He made his way upstairs after doing it and surveyed the bedroom he had prepared for Rachel. That was one thing he had splashed out on, covers for this bed and for the one he had on the large bed he purchased for the room in which he slept. She would need to be on her own for a bit until she got used to him but how he hoped that wouldn’t last for too long.
But he would be patient where that was concerned and he was a bit shy himself when he thought about it. He had never been in a woman’s company for long, well, not someone who was unattached. So he would go slowly until she felt comfortable with him and what happened after that he did not really want to think about because it seemed unseemly to do so.
So everything was ready and she wouldn’t realise how much he had lied about things and how he exaggerated. He wasn’t really sure why he did that and maybe he would tell her one day. But that wouldn’t be for a very long time. What he had said which wasn’t true he would somehow have to bring about.
She wouldn’t lie about anything, he knew. Her letters were so genuine, so interesting, so alive. When she said she could knit, sew, cook and milk a cow he believed she could. No lady would say that and not mean it. He knew that from Caroline because she was everything she said she was.
So Rachel was going to be perfect in every way and they were going to love each other to bits. They were going to have a happy and long marriage. He wasn’t going to have to sit on his own and be lonely at night after he finished work.
Tomorrow he would be married. Tomorrow his new life would begin. Tomorrow would be the beginning of a future which was going to be good. Tomorrow and he was terrified.
But he shouldn’t feel like that because she would like it here. He was near Lone Pine which was a nice place. It had been established round ten years previously, five years before Lower Pine came into existence and two years ago everyone was very proud of Lone Pine’s new post office. About twelve miles away was Mount Whitney and Rachel had been very interested to hear about the area where he lived. He was looking forward to showing her round.
He didn’t actually live in the little community because his farm was a few miles from it. Sometimes he would walk there and back but he wouldn’t expect Rachel to do that. He would teach her to ride a horse because she said she couldn’t ride, and when he made more money he would buy a carriage instead of just using the basic cart he owned. Maybe he could even make one though he would have to make sure it was roadworthy because its cargo would be very precious. It would be Rachel.
March twenty fifth and in two weeks it would be his birthday. He would be turning twenty four and Rachel said she was nineteen. He had said twenty one in case she thought twenty four old but maybe he would tell her one day. She said she was bringing him a present. She would make him a birthday cake, she told him, and they would celebrate together. He was looking forward to that.
The stagecoach was due to arrive at ten fifteen in the morning, he had been told, and was coming from San Francisco. It was over three thousand miles from Boston, over four hundred from San Francisco and it would take her days to do it. She was the bravest woman out, Seth thought, and felt a tenderness he could not quite define.
She was doing it to marry him and nobody had ever done anything that big for him, not even his mother because he was born to her and therefore she would look out for him. But this was a lady and she considered him worth it to come so far. When she arrived he would make it up to her for the unhappiness she experienced at the loss of her parents and her home, and he would look after her and love her.
But now he would have something to eat and then he would go to bed. It was going on for nine and had been properly dark for about twenty minutes. Usually he did not retire so early, though it was never late because he rose very early in the morning, also because there wasn’t much to do in the evenings. When Rachel arrived that would be different because they would be able to chat together after him working on his ranch all day.
Which would start tomorrow. He was terrified in one way, in another he couldn’t wait. He mixed three eggs together in a pan, stirred it and put it on some bread which he darkened and crisped in the same pan. Delicious but tomorrow, or at least when she recovered from her long journey, Rachel would show him some new dishes.
He wouldn’t expect her to cook for him all the time, of course, and particularly not at first. He would somehow produce some food that was acceptable and if he put it attractively on a plate it would maybe cover the fact that he couldn’t cook at all. He could maybe catch a fish from the lake though usually when he tried to do that they eluded him. He would have to work harder at it.
But tomorrow he wouldn’t have to cook because the Reverend’s wife said she would bake dishes for all the new husbands to welcome their wives. They couldn’t expect them to cook on their first day, she told them, and maybe she would bring dishes for a few days. He could see what she put in them because when he had been invited to eat with them he had not really noticed. All he did was enjoy the food set before him. But Rachel told him she would cook for him and he was looking forward to eating the way he had before he left home.
Piling the food on his plate he took it through to the main living room and soon afterwards went up to bed. Not to sleep a lot, he found, but at least he was resting.
Chapter 4
Seth looked at himself critically in the mirror. Denim pants with copper rivets and they fitted well. He was not skinny but also not at all fat. His shoulders were wide, his stomach flat. He had a waist, which quite a few men, he had noticed, didn’t, and those were some of the men who were expecting new brides today. His shirt was white and neatly pressed and he had on a new jacket which matched his jeans. It had cost quite a bit but he had money left to buy Rachel a new dress if she wanted one when she arrived, even after buying her an ivory one to make up for the one she had to sell.
There would be little money over but he did get a bit of an income from the cheese he made which was one thing his mother had taught him to do. He also sold eggs and the produce he grew on his farm, quite a bit of it in Independence where he would travel each week. He would now have two mouths to feed instead of one but Rachel said she sold some of her knitting to make money and also said her needlepoint was very popular. That would make added income though, of course, he wouldn’t ask her to do that. If a man couldn’t support his wife he had to be pathetic.
He put on his hat and surveyed himself from a few angles. Would Rachel think he was reasonable looking or would she prefer the older, more dapper men who wore bowler hats? Some people called them derby hats, his mother had told him. Rachel said she didn’t mind what his appearance was like but surely all women did, or so Jason said. However, there were quite a few pretty women in the community who had husbands who were no oil paintings so maybe he had a chance.
He made his way outside to where he had earlier put out the small carriage he had hired for a week from a neighbour and jumped into the driving seat. She was no horse rider, Rachel had told him in one of her letters, but she was looking forward to him teaching her to ride. That would at least be one thing he would know better than her and it would be nice to teach her. He had already chosen out a horse she could regard as her own which was gentle and easy to ride.
He was an hour early but it was best that way, he had decided. The coach might come in early and there would be nothing worse than Rachel arriving and him not being there. The minister of the church, the Reverend Jonathon Barnsley, would be there with his wife, Linda, to meet the ladies, as would the other men who were meeting their brides. At least Rachel had not had to come alone because seven in all were coming. He made his way to the point where the coach would arrive and was the first to get there.
He looked around appreciatively while he drove. The track on which he was driving was some way from the mountains which stood starkly and beautifully a few miles away. But at one point he had to go through a gully which had high cliffs on either side and where he had sometimes tried climbing up them. Would Rachel
like climbing rocks? What a stupid question. Of course she wouldn’t. She was a lady in every way and ladies didn’t do that kind of thing.
But it would be nice if she enjoyed walking and once she could ride a horse he would show her around the country though he could also do that with the cart. It would be very different from Boston, he was sure, because Boston was a big place. He had been to San Francisco but that was his only connection with large towns or cities.
The other men who were expecting brides arrived about thirty minutes later and some of them, he rather felt, were nervous. They twisted their caps, they shifted from leg to leg, they talked too loudly He knew how they felt but did not say much.
They were a bit of a motley bunch. He felt guilty the minute he thought that. If they were he was part of it. There was another Seth, a man he assessed to be in his mid thirties who was on the Reverend’s committee. Of course he would be because he was respected. He was balding, not very tall and hopefully his wife would not be tall either. He was quite well off but then he had more years under his belt to acquire money. When Seth was his age he would be rich himself.
And then there was Henry Platt, a nice young man but very shy around ladies. Hopefully his new bride would instil confidence into him when she arrived.
The other five he assessed to be in their late twenties or early thirties and one man he knew was just over forty. How Seth hoped all their brides would be happy with them. How he hoped Rachel would be the same with him because he was no better than them, even if he was the youngest.
Rev. Barnsley walked over to talk to him after he had greeted the other men, with Mrs. Barnsley next to him.
“How are you, Seth?” he asked.
“Fine,” Seth lied. Fine? He was a bundle of nerves.
“You’ve prepared your house for your future bride and have everything in order?”
“Yes. It’s spotless. Even my mother would be proud.”
“Good. You know to take things slowly at first? It is a big step for a young lady to meet someone she hasn’t seen, even though she knows you from your correspondence.”
“Yes. I will be very discreet.” Seth looked at his watch. Nearly ten fifteen and would they be very late? They would have called in at Lone Pine first, passed through Middle Pine but it wouldn’t take long to come to Lower Pine from there. He felt his nerves couldn’t take it. Even as he thought of it the thunder of wheels sounded ahead of them and he knew it had to be the coach.
He had met his mother on stagecoaches and always anticipated her visits with pleasure. But this was different. This was something that would change his life. This was the doorway to future happiness and marital bliss. This was terrifying.
It was a large stagecoach and pulled by four horses. He had never been in one himself but had heard they were reasonably comfortable, if a bit bumpy sometimes depending on the terrain. The horses pulling this particular coach were white which was a good touch, he felt, because it was carrying very precious cargo. They had been travelling for well over a week altogether but not necessarily just on this coach. Today they had travelled from Independence.
There was talk of a railroad coming near to Lone Pine and it was a pity it wasn’t already built because that would have been quicker than the stagecoach. However, they were now here so their travel had been safe and he would make up to Rachel for the long journey, Seth thought as the horses slowed down and stopped near to him.
The driver alighted, opened the door and the tension was almost unbearable. She was coming. She had arrived. In a minute he would see her and she would see him. Brown eyes, she had told him, dark hair. She was about five feet three and slim. He watched eagerly and the first lady alighted.
Fair hair which showed under her hat, a wide hat with feathers on it at the side. The lady looked a bit older than the nineteen Rachel said she was so it couldn’t be her and, anyway, her hair colour was wrong. The next lady was dark haired though more a brown than very dark and she was fairly tall.
A third lady got out and she had pretty auburn coloured hair with a small blue hat on top. The men walked forward, eager to meet their brides though maybe a bit nervous as well.
The other ladies were alighting from the opposite side of the coach and Seth couldn’t see them. He would have to walk round. He started to do so and felt a slight tremor beneath him. It was almost imperceptible but it was definitely there. He paused to look ahead and behind. Maybe a heavy wagon was approaching though that didn’t usually have the same effect as this. It could be another stagecoach if this one had not been big enough.
But nothing was coming so maybe it was his imagination. He took another step and suddenly the earth started to shake. Not gently but with an intensity and accompanying roar he had never experienced or heard before. The sound was deafening and the feeling it gave terrifying. A few feet to the side the earth started to rise, like a wave, he thought, which sent the carriage forward and caused the horses to whinny in terror.
Earth was solid. Everyone knew that. It didn’t move. Except in earthquakes and that was what this was. An earthquake. A terrifying, explosive, all too real earthquake. Instinctively he ran for the horses which had reared up and were whinnying even louder. He untied them, somehow feeling, although he knew nothing about earthquakes, that their best chance was to be able to get away. The ladies ran a few feet at the rising of the earth and the gentlemen grabbed one each.
Five ladies but there should be seven and which one was his? It had to be the dark haired one who, although nice looking, was certainly not beautiful. He went to walk towards her and there was a scream of terror from down the road.
He watched in horror as a child went up with another humping of the ground. Not a small hump but a high one and how did earth do that? She teetered on the top and he raced forward, desperate to reach her before she fell. At the same time a dark haired young lady from the other side of the stagecoach tore forward and reached her first. As she did so her hat flew from her head but she didn’t seem to notice it.
It was amazing how much a mind could assimilate in a few split seconds, Seth felt, because his attention was totally focussed on the child but he could see the woman and note almost every detail at the same time. Dark hair, huge hazel eyes, smooth skin, strong bone structure. She was slim, she was obviously agile, she was outstandingly beautiful. She was at least five feet nine inches tall.
But, although the information embedded itself in his mind, his main concern was for the child. A little girl who was obviously terrified, which he was too. The lady grabbed her, the ground descended and then it rose again.
“Take her,” she called down and he caught the little girl who had now begun to cry and who held onto him with a vice like grip when she reached him. Only about three years old, he estimated, and he could not recall seeing her before. Which he should have done, he knew, because there were only around thirty five houses in the little community. Were thirty five. Two of the houses which he could see were toppling and there could be people in them though many could be out at this time of morning, either shopping or doing some kind of work or other, which would include coming to welcome the new arrivals from New York and Boston.
The lady teetered at the edge of the huge mound which had been formed by the earth rising and he put out his hand to try to help her. But he couldn’t let the child go and the lady sprawled as the earth began to straighten once again. Picking herself up she dusted down her dress and one of the women from the carriage ran forward to take the child.
He recalled now that John Preston was engaged to a lady with a child. Lucy, the mother, and Chloe, the child. John ran after Lucy and put his arm protectively round her. Seth looked around and was relieved that most of the houses were made of wood. The two adobe ones which had collapsed already had some men near them who were calling down. Two families walked towards them, the owners of the houses and it was a great relief that nobody was trapped.
“Adobe,” the lady said, beginning to run towards Seth’s carriage.
“Pardon?” He raced after her.
“Adobe. The Lone Pine houses and the Middle Pine houses are made of adobe. I noticed it when we stopped in Lone Pine and when we drove through Middle Pine, also the houses between each place. The only ones with much sense seem to be the people here, I’m relieved to see, as this is where I’ll be staying.”
He looked at her a bit foolishly. What had adobe got to do with anything? She leapt onto the front of his carriage and shook the reins. He tore after her and jumped up beside her.
“What about adobe?” he asked.
“Adobe is not earthquake resistant. We need to go and check. Whose carriage is this?”
“I hired it,” he said.
“That’s alright then.”
“Look out!” He grabbed one of the reins at a boulder which had fallen into the middle of the road. Apart from anything else, this carriage was not his and he couldn’t afford any damage repairs. She pushed his hand away and leaned forward to shake the reins again.
“That’s dangerous,” she said as they forged forward. “You’ll confuse the horses.”
At least the horses were his, he thought, and this lady was quite a determined person and not at all what he expected ladies to be like. Certainly not demure as he was sure Rachel was. “It’s not my carriage,” he said. “And I can’t afford to replace it.”
“I’ll pay for it if it’s damaged. Why are all the places called Pine?”
“I don’t know.”
“I thought people who lived here would know that sort of thing,” she said.
Which he should know, he thought, and he would try to find out before he met Rachel in case she asked. He hung onto the seat as the horses raced forward and within minutes they reached Middle Pine.
“Oh, no!” They spoke together as they both looked at the houses ahead of them. Middle Pine and already most of the houses had collapsed though some were still in the process of doing so. There were forty five houses, Seth knew, and many of them were totally flattened. Some had fallen with a concertina effect which caused the walls to balloon and the roof to slide mostly at an angle. The adobe walls had obviously had no power to resist the violent shaking of the ground.
Lone Pine Bride (The Brides Of Lone Pine Book 1) Page 2
