<div class="floatleft">(http://images.halloweencostumes.org/can-can-girl-costume-zoom.jpg)</div><br/><strong>Character:</strong><br/>Pippi<br/><strong>Location:</strong><br/>Main saloon floor<br/><strong>Time of day:</strong><br/>Evening<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong><br/>Babydoll<br/><hr/><br/>It was a busy night in<em>Lola's</em>, but then again, every night was a busy night in the saloon.  Pearl - Pippi to her friends - was working the room as she always did. As Lola taught her to do. Like every other girl in the place, Pippi was grateful to the kind hearted publican for giving her a safe place to work and live.  Life for an unwed mother around these parts was not an easy one, and although Pippi longed to meet someone who would look after her and her young son, she was not willing to accept just anyone.  She had standards, and she certainly wasn't going to risk her safety, or the safety of her child, by accepting a cruel man as her husband.<br/><br/>Pippi always worked extra hard on the floor, convincing the fellas to buy a dance with her, or to purchase her a drink.  Unbeknown to the patrons, when they bought one of the girls a whiskey, what they were actually buying was coloured sugar water. It never seemed to occur to any of them that the ladies could down any number of drinks all night long, and never become unsteady on their feet.  The trick, of course, was not to accidentally give the men the fake drinks.  Pippi could only imagine the uproar that would ensue if they found out they were paying top dollar for the ladies to drink flavoured water!  But, Lola gave the girls half the price of each glass of 'whiskey' they were bought as a bonus on top of their wages. Same went for the dances.  And for Pippi, who avoided taking men upstairs as much as she could because of her son, these bonuses were invaluable to her.<br/><br/>A small ruckus on the other side of the saloon caught Pippi's attention.  She glanced in the direction of the noise, just in time to see the new girl land on her rear on the floor, her pretty green dress surrounding her like moss.  This was her first night working in the saloon, and she obviously wasn't yet up to the task.  Reluctantly extracting herself from the playful embrace of Joseph Miller, whom Pippi considered a definite candidate for a husband, she hurried over to the heap of green satin on the floor.<br/><br/>"Oh, sweetie," she crooned, offering the young girl a reassuring smile.  "What have you done to yourself?"<br/><br/>Pippi helped Babydoll up and straightened her dress.  The poor thing looked completely out of place in her work costume, and didn't seem to have much experience with walking in heeled shoes.<br/><br/>"It'll be okay, I promise," she soothed, rubbing Babydoll's bottom where she fell.  "We'll get you sorted.  You just need some practise, is all!  How about I introduce you to some of our regulars, huh?"<br/><br/>Helping the innocent newcomer would probably put a bit of a dent in her earnings for the night, but Pippi couldn't help herself.  She remembered all too well how daunting her first night on the saloon floor was, and she had come to<em>Lola's</em>with a lot more life experience than this young flower.  Offering her arm to Babydoll for support, Pippi lead her towards to bar to meet Hank, the barman.  Hank always looked out for the girls while they were working, and Pippi had an inkling that Babydoll would need lots of looking out for!<br/>