Orphan Brides Go West: The Complete Series

by Vivi Holt

  The silence of the apartment sent a shiver through her body. She’d have to get used to coming home to a quiet, dark room. She didn’t know how she could ever become accustomed to being completely alone in the world. For the first time in a long time, the pain of missing her parents had come back to roost in her chest. It perched heavily alongside her grief over Nicholas. The pain of it seemed to squeeze the breath from her lungs. Katie shook her head. She didn’t want to burden Hannah with her grief. She pushed a smile onto her face and walked into the hallway, then pulled the door closed and locked it behind her.

  Hannah’s apartment was just like Katie’s. She was always in awe that Hannah lived so happily on her own. She’d always been too afraid to live by herself, not that she could have afforded to on a maid’s wage. But now she was alone as well, and having Hannah just down the hall was a big comfort to her.

  The living room was small but cozy, and Hannah had knitted and crocheted colorful cushion covers, throws and rugs to decorate the space, making it feel warm and homey. Her furniture had been purchased second-hand, but it was sturdy and functional and Katie felt a sense of peace settle over her for the first time since Nicholas’ accident, even if for just a moment.

  They sat down to a meal of chicken and dumplings, along with a tall glass each of iced tea with a luxurious slice of lemon. Katie smiled at Hannah, her stomach rumbled and lurched as she breathed in the tasty aroma.

  “This looks delicious, Hannah. Thank you for inviting me, I feel much better already.”

  They said grace together, linking hands across the small round table, and then each of them dipped their spoons into the steaming soup, sipping gently so as not to scorch their tongues.

  “Now tell me my dear, why was your day so horrible?” asked Hannah.

  Katie chewed slowly, savoring the flavor of chicken, and the richness of the dumpling in her mouth. She swallowed and the ill feeling passed, for the moment.

  “I lost my job,” she whispered, staring down into her bowl.

  “Oh no! What happened?” asked Hannah, dropping her spoon into her bowl with a sudden splash.

  “Oh dear, the soup has splattered all over your lovely dress,” said Katie, handing her napkin to Hannah who wiped herself dry. “Well, the Sommers are moving to New York. There was nothing I could do about it, they’re moving and don’t need me anymore. And of course, they know nothing about the baby so they assume I’ll be fine. They assured me I’d find another job in no time at all, which of course I know is almost an impossibility – especially finding something before I start to show. And anyway, even if I do, as soon as they see my growing belly I’m sure they’ll fire me. No one wants to see a pregnant maid plodding about their house and kneeling to scrub the floorboards.” Katie gave a hollow laugh, and ladled another spoonful of soup into her mouth.

  “What are you going to do?” asked Hannah, sipping her tea.

  “I don’t know. The only family I have is Nick’s mother, and she’s barely making ends meet as it is. I don’t want to burden her with having to look after me and a new born as well. I really don’t know what to do. I’m completely overwhelmed; it’s an impossible situation.”

  At that, Katie burst into sudden tears, and Hannah sat across from her, her eyes full of pity. She stood to her feet and carried her chair around to sit beside Katie. Taking her friend’s hand in one of her own, she patted her gently on the back.

  “Why don’t you stay here, then?”

  Katie looked up at Hannah, her big, blue eyes full of tears, her face red and covered with blotches. “With you? Really?”

  “Yes, really. It’s just a quick move down the hall. . . simple. You can live here as long as you need to. Maybe you’ll find a job, but even if you don’t you can stay here. I have a steady job at the school, and my wage covers the rent here as well as enough food for both of us. We’ll have to share a bed for now so it’ll be a squeeze, but we can do it. Please, won’t you consider it?”

  “I don’t want to bother you. You have your own life, and I’m just about to bring a small, screaming baby into the world. I’m afraid you’d not get much sleep, and you need your rest so that you can teach your students. I know first-hand how challenging those students can be, since I was one of them not so very long ago.”

  “I don’t mind. Really – what choice do you have? Where else can you go? And I’d love to have you here. It would be such fun.”

  “If you’ll have me, I’d really like that,” said Katie, embracing her friend and sobbing into her shoulder.

  “That’s settled then. You can tell Silas Hungerford that you’re giving up your apartment before the rent is due on Monday. We’ll gather your things and move them in here. It will be perfect.”

  “All right. I’ll do it. Thank you Hannah, you’re a true friend.”

  Hannah returned to her seat, and Katie dug into her meal with gusto. Somehow it seemed to taste richer, fuller, and more appetizing than it had a moment ago. She drew in a deep breath and smiled. Things were looking brighter already. She didn’t have a way to support herself and the baby when it finally came, but at least now they’d have a roof over their heads. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to take advantage of Hannah’s hospitality forever, but Hannah’s offer had lifted a heavy weight from her tired shoulders, and she’d figure the rest of it out later. She sent up a silent prayer of thanksgiving as she scraped her bowl clean and coyly asked Hannah for more.

  6

  Kristoff pushed a pile of letters to one side of his desk. Reaching for the top drawer he pulled out a ledger, and set it on the desk in front of him. Selecting a quill, he twirled it between his fingers for a moment, lost in thought. One of the letters caught his attention. He picked it up and flipped it over. It was from his cousin, Hannah Petersen, in Boston. He poked about in the drawer again and pulled out a letter opener, slipped it into the opening at the top of the envelope, and deftly sliced the paper open. A piece of stationery decorated around the edges with a lush green vine sprouting pink flowers fell out onto the desk. He picked it up and began to read.

  Dearest Kristoff,

  I was so glad to receive your letter yesterday. I couldn’t wait to respond, but had to visit Aunt Agatha after church, and spent the afternoon reading to her from Milton’s Comus. She sends you her regards, and asks me to inform you that her lungs are not what they used to be and she is unlikely to be able to visit over the summer as she had promised you.

  I was sorry to hear of your loneliness. We wish you could return to Boston to be with the rest of the family. But since that seems unlikely, given your great successes in Sacramento, I recommend you find a wife. You mentioned that there is a lack of suitable prospects in your current circle of acquaintances. I have a potential mate I would urge you to consider.

  A former student of mine, a Mrs. Katie Pearson, has been recently widowed when her husband was killed in a construction site accident. She has no family of her own, and I’m sure would consider an engagement to an upstanding gentleman like yourself. I have not approached her about this matter, but first wanted to hear what you thought of the idea.

  I know that it is somewhat unusual to consider an engagement to someone you have never yet laid eyes upon, but in this case I believe it would be a good match. Katie is sweet, intelligent and thoughtful. She is as pretty as a peach on a summer’s day, and I consider her my closest friend. I would indeed miss her if she were to leave, but her happiness and yours mean so much to me that I would be willing to bear it.

  Please write in reply to let me know if I should ask her about it.

  Your cousin,

  Hannah

  Kristoff folded the letter and returned it to the envelope, his face thoughtful. He selected a clean sheet of paper from the second drawer, and lifted the quill to dip into the ink pot at the top of the desk. His chest hammered loudly, as he considered his cousin’s proposition. The longer he contemplated it, the more it made sense. For generations people had been selecting spouses for famil
y members. It was a sensible way to ensure that a potential match met all the requirements of temperament, birth and values that were so important in a marriage. He trusted Hannah’s judgement implicitly. Perhaps this young widow might be the answer to his prayers. He lowered his head to write a response, the pen moving quickly across the cream colored page leaving a trail of sloping black letters in its wake.

  7

  Hannah Petersen hoisted the bag of groceries over her shoulder, and braced herself against the frigid wind that howled about her. She wrapped her scarf around her head and over her hair, then shoved her hands back into a warm fur muffler that hung from her matching fur-lined brown cloak. The trees banking the street were bare. Their dark branches looked dead against the grey sky, but she knew that in a few months’ time green shoots would work their way out and a new season of life would begin.

  As she approached the apartment building, she pushed her way through the front door. The wind whistled loudly as it skidded through the small opening, and a flurry of leaves blew in at her feet. She pushed the door closed behind her, locking out the noise and cold.

  Square mail boxes lined one wall in the foyer, and she lay the groceries on a table beside them. She opened her box and pulled out a thin stack of letters, flicking quickly through them and scanning the return address on each. There was a letter from her aunt in Philadelphia, a bill from the gas company, and a letter from her cousin, Kristoff Petersen, in Sacramento, California. She flung the strap of her grocery bag over one shoulder and tramped up the stairs as quickly as she could. She couldn’t wait to open the letter from her cousin.

  They’d always been close as children. She remembered fondly a tree house he’d built in the back yard with his father, and he’d let her climb up there with him to play. He was always so kind to her, pretending to sip tea from floral china cups whenever she wanted. In return, she joined in his hunting expeditions around the base of the large oak tree that housed his cubby, always making sure to miss her target since even in her imagination she couldn’t bear to kill one of God’s creatures. Kristoff was so kind and patient with his older cousin. She could still picture his cute little face peering over the top rung of the ladder as he climbed into the tree house carrying his stick rifle in one hand, his blue eyes wide as he described his latest adventure to her in detail.

  Hannah unloaded the groceries down on the counter top, then hurried to her rocking chair. She slid the mail onto the coffee table and sat down with the letter from Kristoff in her hands. She tore it open, and pulled out the thin sheets of paper that were covered with Kristoff’s familiar scrawl. Just as she finished reading the final line of the letter, she heard raised voices in the hallway. She crept to the door and inched it open, focusing one eye through the gap between the door and the doorframe. She could see Katie standing in the hallway, her back to Hannah. The landlord, Silas Hungerford, stood on the opposite side facing her.

  “I told you that rent was due Monday, and I still haven’t seen it. I’ve got a feeling you haven’t got it for me, ain’t that right honey?” He grinned lasciviously at Katie.

  Hannah’s stomach lurched. She’d never seen this side of her landlord before, and it sparked her anger.

  “I told you last Saturday that I was moving in with Hannah Petersen. I won’t be keeping my apartment. You can let it to someone else. Thank you, Mr. Hungerford.” Katie turned to leave, but he frowned angrily at her and grabbed for her arm, tugging hard on it.

  “Hold on there, Missy. What if I can’t find someone to let it on such short notice? You’ll still owe me rent, since you didn’t give me time to look for a new tenant.”

  “My lease expired a year ago, Mr. Hungerford,” sighed Katie, pushing his fingers from her forearm. “I don’t owe you anything.”

  “You’ll come work for me one day, honey. I can see it in your future,” he called after her retreating back.

  Hannah hurried to sit in her rocking chair as Katie walked through the door and into the apartment, her face flushed red. Hannah’s heart was pounding in her chest. How dare he speak to Katie that way? She wondered if he’d done it before. Katie kept so many things to herself, and rarely confided in anyone. Hannah had been surprised that she even let her know that she lost her job, since Hannah usually had to pry to get even the slightest detail through Katie’s closed lips.

  “How was your day?” asked Hannah, slipping the letter from Kristoff back into the envelope and placing it on the coffee table with the other mail.

  “OK.” Katie smiled wanly at her, and set about making coffee in the small kitchen. She opened up the stove and stoked the fire within. Adding another piece of wood, she stoked it again and then lay the poker back in its stand beside the stove. She filled the kettle with water, then sat it on top of the stove to boil. Standing on tip-toe, she reached high and opened a small cabinet above her head to retrieve the coffee, sugar and condensed milk.

  “Coffee?” she asked Hannah.

  “Yes please.” Hannah cleared her throat, “what did Mr. Hungerford want?”

  “Oh, he was only telling me I owed him rent on the other apartment. It’s nothing. He can’t make me pay. I didn’t have a lease with him. He’s just trying to pressure me into taking a job with him is all.”

  “A job. Well that’s great. Isn’t it?”

  Katie’s face colored as she lifted the singing kettle from the stove top with a rag to keep her hand from burning.

  “No, he wants me to – entertain gentlemen.”

  “Entertain gentlemen? Oh dear,” said Hannah, realization causing anger to boil inside her again. “The hide of that man. As though you are the sort of woman. . .”

  “Well, in a way, I suppose I am,” whispered Katie, as she spooned coffee into their cups.

  “What on earth do you mean?” sputtered Hannah.

  “I mean, those ladies no doubt started out with good intentions. Then circumstances beyond their control pushed them to the point of desperation. They must have had no other choice. Don’t you think? At least, that’s the way I see it. If it weren’t for you, I could be one of those ladies. I would like to think that I wouldn’t do it, but really – what would someone do if they were homeless, starving and pregnant and didn’t have a friend like you to turn to?”

  Katie looked at Hannah with wide eyes, her face full of gratitude toward Hannah. Until that moment, Hannah hadn’t realized the weighty burden that Katie must have been shouldering all this time. She’d never really thought through what would have happened to Katie if she hadn’t stepped in to help her. But of course, now that Katie pointed it out, Hannah knew she was right, and she was glad that she’d been able to help keep Katie away from the grasp of men like Silas Hungerford.

  “Well, you’re not going to be in that situation as long as I have breath in my body, my dear. You’ll stay with me for as long as you need to.”

  Spotting the letter from Kristoff out of the corner of her eye, Hannah smoothed her hair and strolled to the other side of the room and back again. Katie was sweetening the coffee with sugar and stirred a spoonful of condensed milk into each one. She handed Hannah a cup, and the two women stood together silently for a moment, savoring the warmth of the strong drink.

  “Speaking of the future, have you ever considered that you might re-marry one day?” asked Hannah.

  Katie’s face blanched, and she choked on a mouthful of coffee.

  Gathering herself, she responded, “I’ve thought about it, but it’s really a bit soon for me to consider seriously. I know it would probably be what’s best for the baby, to have a father to provide for us. And if I can’t find a job, it may be that I’ll have to think more about it. But it’s just so hard for me to comprehend the idea, with Nick buried so recently. I still feel so wretched, really, and the idea of loving another man – well, I just can’t imagine I’ll be able to do that for a long time, if ever again.”

  Hannah hid her disappointment and forged ahead.

  “I understand dear. But can I broach
the subject for just a moment longer? Would you mind very much?”

  Katie nodded reluctantly, so Hannah continued.

  “I don’t know if you remember me speaking of my cousin, Kristoff Petersen, in Sacramento – do you?”

  “Yes, I remember you talking about him very fondly. He was your childhood playmate, wasn’t he?”

  “That’s right – that was Kristoff. Well, he’s living out in California. He has his own mercantile store there. It’s very successful from what I understand, and he’s even considering running for mayor. The townsfolk there hold him in very high regard.”

  “Oh, that sounds exciting,” said Katie, sipping her coffee slowly.

  “The only problem is, there are very few eligible young ladies out there in California. It’s pioneer country, you know, so most of the women are married. They’ve travelled out there with husbands to start a new life. Very few single women travel out there alone, and those who do aren’t usually suitable for someone like Kristoff. He’s lonely. He wants to get married, but he can’t find anyone he feels would make a good wife and mother to his children.”

  Katie watched Hannah’s face, sudden understanding dawning.

  “I told him about you,” said Hannah.

  “What do you mean? What did you tell him?” asked Katie.

  “That you were newly widowed, and living with me. That you’re clever, funny, and beautiful, and that I thought the two of you would make an excellent match.”