by Sarah Banks
Both children seemed content with his answer and he turned back to Elizabeth when George asked another question.
“Where do those stairs go?” He asked, pointing at the circular staircase tucked in the corner.
Elizabeth stared down at her brother, giving him a look of exasperation.
George gave her a sheepish look. “I just wanted to know.”
“They go upstairs to some empty bed—, er, rooms.”
“Why are they empty?” He persisted.
“Enough George. You’ll have a lifetime to ask him questions.”
Will found himself oddly pleased at her response. He was looking forward to spending a lifetime with her.
“For now, let’s just get the introductions out of the way, have lunch and then…” She looked at him.
“Get married,” he finished.
“Yes,” she said with a shy smile. “Get married.” She pulled her eyes away. She went on to introduce him to her sixteen-year-old sister Margaret, fourteen-year-old brother Charles, eleven-year-old brother George and sister Alice, who were twins, and finally her son.
She walked back to Margaret who was holding the dark-haired chubby toddler, “This is Daniel.”
He had shaken the hands of all of her brothers and sisters, so he took Daniel’s hand in his and shook it as well. It was moist and sticky. “It’s nice to meet you sir,” he said sincerely, chucking the child’s chin, making him laugh.
Will turned to Elizabeth who was smiling at their interaction. “He looks just like you.”
Elizabeth exchanged a startled glance with her sister Margaret. “Yes, he does.”
“Is he named after his father?”
Margaret’s look turned stricken and Elizabeth patted her arm comfortingly. Will wondered what he had said wrong.
“No, sadly my husband had already passed before Daniel was born. We all decided on the name Daniel together, but he isn’t named after anyone in particular.”
Will digested that bit of news. He hadn’t realized that her husband had died while she was expecting their first child. She must’ve been so frightened, but at least she hadn’t been alone. Thank goodness she had her sisters and brothers.
Elizabeth gave him a bright smile. “Well, shall we get going? We have a lot to do.”
Chapter Three
It was a whirlwind afternoon. It was very kind for Will to take them all out to lunch. They never ate out. It was too expensive, especially for the six of them and money was the main reason she had become a mail order bride in the first place. Her brief stint working outside the home after the death of Sam hadn’t brought in enough income to support them. Instead, it had brought on a host of other problems that she hadn’t been able to foresee. Marrying again had seemed to be the only other route. She refused to again entertain the idea of her brothers and sisters working when they should only have to worry about school and chores and being kids. She looked around the table at each of her siblings, all eating heartily and chatting happily, and she knew she had done the right thing. They were all still children, even Margaret. Margaret was almost seventeen now, but it felt like much more than three years difference between their ages.
Their mother had died when the twins were five. Elizabeth was happy that they at least had some memories of her because she knew others weren’t so fortunate. But it had been the most terrifying time of Elizabeth’s life because half of her siblings had fallen ill as well. She spent every second of that time split between keeping the healthy ones from succumbing to illness and nursing the sick back to health. Everyone had survived except their mother.
Elizabeth being the oldest, naturally took on the role of mother. Her father never remarried. Every day was the same, she made him coffee, a large breakfast and packed his lunch and he was off to work at the docks. She spent the days cleaning house, doing laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, teaching the children and breaking up fights. Her father returned every evening around dusk for supper than bed. Until one day he didn’t come home. They knew almost immediately something was wrong. Only late that evening did someone finally come to their door and they learned their father had died in an accident at work. Loading cargo onto a ship, a pallet swung wildly, knocking him into the water. He didn’t drown, it was the blow to the head that had killed him.
That was when Elizabeth had become a mail order bride for the first time at eighteen years old. She could think of no other option. That in itself had been a challenge, to find a groom willing to open his home not only to her, but to her numerous siblings as well.
After lunch, they slowly walked toward the church. Will took his time showing them around the parts of town they walked through. He obviously loved the town he lived in and his excitement was contagious. Quentin seemed like a good place to settle and it was more civilized than the last place they had lived. The landscape was beautiful and the town was booming thanks to successful ore mining. The people they passed were friendly and seemed to be happy and prospering. It would be a good place to raise children. She hoped this marriage was her last. She didn’t know what she would do if it wasn’t. She didn’t think she could bring herself to marry for a fourth time. Plus no man in his right mind would marry a young widow with her history of dead husbands.
The reverend was ready and waiting to perform a wedding when they finally arrived at the church. Will heartily apologized for being late and thankfully the preacher didn’t seem to mind.
In minutes she was once again a married woman. And it wasn’t even the shortest ceremony she had been a part of, in fact, it had been the longest. While waiting to sign the register, Elizabeth turned to stare at her siblings. She wondered what they thought about her marrying for a third time. They had to know she was doing it for them. All three of her husbands had been chosen with their happiness in mind. Kind men who would be willing to marry a woman who came with several siblings and had means enough to support all of them.
She had always intended to marry and have children someday. What woman didn’t? But she supposed if it had been just her, she would have made different decisions about who she would have married. That didn’t matter though because she wouldn’t trade her siblings for the world. True, life had dealt them a series of blows over the past six years, but their luck had to change some time, didn’t it?
“It’s your turn to sign Mrs. Bailey,” Will said with a smile, holding the pen out to her.
She took it, her simple gold band glimmering in the warm light shining through the windows. She was married again. To Will. Who was by far the most handsome of her husbands and closest in age to her. She could already tell by his interactions with her siblings and Daniel that he was a good man and she vowed that he wouldn’t regret marrying her, despite the secrets and burdens she brought into their marriage.
Outside the church, Will went to borrow a wagon from the livery to retrieve their luggage from the train station. He asked Charles and George to accompany them and of course, Alice insisted that she be allowed to join them as well, which Will graciously agreed to.
She and Margaret sat on the top step of the church stairs watching them depart. Will turned and gave her a smile which she returned and then put his hand on Alice’s shoulder, encouraging her to walk quickly to match their larger steps and soon they were out of sight.
It was warmer now that the sun wasn’t buried underneath the clouds, so it was comfortable enough to sit outside and await their return.
“He seems different,” Margaret said, shifting Daniel on her lap. His belly was full so he was content for the moment to play with the large brown button on Margaret’s jacket. He was an easy baby, as far as babies went. Rather good-natured, like Margaret herself.
“He does,” Elizabeth agreed with a nod.
“Are you going to tell him?”
Elizabeth looked at her sister, took a deep breath and looked away again. She nodded. “Of course I will.”
“You should have told him before the wedding,” Margaret admonished, taking on
the role of oldest sister for a moment.
“I know, you’re right.” But she had been afraid. Being married once and losing one’s husband, was relatively normal given the times. But losing a second, and in such a short period of time, that was certainly stranger and more out of the norm.
The articles about her had started appearing once she was already corresponding with Will. Thankfully only Margaret, and more recently Charles, knew about them. Charles had seen the Black Widow Bride headline, which ridiculously had made the second page of a well-circulated newspaper, while they were traveling to Montana. He was outraged on her behalf of course. The journalist had not been kind.
Elizabeth didn’t know who was feeding him his information. The articles split the line between being half right and half wrong, but she was not a murderer, despite the ways things were twisted to look.
She had had a devil of a time calming Charles down so that George and Alice, or anyone else for that matter, didn’t overhear. Thankfully George and Alice could care less about newspapers and remained blissfully ignorant. The rest of them had avoided any more newspapers the remainder of the trip. Although Elizabeth couldn’t help but wonder every time someone looked at her for longer than a moment or two if it was because she shared her mother’s good looks or if it was because of those awful articles proclaiming her a murderess.
The wagon pulled up shortly and Will hopped down. “Sorry to keep you waiting so long,” he said, which he hadn’t. He had clearly hurried on their behalf. She had only known him for a few short hours and so far he had been nothing but kind, thoughtful and generous and she knew deep down she had made the right decision agreeing to marry him. And if she had to keep secrets so that he wouldn’t change his mind about her given her circumstances, so be it.
He helped Margaret and the baby, Alice and then her into the wagon, once again proving he would be a good husband as well as father-figure to her younger siblings. They drove back the way they had walked earlier and he continued to point things out to them and she felt her excitement grow. Quentin was her home now and so far, she loved every bit of it. After several years of bad luck, perhaps the fates were finally smiling down on her.
When they passed the saloon Will noticed a light left on inside and pulled up the wagon, setting the brake.
“I thought I turned that off. I’ll just be a moment.” He jumped down from the wagon and started up the few steps leading to the door before turning around. He shed his jacket and reached up to pull it around her shoulders. “Be right back,” he promised with a smile and disappeared inside.
Elizabeth turned to exchange looks with Margaret.
Alice’s head popped up between them. “I like him,” she said with a bright smile.
“So do I, Alice. So do I.”
Alice’s smile faded. “I hope he doesn’t die,” she said mournfully, her regretful eyes meeting her own.
Elizabeth didn’t know what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything at all. She just ran her hand down her youngest sister’s sleek black braid and pulled her into a tight embrace.
Chapter Four
Will thought he had put the lamp out before he locked up earlier. The bar was his livelihood, he couldn’t afford to take chances with it. When he unlocked the front door and pushed inside, he saw Shorty sitting at his usual space at the bar.
Will slammed the door behind him. “Shorty, what are you doing back here? I’m closed today! I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that. Do I have to ban you? Because I will.” He wouldn’t, but Shorty didn’t have to know that. Maybe the idle threat would finally get through to him. “How’d you get in here anyway?”
Shorty turned on the stool to regard him through narrowed eyes. “You left the backdoor unlocked.”
That had been careless of him. The town of Quentin was safe and relatively crimefree, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He would need to be more diligent. Afterall, he wasn’t just looking after himself anymore.
“Why are you here?” Will asked with resigned exasperation, making his way back toward the bar.
“I came to tell you something.”
“And it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”
Shorty shook his head vigorously.
Will dragged his hands down his face and somehow found himself smiling. He cared about the crazy old coot. He must if he had put up with his nonsense this long. Or maybe he was just happy to be married and finally part of a family. He sighed. “Alright, go on and tell me what couldn’t wait until tomorrow and then take yourself off. I don’t want to see you until noon tomorrow and not a minute earlier. I mean it!”
“I came to tell you that you’ve gone and stepped in it this time.”
Will’s brows drew together in perplexment. “What are you talking about?”
Shorty leaned toward him. “I knew I recognized that woman,” he said, pointing to the spot where he had met Elizabeth earlier. “But not because I’ve met her before. Because of this.” He flicked the newspaper he was holding and then held it out to Will.
It was folded in quarters, framing one article in particular and Will’s eyes were immediately drawn to the picture of Elizabeth. It wasn’t an actual photograph, but rather a sketch, and a good one at that. There was no question it was her.
He looked up at Shorty. “What is this?”
“Read it,” Shorty insisted.
Will took the folded-up newspaper and drew closer to the lamp. It was a brief article, sensational and to the point. It seemed Elizabeth Walters Ross Miller, Elizabeth Bailey as of ten minutes ago, was a mail order bride with two dead husbands and was now traveling north to meet her third victim, a man yet to be identified. The article went on but Will stopped reading. He looked up but saw nothing. She had been married twice before?
“You married the ‘Black Widow Bride!’”
∞∞∞
Elizabeth followed Will inside after hearing the slamming of the door followed by yelling. She walked in just in time to hear Shorty exclaim, “You married the ‘Black Widow Bride!’”
If she was indeed a murderer, Shorty would surely be her next victim, she thought darkly as she saw Will look up at her with a mixture of shock, confusion and hurt. It was the last emotion that nearly broke her heart right then and there.
She took a step forward and Shorty jumped to his feet, making her pause. He looked right and then left, before scurrying to the storeroom. She heard a door slam and suddenly they were alone.
She turned back to Will who was staring at her like he didn’t recognize her.
“I didn’t kill them,” she said quietly.
He made a scoffing sound. “I know you didn’t,” he said.
There was no way he could know that, but she was grateful that he seemed to be giving her the benefit of the doubt. For the moment anyway.
He held up the newspaper. “You should have told me. About all of it. That you were married more than once, that both of your husbands died, under somewhat mysterious circumstances, according to this, that they were writing articles about you and any other secrets you might be keeping.”
“I know,” Elizabeth immediately agreed. “I’m sorry that I deceived you.” She was unable to meet his eyes. “I want to tell you everything. I—”
“But not now. It’s going to get dark soon and I want to get home, show everyone around, choose bedrooms, get the house warmed up and soon it’ll be suppertime. Plus I still need to return the wagon to the livery. Maybe after everyone’s gone to bed we’ll speak of it.” He tossed the newspaper onto the bar and then apparently thinking better of it, grabbed it and stuffed it into one of the wood stoves. The banked coals quickly gobbled it up before he shut the door again.
He turned out the lamp and the room went dim. The sun was back behind the clouds. It was getting toward sunset and would be fully dark soon.
“Come on, let’s go,” he said, gesturing her toward the door.
Elizabeth didn’t move. “So you’re not going to annul the marr
iage?”
“No, of course not. I said my vows. For better, for worse. And if you do manage to dispatch me, then it’s no less than I deserve for being an idiot.”
He stiffly held the door open for her and she passed through. He didn’t meet her searching gaze and all traces of the happy-go-lucky man she had married less than an hour before had disappeared.
He did help her into the wagon though, barely touching her to do so and soon they were making their way up the hill to their new home. All of the children were quiet, as if they knew something serious had occurred, even if they didn’t know quite what.
They drove through a section of town they hadn’t seen yet, but this time Will stayed silent. He no longer pointed out the places they passed and she missed the warmth and excitement he had shown earlier, hearing about the town where he had lived his entire life and clearly loved.
When the house came into view, it was beyond her wildest dreams. It was a large house and she knew it must be considering he had written it had six bedrooms, but seeing it in person was something else altogether. It was painted bright white, including the huge wrap-around porch. It was beyond lovely and she couldn’t believe they would be living here. She couldn’t wait to see the inside.
“Wow, it’s huge!” Alice crowed as the wagon rolled to a stop. “It’s as big as a boardinghouse. Does anybody else live here?”
“Nope, just us,” Will replied, setting the brake. He jumped down from the wagon and helped everybody out before coming around to Elizabeth.
He touched her only as long as it took to see her safely to the ground before moving away.
Margaret took that opportunity to lean close and whisper, “What happened?”
“He knows. I’ll tell you about it later.”
They followed Will into the house and they chose bedrooms. There were almost enough that they could each have their own rooms. Of course she and Will would be sharing a bedroom. Margaret offered to share with Daniel and both Charles and George requested their own rooms, much to Alice’s dismay. She was used to sharing a room with George. Although the twins were still the best of friends, Elizabeth had noticed more over the past year that George was gravitating toward his older brother rather than his sister which made sense, she supposed, given he was getting older. She was sure to put George and Alice in adjoining rooms, accommodating them both to the best of her ability.
