by Annie Lane
“Yes, Mrs. Fredrick.” Alice handed across a basket full of letters. “Twice as much as there was this morning.”
“Goodness me!” gasped Mrs. Fredrick, flicking through the envelopes. “There must be another dozen requests in here. I don’t know how I’ll fill them all. Lord willing I might find the time to sit back and enjoy the spoils of my labor one of these days. Heaven knows those new curtains of mine aren’t about to hang themselves.”
She sighed and glanced around the empty post office. Her eyes lit up when she spotted an empty chair in the corner of the room and headed in that direction. “Do you mind if I open these here. I simply don’t have the strength to cart this heavy load back home with me again?”
“Certainly, Mrs. Fredrick.”
Bert chose that moment to shuffle back out from the storeroom, carrying a brown paper parcel in his hands. He let it drop onto the counter. “I finally found it Miss Beth, took me a while ... but what doesn’t these days.” He puffed out a breath of air before he glanced over at Alice. “Hope you two ladies are gettin’ to know each other alright. I got to thinkin’ just the other night that maybe you two could become friends.”
Beth was undecided for a moment. She’d only ever had one real friend before, her very best friend, Charlotte, and she wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about taking another.
From what she could tell though, Alice looked about the same age as she was and while she felt slightly disloyal in doing so, a smile grew on her face when she realized that in fact she would very much enjoy some new company and someone to speak with of current events. “I would like that very much. Perhaps we can share a picnic together on Sunday. I don’t have chores after church and the park makes a beautiful location for a bite to eat? I’m sure Mistress Belle could spare some morsels for us if you’d so please?”
“That sounds wonderful. Sunday it is then.”
Bert chuckled under his breath. “That sounds like a right fine plan.”
Beth smiled, and reached to take the parcel, but just then, Mrs. Frederick let out a whoop.
“Oh, Beth! Look! Look here!” Mrs. Fredrick’s arms began flying all about in the air and her feet tapped against the floor. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes had grown as wide as the hoop she was wearing under her flouncy skirts.
It took Beth a moment to register what was going on. What on earth could make Mrs. Fredrick suddenly squeal so loud you’d have thought she was trying to catch someone’s attention all the way over in Idaho? “It’s a letter requesting a bride, a mail order bride.”
Bert scoffed. “Surprise, surprise...”
“No, this is different. Come Beth, you simply must take a look!” She scurried across the room and waved the letter right under Beth’s nose. “They’ve asked for you personally. Miss Elizabeth Edwards – Saint Anne’s Orphanage, it says so right here. Take a look for yourself, a gentleman wants to marry you as soon as he can! What on earth are you waiting for Beth, take the letter and read it out loud!”
Chapter 6
Beth read through each and every line. Once. Twice. And then a third time just to be sure she had it all straight in her head. She was glad she was sitting down. The room was spinning all around her and if Alice wasn’t fanning her face with a folded newspaper, then she might just have fainted right there on the spot.
Mrs. Fredrick couldn’t contain herself a moment longer. “Well ... what do you think?”
“He ... he sounds wonderful,” uttered Beth in a voice that was barely audible. She clutched the letter close to her chest and held it there, like it was giving her the strength to keep talking. “I don’t quite know what to make of his offer though. I mean, I don’t even know the man. Could I be happy marrying a perfect stranger?”
“Off course you could. Please Beth, read it out loud,” Alice insisted.
Dear Miss Beth,
My name is Earl Mason Junior, but everyone calls me Junior ... which I guess makes the most sense being that I’m the littlest of all the Earls in town. I’m eight years old and I live on a cattle ranch in Conrad, Montana with my father, Earl Mason Senior. People just call him Earl, not Senior, which is kinda strange if you ask me, being that he’s the biggest of all the Earls in town, but then again ... oh, okay ... Louise just told me to get on with my story and stop wasting the nice lady’s time. She’s the Sheriff’s wife and she promised to write this letter for me on account that my writing’s real messy and you’d never understood a phrase of it.
Louise said as long as I got her a bucket full of fresh milk, so as the Sheriff might stop complaining about the sour stuff she keeps buying at the Mercantile, then she’d be glad to help. She says sometimes he can be a sorry sack of ... oh, oops ... now she’s telling me the same thing again, bout gettin’ on with my story, that is.
So, anyway, like I was saying ... my Pa would have written to you himself but he’s working so hard out in the fields that he just couldn’t find the time. It’s just the two of us these days, since my Ma went back home with Jesus a few years ago. She got real sick and then she just closed her eyes. It makes me sad that she never opened them again, but I’m doing better now and I don’t cry so much anymore.
A real nice lady by the name of Charlotte Bates lives right next door to us and she told me all sorts of great things about you. She said you were her very best friend and that she missed you very much and that you loved little boys just like me. Charlotte married Thomas in the meadow behind their house and Thomas didn’t stop smiling all day.
That’s why I’m writing to you, because my Pa still gets sad sometimes and I don’t like it when he gets sad. Pa needs a new wife to make him smile more and I need someone around who might tuck me into bed at night and mend my clothes and kiss my knee when I fall over. My Ma used to do all those things for me, but she can’t now ‘cause we put her in the ground and she can’t come back out again, at least that’s what Pa says.
My Pa is a real easy man to love and he’ll be kind to you and pay for all the food. He’s not the best cook and he’s not real clean all the time, but he gives really good cuddles and I reckon that just about makes up for everything else. He’s twenty-seven years old, got black hair, like the color of licorice, and brown eyes (like me) and a chest as big as a Brahman bull. He’s about the most handsome man in town I’d say. He’s funny too, and really smart and he’s got the best manners of any man I know. Sometimes he drinks some whisky, but that’s not very often and usually only when Thomas comes over after the auctions. But now Thomas has Charlotte, and so if Thomas comes over, then I guess Miss Charlotte will too, so at least you’ll have someone fun to play with besides me.
If you want to come live with us and be my Pa’s new wife, then please write back soon. We’ll take great care of you. We sure do look forward to hearing from you, Miss Beth, and I’m not just sayin’ that either. Conrad’s a real nice place to live and I promise I’ll be on my best behavior at all times, and if I forget, on account of me not remembering that is, then I sincerely apologize in advance.
Kind regards,
Earl Junior. (And Snog.)(And Lightning.)
Alice giggled and clapped her hands. “Now please read the letter once more. I have a favorite part already and I must hear it again. Please Beth, just one more time!”
Beth couldn’t help but find Alice’s laughter infectious and before she knew it she was giggling too. It wasn’t long before Mrs. Fredrick had joined them and soon enough the entire post office was filled with the raucous hullabaloo of the three women. They laughed so hard their sides ached and tears filled their eyes. After a few minutes they managed to calm themselves down enough so that Beth could read the letter just one more time as Alice requested.
“Oh, how lovely,” gushed Alice. “I do so enjoy the part where he calls his father handsome. What an adorable thing for a child to say. I bet he is handsome too, Beth, you must write back immediately.”
Mrs. Fredrick nodded. “And the fact that there is a child involved is just perfect for you,
it sure sweetens the deal. Not to mention the fact that Charlotte lives right next door. Can you believe your luck?”
Beth twirled around and around on the spot so fast that her skirt flew up around her ankles and her hair fell free from the pins holding it in place. She couldn’t have been happier in that moment. “I would never have picked it in a hundred years. I’ve got Charlotte, a husband and a son ... all in one day.”
“You must hurry with a reply before he changes his mind and requests someone a little older to care for the boy. The offer might not be there for long and we don’t have time to waste.” Mrs. Fredrick took Beth’s hand and led her toward the door.
But Beth paused and raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been taking care of children my entire life. I’m perfectly capable of raising one little boy. If Earl is as wonderful as Junior paints him out to be then he won’t have an issue with my age. Anyway, by the time we hear back from him again, I’ll have turned eighteen.”
“Yes, you’re absolutely right.” Mrs. Fredrick considered it to be true and felt better already about the transaction. But she wasn’t prepared to waste anymore time discussing it. There was money to be made and yards of fine, costly fabrics to be purchased. “Come on now Beth, we’ll head back to the house together for a glass of grape cider and we’ll set to writing a response out immediately.”
Beth’s heart filled with joy as she gathered up her packages, bid a fond farewell to Alice, promising to visit before next Sunday and followed Mrs. Fredrick outside into the brisk afternoon air. Before she knew it, she was perched on the very edge of Mrs. Fredrick’s expensive damask wingback, sipping grape juice from a crystal tumbler and writing about herself as well as she could. When she was finished, Beth handed the letter back to Mrs. Fredrick and sighed thoughtfully, knowing the next set of hands to touch the paper would be those of her future husband. “Is that all for now?”
“Yes, I’ll get this back in the mail tomorrow. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
“I wish I could contact Charlotte and let her know I plan on moving to Conrad, but I don’t have her new address. I was waiting on her to write first. Oh, well, never mind, it will be a wonderful surprise. I can’t believe she spoke so highly of me and now this man has asked for me personally to become part of his family.”
Mrs. Fredrick smiled, delighted with the matching. “You’ll make a beautiful bride, my dear. I can just see it now. With your peaches and cream complexion and your silky red hair, you’ll look simply divine covered from head to toe in the finest satin and lace.”
Inspiration struck in that moment and her thoughts suddenly turned to the cedar dowry box sitting at the end of her bed where — stored away amongst layers of tissue paper — was the very wedding dress she’d worn herself some twenty years back.
“Come along now Beth, I have something I’d like to show you upstairs. It might be just the thing ... yes, oh yes I think it’ll be absolutely perfect.”
Chapter 7
Henry Calhoun gulped his milk and then thumped the glass down on the table once he was done, satisfied as any man could be. “Make sure to thank Earl next time you see him, won’t you Louise? This stuff is liquid gold.”
“Yes, Henry.” Louise poured out a second cup for herself and settled down beside her husband for breakfast. The bacon she’d fried up was swimming all about her plate and while she knew it wasn’t entirely good for her health, it sure was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted and she sunk her teeth into the crispy rind, closing her eyes and chewing contently. “I will indeed, I will indeed.”
Louise had been acting strange lately, always disappearing at the most inopportune times and whispering with that Mason boy when she thought no one else was watching, but since Henry had been the Sheriff of Conrad for a good quarter of a century, and a mighty fine one too, there was not much that slipped by him.
It was certainly no coincidence that Conrad had the lowest crime rate in all the territory. Henry was renowned for his sharp mind and steady trigger finger and there wasn’t a man around those parts that thought better of taking their chances against Henry Calhoun. It was a foregone conclusion who’d come off second best. If it wasn’t for those fool hardy Clarkson brothers looking to rumble outside the saloon late one night a few weeks back, then Henry might have laid claim to not one single arrest all year.
But they had, and he didn’t care for it one little bit, tarnishing his reputation and all.
Henry had suspected trouble that night, and when Henry had a hunch that a mess was brewing, Henry was always right. Two drunken bodies, swinging and missing and stumbling and cussing each other in the least of brotherly fashions, was the scene that met him when he wandered across the street and inspected the dark alley behind the saloon, for no other reason than that funny feeling churning around deep inside his gut.
Of course Henry was right and he had the pair of idiots cuffed and locked away behind bars before either one of them knew which way was up.
So when that same feeling started rumbling around inside him again, he sat suspiciously across from his wife, watching her closely. Louise wasn’t duping him for a second. His next sentence wasn’t really a question, more a statement of plain and simple facts. “You’re up to something.”
Louise’s eyes sprung open and her mouth stopped moving. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Better not be illegal, that’s all I’m sayin’. A man sure can’t testify against his own wife, but if push comes to shove I won’t be held accountable if you’re breaking the law.”
Louise flicked her tongue behind her teeth and wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “Oh, get away with you, breaking the law my gum boot! I ain’t breaking anything.” Her expression softened and she winked over at her husband. “Other than a few hearts perhaps ... I’ve just been helping Junior with a project, that’s all, and I’m just as excited by the outcome as he is.”
“Fair enough,” said Henry, scraping his seat back against the floor as he stood. He knew his wife’s gestures inside and out, and while she screamed guilty as sin to his trained eye, he also knew that she had the biggest heart of just about anyone else around, so whatever it was that she was up to must have been for a good reason and he figured he ought to just mind his own business.
He leaned over and kissed her cheek before he headed for the station. “Have a good day, my love. Keep safe.”
Chapter 8
Louise was busily sorting through the mail a few weeks later when the most pleasing of things caught her eye – Elizabeth Edward’s full name scribbled right there on the back of an envelope. She spun it around in her hands and lifted it to the light in the hope she might catch a few words. The letter was addressed with equal billing to both the Mason men, so the instant the school bell rang, Louise was out the door and racing along the sidewalk past Doc Lawson’s office and headed for the playground.
Mabel Clay’s inquisitive eyes met hers only briefly through the lace curtains, but Louise didn’t pause long enough to feel even the slightest bit of remorse for not paying her regards. She just kept rushing toward the white picket fence on the outskirts of town.
Panting and breathless and seriously thinking about how much of that doggone bacon she’d consumed lately, it didn’t slow her down none, and with each determined step she found herself closer to catching the boy before he headed home for the afternoon. Things were far too exciting to leave it wait until morning.
Louise stopped just short of the gate and waved her arm. “Junior! Oh, Junior!”
Junior’s face split into a wide grin when he spotted her. There was only one good reason he could think of why Mrs. Calhoun would be at the school at this time of day and he scurried across the road, eager to hear of whatever news she’d received. “Open it, Mrs. Calhoun, read the letter to me. What does Beth say?”
In less than a heartbeat Louise had the envelope torn open and was snapping the pages out between her fingertips and shaking with anticipation,
Dear Mr. Mason,
Thank you so much for your kind offer of marriage. You have no idea how happy you have made me and I look forward to getting word from you in regard to my travel arrangements. Being that I turn eighteen in a few weeks, your timing couldn’t have been more perfect. As you can imagine, being that I was raised in an orphanage, I don’t have a lot of material possessions which means I can come as soon as you send for me.
I can cook and clean and I’m very handy with a needle and thread, so I will happily take over all the wifely duties and help raise your son with all the love and attention he deserves. Every child needs a mother in their life, and while I know I‘ll never replace the special woman who brought him into the world, I will happily fill that role until he’s a grown man ... and most likely long after that too.
Family is the most important thing in the world to me. I’ve spent years dreaming of the day when I might have one of my very own, so I can’t thank you enough for wanting me to be a part of yours. I hope to hear from you again soon,
I wait in anticipation,
Kind regards,
Miss Elizabeth Edwards (Beth).
Junior couldn’t hide his delight and he felt a swell in his chest with the victory. Everything Charlotte had told him about Beth was true. She was a kind, loving person and she wanted nothing more than to be part of his family. If the truth be told, he couldn’t believe his plan had actually come together. He’d set a lot of schemes brewing in his time, most of which amounted to zilch, but this one was something else entirely. “What do we do now, Mrs. Calhoun?”
Louise wanted to linger a while over the finer details and make the preparations clear in her head, but when she looked up and caught the front of Earl’s wagon traveling toward them, she panicked. There just wasn’t enough time to go into specifics.