DECEMBER 4, 1861

Jesse went over to Melissa and Michael at lunch break and asked, "Melissa do you think your brother Jedidiah might hire me, Zee, and Blaine to do some odd jobs around his ranch so that we could earn a little money."

Perplexed by his question, Melissa didn't answer right away. "I'm not sure Jesse. Don't you have chores at the station?"

"Yes, but we do that because we live there. We don't get paid for it. We want to earn a little extra money, so that we can get Jimmy and Lee a wedding present."

"That's an admirable thing to do." She used that big word because she had heard her brother use it a lot lately. She knew what the word meant because she had asked him and her big brother had told her. "I'll talk to Tally tonight, and I'll let you know what he says
tomorrow. Will that be alright?"

"That would be great! Thanks Melissa." Jesse hurried off to tell the girls what Melissa had said. After he informed Zee, she signed the information to Blaine. The girls both smiled. They were happy because they might get hired and earn some money for Jimmy and Lee's wedding present. Feeling good that their plan might actually happen, they all
finished their sandwiches.

But instead of waiting until the next day, Melissa rode over to the Pony Express Station and told them the good news. Jedidiah could use all three of them everyday after school for about an hour and on the weekends for a few hours if it was all right with Rachel and if it didn't interfere with their school work or their work here at the station.

Jesse, Zee and Blaine smiled. They were exceedingly happy. All three ran to Rachel to ask her permission. Rachel finally conceded once she learned the reason behind them seeking employment. She also knew that Jesse wasn't too happy about living at the station and not being a Pony Express rider. After receiving permission, they told Melissa to tell her brother that they would report for work tomorrow after school.

Melissa nodded her head. "I'll tell him." As she mounted and turned her horse, Jesse said, "Thanks Melissa."

"You're welcome, Jesse." She called and then headed home.

After school the next day, Jesse, Zee and Blaine reported for work as instructed. Jedidiah put Jesse to work cleaning and straightening the barn. He put Zee and Blaine to work in the house. Since he had no wife or housekeeper, the girls were a godsend because the house needed a good cleaning throughout. Since the lipizzan horse owner had been away for a little over a month and since he had been busy with preparations for the Thanksgiving feast and fixing the arena and training the horses, he hadn't had time to attend to the inside of his home.

The girls tackled the kitchen first. They arranged the food, pans, containers and other miscellaneous things in a orderly fashion, they cleaned the cabinets before putting the items back in them, and then they cleaned the counters, table, chairs, stove, and any other
furniture that was in the kitchen.

Before they could tackle another room though, Jedidiah came in and said, "Girls your hour is up. Actually you've worked a little over an hour, about ten minutes. If you two and Jesse don't get home quick, Rachel will skin me alive." The girls giggled, and their employer followed them outside where Jesse waited with their horses.

Jesse mounted, and Jedidiah helped Zee up on her horse and then he helped Blaine climb up behind Zee. "I'll see you three tomorrow."

"We'll be here." Jesse stated and then they rode off.

Jedidiah went back inside to make himself some supper. It was nice having children around. Jesse had done a real good job in the barn, the stalls that he had got to that is, and as he glanced around the kitchen, he couldn't believe his eyes. The kitchen had never looked this clean before. He went about checking the cupboards. They were all neat and organized, so much so that it took him a little while to find the ingredients that he wanted to make his stew. He was very pleased with the children's work.