White River Brides

by Frances Devine

  Some other man would be standing by that white picket fence with her, just as he’d thought. Someone who had a stable life right here in Branson Town. Like the doctor. Jim was happy for her. He was. So why the sick feeling inside his gut?

  He sauntered down the sidewalk and attempted to focus his thoughts on his upcoming meeting later in the week with Fullbright and the owners of the Maine Exhibition Building. He’d advise them to change the name of the establishment to something that would reflect a local flair. Since it would be constructed on a bluff overlooking the river, he thought Mountain Lodge or White River Lodge would be a good choice. He doubted they’d go for it though. They were pretty stuck on Maine Hunting and Fishing Lodge.

  Arriving at the livery stable, he retrieved his horse, Finch, and mounted. A quick ride to Forsyth might help clear his head of Addy and the doctor. He had a couple of telegrams he needed to send anyway. A new park in Virginia had requested his services, but he’d have to let them know it would be at least ten more months before he could leave Branson Town. He’d more than likely lose the job, but there were always more tourism projects to take on.

  As he rode down the narrow road, hemmed in by giant oaks and black walnut trees, he whistled a tune. He’d disliked enclosed places since he was a child. The job he’d held at Marvel Cave had helped him overcome that, but he still preferred wide-open spaces.

  Relieved, he came out of the woods and into a clearing. He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of honeysuckle carried by the soft breeze. The fragrance reminded him of Addy, who always smelled like flowers.

  He emitted a short laugh. It seemed everything reminded him of Addy lately. And it was hopeless because nothing had changed since he was here before. Even if she cared for him, which she obviously didn’t, he’d never ask a woman like her to leave the stability of home and hop from one town to another. His job even took him out of the country at times.

  Why couldn’t he get the woman out of his mind? She was extremely attractive, but he’d met his share of pretty women, some as pretty as or even prettier than she. So why did he carry her face in his head just about everywhere he went? What was it about her? She wasn’t even that nice to him most of the time. And likely she was in love with the doc. A sharp pain stabbed through him.

  He urged Finch forward and didn’t slow down until he rode into Forsyth. He sent his telegraph messages then wandered down to the docks to watch the steamboats battening down for the night. There were only two docked. Thanks to the railroad, they were a dying breed. The price of progress.

  He turned away and went to a local café to grab some supper. The special was corned beef and cabbage, which he despised. Not wanting to take the time to have anything cooked from scratch, he ordered coffee and a ham sandwich.

  Someone had left a newspaper on the counter, so he opened it. It was a weekly, and all the news was old, so he busied himself reading the ads. Anything to fill his mind so that thoughts of Addy wouldn’t torment him.

  By the time Jim got back to Branson Town, everything was shut down except for the hotels and the two saloons. He sat for a moment, tapping his fingers on his leg. He sure didn’t need to be alone with his thoughts. Maybe he should ride out to Rafe’s and find out what he knew about Addy and the doctor.

  After a moment of gnawing at his lip, he thought better of that idea. Abby probably wouldn’t take too kindly to his showing up this time of night. Farmers went to bed early.

  He rode to the livery stable and saw that his black stallion, Finch, was taken care of and then headed to the hotel on foot.

  Cigar smoke hung over a small group of men in the lobby. A heated discussion seemed to be going on. He knew most of them casually. Businessmen or potential businessmen who knew the possibilities of investing in the fledgling town and were willing and able to cash in on it.

  One of the men waved a hand. “Castle. Maybe you can clear this debate up for us.”

  Jim smiled and shook his head. “Another time perhaps. I have a stack of ledgers waiting for my attention.” Making his escape, he headed for the stairs only to stop short when he passed the dining room.

  Seated at a table across the room, Addy smiled at the doctor, who leaned forward, his eyes intent on hers.

  Jim’s face tightened, and his body tensed. So that was that. Apparently they were courting. With a heavy heart, he turned away and headed up the stairs to his suite.

  Chapter 4

  Two straight lines of eager students filed out of the classroom and lined up behind Mrs. Carroll and Mrs. Bright, who had volunteered to help with the field trip.

  Addy and fourteen-year-old Annie Brown made up the rear guard to make sure no overly adventurous children decided to head out on their own.

  Annie darted a nervous glance at the girls, standing tallest to shortest in her line. “Miss Sullivan,” she whispered, “the boys’ line isn’t in order.” She motioned toward the front.

  Sure enough, a curly mop of red hair poked out from behind Thomas Carter, a tall thirteen-year-old at the head of the line.

  Addy pressed her lips together to hold back a smile. Johnny. She walked up the line and stopped beside him then tapped her foot as she looked down at the culprit.

  Johnny glanced up, and his eyes widened. “Oops. Guess I must have lost my bearings, teacher.”

  “Yes, I believe you did,” Addy said. “Shall I hold your hand and lead you to your place?”

  Thomas guffawed, and Johnny’s face flamed. “No, ma’am. I reckon I can find it all right.”

  Addy shot a look of reprimand at Thomas then motioned for Johnny to precede her to the end of the line, where he scooted in between Harry and Eugene. She patted him on the shoulder then blew a small whistle to get everyone’s attention. “Children, we have a place reserved for us at the depot where everyone should be able to see just fine. So please stay in your places. Otherwise we won’t be able to keep track of everyone.”

  Johnny ducked his head then looked up at her. “Sorry, Miss Sullivan.”

  “It’s all right, Johnny. I’m sure you won’t do it again.”

  Addy couldn’t help a surge of pride as the two lines filed across the schoolyard then down the boardwalk, the boys marching like soldiers, the girls with perfect deportment. She only hoped it would last.

  A crowd thronged the road by the depot.

  Addy covered her nose and mouth with her plain white handkerchief to keep the flying dust from her throat.

  Several of the children began to cough.

  “Children, cover your mouths until we get to the station.” Someone bumped into her, and bodies rushed by, obscuring her view. Panic rose as she searched ahead for the children.

  “Make way, there. Can’t you see there are women and young children trying to get through?” Dr. Stephens’s booming voice sounded angelic to Addy at the moment.

  With mixed feelings of relief and dread, she allowed him to take her arm and guide her and the rest of the group across the road and onto the depot’s wooden platform.

  “Now, boys and girls, stand still and don’t move until your teacher says the word,” the doctor said.

  She smiled and held out her hand. “Thank you, doctor. Now I really must count heads and make sure we’re all here before we go to find our place.”

  “I’d be more than happy to assist you. In fact, I thought you might need my help with the children today.”

  “Oh, that’s kind of you, but…” Addy tried to protest, but his hand grasped her elbow, and before she knew it she, the children, and the two mothers had been herded to the spot designated for them.

  She managed to retrieve her elbow and turned to check on her young charges. “Move back a little more, children. You’re too near the edge of the platform. Mrs. Bright, if you can stay there at the end, and Mrs. Carroll, will you please stand at the center of this row?”

  She soon had them all settled, the older children behind the younger ones with the adults and older children dispersed evenly among them.

>   A shadow of disappointment crossed the doctor’s face as he saw they were separated by an entire row of children. She silently congratulated herself.

  The week before when she’d accepted his dinner invitation, she’d regretted it almost immediately. What she’d thought was merely a dinner meeting to discuss the field trip had turned out to be an evening of revelation by the doctor of his need for a wife and hints that she was his number-one choice for the position. She’d managed to avoid him since then. Until now.

  A roar of excited voices surrounded her, and the crowd surged forward. She stepped in closer to her students and glanced down the rows, then on down the platform.

  Through an opening in the throng, she spotted Jim. Their eyes locked. An electric charge ran through her, and she stared, helpless to look away.

  The sound of the train’s steam whistle broke the spell, and she whirled around. The engine wasn’t in sight yet, but the chugging sound as it slowed could be heard clearly, and once more the shrill whistle rent the air.

  A collective sigh made its way through the crowd. Then the engine came around the bend, and a roar exploded from the enthusiastic men, women, and children. Hats flew into the air.

  Addy couldn’t make a sound. Excitement and unexplainable joy surged through her. Her eyes took in first the engine and then the boxcars that followed.

  She’d seen trains before, even ridden on one once when her family had taken a trip to Kansas City. But to actually see it, shining and black, smoke pouring forth, right here in Branson Town was enough to render her speechless. A whole new world was opening. As soon as the southern tracks were completed, the passenger trains would run.

  Addy’s breathing quickened, and in her mind’s eye she saw herself climbing aboard and rolling away from the station. Away from Branson Town. Maybe even away from Missouri.

  Would she dare? But how could she? Leave Pa and Ma and Abby? Whatever had gotten into her?

  The engine slowed to a crawl, and its loud squeal seemed to go on forever as it came to a stop in front of the depot.

  The roar of the crowd finally faded to a murmur as a man in a dark-blue suit stepped down and onto the platform.

  Mr. Fullbright stepped forward and extended his hand. “I’d like to welcome the White River Line to Branson Town, Missouri.”

  Jim’s gaze drifted from the welcoming speech and down the platform to rest upon Addy. Her face glowed with excitement, and even from several yards away, he could see the sparkle in her eyes. A grin split his face. He’d never seen her this animated.

  Instead of following Fullbright and the newly arrived White River Line representative across to the waiting carriage, he began to push his way through the crowd toward Addy.

  Spotting the doctor in the midst of the children, he hesitated, and then taking a deep breath, he stepped resolutely forward once more. He had to at least speak to her and share her excitement for a moment.

  “Jim!” He turned to see Fullbright motioning to himfrom the street, an expression of impatience on his usually placid face.

  He turned to look at Addy once more, but the crowd was so thick he could no longer see her.

  Stalking across the platform, he stepped onto the street and climbed into the carriage after Fullbright.

  Addy scanned the area where only a moment before Jim had appeared to be coming toward her. Now he was nowhere to be seen.

  Disappointed, she motioned to her assistants. Time to go back to the classroom for another two hours.

  “Miss Sullivan, I’d be happy to escort you and the children back to the school.” Dr. Stephens had once more appeared at her side.

  “Thank you, doctor, but that really isn’t necessary.” She smiled and motioned to Annie and the ladies. “As you can see, I have plenty of helpers.”

  “Oh, well, if you’re certain.” He hesitated. “I wonder if you’ve thought any more about the matter we discussed at dinner last week.”

  “Well, no. I’m afraid I haven’t. I’ve been dreadfully busy.” If only he would drop the subject. Addy didn’t want to hurt the man’s feelings. He was very kind and quite good looking, if one liked the large, ruddy type. Addy wished she were interested in him. He’d probably be a fine husband. Unfortunately, she wasn’t the slightest bit attracted to him, and he rather bored her.

  “Then perhaps you’d care to join me on a picnic this weekend, and we could discuss the subject more thoroughly.”

  Panicking, she grasped around in her mind for a reasonable excuse to refuse. Taking her silence for acceptance, he smiled. “I’ll be at your home Saturday morning at eleven then. Please don’t worry about the food. I’ll have my landlady pack us a lunch.”

  Addy watched in helpless consternation as he walked away.

  A laugh drew her attention. Johnny’s mother looked at her with kind amusement on her face. “Apparently, the good doctor is smitten enough he can’t tell when he’s refused.”

  A short laugh escaped Addy’s throat. “Is it that obvious?”

  “Well, it was to me. Apparently not to him, though.” Mrs. Carroll grinned and turned aside to help get the children lined up.

  The trek to the school was uneventful. After Mrs. Bright and Mrs. Carroll said good-bye, Addy turned to the excited class and held up her hand to quiet them. “I thought this important event called for a celebration, so I brought cookies from home this morning.”

  Cheers rang out, and once more Addy held up her hand. “Before we have our party, I have a short assignment for you, so please take out your tablets and pencils.”

  She waited until the rustle stopped before continuing. “I’d like for you to write down as many things about today’s event as you can think of in the next ten minutes. Afterward we shall have our cookies.”

  “Do we turn our papers in, teacher?” Eugene asked.

  “Not today. You can finish them over the weekend and bring them with you on Monday. Then we’ll see how much combined information we have for our group report.”

  While the class concentrated on their assignment, Addy’s thoughts drifted back over the afternoon. She couldn’t think of a time she’d been this excited. At least, not since Papa Jack took her and Abby on his riverboat, the Julia Dawn.

  She’d never shared with anyone how much she’d loved that experience. Drops of moisture from the river spraying across her skin. The smell of lumber and other supplies Pa had transported up and down the river. The train’s whistle had reminded her of the escaping steam from the Julia Dawn’s smokestack.

  She sighed. It had broken her heart when Pa sold the boat, and she could tell it was hard for him, too. But he’d needed the money that first year of farming, and if he’d kept the boat, maybe he and Ma couldn’t have married and adopted her and Abby.

  Would she ever find a love like Pa and Ma’s? She sighed again. Probably not.

  Jim’s cool demeanor and warm eyes filled her thoughts. She’d truly thought he returned her admiration, but she must have been wrong. She knew so little about men. What a silly goose she was. She’d even believed he was coming over to speak to her at the depot this afternoon. Then the next moment he’d totally disappeared.

  She simply had to stop thinking about him. He’d be leaving in a few months anyway. Maybe it would be easier to get him out of her mind once he was gone.

  “Miss Sullivan?” The stage whisper from the front row snapped her out of her reverie.

  “Yes, Margaret?” She shook her head to dispel unwanted thoughts.

  “We’ve been writing an awful long time.”

  Addy lifted the chain and looked at her watch. She smiled. It had been twelve minutes. “Mercy, you’re right, Margaret.”

  The day ended on a high note for the children, with the cookies being a success and their excitement about the coming weekend.

  For Addy, however, the day, which had begun with such high expectations, now seemed dismal. She simply had to make herself snap out of it. Perhaps a picnic with the doctor wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Why
should she let Jim Castle affect her emotions like this?

  Chapter 5

  Addy shivered as a thrill of excitement ran through her, and she stared as Pa slapped a huge spoon of mashed potatoes onto his plate then passed the bowl to Ma.

  “Pa, are you sure? The State of Maine’s exhibition building? The big log building we saw at the World’s Fair?” After the gloom of her afternoon, she welcomed this bit of good news. Even if it seemed impossible.

  “That’s right, daughter.” Pa nodded as he spooned green beans from the rose-printed serving bowl. “Jim Castle told Rafe they’ve already disassembled it in St. Louis.”

  “And it’s for sure going to be a hunting lodge? Right here in Branson?”

  He nodded and passed the vegetable bowl to Ma. “They’re bringing the sections by train, and when it’s reassembled we’ll have a hunting lodge overlooking the White River.”

  How exciting. They would probably hire local folks to cook and wait tables and clean. Maybe she could get a job there.

  A shock jolted her. What in the world was wrong with her? She couldn’t give up her teaching position to work at a hunting lodge. The very idea.

  “I thought Abby, Rafe, and the boys were coming for supper tonight.” She’d actually been looking forward to a nice long talk with her sister.

  Ma placed a small piece of roast on Betty’s plate and began cutting it up. “Change of plans. We’re having a picnic tomorrow. If you don’t have school work tonight, maybe you could help me cook?”

  “As long as you don’t make me fry chicken.” Addy made a face at Pa, who chuckled.

  Ma cast a slight frown at her. “Now Addy, you just need more practice and you’ll do fine. Perhaps you should fry the chicken, after all.”

  A choking sound from Pa drew their attention. He shook his head.

  “Fine, Pa. It had crossed my mind to make your favorite pineapple upside-down cake.” She smiled. “Maybe I will anyway.”