by Ember Pierce
* * *
“I thought that was too much like my home. I didn’t want another one like that.”
* * *
“And they’ve been a hundred years in Wyoming? I guess that shows they’re stable. They are not fly-by-night people.”
* * *
“Yes, you should have seen some of the replies I’ve got. If I accepted those, I would have been going from the frying pan into the fire.
* * *
“But this Krislian sounds good to me. I like the fact he has a family. He has mentioned a brother but hasn’t said much about him.”
* * *
She grabbed the letter with both hands and held it up as if looking for a spot on a blouse. “And he has a horse! Well, horses. And I get Temple.
* * *
“My gosh, I get to ride. If I get bored at the house I can jump on Temple and ride off into the hills.” She lowered her voice.
* * *
“Well, when I learn how to ride, I can ride off and ride off into the hills. And they do go to church every Sunday. At least, that’s what it sounds like.”
* * *
“That’s about as good as you can get, Bonny, This sounds like a fine family. Has he invited you out yet?”
* * *
“I think that might be in the next letter. I guess he will invite me to stay at the farmhouse.
* * *
“His patients are there, and he said the house is large enough so I can have my own room. That should pass muster.
* * *
“Hey, they like the minister, so I’m sure they will run any plans past him before they issue an invitation.”
* * *
“That’s another good sign, that the family is a good friend of the minister. You should talk to him when you get to Red Desert.
* * *
“This man sounds good, and anyone who offers a room as a library has got to be good.” Betty was almost as keen on reading as Bonny was.
* * *
“But this is a situation where we don’t want to talk about chances. Go in and have a long talk with the minister about this man and his family.
* * *
“If he says he never heard of them, better run. If he says he really is a friend of the family, then that’s a different thing.”
* * *
Betty reached over and touched her hand. “And, Bonny, I know we will be going to separate states and who knows where I’ll be going.
* * *
“ I hope I get a good man and I hope he’s not in a winter state. Colorado and Wyoming seem okay, but I’m thinking Montana can be a little cold.
* * *
“Whoever I wind up with, though, I want us to keep in touch. We keep writing.”
* * *
“Absolutely,” Bonny agreed. “For all time. We will keep in communication until we die.
* * *
“Gosh, wouldn’t it be wonderful if you found a husband in Wyoming, too. Or at least in Colorado. We’d be close enough to visit.”
* * *
Bonny held up the letter again. “Well, I already know Kristian’s address, so copy this down and keep it, and start sending me letters the day I leave for Wyoming.
* * *
“And I will start writing as soon as you send me your address. It would be nice if we could meet one another occasionally through the years.”
* * *
“Yes, it would.” Betty sighed. “And, frankly, I can’t wait to get out of Philly.”
* * *
“What’s the status of your mail-order bride letters?”
* * *
She paused. She still had Bonny’s letter in her hand, and she clenched it close to her heart. “This is almost too good to be true.
* * *
“There is a twenty-one-year-old who is in the Calvary, stationed in the West, in Colorado, and he says he wants to stay out West, in Colorado, when he leaves the army. He says that will be in eight months.”
* * *
“Eight months. That’s close to when you want to leave,” Bonny said.
* * *
“Yes, I told him about when I can leave and he said he would find a town for us and I could join him there.”
* * *
“Betty! That’s wonderful.”
* * *
“Yes. And I was able to get a map of Colorado, which I have been looking at for each of the five days since I got it.
* * *
“He said he will wait for me. That we can keep writing, or at least start writing again once he gets a house, and when the year is up I can join him in Colorado.”
* * *
“Know where you want to settle?”
* * *
She shook her head. “Not right now. But… let me show you this. This is amazing.” She reached into her dress pocket and opened a small map.
* * *
Her finger tapped the paper. “Here’s Denver, the capital… but…” She put her fingernail on Denver and drew it north until it ended up on a small blue dot.
* * *
“This town is named Loveland. Loveland. Isn’t that a wonderful name for a town?”
* * *
“Yes, it is,” Bonny said. “I can’t think of a better name for you. That is lovely.”
* * *
“I’m shaky. It seems perfect, even if I haven’t actually met this man yet.”
* * *
“Wait. What is his name?”
* * *
“Adam. Adam Westfall. He told me both his parents died in an epidemic a few years ago and he’s made it on his own.
* * *
“He’s been promoted to a sergeant in the army but he doesn’t want to spend his entire career in the army, and he told me he wants children, which I do, too.
* * *
“He wants to settle down, when he leaves the army, and build a small cattle ranch. He said we’d have to run it together, because there wouldn’t be any money to hire any help.
* * *
“It would be just him, me and the cows. And I said that sounds wonderful.”
* * *
“Oh, will the army send him anywhere before he gets out?”
* * *
Betty shook her head. “No, he’s been told he will be saying at Fort Laramie, that’s where he is now, until his time is up.”
* * *
“That is wonderful, I hope it works out for you, Betty.”
* * *
“Now I have to talk to the minister and make sure there’s a Bible on a table.” She looked around the house.
* * *
“I’m not sure I want to list my ancestors. Maybe we’ll just start our family history in Loveland, Colorado. I think that would be nice.”
* * *
A huge smile came over Bonny’s face. “Loveland, Colorado isn’t that far from Wyoming. About fifty miles, or less. That’s not a long way. We’ll be close to one another.’
* * *
Bonny touched her heart. She knew in a few minutes she would have to go back to her house and face her family, something she did not want to do.
* * *
It was only more work and hardship, and she’d had enough of that. But there seemed to be… maybe… maybe something good might happen.
* * *
She couldn’t believe it. Not yet. Very little, if any good had happened in her life. There had been little happiness and little joy. But perhaps there was a spark of hope.
* * *
She grabbed her friend’s hand and held it tight. “Betty, Betty, maybe this is real. Maybe this is something good. Maybe we can count on this,” she said.
* * *
Betty nodded.
* * *
Graves O’hara walked out of his office, cigar in hand, smiling. He was making good money and he was going to make more.
* * *
He wasn’t going to spend his life in a hick town. He was moving to San Francisco, where the sophisticates l
ived.
* * *
He would establish a business there and be a well-known man about town. Besides, he liked the coast. He could sleep while listening to the waves of the Pacific.
* * *
That was his dream and soon, it would come true. Very soon.
* * *
“Hey, boss, you mind if I ask you a question?” Deke Beckem asked. Beckem did odd jobs for him and kept his debtors in line.
* * *
O’hara was made rich by his grandfather and he loaned that money to ranchers and miners and workers at rather high rates. If anyone ever objected to the rates, Beckem kept them in line.
* * *
“No, go ahead, Deke, what is it?”
* * *
“Why do you keep loaning money to that Downing boy? He just gets drunk and loses at poker. Yes, he owes you, but you don’t charge him any interest.
* * *
“Never seen you do that. And even when he refuses, you practically force money on him. Why do you care about him?”
* * *
O’hara gave another big smile. “Oh, I have plans for him. He’s going to help me achieve my goal.
* * *
“He’s going to help me get out of this town and go to San Francisco, but he doesn’t know it yet.”
* * *
Beckem looked puzzled but just shrugged. “If you say so, boss.”
* * *
“Oh, I do, I do. Kristian doesn’t know it, but he is going to be a big help to me.”
* * *
“How much is he into you for, boss?”
* * *
“I don’t know the exact amount, but I know it’s adding up. That’s what counts. I was very fortunate that day I loaned him his first money. That will be a day to remember.”
* * *
Beckem nodded.
* * *
His boss wasn’t liked in the town, wasn’t liked at all. Beckem had no idea what his boss had in mind, but he knew O’hara was a schemer who was constantly trying to make money.
* * *
He didn’t make many mistakes. He had destroyed more than one life in Red Desert and he could certainly destroy another.
* * *
And knowing O’hara, Beckem knew the scheme would be extremely profitable.
* * *
As summer began its downward slide into fall, Kristian felt the anticipation of the new season, both the actual weather and the new season in his own life.
* * *
He wondered what John would have thought of the whole mail-order bride business. He liked to think that his older brother would have been excited to meet his new sister-in-law.
* * *
The summer storms that gathered on the western horizon and rolled into the prairie off of the mountains most afternoons forced Kristian inside for twenty or thirty minutes, so he had taken to crafting pieces of furniture for their new home.
* * *
So far, he had made two rocking chairs, a table with a pair of straight-backed chairs, and a new wood box to go beside the fireplace.
* * *
Now, he was working on a new bed frame. He wanted Bonny to feel at home when she moved in.
* * *
From the few letters he had received from Bonny, Kristian had the feeling that her life in Philadelphia had not been an easy one. He hoped, more than anything, that he had made the right choice for the both of them.
* * *
He’d promised he would build a small room in their house where she could read. Residents rose early in the West, and she could watch the sun rise from her “library.”
* * *
In her next letter, she wrote him how thoughtful that was. He smiled. At least he had made one good decision about the possible marriage.
* * *
He hoped she would like his other decision about the “library,” too. He had read Bonny’s letters carefully and, to him, she seemed like a thoroughly decent human being who had dealt with a tough and difficult life.
* * *
And, as he read between the lines, it appeared as if she had dealt with it better than he had dealt with the problems in his life.
* * *
In one of his letters, he had Frank Withers, a friend of his who had artistic talent, sketch a brief and small portrait of himself. He’d slipped it into the letter, wondering if he would ever see another letter from her.
* * *
He supposed he was… “average” looking, but he didn’t think he would make the ladies swoon. And in her next letter, she had sent him black and white portrait.
* * *
It showed a good-looking woman who, to Kristian, had sad eyes. Nice eyes. Kind eyes. But, he thought, sad eyes.
* * *
Her smile, to him, looked both genuine and strained. Genuine because he assumed she did want to build a better life as a mail-order bride, but strained, showing the hard life she was experiencing,
* * *
But he thought her kindness and gentleness showed through the photo.
* * *
The days moved faster and faster until it was practically time for Bonny to arrive. Kristian had never been more nervous or excited.
* * *
He realized that, slowly, in the process of living for John, he might have started to live a little bit for himself.
* * *
He wondered if it would last. Only time would tell.
7
The train chugged steadily on the rails. However, there were no bumps, for which Bonny was very happy.
* * *
After all the talking about being a mail-order bride and all the letters, she was finally on her way to Wyoming.
* * *
And she was nervous. It was one thing talking about an event, but it was entirely something else when you stepped out and did it.
* * *
It was true she’d thought she had a dead-end job in Philly, but leaving the city limits, she was taking a risk—and taking a risk was never easy.
* * *
She took deep breaths and told herself everything would be all right.
* * *
One of the other passengers was a gambler and she couldn’t decide if that was a good thing. The man’s name was Clay Silverbrook, and he did not fit the model of a gambler in the dime novels of the east.
* * *
He was friendly, with a quick smile and charming manner. Frankly, she was a bit apprehensive in talking to a gambler, but the man was amiable and friendly.
* * *
She realized that, besides her father, who was usually gruff and not all that likeable, she had had few conversations with grown men.
* * *
While she first thought she would keep her distance from the man, his casual charm had won her over. He also was a handsome man with a charming smile.
* * *
“Have you played poker all over the West, Mr. Silverbrook?”
* * *
He nodded. “Oh, yes, ma’am. Been in California to Texas and most places in between.
* * *
“The locations are different, but the cards and the rules of the game are the same. Now, some people do turn their noses down on poker and I can understand that.
* * *
“But as my papa said once, ‘It beats working.’”
* * *
Bonny had to laugh. Her father had a gruff voice and whenever he talked, she wanted to leave the room.
* * *
