Authors: Vanessa Devereaux
“Oh
no, what will my groom think of me arriving with a stained dress?”
“We’ll
get it cleaned up,” said Sarah.
Nina
yawned. “This stuff does make me very sleepy. I think I’ll shut my eyes for
just a little bit.”
“Here,
take my shawl and use it as a pillow.” Sarah rolled her blue shawl into a tight
wad and handed it to her cousin, who laid down and put it under her head.
The
train rocked from side to side and soon Nina was asleep. Sarah wished she could
rest as easily too, but she couldn’t and not just because of the noise and hard
wooden seat. She was still nervous about the decision she’d made. To accompany
her cousin to the west, and like her, be a mail order bride and be joined in
matrimony with a man she’d never met.
Sarah
lifted her bag and placed it on her lap. She rummaged through it for the last
letter her soon-to-be husband had written to her. She found it underneath her
spare hat, took it out, unfolded it, and sat it across her lap.
He
had nice penmanship. And that coming from a teacher was a compliment.
You will not
believe the beauty of this place. It takes your breath away every single day
and seeing it never grows old. There’s a lake by the property. It’s pristine
and crystal clear. I know that you will love it here. What a wonderful thing
that my friend and neighbor asked your cousin if she knew of any other young
lady who would also like to venture out west, and that she immediately thought
of you. It was almost as if it was fate for me to gain a bride too.
Back
in Kansas people thought them crazy for wanting to settle in a land known for
its untamed wilderness and sometimes brutally cold and snowy winters.
Even
though Sarah loved teaching, since Nina had lost both her father and husband,
the two ladies felt there was little to keep them in Kansas. She’d been
basically raised with Nina like they were sisters so it seemed fitting that
wherever one ventured the other would follow too.
“He
has a friend who owns the land next door. He tells me he is a fine and
decent
gentleman and would make a wonderful
husband.
Oh
please say you’ll go west
with me. We’ll be neighbors and our children will grow up together.” Nina had
tugged on her arm and she’d never heard her cousin sound so excited about
anything ever before. Not even when her late husband, had proposed to her.
How
could Sarah say no? The poor young woman had lost her father and husband in the
space of one year. Maybe a new beginning is what they both needed and like Nina
had said, they’d be there for one another always and forever.
She
carefully folded the letter and put it back in her bag as the train rattled
along the tracks. Seemed like they’d been on it for weeks and her back and
buttocks were sore from sitting on the wooden seats. The dust too was thick on
the floor and her clothes were covered in grime. Maybe that lake would be the
ideal place to bath and rid herself of the last remnants of the east.
She
looked out of the window. She’d be a married woman soon. There’d be a husband
to cook and sew for and she’d be obliged to provide him with pleasure in his
bed. There’d be a wedding night. By what she’d heard the first time was hell
but by the sound of his letters, Jon seemed a nice and tender man. She was sure
he’d be gentle with her.
And
not that she knew much about the act of sex. Only things she’d picked up from
hearing Nina talk about her life with her late husband. Jon would have to teach
her and show her how she could please him.
Nina
turned over, her face now toward Sarah. Her nose twitched and her breathing
looked somewhat labored, and her brow thick with perspiration. Water. Nina
needed water. Not only to drink but to cool her face and head.
Sarah
stood, remembering she’d seen a jug of water for general use in the next
carriage. She dug into her bag again and pulled out a white handkerchief and
stood. She made her way down the aisle with the train rocking so badly, she had
to hold
on to
the edges of the seats to
keep her balance. She walked farther along and opened the door to the next
carriage, holding on once again as the train rocked steadily on the tracks. She
saw the jug in question and made her way toward it. First dampening the
handkerchief and then taking a tin cup and pouring some water into it. She held
it close to her as she made her way back to her seat. She sat and glanced once
again at her cousin.
Nina
looked fast asleep now, so peaceful that Sarah hated to disturb her, but she
figured her cousin could get dehydrated if she didn’t drink something.
“Nina,”
said Sarah, touching her arm gently. “I’ve got some water for you and a damp
handkerchief for your head.”
Nina
did not answer or stir.
“Nina,
I have some water,” repeated Sarah, pulling on her arm a little harder. With that,
Nina’s arm went limp and her hand slumped downward and now rested on the
carriage floor.
Something
was wrong. Sarah got on her knees and looked at Nina again. She wasn’t
breathing. She felt for a pulse in her wrist and then her neck, neither place
had one.
“Is
there a doctor on board?” Sarah shouted, knowing it was probably too late for
her
cousin,
but she couldn’t completely
give up hope.
There
was a hush and even the train itself seemed to have grown quiet. All eyes were
upon her.
“Anyone
know if there’s a doctor’s on board?” asked Sarah again.
“I’ll
go ask the train master,” said a man hurrying to the next carriage.
“Is
there anything we can do to help,” said an elderly lady who was sitting with a
man.
“I
think my cousin has passed away in her sleep.”
“Oh
dear lord,” said the lady.
The
train master arrived with another man in tow.
“Miss,
you wanted a doctor and I’ve found one on board for you.”
“It’s
my cousin, she’s been unwell. She went to sleep and I can’t feel a pulse.”
The
small bald man got down on his knees and held Nina’s wrist and then put his ear
onto her chest.
“I’m
so sorry, Miss, but your cousin has passed.”
A
tear slid down Sarah’s face just as there was a general grasp throughout the
carriage.
“Are
you both traveling to Montana?” asked the train master.
“Yes,
yes, we are.”
“Perhaps
we can move your cousin to someplace where you can sit with her and have some
final moments together,” he said.
The
old lady and man walked over and wrapped their arms around Sarah.
“Honey,
if there’s anything we can do, you just let us know.”
Sarah
nodded. “Thank you.”
There
wasn’t anyone to inform back home about Nina’s death. Sarah was suddenly
scared, not only of making the rest of the journey on her own, but of having no
one else in the new land she was traveling to. Maybe she should get off at the
next stop and head back to Kansas City.
Chapter Three
Jon
looked at himself in the mirror and straightened his shirt collar. The train
with the future Mrs. Delaney would be arriving in town in less than an hour.
His neighbor, who lived a mile away due west, was coming by to collect him so
they could ride together. He was heading to the station to pick up his bride.
Slicking
his hair back one more time, he heard a wagon
approaching and glanced out to see Shaun pulling it up outside. He took one
more look around the place. He’d tidied up somewhat and hoped she wouldn’t look
at the place and decide to head back on the next train out.
Right
now, it wasn’t much to see but in time it would look like a palace once a woman
put her feminine touch to it. He grabbed the flowers he’d picked for Sarah.
Shaun had thought it would be a good idea if they greeted the ladies with
something girly, and flowers seemed to be the best thing.
He
opened the door and headed out, the cool wind picking up as he walked toward
Shaun’s wagon. He climbed up and noticed that Shaun had placed pillows and a
blanket in the back seat.
“I
hope the ladies will be comfortable back there,” he said pulling on the reins
and urging the horse to move forward.
“I’m
sure it will be just fine. Looks like we might get some rain later.”
“Let’s
hope it’s not until after we have safely delivered the ladies back here,” said
Shaun.
Jon
put on his hat and tried to get as comfortable as he could for the journey into
town. It had rained last week when he’d ridden to the general store to pick up
supplies. Now he’d have a companion to ride with him each time he did that. How
quickly his life was about to change.
Sarah
had said she knew how to cook and that was one of the reasons he’d selected
her. Even if she wasn’t attractive, he’d have a good meal waiting for him at
the end of each day.
“They’re
probably both going to be dead on their feet,” said Shaun, jarring him out of
his train of thought.
“You
remember how we slept for days when we first traveled here?” asked Jon.
“Do
you ever regret leaving New York?”
“No,
nothing for me back there. How about you?”
“Same
here and now we’ll both have wives. Children
too
one day soon.”
Jon
swallowed. A wife and kids. Less than a year ago, he’d never thought of himself
as a family man. A
loner
if anything but
there was something about the sheer beauty of this place that made a man what
to share it with another human being.
And
yes, he was lonely too. He had Shaun to go drinking with, but a man also needed
to take care of the physical side of his being too. He’d visited the bordellos
and while fun, and took care of his immediate itch, that wasn’t how he saw the
rest of his life playing out. He wanted to snuggle up to a warm body on a cold Montana
winter night and have that lady still in his bed the following morning.
Jon
hadn’t realized he’d dozed off until the wagon went over a bump in the road and
his head jerked upward, almost sending his hat flying back off his head.
He
clung onto the flowers while seeing the station up ahead. The train hadn’t
arrived yet which was perfect because it would give them a
chance
to dust themselves off, and actually
greet the ladies as they stepped off it.
“You
ready to do this?” asked Jon.
“Yep,
let’s go wait for our wives.”
****
Sarah
looked out of the window as the train slowed. It had been almost twelve hours
since Nina had passed away. They’d placed her on
a table
in the carriage that housed the mailbags and trunks
belonging to the passengers. They’d also allowed Sarah to sit with her for as
long as she’d wanted. She’d thought about getting off at the train’s last stop
and taking Nina back home to be buried, but she’d been too tired and
heartbroken to do it. They’d been more like sisters than cousins. Nina’s
parents her taken her in when she’d become an orphan. Sarah hung her head down.
She’d miss her every single day.
Would Nina want to be buried in a place she’d
never seen? Sarah bit her bottom lip, drawing her teeth over the delicate skin.
Being that Sarah had no relatives out west, and even though she’d be in
a grave,
technically Nina would still be with
her. She could visit her grave and talk to her, share her news, tell her what
was on her mind, just like they always had.
Sarah
knew in her heart that Nina would want her to go ahead with their plans. She
looked over at her cousin’s body now draped with a cloth over it. She’d have to
break the terrible news to her bridegroom. How awful for the poor man,
expecting to greet his bride and learning she’d passed away on route.
“Grantsville,”
shouted the train master.
Smoke
from the train flew by the window as the brakes cried out and the train began
slowing down. She was hot, and dusty, her cheeks swollen, her eyes red from the
tears she’d shed for her cousin. What an awful mess she’d look when she first
greeted Jon.
She
wiped her cheeks with the back of her sleeve and secured the tendrils of hair
that had fallen down onto her face. Sarah grabbed the handle of one of the wire
cages in the baggage compartment when the train pulled up sharply almost
sending her flying forward.
“Miss,
is anyone meeting you at the station?” asked the guard.
“Yes,
two gentlemen.”
She
wasn’t sure if she should mention her and Nina were to be mail order brides.
“I
can offer assistance in getting your cousin off the train and to a place of
rest.”
Sarah
hadn’t thought about that. They were supposed to be getting married, not
burying someone.
“Thank
you, sir.”