by Faye Sonja
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EMMA’S BURDEN- A TALE OF THE SCARRED BRIDE
BRIDES OF SALT LAKE CITY
BOOK 3
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b o o k 3
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Emma is scarred who is wrongly convicted for jail and wanted a new life. What is worst when her husband-to-be has married another before she's even arrived!
What happened when the brother of the man with a dark secret offered her a shelter?
Will Emma revealed her secret- her scarred body and will they ever find love?
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1
Emma
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“No… My son won’t be here to meet you,
as he was married on Sunday just passed.”
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As the stagecoach bumped into the furthest town away from Salt Lake City that she could travel to, the tension in her neck and shoulders eased. This was her fresh start, a chance to be the Emma Bartholomew she knew she was and not the one tainted by prison time and accused of prostitution.
She’d had one stipulation to becoming a mail order bride; she wanted to get as far away from her old life as possible. That was here in Black Creek, Northern California. Emma pushed her long hair back off her face and thanked God for the letter that had given her exactly what she’d prayed for.
Barnaby Radcliffe had sent a letter to Miss Kitty’s Travelling Hearts Mail Order Bride Agency three months ago, and though he and Emma had only shared three letters in that time, she was sure this was the right choice. So much so that she’d paid for her own fare. She was quite desperate to get out of Salt Lake City and become an independent woman who didn’t need to fall back on her older step-sisters to survive.
Following in her eldest step-sister’s path, Emma had decided to settle just a two-hour wagon ride from Ada and her husband, Bobby, who’d been married now for six months. They were very well off and very much in love, by all accounts. Ada had much success with her wonderful fashion designs, and worked regularly with companies in Paris. Ada was always resourceful and creative enough to find solutions to any problems.
Emma was pleased they would be close enough to be able to visit each other from time to time. Anna was Ada’s sister by blood and she’d married an army officer. They helped settle a town called Hope about six hours’ train ride from Ada’s city of Brookstown. Although Hope was in Idaho and not California, it still wasn’t impossible for them to spend some holidays together should they get the chance.
The most exciting thing was that Emma would be seeing them both tomorrow when she was to wed. Just one night away. They both wanted to be here to see Emma’s day was perfect. This would be a wonderful way to show them that they didn’t have to worry over Emma’s welfare anymore. She may not be the prettiest or the most talented, but she would be independent and happy.
Anna’s husband was about to go into farming on his large property. Anna was headmistress of a wonderful school, which celebrated educating children according to their individual talents and needs. She’d always been a humanitarian, and an academic one at that.
Emma sighed and stared into space. It was hard being the failure of the three. They loved each other as much as any sisters could. They’d helped each other through many hard times. Emma’s past year was studded with wrong decisions and she’d paid dearly for them. The stagecoach came to a halt and Emma decided to just wait inside until Barnaby Radcliffe made himself known.
This was her fresh start, a chance to finally be as successful as her sisters, to make them proud of her. To repay all the love and protection they’d given her since she’d gone to live with the family as a newborn babe.
Emma hoped every day and prayed every night to God to show her why she was here on this earth. That she’d finally see what her true path was and how she might contribute to humankind and make her mark on the world.
She wanted more than anything to be as clever and successful as her sisters. If only their blood ran in her veins; then she was sure to have an obvious creative flare for something. Emma was determined to prove herself to them and to leave the memories behind of the last year in Salt Lake City. She didn’t want to see the disappointment and the pity in their eyes ever again.
Here in the frontier town of Black Creek, Emma hoped redemption would come in the form of a fresh start. Everyone thought she was a prostitute. She wasn’t, and had never been, but a series of events happened and Emma had ended up in prison charged with being exactly that.
Since that fateful day she’d never been able to be seen as a young lady who’d never been kissed, let alone anything else, and she’d been blinded by love and played for a fool. Was it any wonder she had something to prove? Or that she wanted to get as far away as possible? Was it any wonder she owed her sanity to Ada and Anna, and that she’d prove to them she was worthy of the love they gave if it was the last thing she did?
The very first step was coming here to Black Creek to marry and settle down. She didn’t want excitement or drama; Emma dreamed of a quiet life with children to care for, a husband to feed, and a garden to tend. She may never have been kissed but she was ready to get married tomorrow and love a man and to be loved. At age nineteen, it was high time she did just that.
“You getting’ out, Miss?” The coach driver spoke through the window.
“Yes. Yes, of course.”
“Just that I’m heading across the road for tea and scones…are ya meetin’ someone?”
“I’d hoped so. Can you get my luggage off the top, please?” Emma had four large trunks filled with everything she owned. “Perhaps he’s been delayed.”
“I’ll see to it, Miss.”
She hoped Barnaby didn’t think she was overloaded. In a way it was a little sad that her worldly possessions fit into only four trunks, and the two largest were full of books. But considering her time in prison she was lucky to have anything at all, and she’d never part with her books.
One day she dreamed of a library. Ada said she and Bobby had a wonderful library in their home. Emma looked forward to the day she could sit amongst her favorite reads and relive all the stories once again.
She stepped out of the coach and down to the dirt road. She held her bonnet on her head with one hand and gripped her drawstring purse in the other. She’d been saving every penny she could from the job she hated. Cleaning the bar in the place where men paid for the favors of women was a messy affair.
The trouble was, unlike Ada and Anna, Emma had no special skills like design and dressmaking, or a way with knowledge and children. Everything about Emma was rather ordinary. She looked around the place and there was no expectant man here. Barnaby was nowhere in sight, and a ball of dread formed in her stomach.
It wouldn’t be the first time her homely looks had made her the brunt of ridicule and laughter for waiting on some handsome boy who never intended to show. The pretty, wealthy girls in school had seemed very amused at Emma’s audacity to think a male might find her the least bit attractive or care to get to know her beyond her looks. Emma never really enjoyed school for that reason.
She sighed as her trunks were put at her feet by the driver and another man who’d come out from the building.
“Miss…do you think he might be held up somewhere?”
“He must be waylaid.”
The driver tipped his cap. “For certain, Miss. I know there’s decent lodgin’s at the teahouse where I’m going. Mrs. Maggie knows everyone too. Maybe she could shed some light for ya. I go for a scone and cuppa tea each trip.”
“I can’t be standing here all day, I suppose.” Emma couldn’t go anywhere. She didn’t want to. Her sisters would be here to see to her wedding early in the morning. Anna had travelled to Ada’s for the weekend, and they were coming i
n Ada’s coach in the morning and bringing the wedding trousseau.
“I’ll see you get your luggage over there.” He beckoned her to follow him, so she did.
“Thank you. You’re very kind. I’m sure I won’t need lodgings, but a cup of coffee would be nice.”
“I hope you find who you’re looking for, but there’s nuthin’ a scone and cuppa from Mrs Maggie’s won’t fix.”
Emma smiled and nodded as she walked beside this veritable stranger. Her stomach gave a lurch at the thought that she may indeed be an old spinster and never have a husband or children. If he didn’t turn up, or didn’t want a wedding, she’d look a fool.
This was God’s punishment to her for lying under oath to protect someone who’d never kept one promise they’d made after Emma went to prison. He’d simply married the woman who should’ve been in prison. She shook the thoughts out of her head. God helped those who helped themselves, and dwelling on bad decisions wouldn’t change a thing.
The tea house was diagonally across the road. She hoped Mrs. Maggie was as nice as Miss Kitty. Although Miss Kitty would not be happy that Barnaby wasn’t here to meet Emma as arranged. Anything could be wrong. He may be hurt, or trapped somewhere. He might even be dead by now. Oh, her thoughts had taken a morbid turn; she was sure it was nothing that dramatic.
“Your trunks are on the way. Mrs. Maggie will be at her desk at the end of the hallway.” He opened the door for her. “I’ll be in here.” He pointed in through a glass door where people sat talking and eating with each other.
“There’s no need to wait…Mr…?”
“The name’s Sid.”
“I’ll be fine now, Sid. Thanks for your help.”
“I’ll be having my break anyway, and I’ll see that your trunks get to your room.”
“I’ll pay you for your trouble.”
“Mighty obliged by that, Miss.” He gave her a wide grin and she saw his teeth needed a lot of attention.
She continued on to find Mrs. Maggie. Please let her have a room available if I need it. She’d been told she’d stay with Barnaby’s mother until the wedding, but she certainly did not feel comfortable going there if Barnaby wasn’t with her.
The ill feeling came back as she considered the fact that his mother may not even know about Emma coming in as a mail order bride for her son. He’d insisted on marriage the day after her arrival. Emma couldn’t see anything against it at the time. Now she felt silly.
At the end of the hallway she saw a larger-built lady dressed in a fine dress and hat of the most beautiful shade of emerald green. She sat behind a wide desk. Everything about this lady was impeccable and Emma immediately wished she’d found a mirror to check herself in before she approached Mrs. Maggie.
The older woman looked up as Emma approached, and she made no bones about looking her up and down. “You’re new here.”
“I am. My name is Emma Bartholomew, from Salt Lake City.”
“Goodness me. What brings you all the way out here without a chaperone?”
Emma didn’t want to say why she was there; perhaps there was still time to meet with Barnaby and make this right. “The stagecoach driver said you’ve nice lodgings here. I may need a room if one is available?”
“For how long?” Mrs Maggie looked wholly suspicious.
“I’m unsure.” Emma’s neck was heated around the high collar of her dress. She always wore high collars so people never saw her scars and asked questions.
“There’s not much here in town for entertainment…you ain’t lookin’ to make none of your own, I hope?”
“I’m not here to be a prostitute, if that’s what you mean.” It’s what they always meant. She’d cleaned the bar at the brothel so as far as anyone was concerned where she’d come from, she was part of the ladies of the night, even before she’d been wrongly convicted.
Very few were ever convinced otherwise and since she went to prison, the only way she could get away from it was to leave and never go back to her old home.
Mrs. Maggie didn’t looked convinced. “I’d be watchin’ the language here, Miss Bartholomew. I have a room with a single bed, and wash stand, and breakfast and supper included, or you can just have the room if you’re short on money. If you need it. I’ll put it on hold for two hours.”
“I’ll take it with the meals please. I’ve plenty of savings with me.”
“You’ll be in number ten, which is upstairs and right to the end of the hallway.”
“Thank you.”
“Seems to me a lady should know if she needs a room or not.” Mrs. Maggie gave her a suspicious look.
Emma sighed. She may as well get it over with. “I’ve come here as a mail order bride.”
“I see.”
“My fiancé hasn’t met me as arranged by our last letter. I hope nothing awful has become of him. The wedding is tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? What’s his name?”
“Barnaby Radcliffe. Do you know him?”
Mrs. Maggie’s face looked a dark as treacle. “I do.”
“I’m guessing he won’t be here to meet me, by the look on your face.”
“”
Emma stared at her and then really didn’t know what to say or where to look. She guessed he hadn’t lied about the staying with his mother part. Once again, Emma’s life had taken an unfortunate turn.
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2
Brendan
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“No… My son won’t be here to meet you,
as he was married on Sunday just passed.”
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“You did what?” Brendan Radcliffe wanted to knock his older brother’s block off.
“I forgot she was going to be here, I swear.”
“Why’s it so hard for you to be a decent human being?” Brendan didn’t get along with his brother, but he’d had to come out to the old ranch because it was going up for sale.
“I was gonna marry her but…” Barnaby glanced over at his very new wife with a gleam in his eye.
Brendan knew it was the young lady’s shapely body, long blonde hair and bright blue eyes his brother referred to, not to mention her ruby-red lips. Any man would be proud to have her on his arm. Except that her art of conversation didn’t go beyond the latest fashions and discussing how people who weren’t born into money, the way she was, were somehow lesser people than her family.
And the fact that she’d never worked a day in her life, had no clue how to run a household, or even do anything that resembled being resourceful. She’d been handed everything and she’d expect it to be that way with Barnaby, whose substantial profits from his saloon ran through his fingers like water.
“What’s her name?” Brendan would clean up yet another mess for his immature, egotistical brother, but only because of the young lady’s feelings who’d travelled all the way here to marry his brother under false pretenses.
“Emmy, Em…something. I think.”
“You’ve been writing her how long?”
“Three months, but only one letter a month.”
“Why didn’t you just tell her that you’d met someone else?”
“I saw her picture.” He shuddered. “She’s not too pretty, and I felt sorry for her in the end. But it was too late to write back. The letter wouldn’t make it in time.”
“But you didn’t feel sorry enough to stop making a fool of this poor, unsuspecting woman, or to at least go and meet her and explain?”
“I never expected Aileen to accept my proposal and want to get married right away. I forgot and the time went so fast in all the excitement. Besides, I thought if this woman stuck around she might be looking for some work.”
“You can’t lure young ladies here promising marriage and then expect that they’ll work for you. Not as…Not in…that place.” Brendan couldn’t even say the word. “You’re beyond despicable.”
Barn
aby shrugged. “Her choice if she wanted. My girls are all happy.”
“I’m not letting you do this. It’s not only immoral, and disgusting, it’s sinful.” Brendan hated that Barnaby exploited others’ weaknesses to make money. A lot of money. “Women shouldn’t have to sell themselves.”
“They gotta eat, may as well use their natural assets.”
“I’m going into town to see where this poor young lady is. You’re nothing more than a conman taking advantage of people. I’ll be doing whatever it takes to keep her out of your clutches.”
“Well, if you’re so perfect why don’t you marry her tomorrow? You keep complaining that your fancy, god-fearing tavern takes so much time.”
“Tomorrow? May God be my judge; this is the last mess of yours I’m fixing up.” Brendan didn’t know how they even had the same blood running in their veins. To lure some poor lady here with the promise of marriage tomorrow was terrible. His brother cared about no one but himself. Luckily their father had thought too little of his youngest son, Brendan, to bother passing on his reprobate traits.
Brendan thanked the Lord he was more like his hardworking mother.
His brother gave him a smile that reminded him so much of his sly father he wanted to bop him on the nose. He hated it when that blind anger began to surface. When Barnaby walked off Brendan sensed Barnaby was trying to provoke him to anger. Brendan refused to give him the satisfaction.
Now, to ride into town and see what had happened to this lady who’d come to be married, if she’d turned up. Maybe she’d gone back on the coach again. Anyway, he needed to get back to the tavern and get his bookwork done. When he’d done that he’d have to check in on the kitchen and see if they had everything they needed for this evening’s meal, and do a beverage order.