Touched by Time

by Zoe Matthews

  “Can you promise that?” Nicky asked somewhat sarcastically.

  Mrs. Hilton kept looking straight at Nicky and nodded. “Yes, I can make that promise.”

  Nicky seemed taken back at Mrs. Hilton’s frankness and quieted down while the older woman read Kimberly’s information. She spent quite a bit of time reading what Kimberly had written. She even read the introductory letter twice. Then she smiled.

  “Just as I thought. I will give you Patrick’s introductory letter.” Mrs. Hilton opened a drawer and took out a sealed envelope. Again the letter seemed to be in an old fashioned envelope that was sealed with wax. “Please read this when you are alone, at your leisure. I will give your letter to Patrick. If you are interested in corresponding with Patrick, write a letter directly to him, but mail it to this address.”

  Kimberly gave a nervous sigh as she accepted the envelope. “Okay.”

  “Remember that you should exchange at least two letters. If at any time you change your mind, feel free to do so. You have not made a commitment as of yet. If you feel you want to write for a longer time period; that is fine. You must feel comfortable about every step of this procedure. I will be telling Patrick the same thing.”

  “Have you met him?” Kimberly asked curiously.

  Mrs. Hilton smiled. “Yes, I have. He is a fine man. I won’t say any more. You should learn about him through his letters on your own.”

  Kimberly had all sorts of questions, but she knew Mrs. Hilton would not answer them, so she kept quiet. Collins came into the room holding a silver tray. “Here are your refreshments, Ma’am.”

  Mrs. Hilton nodded her approval as Collins set the tray on a small table nearby. He then stood at attention as if waiting for his next orders. “There is no need to wait, Collins. I will let you know when the ladies are ready to leave.”

  “As you wish, Ma’am.” He bowed slightly to Mrs. Hilton and then turned to leave again. This time as he passed Kimberly, she could have sworn that he winked at her, but she couldn’t be sure. What a strange man, she thought.

  “Is Collins an actual butler?” Kimberly asked as she accepted a cup of tea.

  “Why yes,” Mrs. Hilton seemed surprised at her question. “He has been with us since I married my dear Charles almost 50 years ago. He came to America with us when Charles and I moved from England.”

  “You’ve been married for 50 years?” Nicky asked, as if she was amazed a couple had been together for so long.

  “We were married 45 years. He died a few years ago.”

  “I’m sorry. You must miss him,” Kimberly responded with sympathy.

  “I do miss him very much.” Mrs. Hilton smiled at Nicky, then stood to fix a cup of tea for each of them while she talked. “But I have this nice home to live in and wonderful people who work for me. And I have this new mail-order bride business to keep me busy.”

  “Do you mean this mail-order bride business is new?” Nicky asked with suspicion in her voice.

  Kimberly laid a hand on Nicky’s arm again to quiet her and smiled apologetically at Mrs. Hilton, who graciously let the remark slide while serving the tea. Each plate had a small pastry as well.

  “Tell us how you met Charles,” Kimberly invited and listened with rapt attention at what sounded like a fairytale story. Even though Mrs. Hilton had married Charles almost 50 years ago, she was amazed that there were still families who made arrangements for their children to marry. Even so, Mrs. Hilton sounded as if she loved her husband deeply and had been very happy.

  She greatly enjoyed the next 30 minutes as she listened to Mrs. Hilton reminisce about her life with Charles. Some of the things she talked about sounded strange. For example, she talked about coming to America on a crowded ship. She mentioned riding in stages as she traveled around with her husband. When they moved from Boston to Denver, she mentioned that it had taken almost six months to move all of their belongings.

  As Kimberly listened to Mrs. Hilton’s stories, she looked around the room. It looked like an office, but she couldn’t see any modern appliances like a copy or fax machine, or a phone for that matter. She found this very strange. There also was no computer. Once she started looking more closely, even the lamps didn’t have a cord, as if there was no electrical outlet to connect it to. They looked like they needed oil to light them.

  Either Mrs. Hilton must feel strongly about keeping the integrity of this home true to the year it was built, or she must be one of those older people who didn’t understand technology and got along fine doing everything the old fashioned way, although Kimberly did find it strange that there wasn’t at least a telephone with a land-line in the office.

  When the conversation wound down about Mrs. Hilton’s husband, Kimberly held up the letter. “Would it be okay if I read this letter right now? Then I could answer him back and won’t need to mail it.”

  Mrs. Hilton seemed to hesitate as if she wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but then nodded her head. “You should read it alone, so you may go into our library. I will have Collins direct you.” The older woman rang a small bell and the butler immediately appeared at the doorway.

  “Please show Kimberly to the library,” Victoria instructed the man. She stood as Kimberly did. “There are paper and ink in the library if you wish to use it,” Victoria said to her.

  “I think I should go with you,” Nicky said.

  Kimberly shook her head. “I will be fine.”

  As Nicky looked like she was going to insist, Victoria broke in. “You may wait for your friend outside in the garden.”

  Kimberly held her breath, hoping that Nicky wasn’t going to make a scene, and sighed with relief when Nicky finally nodded her head at Victoria, glared at Kimberly, and then left the room.

  “Come with me,” Collins told her in his stiff voice. Kimberly followed the butler as he led her out of the office, down the hallway, into another room. Kimberly immediately could tell it was the library for it had wall to wall shelves full of books. Collins kept walking until they arrived at a long table that sat in the middle of the room. It had a stack of paper, envelopes, and a bottle of ink with an old fashioned pen sitting next to it.

  “I will return when you are finished,” Collins told her and left the room.

  Kimberly spent a few minutes just looking around the room. She was amazed at the amount of books that were on the shelves. She stood up and walked to the nearest shelf. All the books looked old. She pulled one of the books from the shelf to look through. The cover was leather and the book was titled “A Study in Scarlet.” She could tell the book had been read often because some of the pages were wrinkled and there were a few scratches on the binding. She flipped past the first few pages for the copywriter information and gasped when she saw the date 1887. She put the book back and pulled out another one which looked equally as old. She quickly found the copy-write page and saw 1856. Were all of these books in the library collector items? She knew there were people who loved to collect old books. Maybe Mrs. Hilton liked to do that.

  She wanted to spend more time exploring the library, but knew she didn’t have time for that. She reluctantly sat back down at the table and looked at the sealed envelope. Her heart skipped a beat as she contemplated what was inside. Did she really want to go through with this? She knew if she did, she was totally putting her trust in Mrs. Hilton.

  She carefully opened the letter and withdrew a single sheet of paper. Again, the paper the letter had been written on was heavier than what she was used to, with no lines. It was handwritten in black ink in block letters. She could tell the letter had been carefully written.

  To Whom It May Concern:

  My name is Patrick Callaghan. I am 30 years old and have never been married. I live deep in the Rocky Mountains and run a small ranch that has been in my family for a number of years. I live about a four-hour horseback ride from Denver.

  I am the oldest of two brothers and a sister. We live together on our ranch, along with a niece. I am not rich, but we live comfortably
enough and I will be able to provide for your needs.

  I am interested in marrying and would invite you to write and tell me about yourself. I am looking forward to your letter.

  Sincerely,

  Patrick Callaghan

  Kimberly read through the letter twice and then set it down. The information Patrick gave wasn’t very much. She would have liked to hear about his family and more about the ranch. And what did he mean, “Denver is a four-hour horseback ride away?”

  I guess I am going to have to write and ask him these questions, Kimberly whispered to herself. She took a piece of paper off the stack nearby and looked around for a pen. All she could see what a bottle of ink, with the old fashioned pen, the kind that needed to be dipped into ink to write. Did Mrs. Hilton expect her to write the letter the old-fashioned way? She looked around the library for another writing tool, but couldn’t see one. She finally sighed and sat back down at the table. She took the lid off of the ink, being careful not to spill any. She picked up the pen and dipped the tip into the ink.

  She carefully set the pen on the paper to write her letter, only to find she had dripped spots along the way, and had left a pool of ink where she had touched the paper with the pen. She sighed as she realized she needed to practice before she wrote her letter. She spent the next few minutes practicing, and she had used up two sheets of paper before she felt comfortable starting her letter.

  She carefully told Patrick that Mrs. Hilton had given her his letter and that she was interested in learning more about him. She asked about what his brothers and sister did on their ranch and how old they were. She wanted to know how old his niece was and which sibling she belonged to. She asked him to describe his ranch and what animals he had. She admitted she didn’t know much about ranch life, but was willing to learn. Finally, she asked why he went to Denver on a horse.

  As she folded and sealed the letter, she made herself step back mentally from this possibility of being a mail-order bride to Patrick. Very likely, many other women were also writing him, although Mrs. Hilton had not indicated that. Why would he want someone like her, who didn’t know a thing about ranch life? Who had been a city girl her entire life?

  Chapter 5

  Over the next month, Kimberly drove almost weekly to Mrs. Hilton’s home. She would give the older woman a letter and get a new one from Patrick. Sometimes there wasn’t a letter from him and Mrs. Hilton explained that it was because Patrick lived so far away and couldn’t get to Denver regularly, which puzzled Kimberly. Why couldn’t he just mail the letters from where he lived? But what he wrote to her made her want to get to know him better. Each time she received a letter, she always wanted to know more about him. His letters were short, but she had learned quite a bit.

  She learned his father had been born in Ireland and had come to United States for a better life. She learned that his sister, Bridget, was 25 years old. His brother Shaun was 28 and Keegan was 15. His niece was Shaun’s daughter and had a story all her own as to why she was part of the family, but he didn’t tell her what that story was.

  He described the ranch and its surroundings and it sounded idealistic to Kimberly. She wanted to meet Patrick just to see his ranch.

  In his last letter, he confessed to her that he enjoyed writing to her and wanted to know if she would be willing to come to Denver and meet him. He was willing to marry her if she wished. She knew that he was saying, if she wasn’t interested, she should let him know now, and not continue writing any more letters.

  Kimberly took two days to make her decision. She read over each letter of Patrick’s carefully. She really wanted to meet him. She knew from the guidelines that she had first received from Mrs. Hilton, she would not be expected to marry him for at least 30 days. That was a comfort but it also scared her. In 30 days I could be married. She tested the sentence out to see how it felt. She liked the idea more than she thought she would. In one of his letters, Patrick had informed her that there was a small log house a short distance yards away on his ranch where she could live until they had gotten to know each other better and made the decision to marry. She would be able to eat her meals with the family in the larger ranch house nearby, but she would have her own small home to live in for a while.

  Kimberly hadn’t told Nicky that she had been writing Patrick. She hadn’t taken her friend with her the other times she visited Mrs. Hilton. She knew Nicky thought she had given up on the idea of becoming a mail-order bride because Kimberly hadn’t talked to her about it since their first visit. She knew she should tell Nicky what she was doing, but she hesitated. She wanted Nicky’s support and something inside her told her Nicky wouldn’t encourage her to try this new endeavor. In fact, she very likely would do everything she could to stop it.

  Finally, one evening, while she sat on the couch beside Justin as they watched another children’s movie with Garrett, she knew she wanted more out of life. Her life had been stagnant since her parents’ death at 15. All of the decisions she had made since then were only decisions that were safe. She hadn’t dated very much, mainly because she hadn’t met anyone she wanted to go out with more than a few times. There was one man who had wanted to take things further during college, but she hadn’t been interested in him, and had broken things off when she realized the man was more serious than she was.

  That evening, she silently made the decision to meet Patrick, and to live in the small home he offered while they got to know each other better. She already knew she would need to quit her job since she knew Angie wouldn’t agree to hold her job for 30 days, but she felt confident she would be able to find another job if she needed to. Maybe there was a hospital or a doctor’s office nearby Patrick’s ranch and she could continue to work if she married Patrick. She had enough money in the bank to pay for her share of expenses for the month while she was gone, so her leaving shouldn’t put Nicky in a financial burden.

  Once she made the decision, she felt a peace fill her soul until it spread throughout her body. She knew this was the right thing to do.

  ****

  Kimberly drove her car onto Victoria’s driveway. She drew a deep breath and realized she was a bit shaky. Now that she had made the decision to meet Patrick and get to know him better, with the plan to marry him in the near future, she was feeling a bit nervous.

  She got out of the car and walked to the front door of the large Victorian home. Before she even had a chance to knock, the door opened. It was Collins on the other side with his usual slight smile on his face. He held the door open for her.

  “Mrs. Hilton is expecting you,” he told her in his stiff way.

  This comment confused Kimberly a little bit. How did Victoria know she was planning on coming today? She had just decided the night before.

  Kimberly stepped into the cool house and followed Collins to Victoria’s office where the older woman was sitting behind the desk, just as she had been when she visited before.

  “I am so glad you came,” Victoria told her with a smile. This time she walked around the desk and gave Kimberly a hug. “Please sit down.”

  Kimberly sat gingerly on the edge of the flowery cushioned chair. “I came to give you my final letter to Patrick,” she spoke in a rush. “I have decided I would like to meet him.”

  Victoria peered at Kimberly and then smiled again. “I know Patrick will be good for you.”

  Kimberly gave Victoria the envelope. “What happens next?”

  “First, I must tell you a story,” Victoria told her after she accepted the envelope and set it aside. “I must ask you to listen until I am finished.”

  “Okay….” Kimberly said, feeling confused. She really wanted to ask some questions about Patrick. Victoria seemed to like to tell stories.

  “A number of years ago, I went with Charles on a business trip. He traveled quite a bit and I would go with him when I was able to. While he was in his meetings, I would often wander around whatever city we were in and look around in their stores. One day, I found myself in a small s
tore that looked quite old. This store seemed to have many old items for sale. One of the items was this.”

  Victoria opened a drawer and took out a small wooden box. She opened it and picked up one of two golden keys. It was old, and had a knot designed into the end, reminding Kimberly of the Irish knots.

  "I was very intrigued by this key. The store owner noticed and asked me a few questions. I must have answered them to his satisfaction because he told me the key was mine if I desired.”

  “So he just gave it to you?” Kimberly questioned. From what she could tell, the key might be pure gold. It had to be worth quite a bit of money.

  “Yes,” Victoria confirmed. “He told me the key picked its owner and I was to have it next.”

  Kimberly watched as Victoria fingered the two keys in her hand and seemed to be brought back to the memories of her past.