Pony Express Mail-Order Bride

by Rhonda Gibson

  “Uh-huh. We’re going to go to Dove Creek for some wood after we finish our chores at Uncle Thomas’s station.” He pushed down. “I’m going to grab my horse.”

  “Oh, all right.” Bella pulled a box from under the cabinet. She quickly sliced bread and ham for sandwiches.

  “Can I do anything to help you?” Hazel asked.

  Bella smiled. “No, thanks.” She paused. If Philip was going to the store, then there were a few things she’d like. Should she send a list or just get ready and go with them? Her gaze moved to Hazel.

  Hazel nodded. “Yep, I’d go, too.”

  “You would?”

  “Beats staying out here. Unless you have a good book to read.” Hazel stood to leave.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Home.”

  “I thought you said you’d go, too. Do you have a good book at home waiting for you?” She placed her hands on her hips and grinned at Hazel.

  “Well, no. But I just thought you’d want to go as a family.” Hazel put her hands in her pockets.

  “You are family. Mark, tell Philip I’d like to speak to him before he goes to Thomas’s place.”

  The little boy ran from the house again, this time with his horse in his hands and in a gallop instead of a dead run. Hazel followed. “I’m going to run back to the house and get my bag.”

  “Hurry back. I’d like to have tea before we go.”

  Hazel nodded and followed Mark. Just before she shut the door, Hazel said, “Thank you, Bella.” Then she hurried out.

  Bella finished making the sandwiches. She wrapped them in a cloth, then added pickles and cookies to the box.

  Just as she put the top on the box, Philip walked in. “Mark says you want to talk to me.”

  She turned to face him. “Yes, Hazel and I would like to go to town also. We’ll come to Thomas’s in about an hour. That should give you plenty of time to get the chores done, shouldn’t it?”

  He nodded. “I believe so.” A frown marred his features.

  Bella frowned, too. “Do you not want us to go with you?” she asked, feeling a little hurt at the idea that he hadn’t wanted her to go.

  He looked at her. “Why would you say that?”

  “You’re frowning at me.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  Philip crossed the room and draped his arm over her shoulders. “Oh, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about space on the wagon. Of course I want you to come.”

  She smiled up at him. “Well, that’s an easy fix. Hazel and I can ride our horses and you and the boys can ride in the wagon.” Bella didn’t tell him that she preferred riding on her horse. Wagons bumping along jarred her to the point of being sore the next day.

  He gave her a hug and then nodded. “So, it’s settled. I’ll take the boys, lunch and the wagon now. We’ll meet at the relay station in about an hour.” Philip released her.

  Bella grabbed the lunch box from the table and handed it to him. “Thank you.”

  Philip took the box. “You and Hazel be careful coming over to Thomas’s.”

  “We will,” she promised.

  He turned and left. Bella smiled. Philip Young was a good man. She wished she could have met him before she’d met her ex-fiancé. Her ex-fiancé had proven that no matter how good of a man he seemed it wasn’t always the way they were. She couldn’t trust her heart just because she felt Philip was a good man.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Philip arrived at the relay station and jumped down from the wagon. “Hey, Thomas!”

  Thomas came out of the barn and waved. He walked to the wagon and helped Mark down. “What are you all doing this morning?”

  “We came to help you with the chores,” Mark answered as his feet touched the ground.

  “Oh, you have, have you?”

  “Yep, Philip says you got two new hogs for us to feed.” Caleb jumped down from the wagon by himself. He looked up and grinned. “Can we see them, Uncle Thomas?”

  Thomas nodded. “You sure can.” He started around the back of the barn. “I put them as far away from the house as I could. Josephine doesn’t care for their smell.”

  Mark grabbed his little nose. “I don’t, either.”

  Philip laughed. “They aren’t that bad. It’s the mud and muck that smells, not the pigs.”

  Caleb looked up. Doubt filled his blue eyes. “I’m pretty sure it’s the pigs.” He motioned toward the two big hogs.

  They were covered in mud. So much so that Philip couldn’t tell what color they were. “Well, that mud would make them stink, I suppose.”

  Philip watched as Thomas showed the boys how to fill the pig trough full of feed and scraps. He then took them to the well and filled up two large buckets full of water and poured it into the round water barrel that sat in the corner of the pen. The boys asked lots of questions about pigs and even tried scratching one behind the ears.

  “Are there any chores left for me to do?” Philip asked with a grin, knowing they were really late arriving and the answer would probably be no.

  Thomas surprised him. “I saved the best for last. There are about four stalls that need mucking out. You are welcome to start on one of those.”

  Caleb laughed. “That’s funny, Uncle Thomas. You saved it for Philip to do.”

  Philip grabbed Caleb around the waist and picked him up. He started walking to the barn with the struggling little boy. Philip called over his shoulder, “Caleb just volunteered to help me. You’ll have to get Mark to help you finish up with the pigs.”

  Caleb slumped like a bag of potatoes. “Aw, that’s not fair.”

  Thankfully Caleb couldn’t see his grin when Philip said, “Not so funny now, is it?” He set Caleb on the ground.

  The little boy wrinkled his nose. “Nope, not funny at all.”

  Philip and Caleb began mucking out the stalls. Caleb broke the silence after several long minutes of hard work. “When I grow up, I think I want to live in town.”

  “How come?” Philip pitched the old hay out into the center aisle.

  Caleb leaned on his pitchfork. “I don’t care much for tending animals.” He grinned. “I don’t mind riding horses, but I don’t like cleaning up after them.”

  Philip nodded. “What would you do in town? As a job? You’d still have to work.”

  The little boy went back to work. “I don’t know. I’m still young. I have time to learn. Maybe after I grow up some, I’ll have a better idea.” He used his pitchfork like a shovel and pushed hay out into the center passageway.

  “True, but while you’re growing, you’ll get to do all kinds of jobs.”

  Thomas and Mark entered the barn. Philip could hear Mark talking about horses. With a grin, he thought he knew what Mark would be doing when he grew up.

  “Have you heard that the telegraph wire is pushing its way here?” Thomas asked, grabbing a shovel.

  Philip stopped working. “No, I really haven’t been paying much attention to anything other than my new family. What have you heard?”

  Thomas pushed the soiled hay toward the barn door. “Just that the telegraph lines are headed this way. There is a rumor that the Pony Express won’t be needed much longer.”

  Philip went back to his work. What if the telegraph office did put the Pony Express out of business? What would he do? How would he feed his new family? He wasn’t sure his furniture was good enough to sell, but he felt the need to work on it.

  * * *

  Bella knew something was on Philip’s mind. Now that they were home from town, she intended to find out what. She looked to the boys, who were sleeping soundly on their mountain of quilts and blankets.

  The fire crackled and created a soft light throughout the room that was soothing. “I’ve been thinking all day, Bella.”<
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  Their eyes met across the room and she waited for him to continue. Maybe she wouldn’t have to ask. It had been obvious that he’d been thinking all day, but his silence now was putting her on edge.

  “Thomas said this morning that the telegraph lines were coming this way and the men in town confirmed it.” He paused again with a sigh. “I suppose I knew the Pony Express wouldn’t last forever and I saw men surveying the land, but I didn’t think it would end this soon.” Worry laced his voice.

  Bella spread out his quilt and then her own a few feet away and closer to the boys. “Yes, some of the women were talking about it in the dress store also.” She spoke softly so as not to wake Caleb or Mark.

  He nodded and chewed on his fingernail. “I bought extra wood from the lumberyard so that I can make a couple of items and see if they will sell in the general store.”

  At this point, Bella felt as if he was talking to himself more than to her. She sat down on her pallet. Her sewing basket wasn’t far away, so she dug in it and found one of the boys’ hole-filled socks. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

  “You do?”

  “Uh-huh. Once you sell a few pieces, you will know how nice your building is.” She smiled happily at him. The bed he’d made downstairs was simply beautiful and Bella hated to admit that she was envious of Josephine’s couch, which Philip had made her for Christmas.

  “It will take up a lot of my time. With building and the Pony Express, you and the boys might not see me much,” he said, watching her face to see her reaction.

  Bella laid the mended sock in her lap. “Why can’t you do your furniture work in the house?”

  He looked around. “Where would I do it at?”

  She grinned. “Well, larger pieces would have to be outside in the barn, but smaller items, like rockers, cabinets and other things, could be made either here in the sitting room or downstairs. There is lots of room down there.”

  Still unsure, he said, “It will be noisy work.”

  “As long as the boys aren’t sleeping, I don’t think that will be a problem.” She pulled out a shirt that was missing a button.

  “I could work on larger items out in the barn while the boys are napping.” Philip grinned. “I suppose you want me to make your furniture, too?”

  “Of course. But as much as I love Josephine’s settee, I’d like mine to be a little smaller and I want two rocking chairs in here. One for you and one for me.” She giggled at the look on his face. “Oh, and the boys each need a bed.”

  “Woman, when am I going to have time to build furniture to sell?” He leaned forward as if waiting expectantly for her answer.

  “Well, when you build my rocking chair, you can make a second one to sell.” She dug in her button box for a button. Between Hazel and Josephine sharing their buttons plus the few she’d bought at the general store, Bella had a nice collection of buttons.

  Philip made a “humph” noise, then said, “Well, that sounds good.”

  Bella sewed the little button into place. “Have you spoken to the owner of the general store about selling your furniture there? Or are you planning to?”

  “I mentioned it. He said to bring a couple of things down and we’d discuss it.” Philip lay down on his quilt and put his hands behind his head.

  Bella knotted her thread close to the button and then bit off the remainder of the string. She folded the shirt and then laid her work to the side. “So when will you start working on something?” she asked, lying down on her pallet.

  He yawned. “Maybe tomorrow afternoon. The boys and I will do our morning chores and then Thomas has offered to come over and help me repair the roof. If you don’t mind, maybe you could make us all a hot lunch.”

  “I’ll be happy to,” Bella answered.

  They lay there in comfortable silence for several long moments. Philip spoke in a soft voice. “Thank you, Bella, for helping me feel better about the furniture business.”

  “You’re welcome. We’d better get some sleep. Morning will be here before we know it.” She turned over on her side and tucked her hands under her head.

  Philip answered, “Good night.”

  “’Night.” Bella listened to his steady breathing that soon turned into soft snores.

  Sleep should have come swiftly to her also, but her mind refused to shut down. Even though she’d been positive about Philip’s furniture business while speaking with him, Bella couldn’t help but worry. If Philip did well selling furniture, would he want to move to town? And if he was really successful, would he decide this ready-made family wasn’t for him? As much as she didn’t want to compare him to her ex-fiancé, Bella couldn’t help it. Had he married her only to leave them when better things began to happen for him?

  Bella prayed a simple prayer, asking God to help her learn to trust her new husband. Even after she’d said a silent amen, she didn’t feel any better but knew she’d support Philip. He had the right to pursue his dreams.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Philip and Thomas stomped into the house just as lunch was being served. Mark and Caleb followed close behind. Mark’s bottom lip was pooched out in a pout.

  Josephine smiled at the little boy. “Mark, you are going to trip on that lip if you don’t pull it back in.”

  Everyone laughed as he sucked his bottom lip into his mouth. Mark ignored their laughter and climbed up on one of the logs that served as dining table chairs. “Philip wouldn’t let me help,” he told Bella.

  “He wouldn’t?” she asked.

  Mark shook his small head. “Nope, he said I’m too little.”

  “He is too little,” Caleb said. “I’m not. I got to hand up the shakes to cover the holes.”

  Philip ruffled the little boy’s hair as he walked past him. “He did a good job, too.”

  “That’s good, Caleb. I’m proud of you.” Bella grinned. She looked back to the pouting Mark. “You are still too little to hand up those heavy pieces of wood. Don’t pout. You get to do lots of things.”

  Mark didn’t look any happier, but honestly there wasn’t much Philip or Bella could do about it. The little boy was too small to be working on a roof.

  Philip heard Bella try to distract Mark from his pouting. “You and Caleb get to have a picnic in the living room or on the front porch. Mark, where would you like to have it at?”

  “I don’t care.”

  “I want to sit by the fire, Aunt Bella. I’m a little cold,” Caleb answered.

  Thomas and Philip returned from washing their hands. “Your turn, boys. Go wash your hands,” Philip ordered as he took his place at the table.

  Bella looked from Philip to her nephews. Caleb ran to the washbasin in a hurry to do his bidding. Mark went also, but at a much slower pace. She turned questioning eyes on him. “Philip?”

  He looked up at her. “Let it go for now, Bella.”

  She looked from Thomas to Josephine. He had to admire them. They both seemed busy filling plates with food, obviously not wanting to get into their family affairs.

  “All right,” Bella finally said as she walked into the living room and laid a blanket down for the boys to sit on while they ate. It was clear that she didn’t like that Mark’s feelings were hurt, but that she also knew now wasn’t the time to talk to him about it. She sighed.

  When the boys came back, Philip handed each of them a plate. “Thanks, Philip,” they both said.

  Bella returned to the table and sat down. She and Josephine had already set the table with coffee, tea and a full plate for the four adults. Philip said a quick prayer and they all began to eat.

  “I think we did a pretty good job on your roof,” Thomas said before taking a big bite of roast.

  Philip nodded his agreement. “Hopefully we got all the holes and cracks covered.”

 
Bella seemed to be listening as they discussed the roof. Philip watched as her gaze continued to move to Mark.

  The little boy ate with Caleb and seemed to have forgotten his aggravation at being left out of the repairs. Philip wanted to include Mark, but the boy didn’t want to do what they asked him to and so finally Philip had simply banned him from helping at all. He felt bad about it, but Mark had to learn to do as he was told even if it wasn’t what he wanted to do.

  “Bella?”

  She turned back to Josephine. “I’m sorry. What?”

  “I was telling you that Hazel and I have come up with a way to have fresh bread all the time without baking it ourselves.” Josephine grinned across the table at her.

  “You did?”

  Philip marveled that Bella seemed to be dismayed at the thought of someone else baking bread for her and the other ladies. From the confused look on her face, she simply couldn’t imagine someone else doing her baking. He knew she enjoyed it.

  “Yes, do you want to know how?”

  Bella nodded.

  “It was really Hazel’s idea.”

  “What was Hazel’s idea?” Bella asked, sounding a little frustrated that Josephine wouldn’t just tell her what their plans were.

  “You will bake our bread!” Josephine giggled.

  “What?” Shock filled his new wife’s voice.

  Josephine’s giggle turned into a full belly laugh. The boys stopped talking to each other and turned their attention to the women’s conversation.

  Once she’d gotten control of her merriment, Josephine explained. “We thought you might like to trade us bread for milk and eggs. You could send my bread by Philip and the boys when they come to the relay station to help Thomas, and I could send back eggs.”

  “Well, I’ll be. That makes perfect sense.” Philip held up one of her rolls. “You make wonderful bread and we could use the milk and eggs, since we don’t have our own cows or chickens yet.”

  Josephine nodded. “That’s what we thought and we both love her bread. Hazel said that Bella’s sweetbread was even better than hers and that Bella is using her recipe.”