Abigail's Adventure (The Alphabet Mail-Order Brides Book 1)

by Caroline Lee

  It didn’t have to be a death sentence.

  Abigail shook herself, then forced a smile as she watched her son point to something in the notebook Beulah held. The woman nodded and closed the cover, handing it to him. The smile on the boy’s face as he accepted the gift was enough to make any mother’s heart happy.

  He might not be completely at peace with the idea of her remarrying—and to be honest, she wasn’t either—but he was resilient. He’d chosen to focus on the positives, as she’d taught him for years, and it was impossible not to be hopeful when she thought about the future. With Joshua at her side, she would be successful.

  And with Joshua and Maggie to protect, she knew she wouldn’t allow Matthias Blake to cause them any harm. She was a different woman than she’d been four years ago. She would protect her babies.

  Speaking of her babies…

  “Did Dorthy say when she’d be back?” The other woman had taken Maggie for a walk outside to try to temper the girl’s enthusiasm. “Do you think they’re alright?”

  Emmeline laughed, her eyes not really focusing as they darted around the hectic station. “Dorthy’s the only one who could keep Maggie calm in a place like this. All the noise and bustle and excitement must be making her absolutely bouncy.”

  “Bouncy!” Catalina repeated. “That’s a perfect description!”

  Smiling slightly, Abigail nudged her friend. “You’re not the one who’s going to have to keep her quiet and subdued on a train for the next few days!”

  “True.” Catalina hummed thoughtfully. “Have you considered whiskey?”

  All three of them burst into laughter, and Abigail had to admit that it felt good. She’d miss these women so, so much when she was gone.

  Emmeline sobered. “How did Maggie take it when you told her the news?”

  Maggie was too young to remember her father, thank God, but she’d picked up on Joshua’s anxiety. Abigail had sent her son away when it came time to tell her daughter, and Joshua had scowled the entire time. It would’ve been easier to tell Maggie if her brother had been sitting beside her, supportive, but it had been too soon after she’d told him for him to be able to calm his sister’s fears.

  Abigail shrugged. “She took it better than her brother. She’s really going to miss the school and all of you. We all are. But she’s young enough to be excited about the train ride and visiting a new place. Hopefully, by the time it really sinks in that we’re staying there, she’ll be comfortable and happy.”

  Hopefully they’d really be staying there, because hopefully Mr. Matthias Blake was a good, decent man, who’d told the truth when he’d promised to love her children as his own.

  Hopefully he knew what it meant to love, because she was brave enough to admit to herself that she wanted to be loved. She was ready for it.

  Although there were a thousand reasons for her not to have accepted Wiggie’s offer, and not to have accepted Mr. Blake’s proposal, there was one very good reason to say yes: Abigail was tired of being alone, surrounded by people. Her children had been blessed with teachers like Beulah and Dorthy, who loved them as much as they loved all the children, but Abigail knew it was up to her to make sure they grew up to become well-rounded, happy adults. And it would be nice to have another person, a husband, who would be as invested in their success as she was…

  “I’ll bet she thinks it’s a grand adventure,” Catalina said.

  “Hmm?” Abigail startled. “Oh, Maggie. Oh, yes, she’s thrilled. She was the one who helped me pack—although you know her; she wasn’t all that helpful. If I get to Black Aces and discover a jam sandwich in between my winter dresses, I won’t be surprised.”

  The three of them laughed at that, and Catalina’s grip tightened slightly. “I bet it’ll be cold in Montana next winter!” She pretended to shiver. “I wonder if it’ll be colder than here?”

  Abigail took a deep breath. “I don’t know, but I’m ready.” She was. She would be. By the winter, her school would be set up and she’d be settled.

  God willing.

  Emmeline chuckled as Beulah and Joshua wandered over. “Remember last winter, when Maggie disappeared, and we found that she’d built that snow tunnel up against the kitchen bricks? We were all so worried!”

  Abigail had gotten a few gray hairs that day! She rolled her eyes. “And she couldn’t understand why I was so upset. She thought with the blanket and apple she’d ‘borrowed,’ her fort was perfectly wonderful.”

  “You’re going to have your hands full with that one.” Catalina chuckled. But then, just as quickly, she sobered again. “We’re going to miss you so much.”

  This time it was Abigail who tightened her hold on the other woman’s arm, while wrapping her other one around her son. “And I’m going to miss you. You’re my family. Promise me you’ll watch over Wiggie?” The older woman had made Abigail swear not to reveal the details of their conversation, but she’d hinted to the other teachers that Wiggie needed watching. “I’ll worry about her most of all.”

  This time, the glance that Catalina and Beulah exchanged was a little more serious. Even Emmeline, whose gaze wasn’t quite focused, looked uncomfortable. What did they know about Wiggie? Had the older woman said something to them?

  Finally, Beulah nodded. “Wiggie has pulled through other illnesses before. And besides, her doctors say she just needs a bit of rest.”

  Yes, that was true. “I’m hopeful that the oldest girls will help take some of the strain of me leaving.”

  Just as the current teachers had been orphans raised in the school, they’d been training another few of the girls to eventually become teachers too. It had started a few years ago, and had been a big help when Xenia, one of the youngest teachers, had…well, no one was quite certain what happened to Xenia; she’d just disappeared one night. They’d all had to scramble to take over her classes, and the oldest girls in the school, the ones who were interested in becoming teachers themselves, helped share the load.

  Wiggie was convinced that “crop” of girls was ready now, and Abigail had been glad to help them transition into their roles as teachers. They weren’t quite ready yet, but they soon would be.

  Beulah clucked her tongue and waved her hand. “They’re ready for more responsibility. We—I mean, you—are leaving Wiggie in good hands.”

  At that moment, something barreled into Abigail from behind, and only her hold on Joshua stopped her from crashing into their pile of luggage. She didn’t have to wonder what it was for long, however, because little Maggie’s hands scrabbled at her sides.

  “Mama!” she cried breathlessly. “There’s a huge engine Dorthy says is going to take us on our adventure! Huge!”

  Dorthy hurried up. “Sorry! I thought she was right beside me, and I saw a beautiful example of a potted boxwood, but when—”

  Her explanation was cut off when she didn’t stop in time, and ran into one of Abigail’s trunks. The other woman pitched forward, and likely would’ve landed on her face had Beulah’s quick thinking not saved her by stepping in front of Dorthy and bracing herself. Dorthy slammed into her, then rebounded and crashed into another trunk. This time she sat down—hard—on the trunk lid.

  Abigail hid her wince as she heard something inside crack. She hoped it was just the wood of the trunk and not the contents. Although it wasn’t always Dorthy’s fault, things seemed to just…break around her. Often. The poor woman was well-meaning, but the least-graceful person Abigail had ever seen. Dorthy often worried about bad luck following her around, but usually it was just a result of her clumsiness.

  Still, she was the only teacher who could really wrangle Maggie, even if the little girl often snuck away. So Abigail gave the other woman a big smile and wrapped her arms around both of her children.

  “No harm done, right, Maggie?”

  “It’s huuuuge, Mama! Miss Dorthy says we’re going to ride on it!”

  Joshua leaned around his mother to nod at his sister. “We’ll be in a train car being pulled by
it.”

  “That’s what I said!” Maggie stuck her tongue out.

  “The semantics are—”

  Abigail cleared her throat and exchanged an amused glance with Beulah. Joshua snapped his well-meaning mouth closed and stood straighter.

  Beulah smiled at him. “I’m very proud of you, Joshua. I know you’re going to be a great help to your mother, and you’ll keep your own studies up too.”

  The boy blinked once, twice, then let go of his mother to throw himself into Beulah’s arms. Abigail had to blink back her own tears as she watched her son hug his favorite teacher. Then she felt Emmeline’s hand on hers, and she wrapped her free arm around her friend. She felt Catalina’s hug from the other side of Maggie, and soon, they were all wrapped in one another’s love.

  Leaving them would be one of the hardest things she’d ever done…but marrying a stranger—trusting a stranger—would be even harder.

  She took a deep breath, reminding herself she had options. If Mr. Matthias Blake turned out to be as much of a scoundrel as Cyrus, she could always return here to this loving family.

  Exhaling, she squeezed her friends tighter. She could do this. She would do this. She would build a school, she would build a home.

  And she would give her babies the family they deserved.

  Chapter Four

  Matthias paced in front of Black Aces’ tiny train station. Behind him, the best wagon out of the three from his livery sat waiting to take his new family to the church and then home. Currently, Lucas was lounging against the side, smirking and trying to trip Matthias whenever he came too close.

  It was hard not to think of the day two years ago when they’d stood here in this same spot, their positions reversed. Then, it had been Lucas anxiously awaiting the arrival of his bride, with Matthias cracking jokes at his expense. Today, it was the opposite.

  “I can’t believe you brought her flowers,” Lucas called out mockingly. “What kind of man thinks to bring flowers?”

  Snorting, Matthias kept his attention on the horizon, wondering if that was a puff of smoke from the locomotive. “You’re only jealous because you didn’t think of it when you were waiting for Shannon.”

  “I’ll tell you, I was so nervous, I would’ve pulled them to pieces before she got here.”

  Matthias sent his friend a wry smile. “That’s why they’re sitting over there in that wagon instead of in my hands.”

  Lucas glanced down at the bouquet of wildflowers Matthias had picked that morning, then shrugged good-naturedly. “Fair enough.”

  The flowers had been a last-minute idea. Matthias had picked enough to fill vases—well, drinking glasses, really—in his new home’s kitchen, dining room, and a small table beside the hearth in the parlor. There was even a bouquet on the dresser in his—their—bedroom, and he hoped it didn’t make him look silly in his new wife’s eyes.

  But after months of correspondence, after the rush to get the house finished, he just wanted everything to be perfect.

  When Abigail Hembree had responded to his ad, Matthias had thought himself extremely lucky. She was the right age for him—almost thirty, not one of those young girls—and a school teacher. And she already had two children of her own, which meant he’d be blessed with a family right away.

  He jiggled a little in place, wondering now if he could hear the distant hoot of the train’s whistle.

  Children!

  As soon as Abigail said “I Do,” he’d be the proud new father of ten-year-old Joshua and five-year-old Maggie. Matthias had already set up their rooms as well as he could guess would suit them, and had spent a few extra dollars on gifts he hoped they might like. It wasn’t that he was trying to woo them, necessarily…he was just so darned excited to meet them!

  Just think! By this time next year, he’d be able to change the sign over the big livery doors to “Blake and Son.” He’d have someone to share his love of horses, and someone to help him with his work. In a few years, they’d be able to take in twice the work, sharing with the blacksmith, and renting out River Hartwell’s horses.

  Abigail’s letters to him had been full of loving descriptions of the children, and he felt as if he knew them already. Joshua supposedly had her brown hair and eyes, while Maggie was a little fairer. She was the wild one, full of surprises, while her older brother was far more serious and studious. Matthias couldn’t wait to meet them.

  And as for Abigail herself, well, once she’d made the commitment to him and to Black Aces, he’d thrown himself entirely into the idea of marriage to her. From the moment he’d read that line in her second letter—“I believe we are suited and would be willing to start a new life with you”—he’d thought of her as his. Her letters showed an intelligence and wit he looked forward to experiencing in person, and he knew she would be the “forever” he’d been dreaming about.

  The only thing that concerned him was the feeling she was…well, holding a part of herself back. She hadn’t said she’d be “pleased” to start a new life with him, only that they were suited. He could tell they were well-suited, and was willing to do whatever it took to make sure she could fulfill her dream of teaching here in Black Aces.

  In fact, as soon as he’d learned about her reason for coming out west—and she’d never made any secret of it—Matthias had begun inquiries about the school in town. It turned out the schoolmaster had left two years ago when Mr. King had increased the rent on the school house, and Black Aces had been without a teacher ever since then. The few students in town were taught by their parents as much as the parents could possibly teach them, and had been excited to hear about a new school teacher arriving soon.

  No question about it. Abigail would be a welcome addition to Black Aces, as well as to Matthias’s life.

  “I think that’s her,” Lucas called.

  When Matthias looked over his shoulder, it was to see his younger friend pointing in the distance. Sure enough, the column of smoke on the horizon had coalesced into the outline of the locomotive, and Matthias could hear the whistle getting closer.

  Soon!

  In fact, it seemed as if no time at all had passed, before he was watching people pour out of the open doors of the train, though not as many as a few years ago. Mr. King’s stranglehold on the town of Black Aces meant fewer citizens, fewer visitors, and fewer investors. But there were still enough miners and people who wanted to stretch their legs that Matthias had trouble spotting—

  There!

  There, overseeing the unloading of her bags, was a harried-looking brown-haired woman clutching the hand of a little girl. They were followed by a boy—tall for his age, but skinny—who was bent under the weight of a small trunk. He dropped it onto the platform and went back for another, while his mother looked around in…was that trepidation?

  Matthias swallowed. He couldn’t allow his future wife to feel trepidation. Straightening his shoulders, he grabbed the bouquet from Lucas—who was waggling it at him—and took a deep breath.

  Ready.

  He marched up to the woman and her daughter, still not sure what he should say, but knowing it was important. This was Abigail. The woman he was going to marry.

  But standing there in front of her, he completely lost the ability to speak. No, not that. He just couldn’t make himself speak. Couldn’t think of anything to say.

  She had soft brown hair, with wisps blowing around her forehead and the complexion of someone who’d spent most of her life indoors—probably came from being a teacher, he assumed. Her lips were pulled into a serious line, and she didn’t appear to be someone who smiled often…

  But it was her eyes which prevented him from saying anything. Her eyes were brown, which shouldn’t be that amazing, except they weren’t like any brown eyes he’d ever seen before. At the center, around the pupil, they were almost a golden-brown, yet shaded to a darker color around the outside. And they looked…they looked scared. She looked scared. There was something in those eyes—some deep, old fear—which he didn’t l
ike.

  A fear he wanted to take away.

  But standing there, the hustle of the porters and the travelers around him, Matthias couldn’t make himself say a darned thing. He just stood there, his mouth open, staring into her beautiful, hesitant eyes.

  “Mama?” The little girl beside her tugged on the woman’s hand. “Is this my new father?”

  And that little voice, that sweet little voice calling him “father,” broke through Matthias’s hesitation. This is what he knew, what he wanted, what he’d been searching for. Besides, it was a lot easier to look down at Maggie, than it was to keep wondering about the fear in Abigail’s eyes.

  So he smiled hugely and looked down into a pretty little face with dark blue eyes and freckles across her nose and cheeks. She was staring seriously up at him, and she looked so much like her mother in that moment, even though their features weren’t that similar, that Matthias almost chuckled.

  And he knew.

  Setting Maggie at ease was the most important thing here, and even though he’d picked the flowers for Abigail, he saw the truth now: a few flowers weren’t going to win over a nervous woman. But her daughter…

  He swept his hat off his head and made a grand bow, holding the hat out beside himself like a courtier from a kingdom of old. With his nose down around his knees, he presented the bouquet of wildflowers with a flourish, praying he wasn’t making himself look like a fool for no reason.

  Her giggle told him he’d guessed correctly, and he peeked up to see her bouncing in place and smiling hugely.

  “Can I, Mama? Can I?”

  Abigail was staring down at a him, and as he watched, some of the tension around her lips eased, and while her lips didn’t exactly curve upwards, they did twitch slightly.

  “May I,” she corrected in a quiet, firm voice.

  Maggie was still bouncing. “May I?” she repeated.

  Abigail inclined her head regally. “If Mr. Blake is offering them to you…”

  “Yay!” Maggie cheered and snatched the bouquet from his hand. She let go of her mother to clutch the flowers and pull them up to bury her face in them. “No one’s ever given me flowers before!”