Betsy's Hope (Mail-Order Brides Of Prairie Meadow 2)

by Maggie McCloud

  Once that chore was finished, John headed out to the fields while Betsy went to collect eggs and feed the hens. Then it was back inside to bake bread and start getting their noon meal ready. It was still a challenge to get the fire just the right temperature to bake bread, and there had been a few days when they had to do without it because the loaf was either under baked or had burned. But Betsy was getting better at it.

  She couldn’t believe how long it took to do everything and how hard it was to keep such a tiny place neat and clean. Why it seemed she would just have the breakfast dishes washed when it would be time to serve up the next meal, and the whole cycle would start again. Much to her amazement, she actually enjoyed washing the dishes now that she wasn’t doing it for a living. She laughed to herself when she recalled the never-ending piles of dirty dishes she had had to plow through every day when she worked at the restaurant.

  John was very patient even when the meat was chewier than it should have been. He just kept telling her, “You should taste my cooking if you think yours is bad.”

  Emily and Henry came by to visit a couple of times, bringing vegetables from the garden and a ham or two from their smoke house.

  “I think we’ll start the canning next week Betsy. There will be enough to get a start on things anyway, if you want to come over first thing on Monday morning,” said Emily during their latest visit.

  “John says he and Henry will be ready to start the harvest next week too, so the two of you can maybe come over together.”

  Early Monday morning, after chores were taken care of, John and Betsy headed over to Emily’s. John had been giving Betsy driving lessons using their most patient horse, Sammy, so he had her take the reins for extra practice. Driving was only another of the many things that were new to Betsy.

  At home there had been servants to take her wherever she wanted to go. And once she was away from home, she only used public transportation. Driving the wagon would take some getting used to, but it was important that she learn. When the men were working on John’s farm, Betsy would be able to drive herself over to Emily’s to continue with the canning.

  The women would have the whole day to themselves. Henry and John were going to spend the day checking the crops on both farms one last time to see which areas were ready for harvest and which needed more time.

  Emily and Betsy chatted as they picked bushel after bushel of tomatoes, cucumbers and beans. Betsy caught on quickly, but in no time Emily was far down the row ahead of her. Once the ripe vegetables had been picked, they carried the baskets back to the house. With the well so close to the farmhouse, it didn’t take long to rinse everything.

  They stopped for a quick cup of coffee before preparing the vegetables for processing. Betsy was amazed at how well organized Emily was.

  “I don’t know how you do it, Emily. I’m not sure I could do any of this as well as you do,” said Betsy.

  “Nonsense, you’ll learn. In fact I’m impressed with how well you’re doing, especially since you’ve never done any of this before,” replied Emily. “Remember, I’ve been doing this since I was a child, helping my ma in the kitchen.”

  By the end of the day, Betsy was exhausted. She sank into a chair to rest, thinking that Emily would do the same. She closed her eyes for just a minute to wait for Emily to join her.

  The next thing she knew, John was crouched down beside her saying, “Wake up sleeping beauty. It’s time to eat.”

  Betsy was mortified. She’d dropped off to sleep, leaving Emily to make supper for the four of them.

  Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around. Somehow, Emily had not only made supper, but she had managed to set the table and finish cleaning up the mess from their day of canning.

  “Emily, I am so sorry. I should have helped you with supper. Why didn’t you wake me?”

  Emily smiled and said, “You looked too peaceful to disturb. Besides, there wasn’t much that needed doing to get supper ready. Now that you’re awake, how about helping me get the food on the table.”

  After they’d eaten, Betsy insisted on taking care of the dishes on her own. “That’s something I can do, so please let me.”

  It wasn’t long after that John said they should be heading off home to do the chores.

  The next few days were a blur for Betsy. But by Friday, she was feeling better and actually managed to stay awake and help Emily with supper.

  Harvest had begun in earnest and the men worked as long as possible each day. They had gotten all the hay in Henry’s field cut and piled for drying. The clouds had rolled in that day, so the next day the four of them would all be working in the fields. The women would drive the wagons while the men would load up the hay. They needed to get it put away in Henry’s barn before it rained. The following week they would start on John’s fields.

  Saturday dawned cooler and cloudy. They worked frantically to beat the rain, barely stopping to eat a hurried sandwich at midday. The last wagonload of hay had just been unloaded in the barn when the skies opened up. If they were lucky, it would rain all night providing some needed moisture for the wheat crop, which wasn’t quite ready, and then be warm and sunny the following day to dry out John’s hay crop.

  When the rain slowed down, John and Betsy headed home.

  “Is the rain going to ruin the hay crop John?” asked Betsy worriedly. “I know you and Henry said that the rain would be good for the wheat, but tell me the truth.”

  “It’ll be fine as long as it doesn’t rain too hard or too long. Let’s just pray that tomorrow is nice and sunny,” John said looking over at Betsy and smiling. “One way or the other, tomorrow will be a day of rest. I think we can both use that.”

  God heard their prayers. After an all night rain, Sunday dawned hot and sunny. John and Betsy spent a quiet day together. Betsy packed a picnic lunch and they went for a walk through the fields, ending at the small stream that wound its way along the perimeter of the property.

  John put his head in Betsy’s lap as she leaned back against a maple tree that would soon be vibrant in color. Betsy told John more about her work at the restaurant that had led to her answering his ad at the Western Marriage Agency. She talked about her family and what life had been like for her growing up, although something made her reluctant to tell John that she was from a well-to-do family. Hearing about her life in the city, John admired her all the more for venturing away from all that she was familiar with. He had not really appreciated what a drastic change it had been for her.

  “I only wish I would get a response from my mother,” Betsy said sadly. “I wrote her a letter weeks ago to let her know I had arrived and asking for news from home. But so far nothing.”

  John tried to comfort her by saying, “Don’t give up hope yet, Betsy. The mail is awful slow going that far. From what you’ve said, I’m sure your ma won’t lose touch. Maybe the letter got lost. Why not write her again and see what happens?”

  For his part, John shared more about his experiences in California, especially about his early success with finding gold. He told her that in the end his claim had turned out to be worthless, making him decide to move back home.

  But he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he had mortgaged the farm. He was holding out hope that Mr. Calder wouldn’t come around to collect what was owed for another year or two. By then he hoped to have earned enough money to buy back the note on the farm.

  Come Monday, John and Henry were able to start cutting John’s hay while Betsy took the wagon over to Emily’s house for more canning.

  Betsy was so grateful for Emily’s kindness and friendship. She wished there was something she could do to thank her. Her answer came when the two women made a trip into town for supplies one day. They decided to make a day of it and stopped to visit Mrs. Gregson. She was amused to hear about some of Betsy’s experiences in learning to be a farm wife.

  When the three women went across to the dry goods store to browse, Emily fell in love with some beautiful flowered material.
She thought it would make a wonderful frock for church and other special occasions. But she quickly changed her mind when she saw the price.

  “Oh well, maybe after harvest, there will be some extra money,” said Emily with regret. Instead she chose a bolt of material that would be suitable for curtains and bought a few yards.

  “Do you see anything you like Betsy?” asked Emily.

  “Oh, I have all the clothes I need for now. Learning to sew can come in the winter I think,” she laughed.

  As Emily and Mrs. Gregson talked about the curtains Emily planned to make, Betsy quietly approached the sales clerk and asked her to cut several yards of the material that Emily had been admiring.

  Penny, the clerk, nervously told Betsy, “I’m sorry to tell you that we are unable to charge this much to Mr. Masterson’s account until he pays off his balance. He already has quite a bit on the books between here and the general store. We’re willing to wait until harvest to be paid, but I…I’m sorry.”

  Betsy was surprised to hear that, but said, “Oh that’s alright. I planned to pay for it myself. She reached inside her bag and produced a gold coin.”

  “Will this cover the material and what Mr. Masterson owes on his account?”

  “Oh yes,” said Penny with a smile. “That’s more than enough. In fact you’ll be getting some change back.”

  “Please don’t let my sister-in-law see the material. I want to surprise her with it.”

  “I’ll cut and package it right now and then you can put it in your bag before she sees.”

  “That’s perfect!” replied Betsy.

  Betsy was so excited she could hardly contain herself. She couldn’t wait to surprise Emily with the material and decided to give it to her as soon as they got back.

  As the two sat relaxing with a cup of coffee and some of Emily’s coffee cake, Betsy couldn’t stop smiling.

  Finally Emily said, “I know it’s been a fine day, but why are you smiling so much? My coffee cake is good, but it’s not that good.”

  “Oh, I have to disagree. Your coffee cake is that good, but you’re right. That’s not why I’m smiling.”

  Standing up, Betsy said, “Close your eyes, Emily. I have a surprise for you! Come on, close your eyes. I can’t wait any longer.”

  After Emily closed her eyes, Betsy said, “Now no peeking. Promise?”

  “I promise. I can’t imagine what it could be.”

  Betsy removed the package from her bag and placed it on Emily’s lap.

  “Ok, you can look now.”

  When Emily caught sight of the package, she looked from Betsy to the package and back to Betsy again.

  “Well, go on and open it silly,” said Betsy.

  Emily carefully removed the paper and gasped when she saw the beautiful material she had admired in the dry goods shop. Reluctantly, she placed it on the table.

  “Oh Betsy, you shouldn’t have done this. I know that you and John are not in any position to afford this right now. It’s a wonderful thought, but I can’t accept it.”

  Betsy reached out and put the material back in Emily’s lap.

  “I wanted to do something nice for you. You have been so good to me and I appreciate it. I don’t know how I would have coped if it weren’t for you,” said Betsy.

  “But this is too much,” Emily cut in.

  “No, it’s not,” insisted Betsy. “I’ve told you I was raised in a well-to-do family. When I left home, my ma made sure that I had some money to fall back on, just in case things didn’t work out for me. I used only a bit of that money to buy the material.”

  “Oh Betsy, you shouldn’t be spending your money on me.”

  “It’s my money and I can do whatever I want with it,” said Betsy stubbornly. “The material has been cut so it can’t be returned. You have no choice but to accept it,” she added with a smile. “I only ask one thing; please don’t tell John.”

  Emily leaned over and pulled Betsy into a hug. “Thank you. I can’t wait to make this up into a dress. I’ll keep your secret as long as you don’t pull anything like this again.”

  “Deal,” said Betsy. Knowing what the clerk at the dry goods store had said, it was even more important that John not find out that she’d paid off his bill. She didn’t want to embarrass him. Somehow she’d figure something out that would let him keep his pride. They were in this together, but she knew he wouldn’t be happy that she’d paid off his debt.

  Chapter 6

  The days fell into an easy but busy routine. Several days a week Betsy drove herself over to Emily’s house to put up more of the produce for the coming winter. On other days, Betsy and Emily helped the men with the harvest out in the fields, sometimes driving the wagons, sometimes pitching in with the actual cutting and picking. That was hot work and made for very long days.

  So far the weather had been picture perfect with the only rain coming during the night and not enough to affect work the following day. But in Kansas, the weather can turn on a dime.

  The night before they were planning to start cutting John’s wheat, the rumble of thunder in the distance announced the approaching storm. John and Betsy prayed that the storm would miss them but it was not to be.

  Watching from their open doorway, they saw flashes of lightning so bright it made Betsy turn her head away. She’d seen thunderstorms out East, but nothing to compare to the raging storm that swept through this night. The booming of thunder was enough to make her huddle up to John. The wind whined loudly, rocking their little cabin, and rain pounded the ground outside.

  Betsy whimpered in fear. When John put his arm around her to calm her, she buried her head in his chest. She couldn’t remember ever being so frightened. As time went on, the storm seemed to intensify. Then suddenly, it seemed to be over. The rain slowed and the lightning moved off into the distance. But then the air suddenly turned cold as ice.

  John stood up and shouted, “No, no!”

  “What is it, John? What’s wrong?” asked a frightened Betsy.

  John ran outside and stood there shaking his fist at the sky. But he soon had to retreat back to their doorway as hail the size of eggs came pelting down. Before long, the ground was covered.

  Betsy knew without asking that they had just lost their entire wheat crop.

  “Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think,” said Betsy softly.

  John just shook his head sadly.

  “No, there’s not a chance of much if any of the wheat surviving this. The rain would have been bad enough. We would have had to postpone the harvest for a few days and we probably would have lost some of the crop, but that hail finished it off.”

  “It’ll be ok John. We’ll just wait another year before we add on to the cabin or buy more animals,” Betsy said, taking John’s hand.

  “No Betsy, you don’t understand. This has ruined us.”

  “But we got the hay in so the animals will have feed for the winter and Emily and I have put lots of produce away so we’ll be okay this winter. We can start again next spring,” Betsy said encouragingly.

  “I’m telling you, it’s not enough,” John said loudly, pulling his hand away and starting to pace.

  “I was depending on the money from the wheat to ..to pay some bills. I told you I lost pretty much everything when I was out in California. Why can’t you understand that?”

  “I guess I don’t understand completely because you’ve never really talked to me about money issues, John. I know you inherited this farm from your parents so if we have to tighten our belts a little, we’ll do that.”

  Betsy took a deep breath and decided that now might be the right time to let John know that he didn’t need to worry about their bills at the dry goods store or the general store.

  Before John could say anything else, Betsy said, “John, we’re in this together. I moved out here to marry you and well, I think we should share everything. Do you agree, John?”

  He nodded and said, “I do, but I’m not sure you’ll think that way for
too much longer.”

  “Nonsense John. Just because your bills at the dry goods store and the general store have to be paid before they’ll give you much more credit, doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be with you. That’s just plain silly if you ask me.”

  As John turned to look directly at Betsy, her face heated up. She realized that she’d said too much.

  “How do you know about my credit at those stores? We haven’t been back to get supplies lately. And when we were there, I don’t recall you talking to Penny at all,” he said suspiciously.

  “Well, you see, I uh,” stammered Betsy as she brushed a crease out of her dress.

  “You what? Spit it out Betsy,” said John, dangerously quiet.

  “Ok, here it is John, whether you like it or not,” she started. “I uh, I had some money given to me by my mother before I left home, in case of an emergency.”

  She went on to explain how she wanted to surprise Emily with a gift to thank her for everything she’d done for her.

  “When I tried to buy the fabric at the dry goods store, Penny told me I couldn’t charge that amount until your accounts were paid off.”

  She stuck her chin up and added, “I didn’t want to charge the fabric on your account. I wanted the gift to come from me. So I used some of my own money to buy the fabric and, and I uh, I paid off the account while I was at it.”

  “You did what?” shouted John.

  “I think you heard me John Masterson. There is no need to shout.”

  “But that was my debt and I don’t plan on living off of my wife’s money,” he huffed.

  “Wouldn’t you have allowed me to buy that fabric if I wanted it for myself?” Betsy asked sweetly.

  “Well of course I would if we could afford it,” John said with disgust.