Yankee Mail Order Bride

by Susan Leigh Carlton

  An idea…

  The next morning, he rode into town and directly to Western Union. He handed the clerk the message he had written out the evening before. “When an answer comes, would you have someone deliver it to me at Diablo Ranch,” he asked. “I’ll pay for it.”

  “Sure thing, Mr Moore. I’ll get it right out to you,” the clerk said.

  The following afternoon, a young man rode into the yard at the Diablo Ranch. He tied his horse and went to the door. It was answered by a large black woman. “Yessir?” she asked.

  “I have a telegram for Josiah Moore.”

  “He’s in back at the barn. Just go on around. Ask anyone. He’s the boss,” said Beulah.

  He found Josiah easily, handed him the envelope and asked, “Will there be a reply?”

  “Do you have paper?” Josiah asked.

  “Yes sir, I do.” He produced paper and pencil.

  Josiah scribbled a message that simply said, “Thank you. I will meet the train.” He gave the messenger $2.00 and thanked him.

  The next Monday…

  The next Monday, Josiah said, “Honey, I have to go into Cheyenne, would you like to go with me?”

  “I don’t feel well, Josiah, but thanks for asking,” Anna said, returning to the bedroom.

  Josiah hitched the horses to the large carriage and drove in, arriving in Cheyenne thirty minutes before the scheduled arrival of the train. He found it was running fifteen minutes late, so he settled down to wait, lost in his thoughts until he heard the steam whistle announcing the arrival of the train. He walked over to the platform and waited with the rest of those meeting people.

  The train came in with the usual puffs of black smoke flowing from the stack along with the incumbent cinders, clouds of steam, and other debris stirred up by the gusts of wind created. Watching the passengers, he didn’t see any ladies traveling alone. A man came up to him and said, “Pardon me, are you Josiah Moore?”

  “Yes I am,” Josiah said. “And you are?”

  “I am Caleb Taylor, Anna’s father, and this is my wife, Margaret.”

  Mrs Taylor had a worried look on her face. “Where is Anna? Is she all right?”

  “She’s at the ranch,” Josiah said. “She is all right physically, but emotionally, not so good.” He turned to Caleb Taylor. “If you’ll come point out your baggage, I’ll get it loaded into the carriage. Mrs Taylor, that’s my carriage over there. We’ll be right back.

  He and Caleb walked to the baggage area. He stopped on the way and faced Taylor, his hand resting on the Navy Colt revolver, holstered and tied to his right leg. “Mr Taylor, I say this with all respect due. I love your daughter as much as any man could. I know the circumstances that caused Anna to leave her home and come to Wyoming. If you say or do anything to cause her hurt or harm, I will shoot you on the spot. Do we understand each other, sir?”

  “Josiah, may I call you Josiah? I am ashamed of the type of father I had become all due to the pursuit of the dollar. I did not realize the hurt I was causing until she was gone. I’m not the same man,” Caleb Taylor said.

  “Sir, Anna showed me the letter from her mother, two weeks after she arrived here and we were married. It did not describe a contrite man. I repeat my previous statement. Do we understand each other? I am not normally a man of violence, but in this case I will make an exception.”

  Caleb said, “Josiah, I assure you, you have no cause for concern. Now, those are our cases there” and pointed to two large expensive looking trunks.

  “I’ll get the carriage and bring it here. It will be easier,” he said and turned toward the carriage.

  With the trunks loaded, he assisted Anna’s mother into the carriage. “If you don’t mind, could Mrs Taylor sit up here and I’ll explain as we go?” Caleb seated himself in the rear seat of the carriage and they headed for the Diablo.

  Josiah explained about Anna was about four months with child when she contracted appendicitis. He told them, “We have a brand new Catholic Hospital in Cheyenne, and I elected to drive her here, rather than take the time round trip it would take for the doctor to come to us. As it turned out, that was a fortunate choice since the doctor said the appendix was close to rupturing. During the emergency procedure, Anna lost the baby. She has healed completely and has been regularly checked by the surgeon and by my doctor. She blames herself for the baby’s loss. She’s not eating well, nor is she sleeping. She just sits. She no longer plays the piano and has even stopped reading Rebecca a bedtime story. That was a big thing for both of them prior to her illness. Mrs Taylor, I’m completely at a loss on what to do. Anna has even offered to leave as a way of saying she is sorry. That is the last thing I want. I already lost a wife to diphtheria and I just can’t lose Anna too.

  “Mrs Taylor, I understand you play the piano?”

  “Yes, I do. Do you have a piano?”

  “I bought one for Anna shortly after our marriage. She filled the house with music and was even teaching Rebecca the scales,” he said.

  “She always loved to play. She took lessons from an early age,” her mother said.

  “Rebecca will be three in less than a month and Anna would take her in her lap and show her the notes. What I was thinking, Anna doesn’t know you’re coming, and I know she’ll be in the bedroom. If you would, could you just start playing, one of her favorites. No one else in the house plays and I just know she will come out to see who is playing.”

  “That sounds like a good idea. I’ll be glad to,” she said.

  “Josiah, how far is your ranch?”

  “We’re about forty-five minutes from Cheyenne. We’ve actually been on our property for about ten minutes now.”

  “It sounds as if you have a large operation.” Caleb said.

  “I guess so,” Josiah said. “We have around twelve thousand acres now, and I’ve been thinking about adding on. We have a contract with the Army and have also been supplying a good part of Cheyenne’s needs. The ranch has been in our family for three generations. I inherited it after my parents were killed in a tornado.”

  “That must have been terrible for you,” Mrs Taylor said.

  “It was. I was out on the range with one of the herds when it hit. Totally destroyed the house. Caroline, she was my wife, and I rebuilt.” Just over the next hill you will see the main house.”

  When the big white building came into view, Mrs Taylor said, “It certainly looks large from here.”

  “It’s comfortable,” Josiah said with modesty.

  When they came into the yard, one of the ranch hands came out and said, “Need some help, boss?”

  “Yes, please, Cale. If a couple of you would put the trunks inside the parlor, and put the carriage and horses away, I would appreciate it,” Josiah said.

  “You bet,” said Cale.

  Josiah led the way into the house and into the parlor. Anna’s mother saw the piano, and went over and sat on the bench. She flexed her fingers, the same way Anna always did and sat down and began playing. As the notes wafted throughout the house, Beulah and Rebecca came in.

  Josiah was watching the hallway. “Here she comes,” he whispered.

  Anna walked into the room, still in a housecoat, her hair unkempt. She stopped and stood there, disbelief on her face, “Mama… Mama?” Then she ran to her mother and into her arms. “Mama… I’m so glad to see you. How did you…” she left the question unfinished as she saw her father. “Hello Father,” she said, the coolness in her voice apparent.

  “Hello Anna. I have so much to apologize for and I will, but could you give me a hug?” With short, timid steps, she approached the man who had given her life, and went into his open arms.

  Then, backing away, she looked at her husband. “Josiah, you did this? You did this for me?” she asked unbelievingly.

  “What can I say, Anna? I love you and I’ve been so worried about you.”

  Abruptly, Anna stepped away from her father. “I’m forgetting my manners. Placing her hands on Rebecca’s should
ers, she said,“This beautiful little girl is Rebecca, our daughter, and this is Beaulah. She runs the house.”

  “Aww, Miss Anna, what a nice thing to say. Pleased to meet you folks. We just love your daughter.”

  Josiah cleared his throat, and said, “Beaulah, guess you need to set another two places for dinner.”

  With her mother's arm around her, Anna walked back toward her bedroom. Josiah heaved a sigh of relief, He felt he had just taken a big step to getting his wife back.

  * * *

  “Mama, I don’t know what to do. I feel so guilty about losing our baby. Josiah had said he would like to wait before we had a child, wait until we knew each other a little better, but I wanted my child. Rebecca is a special little girl, who has been through a lot and I love her dearly, but I wanted to have a child with Josiah. If only I had waited and not been so selfish, we wouldn’t be going through this. I’ve let him down and now I’m letting Rebecca down too. Josiah deserves better.”

  “Hush, child. Josiah doesn’t want anyone but you. He told us that several times on the way out here. I really like him, honey. His telegram simply said, “Anna needs you. Can you come?”, and he wired the money for my ticket. We’re giving that back to him of course. He told us about the piano, and it was his idea to have me play the piano when we arrived.

  “You’re being far too hard on yourself. I know what you’re going through. I’ve never told you, but I lost a baby before you were born. It was a boy and would have been the son your father always wanted. I don’t think he ever forgave me for losing his son. I still feel that way sometimes. I think you are very fortunate in Josiah.

  “You can’t get forgiveness because you didn’t do anything wrong. People are going to tell you not to be sad, you can have another baby. That won’t help a bit, but they mean well. I’m not going to tell you to forget, because you can’t. What I will tell you is to go on living, be happy with your husband. If you want another baby, fine. It will be an addition, not a replacement.

  “I want you to take a nice hot bath, comb and brush your hair and get dressed. You have to eat to live. At mealtime, eat. You have to do that for the ones that love you. Now how do I get hot water for your bath?”

  “Tell Maybelle. She will take care of it. Mama, why did father come? I know he was unhappy with me for not marrying Throckmorton. I’m sure he probably disowned me. That doesn’t bother me. We have everything we’ll ever need. I don’t want to hear about what I cost him.”

  “He came because you’re his daughter and you needed your family. He hasn’t changed and probably never will, but he’s still your father. I don’t think he will be mentioning anything about your leaving other than to tell you he misses you. I don’t think Josiah will allow him to upset you. He seems to be a very mature young man for his age.”

  “Mama, he’s wonderful. We were in the general store a few days after we were married and I asked if I could play the piano they had from a sale that had fallen through. Two days later, they delivered the piano.”

  “I’m going to get Maybelle started on bath water for you. I’ll be back in a minute,” her mother said.

  She left the room, found Josiah and told him Anna was going to take a bath. “I’ll have Maybelle take care of it,” he said.

  Two hours later, a pale and thin Anna came into the kitchen, dressed and groomed. “Beulah, I should eat something. Is there anything I can have that isn’t too much trouble?”

  “Land sakes, Miss Anna, you set yourself down at the table and I’ll fix you a plate,” Beulah said.

  When Josiah walked in a few minutes later, his wife was eating from a plate loaded with food. He smiled, leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, then he left her to finish her meal.

  CHAPTER 18: LIFE RESTARTS

  After dinner the family had gathered in the parlor. Rebecca was sitting on the floor playing with her dolls. Anna was on the davenport, Josiah’s arm around her shoulders, her head against his shoulder. “Mama, would you play for us, please?”

  “I can do that,” she said. “Josiah, what type of music do you like?”

  “Thus far, I’ve liked everything Anna has played, so just play what you like,” he suggested.

  “Why don’t Anna and I both play something you’ve probably never heard? Anna, lets play that march we used to play,” Mrs Taylor said. They squirmed around to get the bench in a comfortable position, and began playing Schubert’s Marche militaire.

  Josiah was enthralled by the music and by the mother and daughter playing. When it was over, he applauded loudly. “I’ve never seen two people playing at the same time,” he said.

  “It’s called a four hand piece,” Mrs Taylor said. “We used to play around on the piano a lot, for our own amusement.”

  Beaulah came in and said, “Miss Rebecca, it’s time for bed. Tell everyone good night.”

  “Mama, read a story, okay?” Rebecca asked, tugging at Anna’s hand.

  “What would you like to hear?” Anna asked?

  “I want Thumbelina,” said Rebecca.

  “I could have guessed that,” Anna said as she let herself be led from the room by the little girl.

  Josiah said to the Taylors, “This was an every night event.”

  Ready for bed…

  Anna had been spending most of her time in the bed or in the bedroom. Tonight was the first night in quite a while she had been awake when Josiah came to bed. He was surprised to see her in the rocking chair when he came in. “I was waiting for you,” she said.

  “If I had known, I would have been in sooner,” he said.

  She stood, and said, “Come sit down. I want to sit in your lap. Do you think the chair will hold us?” She sat across his lap and could look directly in his face. “Josiah, I don’t know where or what I’ve been, but I haven’t been a good wife to you, nor a mother to Rebecca.”

  He started to say something, but she stopped him. “Hear me out, please,” she said. “I have felt guilty, because I thought I had let you down when I lost our baby.”

  She put her finger against his lips to stop him from saying whatever he had planned to say. “Mother told me I will never forget what happened, and she should know. It happened to her. She still feels it, but says while you retain the memory, you must keep living and I haven’t done that. I want to reclaim my husband if you’re willing.”

  “I have just been waiting for you to work it out. I didn’t have any answers. I decided I needed help and having your mother here was the only thing I could think of. I hadn’t counted or even thought of your father. I’m glad he came. I want him to see the woman his daughter has become,” he said.

  “Well, what he saw when he got here wasn’t what you had in mind, I would bet,” she said. “When I saw him, it frightened me. I expected him to start in telling me what I had cost him. I couldn’t have taken that.”

  “You could have, but shouldn’t have to. You’re my responsibility to protect and I won’t let anyone rail on you. He knows that. I would hate for it to come to pass, but I would be forced to tell him to leave. Enough of that, tell me more about reclaiming your husband,” he said.

  “You heard that, huh?” she asked.

  “I heard that, loud and clear.” He tilted her chin and kissed her, slowly, massaging her lips with his. She opened her mouth to allow him entry. The kisses deepened and for the first time since her surgery, he heard small groans of pleasure. Cautiously, he cupped her breast, finding and manipulating the nipple. She felt it become firm under his touch.

  “Wait,” she said and stood. “I would like for you to undress me please, slowly.” She stood and turned her back to him. And raised her arms above her head. Piece by piece, he removed her clothes. As each piece came off, he folded it and laid it in the now vacated chair. He removed her chemise and bent to kiss her breasts, smaller now due to the loss of weight. He kissed each in turn, manipulating the pebbly surface of the nipple with his tongue. He slid her pantaloons to the floor, seeing for the first time, the jagged s
car made by her surgery.

  Slowly, she turned in front of him, stopping when they were face to face. Solemnly, she unbuttoned his shirt and laid it on the chair. Likewise, his trousers and underwear. She turned and folded the covers back on the bed and lay down. Opening her arms, she said, ”Come to me, Josiah, and hold me,” she said. He lay down beside her and pulled her to him. With one leg on each side of his left leg, her treasure vault was against his erect manhood, one breast pressed against his chest, the other in his hand; one arm was beneath his arm and the other around his neck. “I love you, Josiah Taylor. I love you with all my heart and I’m going to prove it every day,” she resolved.

  They remained that way until he thought she had fallen asleep. Then, almost imperceptibly, he felt her hips begin to grind against him. Softly squeezing the breast, he asked, “Are you sure?”