Annie: A Bride For The Farmhand - A Clean Historical Western Romance (Stewart House Brides Book 3)

by Charity Phillips

  It was difficult to write calligraphy while they were on the bumpy road, but as soon as they reached a stop, she would pull out her pen and write a few lines. She wanted her letter to be as beautiful as it was informative; when she finished writing it, she gave it a gentle spritz with her perfume before tucking it away.

  Elizabeth put it in the mail as soon as they had reached the next town, and then started the process over. There was no telling what town they were going to be in next, so it wasn’t a surprise that there was never a letter waiting for her. She knew that he was thinking of her every day--she could feel it.

  ****

  It took them three and a half months to reach San Francisco. The city was a welcome sight to their sore eyes. The wagon seemed more like a prison these days than it did a train car, and the bumps were rubbing callouses on Carrie’s legs. They laid down a quilt for her to ride on, but it was still not enough to fix the problem completely. Even though it looked like she was in great pain, Carrie never complained once through the entire journey. She always kept a smile on her face and tried to keep a positive outlook, even though she never had the chance to get down and walk beside the wagon like her sister did.

  They rode into the bustling town that was full of other miners and travelers. San Francisco had become a high traffic area for all kinds of people, miners or not. People were acting out plays on the streets. There were small shops with Chinese merchants offering brightly colored rugs and jewelry that came from the Orient. Word must have spread not only across the country, but across the world for people from China to be here, Elizabeth thought.

  Her sister tugged on her dress sleeve and pointed at some strange people dressed as clowns, spinning fire sticks. Neither one of the girls had ever seen such a thing before, but their mother told them not to stare and to get inside the wagon. She placed Maggie onto Elizabeth’s lap and promptly tied the canvas cover closed, blocking their view. The two girls could hear their mother muttering under her breath about how indecent people had become, and they couldn’t help but smile at each other.

  Finally, the wagon stopped outside a tent that handled claims. Their father got down from the wagon and went inside the tent to see where he could set up camp. Elizabeth and Carrie leaned close to the wagon canvas to see if they might be able to listen in on the conversation.

  They could hear the claims man tell their father, “You see, we’ve had so many miners coming through here the past few days that I don’t think I can direct you to a specific place and be certain that it will be worth your time to go there.” He continued, “I’ve been hearing there are a lot of findings in the river up by the mill itself, but old Sutter isn’t going to want a lot of people running all over his property.”

  They could hear their father reply, but his response was too muffled for them to be able to make out any of his words. They strained their ears against the canvas wall to hear him, and then BOOM!--the girls jumped out of their skin when a gunshot went off right down the street.

  Maggie woke up and started crying, but even that was drowned out by the yelling and gunfire happening on the street. Mr. Ryder came back out of the tent and picked up the reins. There was a man in front of the saloon with his gun drawn. He was shouting another man’s name, saying something about how the man had double-crossed him. Every few minutes, he shot his rifle into the air.

  Carrie was clearly scared by all of this, but no one on the streets seemed to be. Elizabeth didn’t like it. This seemed like a rough town and she didn’t relish the thought that they were going to be staying there for the next several months.

  “We’re heading a little further north, girls,” their mother called back into the wagon as they headed out of town. Elizabeth was glad. She did have another letter to mail, but figured it wasn’t worth getting caught in the middle of a brawl. She could wait until they made it to the next town to send it out.

  The family found a safe spot and set up camp alongside a small river up north a couple of miles from the city. The man they met in the tent told them that several folks had managed to discover gold there, and that the area was one of the safest around. The usual riff-raff that sometimes plagued some of the more popular mining sites was rarely seen here. This gave Mrs. Ryder great peace of mind; ever since they started their journey, she was terrified by the thought of getting held up by robbers. She knew the girls wouldn’t be able to do much to defend the family, and her husband--although very protective--may not be strong enough to fend off an entire group of armed men on his own. When she saw the quiet little camp they were joining, she let out a sigh of relief. There was a neighboring family with a girl that looked to be a couple of years younger than Elizabeth. They also had a younger son with them. The Dickersons looked like very nice people; the mother was clearly grateful to see the Ryders show up.

  “You just never know what kind of people you’re going to run into out here,” Mrs. Dickerson later told them as the two families ate dinner together. “Last week, there was a group of three rowdy brothers shooting off their guns at all hours of the night. It was a wonder that no one in our camp got killed!”

  “Mercy!” exclaimed Mrs. Ryder. She was grateful for having set up camp here next to the Dickersons. After traveling for so very long, being able to share a meal and good conversation with another family felt a bit like being home again.

  Susanna Dickerson was a young girl of 16, just a few years younger than Elizabeth. She hated it out there in the camp, and certainly wasn’t afraid to voice her opinions. “I can’t wait ‘til we’re out of this stinkin’ hole,” she told Elizabeth as the two girls walked into town. “I was at the top of my class--I was going to be class president! Then my parents dragged me out here to find gold that probably doesn’t even exist. We’ve been out here for over two weeks and we haven’t seen so much as one flake. Say--what have you got there?” asked Susanna.

  “A letter. I write to my beau back home, and he writes to me. He’s going to be moving out here as soon as his work at the mill is done.” Elizabeth already didn’t care for Susanna very much. She was a critical and outspoken person, and Elizabeth felt that the less she knew about Ben, the better.

  In her last letter, Elizabeth had told Ben that they were nearing San Francisco, so she really hoped there would be a letter waiting for her when she arrived. To her delight, there was! She wanted nothing more than to immediately tear it open and pore over every word that Ben had written, but Susanna was there. The last thing she wanted was for the moment to be spoiled by some snoopy girl she had just met. She wanted to be able to give her full attention to Ben’s letter with no distractions whatsoever.

  “Aren’t you going to open that?” she asked as Elizabeth tucked it away in her pocket.

  “Later, I don’t want to risk it getting ripped or ruined in the wind.” Elizabeth knew that it was a lame excuse, but it seemed to satisfy Susanna, which was good enough for her.

  “What’s wrong with your sister anyway?” she asked suddenly. Elizabeth couldn’t help but gasp. She never thought of Carrie as having any sort of defect or handicap. Having to explain this to someone as nosy and insensitive as Susanna would surely be more trouble than it was worth. Instead, she decided to keep the conversation simple--all the while hoping that Susanna would get the hint and move on.

  “Her legs were twisted when she was born,” she said, hoping that her answer would suffice. This unfortunately had the opposite effect on Susanna, whose interest was now piqued even more.

  “Aren’t you going to get them fixed?” she asked.

  Elizabeth inhaled deeply and began to speak in a slow, controlled manner. “Yes. We need to get some money for the doctor, and then we are going to have them fixed.” Elizabeth regretted saying these words as soon as they left her mouth. Susanna darted down the road ahead of her, and Elizabeth felt like she had just unwillingly given her enough gossip to last a week.

  As long as she doesn’t say anything to Carrie, Elizabeth thought. She didn’t see Susanna for the rest
of the day.

  That night, her father stopped her as she was going into the tent. “You should really keep our family matters to ourselves, Elizabeth,” he said to her in a hushed tone. “Everyone here seems nice enough, but we don’t know them well enough to really trust them yet. If you say the wrong thing, it could spread like wildfire--and it could fall on the wrong ears.”

  As much as Elizabeth wanted to tell her father what happened, she knew that it would be useless. He meant what he said--she could tell that by looking at him--and there was no room for argument or explanation. She decided the best thing to do would be to avoid Susanna Dickerson as much as she could, and keep her thoughts and opinions to herself.

  The next few weeks were cold and rainy. There was no gold to be found, but that didn’t discourage John Ryder. He saw this as an opportunity to heal his little girl, and he was going to find that gold--even if he had to pick up the mountain and shake it.

  ****

  Elizabeth still wrote letters to Ben every day and walked into San Francisco to mail them. Since the mail didn’t come every day, she had no choice but to wait patiently for her special deliveries. This was alright with Elizabeth; it gave her something to look forward to.

  Writing return letters was her solace. It warmed her soul to be able to extoll their love on paper and tell Ben just how much she missed seeing his beautiful brown eyes. She wrote of her dreams with him for the future and always told him that she loved him. She also spoke of her family, of the Dickersons, and how they unfortunately hadn’t found gold yet.

  Elizabeth had decided to earn a little bit of extra money by mending the shirts of the men around the camp. They easily ripped holes in them while panning for gold, and she applied what she learned working for Mrs. Hornsby to fix the shirts quickly. With the money she earned, Elizabeth had gone into town and purchased a tube of bright red lipstick. It was just as red as the lipstick the saloon girls would wear. Her mother wouldn’t let her wear it in the camp, but that was okay. She only purchased it for one purpose: letter signing.

  At the end of every letter she wrote to Ben, she would carefully write two words, “Your Love,” in her best calligraphy. She would then apply the lipstick and gently press her lips beneath the words, leaving a bright crimson kiss on the paper. She had run out of the perfume she’d been using to scent her letters just before they had arrived in town. Elizabeth thought her new approach would be a delightful surprise to Ben and provided a more personal touch to her letters.

  Ben’s letters were precious to her. Yes, he spoke of the weather and work, but most of the pages were filled describing how much he missed her—especially once she began to add her new signature kiss to the letters. He proclaimed his love for her and gushed about looking forward to the day they would be wed. In each letter, he would write the number of days left before he would embark on his epic journey to reunite with her.

  She missed him more than she thought was possible. Every night, Elizabeth saw his face as she fell asleep, and every morning, she thought of him before anything else. At first, she’d been afraid that this trip was going to pull her and Ben apart, but it was actually serving to draw them closer together.

  ****

  After a week of seemingly endless downpours, the sun finally came out. It was a welcome change, but with it came an intense heat wave. Steam could be seen rising along the hills of the countryside in the morning. By the afternoon, the air felt thick as the humidity became unbearable. Carrie came into the tent to see her sister, her dress clinging to her twisted legs.

  “I can’t seem to shake these stupid mosquitos!” she said as she sat down beside her sister. “Every time I see one land on me, it seems like three more bite me.” Elizabeth knew her sister wasn’t trying to complain, but she was still surprised. Carrie never complained about anything, and now here she was carrying on about the mosquitos. “I thought you’d be telling me that the mosquitos had to eat, too,” she teased her sister gently. “Well, they do…but they don’t have to eat me!” Carrie exclaimed. The two sisters laughed at this, and Susanna Dickerson poked her head into the tent to see what the commotion was.

  “You girls could have told me it’s nicer in here than it is out there!” Susanna welcomed herself into the tent as Carrie rolled her eyes at Elizabeth.

  “I followed you through the swamp; didn’t you hear me calling?!” Susanna asked Carrie. Carrie did her best to look surprised.

  “I guess I was too busy trying to get away from all those mosquitos to hear you,” she said as she picked up a book, flipping through its pages. Both girls were hoping that if they ignored her long enough, she would go away, but Susanna followed their lead and picked up a book to look through.

  “You two must be pretty smart to be looking at things like this for fun. This is boring and my legs itch; those darned mosquitos bit me, too!” She stood up and walked out of the tent, and as she did, Elizabeth and Carrie could see that she had ripped her stockings high up on the leg--almost to her bloomers. They both laughed when she was gone, and chatted about the books.

  “I have a surprise,” Elizabeth said, as soon as she was certain that Susanna was gone.

  “What is it!?” Carrie demanded in a loud whisper. It had been a long time since there were any surprises in her life, and Elizabeth knew that this would cheer her little sister up. She pulled a letter from her pocket, and slowly unfolded it.

  “Ben told me last night that he finished early! Look at this!” she said as she held the letter out for her sister to see.

  “He’s on his way?!” Carrie exclaimed, covering her mouth in shock. She loved Ben, and it had been really hard for her to watch her sister missing him so much. Elizabeth nodded excitedly, and they both hugged each other.

  “I’m so happy for you! And, Lizzy, we’re all going to be a family again!” Carrie seemed to be almost as happy as Elizabeth herself. “Have you told Mother yet?” she asked her sister with bated breath.

  “I’ll tell her tonight at dinner. Just promise me you won’t say anything before then!” Elizabeth beamed at the thought of him coming. All this time, it had felt like a piece of her heart was missing. Now, picturing the two of them together again, she wanted to explode and cry tears of joy.

  “Just don’t tell Susanna if you want it to be a secret!” Carrie said over her shoulder as she was leaving the tent. Both girls laughed as she left, but Elizabeth couldn’t help but notice that her sister moved much slower than usual.

  “Carrie, are you alright?” she called out. She couldn’t hear her sister’s reply, but she didn’t stop or come back, so she assumed Carrie was fine.

  That night at dinner, Elizabeth announced the wonderful news to her parents. They were both thrilled for her and her mother gave her a big hug. “My daughter is going to be complete again!” she announced happily. Carrie was wrapped in a blanket with a cup of hot tea, which she raised into the air as she cheered.

  “I have some exciting news myself,” her father said after the excitement died down. They all looked up at him inquisitively, and with a smile on his face, he proudly pulled a small black velvet pouch from his pocket.

  “Honey!” Mary squealed. They all gasped in surprise as he shook several small nuggets of pure gold into his hand. The girls both shouted for joy and even baby Maggie clapped her hands along with her sisters in excitement.

  “I reckon there’s well over three hundred dollars’ worth of gold there!” said John. “And tomorrow, we’re going to work to get the rest out of the vein. Mary--it’s going to be more than enough!” Mary let out a quiet gasp and covered her mouth as tears glistened in her eyes.

  Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide as her face lit up like a bonfire. What wonderful news! Ben was on his way, and within a few days, they’d have enough money to pay that doctor who could fix Carrie’s legs.

  “Enough for what?” Carrie asked, trying to read her loved ones’ faces for a clue. Initially, no one had wanted to tell her the plan in case they hadn’t been able to find any gold;
now, her parents simply wanted to save the good news in order to surprise her later. They had always wanted to give her a new life; one where she could run through the fields, play hopscotch and dance to her heart’s content. That day was coming sooner than they had ever thought possible.

  “We will tell you when the time is right, my dear!” her father exclaimed as he scooped her up. He danced around the fire with her laughing in his arms, but then stopped after one lap, putting his hand to her forehead.

  “Do you feel okay, Carrie? You’re all wrapped up, yet you feel like you have a fever.” He gently carried her over to her mother, who also put her hand to her daughter’s forehead.

  “You should probably get some sleep, honey,” her mother told her as she kissed her on the head. Carrie softly bid her family goodnight as Pa carried her into the tent to tuck her in. They spent the rest of the night together in quiet celebration. They didn’t want to wake her, and they didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention from the neighbors.

  Later that night, Elizabeth’s eyes shot open as she was abruptly awoken by a loud sound. Her heart pounded as it rang out again: it was the sound of a woman screaming at the top of her lungs.

  “Stay inside!” shouted her father as he rushed outside with a gun. Within moments, he began yelling for Mary.

  Elizabeth looked down at her sister, scared, yet surprised that she had not been woken by all of the commotion outside. She noticed that her sister was incredibly pale, drenched in sweat.

  “Carrie? CARRIE!” She shook her sister, but there was no response.

  “Mother! Come quick!” she screamed as she hastily scooped Carrie up--still wrapped in her damp blanket--and rushed her out of the tent.

  “My baby!” her mother cried as she took Carrie from Elizabeth’s arms.

  There were cries coming from every direction of the camp as more and more of the children were discovered to be on the brink of death. One of the men had already gone to fetch a doctor, but because he lived on the outskirts of town, he would not arrive in time to treat them all. By the sound of the persistent wail that began to swell from the Dickerson’s tent, Elizabeth knew that it was already too late for Susanna.