by Al Lacy
Esther was elated when the return wire came, informing her that Joseph and Rachel would arrive at the Memphis depot on Saturday afternoon, March 23.
Although Esther’s house was immaculate, she went about busily making preparations for their arrival. Her gentle heart wanted to soothe their hurts and give them a peaceful place to recuperate from their losses.
The white one-story frame house had four bedrooms. It sat on a large lot some distance from the street. In the summer, Esther’s flower gardens were the talk and envy of the neighborhood, as were the delicious fruits and vegetables she grew. The early spring buds were just appearing on the trees, and the crocus and daffodils were tentatively poking their heads through the soil, seeking the warm rays of the sun.
On Saturday afternoon, March 23, Esther took one last look at the rooms she had prepared for Joseph and Rachel, gave a satisfied nod, and went to the barn for her horse and buggy.
Rachel and her aunt were in the kitchen after Rachel had put her things away in her room. Joseph was lying down in his room.
“Aunt Esther,” Rachel said, “I’m nineteen now. I’m going to find a job so I can pay you for our room and board.”
Esther hugged her and said, “That won’t be necessary, honey. Unless you want to get a job to occupy yourself. But you don’t have to buy any groceries, and I certainly don’t want you and your father paying me rent for living here. I was left well off financially when I sold the farm after your Uncle Clayton was killed.”
“I appreciate your generosity, Aunt Esther, but I am going to get a job, and I am going to at least pay for our food. It isn’t right that we come here and sponge off of you.”
Esther stroked Rachel’s soft cheek and said, “All right, if it will make you feel better.”
“It will. And …”
“And what, honey?”
“And I really believe this change of scenery will help Daddy stop his drinking.”
“I’m praying that what my brother finds here will give him victory over that horrible bottle, Rachel. And I believe the Lord is going to bring it to pass.”
DANIELLE SHARROW WAS JUST PULLING THE CASH drawer from the safe for the new day’s business when she saw Bettieann Ralston come through the door. Danielle lifted her eyebrows. “No letter yet?”
“Hasn’t been enough time for my letter to get to Seth and a return letter to come back. I only sent my letter a week ago.”
“Well, they should come up with a faster way to move the mail.”
“What, for instance? Have birds carry it?”
“Wouldn’t be a bad idea!”
Bettieann took off her light coat and put her purse under the counter. “I will get edgy, though, if I don’t hear from him by this time next week.”
“Me too,” Danielle said.
Bettieann hit her forehead lightly. “I think both of us are forgetting that we’ve put the whole matter in the Lord’s hands. We’re not supposed to get edgy. We’re supposed to stay out of His way and let Him work.”
“You’re right. The old flesh does tend to get in the way sometimes, doesn’t it?”
They unlocked the doors, and a crowd of customers flowed in.
“Well, here we go again!” Danielle said.
“Brace yourself. The spring fashions are in, and our regular customers know it!”
It was just after lunch when Danielle and Bettieann returned to their department and relieved the clerks who had filled in for them. They were standing behind the counter, looking for customers to help, when Danielle spotted Lillian Ralston.
“Look, it’s your mom.”
Bettieann’s mother was smiling from ear to ear. “Something just came for you, honey!” she said, opening her purse.
“It couldn’t be a letter from Seth,” Bettieann said. “There hasn’t been time.”
“Not a letter. A telegram!”
Bettieann squealed and grabbed the yellow envelope from her mother’s hand. “Mother, Danielle, I hope you understand, but I’d like to read this alone. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” They watched her disappear into the powder room.
“This has got to work out for her,” Danielle said. “I couldn’t stand it if—”
“Now, Danielle,” said Lillian, laying a hand on her arm. “It’s going to be all right. It’s in God’s hands.”
Danielle shook her head. “There I go again. This seems to be my day to let the old flesh take over. Your daughter and I have become such good friends, Mrs. Ralston. I love her so much. But you’re right. No matter what the telegram says, it’s going to be all right.”
Two women looking at dresses motioned to Danielle. She excused herself to Lillian and hurried to assist them.
Lillian browsed about the ladies’ department, glancing every minute or so toward the powder room. After some ten minutes, she began to get worried.
On her way to help more customers, Danielle brushed by Lillian, glanced toward the powder room, and said, “I wonder what’s taking her so long?”
“I don’t know. But if she’s not out here in five more minutes, I’m going in there.”
At that moment, Bettieann stepped out, holding the telegram. She halted just outside the powder room door and set her tear-filled eyes on her mother.
Lillian rushed to her. “Honey, are you all right?”
“Yes, Mother! Oh, yes! Please. Come in here so I can tell you about it.”
Lillian noticed Danielle looking back toward them as she waited on a customer. Lillian smiled at her and nodded, then followed her daughter into the powder room.
“Oh, Mother! Seth’s first words in here are that he still loves me as always. He said because it seemed that it was over between us, he was using the mail order bride system to find a good Christian girl to marry. He says I’m forgiven, and tells me how happy he is to know that I have been born again. He wants—” Bettieann choked up. “He wants me to come to Omaha as soon as possible. We will marry as soon as I arrive, if it’s all right with me.”
Lillian felt her own eyes fill with tears.
Bettieann drew in another shuddering breath. “What does Seth mean ‘if it’s all right with me’? I’d marry him this minute if he were here!”
On Wednesday, March 27, Seth Coleman paced back and forth at the Omaha depot, waiting for the train from Kansas City to arrive. Before leaving his room, he had taken extra care with his grooming. He was slick and polished to a “fair-thee-well.”
There was a white carpet of early spring snow on the ground, but it was melting under the bright sunshine.
Seth had never been so excited. The only time he could remember being more nervous was when the jury was out to decide his fate in the Lawrence Sheldon case. He paced to the end of the platform, made a quick pivot, and bumped into Byron Tucker, proprietor of one of Omaha’s general stores.
“Whoa!” Byron said. “You a bit anxious, Deputy Coleman?”
“You might say that, sir. The young lady I’m going to marry is on the train coming in.”
“Well, what do you know! Gettin’ married, huh? Congratulations.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I’ve got to keep moving,” Byron said. “Bring your bride into the store real soon so Nellie and I can meet her.”
“Will do, sir.” Seth went back to pacing.
The train made a long curve as it followed the west bank of the Missouri River. Bettieann Ralston caught a glimpse of Omaha’s business section in the distance. She kept willing the train to go faster, yet she was apprehensive about seeing Seth again. Although in his telegram he had assured her of his forgiveness, she knew she wouldn’t be at peace until she could see him face to face and apologize in person.
She opened her purse and took out a small hand mirror. She pushed a few stray curls back into place and pinched her cheeks to give a little blush to her pale face. The train was pulling into the depot as she put the mirror back and closed her purse. She looked out the sooty window at a maze of faces. Suddenly her eyes fell on Seth.
He also caught sight of her, and a huge smile lit up his face. Bettieann waved as the train ground to a squealing halt. She took a deep breath, grabbed her small satchel, and headed for the door and toward the love of her life.
Seth met her at the platform of the coach, opening his arms to lift her off the bottom step. Then he whirled her around and carried her away from the crowd before setting her down.
“Welcome home, sweetheart,” he said, looking into her misty eyes. “I love you.”
“And I love you,” she said, dropping her satchel to wrap her arms around his neck.
Seth kissed her soundly, then before he could say a word, she said, “Oh, darling, I’m so sorry for what I did. I was such a fool to doubt you when you told me you were innocent. I was so upset that day at the jail. I’m sorry for saying I had stopped loving you when I really hadn’t. Please let me hear you say I’m forgiven, Seth. Please tell me—”
“Sh-h-h!” He placed a forefinger on her lips. “Bettieann, you already asked for my forgiveness, and I told you in my telegram that I had forgiven you. That settles it.”
“But …”
“I said, that settles it. Just like when the Lord forgives us when we ask Him to. He never brings our sins up to us again. Sweetheart, let’s just move on and enjoy our life together.”
Bettieann wrapped her arms around his neck again. “You wonderful, wonderful man! I love you so much!”
They kissed again, then Seth picked up her satchel. “I assume you have luggage in the baggage coach?”
“Uh-huh. Four trunks. Do you still want me?”
Seth laughed. “I’ll take you! Trunks and all!”
Seth put Bettieann in a hotel close to his boardinghouse, then took her to the office to meet Chief Houser and the deputies who happened to be there. Houser told her how much he appreciated such a fine lawman as Seth, and congratulated them both on their upcoming marriage. He surprised them by telling Seth he was giving him a week off with pay for his honeymoon.
Seth took Bettieann back to the hotel so she could unpack and freshen up. He picked her up an hour before suppertime to take her to the parsonage and introduce her to Pastor and Mrs. Ken Myers. Again, Bettieann was welcomed warmly.
The pastor took them to his office and spent a few minutes talking about the wedding, and marriage in general, showing them some Scriptures on the subject.
Later, as they were eating together at the hotel restaurant, Seth set loving eyes on Bettieann and said, “I have a little surprise to show you in the morning.”
“What kind of a surprise?”
A boyish grin curved his mouth. “Our house.”
“Our house?”
“I rented it the day you wired me to say you were coming.”
“Well, you stinker! I figured since you took three of my trunks to your boardinghouse, we’d be living in your room.”
“You’ll love the house, I guarantee you! And someday when we’ve been able to put away a little money, we’ll buy us one of our own.”
“Oh, darling, I can hardly believe this is really happening!”
“Well, it is. Believe me.” He paused, then said, “Since we have a week for our honeymoon, how would you like to take a little trip for a couple of those days?”
“A trip? To where?”
“North Platte.”
“That’s west of here, isn’t it?”
“Almost three hundred miles. It’s right at the spot where the North Platte and the South Platte come together and become the Platte River. It empties into the Missouri just a few miles south of where you sit at this moment.”
“Well, thank you for the geography lesson, Deputy Marshal Seth Coleman.”
“You’re quite welcome.”
“I’ll go anywhere with you, darling; you know that. But why have you chosen North Platte for our little trip?”
“I want you to meet a very good friend of mine.”
Her dainty eyebrows lifted. “You have a friend way out in North Platte, Nebraska?”
“My attorney in the Lawrence Sheldon trial.”
“Oh … Adam Burke! His name was mentioned in all the newspapers. I’m sorry to say that Adam Burke had more faith in your innocence than I did.”
Seth reached across the table and patted her hand. “That is in the past. Adam was planning to open up his own law firm in North Platte, and I want us to go see him, if he’s there. If he’s not … we’ll have had a nice little honeymoon trip. I owe him a lot, Bettieann, and I want you two to meet each other. Besides that, he was about to get married the last time I saw him. I’m sure you’ve heard of Philip Conrad III, who has the big law firm in Philadelphia.”
“Oh, sure.”
“Adam was engaged to Philipa Conrad, his daughter.”
“So we’ll be hobnobbing with the elite in North Platte, will we?”
Seth laughed. “Well, I guess you might say that. Is it all right with you, then, if we go?”
“Certainly, darling.”
Three days later, Seth and Bettieann were married by Pastor Ken Myers in his office. Mrs. Myers and one of the church deacons were witnesses.
Adam Burke walked to work on a bright, clear morning and arrived at the office just as Olivia Dahl’s fiancé pulled his wagon to a halt at the hitch rail.
“Good morning, Olivia, Russ,” Adam said.
Both returned the greeting as Russ hopped out of the wagon and helped Olivia down.
Adam unlocked the front door of the office and held the door for Olivia. As she moved past him he looked across the street. Gordon Burke stood on the boardwalk alone, watching him. Adam turned his back and closed the door.
It was almost noon when Adam came out of his office with a client and noticed a man and woman seated on the other side of Olivia’s desk. He could see the young woman’s face, but the man’s back was to him.
“I’ll have Olivia get your papers in the mail right away, Mr. Snelling,” Adam said. “You should hear back from us within about ten days.”
“Fine,” Snelling said, and headed for the door.
“Mr. Burke,” Olivia said, “these people want to see you. I told them you wouldn’t be able to until this afternoon, but the man is wearing a badge and insisted that you see them as soon as you came out of your office.”
The man stood up and turned around. “Hello, counselor.”
Adam could hardly believe his eyes.
Bettieann and Olivia looked on with pleasure as Seth Coleman and Adam Burke embraced and pounded each other on the back.
Adam turned to Bettieann, then looked at his friend. “All right, Seth, who is this lovely lady?”
“I want you to meet my new bride, Bettieann!”
“Your new bride? When did this happen?”
“Yesterday. We’re on our honeymoon. I’m working out of the Omaha U.S. Marshal’s Office.”
Adam shook his head in wonderment. “Omaha! So you met this pretty girl in Omaha, huh?”
“Well, no actually. It’s a long story.”
“Hey, I want to hear it right now. I don’t care how long it is. Can I take you to lunch?”
“I think we could handle that,” Seth said, smiling at Bettieann. She nodded her head and smiled.
Over lunch at one of North Platte’s cafés, Seth and Bettieann told Adam the whole story.
“My, my, my,” Adam said, shaking his head. “It’s nothing short of a miracle that you two got back together. And now, here you are husband and wife!”
“We give the glory to God,” Seth said. “Only He could have done this.”
“Yes,” Bettieann said. “To God be the glory!”
Adam hesitated a moment, then said weakly, “That’s for sure.”
Adam put his friends up in North Platte’s finest hotel, and that evening they had supper together in the hotel’s café.
“Adam, I recall that the last time I saw you there was a wedding date set with Philipa Conrad,” Seth said while they were eating.
Adam n
odded. “Long story. I’ll make it short. Philipa broke off the engagement. She didn’t want to come to Nebraska with me. To her, this part of the country is the back woods. This is where I had my heart set on living the rest of my life. So, I came alone.”
“Well, I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“It’s all for the best. Philipa is definitely a high society girl. She belongs in the East.”
“Any young ladies in your life?”
Adam looked glum. “None. Unattached or unmarried young ladies are hard to come by in these parts. All these months I’ve been in North Platte I’ve found no prospects.”
“Well, you know that Bettieann and I were brought together again by the mail order bride system. Maybe you ought to put some ads in newspapers back East. Might find you a good wife that way.”
“I made the bold statement not long ago that I would never order myself a bride through the mail. But it’s making more sense now. Maybe I should put some ads in some papers. I’m beginning to think if I don’t, I’ll be a bachelor the rest of my life.”
The next morning, Adam put Seth and Bettieann on the train for Omaha and told them to come back and see him when they could. Seth gave Adam their address and told him to let them know when he found the right young lady. He and Bettieann wanted to come to the wedding.
Rachel Mason was working in a Memphis flower shop and enjoying it immensely. She had made many friends in the stores and shops around the area. She loved living with Aunt Esther, who was such a kind and caring woman and always seemed to look for the good in everyone and every situation. She certainly lived what she believed.
Rachel willingly went to church with her aunt and listened politely to the preacher, though she still clung to what her father had taught her about life, death, and eternity. And she was never so rude as to turn away whenever the dear woman talked to her about Jesus Christ. Her life with her aunt was pleasant and good.
The one flaw in Rachel’s world was her father. His drinking was getting worse instead of better. Most days he was so drunk there was no communication between them at all. She thought about going elsewhere to get away from the situation, but each time it crossed her mind she reminded herself it wouldn’t be right to saddle Aunt Esther with her father. And even if she could do that, where would she go? Young ladies couldn’t just strike out on their own. She had no other family who could take her in.