The WESTWARD Christmas BRIDES COLLECTION: 9 Historical Romances Answer the Call of the American West

by Wanda E. Brunstetter, Susan Page Davis, Melanie Dobson, Cathy Liggett, Vickie McDonough, Olivia Newport, Janet Spaeth, Jennifer Rogers Spinola

  Chapter 5

  As long as no single coach became overcrowded, Belinda observed, the conductors seemed to overlook whether people remained in their assigned cars. She was less certain about travelers who’d paid for passage in the more comfortable sleeper cars, but she chose to ignore murmurings she overheard on the subject. She had taken in Eloise, an innocent child who should not be made to suffer for circumstances beyond her control. And who would dare suggest that Hayden, who spent hours at a time battling a blizzard, was not deserving of the creature comforts the sleeper coaches offered? Belinda was fully prepared with her best glare for anyone who would voice such an opinion.

  The three of them shared a bench, with Eloise snuggled in the middle. Hayden thawed out and dried out. Belinda wished he didn’t have to go outside again, but she knew he would. Hayden Fairbanks wasn’t afraid of hard work, and he wasn’t temperamentally akin to the haughty travelers who seemed to believe it was the responsibility of those of lesser means to keep them comfortable, including removing snow from in front of the train that carried them.

  Eloise tugged Belinda’s sleeve. “I’m hungry.”

  Belinda looked over the girl’s head at Hayden. “Then let’s see what we can do about that. I have scrumptious red apples. How does that sound?”

  Eloise pointed to the space where her front tooth had fallen out. “I can’t bite apples.”

  Hayden reached into his pocket. “I have a knife. I’ll cut it up for you.”

  Belinda put a hand deep into her travel bag and extracted two apples. “We should all eat something.”

  “Only apples?” Eloise said. “That’s a silly lunch.”

  “Of course not only apples.” Hayden pointed at the sack Belinda had carried back with their bags from the day car. “Remember that ham sandwich you were too full to finish last night?”

  “I’m hungry for it now.” Eloise leaned forward and took up the sack. She removed the partially eaten sandwich and handed the bag to Belinda.

  Belinda ran a mental inventory. She still had four apples and her tin of sandwiches. Hayden’s bag contained three rolls, some beef jerky wrapped in paper, and two boiled eggs.

  “You must be hungry after working so hard.” Belinda took out an egg and a piece of jerky.

  Eloise abruptly sat up straight. “What’s that noise? Is the train starting?”

  Belinda glanced at Hayden.

  “The tracks can’t be anywhere near clear,” he said softly.

  The train pitched forward. A cheer rippled through the passengers.

  Belinda watched out the window as the train lumbered ahead, shedding itself of the cave-like walls of snow.

  “We’re going!” Eloise popped a slice of apple in her mouth.

  Belinda handed the egg and jerky to Hayden. He cracked the egg on the window and began to peel it.

  The train stopped.

  Darkness cycled around. Hayden offered food to Eloise whenever she expressed hunger and once when she did not. He wondered where Mrs. Stromberg was with her tin of cookies. It was a rather large tin, but the passengers around her might have already taken advantage of her generosity.

  “It’s time for me to go out again,” Hayden said.

  “But it’s dark,” Belinda protested. “And there’s no telling what the temperature will be overnight.”

  “I’d better find out what they’ve decided.”

  “Uncle,” Eloise said, “I want you to be safe. You kept me safe.”

  Hayden surprised himself when he bent to plant a kiss on the top of Eloise’s head. “We’ll all keep each other safe. How does that sound?”

  Eloise nodded. Belinda’s eyes filled with protective worry.

  “I’ll come back and tell you what I learn before I go out.” Hayden stood. “I’ll make sure to say good night to you both.”

  Belinda raised her cheek and he kissed it, wishing he could put a finger on the side of her jaw and turn her lips toward his.

  Bundled in his coat, scarf, gloves, and hat, Hayden walked forward several cars until he found a group of men huddled at the back of a car.

  “We’ve lost a whole day of travel already,” one of them said.

  “But how much can we do in the dark?” another countered. “We can start again at first light.”

  “We have lanterns,” came a response, “and enough fuel to keep them burning. We might even keep a fire going.”

  Hayden turned to look at one man after another as the conversation ricocheted among opinions.

  “People are anxious about Christmas.”

  “It’s too late for anyone to arrive for Christmas. The sooner we help people understand that, the better.”

  “Christmas is neither here nor there. What is important is that we stay ahead of the snowfall. We can’t be certain when help will arrive, and if we’ve done nothing, it will only take longer for a crew to clear the tracks even with equipment.”

  “No one is coming tonight. That much is sure.”

  “Wyoming has already seen deeper snowfalls this winter than anyone remembers. Thousands of head of cattle are gone. Have you all forgotten the storm only three weeks ago?”

  “The weather has to break at some point. I say we wait it out.”

  “People are already getting hungry.”

  “We’ll share what we have.”

  “It won’t be enough. Jesus isn’t here to bless the loaves and the fishes.”

  “Jesus is here.” Hayden broke in. “Jesus is always here. Blessing is always possible.”

  “Save it for church.” A brakeman fastened his coat. “I’m going out.”

  “We’ll split the night,” a fireman said. “No man stays out more than two hours at a time, and no one goes out alone.”

  Heads nodded around the huddle.

  Belinda walked Hayden to the end of the sleeper. “I wish you would wear your extra sweater.”

  “I need to have something dry when I come back in.” He carried his bag. “The conductor promises to keep the stove going in the first car behind the engines. Any man who wants to can come in to warm up.”

  “Promise me you will.” The temperatures were sure to plummet overnight. Belinda hated to think of Hayden—or any of the men—exposed. “Are you sure this is necessary? That it is the best choice?”

  Hayden nodded. “We must do everything we can for a work train to reach us without putting themselves in danger.”

  Belinda swallowed her anxiety and braced herself for the blast of cold air that would come when he opened the door.

  Back at her seat, she smiled at Eloise. “Did Uncle remember to pack a brush for cleaning your teeth?”

  Two dark braids swung from side to side.

  “A nightdress?”

  “I slept in my clothes last night.”

  “Come on.” Belinda picked up her own small bag. “It looks like you’ll get your wish to sleep in a berth, but first let’s see about washing your face. You can sleep in my extra shirtwaist.”

  Later, when the benches had been converted to a berth and the young couple with the berth above hers had settled in, Belinda lay beside Eloise and welcomed the child’s desire to snuggle against her for warmth. It seemed to Belinda that the heat inside the car had dropped a few degrees. She spread her wrap across the top of the bedding, wishing she could so easily do something to keep Hayden warm as well.

  Hayden woke to cold feet.

  Overnight he had been outside twice. After the second two-hour shift, he hung both pairs of stockings to dry from a makeshift clothesline stretched across the car where work crews came and went. Now, as daylight filtered through thin curtains pulled across the windows, the towel he had wrapped his chilled feet in was askew. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Three nights ago he slept a few fitful hours wondering what he was supposed to do with Eloise. The next night, he slept upright in a railroad coach afraid to move lest he wake the girl. Now a third night had passed with insufficient sleep.

  Hayden tested his socks and found them
dry enough to put on. It was a harder task to get the insides of his shoes dry, and he fastened them on in their slightly damp state. Once he began moving through the cars, he saw morning activities through the length of the train, ensuring he would alarm no one if he sought out Belinda in the sleeper coach. An agitated conversation jolted him though.

  “What do they expect us to eat? If we don’t starve, we’ll freeze to death.”

  Hayden recognized the voice. Thomas something. Lewis. Yes, Thomas Lewis, the man who had protested the delay in his travel to Ogden and turned up his nose at the suggestion that a man of his standing should leave the train in a blizzard to perform manual labor. Lewis was entangled with Amanda and Ellsworth Barrow over the empty state of his stomach.

  “It’s true we can’t have a hot, filling breakfast.” Amanda spoke with commendable calm, given Lewis’s tone. “But I’m happy to share a bit of our food.”

  Hayden could see into her open basket. They may have started out with an ample supply to supplement scheduled meal stops, but the basket looked nearly bare. How many people had she already fed? Lewis reached in, rummaged for a moment, and removed the last two slices of bread and an orange. Hayden saw one more orange rolling between a few slices of coffeecake.

  Hayden started to object to Lewis’s movements, but Ellsworth shook his head, and the three of them watched as Thomas Lewis retreated to his own compartment.

  “He took nearly all the food you had.” Hayden spoke through clenched teeth.

  Ellsworth cleared his throat. “It seemed a better choice than the stir he was about to cause.”

  “Everyone is hungry,” Hayden said, “and he has done none of the work.”

  “Pay him no mind,” Amanda said. She closed her basket. “Help will come.”

  Hayden hoped so, but he resolved to keep an eye on Thomas Lewis and make sure he didn’t repeat the scene. He moved down the aisle toward where Belinda sat with an arm around Eloise.

  “Is what that man said true?” Eloise asked. “Are we going to run out of food and freeze to death?”

  “He shouldn’t have said that.” Hayden lifted Eloise into his lap and kissed Belinda’s cheek.

  “I don’t have to eat breakfast,” Eloise said. “I’m not even hungry.”

  Hayden decided to wait a few minutes before insisting Eloise eat at least part of one of the rolls they still had.

  “It looks like the snow stopped.” Belinda gazed out the window.

  Hayden nodded. The snow had stopped a few hours ago, and the early morning crew was making visible progress in clearing the tracks. But unquestionably they were still stranded.

  “Someone found a kettle.” Belinda ran a hand over her untidy hair. She reminded herself that she and Hayden intended to marry, so he might as well see what she looked like in the morning. “The woodstove outside the washroom was hot enough to boil water. I’ll get you some tea.”

  When she started to rise, Hayden took her hand. “Not just yet. I only want to sit with the two of you for a few minutes.”

  He was rather tousled himself, she decided. She moved two fingers across the stubble casting a distinct shadow over his cheeks and wondered if he ever considered growing a beard.

  “I’ll shave in a few minutes.”

  “No. Rest. Eat.”

  Eloise slid off Hayden’s lap. At least Belinda had tidied the girl’s braids.

  “Eloise, are you ready to eat?” Hayden asked.

  “I’m ready to hop.” Eloise demonstrated.

  Belinda laughed. “Hop? On a train?”

  Eloise shifted her weight back and forth between her feet. “Truly I want to run, but I’m old enough to know I mustn’t run on a train. I won’t hurt anyone if I only hop.”

  Belinda looked at Hayden, who shrugged.

  “All right,” Belinda said, “but be careful. If someone wants past you in the aisle, hop aside.”

  “I promise. Watch me. I’m a bunny.” Eloise hopped forward.

  “She’s a delightful child,” Belinda said. “I don’t remember much from being a six-year-old girl, but she makes it look like a great deal of fun.”

  “A train trip should be an adventure for a child.” Hayden’s eyes followed Eloise’s hopping path. “I wish I could shield her from the adults who are not responding to the circumstances as they ought.”

  Belinda looked into Hayden’s pale green eyes and squeezed his hand. “What I wouldn’t give for a moment truly alone with you right now.”

  His mouth broke into a half grin.

  They looked up when they heard Eloise’s feet falling in soft, rapid thuds against the carpet.

  “The man is stealing!” the girl said. “I don’t know where Mr. and Mrs. Barrow went, but the man ought not to look in their basket when they aren’t there.”

  Eloise tugged at Hayden’s hand, but Belinda pulled her back and let Hayden go on his own.

  Hayden stomped down the aisle, stood behind Thomas Lewis, and cleared his throat loudly.

  Lewis spun around.

  “Surely you aren’t further prevailing on the generosity of the Barrows,” Hayden said.

  “If they are so sure everyone will have enough to eat, they won’t mind.” Lewis began to peel the last orange.

  “You’ve had your breakfast.” Hayden took the orange from Lewis’s hands and dropped it back in the basket. “There are women and children aboard the train who have had far less to eat than you have.”

  “What are you insinuating, Mr.—?”

  “Fairbanks,” Hayden supplied. “I am insinuating nothing. I am stating facts. You’ve eaten by the generosity of others. This is hardly the way to express your gratitude.”

  Hayden turned when another passenger tapped him on the shoulder.

  “The food doesn’t belong to you either,” the man said, “so I don’t see how it is your concern what becomes of it.”

  “The food is not my concern.” Hayden maintained his calm. “The people to whom it does belong are my concern. My guess is they have forgone their own breakfast in order to offer some to Mr. Lewis.”

  “They shouldn’t have left the basket unattended.”

  “That is hardly an argument for Mr. Lewis’s choice,” Hayden said. “Even the child in my charge knows better.”

  “You have no right to stand there and insult me.” Thomas Lewis’s face reddened.

  “And what right have you for your actions?” Hayden spun to face the second passenger. “Or you? Do you stand on conviction that the noble choice is to turn your head from wrongdoing? When one of us is wounded, do we not all feel the pain?”

  Behind Hayden, someone began to applaud, and then another.

  “Don’t you dare preach at me,” Lewis protested, but he began to back away—without his orange.

  Hayden felt the blood drain from his face.

  Chapter 6

  I miss my papa.” Eloise twirled the end of a braid and pushed out her lower lip. “Does he know I am stuck in a snowstorm?”

  Belinda’s heart sank. She wouldn’t lie to a child. “I’m not sure. But I’m sure he knows Uncle Hayden is keeping you safe, because he knew Uncle would come for you when you were so brave to wait for him.”

  “I don’t want to go to Aunty’s house anymore. I only want to go home. When I see Papa, I am going to tell him I want to go home right away.”

  “He will be so glad to see you.” The child needed her father. Short of that, she needed a hot, hearty meal, a clean dress, and some fresh air. Belinda could give her none of those things. She took Eloise’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s take a walk.”

  Eloise shrugged but complied. “Can we find the lady with the cookies?”

  “Mrs. Stromberg? We can at least look for her. She might not have any cookies left.”

  “That’s all right. She has a pretty smile, too. And she smells like flowers. I liked that.”

  “Bring your coat,” Belinda said. “It’s cold between the cars.”

  “You shouldn’t take
that child out,” an eavesdropper said. “She’ll catch her death.”

  Eloise gasped.

  “A child needs to move.” Belinda tightened her grip on Eloise’s hand. “We’re not going to tromp through the snow.”

  She led Eloise down the aisle. The girl wasn’t the only one showing distress. Though the sleeper was reasonably warm for the circumstances, people huddled under coats and blankets keeping a grip on their personal belongings. Assurances from conductors that help was on the way wore thin as a missed breakfast turned into a missed lunch. The pitch of conversation rose as travelers exchanged stories of people freezing to death in a Wyoming blizzard or claimed to have seen the countryside dotted with rotting cattle after a storm. Why was it, Belinda wondered, that in unusual circumstances every person felt compelled to tell a story more dramatic than the last?

  They pushed out of one car and into the next, walked through, and stepped across another platform. Belinda would walk the train all day if that was what it took to wear out Eloise and prepare her for a deep sleep. If only people would stop telling the most frightening stories that came to mind.

  “Let’s go back,” Eloise said as they entered the fourth car without a glimpse of the old woman. “Uncle won’t know where we are when he comes in to warm up. We shouldn’t make him worry.”

  Belinda bent and kissed Eloise’s smooth cheek. “I believe you are the most thoughtful child I’ve ever met.”

  Her action didn’t elicit the smile Belinda had hoped for. With drooping shoulders, Eloise turned and led the way back through the cars.

  Hayden dropped his shovel. He saw movement over the hard-packed snow, a murky, ragged shape moving toward the train.

  “The shift is not over.” A brakeman grabbed Hayden’s elbow. “We all agreed.”

  “I’m not quitting.” Hayden shielded his eyes and then scrambled up a pile of snow discarded from the tracks. He drew in a frigid breath at the sight.