Mail -Order Cousins 1
Page 10
You and Per are the brave ones. I’m a craven coward who talks big but does not typically walk the walk. So please pray for me when you hear what I have done. I have agreed to become the mail-order bride of a Texas Ranger. We will live on a ranch near San Angelo. (I also wrote to a blacksmith in Arizona and a banker in Colorado but did not hear back from them.)
My parents know of my plans and believe I have lost my mind but will not prevent me from leaving. My future husband sounds honest, serious and forthright. I remember how you were tricked, however, and will be on my guard. I have to do this, Sophie. I am losing myself here. I’ll be in touch.
Love,
Lindy
Sophie did pray for her cousins and felt concern for Lindy, as that was the last missive she had received from her. She had written to her in care of the San Angelo post office but had received no reply yet.
The death of Charles Shanley was officially ruled self-defense. No will was found, so the money in his safe, which totaled more than $150,000, was divided among the 16 women who lived in the bordello. Seven of them had been mail-order brides, or they thought they were. More than half of the women left town with their newfound wealth. To everyone’s surprise, Carrie married Wiley Frome. They seemed to be getting along splendidly and were expecting their first child.
Five of the women pooled their resources and refurbished the bordello, turning it into a something between a hotel and boarding house. Several of them were courting. The former whores had much better decorating taste than their late boss, and the place became popular not just for travelers but also for town meetings and events. If any of the townsmen had carnal memories of the female owners, it was never mentioned in public. The wench Duncan had slept with when he first moved to town, Katy, had disappeared several years earlier. Most of the women believed Shanley had killed her. Duncan hoped it wasn’t true but suspected it was.
The rancher hired Brian Sutcliffe’s uncle, a Philadelphia attorney, to take on Sophie’s case against her aunt and uncle. The money the Armstrongs had already spent was not recoverable, as the attorney could not prove it hadn’t been spent on raising Sophie. But her greedy former guardians were stripped of the remainder of the trust, a considerable sum. They could not maintain their house without those funds and were forced to sell and substantially downgrade their living circumstances. Duncan thought it was too good for them. The trust check was a surprise to his wife on her 22nd birthday, along with a mare she named Buttercup.
Sophie could not have imagined, when she answered that ad to become a mail-order bride, all that would happen to bring her to this point of supreme joy. All the new experiences, the fear and agony, the adventure, the to-the-bone contentment. She had found safety and love at last. Darned if it wasn't better than reading a book.
About the Author
Award-winning scribe Joyce Armor is a former television writer (“The Love Boat,” “WKRP in Cincinnati,” “Remington Steele”) and the author of numerous books, ranging from romance novels to parenting and humor books and a combination thereof. Her credits also include hundreds of newspaper and magazine columns and articles, children’s poetry and several produced plays. The mother of two grown sons, she lives in Mentor, Ohio, with her current soulmate, Darby, an Aussie/spaniel mix, and spends much of her non-reading, non-writing, non-schmoozing with friends and family time walking/running/getting dragged by the dog.
Email: joycearmor@yahoo.com
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