Double Wedding: Sweet Historical Mail Order Brides of Lowell

by MaryAnn Burnett

  DOUBLE WEDDING

  Sweet Historical Mail Order Brides of Lowell #1

  MaryAnn Burnett

  Annie Singer wanted a life that wasn’t cooped up in a dark room with noisy, dusty machinery all day. She wanted someone to love and someone who would love her.

  She wanted a life.

  And that wasn’t going to happen in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1866.

  Annie found an advertisement that would change her life.

  ‘Nebraska farmer needs wife.

  Must be honest, hardworking and God-fearing.

  Must be willing to travel immediately.’

  George Pulaski couldn’t believe his sister had sent for a Mail Order Bride for him. Could she possibly have found the perfect bride for him? Or was this all going to go terribly wrong?

  Nebraska Territory 1866

  CHAPTER ONE

  After four days of travel, Annie Singer felt almost comforted by the swaying of the train car. The rocking ease slightly. Were they getting close? Now that the moment of truth was fast approaching, could she really do it? Could she marry a man she’d only met through his letters?

  Annie reached for her straw hat with the pink ribbon rosette stitched to the band near the front. She had said she’d be wearing it so George and his sister, Molly, could recognize her. If she pulled the rosette off now, no one would know. She could walk around the station platform and get a look at the man before he saw her. Her hand hovered over the ruched ribbon.

  No.

  She firmly placed the hat on her head, adjusted the angle, and determinedly jammed the long hat pin into her dark brown hair. She had said she would be on the train arriving at 2pm today and that she’d be wearing this hat. She was a woman of her word and now was not the time to change that. With a nod to herself, she leaned over to watch out the window.

  It really was hard to believe she’d actually gotten on the train, let alone was almost at her destination. A few months ago, when Pastor Brown told the congregation of women, in a town of mainly women, about the opportunity for a select few to travel to the frontier town of Seattle to be teachers, it was all everyone talked about for days.

  Annie had thought to apply. Working in the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts and living in dorms with so many other women was a mind numbing life. When her family had sent her there just after her fourteen birthday, she’d understood that they needed the extra income. But after eight years, her brothers and sisters had grown up and now had families of their own. After so many years apart, she was a stranger to them all. Her reason for living and working this factory life was no longer there. Thinking of her future and dreams, she considered going. It was common knowledge that the frontier had many single men and the women who went would find husbands easily. Regrettably, Annie had taken too long to make up her mind and all the positions for Seattle had filled.

  A few weeks later, she watched the wagon with Sarah and her roommates leave to start their new lives in the frontier town of Seattle. Their departure turned Annie’s thoughts to leaving Lowell herself. At two-and-twenty, she was an old maid in a factory town with few men. She wanted a life that didn’t require being cooped up in a dark room with noisy, dusty machinery all day. She wanted someone to love and someone who would love her. She wanted a life. And that wasn’t going to happen in Lowell.

  She’d come across the advertisement in the local newspaper that seemed the answer to her prayers.

  ‘Nebraska farmer needs wife.

  Must be honest, hardworking and God-fearing.

  Must be willing to travel immediately.’

  With both fear and hope, Annie worked on her letter for several days before she mailed her answer to the advertisement. Even if the farmer responded as soon as he got her letter, it would still be at least two weeks before his reply came. After a week, she couldn’t help herself and began checking daily with her landlady. When the response finally did arrive, Annie’s landlady brought the letter to her as soon as the postman dropped it off. That first letter from the Nebraska farmer, George Pulaski, was friendly and Annie liked him right away. Her answering letter was in the post the next day.

  Over the next several months, their letters became longer. Annie shared how she had come to live in Lowell and why she’d answered his advertisement. And George shared how he and his sister had lost their parents and how much he was looking forward to having a family of his own. With each exchange of letters they grew to know each other.

  Now, she had a one-way ticket to Tribilane in the Nebraska Territory. She had never done anything so impulsive in her entire life. She had packed up all of her possessions in a large carpet bag and here she was.

  She felt the sway of the train slow a little more. The butterflies in her stomach took flight as she saw a small group of wooden buildings appear in the distance.

  CHAPTER TWO

  George Pulaski stepped into the house and inhaled the wonderful smell of roast meat and apple pie, his favorites. He took his gun belt off and set it on the chest by the door. Molly didn’t cotton to guns at the supper table. With the smells coming from the kitchen, he didn’t want anything to put him on Molly’s bad side.

  “Hey, Sis. What’s the occasion? We’ve got three more days until Sunday.”

  His sister’s face turned red. Not uncommon after leaning over the big cast iron monster of a cook stove. Her face was hidden by her apron while she wiped her forehead. When she looked up again, she was back to normal. All she said was, “Wash up. I’m putting supper on the table. I hope you’re hungry.”

  A few minutes later, the siblings clasped hands across the old oak table that had been in the main room of the old homestead for as long as they could remember. They’d gotten in the habit of alternating who said grace. George said it at dinner and Molly said grace at their noon time meal. Molly bowed her head and said, “Lord, thank you for this bounty, for our health, and please watch over those who travel. Amen.”

  George tilted his head to look at Molly. That last bit was new. “Are you planning on taking a trip soon?”

  “Hmm? What? Oh, my no,” Molly’s face went red.

  There was something going on. He chewed on a bite of roast as he thought. Everyone they knew lived close by. But still, something was off.

  “Molly, is someone coming to visit us?”

  Molly choked and started coughing. When he moved to get up, she raised her hand to stop him. She put down her fork, took a drink of water, then finally looked at him. “Well, actually, yes.”

  “Who?”

  “Annie.”

  “Who’s Annie? I’ve never heard you talk about her.”

  Molly was folding and unfolding her napkin, looking more like she was eight years old than nineteen. “We’ve been corresponding for the last few months.” She slapped the napkin down on the table, stood up and all in one breath said, ”Annie’s very nice, she’d love to live on a farm, and she’ll be here tomorrow.” Molly plopped back into her chair. “So there.”

  George just stared at his sister. He wasn’t exactly sure what was going on. “Al-right,” he said in a long, drawn out sigh to give himself time to think.

  Before he could figure out what question to ask, Molly’s face brightened. She jumped up from her chair, hugged him then began excitedly pacing the room. “I’m so glad you agree. You’re going to make each other so happy. I’ll start packing up what I want to take and what you can keep. I—”

  “Whoa! How did we get from your pen pal visiting to you packing up?”

  Molly blinked at him several times. Then she smiled and continued, “Of course, I
’ll stay here for a while, to keep everything proper, you know. And to help with the wedding planning. Wouldn’t a double wedding be wonderful?”

  George ran his hand through his hair making the sandy strands spike up on the top of his head. He opened his mouth to speak and nothing came out. It sounded suspiciously like his sister was talking about his wedding. And as far as he knew, he hadn’t been courting any woman named Annie. “Whose wedding?”

  “Whose wedding? Haven’t you been listening? Mine and James, and yours and Annie’s.” Molly stood there with her hands on her hips like she hadn’t just said the most preposterous thing.

  “Now just a minute.” George lost his appetite and stood up to face his crazy sister. “I have no intention of getting married.” And to drive the point home, he added an emphatic, “Ever!”

  “Don’t you dare back out of our deal, George.”

  George’s head was spinning. “What deal?”

  “You don’t remember, do you?” When George just stared at her, she continued. “When Ma and Pa died, we promised to take care of each other. I’m trying to keep up my end of the bargain.” Molly stepped forward and began poking a finger in his chest. “And you are trying to get out of your part.”

  “Now hold on. And stop poking me.” George grabbed her hand and let go of it almost as fast. He knew that she-cat look in Molly’s eyes. She was getting herself good and riled about this. “Don’t you go saying I’m not taking care of you. I give you a roof over your head and plenty to eat.”

  “And what about a family of my own, a husband, children?”

  “Everyone knows James has been wanting to marry you for a long time but you keep putting him off. Don’t go blaming your cold feet on me.”

  Molly advanced on him with a murderous look in her eyes. “My cold feet. My cold feet. My…” Each utterance got louder. “Arrrrgh!” She stopped just short of running into him and threw her arms up in the air. “You idiot! I want to marry James more than anything. I’ve put him off because I can’t leave you until you marry.” She swung her arms around to encompass the room. “There is no way you can take care of the fields and everything in here by yourself.”

  The head of steam George had been building to fight his sister deflated. He slumped into the wooden rocker next to him. “You haven’t married because of me?” He could barely get the question out past the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.

  The wild look in her eyes was gone and she knelt down in front of him. “Of course. We promised.” She said it like that was all the explanation needed. And for Molly, it would be. How could he have been so selfish not to see that?

  “Why do you think I’ve been going out of my way to be nice to every unmarried woman within a day’s drive? Pulling you into my conversations with them?” She got up and slapped his shoulder. “I even endured an afternoon of canning with Silly Sally just to show you she knew how to take care of a house.”

  “You never liked her. I wondered why you invited her.” George was beginning to feel a big, lead ball of guilt settle into his stomach.

  Molly’s voice gentled but the intensity remained as she continued. “You’re five and twenty. If you don’t marry soon, you’ll be an old man no one will want. Then where will I be?” George smiled a bit at her logic. But her next words brought him up short.

  “When you didn’t show any interest in any of the locals, I got desperate. I placed an advertisement in an east coast newspaper.”

  “You placed a what?” George practically roared as he leapt out of the chair. “You made me a laughing stock?”

  “I did no such thing. Aren’t you listening? I placed an advertisement in an EAST COAST newspaper. No one here knows.”

  Now it was George’s turn to pace the room. “So this woman, this Annie, answered the advertisement?”

  “Oh, yes. She did, along with eight other women. But Annie was the best. We’ve been writing each other. She knows all about you and me and the farm. I just know she’s perfect for you.”

  “You mean to tell me a woman travels across the country to marry a man she’s never met because his sister suggests it?”

  “Well, no. Not exactly.” Molly said in a voice barely above a whisper. Molly pulled a bundle of letters, tied with a lavender ribbon, out of her apron pocket. She held the packet out to him. “Annie thinks you’ve been writing to her and you proposed marriage to her. That’s why she’s on the train.”

  George marched out of the house after Molly dropped the bundle of letters in his hand. He’d been so frustrated, he left the packet on the front porch and spent the next several hours chopping wood, sharpening the plow blade, and any other heavy labor he could think of. It was a lot easier not to think, not to let the guilt take over when his body was exhausted.

  But this time, it didn’t help.

  Finally, curiosity and guilt got the better of him. He sat on the porch steps and pulled out the letter with the oldest post mark. He read the packet of letters straight through, then went back and read some of them again. Molly was right. Annie was an amazing woman. She was funny and hard-working. She’d also had a hard life being shipped away from family to live with strangers like that. But she didn’t complain about it, just stated the facts so he’d know. Like it was what everyone’s family did.

  He finished reading by the lantern light Molly had placed in the front window. It was way past dinner time but she hadn’t disturbed him. He got up, brushed the dust off the seat of his sturdy canvas work pants. Sometime during his reading, he’d made a decision. For all their sakes, Molly’s, Annie’s, and his, he was going to meet Annie at the train tomorrow and give her a chance.

  CHAPTER THREE

  George sat on the bench seat of the wagon waiting for the train. The big clock on the side of the station building said it was quarter to two. The train carrying his possible future bride would be rolling into town shortly. His future bride. Possible future bride, he corrected his thoughts.

  They’d arrived in town an hour ago, not wanting to be late. Both he and Molly ran errands about town, but George finished and sat on the buckboard staring at the tracks.

  He felt a hand on his knee and looked down into Molly’s excited face.

  “She’s almost here.” Molly whispered. He patted her hand then climbed down to stand beside her.

  “Have you thought about how we’ll introduce her to folks?” he asked.

  Molly’s eyes grew huge and her mouth drew into a circle, “Oh, I didn’t think about that.”

  “Well, I’ve been thinking.” George had been contemplating this as he sat waiting. While he was coming round to the possibility of marrying a woman who answered a newspaper advertisement, he didn’t want others to know. “Pa had an aunt back east. We can say she’s a friend of Aunt Prudence’s that you’ve been corresponding with and she’s come for a visit.”

  Molly clapped her hands, the merriment back in her eyes. “That’s wonderful.”

  Just then, George heard a faint whistle and turned his attention to the tracks at the horizon. Billows of white smoke appeared above a black steam engine barreling toward town.

  He looked down at his Sunday best and brushed dust off the trousers. He hoped he and Molly looked presentable enough for their visitor. He took Molly’s arm and helped her up onto the platform as the wail of the train whistle became deafening. George had often been in town when a train stopped, but never this close to the train station and certainly not on the platform. He thought for sure he’d never hear again when the train blew its whistle and also steam out the sides as it pulled into the station. He grabbed Molly and pulled her away from the dangerous plume of steam.

  Finally, it was quiet for a moment before everyone started to hustle about. The conductor stepped out of one of the passenger cars and helped people off the train. Molly was squeezing his arm with both of her hands as she raised up on her toes for a better view. A few men and an older woman got off the train. George let out his breathe in relief when the woman hugged
someone waiting for her on the platform. For a moment, no one else got off the train. Then when he was about to turn around, he saw a gloved hand pass a carpet bag to the conductor. The conductor placed the bag on the platform, smiled and raised his hand to assist a passenger.

  A woman descended to the platform. She was dressed in the height of fashion. At least, George figured it was, as her clothes were far finer than any he’d ever seen. Then the woman turn toward them and he felt as if someone had grabbed his heart and stopped it from beating. She was beautiful.

  He tried to stop staring at her so he could see who else was coming off the train. Molly started waving her arm above her head and calling, “Annie.” The woman slowly raise her hand and gave a tentative smile. That’s when George saw the pink ribbon flower on her straw hat. His mouth went dry. What had he agreed to? How could he possibly ask a lady as beautiful and fragile as she looked to milk a cow or muck out a stall?

  Nebraska Territory 1866

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Annie handed her carpetbag to the conductor waiting just outside the car door. She pulled at the bottom of the shirtwaist on the periwinkle blue dress she’d bought specifically for this trip. It was the finest dress she’d ever owned. She’d thought about waiting and not wearing it until the wedding. But this first meeting was just as important as the wedding. So she’d changed into the beautiful, bright blue dress with its black braided trim at the last stop.

  Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she exhaled and placed her new pearl buttoned boot down on the ornate iron step. Annie accepted the conductor’s help to hand her down and began looking for the brother and sister who were to be here to meet her. She only knew that they were nineteen and twenty-five and very close as they’d lost their parents at an early age. She hadn’t thought to ask more about what they looked like. She hoped they would recognize her hat the way she described it.