faces. All those men.
I let my gaze wander from eye to eye to eye. I breathed in tiny breaths.
“Don’t be shy.” Kate’s voice was a small, almost silent whisper in my head and in my heart. “They are going to love you.”
Love me? No one loved me. They might need me, use me as a balm to cover heart holes and mind fears, but love me ? Only one man had ever made me feel loved, and I’d practically stolen those moments. Oh, Buck.
A little sob escaped my painted red lips. I started to press my white-gloved hand against them and then remembered the stain that mistake would cause. I lowered my hand back to my side and let Kate lead me farther into the lantern-lit room.
I could hear my breath go in and out. Kate took my hand, held it high, like a prize, and turned me in a slow circle, round and round, as if we were dancing some strange dance she was master of. She stopped in a sudden way that made me almost stumble, and then she held our clasped hands high in the air.
“Gentlemen! Gentlemen.” Her voice lowered to a soft purr that held every man in taut silence. They craned forward to hear her words, as if an angel stood among them.
“Gentlemen, I give you—” She smiled down at me, whispering, “Have you thought of a name, dear?”
I shook my head, my eyes filling with tears that I blinked and blinked back until they were hidden in my heart.
She shrugged a silken shoulder and turned back to her rapt audience. “I give you the golden girl of your dreams. I give you the gemstone of Dawson City. Gentlemen . . . I give you Jewel.”
Chapter Ten
The line to dance with me formed immediately with cheering. I gulped down my fear, hoping I would remember the steps to the waltz, polka, schottische, and square dance. I was told that on most nights, the dance hall boasted a play or vaudeville acts before the dancing began. Many dancing girls were also actresses in plays ranging from East Lynne to Camille. I shuddered at the thought of being on stage, the center of every eye and ear, but had the feeling of being swept along on a tide where I had no foothold.
The first man was tall and thin. He had a wiry mustache and an easy smile. I took a deep breath and let him pull me onto the floor. The music of a four-instrument orchestra sprang to life—piano, violin, trombone, and cornet. The music of a waltz swept over me, and I loved it. I never had many opportunities to listen to music. We didn’t attend church, and I was rarely invited to socials where music was played or sung. A whole new room had opened in my heart with this music.
My instructions were clear. My job was to dance around the perimeter of the room with the other couples until the music stopped, an abrupt freezing of the dance floor like in the game musical chairs. And then I would lead my current partner to the bar while I took the hand of the next and the next. The long hours of the night twirled and whirled from my feet and heated face. I couldn’t help it. Kate was right once again. I loved dancing.
“You sure are a pretty one. Where’d Queenie find you?”
Queenie was Kate’s nickname as all the girls, both the dancing girls and the prostitutes on Paradise Alley, had taken one. “I came from California, looking for gold.”
The man chuckled, his teeth soured with chewing tobacco. I wanted to feel disgust, but I didn’t. I looked into his eyes and saw a vulnerability I had lost long ago and a good heart.
Sorrow gripped my heart for him as I stared into his eyes. “Where are you from?”
His eyes lit up by my interest. “All the way from Mississippi, ma’am.”
“That’s a long way. Did you leave family there?”
He nodded as we spun around the room. “Three brothers and a mother. She’s doin’ poorly so I thought I would strike out into the world. Find my fortune for us all.”
“And have you found it, sir?”
He looked over my shoulder at the other whirling dancers and shook his head with an exhaled huff and a half grin. “I
I let my gaze wander from eye to eye to eye. I breathed in tiny breaths.
“Don’t be shy.” Kate’s voice was a small, almost silent whisper in my head and in my heart. “They are going to love you.”
Love me? No one loved me. They might need me, use me as a balm to cover heart holes and mind fears, but love me ? Only one man had ever made me feel loved, and I’d practically stolen those moments. Oh, Buck.
A little sob escaped my painted red lips. I started to press my white-gloved hand against them and then remembered the stain that mistake would cause. I lowered my hand back to my side and let Kate lead me farther into the lantern-lit room.
I could hear my breath go in and out. Kate took my hand, held it high, like a prize, and turned me in a slow circle, round and round, as if we were dancing some strange dance she was master of. She stopped in a sudden way that made me almost stumble, and then she held our clasped hands high in the air.
“Gentlemen! Gentlemen.” Her voice lowered to a soft purr that held every man in taut silence. They craned forward to hear her words, as if an angel stood among them.
“Gentlemen, I give you—” She smiled down at me, whispering, “Have you thought of a name, dear?”
I shook my head, my eyes filling with tears that I blinked and blinked back until they were hidden in my heart.
She shrugged a silken shoulder and turned back to her rapt audience. “I give you the golden girl of your dreams. I give you the gemstone of Dawson City. Gentlemen . . . I give you Jewel.”
Chapter Ten
The line to dance with me formed immediately with cheering. I gulped down my fear, hoping I would remember the steps to the waltz, polka, schottische, and square dance. I was told that on most nights, the dance hall boasted a play or vaudeville acts before the dancing began. Many dancing girls were also actresses in plays ranging from East Lynne to Camille. I shuddered at the thought of being on stage, the center of every eye and ear, but had the feeling of being swept along on a tide where I had no foothold.
The first man was tall and thin. He had a wiry mustache and an easy smile. I took a deep breath and let him pull me onto the floor. The music of a four-instrument orchestra sprang to life—piano, violin, trombone, and cornet. The music of a waltz swept over me, and I loved it. I never had many opportunities to listen to music. We didn’t attend church, and I was rarely invited to socials where music was played or sung. A whole new room had opened in my heart with this music.
My instructions were clear. My job was to dance around the perimeter of the room with the other couples until the music stopped, an abrupt freezing of the dance floor like in the game musical chairs. And then I would lead my current partner to the bar while I took the hand of the next and the next. The long hours of the night twirled and whirled from my feet and heated face. I couldn’t help it. Kate was right once again. I loved dancing.
“You sure are a pretty one. Where’d Queenie find you?”
Queenie was Kate’s nickname as all the girls, both the dancing girls and the prostitutes on Paradise Alley, had taken one. “I came from California, looking for gold.”
The man chuckled, his teeth soured with chewing tobacco. I wanted to feel disgust, but I didn’t. I looked into his eyes and saw a vulnerability I had lost long ago and a good heart.
Sorrow gripped my heart for him as I stared into his eyes. “Where are you from?”
His eyes lit up by my interest. “All the way from Mississippi, ma’am.”
“That’s a long way. Did you leave family there?”
He nodded as we spun around the room. “Three brothers and a mother. She’s doin’ poorly so I thought I would strike out into the world. Find my fortune for us all.”
“And have you found it, sir?”
He looked over my shoulder at the other whirling dancers and shook his head with an exhaled huff and a half grin. “I
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