Emily: Army Mail Order Bride

by Mercy Levy

  It didn’t matter.

  The sun shone brightly once again, and Betty watched as many of the women pulled their bonnets over the faces, doing their best to stay out of the rays. After all, everyone knew that the sun caused freckles, and no one wanted to have those dots all over their face.

  Betty crossed her eyes, looking at the freckles that dotted her nose. She knew she had a lot of freckles, but then, so did many girls with red hair. She hadn’t minded them before, but now she wondered if it were her freckles that made it so difficult for her to get any parts in the plays. When she was a child, they were endearing, and many women would stop to admire how cute she was.

  But now that she was a grown woman, Betty knew that many other women pitied her because of them, assuming that she had only acquired them due to a life that was spent too much in the sun. Betty kicked can lying in her way, sending it to the other side of the street. She didn’t want to admit to herself how difficult of a position she was in, or how badly she needed to make a change.

  Yet Betty also knew that all the denial in the world couldn’t change the facts. She had to find a job, and soon.

  Chapter 3

  The Flier on the Wall

  Betty bit into the apple she had in her hand. She had nonchalantly swiped it from a cart as she passed by, and though she had a twinge of guilt in her heart as she committed the action, she was glad now that she had done it, though it did reduce her to being a petty thief.

  She hadn’t eaten since the day before, when a kind gentleman had given her the leftovers he had taken from the restaurant with him. It hadn’t been much, but it had been enough to see her through the night and until the apple she now held in her hand. As she walked along the street, she tried to decide what to do.

  There were various shops in town that were looking for hired help, but Betty never had good luck when she tried to apply with those, either. She knew that it was the fact that her dress was too big and her shoes were falling apart. No one wanted to hire someone who didn’t look like they were going to work hard. Even when she explained her difficult situation she was met with rejection time and time again.

  She took another bite of her apple, then fed the core to a horse that was hitched next to the boardwalk. Betty stood for a moment, patting the horse’s neck and complimenting its shiny coat when something suddenly caught her eye. Curious, she crossed the street to get a closer look.

  There always were papers posted on the side of the sheriff’s office. Mostly they were fliers for outlaws, explaining the crimes each man had committed and the bounty that was on his head. Betty had often thought the life of a bounty hunter would be fun, though she knew she was too small to take on the position for herself.

  But among those fliers she saw one that was brightly colored, and she had to go in for a closer look. Reaching up, she pulled the flier off the wall, skimming the contents.

  “Looking for an assistant,” she said out loud, then she silently skimmed the contents. It read:

  Greetings and hello and good day to you all!

  Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name is William the Great, and I am the finest magician in the world. Some might call me an illusionist, others might call me a wizard, but whatever you wish to call me, you will be dazzled and amazed and won’t believe your eyes!

  I have grown so powerful in my magic that I am now unable to handle it all myself, so I am in need of an assistant. In order to apply, you must be young, attractive, and know how to perform in front of a group of people. You must also be willing to do anything and everything I tell you, as only a good assistant will do.

  Come, face your fears and travel to the West. Meet me in the magical city of San Francisco, and let me show you what a real magician can do.

  Charmingly, secretly, and elusively yours,

  William the Great.

  Betty shook her head after reading the flier, then read it through two more times to make sure she hadn’t missed a thing. She then tucked the flier into her pocket and turned, quickly walking back to the staircase she had been sleeping under the previous few nights. There were so many appealing things about the flier—so many things she knew she could do, but it was so different from anything she had ever done before.

  She loved performing in front of people, and she did think she was attractive. Perhaps not the prettiest girl one would ever meet, but the fiery red she had in her hair combined with her gloriously green eyes were enough to mesmerize anyone she pleased when she wanted to, and she felt she would fit the position as an assistant quite well.

  As Betty slid under the staircase, she pulled her knees up to her chin and sat back against the wall of the building, trying to think of what he could possibly ask her to do.

  “He says that a good assistant will do whatever they are asked. But what does that mean? I’ve seen some magicians do some really scary things, and I don’t know if I could sit in a box and let him cut me in half,” Betty whispered to herself as she shuddered at the thought.

  She pulled the flier out of her pocket and read it through again. She couldn’t help but admire the energy she could feel in the words, and she wondered what kind of a person William the Great was in real life. He spoke with such a vocabulary. She couldn’t help but think that he must have gone to all the finest schools.

  There were words in the flier that she couldn’t pronounce, yet he had used them! A sudden breeze whipped beneath the staircase, causing dust to swirl and choke her. Betty coughed into her hand, trying to get her breath back, but a loud clap shook the sky, and she knew what was coming.

  With a sigh, she leaned back, trying to get as close to the wall as she could. Within minutes the wind picked up even more, and rain began falling. Thunder clapped regularly and lightening lit up the sky, and though Betty was doing her best to stay out of the weather, the steps offered little protection against the elements, and she was soon drenched with muddy rain water.

  Betty sighed and looked down at the flier in her hand. It, too, was getting soaked with the rain, causing the ink to run down the page. Betty crumbled it up and threw it to the side, shaking her head and burying her face in her arms. She couldn’t keep living life like this.

  He might turn her down like everyone else so often did, but she had to at least give it a try.

  She was going to San Francisco.

  Chapter 4

  Heading West

  Once Betty made the decision to go to San Francisco, she began to wonder if she should take anything with her. Living on the streets didn’t afford her many of the luxuries in life, but she still had a few meager possessions she kept in various places around town.

  Perhaps her most treasured possession was a small necklace she had found stuck in the wood of the boardwalk on Main Street. She thought it pure luck that she had found it, as many men and women were walking back and forth on the boardwalk at the time, and the glint of the chain only just barely caught her eye as she hurried up the walk.

  She hadn’t cared that she was in the middle of a busy walkway, Betty had never seen anything so beautiful in all her life, and she was determined to get it out. Dropping to her knees in the middle of the crowd, she ignored the rude comments that were flung her way by those who felt inconvenienced by her presence. She had taken a small stick and worked it into the wooden walkway, sliding it back toward the necklace until she was able to create a wedge that was large enough to slip the chain through without losing the precious gem on the end.

  It wasn’t much. Simply a green peridot gem nestled in the prongs of a silver encasement. The gem was smaller than the tip of her finger, but Betty didn’t care. To her, it was a gift given to her straight heaven. She had wrapped the necklace chain around her hand, concealing the gem inside lest someone accuse her of stealing it, then she ran to ally in which she had been sleeping at the time.

  Betty thought the necklace far too beautiful and too valuable to wear or keep with her, as there were many other people living on the street who wouldn’t hesitate
to steal it from her for their own selfish gain. With that in mind, Betty had buried the necklace in an old can. She selected the deepest, darkest part of the ally where few wanted to spend much time, and buried her newfound treasure in the soft mud against the fence.

  Every now and then Betty would go back to the ally, just to dig up and admire her treasure, but it wasn’t something that she did often, as she didn’t want to inadvertently lead someone else to her precious spot and risk them stealing the one item she found valuable in life.

  Now, Betty hurried through the street, glancing behind and around herself every now and then, ensuring she hadn’t gotten the attention of anyone she didn’t want following her. She acted as nonchalantly as possible, though she walked with a purpose. Though she had selected the ally for its seclusion from the rest of the city, she also didn’t like spending much time in there herself, as she feared someone would attack her looking for valuables.

  Once Betty reached the spot, she fell to her knees in the soft mud, not caring that it ground dirt and grime into the skirt of her dress. She picked up a broken board which lay on the ground next to the fence, and began poking at the soft ground, making it soft so she could brush it away with her hands. She continued to work until the board struck something hard, and she felt her heart skip a beat.

  Betty carefully wiped the dust away from the top of the can, taking care not to cut her fingers on the rusty edges. She had done so before, and the cut had hurt her for weeks. She knew she had been lucky that it hadn’t gotten infected, and she didn’t want to risk sustaining such an injury again.

  At last, Betty pulled the can from the mud, and she dumped the contents into her hand. As usual, she had to sift through the dirt in order to find her precious treasure, but when she saw it, she gasped to herself. Still as beautiful as ever, the necklace made her feel like one of the wealthiest women in New York City.

  Betty sat on her knees in the ally, admiring the jewelry in her hand, when her thoughts were suddenly interrupted. The sound of the train whistle filled the air, and Betty leapt to her feet. She wrapped the necklace around her hand, tucking the gem inside as she always had before, and she began running.

  Though she had no money for a train ticket, Betty had looked at the train schedule, and she knew the train that was making ready to leave now was the only one headed toward San Francisco in nearly two weeks. If she didn’t make it, she would be trapped in the city and lose all hope of ever becoming William the Great’s assistant.

  Betty slowed when she reached the train station platform, trying to look as casual as possible. Several of the men and women looked her head to toe, and each one who did so looked away in disgust. She knew she was dirty, but she tried not to let their judgmental glances get to her. Betty continued to walk from one side of the train platform to the other, acting as if she were just passing through.

  She could see the conductor look her way as she walked past one of the coaches, but she intentionally kept her attention on the necklace in her hand so he would think nothing more of her. As she rounded the back of the train where the storage coaches were, Betty slipped beneath the coach and laid between the wheels.

  She could hear the train conductor shouting for passengers to board, but she knew that if she was going to have a chance of getting on the train herself, she was going to have to wait for just the right moment. She could see the feet of train workers walking back and forth, checking to ensure all was secure before the train embarked on its journey.

  When the train whistle blew sharply once more, Betty knew that her time had come. The coaches began to rattle as each one hit the other before beginning to lurch forward, and in a single roll Betty slid out from beneath the train coach she had been hiding beneath. She reached up and grabbed the rung of the ladder on the side of the coach, having to run to keep up with the train that was now picking up speed.

  With a single jump, Betty hoisted herself onto the side of the train coach, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that the door hadn’t been locked. Grabbing it with one hand while holding the ladder with the other, she slid the storage coach’s door open, and with another delicate jump, she found herself inside.

  Betty quickly closed the door behind her, lest she attract any unwanted attention, and when she found herself alone and secure in the car, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “San Francisco, here I come.”

  Chapter 5

  San Francisco

  Betty his herself among the crates and boxes in the back of the train coach, waiting for her chance to disembark without drawing any attention to herself. She knew she had to be careful, as there were many workers milling about the train platform. There were those who were assisting passengers getting on and off the train, and there were others who were opening the cargo coaches and were beginning to pull out the boxes and crates.

  Though Betty knew if she were discovered she would likely be thrown off the train, she worried that one might realize she had actually stolen aboard the train and ridden across the entire country, and would, perhaps, have her thrown in jail as she didn’t pay for any of the trip.

  Betty took a deep breath and leaned back against a crate as she heard the door to the coach slide open. A man was breathing heavily as he began grabbing and tossing boxes toward the door, and Betty closed her eyes, hoping he wouldn’t hear her breathing above his own.

  “Frank! What are you doing, Man? Get out of there! We’ve got to start at the beginning!” A voice cut through the air, and Betty breathed a sigh of relief. The man grumbled to himself, muttering something about how people were always interrupting him when he was in the middle of something as he walked out the side of the door.

  Betty took her chance and slipped out from behind the crate, then walked quickly over to the door and peered around the corner. With no one in sight, she leapt from the coach to the ground and began walking quickly to the back of the train. If anyone saw her now they may suspect that she was trying to board, not that she had just successfully gotten to San Francisco from New York City without paying a single penny.

  Her triumph was short lived, however, as Betty rounded the back of the train, an enormous city revealed itself to her, causing her to stop short. She had known that New York City was big, but she had always stayed in the same general area. San Francisco, though not as big as New York, looked like the entire world in front of her, and she had no idea where to even begin searching for Mr. William.

  After a moment of hesitation, Betty squared her shoulders and set her jaw, then began pressing onward, looking for any fliers that might indicate where she could find the magician.

  People were milling about, reminding her much of New York but much hotter. The sun beat down on her head mercilessly, and before long Betty felt hot and sticky. She rounded another corner and walked in the shade of the buildings, looking for a kind face she might ask for some help.

  “Excuse me, but I am searching for William the Great. Do you know where I might find him?” she finally asked a kind looking old gentleman. The man looked at her for a moment, then he broke into a hearty laugh.

  “What on earth are you looking for that loon for?” he asked as he slapped his knee, and Betty felt her cheeks burn. She forced a smile and brushed some of the dried mud from her skirt and once again straightened her shoulders.

  “I am going to be his assistant,” she said proudly, and the man stopped laughing, looking at her with an incredulous look in his eyes.

  “Well, I wouldn’t recommend it, miss. He’s downright crazy. You never know what he’s going to do next,” he said as he looked her over, and Betty shook her head.

  “I don’t care a lick of he is mad or not. I need a job, and I know he’s going to be the right match.” She smiled and though the man shook his head once more, he quickly wrote down some directions on a slip of paper he had in his hand.

  “Here. You’ll find him here or close by, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said as he turned and walked up the street. Bett
y felt her stomach flutter, but she maintained her resolution and looked down at the paper he had given her. She then turned on her heel and began hurrying up the street.

  Chapter 6

  The Magnificent William the Great

  “You might laugh now, but I warn you! I am going to make this disappear!” A young man dressed in an eccentric outfit stood in the middle of a group of people, waiving his hands and making all kinds of gestures. Some people laughed, others teased him, but it didn’t seem to have any effect on how the young man was conducting himself.

  More than intrigued, Betty pushed her way through the crowd, until she was standing at the very front of the group.

  “For this trick, I am going to need a volunteer from the audience!” The man shouted, and many people chuckled. He looked around, as though expecting that everyone would have volunteered for such a position.

  “No one? Are you all terrified?” he asked, and on impulse Betty raised her hand into the air.

  “I’m not! Pick me!” She shouted, and he suddenly stopped and focused on her. Though he looked slightly taken aback by her attire, he walked forward and held out his hand to her.

  “Very well! A young maiden has volunteered! Come with me, my dear, and let William the Great dazzle, enchant, and mesmerize you!” He walked her into the center of the group with him, then he turned to stand in front of her, concealing her from anyone else in the audience. Slipping off his robe, he put it on her shoulders.

  “I want to be your assistant,” Betty said quietly and quickly, and he looked at her with further surprise in his eyes.

  “Oh? And what makes you think you can handle what I need you to do?” he asked, and she looked him squarely in the eye.