Free The Prettiest Girl in the Land (The Traherns #3) by Nancy Radke

exclaimed, looking at my poor wrinkled, white but
dirty-looking feet. “I haven’t had them off for twenty-five days.”
    She started undoing my blouse and skirt.
    “Wait. I can do that myself.”
    “I always did it for my ladyship, so don’t mind doing it for
you. I’ll get your bath ready.”
    I undressed as she poured the water into the tin bath. “I’ll put
your clothes out to wash, Ma’am.”
    “No. Don’t. I need to mend them first.” Actually, I needed to
take out the coins I still had sewn into the skirt. “I have another dress in my
pack. If you could get it ready by tomorrow, I’ll wear it.”
    “Of course.”
    “I’ll bathe myself.”
    “Of course. But something my ladyship loved for me to do was
give her head a rubbing. You have beautiful long hair. Let me wash and do it
for you.”
    “Thank you, Lila, but I can hardly stay awake.”
    “I’m fast. Get in the bath.”
    I did, throwing modesty aside. I’d mostly bathed in buckets, and
the large bath felt wonderful. As I began to scrub, she washed my back, then my
hair, rubbing my scalp until I practically melted into that water.
    “Lila, you have magic in your hands. What do I owe you?”
    “Nothing, Ma’am. You saved the life of the landlady’s son,
Martin. He was driving the coach. The first driver you had who was shot. You
folks took him to the fort and they took out the bullet. He’s doing well.”
    “That was the landlady’s son?”
    “Yes. That’s why she’s allowing your dog to stay here. Her son
sent word that he alerted everyone to danger.  Martin wrote that he ducked
just as the man shot, so that he was wounded instead of killed. She said royal
treatment for all of you.”
    I yawned. Once started I couldn’t stop. She dried my hair in a
big towel while I wrapped up in another and stepped out of the bath. The water
had cooled down, but I felt so clean. It was wonderful.
    I walked straight to the bed and threw back the covers.
    “Do you have a gown?” she asked.
    “No.” It was one of the items I had decided against carrying.
    “I’ll get you one of mine, if you don’t mind.”
    “Lila, you spoil me.”
    She laughed, ran out of the room and soon returned with a white
nightgown. She helped me pull it over my head, and I lay down and didn’t wake
up until the next morning.
    Travers whined, or I would have slept clear through the day.
    I got out of bed and opened the door for him. It was beautiful
outside and I stood in the doorway and waited until he had finished and
returned.
    I pulled my spare dress out of my pack. It was wrinkled and
dirty, and I put it outside my door, hanging on the latch. I still felt like my
body was one giant bruise. I pictured that bear, falling into the canyon and
bouncing all the way to the bottom. I felt like him.
    I got a drink and used the chamber pot. The stress of the trip
had delayed my monthly cycle, but it looked to be slowly comin back. I fixed
myself up, crawled back into bed and fell asleep again.
    That afternoon, Travers woke me again. I let him outside, and
decided I’d live.
    A knock on my door.
    “It’s Lila. I have your dress, Ma’am.”
    I opened the door and she carried it inside.
    It looked much better than I’d ever got it to look. I hated to
iron, and usually had the heat too hot or too cold, so the flat irons would
almost sear the cloth or wouldn’t smooth it at all.
    “Lila, this is perfect.”
    “Thank you, Ma’am.”
    “My name is Ruth. Call me Ruth.”
    “Yes, Ma’am. May I do your hair?”
    “Don’t you have other things to do?”
    “Not right now. Your man is still asleep. Dinner is a few hours
off. The landlady is resting.”
    People insisted on linking us together, thinking Gage was my
man. I no longer bothered to correct them. “I bet this is your rest time, too.”
    “It is, Ma’am, but I need to fix your hair. Sit in your chair.”
    She took my brush and began to work out the tangles and
practically put me to sleep again.
    “There you are,