by Sarah Banks
Mail Order Anna
Brides of Sweet Creek, Book 1
By Sarah Banks
Copyright © 2014 Sarah Banks
All Rights Reserved
Chapter One
Anna sat on the newly built train station bench, back straight, head held high, her hands folded tightly in her lap, trying desperately not to show anyone how truly terrified she was. She had left everything she had ever known back east to marry a man out west she had never even met.
She was thankful her bonnet shadowed her eyes as she watched the townsfolk of Sweet Creek go about their day. In the advertisement for the Sweet Creek Mail Order Brides Agency she had read that there were ten men for every woman. Her eyes scanned the entire main street as she had for the past fifteen minutes. There were a lot of men, but she had yet to see a single woman. All of the men certainly seemed to notice her.
As inconspicuously as she could Anna studied each man, mentally comparing him to the picture she had received in the mail a few weeks ago. The picture was now tucked away inside her Bible packed in the valise sitting at her feet. Her valise, a hand-me-down from her cousin Tara, contained all of her worldly possessions: two dresses that were more suitable as rags, one nightgown, a few underthings and toiletries, a small amount of money in a string purse, a new blank notebook, two pencils, and her Bible, with her future husband’s picture as a place marker.
She didn’t need to pull the picture out of her bag to remember what he looked like. She had looked at the picture so frequently over the past few weeks that the edges of the picture were worn but his likeness was etched in her memory. And she didn’t see him anywhere. He was supposed to have met her train. But the train had arrived nearly twenty minutes ago and was already preparing to leave town for its next scheduled stop.
Anna didn’t know what she would do if Jack didn’t arrive as promised. She had enough money for one, maybe two nights in a hotel. Certainly not enough for a return train ticket all the way to Chicago, not that she would go home again anyway even if she could. There was nothing there for her anymore.
Anna’s parents had passed away when she was seven. She had gone to live with her grandfather. Her father’s father was a stern, unaffectionate man, nothing like her own father had been. She missed her parents so much. She thought about them every day and longed to be part of a family again. But she had been grateful for the roof over her head, food in her belly and a soft pillow to lay her head each night even if she was treated more like a servant than a granddaughter. One of the happiest days of her life was when her second cousin Tara, a girl she had never met, had come to live with them when Anna was almost seventeen. Tara was two years older and they got along famously, like sisters. And despite an unloving grandfather, Anna felt like she was part of a family again, for the first time in ten years. But after only a year, their grandfather had arranged a marriage for Tara and it wasn’t long before Anna was all alone again.
One night, two months after her cousin had left to begin her new life as a banker’s wife, Anna’s grandfather informed her after dinner that she was to live with Tara as part of her staff and she wasn’t to trouble him any further. She was to pack a bag and be ready to leave first thing in the morning. Anna was so happy that she hugged her frail grandfather as hard as she dared and ran upstairs to pack her bag. Had she imagined the small smile curling her grandfather’s lips? She had never seen him smile before.
The cousins were happily reunited and Anna was treated as more of a companion to Tara than an actual servant although Anna helped in any way that she could to earn her keep. The small household did have some servants but Anna helped with the household budget, menu planning, shopping, cooking and cleaning. She truly enjoyed her part in running the household. And she still had plenty of free time to share tea with her cousin every afternoon and to sew or read in the evenings.
Things were mostly the same as before, except when Tara’s husband Thomas was at home, which thankfully wasn’t often. He worked long hours at a bank establishing his place in the business. He was rarely home other than early mornings and late evenings.
Thomas was a stern man but in a different way from her grandfather. The relationship between Tara and her husband wasn’t one that Anna had imagined a married couple would have, not like the love and respect her parents had shared. If it wasn’t for her parents, she would believe love like that only existed in the books she read.
Thomas mostly ignored Anna, speaking to her very little but she had caught him looking at her once or twice in the evenings with a look on his face that she couldn’t quite identify.
Although happy to be reunited with her cousin, Anna quickly realized that it wouldn’t be as before. It wasn’t long before her cousin’s husband started to show an interest in her. Despite her efforts to avoid him unless Tara was present, Thomas repeated his attempts to find her alone.
Anna didn’t know what to do. As close as she and Tara were, she didn’t feel that she could tell her cousin. And even though she loved her grandfather as the dutiful granddaughter, she didn’t want to return to his unhappy home. But what other choices did she really have? She had no money and nowhere else to go. That was when she remembered the advertisements, the answer to her prayers.
Several mornings earlier, she had seen an advertisement for Sweet Creek Mail Order Brides Agency advertising for brides to travel west. It had taken up a small portion of the newspaper, buried several pages deep she almost hadn’t noticed it. There had been a large paragraph describing the intent of the agency and its need for brides. Down below were a couple dozen ads placed by the prospective grooms, a few short sentences each describing who they were and what they were seeking in a bride.
Anna carefully read each ad with interest. She wondered what the lives of the men were like who placed these ads as well as the women who answered them. It must be such an adventure to travel out west, marry a stranger and share your lives together. The very idea sparked Anna’s imagination much like the adventure books she liked to read.
When she originally found the notices, she had no intention of answering such an ad. At the time, there hadn’t been the need. She read it more as entertainment while eating breakfast, careful not to wrinkle the newspaper or spill a drop of coffee or any toast crumbs on it before presenting it to Thomas with his breakfast.
One night Thomas had caught Anna just outside her room as she returned from the kitchen with a small tray of her nightly tea with cream and sugar. He had startled her so she had almost dropped the entire tray before recovering, the cup and saucer rattling noisily and tea sloshing over the sides of the cup.
Anna had never seen Thomas the way he had presented himself to her that night. He wasn’t wearing his tie or jacket and his shirt was unbuttoned several buttons. She averted her eyes from his exposed skin.
Her bedroom was located on the lower level of the townhouse, tucked in the corner past the kitchen. She was trapped. He slowly walked toward her, almost as if he was a big cat stalking her. His hair was mussed, eyes glassy and dark, his lips curled up in a sensual way that she didn’t quite understand. She felt him appraise her in a way that he should never look at her.
Footsteps sounded at the top of the stairs accompanied by low voices and Anna wanted to weep with happiness at Thomas’s retreat and she didn’t know why. He hadn’t actually said or did anything inappropriate…but if the two servants hadn’t been approaching, what would have happened? Anna never wanted to find out. But she would because he came the next night and then the next and the next.
The second night Thomas had tapped softly on her door several minutes before giving up. The following morning she l
eft her room early after a sleepless night. She skipped breakfast and found a quiet place to read the paper. She skipped several pages ahead to where ads for mail order brides were located. She carefully read each ad, her lips slowly mouthing each word as she considered each man, the life he led and how she would fit into it.
She knew at once which ad she would respond to, the widowed twenty-six year old man who inquired for a kind, hard-working woman between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, to help raise his daughter and run the home and all that it entailed while he ran the farm.
Anna carefully removed the entire page, praying that Thomas wouldn’t notice the missing page, before returning the paper to his breakfast tray. She tucked the ad into her apron pocket until she could lock herself in her room that night and pen her response.
That evening she wrote several drafts of a response to his ad before deciding on the very first one, the simplest and most direct letter. She addressed the letter to the Sweet Creek Mail Order Brides Agency in care of Jack Tremaine, the name of her prospective groom.
Dear Mr. Tremaine,
My name is Anna Ryan. I am nineteen years old. I have never been married. I am of average height and weight, my hair is long and dark blonde and I have dark brown eyes. My parents passed when I was seven years of age. I have helped run the homes of both my grandfather and my cousin. I have been told I’m an excellent cook. People seem to especially like my peach pie. I’m a hard-worker and enjoy a clean home and I like children very much. I also like to read and sew. Please write back as soon as possible if you feel that I’m a suitable candidate for your wife.
Sincerely,
Anna Ryan
She enclosed a picture of herself and sent off the envelope the very next day. She wondered how long it would take to receive a reply.
It was an agonizing few weeks before she heard back. After only a week she started going to the post office every day even though she knew it was too early to expect a response.
Thomas was becoming more and more brazen. The third night he spoke to her softly through the door for several minutes before retreating, whispering words she longed to forget. She hadn’t answered, pretending to be asleep. The fourth night he spoke to her again. Anna covered her ears to drown out his voice but could still hear when his tone changed from cajoling to anger. She cried silent tears as she stared at the door, her ears still covered. She stared petrified at the door as the knob started to turn and turn, but it didn’t open because she had locked it after he approached her the first night, when she had never locked it before. She prayed for Mr. Tremaine to send a letter of acceptance and a train ticket as soon as possible.
The fifth night Thomas had a key but Anna was one step ahead of him. She had barricaded the door after he had tried the knob the previous night and she would continue to do so until she could leave. Anna made sure she was never alone during the day. She tried to be with her cousin as often as possible or at least other servants. The servants seemed to be aware of the situation as they began to cast her sympathetic glances every morning and evening but it wasn’t talked about, at least to her.
She avoided Thomas as much as possible but was all too aware of his gaze on her whenever they were in the same room and the small smirk he wore, as if he was confident that he would win this little game he was playing. Tara didn’t notice her husband’s unusual behavior, blinded by the blissful news of her pregnancy and preparations for the baby. Anna tried to be happy for her cousin, forcing herself to smile and share her cousin’s enthusiasm. All the while continuing to lock and barricade the door to her bedroom each night.
After nearly two weeks of Thomas coming to her door each evening, she finally received a reprieve. He had been promoted at the bank and was gone even more than before. Tara now frequently accompanied him to dinner parties and such many evenings and would continue to until her condition no longer allowed it. But Anna was still always anxious and on edge, because she knew it was just a matter of time before he started up again and she didn’t want him to catch her unawares.
It had been weeks since she had sent the letter and Anna still hadn’t received a reply. She had just about given up hope. She would have to move back to her grandfather’s house, that is, if he would allow it. If she didn’t receive a response soon, she was out of options. Staying within Thomas’s reach for much longer was out of the question. She had been unhappy in her grandfather’s house but at least she had always been safe.
When the letter from Mr. Tremaine finally arrived with his acceptance, a train ticket and a small amount of money for incidentals, Anna had cried tears of both happiness and relief, right there in the post office. That night she packed her meager belongings and wrote a note for Tara who was out late again attending another dinner party. Anna would miss her cousin terribly and realized she would probably never see her again or her child. She cried herself to sleep and slept fitfully until it was time to leave for the train first thing in the morning.
Anna turned her head as the train roared to life once again, pulling her from her thoughts. A few minutes later she watched the train slowly begin to pull away from the station, slowly gaining speed. She continued to watch as it traveled further and further down the tracks, until she couldn’t see it anymore, only the fading gray plume it left in its wake. She faced forward once again and rubbed the crook in her neck. There was still no sign of her intended. Even the streets had started to empty out, as if the entire sleepy town revolved around the train.
The town of Sweet Creek was so completely different from the outskirts of Chicago where Anna had lived her entire life. They were as different as night and day but Anna couldn’t help but fall in love with the countryside as the train took her deeper and deeper into the wilds of Colorado.
Anna wondered how much longer she should wait for her bridegroom. She prayed he would come soon and that she had finally found a place where she belonged.
Anna watched as a young boy appeared in the distance, slowly sauntering up the main street toward the train station. It was the first child she had seen since arriving almost an hour ago, not counting a handful of barefaced cowboys, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old, that had gawked at her earlier. Only when the approaching child was a few feet away did Anna realize the boy was actually a girl.
The girl stopped a dozen feet from Anna, cocked out her hip and asked, “You Anna?”
The girl was dressed in boy’s clothing from head to toe. A small, dirty cowboy hat, two sizes too big, sat atop her head. She wore a faded blue button-up shirt, dusty denim jeans and cowboy boots caked with several layers of dirt and mud. She was filthy, not just her hat, clothes and boots, but every part of her exposed skin, her face, her ears, the back of her neck and especially her hands. The child looked as if she had never had a bath. Anna couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows.
“Yes I am,” Anna replied. “And who might you be?”
“Harry!” The girl responded, her tone indicating Anna should have somehow already known the answer to that question.
It took a moment for Anna to realize that this was her missing groom’s daughter. In the envelope she received with the train ticket and money, there had been a short note.
Dear Miss Ryan,
My daughter Harriet and I look forward to meeting you.
Jack Tremaine
He had also included a picture of himself but there hadn’t been one of Harriet. He also hadn’t referred to her as Harry or indicated her age. Anna wondered if Jack referred to his daughter as Harry? How odd that she preferred to go by a boy’s name.
Anna guessed Harriet to be somewhere between the ages of five and seven. It was difficult to tell. She was certainly petite.
“Oh Harriet,” Anna said with a smile, standing and holding out her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
Harriet scrunched her nose. “Nobody calls me Harriet,” she informed Anna. “Well, except when I’m in trouble.”
“So hardly ever then?” Anna teased
.
Harriet blushed underneath her dirty tan and took Anna’s hand, shaking it quickly.
Anna squinted into the distance, scanning the direction Harriet had come from but didn’t see anyone else. “Where’s your father?” She asked, trying to keep the worry from her voice.
Harriet immediately burst into a smile. “We were driving into town and Mr. Smith, he’s one of our neighbors, his wagon was stuck in the mud from last night’s storm, hogging up the whole road. Papa helped him get his wagon unstuck but not before he fell in the mud,” Harriet explained with a giggle, clutching her stomach. “I never laughed so hard in my entire life! My belly still hurts!”
Anna hid a small smile behind her hand.
“He called me Harriet then,” she solemnly remembered. “First time in a while, a week at least. He said to go on and get you. He had to go home to wash up and change clothes. We’re supposed to wait for him at the church.”
Anna let out a sigh of relief. Well, at least he hadn’t had a change of heart. She picked up her bag and followed Harriet to the church on the opposite side of town. She had seen the plain white cross near the treetops from her seat at the train station. It was only a short walk just around the bend.
When the church came into view it was bigger than she imagined it would be for such a small, upcoming town. It was white-washed, a dozen steps leading up to a set of double doors that had been propped open to allow fresh air and sunshine into its depths.
Harriet immediately ran up to a trio of young boys as dirty as she. They were standing in the churchyard watching Anna and Harriet curiously as they approached. Harriet ran up to one, tagged him and quickly ran away laughing, the three boys in hot pursuit. Anna smiled and climbed the stairs, walking into the dim church. It took her eyes a moment to adjust. The church was empty.
She set her valise on the floor against the back wall, pulled back her bonnet and slowly walked up the aisle. The interior walls were whitewashed as well and each side had four tall windows which were currently shuttered. There were several rows of wooden pews, stained dark to match the floor, lining the aisle leading to the front where there was an elevated stage and a simple cross adorning the wall. Anna smiled. The interior was quite pretty, a peaceful sanctuary.