The manager smiled. "Considering who's asking. "

"Yes, I see your point," Paulus said. "Just one more thing, well, two actually. First, would this Adolf be good for her? And by that I mean good to her."

"Yes. Adolf is a fine young man. He takes good care of his mother and his sister."

"Well, I guess the real question in my mind is whether or not this Adolf is up to it."

"If I had the money I'd loan it to him. He's a hard worker, he's level-headed, I have absolutely no doubt he'd make it work."

But still, Anna was his! The relief shifted back into anger and the anger became resolve. He found his answer in a favorite phrase he'd picked up off a Grantviller who bought so many of their fresh mushrooms, The answer isn't no, it's hell no!Dammit, Anna was his!

By quitting time Paulus had calmed down and was prepared to admit that he had no claim on Anna and that he would let her go her own way if that was what she wanted. Still, he was waiting for Anna outside the employee door at quitting time. She was nearly the last to leave. When she came out she was with three other people. The girl, about his own age, was pretty, and was clearly the younger model of the older woman. The male was presumably Adolf. The four of them stood together in a way that somehow said "family." Even in the light of his resolve to let things alone, Paulus found this, for some reason, to be disconcertingly annoying and sighed.

"Anna? Over here." Paulus called. The four of them stopped and spoke briefly. The mother gave Anna a peck on the cheek before sending her off. It was obvious to Paulus that she was concerned. Adolf started to follow Anna. But he stopped when his mother laid a hand on his arm.

"Where would you like to eat?" Paulus asked Anna.

"I've heard a lot about Grantville Ribs with french-fried potatoes and coleslaw," Anna said.

"You've never tried them?"

"We get our meals with the rent. Sometimes it's not very good. More than once dinner has been a big tub of apple peels she'd bought out the back door of some eatery that was making apple pies or something. She just sets the tub down in the middle of the table and everybody digs in. We eat a lot of dumplings, but the meals come with the rent so we don't eat out."

"Well, let's go find ourselves some ribs then." Paulus led her into the office.

"Hey, Herr Wiesel, who has the best ribs in town?" Paulus asked.

"Carry out or eat in?" Wiesel asked.

"Eat in I think. It's a little too cold for a picnic."

"Cheap or fancy?" Wiesel asked.

This left Paulus in a bit of a dilemma. He wanted to say "the cheapest," but he didn't want to look chintzy in front of Anna. He settled on saying, "The best ribs. I'll happily eat at some place cheaper if the food is better."

Herr Wiesel gave him directions and they headed out into the cold.

Anna didn't say anything until they were seated and Paulus had placed the order. They had been shown to a table back by the kitchen and Anna was very conscious of her shabby clothes. Paulus' coat was new, but he had the only coat she could see in the restaurant that had plain leather buttons.

Finally she asked, "Paulus, do you really own part of the shoe mill?"

"Well, I own a quarter of the McAdams Mining Company. And it owns twenty percent of the mill you worked in, along with twenty percent of several other things."

"How did you end up owning part of a mining company?"

"It took a lot of hard work, and then we had some very good luck that landed us with a nest egg. After that it took a lot of common sense, and even more hard work and yes, it is true, even more good luck."

A very anxious Anna didn't press him for a better answer. Instead she asked, "You said the mill I worked in? Are you really going to have me fired?"

"No, but, unless you tell me to take a hike, you really are going to have to quit. I think you should go to Grantville and enroll in school where my parents can keep an eye on you, and then we will get married if you want to when you're old enough. So you'll have some time to make up your mind. I don't think you should stay in Magdeburg alone."

"I'm not alone. And besides, I don't want to stay in Magdeburg and I don't want to go to Grantville. I want to go back to Wolmirstedt," Anna said almost in tears.

He knew for certain what her answer would be but he was, somehow, still, hoping he was wrong so he said, "But there's no one to run the shop and the shop can't make a living."

"Adolf can."

"Adolf Braun?" Paulus asked.

"Yes. Adolf thinks he can make it work if he can get a loan for the sewing machines. He's a journeyman, almost one, anyway. If he can't get a loan, we're saving up to buy one," Anna whispered.

"We?" Paulus asked.

"His family and I. They've been good to me since I got to Magdeburg. Adolf's mother looks after me.

"Momma died four years ago and Poppa took to drinking when things got bad and that made it worse of course. At first when he got drunk he'd beat me. Later, when he was drunk almost all the time he-" Anna had tears running down her face and didn't finish saying what it was her father did when he was drunk.

"So you feel like you're part of a family and you want to take them back to Wolmirstedt and try running the shop."

"Yes, but Adolf can't get a loan. The Wolmirstedt town council won't or can't help. It would be easier if Adolf had his master's papers but he doesn't. If he had them, the machine sellers would sell to us on installments since we have a shop. But their guild-lines require the buyer to be a master, if you want to buy on time."

"Okay, Anna." Paulus found himself, once again angry. At Wolmirstedt for not taking care of her, at Anna's mother for dying and her father for being a jerk, at Adolf and his family for stealing Anna's affections which he thought should be his, at Tilly for turning the world upside down and at the world for letting it happen. He found himself wanting to tell her that what she wanted did not matter, she was coming to Grantville. But it was plain that wouldn't work. "If you want to go back to Wolmirstedt, then I guess it's time we talked to Adolf and see about making it happen."

"Do you think you can?"

"Probably, but I need to talk to Adolf.

"The ribs are here. You rip them off the rack and gnaw them off the bone. The only thing you need the fork for is the coleslaw."

A bit later Paulus asked, "How are the ribs?"

"Good," Anna answered.

"Do you remember the time when-" Paulus wandered off into happier times and kept up the chatter all the way through supper, including a rather fancy desert.

As he helped her on with her coat he said, "Let's get you home and I'll talk to Adolf."

"Can you get him a loan?"

"Probably not. But the mining company should be willing to go into a partnership with you and front the startup cost. I'll have to go back to Grantville and talk to my brother and our partners, but I don't think there will be a problem. It's just another start-up company and it has a good business plan with what should be a better than average return as long as Adolf is willing to work it."

"Oh, Adolf is a good worker. He figures with the sewing machines he can keep ahead of his sister and me cutting out the uppers. Then his mother can take care of the house. Eventually we'll get married, I'll take over running the house from his mother and maybe he can get an apprentice or two."