've never told anyone but Birx. Dragged her up north to this widower's farmstead. He'd come into town a few times for a fuck, and I thought I could charm him. Guess he died, and his boy had taken over the farm. Bastard made us both spread our legs just to sleep in the barn, and then sent all his hands to have a turn too. Bella just laid there, even when they got rough."
It was Betty's turn to clench her teeth, and she heard Janus growl.
Nora continued, "I was scared and angry, so I snapped at her once they'd finished with us. That's when she cracked and started sobbing. Told me someone had gotten one on her." Nora hung her head, sighed, and then continued, "Cried herself to sleep, and when I woke up in the morning, she was hanging from a saddle hook. Bastard made me give them all another turn just to dig her a hole. Thought about joining her a few times until I took up with Birx."
"Who was it?" Janus asked with barely contained fury.
"Doesn't matter," Nora said, and then chuckled. "When I told Birx, that old bastard crept out and set his barn on fire. It was a dry year, and everything went up in smoke. The house. The fields. Everything."
"Mortelle then," Janus said. "Didn't shed a tear when I heard about that fire. Now I wish he'd been in it. Josephine went badly. Poison. Roja got a bolt in his chest by one of his own men, so they all paid for what they did."
"Maybe I'm as much of a bitch as her, but they got what was coming to them," Nora said.
