Caroline had to chuckle too at that strange name for a town....Pigeon Forge. But then she settled in for the story as the woman driver recounted her past. It was, as she had thought it would be, interesting.

"Seven brothers and a Pa, you sure were outnumbered there," she nodded even as Addy now explained how she got into this career.

"I was drivin' deliveries around town when I was twelve or so, an' when th' war was goin' I started drivin' freight an' ambulance...like that a darned site better'n sewin' an' cookin' an' whatnot. "

"Couldn't agree more there, I can neither sew or cook," Caroline threw in a quick comment.

"Come out here 'cause it's a right pretty place an' still not too civilized. What 'bout you? Just passin' through or plannin' ta stay a time?"

"Oh, well me.....I'm on my way to a new job. In Kalispell. An old ...business acquaintance of mine notified me of an opening in the saloon there. So bein' as I'm between jobs right now - last place I worked at burnt down and the owner didn't have the money to rebuild. Anyhow, spilt milk right?" she gave a big shrug.

"See I'm a saloon gal.....as if my appearance didn't give it away," Caroline grinned, "I'm a singer and dancer. Give the menfolk a show on stage. Most everyone sez I got a great voice. To be honest my dancing is ....adequate but you can always hold their interest by showing a little leg. I also been told I got nice legs."

"Could do worse than Kalispell," Addy observed, "ain't th' most sophistocated a' places, but mostly folks is happy that way. Not so big as ya get lost in th' streets nor th' properness ta make a body uncomfortable."

She found the balance of wild and civilized about to her liking, and for the foreseeable future she was planning to stay...not to mention that she had Weedy to look after. Oh, and there was Jay...

"Just lookin' ta buy me a house," she stated proudly, "got me a boy ta look after now...his ma died, so we can't be livin' in th' back of a barn no longer. What establishment ya hirin' on with, if ya don't mind my askin'?"

"Just lookin' ta buy me a house,"Addy stated proudly, "got me a boy ta look after now...his ma died, so we can't be livin' in th' back of a barn no longer. What establishment ya hirin' on with, if ya don't mind my askin'?"

"A kid huh. No kids in my life, thank the lord. I'd probably be a godawful mother. Not to mention how would that go over with the crowd if I was up there performing with a swollen belly. Assuming I wasn't already fired before it got to that point," Caroline pondered aloud.

"Oh as for the saloon....it is the Star Dust. I was given to understand it's the only saloon in town," she replied.

"You know the place? Or been in it maybe?"

Most womenfolk, especially the proper sort, would never think of setting foot within a saloon. But then Addy wasn't exactly the usual kind of woman. Although that didn't mean she still might not frown on such places. Either way still worth asking as she might learn something about the joint.

"Stardust is a right nice place," Addy commented, "they don't water their drinks, leastways not as a body can tell. Run by Mr. Flandry an' Miz Devereau." With a nod, she looked over at the young woman. "Don't see as it'd be a bad place ta work, Mr. Flandry seems ta be good enough, seems like most his employees stay around, that means somethin', right?"

She been to plenty of saloons where the girls only lasted a few weeks at best before moving on, mostly because they were mal-treated, or the owner was taking too much of the cut, whatever made life so miserable that they didn't want to stay.

"Just be fair an' straight with him an' ya should do fine. Any problems, I gotta nice hayloft ya can use!" She laughed.

Caroline took in the new information, eager to hear it. Interesting.

"Oh, I was informed that the place was owned by a woman. But Flandry huh. Thanks," she nodded.

It was very encouraging that those in charge seemed fair minded employers, there were certainly a lot of saloons where it was just the opposite. Saloons were rough places to carve out a career.

"Yeah it does," she agreed.

"Just be fair an' straight with him an' ya should do fine. Any problems, I gotta nice hayloft ya can use!" the driver laughed. "

"I ain't no crook, I do my job and I don't steal. I always try to get along with all the employees but I don't take any guff either," Caroline remarked.

"Now I make no claims to being high class but I have no desire to sleep on a pile of hay smelling of horses or cows, but appreciate the offer, hon."

"One other thing, I heard the Stardust doesn't have hookers, I should tell you lest you think it, one thing I never do is whoring. Never have, never will. Though Mrs. Emden called me ...what was it? Oh yes, a 'painted whore of Babylon'."

"Babylon?" Addy laughed and shook her head. "Well, unless ya been 'round th' World a time'er two, I much doubt ya been ta Babylon...poor woman got her own problems...Good Book says, 'Brothers an' sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother nor sister nor judges them speaks against th' law an' judges it. When ya judge th' law, yer not keepin' it, but sittin' in judgment on it. There's only one Lawgiver an' Judge, th' one who's able ta save an' destroy. But you—who're you ta judge yer neighbor?"

Addy wasn't much one for quoting Scripture, but Mrs. Emden had indirectly started it.

"'Sides, ya got things better'm she does...wouldn't be surprised if she's jealous that ya got th' freedom ta go where ya want, do whacha want, be who ya want." She glanced at Caroline and made a long face. "She's gotta wake up next ta that man every day. Bound ta make a woman a bit sour!"

"Nope, I have no idea where Babylon even is," Caroline cheerfully admitted then listened in amazement as the woman proceeded to give quite the Biblical speech, leastwise she figured it was out of the Bible, not that she ever even read a page of it. But she had heard enough about it of course.

"Well now, if you get fired for givin' me a ride you could always try a new career, preacher. You'd be good at it from what I'm hearing. Granted I'm far from a church going sort. Last time I was even inside a church, it was for a friend's funeral and they threw me out. I got it though...I was drunk at the time. You know, drownin' one's sorrows," Caroline recalled with a smile, obviously not too bothered by the memory.

Addy made some good arguments why that Emden woman might be all upset and sour pussed too.

"Good point," Caroline chuckled.

"You're right too. You n' me, we both got it pretty good. We live the way we wanna live. I gotta say something else too. I think that boy you spoke of, he's pretty lucky to have you. I bet you'll raise him right."

"Don't know how lucky he is," Addy observed with a chuckle, "I never did think I was much th' ma sorta person, but then, I pretty much been lookin' after th' boy since I got ta town a few years back." Shrugging, she continued. "His ma was...broken, I guess ya could say." No sense disparaging the dead. "He kept comin' by, little tow-headed sprout, was seven...eight. I started feedin' him, give him a warm place ta sleep, an' he started helpin' with chores an' whatnot. Most folks in town know him an' help him out, but since his ma was killed this Winter, his care come ta me."

It was something she whole-heartedly embraced, even if the arrangement was a bit unorthodox. "Wasn't somethin' I planned on, but I reckon th' good Lord knows what he's doin'...hope so, leastways."

She glanced over at the young woman. "Ya know readin' an' writin' an' whatnot?"

Caroline listened to the boy's background story, she had seen enough broken women in her life to figure out it could have been for many reasons. Maybe a hooker or a drunkard. She did feel badly for the boy though. Life wasn't fair, god knows she learned that lesson some time back. Addy mentioned then the mother had been killed? Murdered? Or maybe Indians? She didn't add any detail and Caroline decided not to ask. What difference did it make anyhow, she was dead.

"Poor child. But like I said, he's lucky he has you. You're doin' a fine thing to raise him like you are. I couldn't do that," she commented.

"Wasn't somethin' I planned on, but I reckon th' good Lord knows what he's doin'...hope so, leastways," Addy stated.

Caroline shrugged, "Well if the good lord actually has plans, he's never let me in on any of 'em. But guess I've lived in blissful ignorance."

"Ya know readin' an' writin' an' whatnot?" the other woman now asked.

"Oh yeah, my mother taught me to read and to do arithmetic. Later on I helped her keep the books even when she got sick. We lived in a saloon, well actually above it but same thing. My father owned it. Truth of the matter I never was quite sure he was my real father but we all lived together and he treated me like a daughter. He was a rough sort but never to me or Ma. I grew up in that saloon and as I got older I served drinks and then started singing. People liked my voice. Not much of a story but that's mine," Caroline smiled, choosing to recall the good memories and not all the bad things. There had been plenty of both.

"No judgin' our stories," Addy commented, "we all got our different experiences, an' reckon livin' in a saloon was...eclectic...lots'a interestin' characters, I reckon, give ya a chance ta learn different ideas." She shrugged, chuckling. "Most folks just hunker down in their house, go ta th' same church with th' same people, see th' same folks in town, then when they step out, it's a surprise ta them."

So many people, in her experience, never ventured more than a few miles beyond their home, not sought out experiences or people outside of their small circle. But even if Miz Caroline hadn't been much past her saloon, the people coming and going likely provided a good array of experiences.

"I'd not be able ta sleep with all th' noise, though," she added, "one thing listenin' ta horses munchin' an' stompin' now an' then, but shoutin' an' chairs movin' an' boots stompin'...that'd keep me awake all night!"