Belle of the Ball: A Historic Western Time Travel Romance (An Oregon Trail Time Travel Romance Book 2)

by Susan Leigh Carlton

  “We’ll have to compare notes while you’re here,” Emma said.

  “Is Mr. Reeves here?” Bart looked around.

  “Mr. Reeves is my father. I have no husband.”

  Letty’s eyes always twinkled when she smiled. She had seen the pleased look cross his face.

  “Letty, will you, Jack and Anna join us for lunch,” Bart asked.

  “Go ahead and enjoy yourself, Letty. I’ll take care of Carrie,” Anna told her.

  “Nonsense,” Bart responded. “Bring her along. She won’t be a problem.”

  “That’s very kind of you, Bart. It would be nice to eat someone else’s cooking for a change.”

  Anna felt a pang of guilt. She didn’t know how to cook anything other than bacon and eggs. They’d had a housekeeper for as long as she could remember. “Go ahead, Carrie and I’ll have fun and she’ll be taking a nap right after I fix her lunch.”

  “Let me talk to Jack,” Letty said. She motioned for Anna to come with her.

  “Don’t you realize you’re the reason he asked us to lunch?” she asked after they had moved away from the group.

  “Me? That’s silly. You apparently did something nice for him and he wants to thank you for it.”

  “All right, I’ll tell them we can’t go and thank them for the invitation,” Letty said. “Just think of the postage you could save him.”

  “Letty Owens, you’re trying to play matchmaker.”

  “It’s my second calling in life,” Letty admitted. “I’m getting pretty good at it. Only problem, I don’t have any customers right now. At least I didn’t until the Lord sent you to us. Maybe this is the reason.”

  “I don’t for one minute believe that.”

  “Why not? It’s not as far fetched as the story you told us.”

  “That story was the truth, or at least it’s as close to it as I can make it. You and Jack conjured up the angel, not me.”

  “Got a better explanation?” Letty challenged.

  “No, unfortunately, I don’t.” Anna answered. Her sad voice was soft and low.

  “Let’s find my husband and daughter and have lunch with these nice people.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  They were given one of the large tables in the hotel restaurant. “This is a treat for us, and we thank you in advance,” Jack said.

  “When did you send off your advertisement?” Letty asked Bart.

  “Yesterday. It was the first time I’ve been in town since I decided,” Bart said. “Emma and Brett helped with the writing since they’re both experienced in the area.”

  “How many ads did you answer, Emma?” asked Letty.

  “I answered three and received answers from all three. I corresponded with two of the three, but Brett was the only one I wrote more than one letter.”

  “It boggles my mind the courage it would take to do something like this,” Anna said.

  “It was difficult, but I wanted to be a wife and mother, and there were no eligible single men around. There were several widowers, but they were quite a bit older than I am.”

  “Bart was about to settle for Mrs. Crump,” Brett said.

  “Brett Williams, I will not have you talking about one of my friends that way, and I’m not talking about your brother,” Letty told him.

  “You’re right,” Brett said. “I apologize.”

  “How long are you going to be here?” Emma asked Anna.

  “I don’t know. I think I might talk to the school, I believe I could teach, and there doesn’t seem to be much else for women to do here.”

  “You’re right about that,” Letty said. “I know several that do laundry, and sew. There are a few of the successful miners that have housekeepers, but that’s about all.”

  “It’s a good thing we have Mrs. Crump,” Brett said, “or Emma would have high tailed it out of here back to South Carolina on the next train.”

  Anna didn’t initiate any conversation, lest she inadvertently let something slip about her past. She had come close several times, but recovered in time.

  “I don’t get into town very often,” Bart said as they walked back to the church, “but would you mind if I called on you?”

  “There’s no tell… telling how long I’m going to be here.”

  “You said you were going to inquire at the school about teaching,” he reminded her.

  “You’re going to be pretty busy answering all those letters you will be getting.”

  “I probably won’t get a single answer,” he said.

  “Surely there’s still a desperate girl somewhere for you.”

  “Thanks a lot,” he said.

  Carrie had fallen asleep on Jack’s shoulder on the way from the restaurant. “I’ll take her in and put her to bed, Jack.”

  “Thank you,” he said, relinquishing his load. She took the little girl, turned to the Williams brothers and said, “It was nice meeting all of you and thank you for lunch. Now, I’m going to get this little girl to her bed.”

  “It was our pleasure,” Brett said.

  “Anna, if you’re going to be here for a while I’d love to have you visit us at the ranch,” Emma said.

  “I’d like to do that, it would be interesting,” Anna replied, before turning back down the board sidewalk toward the parsonage.

  “She’s very quiet,” Bart said, after Anna left.

  “She’s had a lot of things happen,” Letty said, “but she’s a very nice girl.”

  “I thought so too,” Bart said, looking toward the door which had now closed behind Anna.

  Letty had a thoughtful look on her face.

  Chapter nine

  Here’s an Idea

  Flying W Ranch…

  “If I were you…,”

  “Well, you’re not me,” Bart interrupted, “so let it be.”

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t wait for answers from your ad. That was an uncommonly pretty girl at church. She’s not married, and seems really nice. What’s more, Letty likes her, and that carries a lot of weight with me.”

  “For your information, I asked if I could call on her and she didn’t answer the question. She said she didn’t know how long she would be here. I reminded her she had said something about talking to the school people about teaching.”

  “Bart, you had known her two hours and you already contradicted her, and asked if you could court her.”

  “I didn’t say anything about courting. I said call on her.”

  “Same thing. You have to let her get to know you.”

  “When did you get to know so much about women?”

  “I am older than you, and I am married too.”

  “The only reason you’re married is you found a desperate girl to marry you.”

  Brett drew his right arm back and hit Bart in the eye with a roundhouse right. “I told you before not to talk about my wife. I meant it. You insulted her. I will not tolerate it.” The last was said slowly with emphasis on each word.

  Bart’s voice was as cold as a Montana January day when he said, “You had better be armed if you ever hit me again. I will kill you, brother or not.” He picked his hat off the ground, slapped it against his leg several times, and went into the barn. He saddled his horse and fastened a bedroll to the saddle and rode off toward the hills.

  When he didn’t show up for dinner, Emma asked where he was. “We had a disagreement, and he rode off toward the hills.”

  “What was the disagreement about?” When he didn’t answer, she repeated the question.

  “He insulted you,” Brett mumbled.

  “How? He didn’t say anything to me,” she said.

  “He said the onliest reason I’m married is because I found a desperate woman.”

  “Brett, I was desperate. I wanted to be a mother, and I was desperate enough to advertise for a husband.”

  “He’s got no call to say anything like that. I didn’t like it and I hit him.”

  “Oh dear God, you fought with your brother over something
he said, even though it was the truth?”

  “Wasn’t no fight,” Brett said. “I hit him and he went down. That’s it.”

  “Brett Williams, there will be no more fights with your brother over anything, do you understand? You two are closer than anyone I have ever seen in a family. Now fix it.”

  It was the first time he had ever seen her temper. She was flat out mad. And looked more beautiful than he had ever seen before. “I can’t fix it if he isn’t here.”

  “Then find him.”

  “He’ll be back when he cools off.”

  Three days later, there had been no sign of Bart. “Brett, I’m worried about Bart. It’s been three days.”

  “He’ll come back when he’s ready.”

  “That’s not good enough. Go look for your brother. What if his horse threw him or the Indians got him?”

  “The Lakotas won’t bother him. They’re quiet.”

  “Brett, I’m asking you as nicely as I can, go look for your brother.”

  “You sound like you’re sweet on him. Isn’t one Williams enough for you?”

  “That is a terrible thing to say and it’s uncalled for as well as unbecoming of you. It hurts. If you have any doubt why I’m here, or think no more of me, then maybe it would be best if I leave too.”

  “I apologize, and it was uncalled for. It won’t ever happen again. Please don’t even think about leaving. My life would be empty without you in it.

  “He’s probably holed up in a line shack somewhere.”

  “A line shack?”

  “We have a few places where we put up shacks with a bed and fireplace where the hands can stay overnight if circumstances come up that prevent them from returning here. They have beans and usually there is water close by. I’ve spent a few nights in them, and so has he. They’re far from comfortable, but they are shelter.”

  “I would be more comfortable knowing he’s safe.”

  “Okay, I’ll take one of the hands, and we’ll go looking for him at first light.”

  “That’s good. Thank you.”

  “Emma…?”

  “What do I have to do to make us okay?”

  “You just did. But don’t doubt me again. I’m where I want to be and am with the one I want to be with.”

  The next morning…

  “Where do you think he’ll be?” Press Chambers asked his boss.

  “If it were me, I’d want to be near a stream, and the nicest cabin is the one close to Red Rock Creek.”

  There was no sign of any recent visitors at the most likely cabin. By mid-afternoon, they had been to all four of the line camps with the only sign they saw was beans in one camp were missing. It was nearly dark when they returned to the house.

  “Honey, I’m sorry, we went to all of the camps and he wasn’t at any of them. There’s no way we’re going to pick up a trail this old.”

  “Now I’m really worried,” she said.

  “If it’s any consolation, we didn’t see any sign at all except missing beans and salt at one camp. If he was hurt, the horse would have come back to the barn. If the horse was hurt or dead, we’d have seen vultures. If…”

  “Don’t go there.”

  “We’ll go back out tomorrow morning.”

  After dinner, Emma was sitting in the living room knitting. Brett sat in his father’s big chair, a pensive look on his face. Suddenly, the look was gone. “I know where he is.”

  “You do? How?”

  “We’ve always been close. Mama used to say we didn’t need to talk because we knew what the other was thinking. He’s all right. If he were hurt, I’d know it.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I am. Wait until tomorrow,” he said confidently.

  The next morning…

  “I’ll be right with you,” Press said.

  “That’s all right. I know where I’m going. I’ll be back well before dark.”

  Chapter ten

  The Secret

  “I figured you’d be along sooner or later. What took you so long?”

  “Press and I went to all of the line camps yesterday. Then last night, it came to me. I remembered how we used to come out here convinced we were going to find the mother lode.

  “Bart, I had no right to be telling you how to go about your personal life. It’s just that mine has changed so much since Emma came into it; I wanted the same for you. I’m sorry I hit you.”

  “No, that’s one thing you were right in doing. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I’m sorry for my part in the whole thing.”

  “Does this mean you’re not going to shoot me?”

  “Not unless you hit me again,” Bart said with a grin.

  “Let’s go home. Emma’s been worried and I told her I’d be back by the middle of the afternoon. I can’t go back without you.”

  “I can’t go back yet,” Bart said.

  “Why not?”

  “I think I found it.”

  “Found what?”

  “When we were doing our prospecting thing, we went up to where the creek forked off.”

  “Yeah, so what?”

  “We took the main fork and didn’t find anything. Day before yesterday, I found some placer gold in the creek. I followed the other fork this time. I think I found it.”

  “The lode?”

  “It may not be the mother lode, but there’s a lot of it. Look at this.” He got his saddlebags and dumped one of them on the ground.

  Brett picked a nugget up and examined it. “It isn’t pyrite. What are you going to do now?”

  “You mean what are we going to do now. We’re going to see if we can buy up the land the other side of ours, and run some cattle up here. The other bag has just as much as this, and there’s probably a lot more lying around just waiting to be picked up.”

  “If you’re not going back with me, give me a note showing you’re alive and well, or I’ll be sleeping in the barn.”

  “I don’t have anything to write with,” Bart said.

  “I always was the one ready with what we needed.”

  “Yeah, but I found the gold.”

  “That you did, brother. How long are you going to stay out here?”

  “I am getting a bit hungry,” he said. “Probably another day. My saddlebags won’t hold any more.”

  “Take mine. All I have in them is this bag of chicken and biscuits from dinner last night. I’d better be getting back before Emma sends someone out looking for both of us.”

  “I’ll head back tomorrow evening. Brett, I don’t think we want to cash this in Helena.”

  “That leaves Bozeman or Cheyenne.”

  “Denver would be better. There’s a lot more gold around there than any other place I know,” Bart told him. “Why don’t you take Emma down there and let her shop, cash this in and while you’re gone, I’ll go to the land office and see about buying the rest of the land, or at the least file a claim.”

  “If you file on it, word’s going to get out.”

  “You’re right. I’ll see what I can do. Maybe I’ll even stop by the church and say hello to that girl.”

  “Anna,” Brett said. “Her name’s Anna.”

  “Yeah, that one. Get on back and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Be careful, I don’t want to have to saddle up another manhunt.”

  “Brett, thanks for coming after me.”

  “It wasn’t my idea. It was Emma’s. I asked her if she was getting sweet on you; she got madder than a mama bear with cubs.”

  The next day…

  “Did you tell her yet?” Bart asked after supper.

  “Tell me what?” Emma asked.

  Brett looked around to make sure Mrs. Crump wasn’t close by. “Before Mama and Papa died, Bart and I went prospecting, but we never found anything. After they passed, we were too busy with the ranch, and I guess we forgot about it. He found it three days ago.”

  “Found what?” she asked.

  “The gold. What we were looking
for.”

  “You’re not serious.”

  “As serious as I can be,” Bart said. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

  They followed him to his bedroom. Both pairs of saddlebags were on the bed. “Pick one up,” he said to Emma.

  “It’s heavy,” she said.

  “Gold’s heavy,” Brett told her.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  “You and Brett are going to Denver and cash it in, and I’m going to try to buy some more land.”

  “Can’t you cash it in here?”

  “We could, but we don’t want to start a gold rush,” Bart answered. “It’s much more common in Denver though. You can get a letter of credit from Wells Fargo, and while you’re there, you can buy yourself some new dresses and no one will be the wiser.”

  “You two are devious,” she said.

  “We’re also going to be very rich unless I miss my guess. Gold is a lot more profitable than cattle.”

  Two days later, Bart drove them to the depot in the carriage. His next stops were the bank and the land office.

  “What can I do for you, Mr. Williams?” Amos Hoskins, the land agent asked. He couldn’t tell the brothers apart so ‘Mister Williams’ was the easiest way around it.

  “We’re looking to add to our herd so we need some more land. Can we look at your map?”

  “Which plots are you interested in?”

  Bart picked up the pointer. “What would these three sections along the creek cost us?”

  The clerk looked at his journal. There hasn’t been any interest out there since your father asked about it several years ago. If I remember correctly, you and your brother have never filed on your own behalf. Why don’t you file on it?”

  “We’ve simply been too busy with the ranch. His wife could file also, right?”

  “That is correct. If you plant forty acres of trees over a ten-year time-frame, you can each get an additional section.”

  “Then we’ll file on these six sections. That takes us up to the Federal land. Mr. Haskins, if you can expedite this, we will be much obliged.”

  Haskins raised his eyebrow in question. “Can we keep this between us?” Bart asked and extended his hand.

  “Certainly, sir.” They shook hands and the fifty dollars was transferred from Bart’s hand to Haskins. It would take Haskins two months to earn fifty dollars.