Most girls of her age would have thought twice about entering a place like the Stardust Saloon, but when you'd been an Army Laundress, such places offered little more peril than one's usual place of labor: in Sally' case, that God forsaken hole, Fort Somers. When she had been looking after her father, the late and, sad to say, somewhat unlamented Quartermaster Sergeant Edward Cutts, she at least had a feeling of daughterly duty to keep her going: but after two years of scrubbing the long johns and ironing the uniforms of completely unrelated soldiers and officers at Somers, she was ready to grasp any opportunity, no matter how small, to get the Hell out of there.
She held the advertisement in her hot little hands as she strode manfully into the watering hole and looked about at the various folks scattered about the interior, ticking each one off as she looked for the owner. Big handsome bearded feller behind the bar; nope, he must be the barkeep; a couple of customers and a painted lady on the other side, nursing their drinks, nope; a fat fellow playing the piano and another painted lady singing - pretty nice too, nope; AH! There they were, a couple of well dressed fellers fleecing a rube at a poker table: one looking like an old ghoul who'd found himself locked out of his coffin for the day, and the other as smooth and oily as a water rat: Fortner!
She pushed her way through the crowd and presented herself before him.
"Excuse me. Are you Mister Fortner? My name is Sally Cutts and I would like to apply for the the position of 'Help' advertised in the Union. I have a letter of recommendation from one of the officer's wives at the fort" she said stridently, pushing the enveloped toward him. Oh yes, the Lieutenant's wife had been only too glad to get the little hussy out of the fort and as far away from her husband as possible!
Wayfarer - welcome to join in with Caroline and/or Ralph, but don't feel obliged if you're busy! :)
It'd been a so-so day at the Stardust with business being up and down, but Fortner was satisfied. He had a lot of irons in the fire; There was the saloon, his involvement in the town's brothel, and then there was the potential gold strike at the old Potee place. Yes, life was good.
He was relishing his role as saloon proprietor, rubbing shoulders with all sorts of people, keeping his ears open for valuable gossip and for new business opportunities.
Franklin raised his glass and was about to bolt its contents down his throat when a strong, female voice intruded.
"Excuse me. Are you Mister Fortner? My name is Sally Cutts and I'd like to apply for the position of 'Help' advertised in the Union. I have a letter of recommendation from one of the officer's wives at the Fort."
Fortner moved back a step when the woman slapped the letter on the bar and pushed it toward him. He was also aware of sets of eyes on them so he jerked his head toward an empty table and suggested they conduct their business there.
The woman impressed him with her determination tinged with a bit of desperation, and when they arrived at the table, he pulled out a chair for her to sit on. He took one opposite her.
"I'm Franklin Fortner, the owner of the Stardust, and you are..???"
Having just finished one of her musical numbers - it had been a song and dance, Caroline took in the applause before heading off the stage.
"Thanks, Ivanhoe," she grinned at her piano player. Was he as good as Frances, no but then neither had been Arabella. But she liked the big man and he would do just fine.
It also did not escape her notice, few things in the saloon did, that some young woman had marched up to Fortner and he had retreated with her to the privacy of a corner table. She had handed him a sheet of paper? What it was all about she had no idea. Hopefully this gal was not another whore. She certainly wasn't dressed like one.
She would keep a watchful eye on the conversation for now even if she couldn't hear a word they were saying over there.
"I'm Franklin Fortner, the owner of the Stardust, and you are..???"
"My name is Sally Cutts and I'd like to apply for the position of 'Help' advertised in the Union. I have a letter of recommendation from one of the officer's wives at the Fort." she repeated. It was kinda noisy in here, maybe he hadn't heard her right the first time.
"Listen Mister Fortner, I'm a laundress at the Fort right now, I'm not scared of hard work and early mornings. I've got a good character, and I don't mind working in a saloon. Believe me, some girls would turn their noses up at that or be scared to." she looked about "But after the soldiers at the Fort, these fellers look like pussy cats. And I see that you have... ahem, facilities to cope with their baser natures." she said, nodding at Hettie Rosenkrantz, an obvious tart, sitting at the bar, trying pick up a trick. "The soldiers at the Fort can get a little... hmm, 'antsy' around the laundresses."
She tried to make it clear that despite her innocent looks, she was wise to the ways of the world, as well as being no slacker on the washing, cooking, laundering front.
Fortner listened carefully and respectfully as Miss Cutts advanced her position. She was careful of her words and careful to present herself as a good and moral person though not unaware of the many vices that swarmed around Kalispell.
She spoke earnestly.
"Listen Mister Fortner, I'm a laundress at the Fort right now, I'm not scared of hard work and early mornings. I've got a good character, and I don't mind working in a saloon. Believe me, some girls would turn their noses up at that or be scared to." she looked about "But after the soldiers at the Fort, these fellers look like pussy cats. And I see that you have... ahem, facilities to cope with their baser natures." she said, nodding at Hettie Rosenkrantz, an obvious tart, sitting at the bar, trying pick up a trick. "The soldiers at the Fort can get a little... hmm, 'antsy' around the laundresses."
Franklin clasped his hands together on the tabletop. He took hiring.. and firing.. seriously. The truth was, he'd been very limited on personnel issues at the Stardust. This was because of his promise and sales contract with the former owner. It had been a good deal; the employees were good at what they did and were a great help to him. If only Caroline ...
"I've got a couple of positions you might be able to fill, so tell me, what do you see yourself doing here?"
"I've got a couple of positions you might be able to fill, so tell me, what do you see yourself doing here?"
"Well Sir, I can clean, launder, help the cook, wash-up, sew and mend and wait on tables if you so wish." she enumerated what she assumed was needed, judging from the advertisement in the Kalispell Union.
Maybe she should also tell the rakishly handsome man what she was not able or willing to do. She nodded over to where Caroline was singing and then to where Hettie was flirting. "I'm afraid I'm not talented enough to do what that lady is doing, and I'm not inclined to do what that lady is doing." she added pleasantly but firmly.
"Oh, and I can start immediately!" she threw in, wanting to end on a positive note.
Wayfarer if you like :)
The comely young woman proceeded to enumerate her employment value.
"Well Sir, I can clean, launder, help the cook, wash-up, sew and mend and wait on tables if you so wish." she enumerated what she assumed was needed, judging from the advertisement in the Kalispell Union.
Miss Cutts turned and looked at the slattern who was lounging negligently at a nearby table and the more proper Caroline.
"I'm afraid I'm not talented enough to do what that lady is doing, and I'm not inclined to do what that lady is doing." she added pleasantly but firmly.
"Oh, and I can start immediately!" she threw in, wanting to end on a positive note.
Maybe not the best approach, thought Fortner. The other girls in the saloon might not like a co-worker who tries to position herself as morally superior to them, but the girl had a straightforwardness that was appealing. She also talked as if she may have had an education.
"Tell me. Did you go to school?" But before she could answer, there was a sudden crash, and all heads turned.
A customer had lambasted another who was now sprawled on the floor. The assailant as Lem Driscol, a troublemaker well known at the Stardust.
"Excuse me," Franklin said before standing. "Be right back."
Driscol, who looked as though he was about to further pummel his victim, stopped when Franklin arrived and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Uh yeah?" the sodden Driscol muttered.
"I've warned you before. We've had enough of your troublemaking at the Stardust. Now I'm telling you, get out and don't come back until you're ready keep your hands off the other customers."
Driscol wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and scowled at Fortner. He knew that if he tried to argue with Fortner he'd likely lose the verbal duel. And if he tried gun-play, he'd wind up in a pine box. So, he figured the best way to maintain his dignity was to grab his hat and slowly walk out.
Back at the table, Fortner lost no time in getting back to cases.
"So, had any schooling?"
Sally watched the suave Saloon owner deal with the troublemaker with a cool, calm firmness, so at odds with the wild and wooly ways of most of his customers, while the bartender might have dealt with things a different way, probably involving a chair leg. Lordy, it was pretty rough here, but nothing worse than the atmosphere at the Fort when some of the soldiers started to rub each other up the wrong way.
Driscol wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and scowled at Fortner. He knew that if he tried to argue with Fortner he'd likely lose the verbal duel. And if he tried gun-play, he'd wind up in a pine box. So, he figured the best way to maintain his dignity was to grab his hat and slowly walk out.
Back at the table, Fortner lost no time in getting back to cases.
"So, had any schooling?"
"Yes, mostly of that kind. School of hard knocks." she said, nodding at the retreating pugnacious man, indicating that she was no sheltered delicate flower, despite her elfin appearance and diminutive size. "But if you mean can I read and write, then yes. But that's about it. Oh, I can speak a little Spanish, my mother was from Coahuila, but I doubt you get many Mexicans up here." she guessed, wrongly: the cattle drives brought up an odd charro, now and again, as far as Kalispell, although usually the 'corporals' who brought the Mexican cattle to the border to be taken over by Texan cowboys turned back there. But some of the cowboys themselves were Mexican in origin and the broad brimmed sombrero of a gay Ranchero sometimes decorated the head of a customer in the Stardust.
Coahuila - just one word, but when Sally said it, not only was it pronounced correctly (if Mexican Spanish can ever properly be called 'correct' anymore than American English can) but for a second, she became another person, for a second she was no longer a hard edged American frontierswoman, but a doe-eyed, soft and romantic Señorita.
@[Preston]
When asked about her schooling, she had an unabashed answer.
"Yes, mostly of that kind. School of hard knocks." she said, nodding at the retreating pugnacious man, indicating that she was no sheltered delicate flower, despite her elfin appearance and diminutive size. "But if you mean can I read and write, then yes. But that's about it. Oh, I can speak a little Spanish, my mother was from Coahuila, but I doubt you get many Mexicans up here." she guessed, wrongly: the cattle drives brought up an odd charro, now and again, as far as Kalispell, although usually the 'corporals' who brought the Mexican cattle to the border to be taken over by Texan cowboys turned back there. But some of the cowboys themselves were Mexican in origin and the broad brimmed sombrero of a gay Ranchero sometimes decorated the head of a customer in the Stardust.
Franklin nodded appreciatively.
Actually, he was wondering if she could cipher because he needed someone to take over the books of the Stardust. It was an onerous chore, and he was finding it difficult to squeeze in the amount of time needed to tend them. There were other positions she might be able to handle, however.
"We need someone to mop the floors every day before we open up. The tables need cleaning because they take a beating. They need cleaning off at the same time the floor is being mopped. Also, when we're open and as guests exit, the tables need wiping down to make room for new customers. I need someone to keep inventory of our supplies -- everything but the liquor. Our barkeep does that. But we have a kitchen that churns out good food and that entails supplies. Our cook bitches at me that she doesn't have time for all that."
Fortner placed his palms down on the table and asked, "What do you think?"
If Fortner thought Sally had the education to properly do the books for the business in a recognisable fashion that an accountant would be able to follow, he was sadly overestimating her level of education: although, it had to be said, she had become adept at organising the laundry at the fort and making sure that the laundry women there had enough supplies of lye soap and other washing materials as well as food and other essentials: and it was often she who was sent to talk with the Colonel about any complaints or issues 'What with you talkin' so fancy and readin' and writin' so nice' as one of the older drudges had explained to her: though possibly they had always sent the girl as she was pretty and they hoped that her good looks might soften the Colonel's heart toward these lowest of the Army members under his command.
It was certainly Sally who had, once a month, steered an army wagon into town for supplies which she alone seemed to have the forethought to get in stock for future use.
"We need someone to mop the floors every day before we open up. The tables need cleaning because they take a beating. They need cleaning off at the same time the floor is being mopped. Also, when we're open and as guests exit, the tables need wiping down to make room for new customers. I need someone to keep inventory of our supplies -- everything but the liquor. Our barkeep does that. But we have a kitchen that churns out good food and that entails supplies. Our cook bitches at me that she doesn't have time for all that."
Sally ticked off each of these requirements with a nod of her head and a "Yep" or an "Yes Sir, I can do that." assuring him all along the way that she was up to the job.
Fortner placed his palms down on the table and asked, "What do you think?"
"I can start right away!" the girl said with alacrity "I assume that the wage mentioned in the advertisement also includes bed and board." she stated, rather than asked: it wasn't beyond some employers to take back a workers entire wage and say it was their due in order to feed them and provide a roof over their head.