“Elizabeth, I have been saying to your good sister Ursula that you are a closed book to me. Hehgm … how I am getting very impatient for our impending nuptials, and how I wish to get to know you better beforehand.”
Ellie was silent, watching him with disgust.
She’s not my sister, and no, you will not get to know me better. Not now, not ever.
He continued on with his speech. He apparently thought his words were perfectly reasonable and that Ellie should accept them without protest.
“Ursula of course obliged to arrange a little intimate time between you and I.”
His eyes became beadier and the skin around them tensed up, pushing his eyes forward to goggle at her. His tongue darted out to lick his lips like a snake assessing its prey.
“And here we are, just you and I. Very improper you could say … heh! But that makes it all the more fun for the both of us, does it not?”
And with that, he pulled himself up and crept around the pieces of furniture toward her. He was creeping along on tiptoes, in what he evidently thought was a playful manner. He stretched his arms out in front of him, quivering and ready to grab her.
Chapter 6
“Let me squeeze you a little, Elizabeth.” Gergmins must have seen the look of horror on Ellie’s face, for he added, “You will not try to defy me now, will you?”
Ellie could not believe the vision that was coming toward her.
Does Ursula really think I will put up with this?
“Now if you run,” Gergmins was sweating, his hair swinging around his face, “I shall chase you until I catch you. It shall be our game.”
Ellie’s whole body started shaking. She had three seconds before he would reach her. A wave of white-hot anger hit her with a crash, giving her the strength to fight.
Gergmins’ pincer-like fingers were aimed at her arms. “You will not! How dare you?” Ellie pushed at his chest. As he toppled backwards, she assessed her options in a flash.
The door was locked. Either she could stay here and fight this man, creating trouble for herself in the process, or she could get out now. And there was only one way she could get out.
The open window.
It was directly in front of her. Ellie lost no time in hopping right up onto the windowsill. She paused a split second before she threw herself out.
As she fell, she heard him calling, “Your little game! What a shy girl you are. Just wait until our nuptials!” There was anger in his voice beneath the artificially playful tone.
Ellie fell a short way down to the basement-level garden, the leafy bushes cushioning her fall. She freed herself from the branches with only a little scratching to show for it.
I am lucky all right. A lucky escape.
Ellie could feel Gergmins watching her from the window. She did not turn around. She scaled the steps at the end of the garden, flew out of the gate, turned to the right and ran until she was sure he couldn’t see her any more.
Ellie stopped on the street, gasping for breath. She leaned over and put her hands on her knees, panting. Reeling from the shock of it.
How disgusting.
Although the weather had been inching toward spring in the past couple of weeks, the bite of winter still lingered in the air. But Ellie was darned if she would go back for her shawl. She preferred to stay chilled than to risk another encounter with that vile man.
Ellie carried on walking, wanting to increase the distance between her and Gergmins. She would keep going for as long as she could until she felt it was safe to return. Surely he wouldn’t hang around the house for too long.
Ellie shook herself compulsively a couple of times as she walked, her mind ranging back over her near miss. How repulsive. And how could Ursula trap her and lock her in a room with that man?
Ellie realized that from now on she must watch out for Ursula trying to isolate her with Gergmins again. She just had to hold out for a couple more weeks. Someone had to reply to her advert. They had to.
Ellie forced back tears that were welling up in her eyes, hurriedly swiping away a fat salty drop escaping down her cheek. She must not lose hope now.
The light was starting to dim and she knew that soon she would have to turn back.
Just one more street, then I will turn back.
As Ellie walked she heard the sound of footsteps approaching from around the corner. As she neared their source such a welcome face came into view.
“Briggs!”
His kindly face showed pleasant surprise.
“Ellie! Am I pleased to see you! Are you all right?” Briggs could tell she was upset from her red eyes and pinched face. “Where is your shawl, miss? You will catch your death like that.”
“Oh Briggs. I’m glad to see you. I just had an escape from that awful man. Ursula locked us in a room together. I’m all right, he didn’t touch me. I just want to forget about it.”
“Oh my, she’s stooping very low.” Briggs’ face creased up with concern.
“I just have to get away, Briggs.”
The old man’s face brightened up. He looked as if he held a special secret he hadn’t disclosed yet.
“Well, Ellie my girl, how about I tell you something to make you feel glad?”
“You know there is only one thing that could do that.”
“Yes, I know.” Briggs held Ellie’s eye, looking as if he might burst with the news.
“You mean -?”
“Yes, I jolly well do! It came, your reply. It really came! Here is the letter. I picked it up only five minutes earlier.”
All the tensions of the day fell away at his words. Briggs eagerly thrust the slim envelope into Ellie’s hands. It had Ellie’s advert number written on the front with the address of the newspaper office inscribed below. It was written in a beautiful, rather shaky copperplate hand.
Pure joy suffused Ellie’s face as she held the envelope in trembling hands. Her ticket to freedom, God willing.
“I can’t stand it, Ellie. Open it up, let’s see what it is.” Briggs had broken from his usual reserved air, such was his excitement at her victory.
Ellie tore the envelope open with a satisfying rip. Neither of them cared who might see them. Standing on that street corner together, Ellie’s letter was the only thing that existed in their world.
“Read it out, Ellie.”
Ellie held the letter in front of her. She could just make out the words in the dimming light. They were written in the same copperplate hand.
Come right away, you will be very welcome. No references required, we trust you. Tickets enclosed from Boston to Oregon.
Yours kindly,
Mary Ford, Mrs.
Ellie hugged Briggs in her excitement and jumped up and down, still holding on to him.
“Briggs, I’ve got it, I’ve got it! I’m free. I don’t care who these people are, I am going.”
Briggs extricated himself from the hug and grinned at her.
“I knew it would work out, miss. When are you to go?”
Ellie checked the dates on the tickets.
“Just over two weeks from today. That means I will escape the wedding with a few days to spare. This letter took two weeks to get here, so I hope there will be enough time for them to receive my reply before I arrive. I can’t believe it, Briggs. I am the happiest girl in the world!”
“Ellie, I am delighted for you.”
“Thank the Lord. Briggs, I am going to send my acceptance right away. I will run to the newspaper office, I don’t want to lose another moment. I will see you back at the house?”
“Certainly. I’ll check that Gergmins has left the place. If he’s still around I’ll come out and warn you, but it should be all right.”
“Thank you Briggs, I owe you everything. I’ll catch hell from Ursula when I get back, but I don’t care anymore.”
Ellie flashed the happiest smile at him and she was gone.
Chapter 7
Deep in the prairies, Oregon State. Just over two weeks late
r.
It was early spring. The grass pushed through the soil, painting the prairies bright green. The days were filled with energizing sunshine punctuated by soft nurturing rain. Today had been another brilliant day. Now the sun was dropping low, getting ready to set.
Jared Ford swung himself off his sweaty horse Jessie in one easy motion. Leading the horse, he walked back over the fields toward home. His fringed chaps of warm brown suede hung loosely off his hips. He wore a checked cotton shirt in faded dark blue and cream with hints of red. He studied the grass on the ground in front of him, seemingly lost in thought. His cowboy hat tipped down over his face.
Today was his twenty-third birthday. He had put in an extra hard day’s work by way of celebration. It felt good getting extra done. With his men, he had ranged the perimeters of the land, checking fences and herding the cattle.
What’s more, they had come upon a band of cattle rustlers attempting to steal some of his herd. They had chased them off, but next time they would be ready with ropes to haul the thieves off to the sheriff. Jared had been glad to have had his workmen with him. One man would have been no match for those rustlers.
His stomach growled, demanding attention. He sure was ready for a big feed.
His two workmen, Michael and David, walked a little behind him. They each led their horses. Michael was twenty-one and David twenty. Both of them were hard workers and had learned fast. They could be a bit wild in their time out of work, whooping it up at the saloon, but they were decent men.
They were careful not to cross Jared. They put in every ounce of their energy when they were working, as they both knew there was to be no slacking on Jared’s time.
Jared looked up. “Boys, Grammy says you are to come in for a feed. She’s got some kind of spread going on in there, I believe.”
Never ones to turn down a free meal, the two men gratefully accepted.
Jared’s two dogs flanked him. Named Eric and Fairy, these honorable beasts never left Jared’s side. They were gigantic in size with gray wispy fur, disproportionately long legs and the kindest big eyes ever seen. They loped along seriously. Satisfied with the day of running around the land, they anticipated a meaty feed and the warmth of a glowing log fire.
Jared unsaddled his horse Jessie, wiped him down, and watered and fed him. He bedded the horse in its stall for the night with clean hay. The workmen took care of their horses, securing them to wait for the ride back home that night.
Horses done, Jared and his men walked to the house and Jared shoved the thick door open with his boot.
“Hoi! Grams, are you there?” Jared’s bright emerald eyes twinkled with a smile under his thick black brows.
Grammy looked over her shoulder as she retrieved beer mugs from the top shelf of a cupboard. “Boys, boys, come in now and rest your feet. It’s Jared’s birthday, so you are all to have beers, crackers, and beef jerky, and that’s just for starters. I’ve got a whole three courses lined up for you after that.”
“Ah, what a fuss Grammy! Sure am hungry though, I won’t lie.” Jared came in and kissed the top of Grammy’s head.
Jared kicked off his high top leather boots. They were dusty and battered with silver spurs set at the bottom. He set his Colt .45 down on the table and took off his wide brimmed, low crowned black hat. He sat down and stretched back.
“Come on in boys, make yourselves at home.”
The workmen entered the huge front room. There was an oak table that could seat twelve and a roaring log fire. A delicious savory smell permeated the place.
The men let out sighs of relief as they sat down and rested their bones. The seats in the Ford household were nothing much to look at, worn and loved, but they were more comfortable than anything that could be bought new. Once a man sat down in one of those seats, it reached up to grab him and wouldn’t let him leave.
The four of them ate the food Grammy had organized. She had hired a cook from the town hotel for the afternoon. Together they had made a feast to Grammy’s specifications.
There was soup and fried chicken first. Then there were piles of fragrant crispy bacon, roasted pork chops, and thick savory gravy with cornbread and biscuits. For vegetables, there were buttery mashed potatoes and fried spiced beans with onions. There was also a greens dish that Grammy claimed was medicinal, which the boys endured politely.
Michael piped up. “Mrs. Ford, this must be the best meal I’ve had in my entire life. Can’t get enough of it. Thank you, ma’am.”
“Good, good, glad you like it.” Grammy served the men extra helpings. She loved having people around to feed and entertain.
For dessert there was cinnamon peach pie with thick cream. Juicy velvet peaches had been taken whole from last summer’s jars. The peaches had been sliced and cooked into satiny goodness with spice, brown sugar and butter, and encased in layers of buttery pastry.
There was a contented silence as they ate, and as they cleared their plates, Grammy filled up their beer mugs again.
It was not often Jared would drink. Maybe it brought up too much emotion or sadness. But seeing as Grammy had got some beer in, by way of pleasing her he drunk a few mugs. A little of the impish boy Grammy used to know started to emerge.
“You are the best, Grammy, you know that? Boys, we have a gem right here, that we do.”
“Ah, shut up. Now, Jared, it is your birthday as you know. So you must indulge a little old lady and let me present you with something pretty I made up for you. It’s a neckerchief I embroidered. Manly things only though. You’ll see guns and horses riding along the edges of that there neckerchief.”
Jared reached over to take the present and chuckled as he examined it. “Thank you, Grams, it’s a fine neckerchief.”
Jared knotted it around his neck, spun it round and raised it over his nose. He tilted his head up. “Think the ladies will like me in this?” He raised his eyebrows at Michael and David, gazing at them seductively from under heavy lids. The workmen roared with laughter, David clutching his side and near falling off his chair.
“My dear, it’s opportune you should say that.” Now it was Grammy’s turn to twinkle her eyes at him.
“I have been making inquiries, and well, it comes to this my dear. You are in need of female company. Of the respectable sort. So I’ve arranged a birthday surprise for you, a lovely lady, and you are to meet her at the train station tomorrow. She’s what they call a mail order bride. It’s all arranged, in fact she is already on her way. You just have to pick her up.”
Chapter 8
There was a silence. Jared’s neckerchief fell from his nose back down to his neck as he stared, stunned, at Grammy. Then one of the men snorted, and all three of them collapsed into thunderous laughter.
Jared caught his breath. “That’s a good one, Grammy, you had me there for a minute!” He smiled lazily at Grammy. “Talk about playing a trick on a man for his birthday. I owe you one for sure.”
“My dear, I am perfectly serious. This is just the thing for you. You can thank me later.”
“You … what?”
Grammy smiled beatifically at Jared. She did not say another word. She sat back and let the news sink in.
Jared knew his Grammy had a strong mind and was not to be trifled with. When she set her mind on something she was like a hurricane bowling through town. No way to stop her. Still, this was going too far. This was his life she was meddling with. His personal life. His romantic life. It was something he never spoke about to anyone, not even his beloved Grammy.
He shook his head slightly and threw a tolerant look in her direction.
“We’ll talk about this later, Grammy, all right?”
Michael and David found the whole scene pretty hilarious. It was good entertainment after a hard day’s work. They took any chance they could to kick back and have a laugh. The generous meal and multiple beers only increased their good cheer.
After Grammy had gone to bed, the three men pulled up their chairs to the fire. The front room was
humming with warmth. The fire crackled merrily in the grate and gave off a comforting smell of wood smoke. It hissed and popped every now and then. Jared put another log on. He shoved the wood into the hot embers and the men watched a cloud of red sparks billow up.
Eric and Fairy loped over. They had a meaty meal in their tummies and were ready for the lie down they had been looking forward to. They flopped down either side of the fire.
The three men sat together for a while, enjoying the pull of the comfortable seats, the ample beer, the fire, the crackles and the smoke. They luxuriated in the soporific feeling of having eaten more than they needed.
Michael and David didn’t often get a chance to hang loose with Jared and relax. Usually they would be working together all day and talk would be about the job at hand.
There was a certain distance between Jared and his men as they sat back and absorbed the glow of the fire. Michael and David were aware that their jobs depended on their good behavior.
“We sure are grateful for this fine food and the warm up, Jared. Your grandma is one great woman,” David offered.
Emboldened by the beer, Michael ventured to ask, “So, looking forward to your new lady wife tomorrow, Jared?”
Jared rolled his eyes and surveyed his workmen.
“Well, maybe she’ll be my ideal girl. I’m due for a blessing from heaven, I think.”
Jared stared at an imaginary horizon as he considered this for a moment. Then he leapt up.
“Flaxen braids arranged like this over her head, she’ll have.” The men laughed as Jared circled his hand around his head. “Rosy round cheeks. Round all over, I think, especially here, and here.” Jared gestured as he conjured up his ideal wife. The men got stuck in laughing fits while Eric and Fairy lifted their heads from their paws and looked up at Jared, dismayed.
“Of course she will be a tall and robust woman with nice strong muscles. The kind of woman you can roll around with. I’ll let her take care of all the work in the house and garden and she’ll do it in a flash. A fine, strong, capable, brisk, buxom, blonde lass, that’s what I’ll expect tomorrow.”
Mail Order Love (Sweet Mail Order Bride Historical Romance Novel) (Oregon Mail Order Brides) Page 3
