Michelle straightened her shoulders before she knocked on the ticket counter to get the attendant's attention. "Yes girlie how can I help you?" the old man behind the counter asked.

"How much does a ticket to New York City cost?" She asked.

The attendant squinted through his spectacles, "Don't get many people asking for New Yark City from here. Why do you want to go there?"

"I am going home." She said pursing her lips. "Not that it is any of your business" She mumbled to herself.

"What did you say?" The old man asked looking over the train schedule he held in his hands.

"Just that it is sure a windy day." Michelle said a bit louder.

"Sure is, thought I was gonna be blown clear down Main Street as I came to work. The misses jokes that I need to put rocks in my pockets on days like this to keep my feet on the ground." The old man chuckled at his joke.

Michelle smiled politely silently urging him to hurry up. "Here's that fare sheet. Now New Yark City, must be might cold up there."

"Yes it can be." Michelle answered.

"Well that's gonna cost you three dollars and two bits for a coach car, five dollars for a sleeper and ten if you want to have a seat in the dinning car for meals. Which do you want?" He asked peering over his spectacles again.

Michelle thought about the money she had hidden under the mattress at the farm, there was maybe seventy-five cents, not enough, "How far can I get on a dollar?"

The attendant looked over his fares, "You're wanting to go east?" When Michelle nodded he continued, "Well I can get you as far as St. Louis, if you take coach, Baton Rouge if you want better accommodations. Don't know what a lady like yourself would want to see in St. Louis, all there is to see is the brewery."

Michelle nodded, St. Louis wouldn't be that bad, she remembered a stop there on the trip out. It was next to the Mississippi River, and there was a lot of trade that went through there. Maybe there would be work in this brewery. "I'll be back tomorrow." She said giving the attendant a smile.

He grinned back and nodded, "See you then."

Michelle left the depot with a spring in her step, this was how she was going to correct this horrible mistake she had made. She was going to go back to New York City. It wouldn't take her that long in St. Louis to earn the money to keep going east, maybe a month or two if she was careful. Then she would be back where she belonged, no more living at the beck and call of men like Racetrack Higgins and the other boys. She was going to be her own person.

The only thing she could thank them for was giving her a chance to see that life on her own wouldn't be so bad. Now all she had to figure out was how to make up another twenty-five cents. Maybe a job in town would help, she might even find one that would get her all the way back to New York City without having to stop in St. Louis to make up the difference. It would be worth a try, if nothing else.

But she was going to have to find somewhere to work in town first. Straightening her shoulders she headed for the first business she came to, the first of three saloons in town. The door swung open and Michelle was relieved to see that the room was mostly empty. The only occupants were the barman, a large man leaning on the bar, and someone who was leaning into the upright piano.

"We don't serve drinks to women." The barman said as Michelle stepped closer.

"I don't drink, I'm looking for a job." Michelle relied.

"This is a men's bar little girl, no women allowed. We don't do showgirls or have waitresses. You want a job try somewhere else. Get out before the Sheriff thinks I'm trying to corrupt you." The barman snarled pointed his rag at the door.

Michelle left as quickly as possible as the larger of the two men moved toward her, she could hear the three men laughing as the door closed. That was embarrassing; there was no way she was going to try at the other two saloons. This little town probably didn't even have the class to serve food with their drinks. She hoped that she would have better luck at the hotel.

"Hey Michelle what are you doing in town?" Michelle looked behind her to see Deputy Davis coming toward her.

"Hello Sam, I was hoping to find a job." Michelle said as he came to stand in front of her.

"Let me hazard a guess the crowd is getting to be too much for you?" Davis asked with a smile.

Michelle gave a half smile, "Ever since Race moved in it has."

"Race moved in? I thought he was just recovering from that fall."

"The doctor says he needs to rest for a few more days." Michelle explained in a short voice.

"So he moves out in a few days why do you need a job?"

"I can't stay here anymore. This wasn't what I expected, I'm going back to New York City on the first train out." Michelle said words full of venom.

Sam Davis at her in shock, but he quickly recovered. "So you are looking for work?" When Michelle nodded he scratched his head. "Well I heard that the hotel is looking for someone to help with the lunch and dinner crowd you might try there."

"Thanks for the advice Deputy." She drawled with a smile.

Davis smiled, "Happy to help you out. Good luck."

Michelle watched him walk off in the direction of the jail before crossing the street and entering the hotel lobby.

"How may I help you," the woman behind the desk asked speculatively.

"My name is Michelle Beaufont and I heard from Deputy Davis that the hotel was looking for help in the dinning room?" Michelle said sweetly.

"Sam said that?" The woman was taken back, but soon she had a friendly smile and was talking a mile a minute as she led Michelle into the deserted dinning room and sat down at a table. "How he knew that was beyond me. Yes we are looking for some help the last girl we had is getting married in a few weeks and told us this morning that her husband doesn't want her working. I was just getting ready to put out a help wanted sign. I'm Rae Clark, my husband and I own this hotel, why don't you tell me about yourself."

Michelle blinked quickly, "Like I said my name is Michelle, I grew up in New York City. I live outside of town about a mile east of the Deputy with some friends. I've worked as a waitress before and I'm not afraid of hard work. I really can't think of anything else to say."

"Well can you tell me why you want to work here?" Mrs. Clark asked with a smile.

Michelle shrugged, "The farm has been running itself and there really isn't much for me to do outside of cleaning. I have gotten a bit restless and wanted to do something with my time."

"I can tell you now you won't get restless here, we are usually pretty busy at lunch, most of the farmers and such who are in town with their families will stop in for a bite. And we have the noon train heading east that stops for lunch. The afternoon is slower unless the train is early. Dinner is frantic since the train usually comes in at about four and they have a two-hour stop for dinner.

I would expect you to be here at ten every morning to help get set up for lunch, you'll have a three hour break from about one to four then you need to be back here for the dinner rush. We usually serve our last customers around seven-thirty. You'll probably be out of here around eight-thirty give or take. We'll feed you and if need be you can stay here at the hotel overnight. I won't lie and say this is easy work. A lot of the regular crowd is rough, but I don't allow cussing or spitting.

If you have a sweetheart or your friends want to come in to eat tell them to come toward the end of your shift. They can eat for half-price once a week, during the week never on a Saturday. Oh and I close on Sundays. The train usually only has a couple of people riding on it, and they can go to the saloon. That's about it."

Michelle's head felt like it was spinning. "So when would I start?"

"Well that depends on you. I'd take you this evening, but you can start tomorrow or the next day if you like. If you change your mind at anytime just give me a couple of weeks to find someone to replace you. You'll be working for about fifty cents a day, with any tips you make. If your still here you'll get Christmas Eve and Day off. You need to know anything else?"

"Do I need to wear anything special?" Michelle asked after thinking about it.

"Something serviceable and clean, I provide you with an apron. Keep your hair up and wear sensible shoes. So I'll see you tomorrow at ten? That way I can introduce you around."

"Yes ma'am. Thank-you for giving me chance." Michelle said a feeling of relief that she now had a way out.

"You're welcome, but none of this ma'am stuff, makes me feel old before my time. You can call me Rae or Miss Rae if you must. I'll introduce you around tomorrow." Rae said standing up. Michelle followed her back into the lobby. "See you tomorrow."

"Good-bye" Michelle said with a handshake and a wave. She made herself walk as slowly as possible to the edge of town before her excitement overtook her. She giggled and hugged herself with joy. Fifty cents a day would go a long way to help her getting out of town. She might even be able to save up some money to get an apartment in Manhattan. As she headed back to the farm she couldn't help the smile on her face. She was more than happy she was ecstatic and nothing was going to change that.

AN: So look at that I got a new chapter out after only 3 days. It was so hard, actually I had this mostly written it just needed editting. I have no idea how much train fares were in the 1900's I tried to find out by using the internet, no dice. So I just made up fares based on the idea that the rates went up by about 100 X the price I used. Yes a certain amout of suspention of reality is needed. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and hopefully I'll have another chapter out by Thanksgiving.