by Zoe Matthews
Serena nodded. “Of course you can use my address. I will mail this letter for you and let you know when an answer arrives.”
“Thank you so much,” Anna said as she hugged Serena and then Katrina. “I knew I could count on you both.”
“I’m not sure I agree with what you are doing,” Katrina commented. “But I understand why you want to.”
****
About a month later, Serena was able to whisper to Anna before the church service started that she had received a letter the day before. Anna nodded quickly to let her know she heard and quickly sat next to Mr. and Mrs. Davis in their usual pew. She had a hard time listening to the service that day. What did the letter say? Did a man answer her response to the ad? How was this all going to work? If she did find a man who wanted to marry her, how was she going to get away without Mr. and Mrs. Davis knowing? She knew if Mrs. Davis even suspected what she was planning, she would do everything she could to stop it, and Anna didn’t know if she would be able to fight it, even though she was 20 years old and an adult.
As soon as the service ended, the three girls quickly ran to their usual bench in the park and Serena handed her a thick letter.
“Charlotte knows about it since she picks up the mail, but she promised she wouldn’t say anything to Mrs. Davis,” Serena explained, talking about the woman who took Serena in. Anna felt relief at her words. Even though Charlotte expected Serena to help with her five children all the time, she really was a kind woman and always took time to talk to Anna when she went to the store for supplies. Sometimes she would even slip her a small pastry and refuse any type of payment.
The first paper was a letter written by a woman named Mrs. Victoria Burton who ran the mail-order agency. She explained how the process worked. Mrs. Burton had gone through all the available letters that had been sent by men who wanted a wife, and had chosen three of them who seemed to match what Anna wanted in a husband. These letters were included. Anna was to choose one of them, and if she didn’t like any of them, Mrs. Burton would keep her in mind when new letters from men arrived.
The first letter was from an older man who was in his mid 30s, a bachelor. From what Anna could tell, he was looking for someone to work for him, more than a wife. The second letter seemed to be much the same.
When Anna opened the third letter, she closed her eyes and said a short prayer. Hopefully, this letter would be different.
The third letter was from a man named Luke. He described a Montana ranch he owned with his two brothers. He explained how his wife died from a sickness a year ago and he had a four-year-old daughter. He was looking for a new wife and a mother for his daughter. He promised he would be a good husband to her and would not expect her to work hard. The letter was short, but for some reason Anna had a different feeling about this man.
Anna decided to write Luke and express her interest in becoming his wife. She hadn’t thought about the possibility of becoming an instant mother, but she didn’t mind that he had a young daughter. Serena and Katrina helped her write a letter to Luke and Serena agreed to mail it for her again.
Throughout April and into May, Anna exchanged three more letters with Luke. In the last one, he asked her officially to be his wife and included money for a train ticket and food for the trip to his town in Pine Valley, Montana.
During these few months, Anna had started to store some of her few belongings in Serena’s room. Katrina helped her purchase a train ticket and Anna sent one more letter to let Luke know when she would be arriving.
Circumstances worked out that Serena’s birthday fell on the week she was scheduled to leave. Over the last eight years, the three girls were always able to get together for a sleep over and then they would spent the entire next day together on each of their birthdays. She had been able to arrange this event to happen on the night before she was to leave.
Anna enjoyed her last night with her friends. Serena and Katrina were like sisters to her. They promised each other that they would always keep in touch, no matter what.
She wrote a short letter to Mr. and Mrs. Davis expressing her gratitude that they took her in and cared for her, but she wanted to do something else with her life. She asked Charlotte to give it to them in the evening after she had boarded the train.
CHAPTER 4
Alex Bridger sat at the kitchen table of the Big Spring Ranch with his two brothers and his niece, Sage. He watched his older brother, Luke, try to get some oatmeal into Sage before he went out to care for the cattle. Paul was standing at the stove making the morning coffee. Alex had made arrangements a few days ago to go into town, but he hoped he could get Luke to do it, for a very specific reason.
“I have something to tell you,” Alex finally said as he finished up the last of his pancakes. “I need you to go into town this morning, instead of me.”
“Why?” Luke questioned as if Alex was crazy. Luke hated going into town and both brothers knew it. “I have to get those cattle moved today, and Paul can’t help me since Sally is sick and he needs to care for Sage.” He named a wife of one of the ranch hands who usually took care of the child during the day while Alex and his brothers worked.
“I ordered something, or someone, for you,” Alex told him. He knew Luke would not like what he was going to tell him, but Luke had been so ornery and crabby to live with since his wife died a year ago, and he wasn’t getting better. The only person he didn’t yell at regularly was his daughter, Sage. He had been so happy living with his late wife, Pamela, so Alex figured if he ordered a wife for him, he would be happy again, and things could get back to normal.
Luke looked at Alex suspiciously. “What are you talking about? What have you done now? Just spit it out.”
“I sent away for a mail-order bride for you. She should be arriving on the train in town around noon.”
“What are you talking about?” Luke shouted. “You sent away for some woman we don’t even know?”
Sage started to whimper as her father started yelling. Paul looked at Alex with disgust and picked up the child. “Let’s go see the horses in the barn, shall we?” He quickly left with the girl while Luke stood and glared at Alex.
“I figured if I got you a new wife, you’d be happier,” Alex mumbled, wondering for the first time if this was going to be a mistake.
“I don’t want to marry again,” Luke thundered. “You know that.”
“Not all women die early,” Alex tried to calm Luke down. “I have her letters right here. Just read them, and then decide, okay?”
“No! I’m not going to read them. I’m going to go move the cattle. You ordered her. This is your problem. You go to town and get rid of her!” Luke pushed his hat on the top of his head and left the kitchen, slamming the screen door behind him.
Alex sat at the table feeling very disappointed. What was he going to do now? He had had the best intentions for Luke. He truly felt that Luke would like Anna if he would just give her a chance. Out of all the women who had written back to the ad he placed, he had liked her letters the best.
Anna had told him, or Luke, that she had grown up in an orphanage in New York and had been placed with a family in Texas about eight years ago. She was working in the store the family owned and wanted to have a different life. She wanted to have her own family and to have a choice as to what she did with her life. She sounded wonderful to Alex. She had no other family ties, so there would not be the problem Luke had with his first wife.
Pamela had been from back east and she had not adjusted well living on the ranch “out in the middle of nowhere.” She was always trying to convince Luke to go back east so she could visit her family whom she desperately missed. She could not understand that it wasn’t feasible to just hop on a train whenever you wanted. She could not understand that Luke had a ranch to help run and he could not just leave it whenever she wished.
Alex knew that Luke had loved his wife deeply and tried to do everything he could to make her happy. He had hoped that matching him up with a woman w
ho had no family ties would make a difference, but Luke had not allowed Alex to give him any information about Anna, including reading her letters.
Alex felt a little bit of guilt as he thought of the mess he got himself into. He had written to Anna pretending to be Luke. Anna would be arriving in Pine Valley in a few hours thinking Luke would be meeting her at the station. They were supposed to go directly to the reverend’s house to be married before driving out to the ranch.
He sighed and got up from the kitchen chair to go out and hitch up the wagon. He did not know what he was going to tell Anna, but he had a few hours to think about it since riding to town with the wagon took a little over an hour. He would come up with something.
****
Anna felt the train slow and then stop. As it entered the train station in Pine Valley, Montana, she tried not to feel anxious as she started this new chapter in her life. She did not know what her new life was going to entail, but she felt a peace inside herself and she knew she had made the right decision in becoming a mail-order bride.
She gathered her belongings and stepped off the train. She felt so grimy and dirty, having been on the train for over a week. A few days ago, she had helped a woman who was traveling alone take care of her two small children. One of them had gotten sick all over her, so Anna had changed out of that dress into a spare she had kept in her bag, but she could still smell a lingering stench and hoped Luke would be understanding.
Anna looked around for a man who might be standing alone and she saw a man with a very short beard that made him look like he needed to shave. He had dark hair, almost black, that was cut to just above his shoulders. It looked to have some curl to it under his black hat. Her heart actually skipped a beat at her first sight of him and she hoped he was waiting for her.
Sure enough, the cowboy walked towards her, taking off his hat as he got closer. She could see his dark brown eyes sparkling that were almost as black as his hair.
“Howdy, ma’am. Are you Anna Blake?” the man asked politely, but his eyes were intense as he looked her.
“Yes, you must be Luke,” Anna responded shyly.
“Actually, no,” the man said and hesitated as he said his next words. “My name is Alex, Luke’s younger brother.”
Anna felt confused and a bit disappointed. Why would Luke send his brother to pick her up? He had said specifically in his letters that he would meet her at the train station. Then she had an awful thought.
“Is Luke okay? Did something happen to him?” Anna asked.
“No ma’am. Luke is fine,” Alex reached to take her bag. “Let’s get your trunk and put your belongings in the wagon. Then we can have a meal at the hotel’s restaurant. I’ll explain while we eat.”
Anna agreed, although she wanted to insist that Alex tell her right then, but she was hungry and a good meal sounded great. Serena had given her a basket filled with food when she boarded the train, but she had eaten the last of it days ago. The food she had been eating since had been terrible and expensive.
She felt a distinct disappointment that this man was not Luke because she liked what she saw of Alex, but she shoved that thought deep down inside. It would not do to be attracted to another man other than whom she was supposed to marry.
Anna pointed out her small trunk and Alex very quickly had it loaded into a nearby wagon, looking surprised that the trunk and bag she had with her was all she brought. She figured he had expected her to have more belongings, but she was lucky she was able to bring what she did.
Soon they were seated at a table in the hotel’s restaurant. Alex quickly ordered for them both some fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, rolls and apple pie for desert.
Anna tried not to eat quickly but eat slowly like a lady would. She was so hungry she polished off half of her meal before she realized Alex was watching her with amusement in his dark brown eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” she breathed in embarrassment and set her fork down by her plate. “You must think I’m terribly rude.”
“I think you are just hungry,” Alex responded. “Go ahead and finish eating and I will tell you why Luke isn’t here.”
Anne nodded and started to eat again, but forced herself to slow down and listen to what he had to say.
She watched as Alex seemed to take a deep breath as if he needed to give himself courage for what he had to say. From the look on his face, she knew she was not going to like what he had to tell her, so she set her fork down and prepared herself to accept whatever he had to say.
“Luke isn’t here because he didn’t know you were coming,” Alex said the words very fast.
“But what about the letters? What about…” Anna started to say and stopped when Alex held out his hand to stop her.
“Let me tell you the story and then I will answer your questions, alright?” Alex requested and Anna nodded. “Luke is my eldest brother. There are three of us running the ranch our parents left to us. Ma died a few years after I was born and pa died a few years back. Luke was married, but his wife died a year ago, and she left behind a young daughter, Sage.
“He has been so unhappy and ornery since Pamela died. One day a few months ago I was in town and saw an ad in a newspaper explaining that women from all over were willing to come west and be married to a man they hadn’t met. I thought it was a great idea to help Luke. So I wrote the agency, using Luke’s name instead of my own.
“I had received about ten letters, but yours stood out from the rest. I figured you would be the best wife for him. We started writing and now here you are.”
“I don’t understand,” Anna confessed, feeling confused. “Luke doesn’t know I am coming?” She started to feel panic as she tried to figure out what was going on.
“I told him this morning. I really thought he would like the idea. I know he misses Pamela and how he knows Sage needs a mother. But he was very angry when I told him. He sent me here to send you back to Texas.”
Anna’s heart sank clear to her toes. She wasn’t wanted. Out of all the scenarios she had thought of what could happen when she arrived to Montana, this was one she hadn’t thought about. What was she going to do now? She did not have any money to go back to Texas, and besides, she did not want to go back to her previous circumstances. The last thing she wanted to do was go back and live with Mr. and Mrs. Davis again. If she did go back, she knew she would never be able to leave.
“What am I going to do?” she whispered, trying to stop the tears that were forming in her eyes from falling.
“Miss Blake, this is not your fault. It is mine. I intend to help you. I actually thought of an idea that might work out for all of us.”
Anna was not sure she wanted to hear his idea. She wanted to leave the restaurant so she could be alone and think of another option besides going back to Texas. She felt very angry and hurt that Alex would deceive her like this, pretending to be his brother. She could tell he had his brother’s best interests at heart, but she felt all he did was play with his brother’s and her lives.
“We had a housekeeper working for us, but she had to quit when she broke her arm a few months ago. She is healing okay, but she is an older woman and the work was getting a bit too much for her. I am thinking we should hire you to work for us.”
Anna thought about this new option for a few moments. “What would the work entail? I know how to work hard, but I have never done jobs like milking cows or feeding horses or anything like that.”
“We take care of those types of chores. You would just be in charge of keeping the main ranch house clean, washing clothes, cook, and things like that. Oh, and also you would need to care for Sage when we are out on the range. We could say this is a temporary situation, so you can make sure it is really what you want to do.”
She hesitated, and then admitted, “I can clean and cook, but I have never washed clothes. I would like to care for Sage.” In Texas, Mrs. Davis had sent all their clothing to be laundered by a woman who washed clothes for a living.
“Are you sure Luke won’t mind that I am there?” Anna asked, remembering that Luke was expecting Alex to send her back to Texas.
“It won’t matter if he does mind. He is grouchy all the time anyway. I doubt it will make any difference whether you come work for us or not.”
The waitress came and removed their empty plates and set the apple pie in front of them. Anna looked down at the delicious desert, but she suddenly felt sick and wasn’t sure she would be able to eat it. She felt very nervous about this new situation.
Alex started to eat his pie and he seemed content to let Anna do all the thinking she needed. He didn’t say anything else or try to convince her in any way.
