when Evie rushed into the room. The men were hauling in the ladder and one of John's boys was still lugging supplies into the room, and they didn't halt immediately at her appearance.
"Manuel, Jose, stop that nonsense immediately," she commanded. "We have to get you upstairs and find you some dry clothes. Carmen, come along. I'm sure I have something you can wear. You'll catch your deaths in those wet things."
The no-nonsense words that Nanny had used for twenty years came out without effort as Evie set the children to order. The men in the room stared at her then, as the boys hushed their fighting, and even the toddler seemed to quiet. Tyler took a step toward her, but Evie merely shook her head.
"I'm taking them upstairs. We'll be fine. You go back to whatever you need to do."
In the gloom of the unlighted chamber, her white muslin stood out as she shepherded the children to the door, skillfully guiding her petticoats past cartons and crates. One of the younger men whistled, and his father cuffed him on the ear.
Evie didn't notice her. Men staring at her were nothing new, but four bedraggled youngsters were. Jose whooped as he left wet tracks up the carpeted stairs, and he occasionally turned around to admire his footprints. The wide-eyed toddler stared over Carmen's shoulder as Manuel and Evie followed them up.
Evie threw open the door to Daniel's room and shuffled the two boys in. "Daniel, direct these two to the proper trunks where they can find something dry. A shirt or your long johns or something ought to do for now."
He stared at her with incredulity, but she shut the door before he could protest. Leading Carmen to the next room, she opened the door. "You're almost as tall as I am. We can deck you out nicely. I'm not certain about the baby, though. What's her name?"
"Maria. Do you have towels? I will dry her off."
The room was a shambles from last night. Evie hoped Carmen knew nothing about what happened behind closed doors, because anyone with any knowledge at all would know how she'd spent the night. The bottom sheet had parted from the mattress and was half off the bed. The sheet Tyler had used was still lying on the floor in a puddle beneath the dressing screen. She had at least folded the blanket and laid it over the chair arm, but she hadn't put away last night's clothing.
Kicking the offending garments out of sight, Evie reached for the used towels beside the washstand. The hotel wasn't up to its usual standards today.
Carmen began stripping Maria and toweling her off while Evie searched for clothes. "Where is your mother?" Evie asked as she rummaged in a trunk. "She'll need to know where you are."
"She went to see a friend who was having a baby last night. She said she would be gone just a little while, but I suppose the river rose faster than she expected." The girl's voice was anxious, but she hid it well to keep from frightening the toddler.
"She must be frantic worrying about you. I guess there isn't anything we can do until the river goes down. Does it do this often around here?"
"No, senora. I have heard people speak of the flood of '55, but I was not born then. It rains sometimes like this in the spring, and the river gets high, but not like this."
"Here, this gown is too small for me. I don't know why I brought it. Go behind the screen and change. I'll look after Maria. We can wrap her in a blanket if nothing else."
Tyler didn't return until after dark. By that time Evie had raided the supplies for dried apples and pickles and cans of beans and the six of them had picnicked merrily. Daniel had taught the boys how to play Hangman until even Jose had learned enough of his letters to hang Daniel on "cat." The baby fell asleep wrapped and pinned in one of Evie's linen chemises, and Carmen had raptly fallen in love with the trunk of books.
She wasn't the only one who was in danger of falling in love. Daniel kept sending Carmen surreptitious glances, but Evie had caught enough of them to guess their meaning. Once Carmen's hair dried, it was a luxurious black that she tied back with a ribbon from Evie's collection. Her face was an oval of creamy perfection, accented by the slash of black eyebrows