I went selling the next morning with Mush. He is usually good company. It's nice to have a friend who laughs at your jokes no matter how bad they are. Sometimes I'm not quite sure he understands what's so funny. He just laughs when anyone else does.

I was in a fog all morning. I still didn't understand Kyndall's reaction to seeing me. I thought he'd be happy to see each other again. After that day he helped me get cleaned up, I thought maybe he was attracted to me. But I could have misread him. Lord knows I don't understand how love works.

Mush and I always did our best to play ourselves up to any gal we sold to. If they think you're cute enough you may even earn yourself a wink and an extra penny.

That day Mush and I decided to sell in our favorite spot. It was an area with a lot of dress and hat shops that ladies went to. I could usually make an extra 10 cents minimum selling there.

Today wasn't going as well as it normally did. I couldn't seem to sell my papers. After two hours Mush came over to me his hands empty. I had only sold 15 of my 50.

"Blink, how are ya not sold out? I sold all of mine 10 minutes ago. Been talkin to a real pretty set of gals over there." He casually pointed towards 2 girls who looked to be dressed up in lace and gold. They smiled over at us and Mush grinned back at them.

I hit him over the head with a paper and said, "What you thinkin makin on with girls like them? Think their fathers would let them be seen with the likes of us?"

He grabbed his hat and arranged it back in place on top of his head and looked at me. "That's never stopped ya before. What up with ya anyways, ya been off in ya own thoughts since yesterday?"

I looked at him and could tell he was actually concerned, but it really was for nothing. I just didn't know what to think of yesterday's events. I decided to be partially honest with him and replied, "I just can't get yesterday's meetin out of my head. I just have a gut feelin that something wasn't handled right."

"I guess we'll know soon enough if the jumpin's stop. Ya gotta trust Jack a bit more Kid. He's been doin this longer than most of us. What did ya think of that crew Train brought with? Three older guys looked pretty tough."

"The silent guy seemed like he'd be easy enough to take."

"Yeah, the youngest one, the shorty, by his size I think I could take him easy. But there is something in his eyes that makes me think I'd burst into flames if I got him mad."

"He seemed very intense," I said quietly and then looked up at my friend. "But I think he would be a good ally.

Mush looked over where the girls had been standing and saw that they had lost interest and left. He helped me sell the rest of my papers and we began our trek back to the Lodging House.

I had planned on heading up to my bunk and catching a few minutes of shut eye before the evening edition. Instead I was shocked to see Kyndall standing at the desk.

As we approached him he nodded a greeting. "I'm here to deliver a message to Cowboy." He said as he turned a steely gaze at Mush

Mush reacted to the look and stepped up in front of him replying. "Tell me and I'll deliver it to him."

Kyndall looked up at him and laughed. "You think Train sent me all the way here to give his message to a lackey?"

Mush stepped in closer to him and glared down, "He's the one that sent a lackey in the first place."

Kyndall's fist clenched at his side and his eyes got colder. I pulled Mush back towards me and told him, "I'll bring ya to where he sells."

I pushed Mush towards the stairs, but he turned around and looked at me as if to ask if I was sure. I knew he was worried about me going out alone with someone from Brooklyn. And so I just nodded back at him.

As we left Kyndall visibly relaxed, and we fell into step. After 5 minutes of walking though, his silence began to unnerve me so I turned around to face him.

"It's time we talk."