Christmas Mail Order Angels: The complete 11 Volume Set

by Darlene Franklin

  “About that bear,” Isabella said.

  “What about it?”

  “Is it likely to be a danger?”

  Edwin sighed. “I expect the ranch men will get up a hunting party. Once they start killing your stock, they don’t quit.”

  “Will you go?” Isabella didn’t like the way her voice quivered and her lungs squeezed. Just thinking about Edwin in danger set her on edge. It was too much like the old days, when a storm was blowing up and Henry’s boat was out beyond the harbor.

  He hauled in a slow breath, not looking at her. “Sure, I’ll go, If Mr. Leman wants me to.”

  They sat in silence for a moment. She supposed he was thinking the foreman ought to be out there, leading the men who would be doing a dangerous job.

  “Have you hunted bear before?” she asked.

  “Once or twice. There’d be a bunch of us. We’d drive him out in the open for a good shot.”

  She shuddered.

  “Let’s not think about that now,” Edwin said. “Would you like some pie tonight?”

  Isabella’s appetite had fled when she started thinking about him riding out into the bear’s territory. “No, but you go ahead if you like.”

  She sat and watched him eat his pie, sipping occasionally at her coffee, but its acrid taste only seemed to increase the turmoil in her stomach.

  When he had finished, Edwin paid for their meals and helped her put on her coat. She wrapped her knit scarf over her hair and around her neck before they went out into the frosty air and headed back toward the boardinghouse.

  “Seems like an awful short evening,” Edwin said.

  “Maybe someday, Angel Vale will have an opera house or some other decent form of entertainment.” Isabella wouldn’t even think about saloons and dance halls, let alone consider them as suitable entertainment.

  “Maybe so,” Edwin replied.

  A light shone from the kitchen window of the boardinghouse.

  “Would you like to come in?” Isabella asked. “It seems someone else is home, so we’d have a chaperone.”

  Edwin’s smile made her heart flutter.

  “I’d like that.”

  Isabella led him in and took his jacket and hat. He sat down at the kitchen table while she started a pot of coffee, using some from the small store she had purchased.

  “Mr. Underwood had some nice woolen yarn at his store,” she said as she worked. “It came in on the train yesterday.”

  “Oh?”

  She looked at Edwin over her shoulder and smiled. “I bought two skeins. I thought I would knit you a pair of socks.”

  “That would be right nice. It gets cold up here in the winter, and a stout pair of wool socks would help keep the chill off.” After a moment, he said, “Is that what you do during the winter? Knit?”

  She laughed and set the coffeepot on the range top. “Sometimes. And sometimes I piece quilts or sew or read. Whatever I can get my hands on to do during the snow season.”

  “I guess in Maine, that’s probably about as long as it is here,” Edwin said soberly.

  “Maybe. But the snow doesn’t usually get as deep on the coast as it does inland, or stay so long. But it does get frightfully cold for months at a time.”

  She went to the table and sat down opposite him. “I’m glad you’re getting the promotion, Edwin.”

  “Thank you. Do you think you can be happy in the little foreman’s house?”

  “Yes, I do. But I don’t expect we’ll stay there forever.”

  “No?” He blinked at her. “It would take me a lifetime to save up enough to buy my own ranch. Especially if … if I have a family to support.”

  “But that’s what you want, isn’t it? Your own place?”

  “Sure. Someday.” He reached for her hand. “With you.”

  “I’ll help you work toward that goal any way I can.”

  He nodded. “Mr. Leman let Tom keep a few cattle of his own and sell them with the ranch herd. Maybe I can do that too.” He gazed at her, and her pulse picked up, just seeing the longing in his eyes.

  “I’m looking forward to moving out there,” she dared to say.

  “Me, too. I hope you won’t be lonesome out at the Bar L,” he said.

  “No more than I am here.”

  “But … there’s other ladies living here, aren’t there?”

  Isabella smiled. “Not for long. Most of them are married or planning on it soon, as I am. But I expect Mrs. Leman will be friendly to me. Or doesn’t she socialize with the help?”

  Edwin shrugged. “I don’t know. She and Lila seem to get along fine. The boss doesn’t fraternize much with us, but it’s probably different with the ladies. And we can come into town fairly often,” he said quickly. “At least, when we’re not snowbound.”

  “Do all the men spend the winter in the bunkhouse?”

  “A few. Some go south and work down in Texas for the cold months and come back up here at spring roundup time.”

  “But Tom’s not planning to come back?”

  “Nope. He’s going for good. Told me so himself, last night.”

  Isabella rose to get cups for their coffee. “Well, I’ve heard talk that they’re hoping to have a resident minister in Angel Vale soon, not just a circuit rider. If the town has a regular church and a school, you know it’s civilized. As you say, I’ll be able to ride into town and visit most of the year. And I’ll lay in plenty of yarn and quilt scraps before winter.”

  Edwin’s smile warmed her to her toes. “I’m not a rich man, Isabella, but I could give you enough to buy some yarn now and then, I reckon.”

  “That’s very kind of you.” She had learned by now that Edwin liked his coffee black. She supposed that out on the range the men couldn’t fuss about things like sugar and cream. She set his cup before him and sat down with her own. “I suppose there are things we should talk about.”

  “What things?” he asked.

  “Oh, the things people talk about before they get married.”

  The blank look on his face told her he had never considered such things.

  “Of course, we talked about a few of them in our letters,” she said.

  He nodded cautiously. “Where we’ll live.”

  “Yes. But things happened so quickly, I decided to come with the group, even though that wasn’t settled yet. We can be thankful it has worked out and we’ll have a house.”

  “I know I am. Thankful, I mean.”

  She smiled. “Edwin, I’ll work hard and try to be a good wife for you.”

  “I know you will. And I’ll do my best to take care of you and … and make you happy.”

  Isabella looked down at her hands, wrapped around her cup. What would make her happy at this stage in her life? And if she wasn’t sure, how could Edwin possibly know?”

  “What are you thinking?” he asked.

  She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I just …”

  “You’re not feeling happy.”

  “I am. Really. I’m glad we’ve been able to set the date.”

  “You’re still grieving,” he said softly.

  “I suppose I am.”

  “It must feel odd to jump into a new life so quickly after losing everything you knew before. Isabella, if it’s too soon …”

  She looked into his sober brown eyes. “I don’t think we have the luxury of time. It will be better if we marry now and get settled at the ranch before the cold weather.”

  He drew in a deep breath and sat for a moment, gazing at her. “If you’re sure.”

  “I am.”

  “All right, then. I’ll try to make sure you don’t have any regrets.”

  Chapter Five

  Books, Edwin thought as he rode home in the darkness. She’s a reader. In just about every conversation they’d had since her arrival, she had mentioned some story she’d read and enjoyed. He liked to read himself, but books were limited at the Bar L. Perhaps Jake Underwood had some or could order some. That might make a good Christmas gift fo
r Isabella. That and yarn. He smiled to himself.

  His mind had wandered far from the trail as he slouched in the saddle and let the cow pony pick its way home. A crackling in the brush to the side of the wagon road jerked him back to the present. His horse snorted and high-stepped, tugging at the reins.

  “Easy, boy.” Edwin sat straighter in the saddle and looked around. The crescent moon and stars overhead gave the surrounding landscape a murky sheen. Edwin stroked his horse’s neck. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Probably some nighttime critter in the brush.

  The sound of breaking branches was louder this time, and Edwin’s heart pounded. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. That critter was bigger than a porcupine or a fox. A fetid smell hit him, and the horse whinnied and pulled against his restraining hand on the leathers.

  “Okay, boy, I’m with you.” As soon as he slacked the reins, the gelding bunched his hindquarters and sprang forward. Edwin let him run, keeping only a light touch on the horse’s mouth through the reins, to let him know this wasn’t a complete runaway.

  He looked back, but could see nothing on the starlit ribbon of road. Even so, he was sure of what was back there. He’d heard that up close, a bear stank like rotten flesh. That came from their scavenging habits, he supposed. Sometimes a grizzly would take down an animal, eat part of it, and hide the rest so he could come back to it when he was hungry again.

  The horse snorted and put his head down. Instead of slowing down, the gelding only wanted to pick up speed. Edwin let him barrel along toward the ranch.

  When they reached the corral, the horse was trembling and sweating heavily, with ridges of foam around the edges of the saddle pad. Edwin hauled off the saddle and grabbed a rag and a brush from inside the barn. He rubbed down the gelding, then led him at a walk around the barnyard.

  Bronc Adams sauntered out of the bunkhouse. “Hey, Ed. Have a nice evening?”

  “Tolerable,” Edwin said, not pausing in his pacing with the horse.

  “That pony’s pretty hot. Did you run all the way from town?”

  “Halfway,” Edwin admitted. “Heard something in the woods that spooked him. And smelled it. I’m pretty sure it was a bear.”

  Bronc flashed his gap-toothed smile. “Sounds about right. Been a lot of sightings lately. Might be more than one.”

  “I’ll be glad when they hole up for winter.” Edwin paused and felt the horse’s flank. “Guess you’re all right now, boy.” He walked over to the corral gate and opened it just wide enough for the horse to squeeze through without letting the other mounts out. Once the horse was confined, he removed the bridle, latched the gate, and turned back toward the bunkhouse.

  ###

  For once, Edwin was on time Friday night. When she answered the door, he glanced around to make sure no one was watching and leaned down to kiss her.

  “I missed you,” Isabella murmured, feeling very daring.

  Edwin put his arms around her. “Same here. You all ready for Sunday?”

  “I think so. The reverend is supposed to arrive tomorrow.” There wasn’t much Isabella could do to prepare for the wedding. She had washed her entire but meager wardrobe and pressed her best dress with a borrowed flatiron. Tomorrow she would heat lots of water again, so that she could bathe thoroughly and wash her long hair.

  “I’ll be here on Sunday,” Edwin assured her. “Tom let me go in and measure the windows for you. There’s one curtain already, in the front room. He said he’ll leave that for us. But the other two windows don’t have anything.”

  “Thank you!” Isabella accepted the scrap of paper he had jotted the figures on. She had asked about curtains—a newlywed couple simply had to have them. She was a smidgen surprised that Edwin had remembered.

  “If you want to buy some material, I can give you a little money.”

  “Do you mind? I’ve already picked out something at Underwood’s. I can get enough for the panels and thread to match for less than a dollar.”

  “Sure.” Edwin reached in his pocket. “What about something to hang ’em from?”

  “There aren’t any rods?”

  He shrugged. “I could make some. But I reckon Jake would have them, or at least some brackets to hold ’em up.” He placed two quarters and a silver dollar in her hand. “Think that’s enough?”

  “It’s plenty. Thank you.” She loved the sweet, contented look in his eyes as he smiled down at her.

  “If there’s any left, you might want to think about what we’ll want for foodstuffs. Tom says he’ll leave some bits because he’s going to travel light, but I don’t think he’s much of a cook. He usually ate breakfast and supper in the bunkhouse with us.”

  “Well, I shan’t be eating in the bunkhouse,” Isabella said, appalled at the very idea.

  “Wouldn’t expect you to. So … whatever you think. I can speak to Jake. I’m sure he’ll let you put it on account, and I’ll pay it next time I’m in town.”

  “Oh, I don’t like to do that.” Back in Merville, charging things on credit was considered vulgar.

  “It’s all right,” Edwin said. “It’s not like I don’t have the money. Jake knows I’ll pay him.”

  “A-All right.” She knew she wouldn’t be able to purchase much that way. Her conscience wouldn’t allow it. But perhaps she could make a list for Mr. Underwood to fill and not pick up the order until Edwin was there to pay for it.

  “Are you ready to go?” he asked.

  “Yes. Just let me get my coat.”

  “It’s windy tonight,” Edwin said. “Cuts right through you. You might want to cover your head.”

  “You must have frozen riding in here from the ranch,” Isabella said in dismay.

  He shrugged. “It’s worth it.”

  She draped her shawl over her head and tied the ends loosely about her neck. “That should do it.”

  Edwin seemed to have doubts. “You’ll need something snug this winter.”

  “I only brought one hat, and it’s not very warm. I thought I might knit one.”

  He nodded and put on his own felt hat and gloves. “Mrs. Johnston.”

  She smiled and took his arm for the stroll down to the Eatery.

  He was absolutely right; the wind tore at them every step of the way.

  “Do you really have to go all the way home in this gale?” It was the howling type of wind that set fishermen’s wives on edge.

  “I’ll be all right.”

  Fewer diners had come out this cold evening. Sophia Webster was dining with her fiancé, Matthew Thomas, who owned the fledging newspaper. Sophia smiled and nodded when they came in. Isabella supposed that most of the mail-order brides, now married, were snug at home with their new husbands.

  Since Henrietta Myrick had begun cooking at the restaurant, the fare was so improved that the Eatery was gaining a reputation, not just as an acceptable place to eat, but as a pleasurable dining experience. Tonight’s special was the roast beef plate, and Isabella and Edwin both ordered it.

  “This is delicious,” Isabella said after her first bite.

  “Almost as good as my mother’s,” Edwin agreed.

  When they left the Eatery and headed back toward the boardinghouse, the wind still howled, but it was at their backs now and pushed them along the boardwalk.

  One other courting couple was in the common room, and they invited Isabella and Edwin to join them for coffee. They soon began a discussion of wedding plans, which went on for half an hour. Finally Edwin pushed back his chair.

  “Guess I’d better hit the trail if I want to be ready to work tomorrow.”

  Isabella wanted to coax him to stay. She was finally beginning to feel comfortable with him. But she knew it was best for him to get back to the Bar L. and get a good night’s rest.

  She walked him to the entry, where Edwin put on his coat, hat, and gloves.

  “Guess I’ll see you Sunday,” he said wistfully.

  He hesitated, and Isabella’s heart beat rapidly. He leane
d toward her, and their lips met, sending a jolt through Isabella from head to toe. She was looking forward to being married again. This man was not as boisterous as her Henry had been. He seemed a bit less aggressive, less opinionated, but she didn’t consider that a bad thing. It should be easy to get along with Edwin. He didn’t seem the type of man who wanted to argue over small points of disagreement. And his kisses—well, that would be an extra benefit, because Edwin’s kisses made her head whirl.

  He stepped back smiling. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” Isabella whispered. She stood in the doorway and watched him go to his horse and mount. He turned in the saddle and waved before riding off into the moonlight. With a contented sigh, Isabella closed the door.

  Two days.

  ###

  “Now’s as good a time as any,” Mr. Leman said to the group of ranch hands gathered near the corral fence on Saturday morning.

  “We should have done it yesterday, before Tom left,” Bronc Adams said.

  “Maybe so,” Mr. Leman replied, “but we didn’t know then that the grizzly had made another raid. I told Bob Jenkins we’d meet his men up at the waterfall. We can split up from there, so we’ll know we’re not duplicating efforts.”

  “Huh?” said Bronc.

  Edwin fought back a smile. “He means so’s we don’t all take the same trails. The bear killed a calf on the Jenkins ranch a couple of weeks back. Some men from their outfit tried to track him, and they think he might be roaming in the high country above the falls.”

  Ben and Hobie, two of the other ranch hands, untied their saddled horses from the corral fence.

  “Sounds as good as any place to start,” Ben said.

  Mr. Leman nodded. “Let’s ride.”

  They all mounted and rode out toward the falls.

  Chapter Six

  The men from the Bar L met up with the party from Jenkins’s outfit where the stream poured down over the small waterfall and gushed on through a deep, boulder-strewn ravine. The white water foamed over the rocks on its quest for lower ground. Mr. Leman and Mr. Jenkins sat on their horses a few yards away, discussing strategy.