Mail Order Melody

by Kirsten Osbourne

  Pastor Gibbons stepped forward. "I was told she had the voice of an angel. That was an understatement. Eliza, you are welcome to sing for us anytime you'd like."

  Eliza inclined her head calmly, moving closer to Calvin and gripping his hand tightly. How had she been able to get on so many stages and not have this man to come back to when she was done? She rested her head on his shoulder as they listened to the sermon about God's love.

  *****

  Eliza and Abigail worked together to prepare Christmas dinner, each of them having prepared part of it before meeting up. Eliza had left the dinner rolls to rise on the work table, and the turkey was in the oven while they were at church. Calvin had gone out and shot a turkey just the day before because Eliza was so adamant that turkey was what needed to be served for Christmas dinner. She'd not had what she would consider a real Christmas dinner in years, and she'd gone all out to make up for that fact.

  They all feasted on the huge meal the women made, and the men talked while the women worked on the dishes and giggled softly together. Afterward, they all gathered in a circle and sang Christmas carols, Eliza's voice leading them all. Calvin's voice constantly hit bad notes, but she just sang a little louder so she wouldn't hear them.

  By the end of the long day, Eliza felt that their friendship with the other couple had been cemented forever. How could anyone doubt it after the beautiful day they'd spent together?

  *****

  It wasn't until he was just about to go to sleep for the night that the traveling salesman, John Turner, realized what had been so odd about the girl singing in church that morning.

  No matter where John ended up, he always made certain he was in church on Christmas morning, and he'd expected nothing from the service there in Pudville. When Eliza had gotten up to sing he'd been amazed by the beautiful voice filling the church, and somehow it had seemed familiar to him just as the girl's face had.

  Finally, he understood why. She looked exactly like L'Angelina, an opera singer he'd seen several times during his travels. And her voice...yes, she was L'Angelina. He'd heard the girl was missing and her manager was looking everywhere for her. There was a reward for the person who found her, and it was over two hundred dollars. That was a lot of money in John's world. Why, he could send that home to his family, and they wouldn't have to worry about finances for a good long while.

  First thing in the morning, he'd go to the telegraph office and send word back east that he'd found the missing opera singer. Who would ever believe she'd be singing in a small church on Christmas morning in Missouri of all places?

  *****

  It was mid-January when Eliza started vomiting. Every morning like clockwork, she was throwing up everything inside her. At first, she thought she was just sick, but she quickly realized that she was late for her monthly as well. She was pregnant. She didn't know whether she should be ecstatic or scared to death.

  She wasn't ready to tell Calvin yet. She wanted to wait until she was ready to tell him all her secrets before she told him about the baby. Soon, she promised herself. She'd tell him soon, and he'd be as thrilled as she was.

  She began making tiny little clothes for the baby, hiding them away when she was done. It was easy enough to hide her vomiting from Calvin, claiming she wanted to take off a few pounds and was going to not eat breakfast.

  "But you're perfect just the way you are!" he protested. "I like you with your curves."

  Eliza just smiled and squeezed his hand. "I appreciate that, but I don't feel comfortable with myself. I need to take off a few pounds so that I will." She hoped he believed her, because she didn't want to explain why she was vomiting her breakfast just yet.

  Calvin shook his head at her. "What will be left to hold on to?"

  She laughed. "I won't get that thin. I promise."

  She was both elated and sad at the same time about the baby.

  She knew that she would never perform on a real stage again if she was a mother. She wouldn't ruin her child's life that way. Never would she allow her baby to have to deal with the stigma of having a mother on the stage. No matter how much she enjoyed what she did.

  "What are you doing today?" she asked one morning as she sipped ginger tea, trying to calm her heaving stomach.

  He looked at her with surprise. "I'm just riding fences as usual."

  She studied him carefully. "I'd like to come with you, if I may. I've never even seen the entire ranch."

  He seemed to think about it for a moment before agreeing. "I think that would be fine. Do you ride?"

  She shook her head. "No, I never learned how. Could I ride with you?" She liked the idea of riding with him rather than risking being thrown while she was carrying anyway.

  He smiled as he thought about it. "Absolutely."

  Thirty minutes later, she was on the front of his saddle in his lap, riding out toward the cattle. "What we do is just ride around, testing different areas for the fence strength. I want to make certain we don't lose any cattle to neighbors. It hasn't happened in a long time, but sometimes rustlers will come through and cut the fences to steal some of the cattle. We don't need that at all."

  When they reached an area where the fence needed to be fixed, they got down and she held the wires together for him so he could nail them down properly. Until that day she'd had no idea just how vast the property really was. While they worked, she sang one of her favorite arias, her voice carrying across the entire area. Several of his men stopped what they were doing and rode closer so they could hear her better.

  He stopped her. "You need to stop singing. You're enticing my men." He couldn't explain the overwhelming anger that overtook him when he saw his men looking at her with admiration, not lust, in their eyes.

  She looked at him with shock. "Enticing the men? When I sang at church was I enticing people there?"

  "No, but now you're singing in another language. It sounds like a siren's song." He folded his arms over his chest and gave her a look that told her he was annoyed with her.

  "Are you serious? You don't want me singing my favorite songs because they're in other languages? I can tell you what the words mean!"

  "But it won't tell the men you're enticing what the words mean, so what good will that do you?" He knew he was being ridiculous even as he said the words, but she was keeping secrets from him, and they had something to do with her singing. He was sure of it.

  "Take me home, please. I want to be able to sing without enticing your men." She glared at him, angry that he would accuse her of trying to do something so ridiculous.

  "I'd have to leave my work for thirty minutes to get you home now."

  She was so angry she wanted to kick him. "I don't care. Take me home."

  "If I take you home now, you'll never come with me again."

  "Take. Me. Home."

  "Fine!" He walked to his horse and held his hand down for her to help her up. She used his foot to step onto to get onto his lap again. Suddenly she wished there was another place for her to sit on the horse, but she knew it was a silly thing to wish for.

  They didn't speak the entire way back to the house. He helped her down, and without looking at her said, "I’ll be back for lunch in an hour. Because I had to waste my time bringing you back, make me something I can carry with me, so I don't have to take a break."

  She didn't agree, but walked into the house with her head held high. An hour later when he returned, she had three bacon sandwiches for him and a jar of water for him to drink. She didn't much care if he choked on his food at that point.

  She was fuming all afternoon as she moved her things from his room into the spare room down the hall. She wouldn't spend her nights with him when he thought she was trying to entice other men. He would learn just how much he'd hurt her.

  *****

  By the time Calvin got home for supper that evening, he was regretting his harsh words. He knew he needed to apologize, and he was ready to do it. Carrying his hat in his
hand he went into the house. He walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.

  She shrugged it off. "Please stop touching me."

  He sighed. "Don't be that way, Eliza. I want to apologize for what I said."

  She walked to another part of the kitchen and turned to face him. "You can apologize until you're blue in the face. You had no right to say those things to me, and I won't put up with it ever again." She turned her back on him and continued fixing supper.

  He slammed out the door to go and milk the cows, angry that she was being so stubborn. He'd apologized for his temper. What more did she want from him?

  When the door slammed behind Calvin, Eliza sank into a chair and wept, burying her face in her hands. She loved him, and he didn't trust her. What kind of woman fell in love with a man who didn't trust her?

  She refused to talk to him as they ate, even refusing to let her eyes meet his. He could see that she'd been crying, and he wanted to make it up to her, but he just didn't know how. What could he do to make her realize that he knew he'd been an idiot?

  After doing the dishes, Eliza went straight up to bed going to the room she'd moved her things into that afternoon. She was already in bed when she heard him stomping up the stairs. It took less than a minute for the door to the room she was sleeping in to be flung open and slammed against the wall.

  "What are you doing in here? Hiding from me?"

  Eliza propped herself up on one elbow and glared at him. "What difference does it make to you? You don't even trust me. This is my room now. Go to bed, Calvin."

  Calvin stood there glaring at her, his chest heaving for a long moment, before he left, closing the door behind him. He moved into his solitary bedroom and stared down at the bed they'd shared. How was he going to sleep there without her beside him? What had he done?

  Chapter Six

  Several days later they were still barely talking to one another. Eliza slept in the spare room every night, and Calvin was so angry with her for leaving his bedroom that he didn't try again to make amends.

  "I need to go to town today. Is there anything you need me to pick up for you?" he asked. Even if she was actively ignoring him, he wasn't about to be rude to her. He'd been raised better than that.

  "I have several things I need, but I'd like to ride along and pick them out for myself. One of the things I need is fabric, and you know that you're not the best at picking out fabric for me." She didn't meet his eyes as she said the words, simply spoke in a soft voice and took another bite of her eggs. The morning sickness had finally passed and she was able to eat her breakfast again. He'd been thrilled to see her eating three meals a day again and said nothing else about her attempt to lose weight.

  "Fine. Be ready around ten." He left the house and went to the bam, saying nothing else to her.

  While he was gone, she sat down and wrote out a list of things that she needed from the store. They needed more flour and sugar as well as other staples, and she wanted to get more fabric so she could make a quilt for the baby. She'd already made one for Abigail, and now it was time she made one for her own child. Keeping her hands busy kept her heart from hurting over her husband's accusations.

  They were silent the whole way into town. She realized that Calvin had stopped singing since they'd had their fight, and she hated that his happiness was gone. She didn't hate that he'd stopped singing, of course, but she hated that he didn't feel the urge to sing because he was so unhappy.

  When they reached town, the mercantile owner smiled at Eliza. "I have a letter for you."

  Eliza smiled and took the letter from him. Only Beulah knew she was there so she knew the letter must be from her sister. She walked back to the corner of the store to read it and immediately started shaking.

  She was a great deal more emotional now than she had been when she got the first letter threatening her sister. This one was short and to the point.

  "Stop singing, even in church, if you want your sister and nephews to stay alive. We're watching you."

  The tears sprang to her eyes immediately, and she shook, scared about what would happen if they realized she was singing.

  Calvin found her there several minutes later. He forgot all about being angry with her and put his arms around her, holding her close. "Everything's going to be okay. Whatever it is, we'll work through it together." Would she ever open up to him about whatever it was she was hiding? He wasn't certain how much longer he could support her without knowing what was happening.

  Eliza buried her face in his shoulder, needing to tell him everything. She couldn't there, though, so she gulped and sobbed out, "Let's go talk somewhere. I need to tell you something." She knew she couldn't put it off for another minute.

  Calvin kept one arm around her as he led her to the wagon, leaving all their supplies they'd selected with a promise to be back for them. He drove to the edge of town and pulled to the side of the road where they wouldn't be seen. "What have you been hiding from me?"

  She told him her story in gulping sobs, explaining about how her parents had died, and her sister had married. She revealed how when Sebastian had heard her sing, she'd agreed to travel with him and begin her career. She talked about the long hours on the road and of how little she'd been allowed to see her family.

  "In November, we pulled into a small town in Massachusetts, and I was at the end of my rope. I was tired of Sebastian treating me like a child and making all my decisions for me. I escaped from him toward the women's waiting room, but on my way, someone gave me a note. I didn't see who it was in the crush of the crowd waiting for the next train." She told him what it said, and he stared at her with surprise.

  "Is that why you agreed to be my wife? To try to save your sister and nephews?" It suddenly all made sense. She hadn't been hiding it from him for herself but instead, it was to save her sister. He wished she'd trusted him, but he understood wanting to save her family.

  She nodded. "I didn't know what else to do. When I heard the conversation between Elizabeth and Dorothy, all I could think was that God had provided me with this opportunity to save my family. So I took it. I didn't know what else to do." She stared off into space for a moment. "I got here and everything seemed so wonderful. I love being your wife. You have always treated me so well, as if I was a lady and not a performer. Well, until a few days ago." She glared at him, remembering just then that she was angry with him. Did he think less of her now that he knew she'd been on the stage singing for thousands?

  He slipped his arm around her shoulders, holding her close.

  "I had no idea you'd once performed. No wonder you reacted so strongly to me saying that. I'm very sorry, Eliza. I don't think of you as a performer. I promise." Knowing she'd been on the stage at one point made him feel ashamed. Eliza had done nothing wrong, but still Calvin had added to the shame she'd felt for doing what she was good at.

  She nodded, her head down. "I know you don't." She handed him the letter she'd just received, watching him read it. She said a silent prayer for his support and help with the man who was threatening her family.

  "They found you? Whoever it is?" His brown eyes met her green.

  "Yes, and I don't know what to do. All I can think of is bringing her and the boys here so I can make certain they're all right, but I've been found. What am I supposed to do now?"

  He studied her for a moment. "Do you have any idea who it is who's threatening you?"

  She shrugged. "I think it's probably another singer. The profession is fiercely competitive and the others would do just about anything to get me out of the way." She hated to point fingers at other women who had been her only friends and colleagues for years, but she knew it had to be one of them.

  "We have to find out who it is. You can't spend the rest of your life being afraid to sing."

  "I know, but I have to make sure my family is safe first. I can't risk them." How could she let him know just how desperately afraid she was for her sister and nephews?


  "Does your sister know she's been threatened?"

  "No, I never told her. I didn't want her to worry about the boys." She stared at her hands where she was worrying her drawstring purse. "I guess I need to tell her. I sent her a letter through her mother-in-law, telling her to be careful and asking her to respond the same way. I don't want them to be hurt." She couldn't live with herself if her family was hurt because of her career.

  "No, of course not. What about your manager? What would he do if he found you?" Her manager really frightened him more than the man threatening her family. He had never met her family but he knew he needed her in his life.

  Eliza shook her head. "I don't think there's anything he can do. I'm not under contract." She shrugged. "He'd want me back because I made him rich, but I'm not obligated to him in anyway." Sebastian frightened her, but he really wasn't a bad man.

  "Could he help us?" His mind raced to find a way they could get her sister out to them so they could be certain she was safe. He could see on Eliza's face that she wouldn't feel safe until her sister and both nephews were somewhere that she could see them on a daily basis.

  She thought about that for a moment. "He might be able to, but he'd want me to go back on the road with him." She didn't want to have to deal with Sebastian again. He would try to get her to leave Calvin because he wanted the money she would make him.

  Calvin studied her carefully. "Do you want to go back on the road with him?" He hated the idea of losing her, but would she be happier if she were singing again?

  "Not at all. I hated being on the road. And...well, I'm pregnant, so now isn't a good time to go on the road anyway. I can't ever sing on stage again if I don't want my child to spend their life being looked down on." She knew it wasn't the way she should have told him about the baby, but she needed him to understand exactly where she was coming from.