<i>My God, barely after sunup and the pigs are already coming to the trough</i>Jess thought as she saw the men approaching the brothel.  Well, it wasn't as though there were many other dining establishments in town, and hey, she was looking for a few strong backs after all.<br/><br/>The blonde fellow seemed a friendly sort, and the short woman returned his greeting with a smile and a jaunty little doff of her bowler.  "And toppa the morning to you sir.  I take it you're the welcoming committee?" she remarked, both to him and the other two men approaching.  Near the wagon, Jules quickly raised a heavy crate labeled TYPE to obscure her face, and hurried away into the barbershop before any of the strangers could lay eyes on her.  Not that she need have worried; between her sister's fast talking and flourishing movements, it was easy for Jess to keep the attention on herself.<br/><br/>"Well, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, gentlemen.  Allow me to introduce myself," she continued, reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out a slightly wrinkled and much-overprinted business card (one that she had filched from Jules ages ago, after having disbursed all of her own).  After looking from face to face, she decided to hedge her bets and handed the card to the preacher, believing it would be best to be on good terms with whatever representative of the Lord had wandered into this particular corner of Nod.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center"><i><span style="font-size: 22px">J. Barrow</span><br/>
<b><span style="font-size: 12px">EDITOR-IN-CHIEF</span></b><br/>
<s>Assistant Editor</s></i><br/>
<s><span style="font-size: 15px">Muscatine Herald</span><br/>
<i>Rapid City Reporter</i></s><br/>
<b><span style="font-size: 18px">Kiowa Bugle</span></b><br/>​</div>"Jessamine Barrow, at your service," she continued, then gestured across the street at the lumbering form retreating into the barbershop.  "And that shrinking violet over there is my sister Julia.  You'll need to forgive her bashfulness, it takes her a bit to get warmed up to strangers.  As for me--"<br/><br/>She was suddenly interrupted by the door of the Dusky Belle, and her dark eyes fell upon a beautiful woman, who spoke and moved with all the authority of a queen at the center of her court.<i>The owner, no doubt</i>Jess thought, and reaching for her dust-encrusted skirts offered the madam a deep curtsy.  "Good morning to you ma'am.  I was just introducing myself to these gentlemen here, but I ought to have addressed you first.  See, I'm your new neighbor," Jess straightened, then held out a hand in greeting to Victoria.  "Jess Barrow, pleased to meet ya.  Me and my sister Jules are renting that shop across the street through the end of the year, and we're fixing to set up a little business enterprise."<br/><br/>Stepping back so she could take in the sight of all her audience, Jess raised her voice ever so slightly.  "You see folks, the Barrow Sisters are newspaper men, if you couldn't tell.  We're here to start your lovely town's very first newspaper.  But before we can do anything," a playful glint sparkled in her eye.  "We need to get that sonofabitch printing press off that there wagon.  You see, Miss Vickie, that's the other reason I came to call on you.  I was wondering if you had any men around who could help a couple of poor damsels in distress with unloading it.  But then again, if there's any lady up to the task, far be it from me to tell her no."<br/><br/>Crossing her arms over her chest, she stepped off of the porch and began to move slowly towards the wagon.  "I should let you know each piece weighs anywhere from three hundred to six hundred pounds, so I'm really only looking for some<i>real strong</i>men.  But there's gotta be a few of those in a mining town, right?"  Turning back, Jess looked over the men much more critically, like a buyer at a stock auction.<br/><br/>"I've got five bucks for anyone willing to help.  Any takers?"