[2016] A Wanting Bride

by Christian Michael

  “No, I thought I heard you up and about is all. You know the doctor said you are to stay in that bed, and if you are up and moving around you are not obeying the doctor’s orders. That’s only going to lead to-“

  “I know what the doctor said, and I can handle it. Don’t you worry about me, Pansy, I have this under control.”

  Rose didn’t look up at her sister as she spoke to her, she knew her sister wasn’t going to take the rebuke well. Pansy stood in the door of her room for a minute, and didn’t say anything. Rose hoped she wouldn’t ask her what she had been doing all day, or if she cared to get out of bed.

  Rose said nothing, and neither did her sister, until Pansy finally shrugged and turned to go. Suddenly, she paused, and turned to look at Rose once more.

  “I think I am going to take a walk downtown. There are a few exhibits going on right now, and I don’t think I will be home until late. If Mother wants to join me, I’ll take her along so you don’t have to worry about her. You get some rest, and don’t wait up for me.”

  Rose smiled, and thanked her sister. There was something in her chest that made her feel guilty, but she was relieved when Pansy walked out of the room.

  “Goodbye Pansy.”

  She whispered to herself, and laid back on the pillow before closing her eyes.

  The next morning, Rose sat on the bumpy stagecoach, doing her best to get comfortable in the tiny cabin. She was the only one inside, which she was grateful for, so she tried not to complain. Rose had gotten up before the sun, and they were on the road just as the pink rays were breaking over the horizon.

  Rose had left a note for her mother and sister to find. It explained where she was going and why she was leaving, it told them not to worry, and assured them she was going to be ok.

  Rose knew it wasn’t the best way to handle her move, but she didn’t want to try to explain it to them face to face. That just wasn’t going to go well, and she didn’t want to leave them on poor terms. She was on her way out West, and this was going to be a happy time, regardless of what they thought about it.

  Rose gasped as she hit another bump, and placed her hand on her stomach.

  “It’s going to be okay now, Little One… Don’t you worry. I am going to take care of both of us… just like I promised.”

  Chapter 7 – A Stage Surprise

  “Ouch!”

  Rose cried out involuntarily as the stagecoach jostled over another bump in the road. She had made it through three days of this, and she wasn’t sure she was going to make it through a fourth. It seemed the road was getting rougher the more they pressed on, and she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

  “Dearie, are you all right?”

  The stranger across the way looked over at her in concern, and she nodded.

  “How far along are you?”

  Rose wished he would let it drop, but he put on his spectacles and looked at her with great interest. Rose liked the man. He was elderly and resembled the pictures she had seen of Saint Nicholas, but she still wasn’t in the mood to talk.

  “About eight months now. I am on my way to Montana to re-marry. I am a widow, you see, and heavily with child. I need to get settled in as soon as I can, but this infernal stage seems to be hitting every bump it can!”

  The old man chuckled at her outburst, and ran his fingers over his beard.

  “I see. I am on my way to see my son. He is a doctor out there in Montana, and says he enjoys it a lot. I haven’t seen him since his mother died, nearly seven years ago.”

  “I’m sorry to hear of your loss.”

  Rose felt sheepish. She wanted to illicit more sympathy from the man than she got, but when she realized he had also lost his spouse, she felt more connected to him than before. She looked him over as he sat across from her, and he looked to be genuinely cheerful. Rose missed that. She wished she could find some of that cheeriness again, but it seemed that sadness pressed in on her more than anything.

  Finally, she decided to ask him about it.

  “Oh, it was hard for a long time, you see. I missed my Annabelle more than words can describe. But God is good. I know He is taking care of her up there in heaven, and one day, when my time comes, I will get to be with her again, this time forever.”

  Rose felt a twinge in her heart. It had been a long time since she had heard God talked about. Since her husband died she really didn’t want to talk about Him, and her sister wasn’t ever one to mention Him. But, with this old man in front of her, she suddenly wanted God in her life again.

  “Is there a church where we are going?”

  She asked the question timidly, hoping he wouldn’t laugh at her for not knowing.

  “Ralph has mentioned one, yes. I think it’s small, but a church is a church, and I think it will serve your purpose.”

  The old man chuckled once again, and sat back on his seat. Rose put her hands on her stomach, and whispered to her baby that she wanted to take him to church when he was here.

  Another bump in the road caused her to cry out again, and she laid back on the seat and moaned. The old man looked at her in concern once more than leaned out the window and called to the driver. She could hear the shout of the driver in reply, but she wasn’t able to make out what he said.

  Suddenly, she felt the stagecoach lurch, and could feel the horses picking up speed. The old man was chuckling once again, and sat back down inside the coach. This time, he pulled the curtains closed over the door, and made himself as comfortable as he could in the middle of the seat.

  Rose felt scared, and tried to sit up, but another pain in her abdomen caused her to cry out and she leaned back against the seat.

  “We’re going too fast. He needs to slow down!”

  Rose gasped the words out through her clenched teeth, but the old man only chuckled.

  “This is clearly your first child, my dear. Tell me, are you excited?”

  Rose felt confused, wondering what the old man meant by that. She looked over at him with a questioning glance, but he just crossed his arms and sat back on the seat, stroking his beard as he gazed at her. There was humor in his eyes, as well as a chuckle waiting on his lips.

  Rose shook her head, still not understanding what he was getting at. Finally, she spoke.

  “Yes, this is my first, but how would you know that? What do you mean ‘am I excited?’?”

  Then the old man burst out laughing, this time placing both of his hands on his knees and bending forward. Rose didn’t know what was so funny, and part of her felt like she wanted to slap him. Or snap at him and tell him to stop poking fun at her. But just at that moment she was gripped with another pain in her stomach, this one sharper than the last.

  She cried out, and immediately after she heard the driver shout and crack his whip. The horses whinnied and plunged forward, dragging the stagecoach behind them as quickly as they could.

  “What is going on? Why are we in such a hurry? It felt a lot less painful when we were going slower. Can you ask him to slow down?”

  Rose looked at the man pleadingly, but he shook his head.

  “It’s not the speed of the coach that makes you feel uncomfortable, I’m afraid. And I think slowing down is only going to cause us more problems in the long run. My dear, you are about to welcome your new little one into your family, and I am so happy for you!”

  The man clapped his hands as he announced the news, and Rose felt horrified. She didn’t know how the man could tell, and she felt he must be mistaken. She still had a few weeks to go, and she was convinced the pain was from the jostling of the stagecoach.

  Suddenly, another pain shot through her, this one was stronger, and wracked her whole body with aches. She gasped and looked at the man. He smiled at her and winked, and she pulled herself up on the seat.

  The town wasn’t that far away, but she hoped they would get there in time.

  Her baby was on the way.

  Chapter 8 – Happy At Last

  Rose couldn’t hear anything the
driver was saying, but she could hear him shouting as the stagecoach rumbled onward. The old man had drawn the curtains over the windows of the stage to keep her from seeing how quickly they were actually going.

  He told her she needed to be as relaxed as possible, and if she saw the stage rumbling over the rocks she may get scared, and that would add stress to the baby. Rose tried to sit back and relax, but all she could think about was her baby, and how she couldn’t do this on the stage.

  Suddenly, she heard other people shouting in reply, and the stage started to slow. It was difficult to bring the stage to a complete stop from the speed in which they were going, but she prayed they would be able to stop safely. It felt good to pray. Rose hadn’t done it in a long time, but as soon as she did, a feeling of peace swept over her.

  It was as though God Himself were whispering in her ear that everything was going to be all right, she just needed to relax. Rose did her best, but as soon as the stage was at a stop, the door flew open. There were people right on the other side of the door, but the old man got up out of his seat and used his cane to keep them at bay.

  Some of them were curious, others were there to try to help. Rose didn’t want anyone to bother her right now, all she wanted was to see the doctor, and hold her baby safely in her arms. Suddenly, a handsome young man’s face came through the door, and his two arms wrapped under her.

  He gently lifted her up and out of the stage, and held her in his arms as he made his way through the crowd.

  “Rose Fratt?”

  He asked her, and she nodded.

  “Greg Hardy, I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

  Rose giggled. She knew she would like this man, and she couldn’t think of a better way to introduce herself to him.

  “I’m sorry I arrived in this condition, I am a little early you see.”

  Greg smiled down at her, making her heart pound in her chest.

  “I don’t mind. I was sort of hoping it wouldn’t be long before the little one got here. Now, I would love to chat with you further, but I am afraid you are a little busy at the moment. I am going to be out here in the next room, as soon as you are able, I want to be in here.”

  Greg surprised Rose as he kissed her on the forehead and gently laid her on the doctor’s table. She smiled at him as he backed out of the room, and turned her focus to the doctor. Everything felt like a blur now, the doctor was asking her all kinds of questions, and she was trying to answer.

  She didn’t really know how she felt. There were so many emotions filling her mind at once. Suddenly, she knew it was time to focus. Right now, she was going to focus on one thing, and one thing only.

  Her baby.

  Greg looked down at his new wife and smiled. The previous night had been such a blur for them both, neither one knew what to say. Rose held in her arms a beautiful baby girl, the most precious person she had ever laid eyes on.

  She couldn’t stop smiling, never in her life had she felt so happy. She named the baby Grace, after her mother.

  “Grace Fratt Hardy, I think that has a beautiful ring to it. I can’t tell you how happy I am right now, I do believe I am the happiest man alive. In just one day I have acquired a beautiful wife and a beautiful daughter!”

  Rose laughed at Greg. She didn’t know him well, but from the little she had seen of him, she could tell that he was a gentleman. It was clear he was going to treat her well, and treat little Grace like his own. Rose couldn’t have asked for a happier moment in her life.

  She wished Frank were here to see their daughter. She was so certain it was a boy, she really didn’t know what to say when she realized she had a baby girl. Frank would have been so proud. Rose was happy. It was a bitter sweet moment, but she wasn’t overcome with the sadness she thought she would be.

  She would write home and tell her mother and sister what she had done, and tell them all about Greg and little Grace. Most importantly, she would tell them she was happy, and now she could live her life the way she wanted to, for good. For the first time in her life, Rose didn’t worry about whether or not they were going to be happy with her.

  She knew she was happy, and that was enough. She had a new family, a new town, and a new life, and at that moment, she wouldn’t have traded anything in it for anything else in the world.

  And that was exactly what she wanted it to be.

  THE END.

  The Cowboy’s Bride

  Mail Order Bride

  CHRISTIAN MICHAEL

  1876 Minnesota

  John stood on the hill overlooking his home and smiled. It had been five years since he had left his small Minnesota town for the war and he had never thought he would have made it back alive. To be frank, he had all but prepared himself to come home in a body bag or box. His fiancé would have been the one to be handed the flag that would have been used to cover the box he arrived in and the theatrical sounds of sixty-one guns would have rung out as he was buried.

  “Home sweet home,” he whispered on the cold winds that whipped around him. Oh, how he had missed being here. He had missed everything about being home, everything including the cold winters and early autumn winds that had always cut his summers short. He had missed it all.

  With glee in abundance he slowly skipped his way down to the hillside and to the sprawling mansion that had been his family home. As an only child he had inherited it, but unsure carrying on his family’s legacy was what he had wanted to do for the rest of his life he had opted to go off to war. The family’s caretaker, Clive, had been the one left in charge of it all and by the looks of things as he walked onto the compound; he had done a fine job.

  His father had died the year he had gone off to war and it had been the catalyst for his decision but that wasn’t the only thing that had made him go off. His mother’s refusal to accept the woman he loved had also been a motivating factor. Now five years later she had sent him a letter begging his forgiveness and stating that she had remarried, moved south and wanted nothing more than for him to be happy. It had been a burden lifted from his shoulders in a time when parental approval was necessary for almost everything.

  “John!” An overjoyed Clive flung the brass doors to his house open and rushed out to him. The older man who walked with a limp covered ground faster than John would have thought was possible and his burly figure near knocked him on his rump. He dropped his duffel bag and embraced him with the kind of love that only family could share. His family had been many things, from cantankerous to deceitful and even downright filthy but the one bond that had held them together all these years was the fact that they valued loyalty. They valued every single bit of it and Clive had been heavily rewarded for his. This was a man who had been a friend, brother and a father to him and John could have been no happier than he was now at seeing him.

  “I woke this morning and felt I was in for a change! For a grand surprise!” Clive said with happy laughs punctuating his every word. “I woke this morning and I felt in my bones that I would be in for some wonderful news and here you are!”

  John laughed and pulled him in for a hug. “I am happy to see you too Clive. I have never been happier.”

  “Welcome home Sir,” the man who had been his butler for years answered with respect. John would have told him that he needed not call him Sir, but he knew it would do no good. He had been telling the man that ever since he was a child and here he was twenty-nine years later still doing the same thing.

  “How have you been?” he asked him as they walked into the foyer of the mansion and the familiar scents of family and home assaulted his nostril. He smelt the lavender incense his mother always burned filling the house and the paintings decorating the walls were the same. An old woman who was supposed to be his grandmother smiling down at him from the entrance and as always he wondered what it would have been like to know her. His father had been a gentle soul but a conniving one. He had always wondered if those were mannerisms he had learnt from his mother.

  Maybe....maybe not, and he
would never know for sure given that they were both dead.

  “I have been good,” Clive was answering his question. “The last couple winters were horrible and I suspect this one will be just as cold but it has been wonderful.”

  “And the estate?” he asked taking on a serious tone as he queried his finances. He wasn’t a superficial man but he would honour his father’s legacy.

  “It has grown,” Clive said with a smile. “We have procured more lands to the east and we have bought a couple of the local businesses that were suffering and built them up. I have done as best as I could and I hope you will be pleased,” the man said and John could see he was searching for some sort of approval.

  “I am sure I will be,” he said. “Have you married yet, Clive?” he asked with a smiled.

  The man, whose neat sideburns were greying just the smallest bit, blushed in the most vulnerable of ways. “There was someone about two years after you left but she could not understand my dedication to this estate and so it did not work out.”

  “Your dedication?” John asked, a bit surprised at the reason and worried his love with whom he had conversed every month would feel the same way. He got nervous at the prospect seeing that he was to be visiting her before the day’s end to put an end to the long wait for marriage to happen.

  “Yes, she didn’t think it was healthy,” Clive said sadly. “I understood early out that we would not work and I ended it before we got too entangled.”

  “So you have been alone in this big ole house?”

  Clive laughed. He was good looking and a gentleman so his response was not a surprising one. “I have had the occasional company but nothing too serious.”

  Marin smiled. “At least you weren’t alone. Maybe now that I am home and intend to be married within the fortnight you will find more time on your hands to go wow the women who must no doubt be clamouring for your attentions.”