Free Jenny by Bobbi Smith

try to argue with her and convince
her that the idea wouldn't work. But she was going
to show him. She was going to show all of them.
    "Not right away. I'll start repairing the bunkhouse
and try to get that in order before I tell him anything
about it."
    "That's going to be a big job. You'll need some
building supplies, won't you?"
    "Yes, and if Cole asks about the bills, I'll tell him.
But until he does, I'm not offering any information."
    "I'm sure he'll think it's a brilliant idea when he
finds out," Evelyn said encouragingly.
    Jenny didn't agree with her, but said nothing. There
would be plenty of time later to argue the point.
    "When do you want to get started?"
    "First thing in the morning," she said with determination. "The sooner I get to work on the repairs,
the sooner the Lazy S Guest Ranch is going to be
ready to open for customers."
    Tired as she was, Jenny stayed up late that night.
She was too excited to think about sleeping. She
wrote a long letter to her friend Rose, explaining
everything and inviting her to come and visit. Rose
was quite a force in her prestigious social set back in
Philadelphia, and Jenny was sure that she could be
instrumental in encouraging others to come to the
Lazy S to enjoy a real Wild West adventure. Word of mouth was a powerful thing, and she had already
learned how curious Easterners were about anything
Western.

    Jenny was up with the dawn. She rummaged
through the old clothes in the back of her closet until
she'd found just what she was looking for-a pair of
boy's pants and a work shirt. Before she'd gone away
to school, she'd worn them regularly whenever she
worked with her father around the ranch.
    Jenny tugged on the clothes and felt a sense of
freedom at being so clad again. There was something
very liberating about wearing pants, especially when
she was riding astride. She wondered why more
women didn't just defy convention and wear them.
She thought of her friend Rose then and knew she
would be scandalized at the thought of a female wearing men's pants. Jenny smiled, thinking of how much
fun it would be to scandalize Rose when she came to
the ranch.
    After eating a quick breakfast, Jenny headed out to
the bunkhouse to assess the repairs that needed to be
done and to make a list of the supplies she'd need to
complete them. The deteriorating building definitely
needed a substantial amount of work, but she felt she
was up to it. The roof was in poor shape, and a window needed to be replaced. After serious consideration, Jenny decided she could partition the building
off, giving the women their own private quarters. The
bunkhouse was big enough to accommodate both the
men and the women with separate entrances.

    Her decision made, Jenny wrote out the list of materials she needed. She sought out one of the hands
and sent him into town to pick them up and to mail
her letter off to Rose. With any luck, Jenny hoped
that by the time she heard from her friend, the improvements to the bunkhouse would be completed.
    "Jenny! What in heaven's name are you wearing?"
Evelyn exclaimed as Jenny came back inside the
house. It was the first time Evelyn had seen her that
morning, and she was shocked by the sight of her
niece wearing pants.
    Jenny grinned at her. "I've got a lot of hard work
to do today, so I dressed for it."
    "But pants? That's scandalous!" Evelyn was still
staring at her, aghast.
    "In Philadelphia, yes, but here it's actually very
practical, Aunt Evelyn. I used to wear them all the
time."
    "Thank God you never wore them at school!"
    "I was tempted a few times, believe me," she
laughed. "And after a few more weeks of living here
with me, I bet I can convince you to start wearing
them, too. They're really very comfortable."
    Evelyn only looked stricken at the thought of being
caught wearing men's pants. "But aren't you the least
concerned that someone might see you-"
    "No, Aunt Evelyn, I'm not," she said more gently
as she