by Amelia Rose
“Brother, I have a favor to ask of you,” she said once they’d ushered Katia and her family into the elevator and to their rooms. Gretchen had stayed with them to help with Katia’s son, Nikolai, although Moira knew it had more to do with the opportunity to fawn over a babe than any offer of service.
“Ask away, little sister! I do naw have near enough chances to spoil you now that you’ve left me all alone!” he teased.
“Aye, ‘tis true, but I only left to make way for a woman who would take my place as Lady Brennan! We’ll talk about your need to find a wife soon enough,” she warned him with an ominous grin. “No, I’m speaking of Gretchen.”
“Your ladies’ maid? What of her? Is she not suited to service in this country?”
“Oh, no, that’s naw it at all. In fact, I fear ‘tis the opposite. She’s not content, I’m afeared, especially not now that I’m married and have my own child to tend. She seems… lost, I would say? When we thought this journey would take us back to Europe, she even asked about returning to Ireland instead of coming back here.”
“I see. And you wish to find her a position in my house?” he asked, concern creasing his forehead. “I have no ill-will for her at all, in fact, I owe her a debt of gratitude for seeing you safely across the ocean and all the way across this country! But I simply don’t know what ‘tis she would do if you’re not there to be kept company.”
“Well, I do naw even know if that’s what she had in her mind, but I wanted to ask you before broaching it with her. Of course, if you would hurry up and find a wife, she’s a far more than capable ladies’ maid. She was my dearest friend, I don’t know what my life would have been like without her beside me. But if the new Lady Brennan isn’t kind to her, I’ll come all the way to Brennan Castle to take my husband’s horse whip to the fine lady’s backside!”
Ronan threw back his head and laughed before putting his arm around his tiny sister’s shoulders. “I fear you’re putting things in reverse order. I’m to hire on a ladies’ maid, and then find a lady?”
“Surely there’s someone by now! ‘Tis not right that I should be married and a mother before my older brother! I left you with specific instructions to find a wife, get yourself married, and produce a pack of heirs to secure our family’s estate!” she said, wagging a finger reproachfully at Ronan. It only made him laugh even harder, and she quickly joined in.
He really is the most handsome man when he’s happy, she thought, pushing aside all the images in her mind of Ronan when he’d been angry and brooding, straining under the pressure of suddenly being thrust into his role as the lord of Brennan. Any woman would be glad of him!
“Well, I haven’t as yet said anything,” he began but stopped to look over his shoulder and make a show of peering around the corner to be sure they weren’t overheard. “But I have spoken to a young lady’s father. We’re planning the announcement for May Day.”
“Ronan! That is most wonderful! I am so happy for you! Tell me all about her!” Moira cried, talking all at once and overwhelming her brother’s attempts to explain. They carried their conversation into his rooms, where the staff had already brought tea. Moira remembered meeting the young lady at several social events, and heartily approved of his choice of a mistress for Brennan.
“But where shall you marry?” Moira asked hesitantly when she’d gotten all the details. “I mean, I know you’ll have a ceremony at Brennan, just like all of our family before us, but do you think your wife would like to honeymoon abroad? Would you come to Montana?”
“I can think of no greater adventure!” he answered joyfully before turning serious. “Which leads me to wonder if there’s not a better course of action. Why not we encourage Gretchen to return to Montana with you and Matthew, and then if she still wishes to leave one day, we will come for her when we visit after the wedding? She can simply join us on the rest of our travels before we return to Ireland to settle in.”
“That’s a fantastic idea! I’ve kept up hope that she was only feeling out of sorts by the harsh winter, that when she feels the sun on her face and the warm grass beneath her feet once again, she’ll be as happy as ever she has been. And if she’s not, I shall send her with you and the new Lady Brennan with a sore heart but my fullest blessing!”
They enjoyed the rest of the morning while waiting for Katia to catch up with her mother and sisters. Eventually, Gretchen came in to announce that Katia was going to take Nikolai for a walk to spend some time with him and that she would accompany them.
“Nonsense, the two of you with a baby? In a city such as this?” Ronan interrupted. “One of my men will accompany you.”
Gretchen seemed torn for a moment, looking back and forth between Moira and Ronan, both at one time her former employers, but only one of them now counted as her friend. She finally smiled gratefully for the offer of protection and curtsied before letting herself out of the suite.
“Oh, I don’t know that she liked that too much!” Moira said with a giggle. “Things are different between us. I no longer employ her, and I’m not Lady Brennan in this country! Well, I am, but for all the good that it matters to the fine people of Montana!”
“What do you mean?” Ronan asked with interest.
She explained to him the way of life on the homestead, detailing how they could go weeks at a time without seeing another soul. But when times were hard, there was a sense of community about the people, even though they were far flung in their own farms.
“Take that one day before our departure, by way of example. We had come into town to get word to you of our pending travels when violence broke out. We were immediately safeguarded and cared for until there was no longer a threat.”
“Hmmm, that is troubling, to be sure. Is it really so savage out there?”
“I wouldn’t say savage, I suppose, but it is certainly a different way of life. I just hope ‘tis a life that Katia enjoys as much as I have, for her sake and for Mr. Russell’s. And now for this child’s sake!”
***
“Ronan, you’ve spoiled us these three weeks!” Moira said as she hugged her brother goodbye and prepared to board the train. “It has been nothing but feasting and parties and expeditions to make more and more purchases… it was like being your treasured little sister again, I must say!”
“You are my treasured little sister, Moira, now and for always! And I will spoil you and Matthew every chance I get! Of course, we have a new bride to think of, and her family. What kind of host would I be if I did not buy some small token of congratulations to the newlyweds?”
“But a new plow and a team of horses? ‘Tis truly what you call a small token? In so, I’d be too scared to see what you consider lavish!” she said, pointing down the rail cars where the six horses were being loaded for the journey west.
“They were lying around and I didn’t have need of them,” he said, feigning disinterest as he placed a gloved hand on his chest.
“You didn’t have need of them because they were naw yours!” she said, unable to contain her laughter at her brother’s outrageous, humorous ways. “And you’ve supplied horses for Pryor, too… I hope he’s as pleased as I am.”
“I know he will be! I’ve sent a letter ahead of him asking him to breed this variety with the wild horses in Montana if he gets the opportunity. I think there’s a real market for the offspring these could produce. So you see, ‘tis not charity or lavish gifts, but a business deal. Nothing more.”
Ronan turned behind him and waved over one of his manservants. “I almost forgot to tell you the best gift. I’m giving the town of New Hope a security force to keep watch over it.”
Moira blinked in surprise. “Pardon me? How do you intend to do that?”
“This is Kieran O’Conner. I’ve cabled the land management office and told them of the new tavern and the recent troubles that have brewed there. Kieran is the new constable… I believe they refer to him as a ‘sheriff’ in those parts. He is to travel with you for your own safety, then will be
amassing a small force of able-bodied lawmen from the residents of the region.”
“Brother! Are you seriously giving us a person to take with us? You can’t go gifting people to do your bidding!”
“’Tis not a gift, after all. He’s on salary with the land bureau to protect the citizens who come west to homestead. The fact that he’s to keep an eye on my little sister is a secondary duty, one for which I pay him a small salary!” He laughed and kissed Moira on the cheek. “Now go, board your train and have yourself another adventure. I’ll see you when we travel this summer, and I’ll bring you a new sister!”
“A sister!” Moira breathed dreamily. “I’ve always wanted a sister. I can naw wait to meet her!”
She boarded the private car Ronan had secured for their journey and laughed almost immediately when she saw Gretchen lounging luxuriously on a small sofa. “Oh, Moira, can you remember back to that wretched journey we first took when there were no cars to be had? We sat upright on a hard bench for all those weeks. I thought my back would ne’er recover from it! And look at us now!”
“’Tis certainly a far different type of travel, if I say so myself. But, Gretchen, you may wish to sit up. ‘Tis only us ladies for the moment…” she answered, pointing to Katia and the three ladies in her family who were coming with them to the West. “…but there’s another fellow traveling with us—”
Gretchen yelped in surprise and sat up immediately just as a man’s shadow crossed the stairs to their car. She turned a bright pink at having nearly been caught in such a pose, but quickly locked eyes with a man so tall, he had to stoop and bend down his head to enter the car.
“Ladies, this is Kieran O’Conner. He’ll be joining us as far as New Hope. He’s hired on to be the sheriff in the town, and to restore safety to the people. Isn’t that prodigious, Gretchen?” Moira asked knowingly, taking in the way Kieran and Gretchen looked at each other.
“Kieran? ‘Tis really you?” she asked quietly, rising from the sofa and crossing the car to stand in front of him. “What happened to you? You’ve grown!”
“Aye, I have, Gretchen,” he answered, flashing a bright smile before looking away self-consciously. “I’ve been in Lord Brennan’s personal service for two years now, after finishing at the school he sent me to.”
“Lord Brennan sent you off?” she asked, confused. “I don’t understand, we all heard you’d gotten into a scrape of some kind and took off in the night.”
“Oh, the master thought that a better story than he felt sorry for me and gave me a proper education. I returned from school and have helped manage affairs in his London office, but when he heard about the recent trouble in Montana, he thought it best that I go there, at least for a while.”
“Well, I’m right glad to see you again, and to hear you’ve done so well!” she said genuinely, smiling shyly before returning to her seat. Moira stepped over to the window and looked out at her brother, then pointed behind her to Kieran with a pleased but questioning look.
Ronan simply nodded and laughed again, aware as always of his own devilish plots.
“Moira, are you certain Nathaniel won’t mind my family coming, too?” Katia asked cautiously. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder at her mother to make sure the woman didn’t catch on to her worry.
“Not at all. I’m sure Mr. Russell will be so happy to have you home that he goes straight away to building more rooms for the cabin! Now don’t worry, and just enjoy this time with your family and your little boy.” Katia smiled gratefully and took her seat near the others, taking her son from her mother’s arms and snuggling him tightly.
Moira breathed a sigh of relief to herself. She settled into one of the stuffed chairs by the window and held Matthew up to see his uncle, taking his tiny hand in hers and waving it at the last family member she had that tied her to her childhood home. This was a new world, that was for certain, and it pained her to know that Matthew may only ever know this one. She brushed aside the dark thought as the train began to roll forward, taking in one last look at her brother’s face and remembering that, at least this time, she had gotten to say goodbye.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Look! ‘Tis a whole welcome party come to greet us!” Gretchen said excitedly in Matthew’s small ear. He laughed and waved his arms at her eager voice, oblivious to the man standing on the platform watching expectantly for his wife and son, or the man beside him who stood nervously clutching his hat between his work worn hands.
“Aye, and I haven’t seen a happier sight myself over these last few weeks!” Moira said, looking for Pryor’s face and spotting him between Nathaniel and Mr. Jorgenson, who’d only come out because he’d heard the new sheriff would be arriving on the train. A look at the broken window on the depot and the chinks in the wood where bullets had ricocheted off in different directions spoke the truth: Kieran had arrived not a moment too soon.
Moira smiled broadly when Pryor could finally see her face and waved. Behind her, she heard Katia speaking rapidly to her family and pointing out the window, obviously making the most rudimentary introductions. Moira snuck a quick glance and her heart skipped as the old woman and the two sisters quickly nodded their enthusiastic approval of Nathaniel.
“As grateful as I am to Lord Brennan for arranging this passage in a carriage so fine, I must say it. I can naw wait to be off this train! My legs feel wobbly as a newborn calf like they’ll never hold me steady again!” Gretchen said, before passing Matthew back to his mother and retrieving her small travel case from the shelf. Ronan had spared no expense on the car, so the group—save for Mr. O’Conner, of course, who’d bunked with other men in second class—had simply stayed put in each town they stopped in. They’d disembarked to venture into different cities with the new sheriff as chaperone, but only if they were certain to be spending more than one night. Otherwise, they’d kept to their close quarters, sleeping, reading, eating, and even washing in the same luxurious, but too familiar car.
When the porter finally opened the door and lowered a set of steps for them to descend, it took six ladies all of their strength not to shove their way out into the bright sunshine. Nathaniel tried to remain reserved, but even he had trouble not grabbing Katia in his arms the way Pryor had already taken hold of Moira.
“And who is this?” he asked, holding tightly to Katia’s hand, even if they were in public.
“Yell, here is my mama. My sister. My sister.” She pointed to each woman in turn and pronounced each woman’s name and relationship as best she could, having passed that long days of travel working hard at her English, taking turns with Moira and Gretchen.
“Your mother?” he asked nervously, turning to Pryor. “I thought the whole point of writing off for a wife was so I wouldn’t have to put up with having her mother around!”
“Sorry, it looks like you signed up for a package deal!” Pryor said, laughing and clapping Nathaniel on the shoulder. “Let’s get the ladies’ things loaded in the wagon and head home. It’s a good thing we finished your cabin while they were gone, don’t you think?”
They had a light lunch on the grass behind Jorgenson’s shop while introductions were made. Both men took turns holding their sons, Pryor with his child and Nathaniel immediately taken with Nikolai. Gretchen had said her goodbyes to Kieran, secretly hoping they would see each other again soon, but then also said her goodbyes to Moira and Matthew.
“Katia and her family will have need of your cabin until the wedding, so I’ll stay in the spare room at the shop. Besides, it’s time I returned to my duties in the store, now that everyone seems to be settled.” Moira was ready for Gretchen’s former somber mood to return, but there was a new shine on her face that seemed to give the girl some comfort. If she’d known all it took was having a friend in town—a friend like Kieran, she surmised knowingly—she’d have written to Ronan months ago and asked him to send someone over.
When it was time to go, the whole group looked like a gypsy caravan heading away from New Hope
. The wagon was loaded with trunks and bags while Katia’s mother held both babies in her lap on the wagon seat beside Pryor. He looked over at the strange woman from time to time, meeting her gaze with an awkward smile every time.
Nathaniel and Katia rode on two of Ronan’s new horses beside the wagon, talking as best they could in a mashup of English, German, and pantomime. Moira helped out when needed, but otherwise spoke to Katia’s sisters, Elena, and Mariska, in the French they’d learned in school. The three other ladies rode the remaining horses, with the last one tied to the wagon to follow.
“Mr. Russell, I don’t think we ever decided once and for all when this wedding shall take place,” Moira called.
“What are you doing at six o’clock tonight?” he answered back, never taking his eyes of his future bride. They laughed, but she was falsely stern with him.
“And not have a chance to prepare a suitable feast first? Never! I won’t hear of it! Besides, there are wedding presents to be had in the trunks and a small trousseau for Katia. She’ll need time to arrange her new home, too. I think it best that you stay at our place for a couple of days beforehand and give these ladies a chance to get settled in their new home.”
They set a date for the following Saturday, plenty of time for sewing and cooking if they all worked together. They eventually reached the first cabin, the one that sat on Moira’s original homestead. The groups carried the trunks inside for Katia and her family, watching in surprise as her mother and sisters wept with joy at the sight of the cabin and all the land, a veritable palace compared to the cramped, smelly room they shared in the city. The four women waved from the porch as Pryor, Nathaniel, and Moira continued on.