"Ain't life just dandy."
"Oh that's a relief, I'd feel awful if I'd broken something. It's usually the spittoons I accidentally kick, they keep moving around!" she smiled, showing slightly odd, widely spaced peg teeth. Apart from that and the thick black lensed spectacles she wore, she was quite pretty.
"Nope, not a spittoon either, just my bag. No harm done," Annie assured the girl.
The girl cocked an ear: the other woman and Mister Miller were silent.
"Did your friends leave?" Frances asked "It's funny, we don't get many ladies in here, usually, and today we had two at the same time!"
"They're gone. And they aren't my friends, far from it. Didn't you hear me yellin' at em?" Annie pointed out.
"And in another minute, I'll be gone too. I know when I'm not wanted 'round here. Fine with me too," Annie now stood up, picking up the carpetbag when she did so.
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"They're gone. And they aren't my friends, far from it. Didn't you hear me yellin' at em?" Annie pointed out.
"Sorry" the girl in the dark glasses apologised, the lady sounded a little annoyed.
"And in another minute, I'll be gone too. I know when I'm not wanted 'round here. Fine with me too," Annie now stood up, picking up the carpetbag when she did so.
"Oh, please..." Annie was just a voice, another new and different voice in the never-ending darkness to Frances, but she sounded angry, sad, hurt: Jesus filled her heart: Jesus who healed, Jesus who loved not just those who worshipped Him and praised Him; He especially loved those who hated Him and ignored Him and pushed Him aside. He healed them, too. Where most would have reacted to Annie's words with a terse Fine, go! The blind girl felt the pain in the voice and wanted so to sooth it and spread balm upon it and to gently kiss it better.
"... please don't go. I'm sorry if people haven't been welcoming. I have a little break now and have nobody to talk to. I could get us both a sarsaparilla, I'm getting some good tips today. I'm Frances." she smiled her peculiar smile and held out her hand into the blackness and prayed to herself 'Please Jesus, let this troubled soul take my hand that I might share her burden, if just for a little while'
"Ain't life just dandy."
Annie was not referring to this young girl but the unwelcoming saloon girl plus she was still upset with both Hettie and that Miller jasper. So she hefted her carpet bag and stood up.
"... please don't go. I'm sorry if people haven't been welcoming. I have a little break now and have nobody to talk to. I could get us both a sarsaparilla, I'm getting some good tips today. I'm Frances." she smiled her peculiar smile and held out her hand into the blackness.
Now Annie was never the hand-shaking type, she wasn't all that outgoing friendly at the best of times. But this was some poor unfortunate blind girl. And Annie thought she had it hard then someone like this comes along. She could not imagine how awful it must be to know only darkness. So she extended her own hand and exchanged a handshake. The girl had a good grip to her.
"Hello, Frances. I'm Annie. Nice to meet you. Sarsaparilla sounds just fine.I can escort you up to the bar if you want?"
Surely that saloon girl wouldn't object to that! Besides it seemed she was deep in conversation with her boss and not looking too happy about it either.
He tried to end on a positive note.
"Our business will pick up and we'll also get a slice of their business, too."
"What's wrong with our business? You always say we're doin' just great. So now yer lettin' em sell booze too. Takes away customers from us if they can drink and fuck the hookers all in one place," Caroline countered.
She didn't like this, not a bit. But she only worked here, he was the owner and there wasn't much she could do about it unless she up and left. Up and left where? No, she liked it in Kalispell. She saw little choice but to accept this new 'business decision'. But..........one of these days, Fortner would up and go too far. She didn't want to think about it but it could well happen.
"It's possible that we could make more money on a percentage of their take than we would selling the drinks," Fortner countered.
"So...it didn't even occur to you to even ask me n' Ralph, and Messalina our opinion on this? Guess the only one whose opinion counts for anything is good ol' Priest," she grumbled.
"You are a tough nut to crack, aren't you?" her boss advanced. "I don't think there's a single move I've made since I took ownership that you've approved of. And as far was Hiram Priest goes, he's the sharpest man in Kalispell, and not a bad shot, either."
Franklin rubbed his eyes and continued.
"For your information, both sides have an escape clause. Either of us can give 30 days notice and then walk away from the whole arrangement. How does that suit you?"
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"Hello, Frances. I'm Annie. Nice to meet you. Sarsaparilla sounds just fine. I can escort you up to the bar if you want?"
The blind girl gave a pleased giggle "That's all right, Annie, it's a well practiced route for me: and I think you'll be surprised how well I can make the trip without flooding the place with spilled drinks!" she smiled and went and fetched them the promised beverages.
When she came back, she had her hands full, of course, but it was truly wonderful how just the feeling of where the front of the piano was, when it touched her legs, allowed her to work out where she was and put the drinks down safely on the table before feeling for a chair and sitting herself down. Her hand wavered in the air until she found the drink on the table again and she took a relieving sip.
"Ahh, that's better!" she grinned "How did I do? I don't usually spill a drop, except the other night when Mr Miller tripped me up on purpose... he is a bit of a trickster!" She seemed to take such a cruel joke to play on a blind person completely on the chin.
"So...it didn't even occur to you to even ask me n' Ralph, and Messalina our opinion on this? Guess the only one whose opinion counts for anything is good ol' Priest," she grumbled.
"You are a tough nut to crack, aren't you?" her boss advanced. "I don't think there's a single move I've made since I took ownership that you've approved of. And as far was Hiram Priest goes, he's the sharpest man in Kalispell, and not a bad shot, either."
"Oh, if you mean cheatin' that farmer and stealin' his land so his wife hung herself, no I did not approve," snapped Caroline, "And you got me to help too which I will never forgive myself."
"And as far as Priest, he can go fuck himself," she glared right at him.
Franklin rubbed his eyes and continued.
"For your information, both sides have an escape clause. Either of us can give 30 days notice and then walk away from the whole arrangement. How does that suit you?"
"Nothing about this suits me but yer the owner, yer the boss. I just work here, you've made that abundantly clear. So do what you wanna do but don't go expectin' my approval," Caroline wanted that crystal clear.
"Ain't life just dandy."
The blind girl gave a pleased giggle "That's all right, Annie, it's a well practiced route for me: and I think you'll be surprised how well I can make the trip without flooding the place with spilled drinks!"
Annie let her go then and watched her navigate to the bar and then back with the drinks. Strangely, Annie felt nervous for the poor girl but she made it just fine.
"Ahh, that's better!" Frances grinned "How did I do? I don't usually spill a drop, except the other night when Mr Miller tripped me up on purpose... he is a bit of a trickster!"
"That was right smart a you," Annie complimented her.
"He did huh? And they let him get away with that?" Annie glared toward Caroline and that owner but both of them were hot at it and it was not going smoothly.
As for Annie, she would remember that and if she ever got a chance, she was going to make Miller pay for that.
"So how long you been workin' here? Do ya like it?" Annie was curious.
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"He did huh? And they let him get away with that?" Annie glared toward Caroline and that owner but both of them were hot at it and it was not going smoothly.
Frances gave that little, soft giggle again.
"Don't worry. I like that they don't over-fuss here. Most people are kind, but they don't coddle me, not now they are used to me. Some of the regulars even make rough jokes with me; I suppose I should be shocked, but I quite like that they think I can take it. I have to ask my friend what some of them mean when I get home at night, though. I'm becoming quite educated!"
She frowned.
"I didn't like being tripped up, though, that was a little mean. I couldn't fathom why he did it, he'd been so nice the night before, just buying me drink after drink after drink. Too much really, i kept having go to the..." she whispered "... the toilet!"
"So how long you been workin' here? Do ya like it?" Annie was curious.
"Oh I love it! I've been here about two months, I suppose. My friend Miss Mudd used to play the piano here, and I took over from her. She's an actress at the theatre now. Oh, but don't worry, she's very respectable..." Frances said, concerned the lady she was talking to might be shocked at that profession "... she plays the harmonium in church every Sunday and we run a Christian Refuge for girls and woman who haven't got a bed for the night or a square meal inside them." she gave that self-deprecating soft giggle again "Oh, I know that sounds pretty pretentious, but it's just we had a couple of spare bedrooms in our house and thought, why not advertise that we want to help any sisters who are maybe facing a hard choice one night..." she left it at that.
"Miss Mudd and I are both strict Methodists, but we're not trying to proselytize, we just want to lend a helping hand to any girl who needs it: be they Protestant, Catholic, Jew, black, white, yellow... to be honest, they all look alike to me anyway." she smiled and took another slurp of her drink.
"Ain't life just dandy."
The young girl proved to be quite chatty, she probably didn't have a lot of folk willing to spend some time with her and just talk. Annie had no doubt the girl had a lonely sort of life, just like her actually. Only she could see!
"My advice on that Miller....do whatever you can to stay away from him. He's mean and he will never treat you right but he might well lie about it so he can ...you know...fuck ya," was Annie's blunt warning. Would that the saloon protected her more!
Yet Frances declared she loved it there. So something must be going right. Well if nothing else at least she makes some money even if it was only tips. (OOC: Annie doesn't know it but Frances is paid wages just as Arabella was paid wages -Caroline would allow nothing else.) She then started going on about some place in town where apparently homeless women or girls might stay - all part of some Christian charity. While Annie definitely was not religious, even when she was young she hadn't been much to her parent's dismay, she wondered if she should maybe check the place out for right about then she had no place to stay with a roof over her head.
"Miss Mudd and I are both strict Methodists, but we're not trying to proselytize, we just want to lend a helping hand to any girl who needs it: be they Protestant, Catholic, Jew, black, white, yellow... to be honest, they all look alike to me anyway." Frances smiled and took another slurp of her drink.
Alright, now THAT was funny and even the often dour Annie had to chuckle at that quip, "I suppose we all do.Well, so ya know it...I'm white, pale white at that. Don't have any religion. And not lookin' either."
"You know...if I was ta stay in town....would you maybe want you 'n me to be friends? I don't have a lot of those to be honest."
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"My advice on that Miller....do whatever you can to stay away from him. He's mean and he will never treat you right but he might well lie about it so he can ...you know...fuck ya," was Annie's blunt warning. Would that the saloon protected her more!
It was hard to read Frances' reaction to that word, what with the dark glasses. It wasn't a word she would ever use, but she knew what it meant. "Don't worry about Mister Miller, he's noisy and loud. It's the quiet men I worry about" she said, a little prophetically, it turned out. "But at the end of the day, if you are blind, you often just have to trust in Jesus to protect you."
"Miss Mudd and I are both strict Methodists, but we're not trying to proselytize, we just want to lend a helping hand to any girl who needs it: be they Protestant, Catholic, Jew, black, white, yellow... to be honest, they all look alike to me anyway." Frances smiled and took another slurp of her drink.
Alright, now THAT was funny and even the often dour Annie had to chuckle at that quip, "I suppose we all do.Well, so ya know it...I'm white, pale white at that. Don't have any religion. And not lookin' either."
Frances held out her hand: it somehow looked like the hand of statue, carved out of marble. "Please take my hand." she said simply. "White, pale and irreligious don't mean as much to me as the shape and warmth of your hand." she smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not going to read your fortune!"
Annie Jo had a question.
"You know...if I was ta stay in town....would you maybe want you 'n me to be friends? I don't have a lot of those to be honest."
Frances squeezed Annie's hand. "I think we already are friends." And then, to show that she didn't think that she was better or holier or more worthy than Annie in any way, she said it. She would never use the word again, but she needed to say it now, to seal their friendship. "Especially after you warned me that Mister Miller wants to... fuck me." She couldn't stop her free hand flying to her mouth and her face going bright red. Jesus himself would have used the F word in the same circumstances: and that's what Methodists did: they tried to act just like Jesus did.