Read Online A Claim of Her Own by Stephanie Grace Whitson - Free Book Online

smiled. “He even said he’d show me how he makes stew.”
    Swede nodded. “It is your claim now, Mattie. If you vant to vork it, I say go vit God and may He bless it.” She turned back to Tom. “And so I need someone to run Garth Merchandise ven I am freighting.” She glanced at Freddie. “And my son says dat you are de someone I should hire.”
    “Do you mind my asking about the name?” Tom asked.
    “Of course not. Garth vas my husband.” She nodded. “Now. I vish that I pay you to see to the building of a store here on dis lot vile I bring more goods.” She hesitated before saying, “Freddie has said dat your lot is not de best for a store.” She gestured around them. “As you can see, mine is excellent. I propose dat you move your business to my lot.”
    “Well, Freddie was right about my lot,” Tom said. “If he hadn’t come in the middle of the night and moved them, I would have lost every packing crate.” He made a sweeping motion with his good arm. “Whoosh. Who knows where they would have ended up.” He peered around at Swede’s lot. “And you do have a prime location.”
    “One of de best,” Swede agreed. “If you camp on your lot and keep a store open dere for vile ve build, ve can move all the merchandise dere and take down my tent to make room for my building. You could use my tent for lodging.” Eva had fallen asleep in Tom’s arms while they talked. She stood up and reached for the baby. “You tink as I am putting Eva down for her nap.”
    Tom spoke first to Mattie. “It’s only required that a claim be worked one day a week to prove possession. Is there any chance you would consider brushing up on your numbers so you could help out temporarily—just until Swede’s building is finished and I can move everything in? I know enough about building to handle the project, but I can’t very well oversee a building project and run a store at the same time.”
    “And I’m not good at figures,” Freddie said.
    Swede chimed in as she returned from putting Eva down. “Even a fine building can be finished in a few veeks.”
    “That’s right,” Tom agreed, and once again spoke to Mattie. “If you would help out at my present location for even part of every day we would free you up completely in three weeks’ time.”
    “I could stay on your claim and make sure no one bothered it,” Freddie offered. “Every night if you want.”
    “I vill pay you,” Swede said.
    “And I’ll show you everything you need to know about panning for gold,” Tom added.
    “And I vill bring free of charge the finest tombstone in the territory.”
    Mattie looked from Tom to Freddie to Swede. What could a woman do?

    It struck her in the middle of the night, and when Swede realized what she had done, she couldn’t sleep. As soon as dawn broke, she shook Freddie awake. “You keep vatch up by his tent, and when Mr. English has avakened I must know.” She brushed her hair until it shone that morning and donned a clean apron. She even put a clean dress on Eva, and as soon as Freddie reported that Mr. English was up, she put Eva on her hip and hurried up the street. The moment he answered her call and opened the tent flap, Swede blurted out, “I must to apologize.”
    Mr. English frowned. “For what?”
    “I meant nothing by all my talk yesterday. I did not tink.” She paused. Took a deep breath. “I have tought only of Garth Merchandise for so long—and you vere so kind to consider helping me. But in the night I realized dat all my talk vas as if I vas hiring you only to help. Please forgive me. My intention vas to form a partnership— not to treat you as a common laborer. And I do not blame you for being angry.”
    Mr. English jiggled Eva’s foot and smiled when the baby giggled. “Do I seem angry?”
    “No, but . . . I insulted you.”
    “How? By proposing a mutually beneficial business relationship?”
    “The name of the store must be English and Garth,” Swede said. “And you vill