[2016] A Bride's Journey

by Christian Michael

  They ate their eggs and burnt pork and then Luke went back out to the pasture to finish fixing the fence where his cattle had been getting loose. While he was out there he searched his soul. He wondered if he could do this. Maybe if he explained to the woman that he couldn’t possibly feel anything romantic for her. Would it be fair if she knew ahead of time that all he really wanted was a mother for his child?

  By the time he got back late that evening, Lily was asleep in the living room chair, cuddled up to one of her books. Luke scooped her up and carried her into her bedroom. He lay her down on the little wooden bed he had made for her himself and kissed her on the forehead. Luke wasn’t much for socializing or conversation…but without Lily here the past six years he was sure he would have gone mad from the sheer isolation of the life he led. He owed her a better life than this.

  He went back out into the living room and picked up the letters. Taking them over to his chair he sat down and laid them in his lap. He was exhausted and he had to be back up at sunrise to begin it all over again. He looked around at the cabin he’d built nine years ago when he had first brought his blushing bride to Texas. Lily did her best to keep it clean, but it was another daunting task for an eight year old. It didn’t look anything like it had when Cassie was alive.

  Luke and Lily’s mother Cassandra met in 1874 when she was only seventeen years old. Luke was a member of the Eleventh Infantry and stationed at Fort Richardson from 1873-1876. The soldier’s jobs there were to maintain the post, help the local law officers to keep the peace, pursue criminals and deserters, protect cattle herds, patrol for Indians and escort wagon trains. It was on one of those escorts that Luke met Cassandra. She and her father and her two little brothers were on their way to New Mexico from Arkansas when they were attacked by Indians. It happened by fate that Luke and some of his men were on their way to meet a wagon train coming in. They unfortunately came along after her father and siblings had been murdered but in time to prevent them from taking Cassie. Even now Luke shuddered at the thought of what they would have done to her. He knew as soon as he saw her that she was going to be his wife. Cassie went on to stay with relatives in New Mexico Territory, but Luke never forgot her. She told him that her uncle owned a restaurant near Santa Fe. When he got out of the army in 1876, he went to find her. A year later, they were married and with a small ranch of cattle and a house that Luke had built for them, they began their lives.

  With Cassandra gone the little cabin had become more of a shelter for him and Lily than a home…no matter how hard he tried. He looked down at the letters in his lap. He was sure that it wasn’t possible that he could ever fall in love again…but Lily deserved a mother. Picking up the first one in the pile he opened the seal, unfolded it and began to read.

  ***

  The stagecoach jostled and jarred Hannah’s battered body, knocking her hat sideways for the umpteenth time today. She tried to find solace in the fact that up until a day ago, she’d been able to travel by rail. The stagecoach hit another bump and sent her hat flying into the gentleman’s lap across from her. Her solace was quickly waning.

  “Here you go dear,” the older man said, handing back her hat.

  “Thank you Mr. Peters. I suppose it would be wiser of me to just leave it off for the remainder of the trip.”

  Mr. Peters was a round, jolly man. He was traveling from Philadelphia with his niece Hildegard who was neither round, nor jolly. Hildegard was making the same trip that Hannah was. She was on her way to meet the man that would become her husband. Hildie, as her uncle called her was the tallest, thinnest woman Hannah had ever seen. The whole trip she kept trying to imagine the size of the man that would be suitable for her. In her mind, he was a Goliath.

  “Don’t worry about it at all dear,” he said. “My sweet, departed Gretchen wouldn’t have been caught dead in public without her hat. You just keep pinning it on and I’ll keep tossing it back.”

  Hannah smiled at the elder man. He reminded her of her father…not in physical attributes, but his pleasant personality.

  Hannah wondered what her father would have thought of this trip. She knew that he’d always hoped for more for her than what he and her mother had when they first started out. They’d had nothing when they married and her father had built a business from scratch, selling farm equipment. He’d started with one piece and each time he sold one, he would invest in another and another…eventually his establishment was the biggest in their county and they did well and had a good life until the war came along and tore it apart. Her father had a hard time rebuilding after that, and that was when he’d taken out the loans against the house. They were able to maintain their standard of living for a few years until her father got sick. He was in the army at the time. They gave him a medical discharge and sent him home…but it was too late. He died within a month. It wasn’t long after that her mother’s health also began to fail. Then it all fell apart.

  Hannah still never imagined herself here. She had actually been shocked when the letter from Luke Skylar had shown up. She’d tossed the letter she wrote aside that day and forgotten about it. When his letter came, she racked her brain until she finally remembered Abigail saying something to her about mailing a letter. She reached into the small velvet bag she held on her wrist and pulled it out. Smoothing out the wrinkles, she read it again,

  June 3, 1887

  Miss McMurray,

  I was pleased to receive your letter. I received a handful of responses and I will be honest and tell you that since this endeavor of mine is for the most part to find a mother for my daughter Lily, I read the letters aloud to her and let her decide who I should respond to. In Lily’s opinion, you seem like a “smart, real lady who is not stuck up.” Hannah had to smile at that every time she read the letter. She read on, I don’t want a woman who will be sorely disappointed in the life she has chosen so before you make a decision I ask that you consider a few things. My wife has been gone for six years and for a bulk of that time, Lily and I have been on our own. Although I would say that I am intelligent and somewhat educated, I have to admit to not being cultured in the least. My Lily is a beautiful, curious and intelligent girl…however; she has had no formal schooling. She does love to read however and she has a very active imagination. The town that we live in is mostly a cattle town although the town site was laid out this year. They named it after a man named Yoakum and as of now there is one store and one post office as well as a blacksmith’s a feed store and a livery stable. There is a church too, one that has been standing for a lot longer than the rest of the town. Rumor has it that you with all the employees of the railroad shops that will be coming in, by next year it should practically be a metropolis. But for now it is a dusty, sad little sight that will not only pale in comparison to the bustle of New York, but it will all but disappear if you blink. My ranch is large and getting larger all the time. I work it myself as I cannot afford to hire hands just yet. There are a lot of chores that I will hope you’ll take responsibility for, freeing me up to attend to my land. I would also hope that you would be able to teach Lily the things a young lady will need to know such as how to cook and clean and sew…things that I’m not much use at.

  Now that you have all of the facts I will tell you this: I will be kind to you. I will never hurt or disparage you in any way. I will expect you to love and care for Lily, but as for me I can care for myself and I’ve had the one great love of my life, so you and I can try to look at this as a sort of business arrangement. I have no intentions or interest in falling in love again, so if you have romantic notions please keep looking for a man that can give you what you need.

  I just read that all back and for a twenty-three year old woman from the city, it must sound terribly depressing. If you found it so and have changed your mind…I will understand.

  Sincerely,

  Luke Skylar

  He was right, none of it sounded very appealing. Hannah wanted a man to love her someday. She wanted a family of her own. But she w
as also of the same mind as he was about this being a “business arrangement.” They were bartering their services and who’s to say that someday they wouldn’t at least grow fond of each other. She may be making the biggest mistake of her life, but something about his honesty and his obvious adoration for his child had sold her before she’d read the letter through a second time. Something told her that this man and his child would be worth taking a chance on.

  The stagecoach jostled her again, this time throwing her sideways. Poor Hildegard got the same treatment on her side and Hannah worried that the other woman didn’t have enough meat on her to protect her prominent bones. She let out a little squeak and then righted herself. Smoothing down her skirts, she folded her hands in her lap and resumed her staring off into space. For a minute Hannah wondered what her story was…but then she remembered that she had her own story to worry about and that was exactly what she went back to doing for the remainder of the trip.

  Another hour passed and the driver yelled, “Yoakum,” as he guided the horses in front of a livery stable. One of the two men operating the stagecoach jumped down and opened the door to help them out. Hannah waited for Hildegard to exit first. Mr. Peters waited for Hannah to step down before he did. Hannah stood on shaky legs and looked around. Luke hadn’t been kidding when he described Yoakum. There were literally five buildings and two of them looked to be leaning sideways. The thing she noticed the most however was the dust. She’d heard that Texas was in the midst of a drought. Everywhere she looked, it was apparent, and it was hot. She could feel herself baking as she stood on the wooden deck, underneath the aluminum awning.

  She looked around the platform while the feeling returned to her legs. She saw a very tall man…he had to be six-foot six or seven in his tall cowboy hat. He was as thin as Hildegard and his nose came to a point on the end between two beady little eyes. His eyes were flitting back and forth between her and Hildie. She felt somewhat bad as she found herself hoping that he was here for Hildegard.

  “Mr. Chitwood?” Mr. Peters took the initiative.

  “Yes!” The tall man looked at Hildegard and for the first time in three days I saw her smile…she was kind of pretty. “Hildegard?” She nodded. Mr. Peters turned back to Hannah and said,

  “Do you see your intended dear?” There were three men and two older ladies on the platform. Hannah wasn’t sure at all if she saw him, since she didn’t know who she was looking for.

  She smiled at him and said, “Not yet, but I’ll be fine. You go on and be with your niece.”

  He clasped her hands in his and said, “I wish you a happy life my dear.”

  “Thank you Mr. Peters. I wish you and your niece the same.”

  Hannah watched him walk over to where Hildie was chatting with her fiancé. She had barely said two words the whole way here, but she seemed to be finding lots to say to him. Hannah smiled again. Hopefully she’ll find that much in common with Luke.

  “Miss McMurray!” she heard the little girl voice and turned towards it. A tiny little dark-haired girl was running across the platform towards her. The girl was dressed in boy’s clothes, a pair of jeans and a denim work shirt and her hair framed her face in wild curls that didn’t end until they got to her waist. “It’s you, isn’t it? I told Pa you’d be beautiful! I could tell by your letters you were beautiful!” Hannah smiled. For all that Luke protested not to be a romantic in his letters; he had failed to mention that Lily was.

  “Hello Lily. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

  Hannah held out her hand to the little girl, but instead of taking it, Lily threw herself at Hannah, wrapping her arms around Hannah’s legs and hugging her. Hannah was looking down at the girl when she heard her say, “Isn’t she beautiful, Pa?”

  Hannah looked up then into the most beautiful pair of dark blue eyes she had ever seen. “Hello,” he said from a mouth that was framed by the most sensuous lips ever possessed by a man. Hannah felt herself blush as she wondered what it would be like to kiss them. He was well over six feet tall, broad shouldered and his arms had the sort of lean muscle a man gets from hard work. He had on a cowboy hat, but what she could see of his hair it was dark brown or even black. The whole man was very nice…but those eyes were just incredible. She heard him clear his throat and realized that she hadn’t spoken.

  “Hi…Luke, I presume?”

  He put out his hand and she took it. The strangest tingling sensation ran up her arm and straight into her chest.

  “I’ll grab your things and load them in the wagon while Lily keeps you company.” She realized then that she was still holding onto his hand. Feeling her face go hot again, she let go and said,

  “Thank you.” He picked up the trunk the stagecoach driver had sat next to Hannah with ease and she watched as he carried it across the platform.

  “He thinks you’re pretty. I can tell,” Hannah had forgotten about Lily. She looked down and the little girl was looking up at her with a grin on her face. “I’m so happy to have a new mother,” Lily said. This time Hannah had to force a smile as the reality of her situation set in.

  ***

  Luke loaded the heavy trunk into the buckboard and glanced over at his new “bride.” Lily was talking her head off and Hannah looked like she was in some kind of shock. She was awfully pale, like she’d never seen the sun before today…and that dress…Where did she think she was going? To a ball? He sure hoped that she brought something more practical to wear than that in this big old trunk of hers. That dress would never do for collecting eggs or shucking hay. He glanced at her again. She was wearing a tiny little hat with a veil that came down over her forehead. He could see that her hair was red, but she had it in a tight bun, all wrapped up in some kind of net. He wasn’t sure if it was long or short, thick or thin…. And then he had to ask himself the hard question, why did he care? He’d already decided he wasn’t going to get romantically involved. She could be as ugly as a pig butt and it shouldn’t matter. She glanced over and caught him looking at her. She wasn’t ugly, at all. Her eyes were a pretty hazel color, more green than brown…and that white skin…well, as impractical as it was going to be, he bet it was soft.

  “Are you ladies ready?” he called out to them. Lily took Hannah’s hand in hers and dragged her over. Hannah didn’t seem bothered by it and he gave her credit for that. The two of them seemed to be bonding already. No matter what happened between him and Hannah, he had to remember that she was here primarily for Lily. He helped Lily up and then Hannah. When his big hands went around her small waist and the gentle fragrance of spring wafted into his nostrils, he was suddenly reminded of how long it had been since he’d touched a woman. He had a girl he “visited” on his buying trips to Austin once a year…but that was it since Cassie died. He held onto her a little bit too long and when he let her go, he climbed up onto the driver’s seat, mentally shaking his head. This woman was here for Lily and he needed to keep reminding himself of that until it sunk back in.

  As Luke urged the team out of town and onto the trail that would lead them back out to the ranch, he looked at Hannah out of the corner of his eye. She had opened a little parasol and was holding it up over her head to block out the sun. That explains the white skin. He couldn’t help but wonder if she planned to work the ranch carrying that silly thing around with her. Her profile was facing him as she scanned the countryside. He wondered what she thought of it…it was a far cry from New York. He also couldn’t help but notice how pretty her features were. She had a tiny little nose and high cheekbones…a spatter of freckles across her nose and those almond shaped hazel eyes…

  “How far is your ranch from here?” she asked, catching him assessing her again.

  “It’s about five miles out of town,” he said.

  “You raise cattle?”

  “Yes. I have about seventy head of cattle right now. Long horns. We also have chickens and pigs and a few milk cows. We grow most of our own food too. What we can’t grow, I’m usually able to trade for.”
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  She smiled politely and again Luke had to wonder what in the world he was thinking. This woman didn’t know the first thing about cows or chickens or growing her own food. He knew that Lily needed a mother, but he should have contented himself with advertising for one in an area where there were women who knew how to handle themselves on a ranch. He shouldn’t have brought this city girl out here. She was going to be miserable and she was way too pretty…He’s still not sure what that has to do with anything. He sighed heavily. He’d made his bed now…he’d have to lie in it.

  ***

  Hannah was surprised when she saw the house. It was a tiny little log cabin and although she’d expected small…she hadn’t expected it to be so homey. Luke…or someone had planted wildflowers around the perimeter of the small front porch and there were two rocking chairs that looked handmade sitting on either side of the door. There was a stone chimney on top and there were a lot of windows, with what looked to be real glass panes.

  There was a barn off to one side and some chicken coops in the back of the house and what looked to be a holding pen in front. Luke pulled the wagon in front of the house. He helped Lily down and went around to where Hannah sat. He reached up and circled her waist as she put her hands on his shoulders. Every time he touched her so far she’d gotten that tingly feeling all over. This time wasn’t any different. Hannah had never felt anything like it before. She also wasn’t in the habit of having men touch her. She’d been courted by a wealthy young man whose father owned a shipping company just before her mother took ill. They hadn’t made it to the touching stage before she had to stop seeing him to care for her mother.