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Chapter One: The Only Applicant

Chapter One: The Only Applicant

Eastern Colorado

1880

"You have a stain on your dress," Amelia stated pointing at the offensive spot that was marring up Allie's light brown skirt.

Allie wiped at it desperately and bit her lip, "I can only hope they don't notice."

She took a last glance in the tiny mirror and pinched her thin, pale cheeks to add a bit of color. She had to impress these people. She had to get this job.

She looked over at her young sister sitting in the arm chair in the large entry room of this grand dining hall and winced. Amelia was so skinny and, while Allie had scrubbed the eight year olds skin clean, she had been unable to get all the dirt smudges and stains from her threadbare apricot colored dress.

In order for the sisters to have a place to lay their heads past tonight it would be necessary to get the job she had seen offered. Allie and Amelia had run from the orphanage they'd been trapped inside nearly six months ago the moment Allie had been old enough and they'd simply been living off the generosity of others as they went from town to town. That generosity was proving itself to be wearing thin as of late.

Allie was far too old at the age of nineteen to gain much sympathy and most people assumed Amelia was her daughter upon first sight of them. Allie knew that spoke to how haggard her appearance had become. It was not her fault. Living a life with little food and no real idea where you would lay your head at night tended to age a person.

One of the heavy wooden double doors to the main dining hall opened and a colored woman with a soft waist and kind brown eyes stepped out, "They're ready for ya, suga'," she said kindly.

Allie swallowed hard and laid a hand over her nerve-ridden stomach. What if she failed? What would happen to Amelia?

"You can do this, Allie. Don't be scared," Amelia assured with a comforting smile.

Allie nodded, "You stay out here and wait on me." After a nod from Amelia, Allie breathed deeply and followed the woman into the large dining hall.

The hall was empty. The rows of dark, heavy tables were decorated with sterling silver candlesticks, crystal glasses and pristine white linens. The bar was dark wood and colorful bottles lined the shelves behind it. Allie wondered just how much money the patrons who frequented this fancy establishment must possess. She was certain it was more money then she had ever laid her eyes on.

"Hurry up, girl, we do not have all day," a sharp female voice snapped. Allie turned her gaze to a round table in the far right corner beside a tall window and she quickly headed toward it and the two smartly dressed people that sat there.

Mrs. Treadwell had the look of an aging woman desperately attempting to hang on to the beauty of her youth. Her graying dark hair was all pulled back in a fancy chignon and her face was lightly powdered. Gemstones were clipped onto her ears and hanging around her neck. She had cold blue eyes, pale skin and wrinkles around her mouth that Allie suspected had been caused by scowling.

Mr. Treadwell was a very handsome man. He too had dark hair. His was slicked back on his head and gray at his temples. He had a well trimmed mustache above his thin lips and his brown eyes were a bit warmer than his wife's but not by much as he looked Allie up and down much like a man appraising cattle.

She shifted awkwardly under both intense scrutiny's. She knew that her threadbare and stained pink blouse and brown skirt were a far cry from the tailored and impeccable clothing they both wore and a quick glance at her feet revealed the sight of her big toe beneath the fraying leather of her boot.