“Thanks I really appreciate it.” Dex said. He had told the old man about Betsy and how he longed to bring her to Arizona.
“I just hope you can find something and bring your missy to you soon. I’ve always been the kind that loves to see young people happy!”, the old man said.
But now he wanted to read her mail. He wanted to see her words and imagine what her voice would sound like. Not for the first time he wondered how the young Betsy Collins would like this state. Would he be able to find gold and offer her an even better life? He hoped it would happen.
“The first thing I would do is send a ticket to you. I would pay for a trip by the train. It’s expensive, but if I had the money, you would be here as quick as possible.” Dex thought out loud.
Dex,
Hello sweetheart. I’ve reread each and every letter from you so many times now the paper is wearing through. I hope that we can soon have enough for a ticket so I can come to you. I feel that in person this would be a romance that every young girl wishes for. You seem very caring and like you would be a good husband and father. Yes I would love to have kids, and I love the fact that it’s warm out there. As for those cold winter nights you wrote about last time, with you keeping me warm I’m sure I will be able to handle them without issue. Some of the other things that sound nice are being able to watch the sunset from the top of a mountain. I told you I was up in the Blue Ridge Mountains with my parents when I was younger, and I loved the view. A home in the mountains would be something I would love. Yes I know the snow might fall on the mountain there as well, if it gets cold enough. But if that would ever happen, I’m sure it is nothing like what we see here. But I don’t know a lot about the Flagstaff area either, so you might. No matter it will be something that I would gladly deal with to be with you. I feel that after all of our correspondence I could honestly say that I would marry you when I get out there. So yes you can accept this as my yes to your question! I will gladly be Mrs. Betsy Harden. I hope this makes you as happy as it has made me. Until your next words, perhaps those will be ones of a ticket! I only have saved up about 20 dollars so far. I am sorry, but sometimes it is hard to find a lot of work.
With all my love and heart,
Betsy Harden
He laughed at how she had signed her name. Dex had been so happy when she had accepted his proposal through the mail. He knew that she could be different then what she seemed like in her letters, but he was willing to take the chance.
His heart was heavy as he went to look at the mountain and pick a spot. He had been disappointed so many times so far, he didn’t expect anything good today. “I’ve failed so many times, I’m sure this will be the same as any other time.”
As he rode the horse along, he looked for the signs that the prospector had told him. He ran the things through his mind, and finally picked a spot that might match as close to the signs as he could get. “If you are up there could you please let something good happen today?”, he said looking up at the sky.
He unpacked his equipment and started look for gold. He hoped today would be the day again. But even so he knew this process would be slow, unless he lucked out. “What are the real chances of finding a vein of gold in this mountain though?” He had to admit he knew his chances were out there.
Dex spent a few hours but found that his luck was the same today as every day in the past. “Tomorrow I’ll come and pick another spot.”, he stated. Though his mind was telling him to go back to searching the way he had been for months now. But he always seemed to find just a small portion of gold. The amount of gold he had found so far wasn’t even enough for her ticket.
The whole way home he was depressed. Dex had hoped that today would be different. That maybe he would first read one of her letters, be thinking about her, and her spirit would lead him to the right spot.
Getting home he washed up and curled up on the bed, too sad to even read one of her letters before drifting off for the night. He would need to be up for one of his jobs soon. He needed at least a few hours of sleep.
He had considered taking a blanket and sleeping out by the mountain. But that would mean he would have missed work, and he really wanted to get Betsy out here. Missing work would delay that arrival. He looked up at the ceiling and muttered. “Thanks a lot for the help.”
Chapter 2
Betsy Collins read the newest letter from her soon to be husband. Well she hoped it would be soon to be. Dex Harden was trying to save up money to get her to come to Arizona. They had exchanged a lot of letters in the past 8 months. She was getting more and more depressed the longer she had to wait for the ticket.
More than one time she wondered what kind of life they would have if he was this poor. But then she realized that if there wasn’t a ticket that needed to be purchased, they would surely have enough to live on. Well at least she hoped so, because she had fallen in love with Dex now.
He was 5 years older than her, but he was always so caring in his correspondence. Betsy thought he would be one of the nicest men in the world. Not that she had a lot of people to compare him too. She had never dated a man, and the only person she could compare him to was her father.
Her father had been a soft spoken man, but he had always been very caring for Betsy and her mother. She had never wanted for a single thing while he had been able to provide for her. But as they had gotten older, Betsy had to work to support her parents. It had been hard and the only reason she had been able to pay bills a lot of the time was because the family she helped out had paid them.
“You can simply work the money off in the future.”, they had told her.
It had taken her plenty of time to work the balance down, and now she had almost paid it all off. After that debt was paid she could earn more money each week and help Dex pay for the ticket. But as of right now, she barely had anything saved.
She closed her eyes and pictured him in her mind. He had described himself in his first letter to her.
Betsy,
Hello I found your classified very interesting. I am Dex Harden, I am a 26 year old farm worker. I don’t make a lot of money, but I would love to have a family. I hope that we can exchange letters and get to know each other better. I am 6’ 4” tall and weigh 200 pounds, though I think I’ve lost a bit now. I have black hair and green eyes. I wish I had the money to get a picture taken, but they are quite expensive to have done out here. I live in Flagstaff, Arizona. The land is one that is mountainous. I would love to find gold here, but have never really had luck the few times I tried in the past. I would love to find a woman who is kind and sweet. I would want someone who didn’t mind having kids, since this is one of the main reasons I’m looking for a mail-order bride. I like the idea that you want to get to know each other a bit more before committing. This is a big decision and one that I don’t take too lightly either. Please tell me your dreams for the future. What do you like to do? Do you wish to learn something new in life? Well I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours Truly,
Dex Harden
Betsy smiled as she reread the mail. It had been where they had begun their love affair. She really thought she loved him. How could she feel so much for him just by his words?, she thought and then picked up another of his letters.
In this one he had wrote her a poem. It had been heartfelt and very romantic. He made her feel like a princess. She reread the words of the poem out loud. She could barely make them all out, she had opened and closed this letter so many times.
My Dearest,
With you in my life I feel like I could do anything.
You make me feel the impossible is highly possible.
With you by my side, I know that my life will always be bright.
My love for you has no ends.
Through my life and until my last breath I will always let you know how I love you.
I hope you enjoyed those words of love. They may not be professional, but they come from my heart. I miss you Betsy, and I’ve never even met
you. How can this be? I don’t understand the hold you have on me from this distance. I hope that you will agree to be my wife. I would love nothing more than to hear back from you with a yes.
It can get cold here in the winter. I hope you don’t mind. I know I told you it can get hot here. Not as hot as it does down to the south. But if you like the hot weather more we could always venture down to Tombstone after you get here. We can decide this later though. Again, please be Mrs. Betsy Harden?
You are my love,
Dex
She wiped the tears that had started to run down her cheeks. She was happy and sad at the same time. Betsy really wanted to be with him already. The 8 months seemed so long now, and who knew if they would even be able to make it possible that she could get a ticket soon.
She knew that the distance was quite far between them. How long would it take for her once they got the ticket? She had months to wait even if they got the ticket today. But she knew that wouldn’t happen, he would give her updates on how much he had saved in each letter. The last total had been quite a bit under the amount they needed. He couldn’t have made up the difference by now.
“I wish we were together Dex.”, she cried as she looked down at his writing again and rereading the words on the page. Her heart ached with the happiness of knowing that she had found a wonderful man, or so she hoped.
Even she knew that he might just be putting nice words on the paper. People could fool you a lot. She had heard it happen to her friend. Sally had married a young man who seemed so nice. But behind closed doors he had hit her often. It had been months since she had seen the young girl, she only hoped she was still alive.
Betsy knew that in her mind Dex could be just like this man. But she had to take a chance. She hadn’t found anyone out here. Plus she had wanted to leave all the sad memories behind. With her parents passing it had been very rough on her.
She had been quite close with both of them. There was a void in her life that needed to be filled. But everywhere she turned out her she would picture her parents. Instead of bringing happiness to her, it often hurt her. They had died so quickly, she felt like she had been robbed of many years of happiness with them.
That was why the thought of getting out of town and placing the classified had first appealed to her. As soon as she placed it she had hope that the sadness would one day end. “When I get a response and leave this town I will be much better.”, she said...remembering her thoughts when she had first done it.
It had been true too. As soon as she got the letter from Dex she had felt lighter. She didn’t know him yet, but there was a new hope in her heart. It made each day seem at least a little brighter than it had been in some time. Now all these months later she was thrilled she had placed the classified.
“If I hadn’t done that I wouldn’t be going to Arizona soon. I wouldn’t have a husband either.” Betsy said.
In the last letter he had written he said when she came they didn’t have to get married right away if she didn’t want too. It had worried her a bit, she had thought maybe he was changing his mind about her. She had asked in her letter back to him, but hadn’t received anything back from him yet.
She did know it took a while for the mail to get between them, so she didn’t expect a possible reply for another week or so. If they had money, they could send telegrams to one another, and the communication would be more frequent. But Betsy knew she didn’t have the money, and didn’t want him to spend it either. She would rather be there with him then get the telegram.
“That is unless the telegram came to tell me he had gotten rich over night!”, she laughed. He had told her about the gold out in Arizona. She had remembered having dreams about one time a week or more about him hitting it big and sending for her.
That last letter had made her wonder if he had picked someone else though. She had a nightmare the day after she read it. In the dream he had sent her a letter. In his reply he had told her he hit for some big amount in gold. He had told her that he had picked another woman to marry instead of her. Sorry for making you wait all this time for nothing, he had ended the letter in the nightmare.
Even thinking of it now she almost cried. She had woken up that night and the tears had really been falling down her face. It had been the night after she had sent out her reply that she had the nightmare again. Now she simply hoped that it wasn’t a sign of what was to come.
Chapter 3
Dex read her new mail. He had just gotten it from the post office.
My Dearest Dex,
I hope that your comment about waiting to marry doesn’t mean you’ve changed your mind about me. I would hate to travel all the way out there to be all alone. It doesn’t sound like the type of adventure I would really enjoy. If this is the case I would rather that you tell me now and I can replace my classified with a new one for a possible new man.
Betsy
“Oh no she took that comment all wrong.” He could tell by reading the letter that she was worried. He hadn’t meant it that way, instead he had been worried she might back out. It was after all quite a huge deal for her to come all the way out here. What if she didn’t like him? What would he do with a woman who he was sure was beautiful who didn’t like him? She wouldn’t want to marry him. He would hate to be around someone who was always mean. So he had figured he would give her the freedom to tell him yes or no or simply that we can wait a bit. With all these choices he was sure she would feel safe coming out.
He didn’t want her to feel that he would lock her in the house and tie her up so she couldn’t escape. He hadn’t wanted her to feel rejected. That was the best way he could figure to explain how he felt she might feel as he read the words of her letter again.
She’s more scared now then she was before, he thought. He pulled out some paper and knew that he would have to correct this as quickly. He wished not for the first time that he had the money for a telegram. But it would cut into the money too much and delay the time when he could see her. It would make both of them have to wait more time, he didn’t want that.
My Lovely Betsy,
I was in no way implying that I didn’t want to marry you. The fact is that I would marry you through the mail if at all possible. But of course when I marry you I want to be able to kiss your lips lightly. I want to be able to show you how I feel about you, in more intimate ways as well. I was only trying to let you know that if you weren’t sure of me when you got here I would not tie you up. I will not force you to marry me or else either, I will give you any time that you need to decide if you love me or not. I hope this makes you feel better. I wanted to buy a telegram to send this, but I want to see you so much more. I feel that if I wait too long to get your ticket another will find you and scoop you out from underneath me. Please wait for me to get the money, I love you.
Your future husband,
Dex
He looked at the words again and then went to mail it. On the way he almost stopped and instead sent the telegram. His heart ached when he thought of Betsy and how she must feel right now. Her doubts of his love had hurt him. But he couldn’t blame her either, maybe it could sound like he was getting cold feet. Not for the first time since receiving her letter did he feel bad about his lack of explanation in the last letter.
But to have her here with me and be able to hold her close, he thought. He could imagine how it would feel to hug her and kiss her. That was the only reason he didn’t send the telegram. The want to have her close to him was so strong. It was killing him waiting so long.
He was more determined today as he headed to the mountain later in the day. “Please if you can’t do this on any other day could you please do it today? I need her with me, please let me find something good.” He said looking up at the sky once more.
He dug for a bit, then took a few minutes to pan a bit of the silt from the bottom of the little creek. He found a few nice sized chunks of gold. That would help a lot with the ticket for Betsy. He smiled. He went back to the mountain
for a bit but didn’t find anything more.
As he left he felt better than he had in quite some time though. He had found quite a bit of gold overall. Perhaps he was closer than he knew to getting enough saved up. Tomorrow after he got out of work he would take his gold to the market. The money he would get for it would go into his hiding spot and towards the ticket he was going to get her.
He didn’t want to bring her by carriage though, that could take as long as another 3 months. What he really wanted was to have her here overnight by taking the new train. This option is what he really wanted to be able to get. But if he had to he would buy the other ticket.
However, not for the first time he hoped this haul today would get him a lot closer to his hopes. He had gone to town and placed a stake on that part of land quickly. Now he would have to spend his time up there making sure no one else would steal what could be now considered his gold.
“Maybe I’ll do this a few more times before I go turn in the gold. What would I do if I was only a few gold pieces short of the train? Would I instead buy the carriage ticket? What if I waited just a day more and I had the money?”, he asked himself all of these questions.
It seemed stupid to make them both wait longer to be together. If he hadn’t bought that ring last month for her, he wondered how close he would be now. But it had been so stunning, it made him think of her when he had seen it in the store.
“I’ll take that ring.”, he had said to the man behind the counter. It had taken a lot of his savings. He hadn’t told her, not because he wanted to hide it from her. But he had wanted the ring to be a nice surprise for her when she first got here.
Now he wondered again if it had been so wise to do. He could have waited until he had her ticket and then save up for the ring. “But what if she wanted to get married when she first got here?, he said.
As far as he was concerned, they could go immediately to find the judge and become husband and wife. He had no doubt about his decision. However, on occasion he would hear a warning from deep inside of his mind. Don’t think she’s the perfect person, she could be someone different, it would shout out.
The Duke's Dilemma: Regency Romance Menage Short Stories Page 45
