Belka checks how she looks in the full-size mirror in her bedroom. The clothes she was wearing, might be from the1800’s but she loved wearing them. Today, she had on a corset under her blouse. Tina down at the clothing store showed her how to put it on and adjusted it for her.
The boning of the corset was soft, so she didn’t have to worry about the corset cutting off her breathing. She checks her long skirt to make sure it was straight. She slips her brown boots on and checks herself one more time, before leaving her room.

She had a bunch of items that needed to be mailed off to one of the schools she applied at. They wanted examples of her artwork. So, she was sending them several portraits, and landscape pieces she did. She hopes they like them.

The line at the post office was short and she didn’t have to wait long. As she approaches the counter, she noticed old man Harris manning the counter.

“Good morning, Mr. Harris. How has your morning been?” Belka liked Mr. Harris.

Since she has been staying at the Crystal Palace, she has gotten to know some of the residents of the town. A lot of the residents that stayed and lived in the town, came because they loved the idea of living the lifestyle of the 1800s. The others came because they enjoyed the idea of going back in time. Mr. Harris loved living in town, because he enjoyed the time period and liked owning the only post office in town. He had a few young people that enjoyed working for him. He was a fair and honest boss.

“It’s been kind of slow lately, but it should pick up later. What’s with all the packages?” Mr. Harris noticed Belka had a bunch of packages to ship off.

Isa let Belka wrap all her items last night to ship off today. It took her a while, but once she got the hang of wrapping them. It went faster.

"Some of the colleges I’m applying to, want samples of my work. So, I’m sending them samples of my work.”

“Are they going to return them to you if you’re not accepted?” Mr. Harris couldn’t see sending the stuff off and not having them returned to you if you’re not accepted.

“You know, I don’t know. That is a good question.” Belka hadn’t thought of that.

“Well, I hope they at least ask you.”

“It would be nice if they did.”

“Well, I hope you get accepted. Your artwork is really good.”

“Thank you, Mr. Harris.”

“You’re welcome, kiddo. Now, let’s see how much all this will come too.” Mr. Harris starts pricing everything for Belka.

Isa had said if she didn’t have enough to pay for the shipping, too put it on her account and she would pay for it. The cost to ship the packages was less then Belka thought it would be. She managed to have some money left over, which she was going to put towards a nice treat for herself.

“Looks like you made out, Belka.” Mr. Harris smiles at Belka.

“You’re right, Mr. Harris and I am going to go and splurge on a nice Sundae down at Sinclair’s.” Belka was thinking about the prairie wagon sundae down at Sinclair’s ice cream parlor.

The ice cream parlor was one of the odd shops in the old western town. It was a big hit with the tourist. Mr. and Mrs. Collins created a unique menu of treats, that you couldn’t find anywhere else.

Once Belka leaves the post office, she heads over towards Sinclair’s. Just thinking about what she wanted was making her mouth water. She didn’t notice the woman she ran into the other day watching her from The Crystal Palace.

Maria had woken up late and gotten dressed to go downstairs, to see if she could find her child. She knew from talking to some of the women that worked the saloon, that Belka had left The Crystal Palace and went over towards the post office.

As she walked out of the Palace, she spots her daughter walking out of the Post Office and heading in the direction of the ice pallor, which is on the same side of the street across from the Palace. There were several other shops between the Post Office and the pallor.

She just watches as her daughter walks and greets some of the people as she passes them. She was mad that her husband took her child away from her. She missed out on so much of her life. She continues to watch Belka.

Detective Branston’s House:
Alejandra wakes up and looks up at the ceiling in the bedroom she slept in last night. She felt so refresh and energized. For the first time in her life, since coming to America, she didn’t have to sleep with one eye opened, like she uses to do. On top of that, she loved that she finally had some clean clothes to wear and fresh underwear as well.

She gets out of bed and grabs the house robe, detective Branston bought her the other night. She heads towards the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Detective Branston was still on medical leave from work.

She pours herself some cereal and a glass of juice as well. She was thankful to detective Branston for buying food for them. She was also thankful that he didn’t mind her eating any of the food. She sits at the counter in his kitchen and enjoys her breakfast.

Detective Branston wakes up and heads towards the bathroom to do his morning business. He still was feeling a little pain from his injuries. After he was done in the bathroom and cleaned his hands afterward, he heads towards the kitchen to fix himself a cup of coffee. He was still in his boxers and the t-shirt he wore to bed last night, after getting back from Walmart.

As he walks into the kitchen, he spots Alejandra sitting at the counter eating cereal and drinking juice. A smile appears on his face as he walks in.

“You’re up early.” As he walks over to the coffee machine.

“I slept really well last night. That bed in your spare bedroom felt nice.” Alejandra looks over towards Detective Branston.

“I’m glad you slept good last night.” Branston takes a sip of his coffee when it was done brewing.

“So, what is on the agenda for today?” Alejandra wonders what detective Branston has planned for them.

“I don’t know yet. There are still too many unanswered questions.” Branston takes a sip of his coffee.

“Well, if you don’t mind. I was thinking about looking over my dune buggy. I think something came loose on it.” Alejandra felt a vibration in it the other day.

“There are tools in the garage you can use. I don’t have much, but what I do have, you’re welcome too.”

“Thank you.”

“Any time. I do have a question for you. Where did you learn how to work on cars?”

“In my uncle’s junkyard. After locating and taking parts off cars and such. I would watch and learn from the mechanics that worked for my uncle. Some of them were lazy and such. So, they started teaching me what they knew about cars. They would let me do all the work, and they would take the praise and credit from my uncle. He thought I was letting them have sex with me. He didn’t realize I was learning from them.” She was happy her uncle never learned the truth. If he had, she wouldn’t have been able to rebuild the dune buggy as she did.

“Well, I’m going to work on the dune buggy. So, if you need me for anything, let me know.”

Alejandra gets up and rinses her bowl and glass out.

“Alright, I’ll be in my office going over my notes.” Branston heads towards his office to look over the notes he had when he went into the hospital. He kept them hidden, so no one would find them.