Ruth was on her knees when Kid came into the room. She had felt the strong urge to pray and to pray hard for Camille and Lydia. She didn't know why exactly, but the Lord had laid it on her heart to do so, so she'd obeyed without question.

She looked up and could tell by his stormy look that Jefferson City had been a bust. Judging from the dirty and torn clothes, bug bites, and the weary way he carried his body he hadn't had an easy time of it on the trail either.

Before she could even open her mouth to ask him how it had went, he said quickly and firmly, "I don't want to talk about it right now. How's the teaching going?"

Respecting his wishes, she answered, "Wonderful. She's doing very well. She's a bright girl."

"And how's the revival going?"

"Not so well. I could count the number of folks that attended yesterday on one hand. That news article scared folks off good. Just cause it's in print, people believe it, I suppose."

"I feared as much. Maybe it's time to shake the dust of this town from our feet and get a move on. We can come back for Camille's baby."

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I think there are things left to accomplish here. For one thing, I want to check on Lydia. See if we can't talk to her mother again and get her to let us take her. Surely she can see the wisdom in letting her have a better life. What mother wouldn't want that for her child? I'm of a mind to take her in myself. I've grown very attached to her."

His expression softened but he said unyieldingly, "You can't take in every deserving child as much as you might want to, but there ain't nothing wrong with taking her in until she has a more suitable home."

"I know I can't, but that doesn't keep me from wanting to."

He wrapped his arms around her, something his arms had been aching to do for days now. He didn't know how he'd ever gotten along without her. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

She grinned up at him and said impishly, "Yeah, but I don't mind hearing it again."

sss

Sister Ruth had pasted the pages back in the primer so that it almost looked as good as new and now when her ma came in she sat on the books, a trick that had been working thus far. Lydia repeated the letter poem she'd been taught over and over in her head to help her remember all the letter names. Once she had them down pat, they were going to work on sounds. She was getting closer and closer to unlocking the mystery of reading.

She heard a familiar French accent interrupt her study and she hurried to the top of the stairs, knowing from experience just where to position herself to avoid being seen.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Joe was asking Camille.

"I want Lydia," she said, coming right out with it.

"Florine's little monster? Why? You want her for your own?" His smile was terrible with his blackening teeth making it all the more horrible. "Untried girls are worth a pretty penny, but then you know that."

Camille was used to repulsive men, but Joe could give them all a run for their money. "What does it matter to you why I want her? Just as long as I pay for her. What's your price?"

"Maybe I want her for myself. Been thinking about using her, making her start to earn her keep. My youngest girl is only 15 and I have a hunch she'll keep lining my pockets long after her first time." He laughed at Camille's facial expression. "Don't look so shocked. As a fellow owner of a whorehouse, you know as well as I do there are all kinds of perversions to exploit. This just happens to be one of them."

"But a child, Joe?" she said unable to hide her disgust. "Isn't that against the law? If it's not, it should be."

"Aww," he mocked, "I didn't know you'd gone and gotten soft. Did the sun bake your head on your little trip out of town? The law doesn't care. 10 is a perfectly acceptable age. If she was younger than that or from a respectable family, it might be a problem, but that's only if the officials care and you and I know they don't. They'd rather pretend this street didn't exist at all or they visit it themselves. So what are you going to do with her, raise her into a respectable madame like yourself?"

"Laugh all you want, but I'm serious. What will you sell her for? Or do you have that right? What about her mother?"

"Her mother belongs to me. She signed a contract. It stands to reason the daughter belongs to me too. After all, it's my roof and my food she's been eating for the past 10 years."

"So?" she asked impatiently.

"Maybe we can work something out, but you'll have to find some way to make it up to me," he said suggestively. "She's worth her weight in gold."

"Quit beating around the bush. What is it you want exactly?"

He gestured to the backroom. "Follow me and we'll discuss the terms in more detail."

Lydia's stomach flip-flopped at the thought of her unknown future, wishing and yet not wishing she could hear what those terms would be. She was being bartered over like a piece of cheese. Why would she want to go from one brothel to another? Camille had given her no indication that she liked her, so what were her plans for her if they did come to an agreement and even worse, what were Joe's plans if they didn't? She shuddered to think.