Sure enough, when he got to the ranch his sister-in-law told him Nathan was out in the first pasture where the branding was being done. Sam’s niece, Cindy, offered to show him where they were branding this year. Sam didn’t know if her interest was in helping with the round up or finding out more about the official visit that Sam had told Grace he was here for. Cindy, who was three years younger than Sam, wanted nothing more than to be a detective. Since she was a little girl she had read and studied everything on detective techniques that she could including dime novels and true detective magazine. She was still trying to convince Nathan to let her go to San Francisco or Chicago to apply to join the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Sam figured she’d get her way sooner or later. Cindy was a great detective and had helped her father on a number of cases starting in her early teens. She wouldn’t stop until her father agreed to let her apply to the “greatest detective agency in the world” as she called it.
“Are you going to share what you need to talk to Pa about, Uncle Sam?”
Sam shook his head and glared at the red haired young woman. “You know I can’t tell you that, Cindy Lou. You aren’t a U.S. Marshal or a deputy.”
Cindy glared right back. “I bet I can deduce your official business before we reach the herd.”
“You shouldn’t be talking like that, Cindy. Your Pa and mine would both have your hide for betting. Plus, even if you use your great detective skills and figure it out before I talk to your Pa, you know I can’t tell you if you’re right.”
“Oh I’m right. I’m always right and I already know what you want to talk about. There’s another bride coming for Mister Saunders. This will make seven. You want to know what to do about this one because she’s in the hospital in Missouri and you don’t want to send her a telegram telling her that her groom is a criminal in jail and not likely to get out anytime soon.”
Sam squinted at the big smile on Cindy’s face as he felt for the telegram in his vest pocket where he’d placed it. Sure enough, it wasn’t there. His devious little sidekick had picked his pocket to practice her skills. He shook his head. “Give me back the telegram, Cindy, or I will tell your father that you picked my pocket for information you knew was on an official case.”
Cindy laughed and held up the telegram. “I will under one condition. Take me with you to Missouri.”
“What makes you think I’m going to go to Missouri?”
“Because I know you, Uncle Sam. You won’t send that lady a telegram telling her about Saunders. You’re soft hearted; you’ll want to make sure a woman who has been under a doctor’s care is protected while she travels. Which means you have to send some man to escort her, but that would ruin her reputation. So you’ll go yourself and talk Pa into letting you take the Pullman to keep her out of the public eye. But we both know her reputation will still be hurt if you go alone. Worse, if Stillman goes to take care of the Pullman which you know he will insist on.”
Sam sighed. She was right, no matter what the woman’s reputation was likely going to be ruined regardless of what he did, or worse she’d be left alone nowhere near where she started from. Most mail-order brides had nothing to go back to and few had a marketable skill that they could use to make money. So she was either going to have to continue to Redemption or end up in worse shape than when she started. “If I take you your reputation will be just as in jeopardy.”
Cindy shook her head. “No it won’t, I’m your niece. If we travel together it’s perfectly acceptable and I can be the chaperone that keeps her reputation from being ruined. You need me Uncle Sam, and you know it.”
“Not necessarily. I could take Hanna or Mother or even your Ma.”
“Hanna isn’t going to want to go, you know that; she’d have to leave the library and she loves that library. Grandmother won’t leave because Grandfather is sick again, and Ma isn’t going to leave because Jayna is going to go into labor any day now. You’re gonna have to take me and you know it.”
Sam sighed. Cindy was too smart for her own good. “Fine, I’ll tell your father I need you to come along. However, you will stay with me the whole time. I mean it Cindy, if you go to protect this lady’s reputation, you won’t ditch me in Independence to run to the Pinkerton office there to apply to the agency. You will stay with me or with Miss James as her chaperone. Agreed?”
Cindy sighed. “Yes I agree. I don’t like it that you figured out my plan, but I agree.”
Sam laughed. “I’ll take you by to apply, Cindy, but if you tell your Pa I’ll deny it. But no matter what happens you have to come back with me to keep the woman’s reputation safe. If they hire you after we get her here, you can go back and I’ll face the wrath of the Preacher. Good thing he’s my brother.”
The two of them laughed and Cindy handed him back the telegram just as they topped the rise and could see the temporary paddock that had been erected to separate the brooding mares from the rest of the heard. Sam kicked his horse into a gallop. “Come on, girl detective, let’s go talk to your Pa and wrangle a few horses.”
Cindy kicked her mount into a gallop as well and they headed down the hill to see what the Preacher thought about their plan. Sam could feel a pull north east all of a sudden. Almost like a calling but different. Not a call to danger but something else; something important was going to happen when he got to Independence.
Chapter Three
Each day saw her a bit stronger, her head didn’t hurt as much and she was able to move around without feeling like she was going to sink back into the blackness with every shift in her body’s position. The doctor thought another couple of days and she’d be able to leave the hospital but he still didn’t want her trying to travel alone on the train for another week.
While all that was good news, Dorthy was worried it had been four days since Nurse Houlihan had sent her telegram to Mister Saunders and she had yet to hear back from him. Could it be that he’d decided that he didn’t want to be married to a woman who couldn’t even get to New Mexico without almost dying? With the way her luck went that’s exactly what had happened, he’d decided not to marry her. She had no choice even if he didn’t marry her. When the doctor released her and gave her permission to travel the railroad had already agreed to transport her to Redemption, New Mexico. Since that was where they would give her a ticket to she was going to end up there. If she was alone she’d find someplace to stay and see if they needed a teacher or attempt to get her school started. Her dream of a home with a couple of garden plots might have to be put on hold for a while but she’d figure that out when she got there.
Dorthy dressed and then sat waiting and rereading one of her favorite books, Jo’s Boys, by Louisa May Alcott. She had all three books: Little Women, Little Men and Jo’s Boys. Every time she read them it made her heart want what Jo March had found, a husband who understands her, allows her to chase her dreams and a family of her own. Would she have that with Colton Saunders or would she find that her bad luck would hold and even her marriage would end up being one of her disasters?
There was a knock on the door to the hospital room and then the door opened and Nurse Houlihan slipped inside. “Good morning, Dorthy. How are you feeling today? Any pain in your head or neck?”
Dorthy smiled; her friend and daytime nurse asked the same question every morning. “Hello, Margaret. I am well, thank you. My head and neck do not hurt at all. Are we ready for my walk or do you need to check on your other patients first?”
Margaret smiled at her. “I know you are anxious to get outside and play in the dirt, Dorthy, you aren’t fooling me. I made sure everyone was comfortable and medicated before I came to see you. I’ll escort you down to the courtyard. I heard that the gardener was grateful for the care you’ve been taking with the flowers around the hospital and wanted you to tend to a plant that seems to not be thriving. He’s done all he knows how to do, but after the way you nursed the roses, he thought you might have more luck in this flower bed than he’s been having.”
The older wom
an pointed at Dorthy and gave her a stern look. “However, you are still under doctor’s orders not to go wandering around on your own. If you need anything for the flowers, the gardener will get it for you. I mean it, Dorthy James. If I come down there to get you and find out you’ve been wandering around without an escort, I will not allow you to go outside again during your stay here.”
Dorthy sighed; she knew she really needed to listen to the doctor and Nurse Houlihan but she was so tired of having to wait around for someone else to walk with her. On the other hand, it was nice to have someone who could stop her from creating another disaster, though things still seemed to go wrong when she was around. There had been spills and one nurse even got a needle in her leg while Dorthy was being walked around the floor of the hospital. Several wheel chairs had malfunctioned around her and while no one else had seemed to figure it out, Dorthy knew it was the bad luck that seemed to follow her everywhere. Everywhere she went unless it was her home, a classroom, or garden, disasters seemed to follow her. “I promise, Margaret, I won’t wander anywhere alone.”
With that she and the nurse left the room and headed down the stairs. They entered the main lobby of the hospital and Dorthy stopped in her tracks as the most handsome man she’d ever seen entered the front doors. He was tall and his shoulders were wide. As he entered he pulled a worn brown cowboy hat off his head and ran the fingers of his other hand through his thick ginger colored hair. Even from where she stood she could see his emerald green eyes were beautiful and full of life. He was in a shirt the color of crushed eggshells and his vest was a dark green with gold thread designs in it. Beside him came a young woman with the same eyes and hair color in a dark green day dress with a hat much like the one he’d just removed on top of her head. “Slow down, Sam, she isn’t going anywhere if she’s still in the hospital.”
The man’s eyes caught Dorthy’s and he stopped as if his feet had been suddenly nailed to the ground. “I found her.”
The woman beside him followed his gaze and then laughed. “How do you know that’s her?”
“I just know, Cindy. That’s Dorthy James and I don’t think I’m gonna need a chaperone on the ride home.”
Dorthy’s eyes got wide as the woman looked back and forth between them. “And why is that, Uncle Sam?”
“Because I’m gonna marry her.”
Dorthy and the woman both gasped and Nurse Houlihan started laughing. “Well Dorthy, looks like you are going to have to make a choice because I’m sure that young man is very serious.”
Dorthy walked the few feet separating them until she stood before this man who had just declared that his intention was to marry her. “Can I help you, sir?”
“Yes and no, Miss James.”
“How do you know who I am?”
The cowboy swallowed and shook his head like it was bothering him. “We need to talk, ma’am, especially if I was right and you’re Miss Dorthy James who sent a telegram to one Colton Saunders in Redemption, New Mexico.”
Dorthy’s heart pounded in her chest just being near this man, and the words he’d spoken to the woman with him echoed in her brain. “I’m gonna marry her.” She opened her mouth but couldn’t push the words out of her throat, so she shut her mouth, swallowed and tried again. After a couple of more attempts she finally uttered. “Yes sir, I am. Do you know my fiancé?”
“Yes ma’am, only he isn’t your fiancé, he’s a criminal I arrested a week ago for polygamy.”
With those words Dorthy felt the world tilt and everything went gray. She knew she was about to succumb to a faint but there was nothing she could do as her legs gave out. However, before she hit the floor she felt two strong arms surround her.
Samuel led Cindy from their hotel, where they’d spent the night, to the hospital. He’d promised his niece that as soon as he’d talked to Miss James he’d escort her over to the Pinkerton office so she could inquire about applying to be one of the new female detectives. Cindy had just asked how he planned to find out where Miss James was as they walked through the door. Sam looked up and his eyes locked with those of a beautiful young woman with strawberry blonde hair and eyes as grey as the barrel of his Colt Peacemaker. That feeling and tug that had been with him since he’d read the telegram sent to Colton Saunders became an almost painful yank toward the woman. Without any doubt he knew two things as certain-sure as his name was Samuel Ryder; one, this was Dorthy James, and two, she was going to be his wife. “I found her.”
Cindy stepped up beside him. “How do you know that’s her?”
He swallowed as the connection between them solidified. “I just know, Cindy, and I don’t think I’m gonna need a chaperone on the ride home.”
He could hear the amusement in Cindy’s voice, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away from the beauty in front of him. “And why is that?”
“Because I’m gonna marry her.”
The woman his heart was connected to gasped and the older woman in a nursing uniform laughed. “Well Dorthy, looks like you are going to have to make a choice because I’m sure that young man is very serious.”
The missing half of his heart walked toward him as if in a dream herself. “Can I help you, sir?”
“Yes and no, Miss James.”
The woman’s brow wrinkled at his answer. “How do you know who I am?”
Sam swallowed, trying to wet his suddenly dry mouth. Then he shook his head to try and clear it enough to talk to her. “We need to talk, ma’am, especially if I was right and you’re Miss Dorthy James who sent a telegram to one Colton Saunders in Redemption, New Mexico.”
She stepped closer. “Yes sir, I am. Do you know my fiancé?”
Here it was the hundred-dollar question. “Yes ma’am, only he isn’t your fiancé. He’s a criminal I arrested a week ago for polygamy.”
Miss James’ lovely eyes clouded over and she swayed, then she started to fall. Sam reached out and lifted her into his arms as she fainted. As he held her he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he wasn’t ever going to let her go again. The nurse who had been with her moved to check on her. “Well you sure have a way with the ladies, don’t you mister? Follow me, let’s get her back in her room. Then I can get the smelling salts and see if this shock was too much for her. I pray it didn’t set back her recovery.”
Sam followed the woman with Cindy right by his side. “You really know how to make an impression, don’t you Uncle? I can’t believe you just blurted it out there like that.”
He glanced over at his niece who was only three years younger than him. “What was I supposed to do, Cindy, she asked me?”
Cindy sighed. “How about you say yes and ask if there is a better place you could talk to her. You could have made sure she was seated and ease into the news instead of shocking the system of a woman already under a doctor’s care.”
Sam sighed; she had a point. He’d just tossed it out like it was nothing but for all he knew this woman was in love with the lowdown sidewinder. Well he’d get her tended to and then he’d convince her to marry him. After all, he knew that she was made for him just like he was made for her. He’d heard the story often enough from both his father and his brother. Ryder men just knew the women they were meant to love for their whole life. Nate had loved Penny before he even met her, his father said that the first time he’d seen his mother he’d known she was made for him even though she was the worst person an up-and-coming minister should fall in love with. Nathan had told him how he was drawn to Grace the first time he heard her voice but hadn’t realized it was love until she was almost shot by an outlaw. Now he knew what they were talking about.
The nurse opened a door and pointed at the bed in the room. “Lay her down there and I’ll go get the smelling salts. You need to learn a bit of tact there, young man. Dorthy didn’t need that kind of a shock, she’s still recovering from her fall two weeks ago.”
Sam laid her on the bed and couldn’t resist placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. He rose and saw that both his niece
and the nurse were watching him. “I know I don’t have the right yet, but I’m going to convince her to marry me.”
“I don’t think it will be that hard mister. She’s an orphan and a teacher. The school and orphanage she lived and taught at is closing; that’s why she was willing to become a mail-order bride.”
The nurse turned and left to get the smelling salts and Sam knelt beside the bed next to the woman who would be his wife if he had anything to say about it.
Cindy laughed at him. “You’ve got it bad, Uncle.”
Sam shook his head. “I can’t explain it to you, Cindy. I know I’m just a Ryder by adoption and not blood but this feeling about her, it’s like a Calling only different. Ever since I read that telegram I knew I had to find this woman and when I saw her, that feeling, it changed. I know she’s meant for me. She’s mine. Mine to hold, to love, to protect and nurture. Don’t ask me how I know, I just know.”
His friend and niece smiled at him and put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m not making fun of you, Uncle Sam. I can see you’re serious. I’m happy for you. Glad it’s not me but I am happy for you. I’ll pray she feels the same way.”
He looked up at his brother’s daughter. “Thanks. I know that Nate and David would give me a hard time about it and I know before it’s all said and done so will you; but for right now, thank you.”
Just then the nurse came back in with a wet cloth and a small vial of smelling salts. “Hold her up, young man and I’ll administer the salts. Once she’s sitting up on her own I’ll need you to give me a minute to assess her and decided if I need to contact the doctor before you start the conversation you need to have with her.”
Sam nodded and gently reached under Dorthy and propped her up. The nurse removed the lid from the aromatic salts and passed it close to Dorthy’s nose. She gasped and sat up on her own. Sam kept his hand on her back until he was sure she was awake and then he stepped back. “What happened?”
Dorthy's Disasters: A Ryders Legacy Historical Book (The Alphabet Mail-Order Brides 4) Page 2
