[2015] Western Love

by Christian Michael

  Jason had worked long hours at the stable, trying to catch up on the doctor bills and keep himself and his daughter fed and clothed. The payments for the house were due to the bank, and he didn’t have time to help her in school. In fact, Mary had been spending the afternoons after school with her Uncle Jack in his little shop while Jason finished up his work at the stable.

  Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted with Mary poking her head into the room.

  “Papa! The rain’s letting up! Can’t I go out and play in the puddles? Please Papa! Please please please please please!”

  Jason turned to face his daughter, and said firmly, “Honey, I have to talk to your teacher right now, I need you to wait out in the other room, and I’ll be right there.”

  He struggled to keep his voice low, trying not to yield to his frustration, although he felt right at his wit’s end at this point.

  “But Papa! This is taking forever! I’ll be right outside! Please Papa! Please?” Mary was running around in circles by the door, waving her arms around and yelling.

  Finally, Jason couldn’t keep his voice down any longer.

  “All right!” He yelled, “But stay right outside where I can see you out the window. And don’t get all muddy, you hear?”

  “Yay! Thank you, Papa!”

  Mary turned and ran out the door, completely undeterred by her father’s outburst, and began jumping in every puddle she could find.

  Jason watched her go, then took a deep breath in before letting it back out slowly.

  “I’m sorry for that, she gets excited, and forgets that she has to wait her turn.” Jason turned back to the teacher, hoping she didn’t mind the exchange.

  The teacher just looked at him and shook her head.

  “Look,” Jason continued, “I know Mary needs to learn some manners, ok?”

  “What the girl needs,” Mrs. Johnstone sighed. She hesitated for a moment, then said in a lowered tone, “is a mother.”

  Jason exhaled sharply, sat down, and looked out the window. He sat there a second, watching his daughter jump from puddle to puddle in the rain as he still twisted his hat in his hands.

  Finally, he nodded.

  “Yes, indeed she does.”

  Chapter 2 – Alone in the World

  Amy Anne sighed and put the towel over the rack in the kitchen. She listened to the clamor in the other room, but didn’t pay much attention to what was actually being said. She figured they were all talking about some picnic or garden party or something like that.

  The youngest child in the family of 5 children, Amy Anne never felt like she fully belonged. She wasn’t a blood relative to the sisters in the other room, she had been adopted by this wealthy family when she was just a child.

  They had been kind to her, but they hadn’t let her forget the fact she had been adopted, or that their mother and father weren’t her mother and father. Amy Anne’s adopted parents knew nothing of this talk, and had always treated Amy as their own, but regardless of this Amy Anne still felt that she was alone in the world.

  Suddenly, the voice of her sister Jane called into the kitchen.

  “Amy Anne! We are talking of having a garden party! What do you think? We should invite all of the young ladies and gentleman in town… especially the eligible young gentleman!”

  She heard laughter in the other room, and her other sisters chide Jane. Amy Wiped her hands on her skirt, and walked to the doorway of the parlor.

  “A garden party? But we just had a party last month. If we throw them too often they will begin to expect it, and the house will always be filled with strangers!”

  “I should think you would know well what it would be like to be a stranger in this house.” Katherine said, and the other sisters laughed. Amy Anne smiled and tried to laugh along with them, as she always did, but she felt a twinge of pain in her heart.

  “Even still, I don’t know that we can justify another party so soon. What would Mother and Father say?”

  “Our parents wouldn’t mind. After all, they are away on holiday for at least a couple more weeks, and we may as well enjoy the space while we have it.” Katherine snorted, then added, “after all, we need to find ourselves husbands. Father’s not going to want to keep paying for all our whims as we age.”

  Jane laughed at this, and poked at her sister.

  “You’re the oldest of us all. I think if anyone is going to worry about aging it ought to be you! Nearly 27 and still no husband.”

  There was a lot of laughter from the other sisters at this remark, and Katherine looked offended. She changed the subject and turned back to Amy Anne.

  “Do you think you could furnish the sandwiches? I’m sure you did a lovely job at our last party, and you know Olga would be happy to give you a hand.”

  Amy Anne’s cheeks burned. She knew it was going to come to this. She was always asked to do all of the work for these parties, and as a result, she was never able to join in on the party. She was left with Olga, the housemaid, to cook and clean and make sure all of the guests were getting what they needed.

  This left her 4 sisters to do the entertaining, and matchmaking too, as it were. But, it was a lot easier than arguing. They would only bring up the fact she was adopted, and as such didn’t share in the same privileges that her sisters did. She smiled a thin smile.

  “I wouldn’t mind at all. Just tell me when the date is, and I’ll be happy to get started.”

  “That’s a good girl!” Jane exclaimed, then turned to her other sisters. “What say you we put it on the end of next week? That’ll give us enough time to plan and send out the invitations, and still clean up everything before Mother and Father return.”

  They all agreed, and Katherine slapped her hands onto her lap.

  “That settles it then! Ring Olga, and we shall get the papers for the invites! With any luck, I shan’t have to turn to being a mail order bride yet!”

  “Ha! A mail order bride! You will be one before you know it, you old nitty!” Margarete finally spoke up, and Amy Anne’s interest was piqued.

  “What’s a mail order bride?” She asked.

  “It’s when a man puts an ad in the paper asking for a woman to come marry him.” Margarete replied flatly.

  “That’s how you’re going to have to marry Amy!” Jane piped up. “They all know us around here, and we blood relatives are going to be the pick of the lot.” She gave Amy a sly smile, and Amy turned away.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I have a few more things to tend to in the kitchen.” She left her sisters in the parlor, eagerly filling out and cutting down invitations to their party. She doubted they heard what she said, or that they would care.

  In the kitchen, Amy Anne grabbed the broom and started sweeping up the floor. She knew Olga wouldn’t have minded doing the cleaning, but she felt badly that their maid was always left with all the work, and she liked to clean when she was thinking.

  Why don’t I look into one of those ads? They’re right… around here, I am the last choice any man would want to marry. Not only am I the youngest, but I am adopted… who would want me when he could have any of them?

  Amy quickly swished the broom from one side to the other, she was too deep in thought to really pay attention to what she was doing, and it wasn’t long before her mind was made up.

  “Olga! I’m going out!” She called into the garden as she pulled her shawl around her shoulders. Olga held her hand up to acknowledge she had heard, and Amy Anne walked out the gate and into the street.

  They always have the most current papers at the general store, and it couldn’t hurt to look…

  Amy tried to convince herself that she didn’t care about marriage, or whether or not there would be an ad for her to respond to. Yet, in spite of it all, she walked with fire in her step.

  Chapter 3 – The Ad in the Paper

  “These are the most current ones you have?” Amy Anne asked the clerk behind the counter. She knew it looked odd to him that she was interested in the
last month’s papers, but she didn’t care.

  He nodded.

  “There’s some more in the back, but I think you will find whatever you’re looking for in one of those.”

  Amy Anne thanked him, paid for the papers, and hurried out the door. She didn’t know what to expect, but she felt a twinge of excitement as she sat on a bench on the boardwalk and eagerly opened the first paper.

  This was the one that was the oldest, but she still thought it was worth a shot. There were several ads for mail order brides inside, but none that sounded too appealing to Amy.

  This man is going to be your husband, after all, so you want him to at least be agreeable to you.

  The fact was, Amy Anne wasn’t sure what she was looking for in particular, but she certainly knew what she wasn’t looking for. An older man who owned a bookshop sounded like a nice friend, but certainly not a man who she wanted to marry.

  The other ads in the other papers were much the same, until she came to the paper from the previous week. Amy Anne didn’t know what it was, but there was something about the ad that grabbed her attention.

  It read:

  Looking for a bride.

  Dear Ladies,

  My name is Jason Shoats, and I am looking for an educated young woman to be my bride. I own a small farm and have a very young daughter. She is a little angel and greatly in need of a mother.

  If you were to marry me, I promise I would treat you well, give you a great home, and love you as you deserve to be loved. I should hope you would accept my daughter as your own, and help her learn her studies and the manners she needs to become a beautiful young woman. I hope to hear from you soon.

  Amy Anne skimmed the ad, then read it slowly, then skimmed it once more. There was just something about it that appealed to her. Perhaps it was the genuine kindness that shown through the writing, maybe it was the fact a father was looking for someone to be a mother to his child.

  Or perhaps it was the fact that this little girl needed a mother, and Amy Anne felt that she could connect to her with that.

  I don’t know what it is, but I just know this is the one. Now, I need to get an answer to him before my sisters find out.

  Amy Anne carefully bent the paper all around the ad, then tore the ad out of the paper along the creases she had made. She then rolled up the papers and stuffed them into her satchel, and carried the ad to the post office. She was going to get a letter in the mail as soon as possible.

  “Papa! Papa! There’s a letter for us! There’s a letter! It came in the mail Papa! Who do you suppose it’s from?” Mary ran into the stable, waving the paper high above her head, and running over to her father.

  “Mary! You know you’re not supposed to run in here around the horses!” Her father pulled her back from behind a horse, hushing her so she didn’t scare the animals.

  “Let me see that.”

  Jason took the letter from her and skimmed the contents. A smile slowly broke out across his face, and he slapped the letter on his thigh.

  “What is it, Papa? Who’s it for? What’s it say?” Mary was trying to grab the letter back, although she couldn’t have read it well even if she had.

  “That’s enough Mary, you run along now and go find your Uncle Jack. I will be along shortly to pick you up and we can head home.”

  Mary groaned and tried to reach for the paper again, but her father held it up and out of her reach.

  “Come on Papa! You know Uncle Jack’s no fun to play with. He’ll just tell me to color a picture so he can hang it on his desk, but I’ve colored him so many pictures already!”

  Mary sat down on a bale of hay that was against the wall and crossed her arms in a pouty tone.

  Jason laughed at her and shook his head.

  “Your uncle is plenty fun! Why he and I used to play all kinds of games when we were kids… you should ask him to tell you a story about it.”

  Mary shook her head, and continued to pout.

  “I don’t want to hear any old story! I want to play here with the horses!”

  Jason smiled, and put his hands up like a grizzle bear.

  “I say run along now! You better hurry before the grizzle bear comes and eats you up. Now… Git!” He playfully shooed her away, and she laughed as he tried to catch her. The horses stirred uneasily, so Jason calmed them when she was gone.

  She’s growing up so fast, he thought as he shushed the black horse closest to the door. To think! She’ll be six years old in just a couple of months. Lucinda was so proud of her.

  A feeling of sorrow started to rise up in him, but he pushed it back down as he looked at the letter once more.

  Hmmmm, Miss Amy Anne Dawson. That’s a very pretty name, though I think it should be prettier as Mrs. Amy Anne Shoats.

  He smiled as he squeezed the letter in his hand. He was going to head over to the post office right now and send her a reply… as well as a ticket out to Montana.

  Chapter 4 – It’s Worth a Shot

  Amy looked down at the letter in her hand. A feeling of surreal disbelief swept over her as she looked at the ticket for the stagecoach.

  Mr. Jason Shoats from Montana…. Montana! He lives clear across the country!

  The thought of leaving this small Mississippi town to marry a man all the way in Montana seemed to be madness to Amy Anne, but then again, so did staying here.

  It had been almost 3 weeks since she sent the letter in reply to the ad in the paper, and in that time her sisters had managed to throw 2 more parties. They had hosted the garden party they were planning the day she responded to the ad, then they hosted another party to prepare for the return of their parents.

  “I think we ought to put on a party to welcome Mother and Father back home.” Katherine announced the evening after their second party.

  “You’re just looking for an excuse to Mr. Gregory to see you in that red dress again.” Jane teased. The 4 sisters were out on the porch of their grand home, all working on various needlework crafts. They were chatting away about the parties they had, the parties they would like to have, and the suitors each sister favored.

  “Amy Anne! Why don’t you come out here and join us?” Margaret called into the house. Amy Anne heard her, but pretended that she hadn’t.

  “I say! Amy Anne!”

  “Why don’t you just leave her be? You know she doesn’t like the parties or the gentlemen we are talking about.” Katherine didn’t look up as she spoke, and Margaret shrugged.

  Amy Anne was glad the invitation for her to join them had been dismissed, for now she didn’t have to worry about making an excuse not to go out.

  I need to be packing… and thinking of a way to tell Mother and Father.

  Amy say down at the table with a pen and some paper. First, she penned a response to Mr. Shoats telling him he could expect her in the next few weeks, then she penned a note to her parents, telling them her plans.

  She didn’t know quite how to say it, or how they would take it, so she simply said what she had done and why. She told them both that she loved them, and thanked them for sharing their home with her for all these years.

  I suppose that’s going to have to do. I don’t know what else to say, and I’m certainly not saying anything to Katherine or anyone else about it!

  Amy Anne placed both letters in envelopes, then put one in her satchel, and went to give the other to Olga.

  Olga was once again in the garden. She liked it out there, saying that it was quiet and peaceful, and reminded her of the farm she grew up on.

  “I’ve written the letter, Olga… and I was wondering if you might give it to Mother and Father for me when they return. I am going to be leaving by the end of the week, and I don’t expect them to be home by then.”

  Olga looked at the letter, and reluctantly took it. She was the only person Amy Anne confided in, and she didn’t know what to say now.

  “I… I wish you all the happiness in the world, Miss Amy Anne, I trust you are making the right decision. Rememb
er, God is with you wherever you go.” she said slowly, her voice catching on her words.

  Tears were in Amy’s eyes as she leaned in to hug her friend.

  “I’ll write to you and let you know how everything is. I can’t wait to tell them all about you! And of course I’ll come back to visit.” She pulled back and smiled at Olga, who also mustered up a smile.

  “Of course.”

  Both women knew that a visit would be difficult, if not impossible, but they also knew it was a better way to part than planning to not see each other again.

  “I wish you all the best, and may you be happy!” Olga put her hands up in the air as she spoke, and Amy Anne laughed. If there was one person she was going to miss here, it would be Olga.

  The next few days passed quickly for Amy, but by the time she was to go, she was ready. She had left another note explaining what she was doing for her sisters to discover, but she had intentionally left it so they wouldn’t see it until after she had left.

  They had all gone down to the busy side of town to shop and look busy, but Amy had told them she felt better staying home. After they had gone, she put the note on the dining table, and grabbed her bags.

  Olga walked with her to the post office, and the 2 of them waited for the stage. Neither one of them said much, until the stagecoach pulled in front of the post office.

  “Are you quite certain you want to do this?” Olga asked as Amy Anne picked up her bags.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” Amy turned to face her friend, and smiled. “I don’t have a future here, Olga. I never have. I don’t remember ever being happy much since my real parents died, and I don’t see a future here with anyone else.

  I don’t know if this is a good idea or not, but Jason Shoats sounds nice, and his daughter needs a mother. As much as I can figure, this is worth a shot at least.”

  Olga nodded, and the two women embraced, then Amy Anne boarded the stagecoach. As they pulled away, she leaned out the window and watched Olga grow smaller and smaller into the distance as they left the town behind them.