by Indiana Wake
The whistle of an approaching train startled her. “How many trains do you get here in a day? Back home there was only one each week, if that.” Loretta watched the train pull in from the east.
“We will sometimes get two or three a day during the round-up season.” Sam smiled at her confused look. “This is mainly a cattle town and ‘round-up’ is when the ranchers gather up their herd for branding and to cull out the steers for sale. The stockyard is on the far side of town, but you can still smell them.”
Indeed, now that he mentioned it, she could smell the rank odor of a multitude of animals held in one place too long. So that’s what that stench was. She opened her mouth to comment on it when the familiar forms of two men emerged from the station behind Tarlton.
How had Bart and his crony found them so far from home?
Pulling away from Sam, Loretta ran toward Tarlton. A wide grin split his face and he opened her arms to welcome her.
“Watch out, behind you,” she cried out, but the unaccustomed shoes on her feet tripped her and she fell to her knees in the dust, the words lost in a grunt. Horrified, she watched Bart ease a pistol from behind his back and point it at Tarlton.
Without thought, Loretta launched herself toward the two men. Vaguely she could hear Sam calling out behind her, but she ignored him.
Tarlton’s smile faded when she ran past him just as Bart’s gun fired.
A burning line of flame speared through her shoulder and she crumpled into a heap at Bart’s feet. Agony spread like wildfire down her arm and across her chest. She heard more shots and shouting all around her, but she could hold on to nothing but the shock of the pain.
Finally, the noise stopped and soothing blackness replaced the pain and stole her down into the depths of nothing.
Chapter 10
The blackness of the void was fading. Loretta struggled to hold onto it, afraid of the pain that waited for her when she awoke. It refused to linger and she drifted awake.
The pain was there, but rather than unbearable agony, it had eased to a bearable throb.
“Loretta, Loretta honey, wake up.” The voice was strange and familiar at the same time. It carried the twang of the mountains, but something else layered in.
She opened her eyes and tried to focus them on the dim face beside her. The face moved and the warm flow of a lantern filled the room.
Sam sat beside her with his hat in his hands. “There you are. How are you feeling?”
“Not so bad.” her dry throat made her voice rough.
“The Doc gave you something for the pain. Are you thirsty?” At her faint nod, he held a glass of water to her lips and propped her up as she drank. “He was able to get the bullet out, but you are likely to carry a scar for the rest of your life.”
Loretta didn’t care about scars. She searched Sam’s face. “Tarlton?”
Sam looked away and set the glass on the table with exaggerated care. “The sheriff has the man who shot you in jail along with his partner. They are going to face some hard time in prison. We don’t hold with harassing women around here.”
“Tarlton?” Loretta touched Sam’s arm with her good hand.
“He’s fine. You saved his life you know.” Sam sighed. “He is out there wearing a hole in the rug with his pacing.”
He turned the lantern up a bit higher. “Do you love him?”
“He was my teacher for the last few years of my schooling. Since then he has become my friend and companion, the one person to whom I can talk to about books and history and …” Loretta faltered.
“But do you love him?” Sam turned back to her and took her hand in his. “If you truly love him and will be happy with him, I will step aside. For your sake, not his.”
“I do love him. I don’t think I truly realized it until that moment in the street.” Loretta looked at Sam. “I’m sorry. I will still marry you if you want. You are a good man and I’m sure we will do well together.”
“But without love.” Sam pushed away from the bed and began to pace. The hurt on his face broke her heart. How cruel she was to deny this good man his chance at love and happiness, but she knew she wasn’t the one to give him what he wanted.
Suddenly she remembered the promise she had made to Miriam. Where was that letter?
“My pack …” she glanced around the room for her tiny bundle that had traveled across the country with her.
“Here it is, but you don’t need it, I can get you anything you need.”
“There is a letter.” She fumbled with the opening of the sack before he took it from her. He found the letter in a moment. “It is for you, from a young woman from home. She is a wonderful girl, and her heart is unclaimed.”
“If she is anything like you, that is all I ask.” Sam smiled. “I’ll send him in.”
Tarlton closed the door behind him. He stood there for a moment just looking at her. “I thought I had lost you.”
His eyes filled with tears as he walked to her and lowered himself to his knees beside her bed. He buried his face in her uninjured side and sobbed.
“I couldn’t let him shoot you.” She raised her hand weakly to lay it on his head. “To lose you would be like losing the best part of myself. Tarlton …”
“I have a first name you know.” He lifted his pale, drawn face and searched her features.
“All this time and you never told me.” Loretta smiled at him. “What is it?”
“Andrew. I was named after my father who died in the war.” He smiled back, “He fought for the rights and freedoms of others and I figured I could do no less.”
“So you are fighting for the miners.” She nestled her hand in his. “Would you be willing to continue your fight with a wife at your side?”
Tarlton, Andrew stared at her.
“Sam said he would step aside if I truly loved you.” Loretta started to raise her other hand to his cheek but hissed at the wave of pain.
“And do you, love me that is?”
“With all my heart.” Loretta longed to touch his beloved face but had to content herself with letting her heart shine through her eyes, as she had never allowed it to before.
“Then we will fight the good fight together … as soon as you are healed.” With a look of pure joy, Andrew leaned forward and claimed her lips with his own.
Chapter 11
It was two weeks later when Sam led his not quite mail order bride down the aisle of the small church to her soon to be husband. Loretta looked resplendent in a borrowed gown and Andrew was handsome as always. A small group of churchgoers had rallied together to clean his suit and see that the couple was well cared for. What the two of them didn’t know was that they would have help when they returned to the Putney mines. Most of the town’s families had friends back East. Each family had found a dollar so Loretta and Andrew would be well funded on their return. Many of the town’s folks had friends, some of influence and they had put together letters of introduction and of names of people who could help or who at least could be trusted. It was a fine wedding gift and he felt privileged to be able to help these two on their way. Even if it meant his own heart would be empty a while longer.
The long walk down the aisle was bittersweet to Sam, but it was time now. Sam smiled as he handed her over. Loretta was a great woman and he knew that he could have loved her. But who was he to break these two apart. Love would find him and he had the letter. It sat in his pocket and warmed his heart. But for Loretta and Andrew, they had triumphed over adversity and they were destined for greater things. He felt pleased that he could be a part of their story even if only a little one. As he handed her over to Andrew, his heart sang.
Loretta looked across at Andrew and felt a love that was deeper than her pain. This was her destiny and she knew now that she had to return to the Putney mines. There were people she loved who needed her help. As much as it was nice to escape for a short time she would go back. Her Ma needed her as did her siblings. Something inside her knew that Andrew would not be happ
y until he had improved conditions for everyone.
The pastor recited the words and Loretta felt her breath catch as Andrew said, “I do.”
Now it was her turn and her mind said yes with all my heart but her throat was dry. Try as she might the words would not come out and she could see the worry and doubt on Andrew’s face.
“Do you take this man,” the Pastor started again.
Swallowing hard Loretta felt her throat ease. “I do,” she said. “I do with all my heart.”
Andrew leaned forward and his lips inched closer to hers. Everything disappeared except the feel of his heart as it pounded against her chest and then their lips touched. It was like heaven and like coming home all rolled into one. Her knees were weak and she would have fallen, but he scooped her up into big strong arms and carried her into her new life.
The End.
The Rescued Bride
Mail Order Brides of Harmony
Miriam - Book 2
By
Indiana Wake
Chapter 1
1894
Miriam clutched the letter to her chest and looked around the sparsely furnished yet comfortable cabin. This was home and she had known it all her life. Did she really want to leave this place, with all its memories and all its joy? Would she consign her future into another’s hands? Someone she had never met, someone who could be… who could be her future or her destruction?
She held the letter in shaking hands. It was short, concise even, but there was enough in it to change the course of her life. That was if she had the courage to act on its promise. Taking a breath, she read the letter again.
Greetings Miss Owen,
Loretta gave me your letter and hinted that you might be willing to join me in working the farm. Since her heart is given to someone else, I figgered I would give you a try. I got a 160-acre homestead in Kansas and only two years away from proving up. The house is just a soddy, but I’m collecting rocks to make a proper stone house someday. The land here is rich when the rains come, and corn and wheat grow like nothing you ever seen in the hills. I got a milk cow and some chickens though the Coyotes keep trying to eat them.
The only thing I ain’t got is a wife to share it with. I hope you will agree to come out here and change that. Your friend Loretta seems to think we will be well suited. I promise that you would be cared for and respected and I hope that love would grow between us.
Respectfully,
Sam Hewlett.
Loretta had given her Sam’s letter last night when she and her husband stopped on their way to the Putney Mines. They had grand hopes for unionizing the miners and freeing those who wished to escape the filth and poverty of the Company. Loretta’s had explained that times ahead would be difficult. Yet she looked forward to the challenge, especially as she had arranged for her family, to travel westward to a new life in Kansas.
Miriam wished them well but feared they had a hard and dangerous task ahead of them. The Putneys were not known for kindness toward those who crossed them.
She should know.
She had crossed them herself and even Zachariah didn’t know her secret. Nor would he if she could help it. There were some things even the best of brothers didn’t need to know. A shudder ran down her spine and the day grew colder, perhaps a storm was coming. Shaking off her gloom she tucked the single sheet of paper into her blouse. Then she stooped to slide a pan of biscuits from the brick oven. The letter crackled accusingly.
“So, our fine guests have left already.” Zachariah bounced into the room with his usual cheer. “They didn’t even want breakfast?”
Miriam slid the pan of biscuits onto the table to cool. “They had some coffee and the first batch of biscuits. Loretta apologized, but they wanted to get to Putney as the last shift ends. They will have a better chance to talk to the miners then.”
“Better chance to get killed, that is.” Zachariah shook his head. “The Company isn’t going to let a union get a toehold anywhere around here. Those miners are like slaves and the owners will resort to any means necessary to keep total control.”
“Do you really think they are in danger?” Miriam piled the biscuits into a waiting basket and set them on the table beside the plate of eggs and ham.
Her brother grabbed one and slathered it with butter before he spoke, his face unusually grave. “I think this whole state is going to be in danger if things aren’t resolved.”
Miriam sat in the chair across from him and sipped her coffee. Her appetite had fled. Zachariah didn’t notice as he plowed his way through a heaped plate full of food. He was sopping up the last bits of grease from his plate before she found the courage to speak again.
“Have you ever thought of leaving here?” she looked down into the cold dregs of her coffee. “Have you ever wondered what was beyond the mountains?”
“Nope.” Zachariah sat back in his chair and stretched his booted feet out in front of him. “Because I already know.”
Her eyes flew to her brother. “You do?”
“Sure I know. Nothin’.” He grinned at her disgusted expression. “There ain’t nothin’ out there that I want that I can’t find here. Ma and Pa built this place up from scratch and when they died, it passed on to us. They expect us to keep it goin’.”
Miriam flushed. She stood and began gathering the dirty dishes.
“Why?” His voice broke into the clatter of crockery.
“Why what?” Miriam refused to meet his eyes, afraid of what she would find there.
“Do you want to leave?”
Chapter 2
She didn’t have to look at him to hear the hurt in his voice. They knew each other well. Zack was a little taller than her, with the same color hair like burnished oak. Her hands stilled and she set the plates in the washtub filled with hot water. She stared unseeing out the small paned window.
“Miriam, do you want to leave?” Zachariah placed his hands on his sister’s shoulders and turned her to face him. “Where is it you want to go? And why? Why Miriam?”
There was hurt in his eyes and betrayal written across his features.
“Oh, Zach.” She wrapped her arms around her brother’s waist and buried her face into his chest. “Don’t you see I don’t want to go… I have to. I want to get married and have children. I want to live without fear. I have to get away from here before it is too late.”
“Too late? Why can’t you do those things here?” Zach sounded confused. “There are certainly plenty of men. You are a fine looking woman, with long brown hair and beautiful green eyes. I’m sure we can find you a husband.” He pulled away and looked at her.
She watched as his mind processed the rest of what she had said and his brow furrowed with concern.
“Fear. Now, what is there to fear with a big, strong brother here to protect you?”
She tried to laugh at his forced cheerfulness, but it came out as a sob. She could not tell him, must not tell him so she chose to ask a different question. “What men? What men come to our farm? Old farmers that knew Pa? There are no men that I would accept that would want me when …” A shudder ran down her spine, but she bit her cheek and continued, “You can’t always be here to protect me, big brother.”
“You don’t want an old farmer; we’ll find you a young one. Or maybe someone from the mines …”
“No.” Miriam shuddered again and pulled away from him. “I will never marry a miner or anyone connected with them.”
She went back to the washtub and plunged her hands into the rapidly cooling water. She scrubbed furiously at the plates, determined to remove every spot and stain.
“Very well, no miners.” Zach returned to his seat. His voice had cooled even more than the dishwater. “What did you have in mind?”
“There’s a man … in Kansas. I wrote to him and he wrote back.” Miriam focused on her task so she could ignore the pained silence behind her. “He has a farm and is looking for a wife.”
“When did you get a letter? We haven’t ha
d any mail in months, maybe longer. We haven’t even been to town so when …” He went still. “Loretta and that Tarlton man. She went to Kansas to get married but married the teacher instead. They came back and stayed the night.” Zach rose to his feet and placed both hands on the table. That little hillbilly was your mail carrier. She brought you a letter from the man she rejected.”
“Yes.” Miriam turned to look at her brother and was startled by the fury in his gaze.
“No sister of mine is going to settle for some hillbilly’s cast off husband.” Zach snatched his half-empty coffee cup and flung it against the far wall. “You want a husband, I’ll get you one. But you ain’t settling for someone that ain’t man enough to keep a simple hillbilly from the mines.”
Miriam watched helplessly as her brother slammed out of the door and set off for the fields without his hat or hoe. She hadn’t seen him so angry in years. Leaving the dishes, she sat at the table and buried her face in her hands.
The letter against her heart crackled in sympathy. She took it out and smoothed away the wrinkles. She didn’t want to hurt her brother, but this was the only way she could think of to escape the shadows.
Chapter 3
Miriam worked in the garden once she had finished in the kitchen. Everywhere was green and bursting with life and she should have been happy. But the argument with Zach had left sourness in her stomach and worry on her mind. Every time a cloud passed over the sun she felt the shadow touch her with icy fingers and searched for danger. Where was Zach where was her brother. Lunch came but he did not return and she felt her concern growing. Her brother had never skipped a meal in his life. When he did not come home for dinner, Miriam could take it no more. Lifting her skirts she walked across the field and peered into the line of trees that marked the beginning of the forest. The setting sun sent a few rays of golden light into the darkness under the trees, but they only served to deepen the shadows.
