Sorcha: Clover Springs Mail Order Brides

by Rachel Wesson

  He’d missed the ceremony. Embarrassed, he turned to his wife and kissed her lightly on the lips. The contact sent shudders through him, the heat sending waves of warmth through his body. Surprised at his reaction, he noted a similar response in her eyes. The chemistry between them sent sparks flying. He was torn between wanting to push her away and pulling her into his arms to deepen the kiss. He forced himself to do neither. His life was complicated enough without falling for the child at his side. Child? Who are you kidding? She may be young but she was all woman. He hadn’t been blind to the lovely figure hidden behind her pretty shawl but awful dress.

  Pushing all thoughts aside, he thanked the Reverend. Picking up Meggie, he turned to Sorcha and suggested they head home. His tone was gruff causing her eyes to widen. He wasn’t angry with her but with himself. He had no right to be thinking of her the way he had.

  “Now?”

  “I have chores to do and the children are hungry.” He tried hard to mellow his tone. “I will bring you back to town on Sunday if you want to visit with your friends a little.”

  Sorcha didn’t answer. She removed her shawl and handed it to Katie Sullivan, giving her a quick hug. She also hugged Mary and Ben. After nodding to the Sullivan’s, Brian reached for Jenny’s hand as he walked out of the church with his new wife trailing behind him.

  Chapter 16

  By the time he settled Meggie in the wagon, Sorcha was on the seat waiting for him. She stared straight ahead, her back ramrod straight. They rode home in silence. He glanced at her a couple of times but she said nothing. Just sat there chewing nervously on her lip. He should say something to ease her mind but what? What could he say to make this stranger feel better?

  “This here is the start of my…our land, the house is over that rise. The cottonwoods are blocking our view but you will see it shortly.”

  He saw her squinting into the distance. She was a brave woman coming all this way to live among strangers. He resolved to make sure she never regretted coming to Clover Springs. Keep your distance and she will be safe.

  “What is the big red building? Have you two houses?”

  Her question interrupted his thoughts.

  “That’s the barn where I do most of my work. I built it a little way back from the house. That way if I have to work through the night, I don’t disturb Abby… I mean the girls”

  Why did he have to mention Abby? Sorcha didn’t seem to notice as she continued to stare at the barn. “There is a small yard outside where the horses can exercise as they get better.”

  “What do you work at? Are you a horse rancher?”

  Brian tried not to roll his eyes. How wealthy did she think he was? She was in for a shock. “I’m a farrier.” At her rather blank expression, he explained. “I look after horse’s hooves.”

  “Ah, so that’s what happened your hands.” She giggled as he stared first at his hands and then back at her. “Sorry, I laugh when I’m nervous. I noticed the scars and my imagination ran away with me. The nuns were always telling me I was too much of a dreamer.”

  He liked listening to her talk, her accent was very soft.

  “We call people like you blacksmiths.”

  He smiled at her. “I guess you could have called me a blacksmith when I first started out. But my work now has little to do with making the shoes or fixing tools. I do sometimes but generally I let Frank do that work.”

  “So if Frank makes the shoes, what do you do?”

  “You can’t just shove a shoe on a horse. Or at least a decent horse owner wouldn’t do that. You have to make sure it fits properly. Horses are like humans. Their hooves are all different sizes and they can develop bumps and lumps just like us.”

  “Pa speaks to horses. He thinks they can speak back.” Jenny said. Brian glanced behind him to see her eyes rolling upwards.

  “Horses don’t speak, but they do communicate, Jenny. They can tell you when they are happy, sad or sick. You just need to listen to them.”

  “It sounds like you love your animals.” Sorcha said as her cheeks pinked.

  She was shy and he had almost dragged her out of her wedding. What sort of idiot would she think he was?

  “You can trust a horse. Treat it right and it won’t turn on you. Bit like dogs. No such thing as a bad dog, just poor owners.”

  “They didn’t have any pets at the orphanage.” Sorcha shrugged but he’d noticed her mouth grew tight anytime she mentioned the orphanage. She must have been desperate to leave if she came all this way to marry a stranger with two young ones.

  “There were always cats but the children were discouraged from feeding them. A fat cat didn’t make a good rat catcher.”

  “I would like to have a horse ranch someday.” Brian surprised himself by admitting his dream. “But for now, I just fix them up and send them back. I haven’t been working as often as I should what with the girls and everything.”

  “I can look after the girls now.”

  “Thanks.” Brian pulled up outside a small house. “I will take the wagon back to the barn. See you for dinner.”

  “You mean you are not coming inside with us?”

  “No, Jenny can show you where everything is. Make yourself at home. If you do go for a walk, stay away from the long grass.”

  “Why?” Sorcha looked at the acres of long grass, a curious look on her face. He’d expected her to be frightened.

  “Snakes, that’s why.” Jenny said jumping out of the wagon, her tone suggesting Sorcha was stupid.

  Sorcha grabbed her skirt closer. “Snakes? Are they dangerous?”

  Brian laughed but quickly turned it into a cough at the look in her eyes. “Sorry, but you don’t have to be scared of snakes in the wagon. They hide in the grass. Snakes don’t like us any more than we like them. Most aren’t too dangerous although they can give you a nasty bite.”

  “You’ll hear the rattlers.”

  “That’s enough Jenny.” Brian focused on Sorcha who now looked terrified. “You just need to be sensible. Don’t go walking in the long grass. Don’t put your hand anywhere without looking first. If you do hear a rattle, step away slowly.”

  Sorcha gulped, balling her fists by her side. “Sorcha, please don’t fret. We’ve lived here a long time and never been bothered by snakes. That’s not about to change.”

  She didn’t say anything and was still pale but she sat up straighter in the wagon. He jumped down and walked around to her side. She lifted her skirts as he helped her, marveling as his hands almost enclosed her tiny waist. She was way too skinny to be healthy. Last thing he needed was a sick wife. Jenny helped Meggie down. His neck heated as he realized he was still holding Sorcha. He coughed and moved away quickly. “Jenny, help your Ma. I will be back later.” He climbed back up onto the wagon and clicked the reins.

  Chapter 17

  Sorcha stood staring as his retreating back. He wasn’t serious, was he? Was he playing some sort of joke? She hoped so and waited a couple more seconds. But the wagon disappeared around the back of the barn. She touched a finger to her lips remembering the sensations his kiss had evoked. She’d never been kissed before. Would he kiss her again later?

  She twisted her fingers in the silver cross necklace. It made her feel safe. Granny said nothing bad would happen if she wore it close. But she’d been wearing it the day granny died. Sorcha screwed her eyes shut to sever that line of thought. That road only led to pain.

  Jenny and Meggie ran around the yard chasing some squawking chickens. The noise intruded on her daydreaming. Opening her eyes, she stared around her. She searched the ground looking for snakes but didn’t see anything. He said they hide in the long grass, stupid!

  In her dreams, she assumed she would live on a ranch like the one Mary described in her letters. She hadn’t imagined living somewhere so small and so far from the nearest house. It’s better than the orphanage, isn’t it?

  “Meggie’s hungry. That’s why she’s crying.” The sharp tone and the look the child sent her d
idn’t hide her feelings. She hated her.

  “Jenny, I will need you to help me. Everything is so new. You are a big girl and I bet you can show me how to make things just the way your Pa likes.”

  Slightly disconcerted by the sudden smile on the young girls face, she dismissed it. An accommodating child was better than the sulky one who had accompanied them home.

  Pushing open the door, they went inside the house. Her feet stuck to the kitchen floor. Looking around her, she surveyed the mess. The sink was full of dirty breakfast dishes, the fat congealing on top of the cold water. At first glance the table seemed clean enough although the colorful cloth would benefit from a good wash. The benches either side of the table needed a good scrubbing. Everywhere else was covered in a layer of grime. It looked like nobody had cleaned for weeks.

  “I take it your Pa isn’t big on housework?”

  “Cleaning the house is my job not Pa’s. But you wouldn’t know that, would you? You never lived in a house before.”

  Sorcha gripped the edge of the table. The child was asking for a slap. “Of course I lived in a house. Only it was much bigger than this and had lots more people.” Jenny opened her mouth but before she could say anything, Sorcha intercepted her. “Right, let’s get a hurry on. I will make something quick to eat but first can you show me around so I can find everything please.”

  Jenny grudgingly gave her a guided tour leaving her Pa’s bedroom until last. “This is Pa’s room. I suppose you best leave your things in there.”

  The main bedroom had a pretty quilt covering a feather mattress. The window was dressed with matching curtains. Brian’s first wife must have been good at sewing. She didn’t want to dwell on the woman she had replaced. She put her satchel on the floor beside the closed trunk at the foot of the bed, grabbed an apron from a hook on the wall and returned to the kitchen.

  Meggie’s cries were becoming louder. Sorcha picked up two relatively clean cups and filled them with milk. There was some rather hard bread on the counter top. It looked ok. She cut it and spread some jam on top before handing it out to the girls. She would find the butter later. For now, it was more important to stop Meggie crying. She didn’t want Brian to come back and think she couldn’t cope.

  “Any suggestions on what I cook for dinner?” Sorcha had a quick look through the kitchen cupboards but there was little to choose from. Her new husband wasn’t the best homemaker.

  “Pa loves roast chicken. I haven’t been able to make it for him but you could, couldn’t you?”

  “Sure, love, but a full chicken on a week day?”

  “Pa was going to kill it ready for roasting but we were running late and didn’t want to miss the train. Come on, I’ll show you.”

  Picking up Meggie, Sorcha followed Jenny outside to the chicken coop.

  “Ever killed a hen?” The look on Jenny’s face it was easy to see she believed Sorcha to be useless.

  You little madam, you are not going to get the best of me. Handing Meggie to Jenny, Sorcha picked up a large axe dragging it behind her. It was heavy. Please let me kill it quick. Amazing herself as much as the other girl, she caught and quickly killed the hen Jenny had chosen. She was delighted by the look of surprise on the children’s faces. “Where I came from, there’s not much time for sitting around looking pretty.”

  Jenny looked her up and down. “Good job really.”

  Sorcha took a deep breath staring after the girl who was walking back toward the house. She couldn’t have meant it the way it came across. She was only nine.

  Chapter 18

  Pushing her growing doubts about whether she would ever love her new stepdaughter, Sorcha held the chicken tighter. She quickly pulled out some feathers and took it back into the kitchen. It couldn’t be that hard to roast it. She had seen Cook put chickens in the oven on a Sunday.

  She knew how to set and light the fire in the stove, making sure the oven was hot before placing the chicken inside. Then she cleared up the dishes, prepared some vegetables and potatoes. She beat up a batch of biscuits. They would help the food stretch to provide enough for tomorrow’s lunch.

  Sorcha sang as she worked. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all. Jenny helped her around the house. She seemed rather clumsy but hopefully that was just a phase. But after one too many spills, Sorcha told her to take Meggie out to play. It was easier to do the chores herself rather than have to do them over again.

  After a while, the girls came in saying they were hungry and cold. “What’s that horrible smell?” Jenny wrinkled her nose as she looked toward the stove.

  “I don’t know. There might have been something on the floor of the stove. I didn’t have time to clean it out properly.” Sorcha knew by the look on Jenny’s face she wasn’t convinced. It couldn’t be anything else. Roast chicken didn’t smell like that.

  She gave them a couple of warm biscuits and told them to go play outside. She kept the door open to help dispel the smell. Jenny was right, it was awful.

  She moved to the door to get away from the stench. Watching the girls playing together gave Sorcha hope. Jenny played so nicely with her little sister. If she tread carefully, maybe she could win the young girl over.

  Despite the smell in the kitchen, Sorcha was relatively pleased. The little house was cleaner than it had been. It wasn’t perfect. The windows needed cleaning and there were no curtains in the main rooms. She would have to talk to Mary. She didn’t know how to make new curtains.

  She had changed the sheets on the main bed – the ones on it would have walked off by themselves had she left them there any longer. The girls shared a room off the kitchen. The sheets on their beds seemed clean. Sorcha decided they could wait another day or two. There was only so much she could do before Brian came home. She didn’t have time for laundry today but would do it tomorrow. She hated washing clothes, her skin reacted so badly to the soap.

  Laura used to tease her saying she must have been a real Lady in a prior life. Tears threatened thinking of the friend back in Boston. She had promised to write as soon as she was married. Smiling ruefully, she remembered the romantic wedding she’d told Laura she would miss. She’d never dreamed her wedding day would consist of a hurried ten minute service with no music or flowers, followed by a wagon trip to a small house miles from anywhere. Think of Mr. Shepherd. Count your blessings.

  Chapter 19

  Her hands sweated as the time raced by. All too soon, she heard the girls calling his name. Glancing in the mirror, she caught her reflection. Her flushed cheeks and unkempt hair didn’t encourage confidence. She looked a sight and didn’t feel much better. The smell from the oven was making her eyes water. There wasn’t time to do anything though as the door opened and he walked in.

  “Evening. I hope the girls behaved.” He took a step back. “What is that awful smell?”

  Sorcha ignored the comment about the smell, thinking it best to give him good news. “Yes, they did. Jenny helped me with the chores before looking after Meggie. Are you hungry?”

  “I was starving but…well, I don’t mean to be rude but what exactly are you cooking?”

  “Roast chicken. I think there may have been something stuck to the oven. Cook’s never smelt like this.”

  “On a week night?”

  Sorcha stammered. “I thought it was your favorite meal?”

  “I tried to tell her, Pa, but she wouldn’t listen. It was our best egg layer too.” Jenny’s tone was pitying.

  Sorcha took a step back at the angry look on her husband’s face. What had she done? “I’m so sorry. I just wanted to make a good impression. It’s our wedding day, after all. I haven’t ever had my own house. I …” Sorcha stopped as he continued to stare at her, a funny look in his eyes.

  “Sorcha, did you clean the chicken?”

  “Of course, I cleaned it. I took the feathers off and….” She stopped as he started to laugh or was it cry. There were tears rolling down his face.

  “I don’t see what is so funny.”

>   He didn’t answer her but went to the stove, opened it and pulled the foul smelling roast out. He opened the back door.

  “Open the windows and the front door. Girls, go outside now. Sorcha, bring whatever food you have and a blanket. We will eat under the big tree.” Everyone stared at him. “Move unless you want to sleep with this stink.”

  The girls scrambled to obey him as he walked off with the roasting pan.

  “Pa is real angry. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes later.” Jenny said, grinning widely.

  “That’s a horrible thing to say.”

  “Maybe but it’s true.” The girl ran off leaving Sorcha standing there with tears running down her face. She still wasn’t sure what she had done wrong. But it was all a big mess. She plated up the rest of the meal and carried it out to the tree. Jenny had set a blanket on the ground. “Picnic.” Meggie lisped beaming.

  Sorcha watched Brian walking back. Her heart beat faster as she clenched and unclenched her fingers. Would he send her back? You are married now. But he could divorce you.

  “Mr. Petersen.” At the look he gave her, she stuttered. “Brian, I’m sorry. I don’t understand what went wrong. Cook made it look so easy.”

  “Thank you for the effort, Sorcha. Jenny, take Meggie over to the pump and wash your hands. I want a word with your Ma.”

  “She’s not my Ma.”

  Before anyone could react, Jenny was gone, leaving Meggie behind her. Sorcha moved to follow

  “Leave her.”

  “But she’s upset.”

  “She’s my daughter. I said, leave her. Sit and eat.”

  Sorcha sat but didn’t make any attempt to start eating.

  “I appreciate it’s your first day here and we have to get to know one another. I assume you didn’t decide which hen to kill?”

  Sorcha shook her head.

  “I thought so. Jenny will come round in time. You’re the adult and you have to set the example. Surely you know people like us don’t sit down to roast dinners during the week?”