Mercer Girls by Libbie Hawker

Author:Libbie Hawker [Hawker, Libbie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503951976
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2016-05-09T18:30:00+00:00

Dovey’s stomach was empty and grumbling by the time she returned to the cribs. The lowering sun was just beginning to cast its rosy tinge along the belly of the clouds, and the evening air nipped sharply. Dovey hoped she wasn’t too late to catch her new friends and relay the news of her good fortune before they settled into their night’s work.

She walked along the plank-sided warehouse that stood opposite the cribs, watching the bright-painted doors of the narrow shacks, hoping for a glimpse of a friendly face. Men had begun to arrive from the lumberyard and the docks, stinking with the sweat of their day’s labor. A few of them approached Dovey and inquired after her price, but she only shook her head distractedly, and they wandered away again in disappointment.

Finally, a door painted as red as an apple swung open, and a man sauntered away. Haypenny stepped out after him, fussing with the drape of her skirt and patting her great, rounded crown of yellow hair.

“Penny!” Dovey called to her from across the street.

Penny hitched up her hem and hurried to Dovey’s side.

“You’ll never believe,” Dovey said, breathless. “I’ve landed the job!”

“Collecting taxes? You must be joking.”

“I’m all in truth,” she promised. “The job is mine—for now, at any rate. He’ll give me two weeks to see how I do, and if I—”

“Who’ll give you two weeks?”

“Virgil.” Dovey’s blush was sudden and disconcerting—not an event she had prepared for. “That is to say, Mr. Cooper—the head collector. He . . . he runs the Revenue Service, and he showed me how to fire a gun.”

Ruby had wandered over in the midst of Dovey’s explanation. She assessed Dovey’s flaming cheeks and the glint in her eye—a sparkle Dovey knew was surely there, even without a mirror to confirm it—and passed Haypenny a sly, teasing smile. “Looks like our Mercer girl has found a husband after all.”

“Never,” Dovey said—perhaps too forcefully. “I won’t marry—not ever. Especially once I start up my fancy house. Whatever cut I take from you girls will be mine alone. I don’t want any man meddling with my business.” She paused, toying with the collar of her dress, remembering the feel of Virgil’s hand on her own as he’d taught her the use of the gun. “Though Virgil is awfully handsome,” she added quietly.

“I’m happy for you, Dovey,” Haypenny said. “It’s real sweet to have a dream, and to see it come together.”

“I’ve a long way to go. It will take a few years, I suppose, to earn all the capital I’ll need. But I’m excited, girls—really thrilled! For the first time in my life, I feel there’s a future ahead of me—one that’s worth dreaming about. Oh, girls, I can’t wait to write my mother and tell her I have a job!”

“How is your mother doing?” Penny asked.

Despite the girl’s rough exterior, she had a warm and tender heart. Dovey had learned the truth of that over the past few days of their camaraderie.

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