Pioneer Love: Damaged Hearts Head West: Mail Order Bride 5 Bundle (27 page)

Chapter 4

It was Lauren’s last night in her home. She stared at the walls that had hidden her from the world for the last fifteen years and had been a happy home in the eight before that. The first years of her life had been filled with happy times, or at least she thought they were. Sometimes it was hard to remember anything from before the fire.

Maybe this traveling to the West was for the best after all. And who knew maybe marrying Henry would be the best thing for her. She could hear her sisters and mother laughing and talking downstairs. They were decorating the house for the big arrival that was the day after tomorrow. She sighed and then let her eyes close, praying that whatever was waiting for her on the other side was better than what she had now.

When it was time to go, she carried her small case down the stairs. “I will miss you all,” she said.

“Well yes,” her mother said. “You go now before you are late.” With that, she turned back to her other daughters, who were all laughing and talking; and Lauren was dismissed.

Putting her head high, she walked out of the house and pulled her veil down over her head as she made her way to the waiting carriage.

It took two long weeks by train and then another week by stage coach before she reached Helena, Montana Territory. The journey had been tough for Lauren. At first it was the stares, as she sat in the carriage with her black veil down. People thought she was a widow and kept away from her, maybe thinking her bad luck would rub off on them.  She had suffered from motion sickness and she was sure that she had lost a little weight. Most of the time she kept to herself, and if people were in the carriage, then she wore her veil. As she drew closer, she wondered how to meet Henry? Should she wear her veil or get this over with. It was a difficult question and she was so worried that it made her sick again. So she prayed and it calmed her mind and it came to her. It didn’t matter; she should do as she pleased.

She was grateful when the stagecoach came to a stop. The last leg of the journey had been crowded and she was the only female. Fortunately, the men left her alone after she refused to answer their questions. They let her step out first and she did so into a wall of heat. But it didn’t matter; she could bear anything except for being sick again. She pulled her bonnet down and adjusted her veil. In the end, she had decided the last thing she wanted was people staring at her. She’d had enough of that already.

The nerves were making her hands shake and her knees feel weak as she searched the street looking for someone who could be Henry. Then it dawned on her how would she know?

There were a few dozen people standing and waiting for passengers. She looked around and spotted three name boards. At last, she saw a lady holding a board with her name on it. She walked up to her.

“Excuse me, Ma’am,” she said to the lady in as steady a voice as she could maintain.

The lady looked at her from top to bottom and her forehead creased at her veil.

“I am Lauren Morley,” she pointed at the board.

“Are you?” the lady said with a hard unwelcoming voice.

Lauren wondered who she was. “Yes, Ma’am.” 

“I am Lilly, come with me,” the lady said and then turned to leave.

Lauren had to almost run to catch up with her. This was not what she had expected. Maybe she thought her husband would take one look at her and laugh or walk away but she never expected a woman to collect her. Who could it be? His mother or sister perhaps?

“Get in.” When they stopped at a carriage, the lady opened the door and ordered her inside.

Not wanting to anger her, Lauren got inside quickly.

“Are you a relative of Mr. Van Percy, Ma’am?” Lauren asked in a low voice.

“I am his sister,” she answered in a stone cold voice.

Lauren didn’t ask anything else. She just stared at the busy life of the mining town which all looked surreal to her. The carriage passed wooden false fronted buildings that looked nice and hospitable. Then it traveled into rough streets and entered into a drearier area and Lauren’s heart squeezed with fear. Where was this woman taking her? Before she could word her concern, the carriage stopped outside an old building.

“Bring your luggage with you,” the Lady said and stepped out.

Lauren once again glanced out of the window and swallowed. The sight was giving her shivers. It wasn’t anything near welcoming. It didn’t even look like a house. It was a saloon in the middle of a very shady area.

“We don’t have all day for you, young lady, get out here immediately,” the lady nagged the door and Lauren jumped from her seat.

‘Help me, Jesus,’ she made a small prayer and carried her small suitcase out of the carriage. A sharp smell went up her nose and she almost sneezed. The lady led her into the saloon and she followed, her heart filled with fear. She looked around to see that everybody had either a pipe hanging from their mouth or was drinking alcohol. The smell of smoke filled the air. The lady grabbed her elbow and almost dragged her across the saloon. Men’s eyes seemed to follow her and she heard them mumbling. Soon they were through the saloon and into the back.

It was dark with a lot of rooms. Lauren could hear muffled voices from the rooms. All of them were feminine. She wondered what place this was. Since there wasn’t much light, she couldn’t make out much of it. Perhaps it was a boarding house and her Henry was conduction business here. Yes, that would be it and why he couldn’t collect her himself. Maybe he was too busy.

But there was a cold, slimy feeling in her stomach that made her think she would have been better off at home.

They stopped outside a big door. “Stay here, I’ll be back,” Lilly ordered her and then opened the door and quickly closed it behind her. All Lauren heard was some male voices and lots of smoke was seen inside. She stood there waiting. After five minutes, the door opened again and a young boy appeared. He was barely fourteen.

“My name is Theo. Please come this way,” the boy gave her a small smile and then took her case from her hand and led her to another corridor.

“What place is this?” Lauren dared to ask.

Theo turned to look at her. His face was solemn, but he didn’t say a word. She didn’t understand what to make of it all but decided she would go with the flow. This was a new adventure and the start of her marriage. It would be wrong to start it full of doubts.

Theo finally stopped at a small door and opened it. Lauren saw that it was a small sitting area with a couple of couches and chairs. “Where is Mr. Van Percy?” she asked.

“You’ll see him shortly,” Theo said and after giving her a sympathetic look, he left.

Lauren sat on the chair and tried to calm her nerves. “You don’t have to be all negative,” she told herself. After ten long minutes, she heard heavy footsteps. She held her breath as the door opened with a loud thud. Her eyes bored down on the ground, her fear inside didn’t allow her to look up at the person who had entered.

“Now let’s see who we have here,” a thick, heavy voice filled the room and then the man came closer to her. Was he Henry Van Percy?

Lauren gathered her legs together reflexively in protection.

“Look up here,” Henry’s hand came down and soon he had her jaw in his steel grip and was dragging her face up.

Lauren didn’t dare raise her eyes, afraid what she might she see in his.

“No time to cover yourself now, sweetheart, and this place isn’t to cover up,” he grinned and then snatched the veil in his hand and tore it from her. “What the…!” he yelled and stepped back leaving her face uncovered.

That’s when Lauren looked at him. He was half bald with a heavy mean face just like his body and he looked like he was almost forty-five years old. He was gawking at Lauren with shock.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Lauren couldn’t find her voice.

“I asked, who you are!” this time he yelled and Lauren had to jump back at his voice.

“I … I am Lauren Morley. You sent me a ticket,” she stuttered.

“I sent a ticket to an irresistibly beautiful woman who had long copper hair and mesmerizing green eyes. Not a bloody monster like you are!” he yelled again and all Lauren wished was that the earth would split open and she would fall inside.

“There went my money,” he hissed.

Lauren looked at him with surprise. “What … what do you mean?” she asked.

“What?”

“You said your money.” Had Elizabeth bargained her with this man?

Henry was now looking at her closely. He stepped nearer to her and Lauren backed away but soon his hand was in her hair. “I may not make much from you, but I might get a few dollars,” he said and gave her an ugly grin. “Maybe enough to recoup the train fare.”

“I don’t understand,”

“Oh you will,” he said and then forced her out of the room.

Chapter 5

Lauren was pushed and shoved into a room where there were two bunk beds.

The lady who called herself Henry’s sister, Lilly ordered her to unpack. “Settle in before the other girls come back.”

“Why are you keeping me here? I was supposed to get married,” Lauren said.

“Do you think my brother would marry a grotesque like you?” she gave out a loud laugh and then glared at Lauren. “Do as you are told and stop using this thing in your skull,” she tapped her finger on Lauren’s temple. “You are here now and you aren’t going anywhere else. Sooner you get this the better it will be,” Lilly said and then shut the door and locked it behind her.

Lauren stared at the back of the door with shock. What was all this about? She didn’t know what to do so she paced and prayed and looked for a way out. There wasn’t any so she sat down and waited. Just an hour later the door opened again and this time three girls roughly of her age entered the room. All of them were wearing dresses which made Lauren blush and look away. They were nowhere near the definition of decency.

The girls were talking to each other and when they saw her, they stopped in their tracks.

“Oh, we have another bee in the web, and see this one’s ugly,” one of them, the slimmest one scoffed and the other two elbowed her.

“Shut it Em,” the one with brown hair admonished the first one who just shrugged and when to the other bed and slumped down. The other two were still staring at her.

Lauren began to squirm under their gazes.

“My name’s Hannah,” the brown haired girl extended her hand to Lauren, which she took hesitantly. “And this is Teresa,” she gestured at the other girl who now sat next to Lauren.

“How did you end up here?” Hannah asked.

“Of course they would have trapped her with their marriage game,” Teresa rolled her eyes and once again Lauren stared at them.

“What do you mean they trapped me?” she asked but in her heart she already knew.

“You mean you still haven’t got that you are in a brothel? You are more stupid than you look,” the third girl came out saying.

Brothel?
Lauren felt as if someone had pulled out the earth from under her feet.

Brothel?
She stood up, horrified.

“Brothel? What are you saying?”

“Calm down, we’ll tell you everything,” Hannah took her shoulders but Lauren jerked away.

There was no way she was going to calm down. Holy Jesus and Mary save my soul, she was in a brothel! “I want to go back,” she said, and with that the third girl laughed again.

“Of course you do, you are such a baby,”

“Stop this right away Emily or leave the room,” Teresa said sternly and then turned to Lauren. “What’s your name?” she asked her.

Lauren couldn’t find her voice. All she murmured was that she wanted to go home. Tears welled in her eyes and she didn’t fight to keep them at bay.

Hannah and Teresa made her sit down on the bed and offered her water which she brushed away. Had her mother sold her away to Henry? Was she that much of a burden on her? Lauren knew they were ashamed of her but she had no idea they hated her this much. Had she known, she would have left that place a long time ago or even burned herself in the same fire fifteen years ago. She would have preferred anything, anything but this place.

“We will not harm you. We are all just like you, trapped here either by some false pretense or because we are victims of less than favorable circumstances,” Hannah said to her in a soft voice. “I was under a debt which I had no way to pay back. Henry told me he would release me from every penny and in return I would have to work for him. At that time, he didn’t tell me what
work
he meant so I agreed readily. When he paid off my debt, he brought me here, and I had no choice but to be a… a lady of the night,” Hannah told her.

“And I was played just like you,” Teresa took her hand. “I lived in Tampa and was desperate to get out of the village and the only option was to get married. So I responded to every suitable message I found on the Matrimonial Advertisings. With my bad luck, it was Henry Van Percy whom I accepted because he was the fastest to reply and also had sent me a ticket. I thought I had found a very nice man but, of course, I was wrong,” Teresa said in a hoarse voice herself.

Lauren looked at both of them sadly. “Isn’t there any way to get out of here?” she asked.

“No, unless the lawmen do a raid and then we all end up in the lockup for a few days,” Emily said in a blunt cocky voice. “But that only happens if Henry doesn’t pay his bribes.”

Both, Teresa and Hannah glared at her, and Lauren wanted to cry even harder. Brothel, lawmen, prison; her worst nightmare wasn’t even miles close to this.

“Tell us your name,” Hannah asked her again.

“Lauren.”

“Listen, Lauren, you have to accept this. That you have been played and now you are here in this shady area of the city, in a brothel, where we women are auctioned for our bodies. There is no way you can escape this place. Henry has security guards who are ruthless beasts. They’ll beat you black and blue if you as much as thought about making an escape. Henry and Lilly, they are powerful. They have high profile clients who may appear pure and civilized in daylight but by night, they are all the same and in need of just one thing, beautiful woman to pleasure them. And of course, they pay handsomely for it. We all are like chickens with gold eggs for Henry, and he knows how to take care of his eggs,” Teresa said in a low voice.

“Just simply tell her that there is no way out. What’s with the whole storytelling?” Emily said.

Lauren looked at her in horror. She was stuck here for life?

“There is only one way out,” Hannah said quietly.

Lauren looked at her with hope. Maybe she could get away from here after all.

“You can get away from here if someone pays your price,”

“What do you mean my price?”

“Your full price, Lauren, not for a night, not for a weekend but forever,” Teresa said.

“And for that you have to be the best of the best. You have to be extremely good looking, good in bed, and good at charming the men,” Emily said as she eyed Lauren from top to bottom and then stopped at her scarred face.

Lauren gasped; of course she had none of those qualities. There was no way out for her.