"Pack up Ellie, you're leaving in the morning for a new job." Ellie tossed down the dime store novel she'd been reading and looked up at her caretaker… Though caretaker was hardly the correct word for Otis Black. He was ugly, mean and sometimes cruel but he had taken her in off the streets, ten years ago, after her father had kicked her out and he had taught her how to provide for herself and her young sister. Now she was stuck in his web and in this life, though it was beginning to wear on her.
"You said the last job was the last job I'd have to do for a while. I have not even been home a full two weeks yet."
"Are you getting lazy in your old age?" he asked with a grin that revealed his rotten teeth. Ellie rolled her eyes and rose to her feet, smoothing out her white sleeping gown over her large chest and narrow waist.
"I am not old." she said, tossing her thick, raven black hair over her shoulder. Otis curled his nose and looked her up and down.
"Twenty-Four is old for a woman. Pretty soon we'll have to find another way for you to make money because these unmarried men aren't going to want an old hag to spend their money on." Ellie said a silent prayer, hoping that was true. She was getting tired of making rich, boring, stuffy old men fall in love with her, only to run off in the night with all of their gifts and the entire contents of their household safes.
"One can only hope." she said too sweetly.
"Don't hope too hard, sweetness. Once you lose your glow it'll be the whorehouse for you." Ellie stiffened and shook her head.
"Never." Otis laughed his harsh laugh and rubbed at his crusty, bloodshot eyes.
"You're a weird one. You'll play with a mans heart, steal his money and leave him broken and alone but you won't dare touch what he's got under his pants."
"My husband is the only man I'll ever touch like that, Otis." she said matter of factly. Otis chuckled as he twisted the tousles on Ellie's bedspread. Ellie wrinkled her nose with disgust when she saw the dirt crusted under his fingernails. Otis had plenty of money and Ellie had never understood why he always insisted on looking so dirty.
"You'll never have a husband. What man would trust a thieving little tramp like you?" he demanded. She glared at him and he sighed. "Maybe not the whorehouse then…. Course I'm sure Liza would hate it if I stopped paying for that fancy boarding school in New York City and she had to come back here and work for me too. Wouldn't the men at my saloon love her?" Ellie felt her blood run cold. Over her dead body would Liza ever have to live the way she had lived the last ten years. She didn't care what she had to do to keep that from happening, she'd do it.
"Stop threatening me, Otis." she said calmly as she sat down on her bed and crossed her long legs beneath the yards of the white fabric of her gown. "I haven't let you down yet. What's the job?"
"That's my number one thief. You know you're my favorite girl." he said tweaking her chin. She glared at him but managed a smile.
"What's the job?" she asked again. He smiled and leaned against the purple wall.
"It's an easy one this time. You get to be a nanny."
"A nanny?" Ellie asked, raising her brow. She's put on a lot of different acts in the last ten years to woo different men but a nanny was certainly a new one. "I don't know a thing about taking care of kids." she added scratching at a patch of dry skin on her arm. Otis grabbed a jar of cream from the end table and tossed it to her.
"I've studied the family. They put an ad in the paper seeking someone who could come in and help with their twin babies and two thirteen year old girls. Of course I did a little digging. They are right here in Texas, down around Bakerstown and they own a big, successful ranch."
"No making anyone fall in love and fawn all over me this time?" she asked with relief as she rubbed the cream over her arm. He shook his head.
"Just a couple of snotty nosed brats." Ellie smiled.
"Sounds like a piece of cake. How long am I staying?"
"Long enough to earn their trust, get access to where they keep their valuables and money. Once you do that then you can slowly start sneaking things out piece by piece. You send me word now and then about your progress and I'll tell you when it's enough."
"Can this be my last job for a while for real this time? I need a break. You work me harder than any other girl here." Otis smiled and ran his hand over her silky black hair. He had been taking in orphans and homeless kids for years. He taught them how to pick pocket and get what they need off the streets. The best of these, he would really take under his wing and train to con. Ellie was the best of the best. She could play a character perfectly and had a way of getting exactly what she wanted out of anyone she set her sights on.
"I work you hard because you are the best. But yes. If you do this job and are successful, I'll give you a month off." Ellie sighed, a month wasn't much but it was better than nothing. She kept reminding herself that her sister was twelve. Four more years and she'd be done with her schooling and Ellie could finally break the chains that Otis had wrapped around her.
"Thank you." she said and then she picked her book back up and waved her hand toward the door.
"You can leave now. I'll be ready."
"The train leaves early."
"I know." she said, though her nose was already buried back within the pages.
"Remember, you're going as a nanny/tutor so make sure you pack appropriate clothing for that."
"No saloon get-ups." she said with a wink. "I got it." Otis laughed.
"If ever I could have had my own children, Ellie, none of them could have compared to you." his voice was full of something that sounded like fondness and Ellie felt her heart soften just a bit. He might be a controlling ass but sometimes he really did seem to care about her. "As of tomorrow morning you are Miss Alice Bradshaw." he added and then he walked out and shut the door behind him. Ellie laid her book on her lap and looked at the peeling floral wall paper on the wall across from her.
She'd been reading these dime store novels since she'd first learned how to swipe them from the vendors. She liked the ones about romance and love. Sometimes she'd let her mind wander and wonder what her life would have been like if her mother hadn't died and her father hadn't thrown his fourteen and two year old daughters out on the street.
She would have met a handsome man. Someone gentle and kind who would pull out chairs for her, open doors and smile warmly when his eyes met hers. He would have been tan with dark hair and he would have loved her… Really loved her… But that's not how life had turned out and it would probably never be that way, because her mother had died and her father had abandoned her and her sister.
Those first two weeks had been hell. She'd barely managed to scrounge up enough food to keep her young sister alive and they'd been forced to sleep in doorway's wrapped in a tattered old trench coat that Ellie had stolen from a man who had fallen asleep on a bench by the train station.
Then Otis had come along and her entire life had changed. At first he had offered her and her sister only a home and food and she had been so grateful. She hadn't realized until it was too late what kind of man Otis was and then after a while the lifestyle had grown on her. She was good at it. And as soon as Liza had been old enough Otis had listened to Ellie's constant begging and had put her in the best school in New York City.
Ellie still enjoyed what she did to a certain extent. She'd been doing it for so long that she wouldn't know how to do anything else. What she didn't like was living under Otis's thumb anymore. But she would do anything to give her sister a better life.
She stood from her bed and opened the large trunk in the corner. She walked over to one of the four wardrobes in her room and pulled open the doors. What would Miss Alice Bradshaw wear to meet her newest employers?
888
"You look like a right proper lady." Otis said, giving her a once over as they waited for the train. Ellie smoothed out the tight, dark blue satin bodice of her dress. It was long sleeved and high necked with black lace ruffles on the collar. The waist was tight, and the skirt flared out, with black lace along the bottom.
"But of course, Mr. Black, a proper lady such as Miss Alice Bradshaw always wears such attire." she said as she pushed her newly acquired, thin framed glasses up on her nose and ran her hand over her black hair, pulled back in a severe bun on her head. Otis chuckled.
"Already in character I see. That's good. That's real good." The whistle of the train caught their attention and the watched it chug and puff to a stop, letting out a whoosh of air that blew Ellie's stiff skirts and made Otis's rank scent fill her nostrils.
As passengers filed off the train, Otis reached in his pocket and handed her an envelope.
"This came the other day for you. I forgot to give it to you." Ellie took the envelope and saw that it was from Liza.
"Thank you Otis." she said, sticking it in her pocket to read once she was on board.
"Remember sweetness, this is a big job. The money making potential is huge. Make sure to choose your thefts wisely and don't get caught."
"I've never been caught before." Ellie said matter of factly. She stood up erectly, her corset making breathing nearly impossible and put the most innocent look she could manage on her face. "Miss Alice Bradshaw's charms are irresistible."
"All aboard!" the conductor called. Otis kissed her cheek, causing her to fight back a gag, and then patted her on the back.
"Send me word when you arrive." he said and she nodded as she grabbed her small bag and stepped up into the train.
She went straight back to the passenger car and took a seat in a back corner. The train ride would only take about three hours, followed by a one hour stage ride. She'd be in Bakerstown by noon. She took the envelope from her pocket and pulled out the letter, smiling when she recognized Liza's handwriting.
Ellie,
How are you? Everything is going good here. It's summer, so classes are out but I'm keeping busy helping the headmaster with the plans for next year. I would love if you could come visit me soon. Maybe Otis would let you? I'm so proud that you finally got a real job. A seamstress? I never even knew you could sew. I always worried about you out on the streets doing what Otis told you to. He's a vile man, Ellie, and you should leave there soon. Of course perhaps I shouldn't call him vile since without his help paying for my schooling, I wouldn't even know what the word vile means…. My pen has gotten away from me again! There's a boy at school named Van. He says I'm the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. Can you believe that? Have you met anyone yet? Maybe now that you have a job away from Otis you'll be able to find someone soon. I have to go now. I am helping the librarian rearrange the books today. Please write soon.
Your loving sister
Liza
Ellie smiled sadly and folded the letter before sliding it back into the envelope and slipping them into her pocket. She felt bad that she had lied to Liza about having a real job but she hadn't wanted the girl to worry about her.
Liza seemed so much older than twelve and Ellie knew it was from the schooling she was receiving. It only strengthened her conviction that doing these jobs for Otis were the only choice she had. She would do anything for her baby sister.