First Down

by Paula Mabbel

  Today was the day everything was going to change for Abbie. She was leaving on the stage at noon, and leaving this place behind. She would miss the children for sure, but she didn’t think she was going to miss the town.

  There were a lot of bad memories here for Abbie, and the sooner she could leave it all behind, the better. She wished that the stage would go all the way to Oregon at once, but there were a few stops along the way. The first stop was going to be in Minnesota, then Montana. After that they were going to be in Oregon, and she could forget about Prim and Marge and her childhood.

  Abbie was nervous as she waited for the stage coach. She had said goodbye to the children during breakfast, then Prim and Marge mid-morning. Tom had insisted tagging along with her to the post office to wait for the coach, and she had allowed him to do so, as long as he promised not to stay out until dark.

  “I promise. I’ll go home straight away.” Tom said seriously.

  It was really hard for her to say goodbye to him when the coach was ready. She got some funny looks from passengers, but she refused to talk about it when they were on the road.

  Abbie watched the houses disappear, and it was nothing but open prairie. Prairie turned to forest, and they would occasionally see a house here and a house there, but besides that, there was nothing but hills, mountains, and trees for as far as she could see.

  The night that she spent in Minnesota was hard for her. She was scared to talk to people, and she definitely didn’t want to spend any more time in the dining room of the hotel than she had to. As soon as dinner was over, she hurried up to her room and locked the door behind her.

  Abbie lay on her side with her hands under her head. She tried not to think. It scared her to think. She just stared at the wall and focused on staying positive.

  You can do this, Abbie. You already did the hard part. Tomorrow you are going to make it to Montana, then you are going to be in Oregon, and all of this is going to be over. You will be happy, and you don’t have to worry about any of this anymore.

  She took a deep breath in and slowly let it out, then she closed her eyes. At long last she fell asleep.

  *****

  Abbie was eager to make it to Montana. She just wanted to get through this journey so she could settle into Oregon, and not have to push herself out of her comfort zone again.

  She liked her life of seclusion. She didn’t like being out in public, and she figured Oregon was going to be a lot quieter than her life in Pennsylvania, and Montana was one step closer to making it into this new life.

  She had heard a lot about Montana. Settlers that were headed out west spoke of the country… how green the valleys were, how the mountains rose high into the sky, and how big the sky itself was.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t want to enjoy these things, but Abbie viewed Montana as an obstacle… the last obstacle that was in between her and her new life.

  With any luck, I am going to be in Oregon by tomorrow afternoon, and I won’t have to even think of any of this again.

  She heard people shouting, and she poked her head out of the stage coach window. They were coming up on a town, and there were people all around the stage coach. When they finally stopped, she hurried out before anyone else and kept her head low as she walked to the other side of the street.

  Abbie didn’t know what was going on, but it seemed to her that the stage was a big deal in this town, and part of her wondered what that would be like. She had been used to people being all around her all the time, but here… people were a lot fewer.

  Abbie didn’t have any problem finding the hotel… that was where most of the people were gathered. She was surprised that there was a hotel on top of the saloon. Back home, the saloon was across the street from the hotel, and it was a lot bigger.

  Here, it looked as though the saloon was the biggest attraction in town, but it was still a lot smaller than the saloon that she was used to seeing. In fact, she could see the entire town from where she stood across from the post office, and a small part of her liked it.

  Mr. Roberts had mentioned in his letter that he lived in a big city, and if Abbie was completely honest with herself, she had to admit the thought of that didn’t thrill her. She had never before seen a town like this one, and it was nice.

  That night, Abbie sat awake on the edge of her bed. She could see outside from where her bed was, and the sky was beautiful. It was filled with all kinds of stars, and the moon was breathtaking.

  You should get some sleep, she thought. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, and you are going to want to be light and fresh to meet your new husband.

  Abbie chuckled to herself at the thought of it, and lay down on the bed. She found it hard to believe that the next day was to be her wedding day, but it was true. She was too excited and too nervous to sleep, but she did her best anyway.

  There was no sound in the whole hotel, besides the slight hum that was coming from downstairs. Abbie figured the sound of the saloon was going to keep up through the night, but it wasn’t loud enough to bother her.

  Suddenly, she heard something. She held her breath so she could hear better, and the sound came again. She had heard the sound before, years ago… the sound of someone picking a lock.

  She froze, but after a few seconds she realized it wasn’t her door that was being unlocked, but rather the door of the room next to hers. She lay there in the dark, trying to decide what to do.

  She heard a shout, then a shot.

  Suddenly, she was that little girl in her bedroom once again.

  Abbie wanted to cry. She wanted to scream.

  Part of her wanted to get up and run away, as far and as fast as she could go, part of her wanted to dive under the blankets and forget about all of this. She wondered if it was a nightmare, but with the feeling of the cold sweat on her forehead, she knew that she was wide awake.

  Everything was moving so quickly, yet so slowly at the same time. She didn’t hear anything after the gunshot, her ears were ringing so badly.

  Then, Abbie made a choice.

  You can either lie here and regret it for the rest of your life, or you can go help that person in the next room, like you should have all those years ago.

  Abbie tried to get up, but she couldn’t move. Her fear paralyzed her on the bed. She took a deep breath, and calmed her thoughts. Then, with every fiber of her being, she got up.

  She crept over to the door and paused.

  She could hear someone in the next room. They were going through something. Abbie didn’t think. Her initial impulse was to run into the room and see what she could do to help, but she realized that could be dangerous.

  It would also be a bad idea to try to get across the hall. If the intruder saw her, he could shoot her, too. She had to get help somehow.

  She didn’t know what to do, so she just did the first thing that came to mind. She ran over to the window, and opened it. There were people all around on the street, but they likely didn’t know what had happened.

  She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and screamed.

  *****

  Chaos ensued as people rushed into the building, and Abbie could hear there was a scuffle taking place in the other room. She was feeling braver now, knowing that it was only a matter of seconds before there would be more help on the scene, so she carefully walked back over to the door.

  She didn’t hear anything coming from the room now, but she could hear men running up the stairs, so she moved into the doorway. Suddenly, a man shoved passed her, roughly pushing her aside, and causing her to cry out in surprise and pain.

  He kept going, and she didn’t get a good look at him, but she could hear the other man that was still in the room. Abbie lit a lamp that was near the door, and light flooded the room. There was a man, on his knees with one hand up on the bed, the other hand clutching his side.

  Abbie hadn’t actually seen a lot of violence in her life, but it was easy for her to see that the man had been shot. She couldn’t tell if it was a
dangerous wound, but she knew that she had to help.

  “Oh my goodness! Are you quite all right?” She asked, running over to him. She took the shawl off from around her shoulders and bunched it into a ball, then pressed it to the man’s side.

  He moaned and gasped as she did so, but he didn’t pull away.

  “That… That man! He must not get away! He- you… you saved my life.” There were great beads of sweat forming on the man’s brow, and he tried to stand. Abbie shushed him, and helped him crawl back into the bed.

  “Help is on the way… don’t you worry.” She said soothingly, just as a sheriff and two deputies burst through the door.

  “What happened?” The sheriff demanded, and Abbie started to explain what she had heard, but she was interrupted by the man on the bed. Soon, the doctor came into the room, and everyone started talking at once. Abbie felt shy and as though she were in the way, so she silently crept back to her own room, and closed the door.

  The next morning, Abbie woke up late, and hurried to get dressed.

  I mustn’t miss the stage! She thought to herself as she tied up the back of her dress.

  It had taken her a long time to fall asleep the night before, but when she finally did, she slept hard. So hard that she didn’t hear the school bells ringing in the morning, and now she feared she was going to miss the stage.

  She hurriedly tied on her bonnet, then grabbed her parcel and hurried out the door.

  “I say there! Miss!” A voice called to her from the room she passed.

  Abbie hesitated, considering ignoring the voice and hurrying down to the stage, but with a pang of guild she turned and went back.

  “Yes? What is it? I am afraid I am in a terrible hurry.”

  “Could you come in here, please? I never got the chance to introduce myself last night, or to thank you for what you did.”

  Abbie sighed and went into the room. She found the man from the night before, lying on the bed with his side wrapped in a bandage. He smiled when he saw her, and Abbie couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was.

  “I’m Charles Turner. That was really brave what you did last night. He was going to kill me… I am ever indebted to you Miss…?” He let his voice trail off, and it took Abbie a second to reply.

  “Abbie” she said.

  “Abbie. Beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” He winked at her.

  Abbie blushed, but she tried to hide it by changing the subject. “Why did he want to kill you? Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. It really isn’t any of my business.” Abbie turned to walk away, but Charles stopped her.

  “He owes a lot of people a lot of money, and it is my job to collect it from him. He just figured if I were gone, he wouldn’t have to worry about it I suppose.” Charles spoke in a very matter of fact manner, and he had a way about him that held Abbie’s attention.

  “Now, let me ask you something that is none of my business,” he said. “Why are you here in this hotel, and why are you leaving so early in the morning? Moving to Montana are you?”

  “Not quite,” she replied. “I am a mail order bride on my way to Oregon State. There is a man there I am to marry, and this was just a stop along the way.”

  Charles’ countenance visibly fell as she spoke, and he didn’t say anything for a second. Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Abbie, he merely said,

  “I see. Well I thank you again, Miss. I wish you best of luck and all the happiness in the world in your new life.”

  There was a touch of a cold attitude when he spoke, and he turned away to face the wall. Abbie was torn. Part of her wanted to explain herself, part of her wanted to defend herself. Either way she felt that this stranger had overstepped his bounds with his attitude about her journey.

  “Is there anything wrong with being a mail order bride?” She asked, coyly.

  “Not at all,” Charles said, rolling back around to face her. “It’s just that, I would expect a girl as pretty as you are wouldn’t need to post mark herself in order to get a husband.”

  Abbie could feel her cheeks burn. She knew this was a touchy decision to make, but she felt judged by this man. She didn’t know why that bothered her, but she wanted him to approve of what she was doing, not question it or criticize it.

  “Well I did. Now if you will excuse me, I have a stage to catch.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and turned to leave, but he stopped her once more.

  “I’m afraid you are going to have to sit and think on your decision a bit longer, Miss,” he replied, rather flippantly.

  “The stage has just left.”

  *****

  Abbie sat in the rocking chair that was in her room. She was furious with the man in the room next to her, but she didn’t know why. She had hurried down to see if she could catch the stage, but he was right, it was gone.

  Once it started, it waited for no one, and she was stuck in Montana for another night.

  There was a part of her that couldn’t believe how forward that man was, but on the other hand, there was a part of her that wondered why she cared so much. He was just another stranger to her, yet what he had said about her choice to be a mail order bride had gotten under her skin more than all the criticism in the world from Prim or Marge ever would have.

  He thinks he has life figured out, lying in there with a gunshot wound. Ha! If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t even be here to tell me that I was making a foolish choice.

  Abbie’s attitude would fluctuate greatly as she sat in her room. One minute, she wanted to go down to the street and shout out to the world what she was doing, then the next minute she wanted to go into his room and tell him he was right, and she didn’t know what she had been thinking.

  Yet no matter what she was feeling, she couldn’t bring herself to walk into the hallway again. His door was open, and she didn’t want him to see her.

  But you should pull your hair back in case he does see you… she thought, then she buried her face in her hands. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, she felt like doing both.

  What’s wrong with me?! How can one man have this kind of effect on you? You want to see him, but you don’t want him to see you… this makes no sense! He-

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She opened it to find the sheriff standing outside with one of his deputies.

  “’Scuse me, Miss, but I wondered if I might have a few moments of your time. I have a few questions to ask you about last night, and I was wondering if you would join us in the room with Mr. Turner to get this all straightened out.”

  Abbie’s heart fluttered, then sank. She knew she really didn’t have a choice in this, and she was going to have to go with them, back into that room, but she really didn’t want to.

  All she could do was nod, and follow the sheriff into Charles’ room.

  He was sitting up on the bed now, with a shirt on over his bandage. He smiled at the sheriff, but his face really lit up when Abbie walked into the room. The sheriff said it was going to be brief, and he really just needed to hear from both of them what they saw and what happened, and determine who was really involved.

  Abbie did her best to remember all of the details, and she answered his questions as best as she could, but when he asked her what her business was in Montana, her cheeks burned.

  “I’m a mail order bride, just passing through.” She kept her eyes on the ground, and she spoke quietly.

  “Very good.” The sheriff wrote down a final note in his pad, then he bid them both good afternoon, and left. Abbie had felt Charles’ eyes on her for most of the conversation, and it made her feel uncomfortable, yet excited, all wrapped into one.

  “Well I suppose that is it then, goodnight Mr. Turner.” Abbie gave him a slight curtsy, and turned to go, but as usual Charles wasn’t about to sit and watch her just walk away.

  “I was wondering if you might join me for dinner,” he said with the same elegance he always held.

  Abbie was taken by surprise. She could te
ll that he liked her, but she didn’t expect him to be forward enough to ask her out to dinner. She was also surprised at herself. She would have thought that her reaction would have been to decline, and hurry back to her room, but she hesitated.

  “Mr. Turner, I am to be married tomorrow… I don’t know if it is entirely appropriate for me to be out to dinner with another man on the eve of my wedding night.” Although she was filled with all kinds of emotions, she kept them all at bay and held perfect composure.

  “Oh come on! It isn’t as though you are engaged. You haven’t even met this guy, which makes me feel like I have more right than he does to take you to a dinner. Besides, as you said, you are going to get married tomorrow, so you won’t ever again have a charming young man ask you to a dinner. May as well make the most of it while you still can.” He winked at her, and Abbie could feel her cheeks flush red hot.

  She knew he had a point, and a large part of her did want to go out with him. After all, she hadn’t been engaged, nor had Mr. Roberts told her she must travel and dine alone.

  Charles could be right, and this may be the last time I can get out and do whatever I want. It’s only dinner, it isn’t as though it is going to hurt anything. I don’t even have to tell James that I went.

  A slow smile spread across Abbie’s face, and she blushed again.

  “Let me grab my coat,” she said.

  *****

  Abbie didn’t want to admit it to herself or to anyone else, but she silently wished that this night would never end. Charles was able to get around just fine if he took his time, and he was a perfect gentleman to her.

  They went down to a family restaurant that was across from the hotel and the saloon, where a man played violin music as they ate. Abbie had never seen such a place, and she fell in love with everything about it.

  “So tell me about yourself, Mr. Turner. You already know so much about me, but all I know is that you are a bounty hunter.” Abbie didn’t know how else to phrase it, and she hoped it wouldn’t offend him, but he laughed.