Abby Mail Order Bride

by Verna Clay

  "Abby, Abby," he whispered over and over.

  The rest of the night became a glorious journey of sensual pleasure. By morning, Abby knew she could never lay claim to being an innocent again. Brant had well and truly taught her how to love her man.

  A kiss on her lips woke her. Brant was bending over her. "Honey, I'm headed out. I'll be back for breakfast. You should sleep in. Jenny can take care of things.

  Abby stretched and languidly opened her eyes. Half asleep she asked, "Can we bathe together again?"

  Brant moved his lips to her ear. "Oh, yes, baby, we're gonna bathe together again, and soon."

  Abby's eyes popped open when Brant cupped her bottom. Slanting his lips over hers he kissed her thoroughly. He lifted his mouth barely. "If I don't leave soon, I'm gonna climb back in bed with you."

  Abby giggled and he gave her a gentle pinch. "I'll see you later, honey."

  She watched her husband leave the room and closed her eyes, drifting back to sleep.

  * * *

  The day of the surprise birthday party dawned cloudless and promising of warmer weather. During the ride to church, the family sang hymns, and Ty chatted nonstop. Luke had been informed about the party and Abby glanced around once to see him mouthing the words to one of the songs. Everything in Abby's world was right and beautiful and she had never been happier.

  After the service, Lita Brandon carried Ty outside and Jenny's friends distracted her by pulling her away from the church. Quickly, Abby, Brant, Luke, and other parishioners set up the sanctuary for the party. Mina Priestly had made a cake and some folks even brought gifts.

  When Brant secretly signaled that everything was ready, Jenny's girlfriends made an excuse to bring her back inside the building and Lita held Ty's hand leading him toward the entrance. Abby positioned herself so that she could see the expressions on the children's faces. Standing beside her, Brant bent to kiss her cheek and whisper, "Thank you, love." Abby entwined her fingers in his and wanted to shout for joy that he'd called her "love."

  The surprise, wonder, and happiness that flickered over Jenny's and Ty's expressions when they entered the building to shouts of: "Surprise! Happy Birthday, Jenny and Ty!" became a living photo in Abby's mind to be revisited for the rest of her life.

  Ty laughed and ran to the cake table.

  For the next week, Jenny and Ty talked about little else but their birthday party. The laughter they inspired in Brant filled her with overwhelming joy.

  * * *

  Brant reined Sugar to a halt on a rise and surveyed his herd. Another month and it would be time to move the cattle to Ft. Worth to be sold at auction to one of the large cattle barons who would then move the herd to the rails in Abilene, Kansas. The harsh winter had robbed him of a good portion of his cattle. Money was also tight and he still had to hire a couple of hands to help with the drive. He blew a breath and watched Luke round up a stray. If he couldn't make his yearly mortgage payment, he'd be faced with losing his ranch, and then what would he do? Worry creased the sides of his mouth.

  Pushing his hat back, he glanced at the blazing sun and a sudden thought made him smile and forget his troubles for the time being. Maybe he'd pull the tub out and soak with Abby tonight. Laughing aloud, he remembered his first impression of her—prissy, virginal schoolmarm. She may have been a schoolmarm, but she had never prissy, and she certainly wasn't virginal anymore. She lit a fire in him that burned daily. Yep, a soak with Abby was just what he needed.

  The first day in June, Brant sat atop his horse and bid Abby and the younger children goodbye. His hired hands and Luke waited for his orders to leave. The tears he saw in his wife's eyes made him want to jump off his horse, gather her in his arms, and kiss her senseless. Instead, he tipped his hat, smiled, and said, "I'll see you in three weeks, Miz Abby."

  Jenny said, "Bye, Pa. I'll take good care of Ma," and wrapped her arms around Abby's waist. Ty wrapped his arms around her legs. "Me, too," he told his pa with a serious look.

  Brant grinned at them and then reined his horse around. "Com'on boys, let's get this herd to market."

  * * *

  Abby sniffed and watched Brant and the others until they were out of sight and then she hugged Ty and Jenny. "Let's skip class today and have a picnic."

  Jenny's mood brightened. "That sounds like fun. Can we have it out by Ma's grave so I can talk to her?"

  A lump formed in Abby's throat at the unexpected request. "Of course, Jenny, if that's what you want. Let's finish our chores and then walk over mid-morning."

  Abby carried a basket with fresh bread, fried chicken, boiled potatoes, and sliced cucumbers to the small gravestone. Jenny and Ty ran ahead, playing tag. The day was already turning hot and pristine clouds floated slowly across an azure sky. Just knowing Brant would be gone for three weeks made Abby want to cry again, but she needed to stay strong for the children. Then she smiled thinking about how all their relationships had grown over the past months. Brant's forlorn looks were appearing less often and he laughed freely and kissed her frequently. As for Luke, he'd even started to cut loose with smiles and laughter. Jenny and Ty were happy and carefree. Yes, everything was right in her world. She'd even received word from her Philadelphia attorney that her home had sold for more than expected. She hadn't been inclined to tell Brant about the sale just yet, however.

  I'll just put the proceeds in the bank and save for a rainy day. If the family needs money, he'll just have to get over his stubbornness.

  Jenny reached the oak and spread their blanket under its strong branches. Ty walked to the gravestone and laid wilted flowers on the ground that he and Jenny had picked. Jenny moved to stand beside him. "Hi Mama," she said.

  Abby sat on the blanket and watched the children. She was curious about Jenny's motive for wanting to picnic there. The children returned to the blanket to eat and talk about anything and everything. Abby leaned against the tree trunk watching a flock of blackbirds crisscross the sky. Silently, she prayed for a safe and profitable trip for Brant. She closed her eyes, feeling sleepy, but Jenny's words brought her back to alertness. The child was back at the grave.

  "Mama, I just want you to know some things so you're not worried about us. Our new Ma is taking real good care of us. She sews just like you did and tells great stories. She's even teaching us until we can go back to school. But most of all, Ma, I want you to know that Pa is happy again."

  Abby lifted her hand to her mouth to keep from sobbing.

  Ty joined his sister at the grave. "Papa go wit cows."

  Jenny reached to pull Ty against her side. "Yep, Ma, we're doin' okay. It was a good idea for Pa to find a new Ma, so you can enjoy heaven."

  Jenny turned and grinned at Abby. Abby opened her arms and both children rushed into them. Kissing the tops of their heads, she said, "I love you both so much! Now I have the family I've always dreamed of."

  Chapter 14: Life's Twist

  Life on a ranch was always busy and even though Abby missed Brant and Luke terribly, she had no time to sit and brood. She grinned when she thought how different her life was now. She could milk a cow, collect eggs from cranky hens, tend a vegetable garden, saddle and ride a horse, shoot a gun, and a dozen other things she'd never considered before.

  Not many days before Brant was expected home, she received a visit from Mina Priestly who drove her old buckboard to the front of the cabin. Everything about Mina and her possessions reeked of old age. Nevertheless, the feisty woman pursued life with gusto.

  "Whoa, horse. Howdy, Miz Abby and youngins," she called and moved to climb off the plank seat.

  "Wait, Mina. Let me help you down. Jenny, hold Ty's hand."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  Abby rushed to the buckboard and reached to assist Mina. "It's wonderful seeing you. What brings you out this way?"

  "Just checkin' on ya. Missed ya'll at church. I know yer man's drivin' cattle and you're alone. I overcooked and brought some vittles." Mina petted Wally. "And I even got somethin' fer you, old mutt
." She walked to the other side of her buckboard and lifted a wooden box off the floor.

  "Let me get that," said Abby.

  "Thanks, honey."

  Abby said, "Jenny, take Ty with you and run in and set tins and plates on the table. Also, pull that new loaf of bread from the cupboard."

  "Okay, Mama."

  Mina grinned at Abby. "Looks like you've settled in jes fine. Not an easy thing for an eastern gal. Course, with a man as fine as Brant, that's incentive enough. Lola Pitts sure tried to reel him in. Just goes to show, beauty ain't enough. It takes character. Course you got character and you're pretty to boot. In fact, you get prettier every time I see you. Are you in the family way?" Mina held the door open so Abby could enter with the wooden box.

  "Um, no, I don't think so."

  Mina patted her hand, "Well, it won't be long. Not with a stud like Brant for a husband."

  Abby coughed. "Uh, please have a seat, Mina. Would you like coffee or tea?"

  "Coffee. Black and strong. Makes you live a long time. That's what my ma always told me and she lived into her nineties."

  Abby grabbed a potholder and poured coffee for her guest.

  Mina glanced around the cabin. "Yep, looks like yer new family agrees with you, dear. You sure got this place lookin' spiffy. Nice curtains. Isn't that the fabric from one of your fancy dresses I seen you wear to church?"

  "Yes, it is. It looks better as curtains, don't you think?"

  "Yep, looks right nice."

  For the next hour, Mina talked and Abby listened and laughed with the old woman. She told wonderful stories about her childhood and adventures settling into the wild frontier with her "no account" first husband, and then meeting the one who made her heart "patter" a year after the "no account's" death.

  "Four of my seven boys is still livin'. My girl died in childbirth and I raised her son. He's got a real nice place outside Dallas and he's always naggin' me to come live with him. I told him I'm stayin' at my place til I die. It's where my boys and husband is buried." The elderly woman got a faraway look and smiled like she was remembering something special. Softly, she said, "Yep, my memories is there."

  Mina glanced at Ty playing with his wagon. "Is the boy feelin' okay? I didn't want to say anything, but he don't seem as lively."

  Abby had noticed the same thing, but attributed it to the long walk they'd taken that morning. Now, she rushed over and picked the toddler up. He felt warm. Alarmed, she carried him back to the table. Mina reached to feel his forehead. "He's got a fever. But not a high one. Might be nothin', but I'd keep him down for a couple of days."

  "Yes, I'll do that." Abby's heart filled with worry.

  Mina said, "To make you feel better, how bout I swing by town on my way home and ask the doc to make a trip out here."

  "Oh, thank you, Mina. I'd sure appreciate that."

  The old woman's joints creaked when she stood. "I best be on my way then. Keep cool cloths on his head to bring the fever down and give him lots of ginger tea."

  "I'll do that." Abby handed Ty to Jenny and then walked outside to help Mina onto her buckboard. "Thank you, Mina, for everything."

  The old woman waved goodbye and flicked the reins of her horse.

  Abby rushed back inside and put Ty in bed, heating water for tea and wetting cloths to cool his fever.

  By evening his little body was burning hot and he became listless, often shivering. Abby prayed that the doctor would arrive soon. When she heard a horse gallop into the yard, she ran to open the door.

  "Hello, Mrs. Samson. Mina Priestly said you have a sick boy."

  "Thank you for coming. His fever has gotten worse and now he's coughing a lot. Please come in."

  The gray headed, gray bearded, kindly doctor dismounted and entered the cabin carrying his black bag and waited for Abby to lead him to his patient. She rushed to the bedroom and stood aside so the doctor could check him out. The toddler whimpered and started to cry when Doc Henry pulled out his stethoscope.

  Abby tried soothing him with words. "It's okay, sweetheart. The doctor is just going to look you over." She turned to see Jenny standing in the doorway, her eyes big and bright with fear. While the doctor distracted Ty with a little wooden toy horse he'd pulled from his bag, Abby walked over to Jenny and put her arm around her shoulders. "Jenny, why don't you brew some tea for me and Doc Henry?"

  Jenny nodded, her face ashen, and returned to the kitchen.

  Abby hovered close behind the doctor during his examination. He patted the toddler's head and motioned her to a corner of the room. Speaking low, he said, "Ty has lung congestion. It may be pneumonia. There's nothing much we can do except keep him as comfortable as possible and apply poultices. I'll return tomorrow and check on him."

  Abby's lips trembled and tears sprang to her eyes.

  "You'll have to stay strong, Mrs. Samson. Jenny needs you to stay strong."

  Abby nodded.

  Doc pulled Abby to the table and made her drink some tea with him. Patiently, he explained his treatment for the boy. After he left, Abby tucked Jenny in bed in the big bedroom and then settled into her rocking chair beside Ty, lifting him into her arms and singing softly. Wally remained vigil at the doorway.

  All night his fever raged and he became limp. Abby did everything the doctor said, trying to stay strong. Exhaustion threatened to overcome her and she prayed for Brant's soon return. The next day Jenny helped soothe Ty and when he became too weak to even cry, she whispered through tears, "Just like Mama," before running from the room.

  Doc Henry returned midmorning and also the next three days. Ty wasn't improving and he turned to Abby with sad eyes and started to say something when Jenny cried out, "Pa and Luke is home."

  Abby jumped to her feet from kneeling beside Ty's bed and ran to meet them.

  * * *

  Brant jumped off his horse, so happy to be home he wanted to kiss the ground—after he kissed Abby and the children. He noticed a horse in the corral and felt uneasy. The door burst open and Jenny ran outside, hugging his legs and crying. He knew something terrible had happened.

  "Hey baby girl, I wasn't gone that long." He knelt to hug her and looked up, waiting for Abby. The moment she stepped into the doorway, he knew his instinct was right.

  "What's–"

  Doc Henry stepped behind her and Brant's heart lunged to the ground. Not seeing his baby, he waited for the inevitable words. Abby hovered in the doorway, tears glistening in her eyes.

  "I'm glad you're home, Brant," said Doc. Ty's got pneumonia and–"

  Brant rushed past the doctor and Abby. In the bedroom doorway he paused to compose himself. Inhaling deeply, he walked to stand over Ty before dropping to his knees and caressing his baby's burning forehead. A sob caught in his throat but he held it inside. Swallowing against his fear, he said, "Ty, son, Papa's home, and I'm not leaving. I love you. You can pull through this."

  Luke joined his father beside Ty's bed for a few minutes and then rushed from the cabin.

  Doc Henry stayed with the family the rest of the day and Ty died at dusk.

  Luke and Jenny wept openly, saying a last goodbye to their brother. Brant pulled the lifeless body to his chest, repeating the words, "I love you," over and over.

  * * *

  Abby stood behind Brant, unable to comprehend that her beloved baby was dead. "No," she whispered. And then again, "No." Unable to stop herself, she screamed, "No!" and turned and ran from the house. Over and over she screamed, "No! No! No!" while running across the yard and into the open field. She didn't care that rocks bruised her feet through the soft soles of her shoes or that shrubs tore her arms. She just ran, screaming. Suddenly vise like arms encircled her and pulled her to the ground.

  "Abby, stop before you hurt yourself," Brant yelled above her cries.

  She fought him. She fought the unseen forces of death. She fought until she could fight no more. Panting and weeping she cried, barely above a whisper, "It's my fault. I failed him. I should have taken better
care of him. I shouldn't have taken him for that long walk."

  "No, Abby. It's not your fault. You're a wonderful mother. These things happen."

  Abby refused to receive comfort from his words. It was her fault.

  Brant pulled her into a fierce hug and together they wept in the fading light of a day no parent should ever have to experience. Wally sat a short distance away watching over them.

  After a long time, her husband lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the house, laying her across their bed. She had no strength to move, not even when Doc and Brant removed her clothing and tended to her scrapes. Blessedly, the doctor gave her something that made her nightmare disappear as she drifted into a black void.

  * * *

  Brant placed a hand on Cora's arm. "Thank you for coming." He turned to the others, "Thank you Mina, Lita, Neal, Pastor, Miz Merriweather."

  The women had prepared Ty's body for burial and the funeral was to be held that night. He'd said his final goodbye to his son after the ladies had dressed the baby in his little suit. He had no more tears to shed and felt as dead as his baby.

  Excusing himself, he entered his bedroom, closing the door and sitting on the bed. Abby hadn't awakened since Doc Henry had given her laudanum the night before. He was so tired. Lying beside her, he pulled her into his embrace and drifted into a restless sleep. Later, when shadows slanted through the window, he opened his eyes to his waking nightmare. Glancing at Abby, he saw her staring at the ceiling. Reaching to caress her cheek, he said, "I'm here for you, honey."

  She turned her head aside and didn't respond.

  Brant didn't remove his hand. Instead, he continued stroking her face. "We're going to bury him tonight. You don't have to come if you're not up to it."

  She jerked her head toward him, her eyes glistening. "Of course I'll come."

  Slowly, like an old man, he raised himself from the bed. "I'll send Cora and Lita in to help you dress."

  As a huge sun bid goodbye to a late summer day, neighbors began arriving in buckboards. At dusk, Pastor Merriweather and Neal Brandon carried the tiny casket the ten minute walk to the oak tree where Molly was buried. Halfway there, Brant relieved Pastor Merriweather. "I'll carry him the rest of the way."