Chapter Two ~ To See the Elephant

Madge Undersee, late of the town of Twelvetrees, West Virginia, stepped off the coach into the bright mid-morning sunshine. This was Panem? It was nothing more than a long stretch of ramshackle buildings on the Main Street, filled with horses and men. And, Lord, it stank to high heaven.

"Excuse me," she piped up, directing her question to a curvaceous blonde her own age about to board the coach. "Where is the hotel, please?"

"Oh, honey, there isn't a hotel," the girl replied. She turned to the young man next to her, who was helping load their trunks. "Mr Mellark and I are leaving, but maybe we could be of assistance—Miss! Are you all right?"

"Mellark?" Madge swayed, reaching out a hand to steady herself. "Not any relation to Peeta Mellark?"

The man with her turned, and Madge felt a wave of hope, followed swiftly by despair. "I'm Wheatley Mellark. Peet's my youngest brother. Can I help you?"

Maybe it was the heat, or the shock, but whatever it was, Madge fainted.

When she came to, a young woman in a low cut red dress was holding a foul smelling bag of salts under her nose. "Finally!" she said, rolling her eyes. "Miss Lah-Dee-Dah is awake!"

Madge frowned, trying to place the young woman before her. She certainly wasn't the same girl from the coach. "Where am I?"

"In hell," the girl said with a twist of her lips. She reeled back and screeched with laughter at Madge's shocked gasp. "My, ain't you got a poker up your ass!"

"Hanna!" Another girl poked her head through the door. Though she was dressed just as scandalously as Hanna, she had kind eyes, and a giant green bow in her auburn hair that made her look younger than her years. Madge clung to the hope that she wasn't where she thought she was. "Don't mind her, miss, she has a strange sense of humor." The new girl handed her a porcelain tea cup painted with pale pink roses. "I'm Annie. That's chamomile. It ought to settle your nerves."

"Annie, the little mother!" Hanna sneered. She tossed her dark, spiky hair and glared daggers at Madge. "Don't you dare turn your nose up at it, not if you know what's good for you!"

Madge took the tea with a smile and breathed in deeply. She blew on it, and took a polite sip. "Delicious. My mother made hers the same way, with just a touch of honey. Thank you, Annie. My nerves feel calmer already." She swung her legs over the side of the divan and tried to stand. The world spun dangerously, and she sat back down. "Oh, my. It seems I may need to rest for a few more minutes." Her corset was digging into her ribs, and she wondered with a pang if it was good for... but no matter. If only her mother were here. I want my mother. That line of thought was too painful, and she pushed it away.

"A few more minutes too long! Do you think this is a private room where you can recline at your leisure?" Hanna snapped, stalking over to the mirror over the fireplace to adjust the black rooster plume in her hair.

"What do you mean?" Madge asked with a sinking feeling. "Oh—is this—a house of sin?" Her voice dropped. "I can pay. Just fetch my reticule."

Annie frowned. Her eyes went soft and far away, and she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving Madge alone with Hanna.

"What did you have to go and ask that for?" Hanna spat. "Now she'll go drink her wretched laudanum. It's how she copes." Running a finger over the mantelpiece, she came up with dust and her lips made a moue of disgust. "Besides, how will you pay again? I didn't see you come in with anything."

"My trunk?" Madge asked. "My reticule?" Hanna shrugged, shaking her head. "Oh no."

"Gonna faint again, Miss Priss?" Hanna snickered. "I wouldn't suggest it. That trunk is probably halfway to Virginia City by now. And as for your reticule, I'm sure it's long gone." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Try explaining that to Madam Coin. You'll be paying off your "restful" hour in this room flat on your back."

"I didn't ask to come here!" Madge hissed. She stood up and forced herself to breathe. She put her hand on the doorknob.

"None of us asked to come here," Hanna said bitterly. "What makes you think you'll be any different?"

Madge gasped in horror. "Do you mean to tell me that you are kept against your will?"

Hanna laughed again, a hollow sound. "Ask General Snow. Isn't he the one who brought you here? Let me guess, to be a schoolteacher. Annie fell for that one. I didn't have much choice after he threatened to have my little brother killed." Her lips twisted in an ugly grimace. "Not that it matters, they still sent him down that hole."

"General Snow? I've never heard of him," Madge said.

"You will," Hanna promised darkly. "Don't bother with the knob. It'll be locked from the outside."

Madge had to sit down again. It was almost too much. First, the journey by rail from Charleston to Chicago, which had boosted her confidence and fortitude. Then, the terrifying – and exhilarating, truth to be told – journey by stagecoach from Chicago to Panem. She had loved the landscape, so different from the mountains of home, that she had sketched botanical illustrations and composed songs in her head the entire way. She had hoped to publish the book once she returned home, but now... Now she was alone in this wicked place. "My fiancé is waiting for me to arrive," she said with more confidence than she felt. "If I don't show up, he will come looking for me."

"He'll have to stand in line then, won't he?" Hanna said, bored. She studied her fingernails. "Everyone will want to give the new girl a try."

"Then I will send a telegram to my father," Madge improvised, a thread of panic in her voice. "He has money. He can pay." And get me home, she added in her head. Her father would take her back, and damn the scandal.

"Oh, Daddy can pay, can he?" Hanna sneered. "Then why did he send his precious baby to Dakota Territory all on her lonesome?"

Madge was saved from answering by the sound of the doorknob turning and Hanna straightened, her eyes at once both watchful and wary. The door opened silently on well-oiled hinges and Annie came in, bearing another cup of tea and a tray piled high with food. Madge's stomach growled traitorously. Behind her, an old woman with a pinched face, steel gray hair scraped back in a harsh bun, and shifty eyes strode into the room. Beside her was an imposing man who looked like he could snap Madge like a twig.

"Comstock Hanna, Annie. You may leave us," the old woman said in a voice like dead leaves rustling over stones. Annie ducked her head and scurried from the room. Hanna did not look at Madge, but as she went by she slipped something cold and heavy into Madge's hand. Madge put her hand into her pocket and dropped whatever it was inside. The door remained open, but the older man stood near it. He looked steadily out the window, which Madge now realized had bars across it. She felt sick.

"So. You are the young woman who fainted in the street," the madam said. She looked Madge up and down, unblinking. Madge held herself together. She had people, she reminded herself. She wasn't alone without a friend in the world. "General Snow is a... personal... friend of mine."

I'll bet. "General Snow didn't bring me here, if that's what you mean," Madge glared at the madam—Coin, her brain supplied. That was a fitting name for a grasping madam, straight out of a dime store novel. "I am here to meet my fiancé. He is expecting me." She moved towards the door. "Thank you for your hospitality. We will make sure you are compensated for the time the room was occupied," she continued, though the disdain in her tone made it clear just what she thought of the idea.

As soon as she reached the door, however, the big man stepped in front of it. Coin's voice, harsh and cold, floated across the room. "Boggs! Catch her!"

Suddenly his hands were around her neck, thumbs pressing either side. Madge struggled in his grip. To her horror, the room began to swim before her eyes.

Before the darkness overtook her, Madge's brain formed a single thought.

The baby...

Author's Note:

Thanks to everyone who left a review, made this story a favorite, or followed! Updates will be weekly, though some chapters are shorter than others depending on how fast-paced the action is.

If you're confused about the pairings, don't worry. All will be revealed in time.

The next chapter, Another Man's Problem, will be up next week. However, I am getting married in about ten days, so the next update after that may be pushed two weeks out.