[2015] Western Love

by Christian Michael

  Suppose I were to find him and tell him not to? Suppose I were to plant in his mind the idea that he should make the decision himself? Suppose he were to decide he wanted to marry me and not her?

  The thoughts were coming to her so quickly, June hardly knew which thoughts were feasible and which ones she only wished would come true. She tried to shake the entire idea out of her mind, but as soon as she closed her eyes once more, they came rushing back. The longer she sat on that train, the more she realized she couldn’t go through with this marriage.

  “Excuse me, sir!”

  June motioned for the ticket master to come over to her, and felt embarrassed at the way he looked at her as he made his way across the train.

  “Yes?”

  “Could you tell me when the next stop is, and how long it will take me to get to California?”

  “Well, your ticket is supposed to take you all the way to the Dakota Territory, but if you were to get off in Minnesota, you could make a connection that will take you down to California by Saturday.”

  June quickly counted in her head how long that would be. Three days.

  She thanked the ticket master, and once again turned her attention out the window.

  He didn’t say when the wedding was, but I suppose it will take a little time to get set up, with the money involved and all. Three days. I have to get there in three days or less.

  Her heart thudded in her chest, but she also felt a tingle of excitement. June wasn’t ever allowed to make her own decisions growing up, but now it was going to be different.

  She was going to decide the man whom she was going to marry.

  And that man was headed for California.

  So she wouldn’t be far behind.

  Chapter 4 – Turning Around

  “I’m sorry, but the tickets to California are all sold out!”

  “There has to be something you can do for me, it’s an emergency… I have to get there as soon as possible! Maybe there’s another town where I can go?”

  The man looked genuinely irritated at June, but she didn’t care. She refused to give up now, she had already missed her connection for her next train, and if she didn’t find another train to take her out of this town, she was going to be stranded here.

  The man looked through his book, and at a chart he had on the wall, then shook his head.

  “Sacramento is the only active station right now, I’m afraid. We are having a hard time with the bandits out on the rails and have shut down the other lines until further notice. Why is it so important that you get to California right now anyway?”

  June tried to hide the tears she felt forming in her eyes. They were more tears of frustration than they were tears of sorrow, but she still didn’t want them to show.

  “The man I love is about to make a very big mistake, and I am going to stop him.” She was going to go further with her speech, but her voice caught in her throat, and she turned to look away.

  “Oh, well now don’t you worry your pretty little head there, Miss. Coal mining may have a dangerous reputation, but I’m sure your husband is going to be fine.”

  June shot a look back at the man, and shook her head. He thought she was upset about coal mining? The audacity! She once again tried to speak up, but her voice caught and she fell into a fit of coughs.

  “I’m sorry, but you misunderstand. This man is going to go marry a woman he does not love, because it has been arranged for him to do so. The wedding is going to take place the beginning of the week or maybe even as soon as Saturday, and I have to get there and stop it if at all possible.”

  There was a bemused look of surprise and humor in the man’s face when June finished telling him her tale, and he again flipped through the book.

  “Well, I am very sorry to hear of your plight, but as I said, there isn’t another opening for you to ride for the next several days. You can either hop on the stage and see how far you can get or-“

  “The lady can ride with us.”

  A gruff voice interrupted the two of them, and June turned around in surprise. There, off to the left a little way, was a small band of miners, all dressed and dirty as though they came straight out of a mine shaft. The man looked over the miners and shook his head at them, then he turned his attention back to June.

  “You don’t want to ride with a bunch of miners, Miss, that’s a rough crowd, and certainly no place for a lady to be.”

  The miner eyed the man suspiciously, then removed his hat and made a sweeping bow right there on the platform.

  “My lady, I have heard of the plight you find yourself in, and if you can humble yourself and travel with a few miners for the way, you will find yourself in the company of your lover in just a couple of days.”

  June laughed at the elaborate show, and pulled out her pocketbook.

  “I don’t mind traveling with you at all, in fact, I think you are more of a gentleman than most of the people around here.”

  She gave another look to the man behind the glass, and he rolled his eyes.

  “I would like to pay you for your troubles. What will you take for a passage to California?”

  The miner shook his head and held up his hand.

  “There’s no price on kindness, and the fact you did not judge us by our occupation or our looks is enough payment for us. You can ride up in the front of the car with me and Billy there. It’s considerably more quiet and a wee bit cleaner.”

  Billy tipped his hat to June, and she smiled in return.

  “I can’t thank you enough for your kindness. Would you mind telling me what your name is? Mine is June.”

  “Andrew Phillips”

  The minor made another bow and held out his arm to June. She placed her small, clean hand on his broad, dirty sleeve, and picked up her parcel. She didn’t turn to see the look on the other ticket man’s face as she walked away, though she was certain he wasn’t approving of her.

  She didn’t care. June didn’t believe that kindness had to come from the hands of a well-dressed man, or that any amount of money was going to separate her from the other people on the planet. The fact of the matter was that she needed a ride to California as soon as possible, and she felt better knowing she was in the hands of miners than a bunch of rich snobs that would panic at the thought of a robbery.

  June settled into the front seat of the train, bemused at the smudges that were all over the ceiling and the backs of the seats in the coach. She pulled her parcel onto her lap and sighed with contentment.

  I am going to have quite the tale to tell you when we’re finally together.

  She thought as the train pulled out of the station.

  Chapter 5 – Dust on the Trail

  Riding with the miners was loud and uncomfortable.

  June tried to participate in the conversation as much as she could, but she came from a different world than they did, and neither of them could relate to the other. The miners spoke of dirt and struggle, and all of the dangers of the underground world.

  To June, it sounded like a mysterious and thrilling life, one that she would like to see, but never take part in. The miners crowded around her and asked her questions of the life she lived. Whether she had maids and butlers, and what she did for work. It was hard for them to imagine a life such as hers. One in which the servants were the ones who did the work and she was the one that enjoyed the time off.

  “It really gets rather boring. When you want to go out and help the servants work in the garden, or when you want to just make a sandwich for yourself. Even getting dressed yourself can be a bit of a challenge some days. I wouldn’t mind a life where I did most of the things myself.”

  June tried to brush off of their inquiries as though it wasn’t a big deal, but they were very enthralled with the idea. One of the miners was telling everyone how his wife and daughter both had to work in the town’s general store to make enough money to live on, and the other miners were saying much the same thing.

  “If I were to get marri
ed, I wouldn’t want my wife to work a single day in her life. I mine enough coal out of the ground I know I could make her comfortable for all of her days.”

  Andrew thumped his fist on the back of the chair as he spoke, and June jumped. She wasn’t used to such enthusiasm or passion in people. The crowd she was a part of was a crowd that had to keep their emotions under wraps, no matter what was going on.

  “Trust me, it really isn’t anything that you would want. I know it sounds like it would be a lot of fun when you don’t have it, but I would trade my life for yours in an instant.”

  “That’s easy to say when you don’t have to work for it. You live in a world where money is no problem, I live in a world where money is everything. Have you ever needed to go to the doctor and not had the money to do it? Have you ever been given the prescription for medication that you don’t have the money to get?”

  One of the miners from the back of the train was making his way to the front as he spoke, and June felt very uncomfortable. She didn’t know how to respond, because the fact of the matter was that she never had been in any of those situations. If there was anything that she ever needed, it was there.

  “I know what it’s like to want!”

  The words were out of her mouth before she even realized what was happening, and she regretted saying them. All the men in the car stopped their chatter and looked at her in surprise. Nobody expected such a small girl with no problems to have that kind of a voice, or the courage to use it with a gruff miner such as this.

  “What have you ever wanted?”

  The miner spoke with a sneer, and all the other men in the car chuckled. June could feel her cheeks burning, but she wasn’t going to back down now. She didn’t care if this was a challenge, or if the man was going to make fun of her answer. She knew what it was like to want, and while that may not be the same was what they wanted, it was want nonetheless.

  “I want love. I want to know what it is like to fall in love with someone who loves you in return, and someone who would risk everything to be with you. I have spent my life with the whole world paid for and handed to me, I don’t know what it means to actually be in a real relationship with anyone, or have anyone want to be in a real relationship with me.”

  There was silence in the car, and the miners murmured amongst themselves. Finally, one miner spoke up.

  “I wouldn’t trade my relationship with my Susan for any amount of money. Sure, she has to work and I have to be away from her for some months at a time, but there is still that love that I wouldn’t trade for all the world.”

  All of the other miners agreed, and June could see that the gruff miner was backing down. She tucked her skirts in around her legs and turned to face the wall that was in front of her. All she could think about now was the fact she wanted to be with Jacob, and no amount of money could make that happen.

  She wondered if this was what it was like for these men. If there were things in life that they really wanted and needed but didn’t have the money to buy it. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Andrew, but he looked absorbed in conversation with the man behind him. She wondered if there were things in Andrew’s life that he couldn’t have, simply because he didn’t have the money.

  That man is one of the kindest men I have ever met. He is the only one that would help me in the time I needed it most, without any money at all. In fact, he didn’t even want to take the money I had to offer him.

  I don’t care what any of these men think, they are some of the richest people I have ever met.

  Chapter 6 – California Country

  It was early in the morning when the train finally arrived in California. June felt a twinge in her chest of both excitement and nerves. She was so ready to burst in and profess her undying love to Jacob, but at the same time she didn’t know what she was going to say.

  She dreamed of running into him and having him embrace her, telling her that he felt the exact same way she did without her ever having to say a word, but she knew that wasn’t likely to happen.

  What are you going to do if you run into his bride to be? What are you going to tell her? Or worse, what if you run into her family?

  “Oh stop it, there are tons of people in this town, there’s no way you are going to run into the family of the bride.”

  June felt that speaking out loud would help her, and she was right to an extent. Hearing someone say out loud that she was going to be ok was enough to make her feel as though she really was going to be ok, and she felt invigorated.

  I guess now’s the time to get down to it, Jacob isn’t going to be looking for you, and that wedding is only getting closer. You have to find him, and convince him that you are the one for him.

  June hoped it wouldn’t be too hard to convince Jacob of the fact he should marry her and not the girl he was intending to marry. After all, he already said how he was only marrying her for the sake of it, so she didn’t think it would be hard if she gave him another choice.

  She stopped at the base of a general store, and looked up and down the street. June wasn’t sure where to even begin her search, with this town being so big and her not knowing anyone in it.

  “All I can do is try. The general store is the best place to catch up on gossip, so surely they are going to know what weddings are happening.”

  June squared her shoulders and picked up her parcel, then walked up the stairs. She pulled open the door and walked inside, heading straight for the counter. She didn’t want to look around, or know h0w many other people were in the store. She was here on a mission, and she was going to accomplish that mission if it was the last thing she did.

  “Hello Sir? My name is June, and I was wondering if you happened to know of any large weddings taking place in the area today or in the near future? You see, I know a man that is going to get married around here shortly, by the name of Jacob Jones, and I really must speak with him before the wedding.”

  The old man behind the counter scratched his beard, rolling his eyes in the back of his head as he thought. Suddenly, it was as though the lights came on in his brain, and he nodded.

  “I do know of that wedding, and it’s a good thing you got here when you did. That wedding is going to take place at the North Chapel tomorrow afternoon, but I am afraid I don’t know where you can see him before the ceremony.”

  June’s heart thudded in her chest, and she smiled. She remained as calm as she could, and asked for directions to the chapel. The man scrawled down directions on a piece of paper, and handed it to her. She smiled again and thanked him, hiding how much jubilation she felt as she left the store.

  Once back on the street, June clutched the note to her chest. She knew she was on the right track, and she felt so incredibly close. All she needed to do now was find a hotel to stay in, and wait for the next day. June scanned the street, looking both up and down, trying to find a hotel that looked fancy.

  If she found a hotel that was more upscale, she thought she would be more likely to run into Jacob before the wedding. She finally decided to head in the direction of the chapel, and find a hotel on the way. The closer she was to the chapel, the easier it would be to find it in the morning.

  Perhaps I ought to look for the chapel before the streets get crowded. I can find some easy landmarks to follow, then when the wedding is closer I can find it easily.

  June was pleased with her idea, and proudly walked up the street heading for the chapel. Suddenly, she heard a voice calling out, and she turned around in surprise.

  Behind her an older woman was hurrying over to her, waiving her hands in the air and calling for her to stop. June was confused, she didn’t know anyone in this town, and she didn’t recognize the woman. She looked down to see if she had forgotten anything in the store, but seeing all of her things at her side, she decided to wait for the woman to catch up to her.

  “Can I help you?”

  She spoke before the woman reached her, and the woman stopped in the middle of the street, placing he
r hands on her hips.

  “Are you June?”

  June cautiously nodded, and started to reply.

  “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say!”

  The woman snapped at her, and June took a step back in surprise. She still didn’t recognize the woman, and she was curious as to how the woman knew who she was. There wasn’t anyone back home who had known where she had gone, and she certainly didn’t know anyone this far west.

  “Who are you?”

  She didn’t care if the woman wanted to listen to her or not, she deserved to know who this was confronting her.

  “My name is Mrs. Grendal, and I am the mother of the bride.”

  Chapter 7 – The Threat

  June’s heart sank and she thought she was going to be sick. She felt the color drain out of her face, and her heartrate pick up. She tried to speak once more, Mrs. Grendal put her hand up.

  “I said I don’t want to listen to you! You have no business being here, and you best go back to where you came from. My daughter is going to marry Jacob tomorrow, and nobody… I mean nobody… is going to ruin this. I have spent too much time setting this whole thing up for some stranger to come in and ruin it all.”

  June felt humiliated, and furious. She wasn’t going to stand here and be scolded by a woman she didn’t know, let alone a woman that only cared about money. She loved Jacob, and she hoped he felt the same about her. Nobody was going to keep her from telling him how she felt, not even the mother of the bride.

  “I can go where I please, and I am going to talk to Jacob. If your daughter loved him, and he felt the same about her, I wouldn’t say a word, but I know that is not the case, and I am going to say my piece!”

  Mrs. Grendal’s face changed to a scarlet red, and she formed her lips into a tight smile. She made her way forward, walking towards June with quick small steps, and June fought the urge to run. She held her ground, and even stood tall as Mrs. Grendal leaned in towards her, so no one on the street would be able to hear what she said.