Ginny had been up before Dawn, as she had been since she married Bobby, living with Bobby she always got up to go running with him, and kept it up, even when he wasn't there. Now it simply gave her more time to plan. She ran into a Chinese man she knew was Hop-Sing.

"You must be guests, Mista Cartwight tell 'bout. I am Hop-Sing."

I am Ginny Westin. Ginny says in Cantonese bowing, he returns the gesture, having an Archeologist for a mother had some strange benefits one being, if they were in a dig anywhere longer than three months she picked up that region's language or dialect good enough to be considered able to hold a basic conversation by six she was either fluent or nearly fluent at least verbally, if it was a year, she could read and write in it up to her age level. Cantonese she verbally fluent but she was barely literate, she just could never manage to pick up the nuisance, reading at the level of a very small child and never learning how to write, despite being there 15 months with her mother when she was 11 and 12. It an honor to meet you. Your reputation as an artful cook and trusted friend precede you.

Mister Cartwright tells me that you are staying here. With your Sisters and daughter.

My daughter, and the two sisters I raised since they were 8 and 5.

Then they are your children as well…..

Yes. I would like to offer our help, with chores. Obviously we wouldn't be allowed to help with Ranch chores but….

Yes, I will welcome the help. I do the work of more than one person.

Why do it yourself?

Mister Cartwright is a good man, he treats me better than any other employer would. I get paid as much as a white man would get paid. And I've worked here so long they have become…..

Family

Yes.

My girls and I only have one set of clothes

We have had many hands over the years, many get mixed up in laundry there are clothes from them, and the boys have outgrown many more clothes, most given away but some have been kept they are packed away. I will dig those out.

Thank you.

I get clothes

I'll wake the girls.

Hop Sing brought the clothes, Ginny dressed in something a hand had left behind, Willow was dressed in a pair of black work pants, and a red shirt work shirt, and her own boots, Livy in a grey pair of pants and a green shirt, and Little Izzy was wearing blue pants, and a red shirt, all their hair was done and they were helping Hop-sing in the kitchen. Eggs, Toast, biscuits, and flapjacks were being made, and Ginny was making the Calloway's famous coffee. Coming from a long line of field researchers and night owl's. The Calloway blend can be made with just a few common herbs found in any kitchen and can be made easily in the field. The additives make even instant or Army swill taste halfway decent. The home and field versions differ only slightly, both are taught to only our children or our spouses. By teaching Bobby before he entered basic when I was 17, I was in effect proposing to him, which he knew I told him the entire history not that I used those words. But he took the commitment seriously I was his girl from then on. Soon breakfast was on the table, and all four cartwright men and all four guests were eating together.

"You didn't need to help with breakfast, Mrs. Westin." Ben said. Taking a sip of the coffee and then noting it was different.

"I don't mind the least we can do to repay your hospitality is a few chores."

"You're guests."

"In a way we're guests, we've all spent years at the Ponderosa our father was our ranch foreman here for years, we're always thought of it as home, and we've always helped. Are you enjoying my coffee?"

"Yes I am thank you Mrs. Westin, it's very good, and I suppose we could use the help. We have a large army contract of both cattle and Horses to fulfill at the end of the summer. We can use every pair of hands we can."

"We will help anyway we can. I've already spoken with Hop-Sing about sharing his duties with us, but no doubt there are other things that we can do.

After breakfast, the men and women split off to do their jobs. Izzy was pouting. While they were in the kitchen, cleaning the breakfast dishes.

"There's nothing to do." Izzy lamented.

"We wash coesvely soon wittle girl, you help?"

"Okay." The chores went by rather smoothly Supper came about and the four Cartwright's were once again faced with their four guests. For them Supper was at noon or one with leftovers later. Ben mused that these guests didn't act like guests or anyone else he'd ever met. supper was something he'd never imagined. They were steaks, juicy and marinated in something he couldn't put his finger on.

"I take it Hop-sing didn't cook this?"

"He did, all I did was Marinate the stake, Livy and Wills chopped vegetables and such, like a sous-chef, he really did all the actual cooking. And I only marinated it because I wanted to see if it would work. I have many recipes from years of living on the road with my mother."

"Road?"

"My mother was an archeologist we lived out of tents for most of my childhood digging up history, and I can cook nearly anything with limited supplies over a fire. It's all in the spices."

"That's certainly good to know." Adam said.

"I helped with the laundry." Izzy said. "It took longer than laundry at home and Hop-sing taught me to say my name in his language."

"That's great Dizzy girl."

After supper Izzy cleared the table then was told she could go out and play she took her jump rope which was in her bag, she was into competitive jump back home. She had gotten into when she was real little, before her daddy died, her daddy had died when she was six. and not long before she died she got interested in jumping at school, there was a club and she joined it, when she gets older if they stayed in the future there'd be more of a future in it. Not much of one, but more than here, here it was just a game. But since she was told to stay in the yard she picked a nice spot and just jumped rope. The men and women did their chores she got tired of jumping, She played with some of her wooden puzzles that her Alivy made her, she called her Alivy which was short for Aunt Livy, and she called Aunt Willow, her Awilla. Now she tended to call them Aunt Willow at least aunt Willow, except sometimes, they both called her Mom gingin. The puzzle her Alivy made her was real complex and took a lot of time for her to make. It was harder to solve than a Rubix cube. A shadow was over she looked up.

"Hi, Mr. Adam." She said cheerfully.

"Hi, Izzy. What's that?"

"It's a puzzle, Alivy made it for me."

"She did."

"Yea, it's a Box, it holds treasures or it's 'spose to. She carved it for me. She also carved me a Star Puzzle, and a one that looks like a big mess of knots, and you're supposed to unknot them. I haven't figured out how to unlock this yet, but when I do I can keep my treasures in it."

"And your Aunt Livy made it for you."

"Yeah, she's real good at carving puzzles she sold them back home to some toy stores and gave them away to charity, at Christmas time."

"Well, maybe she could sell her puzzles at the mercantile."

"Maybe, she doesn't just make puzzles though, she made me a Jacob's ladder, and a ball and cup, and some little figurines she made, I also have a jump rope and Daisy of course but Daisy but she didn't make those. The jump rope is regulation and my Mom made Daisy, Mr. Adam?"

"Yes."

"Will I get to play with other kids?"

"It's possible, I don't know. I can ask Pa."

"Oh, will I go to school?"

"Not all the children in Virginia City and on the surrounding ranches go to school, Izzy." Her Mom said coming out.

"She's right a lot of them don't." Adam said. Most of the Ranch and business owners sent their children to school. But not all their employees did. And not everyone who had stake in a mine or a small ranch did send their children, especially the one's not old enough to go back and forth themselves, or older children who'd are worth a day's worth to school. It was unfortunate that not every had that option, even if it seemed like they did. He himself growing up didn't always get a chance to go to school, he did most of the time and he was blessed by a chance to go to a university and continue learning.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Well, Dizzy girl, not everyone gets to." He wished it weren't true, It wasn't a reality he was comfortable with but it was the world he lived in the Good news was if they didn't send Izzy to school, Ginny would be more than capable of teaching her. "And besides, before you did go to school in this time, you would have to know how to behave in school, or you'd get in trouble." Mom said coming outside.

"I can behave, Mommy." Izzy seemed insulted.

"For the 2014 you're remarkably well behaved, you're outspoken of course but polite, but this isn't 2014, Diz, it's another time and manners are very different. And if I sent you and you really were naughty I'd have no problem with you getting paddled within reason, but not before you understand how to behave in 1862 better than you do now."

"Your Mama's right." Ben said as he walked outside. "I'm sure you can keep up her schooling and help prepare the others in that way."

"I could, I know I seemed uncommonly blunt and rude beyond the pale, but I do know how to fit into almost any culture if I choose to, my mother made sure of that but I was a little too scared and in shock to choose 19th century civility, I was lucky I wasn't downright rude by 21st century standards. It's not supposed to be possible, time travel and yet I knew exactly where and when I was and who I was standing in front of. I know the statistics the dangers of your time. I panicked….."The Ben understood. All three of his wives when faced when uncertainty and danger involving their children they might have acted the same way. He knew for fact Marie would have, all reacted much worse if her children were in danger, and Inger well, it would have been a similar reaction to Mrs. Westin, and Elizabeth well she could be a little more Machiavellian than that. She would be sounding polite, and kind and civil the perfect lady, and then well the person wouldn't know what hit them.

"I could see how that could be disconcerting." Adam added. Izzy was bored and playing with her box puzzle trying to solve it. "Pa what do you think about getting Becky Crane and Izzy together to play, maybe Mrs. Westin can even teach her as well, since Gil Crane can't afford to send her to school."

"It might be a good idea, I'll think on it. Approach Gil in a few days if I think it's a good idea."

Before anyone knew it dinner came, and went and it was Izzy's bedtime once more. Adam stood outside the door and listened to a former history professor read Swiss family Robinson to her daughter and do all the voices for her much to the girl's delight, he knew he was falling hard for the woman. Downstairs, Pa and Livy were playing chess, Joe was entertaining himself, and Hoss and Miss Willow were going for a moonlight stroll. He knew Pa didn't trust these woman, not completely. Hoss did of course, Joe wanted to, they were as far as he was considered his kin. As for Adam not only was he falling for the widow and mother but she may be the first woman who would be able to keep up with him intellectually, socially, and on the ranch if it came to that.