Monday was wash day, and for once Hettie's face was scrubbed clean of makeup and she wasn't doused in that fancy French perfume from the green bottle with the rubber puffing bulb. Her dress and bonnet and gloves were, as per usual, perfectly respectable looking and she might have easily been taken for a plump and pretty farmer's wife, in town to buy a few essentials that a rural lifestyle could not supply. As opposed to being one of the Midwest's most notorious women of ill repute.
The lady who let her into the decently built house on the outskirts of town (it even had steps up to the front door. Steps!) treated her with the respect due to any other lady patient as she led her to Doctor Danforth's consulting office.
"Mrs Rosenkrantz" the nurse, or receptionist or whatever she was, introduced her as she stepped in.
"Thankyou" Hettie smiled sweetly as the woman retired, and she turned to greet the medical man whose services she and the rest of the employees of the brothel would require.
"Good morning, Doctor. My name is Mrs Henrietta Rosenkrantz and I come here this morning not with an ailment, you understand, but seeking to negotiate an ongoing service on behalf of my employer, Mrs Sally Adams, whom you may have come across during your tenure..."
The friendly redhead suddenly broke off her spiel and leaned forward a little, frowning.
"... say, I know you. Didn't you used to live in Omaha, Nebraska?!"
Jonah was bent over some medical journals, working to puzzle out little Gustav Armentrout's ailment, and what to do for it -- he didn't need Mrs. Armentrout distracted by the boy's affliction, she was the best and most reliable help her had. But when the stout woman announced a patient, Jonah was more than happy for a break.
Standing, he tugged on the hem of his jacket as he turned his attention to the woman who has swept in. There was something familiar about that voice, but he couldn't place it, and he was too intrigued and taken aback by her offer to ponder on it, so he dismissed it, until...
"... say, I know you. Didn't you used to live in Omaha, Nebraska?!"
"Mrs. Rosenkranz?" He gave her a closer look now, trying to think back to what name he was using in Omaha, or what name she may have been using for that matter, but he couldn't place her. "Perhaps. I did have a practice there a while back for a short time." No sense lying about it, that took too much effort, and Omaha hadn't been one of his bigger debacles...giving in to the daughter of one of the ladies on the board of directors of the 'Good Samaritan Hospital', who had begged him to let her help him with his anatomy studies...
"I'm afraid I don't recall..."
"Mrs. Rosenkranz?" He gave her a closer look now, trying to think back to what name he was using in Omaha, or what name she may have been using for that matter, but he couldn't place her.
"None other" she smiled, helping herself to a seat. Maybe she had put a couple of pounds on since then, and was a couple of years older, but she was pretty unmistakable.
"Perhaps. I did have a practice there a while back for a short time." No sense lying about it, that took too much effort, and Omaha hadn't been one of his bigger debacles...giving in to the daughter of one of the ladies on the board of directors of the 'Good Samaritan Hospital', who had begged him to let her help him with his anatomy studies...
"You examined me once or twice." she explained.
"I'm afraid I don't recall..."
"Oh well, you weren't looking at my face at the time." she smiled in a genteel manner. She could also have told him exactly what had happened to that girl he'd left behind in Omaha, but she didn't want to bring a bitter note to this meeting; she needed the good doctor Danforth in a good mood.
"... But anyway, my motto is 'what happens in Nebraska stays in Nebraska'." she assured him. "... only to say, it is good to know that I am speaking to a man who is not averse to bringing his medical genius to bear on those who are perhaps beyond the pale of what is considered respectable society."
"Anyway, doctor, I will proceed directly to my purpose in visiting you today. Mrs Adams is about opening a bordello in Kalispell. A very discrete and orderly affair, you understand: not like that place in Omaha. Oh sorry, we weren't going to speak of that, were we?" she put her hand to her mouth, like a sweet innocent girl who had accidentally uttered a curse word.
"We would require your presence every two weeks for a medical check-up: the customary infections inherent in our trade and any little 'fellow travellers' we might pick up along the way: I know you are familiar with the routine. We are hoping that some arrangement can be made where a discount for your services, and any medications that might be required, might be negotiated on account of the regular and guaranteed work on offer." she went on, as if she were offering a carpenter a building contract.
"We will also require a certificate to be signed attesting to a clean bill of health. I've persuaded Mrs Adams to apply to the Town Council for an official licence to operate. What can you tell me about the fellers on the Town Council?" she asked, hoping none of the men were the unpractical, moralistic types.
Jonah caught the veiled threat, if that was what it was, but he didn't much care. He'd picked up and left places more than once, and he'd actually been in Kalispell longer than he'd planned, so...
Well, in truth, he actually cared about the hospital, and helping it get started, it would be good to see it though, and help Leah...
Leah...
Shaking his head slightly, Jonah took a breath and smiled at Miss Hettie, listening to her proposal, a reasonable request and certainly not unreasonable. It was best, if brothels were to be recognized anyway, to make sure that the ladies were 'clean'...it was best for the ladies, best for the clients, and best for the business.
"I'm sure we can come to an agreement." God, that sounded solicitous! But then, how long had it been? And there might be...
But then, after examining even one diseased nether region, any amorous lusts were quelled for quite some time.
"I'd settle for half my regular rate in cash," he commented, "or perhaps negotiate services...er...cleaning, cooking and such, when Mrs. Armentrout isn't available."
"I'm sure we can come to an agreement." God, that sounded solicitous! But then, how long had it been? And there might be...
Hettie tipped her head and frowned innocently with, perhaps, a little subtle coquetry in her manner.
"I'd settle for half my regular rate in cash," he commented, "or perhaps negotiate services...er...cleaning, cooking and such, when Mrs. Armentrout isn't available."
Mrs Rosenkrantz nodded and did her innocent face. "Well Doctor Danforth, that sounds just dandy, and any time that old trout, er, I mean, Mrs Armentrout is out the place, you just give me a call and I'll squeeze into my tight little housemaid uniform and come on over and I'll get down on my hands and knees for you and I'll scrub that dirty old floor clean till you can see your face in it, and then I'll do your laundry and press your pants for you, and then I'll peel your spuds and cook your carrot and generally braise your meat, how's that sound?" she asked.
The double-entendre didn't go unnoticed, he'd have to be pretty dense not to pick up on it, Miss Hettie was an expert at it, a necessity for someone in her line of work, and while he was becoming more inclined to give in to her wiles, he was trying to keep business separated from 'pleasure', and since the house was also his clinic...
"That sounds agreeable." He smiled and nodded, leaning forward. "Of course, I'd come by off-hours, and discretely, and any certificates required for business will be supplied." He honestly wasn't sure what the town wanted as far as health documentation, or if it was merely something that the good Mrs. Adams wanted to make her business seem more respectable. "How many ladies are there?" Good to know!
"That sounds agreeable." He smiled and nodded, leaning forward. "Of course, I'd come by off-hours, and discretely, and any certificates required for business will be supplied."
"Perfect!" smiled Hettie.
"How many ladies are there?" Good to know!
"Four at the moment" answered Hettie, all business "Me and a nice pretty new girl we just got called Annie Jo, Me and her'll be handling the bulk of the traffic. We've got a black maid called Nancy-Jane who'll turn tricks if needed, but the demand for yeller gals might not be too high round here. Her boyfriend is our bully. Lars."
It seemed that the proprietress would be pulling her weight, too:
"Last but not least, Mrs Adams will still be active: you'd be surprised the number of her old clientele she is bringing along to the new venture. And, of course, the nervous younger fellers often prefer an older woman for their first time, anything too young and sprightly and they get over excited and it's all over in a flash and they feel they've wasted their money. And some of them will come back for her again and again: we call those boys the 'I Want My Mamas'. I mean, her knees aren't what they used to be, poor soul, but she can still do the more sedentary stuff." she ironed out the particulars of the personnel.
Mrs. Rosenkrantz's assessment of the establishment's clientele was rather amusing, although it gave Jonah pause to wonder where he would fall in that spectrum, should her become a customer. But that remained to be seen...of course...
"That should be manageable enough, it shouldn't take but a few minutes. I assume the ladies all know the signs to look for in a client?" And that Mrs. Adams would allow them to deny services to men who showed signs of disease...that would be best for business in the long run, but a coin was a coin! "Is there a specific day of the week that's good? And when would Mrs. Adams like the first...examinations?"
"That should be manageable enough, it shouldn't take but a few minutes. I assume the ladies all know the signs to look for in a client?"
"Doc, I've seen more chancres than you've had hot dinners. Nancy-Jane, too, and Aunt Sally goes without saying. Not sure about the new girl. Say, if not, do you know of any fellers round here who've got one on the bubble at the moment? We could take her to have a look-see." Hettie recounted matter-of-factly.
"Is there a specific day of the week that's good? And when would Mrs. Adams like the first...examinations?"
"Well, Sundays are quiet..." she pondered "... do the first one as soon as possible, it'd be good to take a certificate to the Council when we apply for a licence. In fact, do me now to save time!"
Before he could nay-say her, Hettie had stood up, hitched up her skirts and undone the strings of her drawers, dropped 'em, placed them on the back of her chair, jumped up on the Doctor's examining couch and was 'open for business' with all the skill and speed of a true professional.
While she waited for him to complete his examination, she asked "So, tell me about the mayor and these four fellers on the Council: Alders, Pettigrew, Steelgrave and Mercer" She had no idea that the last two were not fellers at all, but fellerettes.
"Sundays...after church..." One had to keep up appearances, after all, Jonah wasn't in any hurry to agitate the Big Man, he'd done enough of that already! "Or before, I suppose, although that would be very early...or late, as the case may be."
And then, suddenly, there she was, all open and ready for business, the question being whose business? Jonah was suspecting they would both be indulging in their fields of expertise before this was over!
"All right, then." He was actually grateful for the distracting question as he moved in to get a good look at Hettie's home office. Unfortunately, it wasn't a topic with which he was very familiar.
"Well, I do know that Mr. Alders owns the lumber mill, a decent businessman. And Harriet Mercer is a fine woman, an attorney." He glanced up from his perusings, over her skirts. "Pettigrew I'm not terribly familiar with, and I'd advise you to steer clear of any Steelegrave, save for the daughter, Miss Leah."
He ducked back down, ever so gently probing through soft pink pleasures again. "Although, I'm certain the Steelegrave men will appreciate the services you offer." Moving back, he patted her thigh. "All good here! Be wary of the Steelegrave men, they may try to look for a way to participate in the profits."