The days had no meaning to Ella as the fever burned through her. She wasn't even aware when they travelled and when they rested, she knew in the dark, cold nights she cried out and mumbled half remembered conversations to people from her past, that she would often think Maria was beside her, tending her needs and would talk softly to her old friend. In the back of Ella's mind she knew it wasn't real, that none of it was happening as she thought, it was the illness that caused her to think such a way. It was disconcerting to be pulled in two directions and she found she often got confused, called Doc by Dave's name when she hadn't meant to and answered questions that were never asked. Doc told her many times through the bleakest hours, when she became fearful of the unknown, that the fever would soon break and she would not be sick forever… it would break. Ella clung onto his words, waiting for the day she would awaken from her troubled light sleep to find that she no longer felt unwell, that she was no longer afraid.

She found her thoughts began to dwell in the past once again, she played out her life in her mind like watching a stage performance, her mind going over and over certain moments and wondering if she could have changed it and what would have happened to her life if she had…

---

"Pearl's dead."

Stella turned her attention from the mirror as the woman's voice pulled her away from applying colour to her cheeks.

"Pearl?" She said her tone blank, empty.

Katie nodded. "She's dead."

Stella gave a shrug. "Well she's been threatenin' to do it for a long while, glad she finally got it over with." Her tone was callous.

"Stella!" Katie scolded her brow furrowing. "You shouldn't have teased her so, you knew she was unhappy here!"

Stella gave a huff of laughter. "She should have had a thicker skin to work in this place, she couldn't handle it an' she should've known better than t' fall in love."

Katie narrowed her eyes at the young sixteen year old sitting on a plush stool before her. There was no denying she was beautiful with long, silky dark chestnut hair that shone with a red hint when strong light was upon it, she had full pink lips and her eyes were deep, dark and beckoning holding a mysterious playful quality that so many of the customers found irresistible. Her form, although small in height was curved in all the right places, it was no wonder Johnny Duke now favored his Little Diamond Stella above all his other girls. She was dressed in a fine silk pair of pantaloons that were made to be shown, the ruffles were tied with small blue and black bows and her corset was of the finest velvet in midnight blue, the bodice covered in shaped glass beads that from a distance gave the appearance of real diamonds and sparkled as brightly as the young girl's smile. Stella had been with them less than six months and had celebrated her sixteenth birthday with them. In that short time the timid, shy, caring girl that Johnny had brought in from the cold had quickly become money hungry and cruel. Johnny constantly whispered in her ear of ways to 'better' herself, bought her pretty things and lavished attention upon her. Katie had even started to notice how much Johnny kept her back some nights; it was as if he couldn't bear to see his favorite with any man, but if a man offered a good price he would grudgingly accept. Johnny had never treated any of his girls so differently before, even Pearl who had been his favorite before Stella had not provoked such attention from him. Katie didn't think it was love, she knew the bastard too well, he was obsessed and when his interest in her tired, Stella would be a lot worse off than she had been when she started.

"Hold your tongue!" Katie said nearly losing her temper at the young girl's cruel words.

Stella gave a smug smirk. "If she hadn't tried to steal my customers maybe I would have treated her kinder." She paused. "I told her that she shouldn't try to steal my customers just cause she wanted the money to run away with that farm boy of hers!"

"You gave her money though didn't you Stella." Annie walked in from the hallway her look resentful, hateful towards the girl before the mirror. Annie was another girl that lived and worked in the house. She was skinny with dark features and was not one of the 'top dollar' Doves.

"Yeah, so what?!" Stella said losing her own temper. "She was always beggin' me for money."

"You knew what she'd spend it on, you little bitch!" Annie spat.

"Hey!" Stella said standing up to her full height, beginning to feel a little threatened by these two women. What right did they have to barge into her own personal room and talk to her in such a way! Just because she had her own bedroom and Johnny bought her gifts didn't give them any right to accuse her of anything, she was better than them and they knew it! "It's not my fault she spent it on poison, if she wanted to kill herself she would have found a way!"

"Not if she didn't have the money!" Annie retorted.

"Stop it!" Katie roared becoming more annoyed by the second, a young girl lay dead upstairs and all these two could do was spit venom at each other over their rivalry. Katie knew all too well that Annie was jealous over Stella's success and the attention Johnny gave her. Annie had always longed to be the favorite but she had never taken the Duke's fancy and now she was bitter and taking every opportunity to get to the woman she envied the most. Not that this excused Stella's behavior, but she could expect no better from her, she supposed the young girl was coping with her life in the best way she knew how.

Katie had witnessed the disgust hinting at the corners of Stella's mouth as she took a man upstairs and the haunted look in her eyes after Johnny had been for a late night 'visit'. This girl was not the callous little bitch she wished them all to think she was. She didn't want comfort or kindness, if she allowed anyone to give her such a thing the walls around her would begin to crack and she wouldn't be able to pick herself back up from the pieces she crumbled into, Katie knew this feeling all too well…

"Stop fighting, Pearl is dead and we all knew she was going to do it one way or another, she loved that idiot boy too much and Johnny wouldn't let her leave, it's no one's fault other than Johnny's."

Stella narrowed her eyes at the two women. "I disagree." She said in an uncaring whisper. "It was her own fault fer forgettin' her place an' thinking she could go off an' get married."

Annie was about to say something biting but Katie gave her a stern look that stopped the words from leaving her tongue.

"Now if ya don't mind I'm gettin' ready, get out of my room." Stella demanded turning back to the mirror and resuming applying her make-up.

The two women left without another word and Stella was finally left alone. She stared at herself in the mirror for a long moment. She had known what Pearl would use the money for and she had still lent it, part of her wanted Pearl to disappear somehow, she was Stella's main competition in the brothel, without her standing in the way Stella could really begin to save some money and Johnny had promised to buy her a small cottage one day where she could stop working and just be his mistress. The prospect of having Johnny as a lover was not an appealing one, it was true he was handsome in a sly sort of way, but she never felt right sleeping with him, she just wanted that cottage so badly and she wanted to bolt its wooden door and never let anyone else in, she could just live in peace, alone and unbothered by Johnny, Annie or the thought of dead women…

She finished applying her red lip stain and rubbed her lips together before removing any small smudges with her fingertip. She glanced at the door behind her and found herself burning with curiosity as to if Pearl was really dead, after all the other girls played many pranks on her before just because she was the favorite, perhaps Pearl wasn't dead at all. She stood up and turned, studying the closed door for a long moment before she forced herself to open it and walk through. The hallway outside was deserted, all the other women were preparing for the evening and Johnny would be downstairs in his study.

She crept quietly along the narrow corridor and up the stairs that lead to the attic room, apart from her own bedroom the attic room was the best in the house but it had been a step down for Pearl. She pushed open the door not bothering to knock, she rarely did when she called upon Pearl, Stella's intention was always to show her superiority over her. The room was messy as if someone had been looking through chests and belongings, Stella knew that one or two of the others may have already been up here taking what they wanted before the body was even cold, but such was life.

Pearl lay upon the bed and Stella walked over in uncertain steps. The young woman's hand lay lightly against the pillow, a small empty bottle beside it. Pearl's dark, expressive eyes that were normally so full of light and laughter were half open as if she were day dreaming sweetly on a summer's afternoon, thinking sadly of her beau. Indeed Stella thought that was exactly what would have been her thoughts before she took her last breath. Stella didn't think she looked dead at all, it had not been what she had expected, but then she hadn't known what she would see up here in this little attic room, death was not something that was easy to imagine… or expect she supposed. But no, she didn't look dead… Pearl just looked sad lying in her crisp white nightgown with the poison bottle upon her pillow.

---

Stella found that she couldn't shake the depressed feeling after seeing the woman's body. Johnny had arranged for someone to come and take Pearl away and store her in a locked shed until she could be buried. But Stella found her thoughts would keep flashing to the image of Pearl lying upon the bed. It disturbed her more than she wanted to admit and what was more she blamed Annie for making her feel guilty, if she hadn't said those things Stella would have never gone to see the body and would not now have a leaden feeling in her gut. Annie hadn't left her biting remarks there but took every chance to remind Stella that she was a 'murderer.' It was Annie's fault Stella felt this way and she would pay her back, she had her ways and she would make Annie pay somehow.

The chance presented itself sooner that she could have hoped for. She had craved food one night, something that was rare for Stella but she wanted something sweet and no amount of trying to ignore the feeling would stop the need. Finally she relented and made her way down to the kitchen being as silent as she could manage. Evey the cook slept nearby and she did not like any of the girls going in there when she wasn't around. Stella found some cookies baked the day before and taking a handful she crept back out already beginning to eat them before she had mounted the stairs back up to her room. As she reached the top of the stairway she paused as she heard a rustling noise and low, soft humming, it sounded happy and drew Stella's curiosity. Forgetting her cookies for a moment she walked across the plush carpeted hallway towards the door the noise came from. She crouched down and pushed the door slowly open, she knew this was Annie's room and she wondered why she was up so late, all the customers had left many hours before.

A single candle lit the room and Stella's eyes focused upon Annie kneeling by her bed. She had a tin box on her lap and with widening eyes Stella realized that she was counting money, a very large amount of money. Annie picked up a letter from nearby on the floor, read it, before pressing it to her breast and saying a name, 'Andrew'.

Stella gave a smug smirk before getting to her feet and going back the way she had just come, but instead of going to the Kitchen she took a different route, down a narrow corridor to a large wooden door that had a small, narrow brass plate upon the front that read 'Johnny Duke'.

She gave a soft knock, giving Johnny more respect than she gave anyone else. She waited a moment before knocking again, this time louder and more forcefully. She pressed her ear to the door and listened hearing movement from within, she stepped back as the bolt on the other side of the door slid open and Johnny opened the door.

He blinked sleepily as his eyes fully took in the girl before him. "Stella?" He said in a muffled voice. "It's late." He gave a sly smile awakened a little by her unexpected presence. "But if you're lonely you know you're always welcome."

Stella shook her head. "Johnny, I gotta tell you somethin'." She said her eyes wide, her acting in full force.

"What is it?" Johnny asked his tone becoming serious.

"It's… Annie." Stella said as if it was hard for her to betray another girl, of course it was the easiest thing she had ever done and inside she was already laughing. "I saw her just now… she had a lot of money Johnny and love letters… I think she's thinkin' of runnin' away."

Johnny's face darkened and a vein in his forehead stood out as it always did when he got angry. "Money?" He asked.

Stella nodded. "A lot of money."

"The little bitch!" Johnny said lowly. "She's been gettin' tips and not givin' them to me!"

"Don't be too hard on her Johnny." Stella touched him lightly, her heart hoping that he wouldn't take notice of her words.

"My Stella." He said his voice softening as he looked at the beautiful girl standing in front of him. "You're too sweet, you know that, my precious Diamond." He smiled. "But girls like Annie gotta be taught a lesson, you'll understand one day." He stroked her cheek lightly.

He turned from her, his anger returning before he marched towards the stairs. "Go back to bed." He said distractedly, his thoughts focused.

Stella trotted behind him and when he reached the top she turned and made for her own room. She waited until Johnny could no longer see her before she crept a few paces towards Annie's room, her heart beating in excitement.

It was only a moment before Johnny's voice exploded; he probably woke up the entire house.

"You bitch!" He roared. Stella heard Annie shriek in surprise. "Don't try to hide the box from me girl, I seen it!" He continued. "You been keepin' money from me an' what's more you have a man!" His voice continued to rise. "You thinkin' of leavin' me Annie?"

"No, no I wasn't." Annie tried. "Please Johnny!"

Her pleas were useless, she screamed and cried out as he beat her and then he set upon her belongings, breaking them, tearing her clothing and further punishing her by destroying all she held dear as Annie sobbed and continued to try and beg for his forgiveness.

Stella listened and smiled…