[2016] Widow Finds Love

by Christian Michael

  Each night the coach stopped at a way station. Sometimes it was a large, private house where the owners were willing to rent out rooms. Other times it was a hotel in a small town or an inn. The guests already there were generally rowdy, often cowboys and sometimes miners, headed west to try their luck. Few women of Laura and Tricia’s standing were in evidence.

  Out of consideration, Laura and Tricia would share a room—under the auspices that Laura may have need of someone in the night. Ben would cheerily share with Gerald and their ribald laughter could be heard down the hallway. Each night Ben would tap on the women’s door to see if they needed anything, but he was waved away as the females sought to get their beauty sleep. Tricia was kind and noticing the swelling in Laura’s ankles from the hot, long drives, she would get a pan of cool water and massage Laura’s feet and calves. “This always helped my sister-in-law,” Tricia supplied.

  Laura finally asked. “Gerald and you… you have no children?” she queried. The women were splayed across a huge four-poster bed, the heat outside depriving them of even a breath of cool relief, despite the window raised as high as it would go.

  “No, not now. We did, once. His name was Robert,” Tricia supplied, her eyes glazing over with tears that weren’t shed. “He died at two – consumption,” she added and Laura was respectfully quiet. She could not help but worry about her own child, though, and what he might be facing when it came to medical challenges. She hoped Denver was progressive enough to have a good doctor… that was one of the conveniences you gave up when you left the East.

  Tricia read her thoughts. “Don’t worry, dear Laura. We were East at the time; even they couldn’t save him. I sometimes think if we’d stayed in the West where the air is cleaner and drier, maybe Robert would still be with us. Everything out East is so…so…damp,” she fairly spat the word. With that, Tricia blew out the lamp and the women slept atop the covers that night, grateful for any breeze, hot or otherwise.

  Chapter Six

  With each day of their journey, the lands became more and more foreign looking to Laura. There were fields of crops in the flat plains and then the foothills of the mountains that ran south through Missouri and into Texas began to appear. There were a few nights when they were forced to make camp and the women slept on blanket pallets beneath the coach while the horses were tied up nearby, given free rein to graze at will. On these nights, the men took turns at watch. While they posed no threat to the Indians and didn’t stray from the well-travelled coach paths, the same couldn’t be considered secure when it came to highway men. These were generally outlaws who relished the idea of emptying some gentleman’s pocket of his new life investment, or some lady of her precious family jewels.

  Laura sometimes lay awake, unable to sleep in the breathless nights. She would hear the sound of howling and Ben told her these were coyote. More than one night she arose and sat next to him by the campfire, staring into the flames and talking about her childhood. She skipped over the details of Wendel; somehow it didn’t seem appropriate that he take part in her new life.

  She spent hours during the day wondering about her new husband to be and what her life would be like there. Would he be kind to her? He seemed handsome enough in the faded photo – but she didn’t have a clear idea of what he looked like. It was almost as if that were intentional. She couldn’t fault him, really; all she’d had to send was half of a wedding photo.

  She wondered, shyly, if he would demand husbandry rights from her. According to the law, once they were married she belonged to him as completely as the cattle on his ranch and the house in which he slept. She prayed that he would be brief and considerate, if it was to be. She also hoped he would leave her alone until the child she carried was born and some months old. It would be a rough life and she’d need every bit of her strength to endure it.

  She really had no idea what Colorado looked like; not having been there before. She knew from geography that there were flat plains for farming and mostly cattle ranching, and then there were the mountains; nearly impassable in the long winters. Their altitude made the air so thin you would become dizzy and have trouble breathing. She did not know what to expect from Rory or his place; there hadn’t been enough time to exchange letters and get used to the idea. The baby and her financial situation precluded it.

  She hoped Rory would be something like Ben, of whom she was becoming more and more fond as the days passed. She sensed he was, too, and it bothered her that this trip must eventually end. She knew it wasn’t logical that she would ever see him again; in fact, it was probably a better idea if she didn’t. It could, and probably would, lead to all sorts of problems.

  She would miss Tricia, though. They had become more and more like sisters, being of a similar age and sharing sleeping and travelling quarters as they had. She knew rationally she would never see her again, either. Tricia would undoubtedly feel betrayed that Laura hadn’t been more forthcoming about her relationship with Ben. She’d never lied, but she hadn’t told the whole story. She was sure Tricia wondered why she and Ben didn’t share a room, but she’d never said a word.

  Chapter Seven

  The day had dawned humid and hot. They were travelling through Kansas and its undulating fields of wheat. Laura watched it in the stagnant air, imagining what it would be like to have to harvest that all. She hoped desperately Rory didn’t farm wheat.

  It was late afternoon when the coach driver pulled the horses up and gave them a water break. He shaded his eyes and was looking to the west; joined shortly by Ben and Gerald. They all wore concerned looks on their faces.

  “What’s wrong?” Laura asked when Ben came back toward the coach.

  “Nothin’ to worry about…just a little blow comin’ in.”

  “Blow?”

  “He means a storm, and a bad one by the looks of it,” chimed in Tricia. She’d been through this before and knew the conditions were ripe for a breakout.

  Laura had given up wearing the jacket of her travelling dress, preferring instead to fan herself with a damp cloth and open the buttons of her linen blouse beneath. She knew by looking at Ben that she appeared far more alluring than she felt at the moment. Although the sickness in the mornings had long before passed, she did have times when her legs swelled and her back ached. She knew some things about birthing from hearing the women in town talk – but there was so much she didn’t know, and it frightened her. Once again, she hoped that there would be a doctor handy when her time came.

  “Well, what do we do? How do we protect ourselves?” Laura’s worried words fell over Ben and he felt a fear on her behalf.

  “We’ll find somewhere to hunker down in the next hour and then just ride it out. Don’t you worry…I won’t let anythin’ happen to you,” he said, attempting to reassure her.

  Tricia smiled and patted her hand, all the while fanning herself with her crimson bonnet. “It’ll be all right, honey…at least the weather will cool off and we’ll all be able to breathe again,” she added, hoping to keep Tricia calm.

  They drove westward and the driver seemed to know exactly where he was. “We’ll make for the old Harrel homestead,” she heard him call out to the men over the sound of the rising wind. She leaned out at one point and saw that the distant sky was a solid wall of black. If it weren’t for the long distances you could see over the flat plain, they would have already been feeling the effects.

  It wasn’t too long before she heard the driver urging the horses to speed up. She looked out again and saw a falling down house in their path. Its roof was partially gone but there was a barn still standing and there was a stand of trees waving their limbs around it. They came to a sudden stop and the coach door opened. “Better get out,” warned the driver and Ben didn’t need to hear any more. He scooped Laura into his arms and carried her into the antiquated structure and then came back with her bags, a trunk and whatever loose items were in the coach.

  “Here,” he said quickly. “I need to help with the horses. You and Tricia he
ad to that corner,” he pointed, “of the room and see if you can pull up the floorboards with somethin’. If you can, I want you to wrap up in the blankets and whatever clothin’ you have and get down in there. Cover your heads ‘cause if it blows the roof off, there could be a fair amount of debris flyin’ about.”

  With those words, he left and the women could hear the men shouting from the direction of the barn. Laura and Tricia did as they’d been told and managed to pull up floor boards using a stout stick someone had left behind. The hole beneath the flooring was not very deep, but it was big enough that the women could fit down in it. The air was hot and the hole dusty. Laura began to cough and Tricia wrapped a shawl over Laura’s face. Due to the position of the baby, it was difficult for Laura to bend over, but she shielded her child as best as she could.

  A noise that sounded like the train they’d ridden began in the distance and grew louder by the second. The door slammed open and the men ran in, slamming the door and propping whatever they could find to hold it shut.

  Ben spotted Laura in the hole in the corner and he ran over and threw himself over the top of her, clutching her face against his chest and opening his vest and shirt to cover her from the dust and debris that was blowing about. She felt the hair on his chest tickle her nose and at that moment, there could be no safer place in the entire world. She could feel his heart beating; the adrenalin was making his pulse throb. She believed he was afraid, but he knew it was because he was holding her, protecting her and wanting to keep her safe even if it meant his own life.

  The roar grew louder and Laura could feel Ben’s lips against her ear, cooing at her that everything would be okay, but she only felt the vibration. The sound of the storm was too loud to hear his words.

  It was then that the roof of the old house blew almost completely off and hail pelted down upon them. Laura heard Tricia scream in fear and Gerald and the driver had thrown themselves over the top of her to shield her from the lumber pieces slamming against the broken walls. They could hear the shrieks of the frightened horses but more than anything, the roar of the wind and the hammering of the hail drowned everything else out.

  Then the entire house began to quiver, as though a giant hand was trying to pull it up from its foundation and throw it into the sky. Laura gripped Ben’s neck and she buried her face against that strong, muscled chest. She felt if she were to die right then, at least her last thoughts would be of sublime happiness.

  As suddenly as it had come, it stopped. The hail halted and the wind blew away. All that remained was a driving rain.

  “Stay here,” Ben ordered and put the shelter of the trunk over her and Tricia. The men were able to walk through what walls remained as they went out to check on the horses.

  When at last it was over, the sun peeked through the gray blinds of clouds that remained. Tricia clawed her way to standing and helped Laura to her feet.

  They followed the men into the yard and were amazed at what they saw. Two of the giant trees had been toppled, as if a giant’s hand had pulled at them in play. However, God had a hand in this as well. He had let the trees fall to the side of the rickety barn, holding the walls up and keeping the structure from collapsing. The horses, as well as the stage, were standing there in the yard. The horses were clearly still upset, the whites in their eyes huge as they looked about for comfort. The stage, luckily, was completely intact and the driver and the men harnessed the horses to it and loaded their belongings. Finally, Ben came for Laura, picking her up and carrying her directly to the coach seat.

  “There’s a little inn down the road. We’ve got enough daylight to make it and we’ll get rooms and somethin’ hot to eat there,” he explained and climbed in beside her.

  There was no more pretense or formalities between the four people in the coach. A brush with death tended to make those meaningless. Laura sat sideways in Ben’ arms, as Tricia did with Gerald. The women were shaking and the men knew it was shock from the trauma of the storm. The sooner they could put their women to bed with a hot meal, the better off they’d be. Ben worried about the babe, but knew that Laura was strong. She was built to be a woman of the West; of that there was no doubt.

  Chapter Eight

  They crossed Kansas over the next two days and the sign marking the line into Colorado spelled sadness for Laura. She knew she was in serious trouble. Despite her best efforts, all her piety and all the social amenities she had observed, she was completely in love with Ben.

  She chastised herself. How could I do this to Rory? she asked herself. Is it not enough that he takes me on as the widow of a worthless man, heavy with babe…I have to betray him emotionally with another man even as I travel to him at his expense?

  Laura made up her mind. She could not do this to Rory—it wasn’t right. When they arrived in Colorado, she would tell him she changed her mind. She would find a job, even if it meant scrubbing floors in a saloon; as long as it was enough to keep the baby and herself alive, and to pay Rory back for his investment. It was the only honorable thing she could do under the circumstances.

  The coach was nearing the end of its journey and the cool breeze coming in through lowered windows felt marvelous, even if it was tinged with a swirl of dust now and then. Tricia and Gerald were becoming excited, re-packing their bags and straightening their appearances. Laura was sitting rather dejectedly on her seat, not looking out the window but watching Ben from the corner of her eye. She knew the time was approaching that she would never see him again. What a mess I’ve made of things! she thought to herself.

  At that moment, the baby kicked and she let out a small, startled gasp. Ben, sitting opposite her was instantly leaning forward. “What’s wrong?”

  She smiled and shook her head. “Nothing. Just a little kick…telling Mama what a fool she has made of herself.”

  “Fool? Why?” he asked, his handsome head cocked in question.

  Laura looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears. “Nothing, never mind,” she whispered.

  Ben motioned to Tricia to trade seats with him so he could sit down directly next to Laura and put his arm around her. “Tell me, what’s the matter? What’s wrong?”

  Laura couldn’t stand the caring and compassionate tone of his voice – it was magnifying the cruelty of the situation she’d gotten herself into.

  “I can’t,” she said simply.

  He turned her to face him and looked her straight in the eye. “Laura, you better tell me right now what’s wrong. I can tell you’ve been weepy all day and I’m guessin’ it has something to do with our reachin’ the end of the trip.”

  Laura glanced toward Tricia and knew this was too personal to talk about in front of others. So, she just shook her head mutely and fished around in her satchel for a handkerchief. Ben leaned back and pulled her against his sheltering arm. His hand patted her arm in an attempt to reassure her.

  Chapter Nine

  Ben was watching out the coach window and hugged Laura one last time with a hard grip and then stood and leaned out to shout to the driver. The driver, acknowledging that Ben’ stop was coming, slowed and eventually he turned off on a side track, lined on either side by fencing. They travelled some time down the track but eventually a very large ranch house appeared before them and the driver pulled up to its front porch.

  The house had a wide, covered porch and barrels with flowers poured out onto the lawn. Mature oaks smothered the house, giving it shade and keeping the porch cool and inviting. Laura looked at longing at the house and then tried to forget how she’d gotten there. It would be too miserable to know where Ben could be found, and not yet pursue him there.

  Ben opened the coach door and jumped out, stood straight and stretched, pushing his hat back on his head and surveying the house. He had all the demeanor of a man coming home to his castle. He walked around the coach and went up to the door, pushing it open before entering to check things out. All appeared well as Laura saw windows popping open all around the house exterior wall.


  Tricia and Gerald descended next. Laura knew they were probably taking a short break to freshen up, but somehow she felt suddenly excluded and lonely. Visions of herself, heavy with child while bent scrubbing floors and washing dishes flooded her brain. But before even that…she would have to confront Rory. She would have to admit what she’d done, and thought, and hope he wouldn’t beat her when she told him she couldn’t be with him, but would have to repay him the money she’d spent.

  Even the driver climbed down and lowered their luggage to the ground. It all seemed so normal, so wholesome. Laura cringed in self-defeat.

  Tricia and Gerald walked around the coach and walked right in through Ben’s open door. Laura marveled at how close they had all grown toward one another.

  As she watched, the driver began to unharness the horses and lead them around the side of the house toward what appeared to be a barn. Laura wondered if one had thrown a shoe, or whether they needed to be watered. Now she sat, alone, in a horseless stage. Had she misunderstood? Was she supposed to catch another stage to her destination? Why had no one told her? They had put her luggage on the ground. Was that supposed to be her signal?

  At that moment, Ben emerged from the house and came around to the coach, opening the door and leaning in.

  “Come on,” he said simply and held out his hand.

  Laura’s brow went up in confusion, but she leaned forward and let him help her out of the coach. “Ben, I’m sorry. There must be some mistake. I thought this coach would take me all the way into Denver, where I’m expected. I see you are all disembarking and the horses being even taken away. Did I miss a sign? Should I have said something? Is my ticket marked wrong?” She was beginning to panic a bit at the idea of being stranded here. Surely Ben would help her out, get her into town or maybe lend her a horse?