Lily and the Major

Chapter One Tylerville, Washington TerritoryApril 10, 1878Therinka-tink-tinkof a tinny piano flowed out onto the street from the Blue Chicken Saloon, and greasy gray cigar smoke rolled out the open doors of the hotel dining room. Lily Chalmers consulted the cheap timepiece pinned to the bodice of her blue calico dress and nodded to herself, satisfied that she wouldn't be late for work.Lifting her skirts with one dainty hand, Lily picked her way carefully through the mud and horse dung that littered the street. A little smile curved her lips when she reached the other side and stepped onto the wooden sidewalk. The land office was open for business.The clerk, a young man with spectacles and pockmarked skin, stood behind the counter. He touched the brim of his visor when Lily entered. His gaze moved from her pale blond hair, done up in a chignon at the back of her neck, to her wide brown eyes and small, slender figure. "Mornin'," he said, with what Lily suspected was unusual enthusiasm.Although she had never liked being assessed in that particular way, she'd long since gotten used to it. Besides, nothing could take the glow off this perfect blue-and-gold day -- not even the fact that she had to be at the Harrison Hotel in half an hour to serve another meal to a lot of noisy soldiers."I'd like to stake a claim on a piece of land, please," Lily said proudly. She took a folded map from her ancient beaded bag and held it out.The clerk's eyes shifted to a place just beyond Lily's left shoulder, then back to her face. "Your husband isn't with you?" he asked. He looked disappointed now, rather than fervent.Lily sighed and straightened her shoulders. "I don't have a husband," she said clearly.There was a twitch in the clerk's left cheek, and his small eyes widened -- behind their spectacles. "You don't have a husband?" he echoed. "But you can't -- you don't just -- "Lily had prepared for his argument, incoherently presented though it was. "Under the law, any able-bodied person of legal age may stake a claim to one-half section of land," she said, praying no one would demand proof that she had reached her majority. In truth, she was not quite nineteen. "One has only to prove up on their three hundred and twenty acres within five years, by building a house and planting crops."The clerk was now thrumming the fingers of both hands on the countertop. He was clearly agitated. He started to speak, but his words came out in such a garble that they were unintelligible. Lily reached out to pat one of his hands."Be calm, now," she said in a gentle but firm voice. "Just tell me your name, and we'll work this all out amicably.""Monroe," he replied. "My name is Monroe Samuels."She nodded, pleased, and extended one gloved hand. "And I'm Miss Lily Chalmers," she responded sweetly. "Now, if we could just get down to business -- I have another appointment very shortly."Monroe took up the map Lily had laid on the countertop and unfolded it. His Adam's apple jogged up his throat, then down again as he scanned the rough drawing of the land Lily had selected. He looked at her helplessly for a moment, then went to a shelf and took down an enormous book, which he opened with a flourish.Lily stood on tiptoe, trying to make out the words marching neatly across the pages in a slanted black scrawl, but she was too far away."There is a five-dollar filing fee," Monroe said after clearing his throat. He seemed to expect Lily to be daunted by this announcement.Again she opened her drawstring-bag, this time taking out a five-dollar note. "I have it right here," she answered.Monroe came and snatched up the map again, carrying it back to compare it with whatever was written in the book. "It might already be taken, you know."Lily held her breath. Her land couldn't be taken -- it just couldn't. Right from the very beginning she'd known GoMiller, Linda Lael is the author of 'Lily and the Major ', published 1990 under ISBN 9780671676360 and ISBN 0671676369.