Pearl by Lauraine Snelling Read Free Book Online

to ask, ‘‘Whatever is that?’’
    ‘‘Braided bread with colored eggs nested in it. I think it is a Russian tradition.’’
    ‘‘What’s Russian?’’
    Opal adopted her teacher attitude. ‘‘You use a sweet dough.’’ She’d been working with Milly and Daisy, teaching them to read during the summer until Ruby took over the schooling when the hotel business slowed down for the winter. ‘‘Russia is a huge country in Eastern Europe. Guess we need to study geography too.’’
    ‘‘You can find a world map in that last box of books Mrs. Brandon sent us.’’ Ruby had been a governess at the Brandon home in New York before she and Opal came west at their father’s bidding nearly a year before. Often when she allowed herself to think back, she felt sadness push down on her shoulders. Life had been so much easier then.
    Milly, bone slender no matter how much Ruby tried to feed her up, let out a sigh. ‘‘I’ll never learn it all.’’
    ‘‘But you and Daisy can both read good now and do your sums,’’ Opal said.
    ‘‘ Well, not good.’’ Ruby always tried to correct Opal’s grammar and manners. After all, some standards were necessary, even on the frontier. As Bestemor always said, ‘‘It’s how you behave when you’re alone that says who you really are.’’
    ‘‘Oh yes. Read well .’’
    ‘‘Your penmanship has improved too. You’ve both learned a lot.’’ Ruby started at Opal’s forehead and fingered out three sections to begin French braiding.
    Daisy brought back another sadiron to the stove, unhooked the wooden handle, and attached it to a hot iron. ‘‘I heard my name. What did I do now.’’ She leaned over and inhaled gingerbread flavor. ‘‘I think we’ve all been working so hard we should have a cup of coffee and a piece of that gingerbread.’’
    ‘‘Before supper?’’ Ruby braided a ribbon into the end of a braid and tied it off with a knot and a bow. She shook her head at the pleading looks on all three faces. ‘‘Oh, all right, but cut the pieces small. Who knows how many we will have here for supper.’’ ‘‘There’s only two guests.’’
    ‘‘So far.’’
    ‘‘But it’s getting toward dusk. Belle said she’d be back to practice.’’ Milly glanced out the window. ‘‘It’s snowing again, and here I thought spring had finally took over.’’
    Belle had been the madam in the days before Ruby stepped in at her father’s dying request and took over Dove House, long before Ruby even knew what kind of situation she and her little sister were getting into.
    Just the mention of Belle’s name brought something to mind that Ruby mulled over more and more often of late, sometimes even keeping her awake at night when her body was so exhausted it screamed for rest. Strange things like something missing and showing up later, never where it was supposed to be. The townsfolk, even though they knew the real situation by now, still looking at her like she’d become one of the doves instead of changing their lives around. She was sure money had been missing more than once. Was it all Belle, or should she be watching all of the others to catch the culprit?
    ‘‘Sometimes I think spring will never come,’’ Daisy grumbled. ‘‘We’ll be stuck in winter forever.’’
    ‘‘Me too.’’ Ruby caught herself sighing along with Daisy. Would ten days be enough time to perfect the Easter music for the girls to sing? The irony of three soiled doves singing at a worship service in a former saloon, resurrected as a dining room, made her smile inside. What would the fair citizens of Little Misery think anyway? She caught back her snort at the word fair . Ha. If they came at all.

CHAPTER FIVE
    ‘‘Every year at Easter we all got new clothes.’’ Opal sighed nine days later. ‘‘I really miss the Brandons.’’
    ‘‘Brand-new?’’ Milly wore envy like a petticoat, mostly hidden but peeking out at times.
    ‘‘Well, usually Alicia, the