Annie: A Bride For The Farmhand - A Clean Historical Western Romance (Stewart House Brides Book 3)

by Charity Phillips

  Tentatively, Zelda approached Nessie, sitting down on the short stool and easing the bucket under the cow. Nessie let out a curious moo but behaved herself for once and didn’t try to kick as Zelda gently and slowly milked her. A smile of triumph appeared on her face. “Good girl,” she said softly as she petted the cow.

  When the bucket was full of sweet-smelling milk, Zelda stood up again and patted Nessie’s brown flank. “Good girl,” she repeated as if the cow would say “thank you” in response.

  “Now was that so bad?” Zelda’s mother asked her, hands on hips, as she came back into the house.

  Zelda was still smiling. She shook her head and carefully set the bucket down on the floor at her mother’s feet. “She was calm today. It was a good day for milking.”

  “Good,” her mother said. “Well, go and get your breakfast before you go back out again. Your brothers have been threatening to eat it all morning.”

  Zelda gratefully turned and went further into the little house, finding her siblings at the dining table, laughing and arguing over their bowls of grits and their plates of eggs. She served herself up some from the dishes in the center of the table and sat down next to her sister Hattie. She was closest to this sister in more ways than just her current proximity. Harriet “Hattie” Hughes was eighteen and had been like Zelda’s shadow her whole life. She had the same honey hair, though hers had bits of amber in it. Her eyes were the same shade of green, but they didn’t work as well and therefore she had to wear glasses.

  Her brothers, Neil and Daniel, followed in equally quick succession. Zelda thought the sixteen-year-old Neil was the most annoying, ill-mannered person in the world but her mother attributed it to his age. “You were like that when you were six and ten,” she told Zelda. “He’ll grow out of it, same as you… Just maybe not as soon.” She had winked at her at that.

  Last but not least came Zelda’s sister, Pepper. She was twelve years old and had the red hair of the Irishmen that the Hughes family descended from all of those years ago. Pepper was smart and good-natured, and probably the hardest worker of all of Zelda’s siblings, Zelda included. If any one of them was to continue working the family’s farm after their parents, it would probably be Pepper. Her heart was fully invested in it and she loved the outdoors with a passion.

  “How’s Nessie?” Hattie asked her pleasantly.

  “In a much better mood today,” Zelda replied before taking a generous bite of her hot grits. “I wonder if she gets lonely in the barn. Maybe that’s why she’s so grumpy.”

  “I think it might be the sight of your face,” Neil said, smirking as he ate his eggs.

  Zelda glared at him. “Well, if you tried to lay a hand on her, she would trample you. Cows can be temperamental. I sometimes think Nessie can read minds.”

  “Animals can understand emotions,” Pepper chimed in. “Maybe Nessie can tell that you’re scared of her, so she feels scared, too. She can’t express it gently, so she lashes out.”

  That made sense to all of them. “Wow, I’d never thought of that before,” Neil said. Even he was impressed. “So you should stop being so fearful of her, Zelda. You’re scaring the poor thing!”

  She stuck her tongue out at her insolent brother and went back to focusing on her food. As soon as she was done eating her breakfast, she brought her used dishes out to the well behind the farmhouse, rinsed them and then brought them back inside for her mother to clean more thoroughly later. She then ventured back out into the fields to work on her next set of tasks for the day.

  Once the chickens were fed and the cows and horses were given their oats, Zelda searched around the barn, making a little chitter sound that she hoped would make the cat appear. Genie was a feral white cat. She was scrawny and missing one of her eyes, but she was a wonderful hunter of mice. The one bright green eye that she did have must’ve been magical somehow. Zelda felt the closest to her, of all the animals on the farm. “Here you are, Miss,” she said softly, placing some scraps of chicken and pork that hadn’t been used in the last night’s family meal onto the straw-covered ground in front of the cat.

  The cat let out a contented meow and ate, allowing Zelda to pet her. The feeling of the soft fur was soothing against Zelda’s fingertips. She envied Genie’s ability to leave the farm and explore at will whenever she wanted to. It was her home as much as it was Zelda’s, but she chose to come back to it every day. Zelda wasn’t sure what she might do if she was able to go away from the farm and create a new life for herself. She didn’t think she would ever want to return. She loved her siblings and her parents very much, of course, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was destined for something more and that God had special plans for her future.

  Chapter Two

  Ogden, Utah wasn’t a very populous city. Most of the men and women who traveled to the west in search of riches and prosperity continued on to California or Washington, places that were near the ocean and known for resources such as gold and solid lumber. Zelda often thought that her father had intended to continue on the rest of the way, where more people and excitement could be found, but he never discussed it.

  “This is where we’re meant to be,” he told her in response to the question. “We don’t need gold to be happy. We’ve got each other.”

  Zelda thought that surely had to be a lie.

  One fine day, a man came to their front door, carrying some newspapers. “Have you heard?” he asked her father excitedly. “They’re going to join the railways just a half a day’s journey from here in Promontory!” He held up a newspaper so Mr. Hughes could see it.

  Zelda was standing behind him, in the living room. She was supposed to be getting the washing organized there on the couch for her mother to collect and clean, but she was compelled to stay and listen over her father’s shoulder. Giddiness swelled in her heart and she grinned from ear to ear.

  “What do we need the railway for?” her Father asked grouchily, informing Zelda at once with his tone that he didn’t like the idea as much as she did… Nowhere near as much. “Folks can come here by wagon train if they want to. This is a quiet little town. We don’t need outsiders coming through and stirring things up.”

  “But sir, they’ve already begun,” the man said as he handed off the newspaper and departed.

  Ralph Hughes glanced over the newspaper’s headline for a few moments with disgust and contempt. He then did his best to ball it up as he closed the front door and returned inside to go about his usual evening business.

  “Oh, Papa,” Zelda said then, smiling a little to perhaps soften the potential blow, “may I see that?”

  “Now don’t you start having wild fantasies about the railroad,” he said as he handed it over to her. “We have been here since 1850 when you were twelve months old, and we’re not about to go anywhere else.”

  What Zelda’s papa said was ultimately final, being that he was the head of the household and her father… But she often thought that his reasoning was a bit too extreme and short-sighted. “Well, surely we’re not all seven of us to stay here together forever!” she declared, looking at the photograph in the newspaper, of a crew of men laying rails in the Utah Territory.

  “You will until I say you won’t,” her papa replied. “That is until you’re good and married to a decent fella who lives here in Ogden.”

  Zelda cast her eyes downward. “The day that I get married to a man from Ogden is the day Neil strikes gold from within his rock collection.”

  With that, she left the room, carrying the newspaper with her.

  There was no doubt about it; Zelda was sheltered. All of her life had been spent with her family, working for and alongside them, learning her school lessons with them. The only friends she had were the ones here with her in the house. She wasn’t sure what she hoped to find elsewhere, but she thought that the railway being built near their tiny town would at the very least offer some fresh faces from time to time.

  She brought the newspaper with her into Hattie’s
room. Hattie would understand better than anyone else. “Look what’s being built just a half day’s journey away,” Zelda said, laying the paper flat out onto her sister’s desk and pointing. “Papa is unhappy, so we mustn’t talk about it around him, but just look! Imagine all the good that can come to us from this!”

  Hattie eyes quickly scanned the newspaper photographs and headline and her mouth stretched into a wide grin. “This is wonderful! We’ll be able to travel when we want to!”

  Zelda nodded. “And even more than that, perhaps. This will bring others here. Papa was just telling me that he didn’t want any of us to ever leave here. Well, now we won’t have to in order to meet some new people. They will be so close! Surely some will want to make their roots here.”

  Hattie wasn’t so sure about that. “I don’t know, Zelda. It might be that, as with the wagon trains, they simply pass through this area on their way to glory further west.”

  Zelda pouted and sank down onto Hattie’s bed. “You sound like Papa. Surely there must be some folks out there who want to stay here in the Utah Territory. The land is fertile, the temperatures are mild enough…”

  “I don’t think the environment is the issue,” Hattie replied. “The men who come west are seeking a life of instant wealth and success. Working the land like we do… Well, it hasn’t brought Father much wealth, that’s for sure.”

  “Well, I refuse to believe that all men want only gold and riches,” Zelda concluded, taking back her newspaper. “Somewhere out there, there must be at least one man who wants a simpler life. A life that brings much richer rewards than just money.”

  She took the paper with her into her bedroom, whereupon she sat on her bed and pored over the article, reading it over and over as if she was attempting to memorize it. Expansion! She didn’t see how progress could be a bad thing.

  Chapter Three

  The change in seasons and temperatures signaled the coming of Christmas. The Hughes family, being Irish Catholics, devoted months to the preparations for the holiday. The arrival of rail workers in Utah wasn’t going to change that. Zelda had a feeling, though, that this Christmas was going to be different whether her parents liked it or not.

  She, Hattie and their mother went into the center of town to visit the general store for a few necessities. How strange, she remarked to herself. Visiting this place used to be the most exciting outing I could imagine… The town proper of Ogden didn’t boast much. There were a few shops, a granary, a couple saloons, and a small mail office with a staff of one.

  As they were young ladies, the saloons were more or less off limits to Zelda and her sister. Their mother would never even think to venture into them, but Zelda was curious about what they might contain. Standing beside her sister while their mother haggled for a bucket of grain, she eagerly watched the wooden double doors in front of the saloon across the road. Occasionally, a loud sound of breaking glass would emanate from inside that mysterious fortress. “It sounds more like there are beasts in there than men,” Hattie remarked under her breath.

  “It’s probably because it’s the only place to find any fun around here,” Zelda whispered back.

  As soon as those words left her lips, the ground rumbled beneath their feet. Mrs. Hughes stopped talking to the general store clerk and focused on the commotion outside just as the girls did. Zelda held fast to Hattie’s hand. Was this an earthquake?

  Suddenly, a train of white covered wagons kicking up dust and dirt came barreling down the road. The one that was second to last in the row stopped in front of the saloon as the other ones continued on past, heading onward to the western coast most likely. Zelda kept her green eyes fixed on the wagon that had stopped. There was a gentleman about her father’s age in the front seat, driving the horses. Beside him, there was a woman – his wife, surely. She was just about to approach them and offer them greetings when another covered wagon slowly ambled into view. This wagon stopped directly behind the first.

  With a pang, Zelda noticed that the driver of this wagon was a young man of about her age. He had the same shaggy brown hair of the man from the first wagon and she surmised that he was the elder man’s son.

  Beside him was another woman, again younger than the first, with golden locks and blue eyes. She was a pretty little thing. Zelda wondered if she was the young bride of the wagon driver to her left. The prospect of a new friend was an exciting one! She had to say something to them at once!

  Letting go of Hattie’s hand, Zelda stepped away from the shop front and crossed the dirt road to the covered wagons. The men climbed out of their seats and tied off their horses in front of the saloon. The ladies looked around, admiring the town and fanning themselves with their hands. For a moment, Zelda didn’t know which person she should first approach. The elder gentleman seemed to be in charge, so she went to him.

  “Hello,” she said brightly. “I hope I’m not intruding. I just thought I’d come over and welcome you to Ogden.” She smiled at the man.

  He was tall with a broad chest and tanned skin from weeks in the sun, no doubt. He looked at Zelda with piercing brown eyes that glowed in the sun like copper. He was a handsome man, with a kind face. “Thank you,” he said good-naturedly. “I’m Thomas Cooke, and this is my family.” He offered his hand to Zelda.

  She gladly shook it, feeling much more like a respected adult than she usually did. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cooke. My name is Zelda Hughes. And that’s my mother Mrs. Emma Hughes and my sister Harriet.” She gestured a hand in the direction of the introduced.

  Mr. Cooke smiled a friendly smile. “This is my wife Virginia in this carriage here, and in the carriage yonder is my daughter Diana. Where in the blazes is Tom Jr.?” He suddenly looked around before realizing that the young man was at the back of the wagon, fussing with some of the objects that it held.

  “Tom!” the father bellowed. “Stop messing with that and come meet your new neighbor!”

  Setting things back down in the wagon, the young man shuffled forward, hands in the pockets of his trousers. He was a hair or two taller than his father, and his eyes were an interesting hazel color – a mix of moss green and muddy brown. Zelda found his appearance quite striking and blushed in spite of trying with all her might to keep things laid back and jovial. What were the chances that a man her age should come to town right as she was beginning to feel so restless with the same faces and places?

  “Hello,” she said, batting her lashes at him. She felt glad that her sister was not nearer – or, even worse, her brothers. They would definitely tease her for this bashful, slightly flirtatious display. But then, they weren’t mature like she was. “It is wonderful to meet you.”

  Thomas Cooke Jr. tipped his brown hat to her. “Pleased to meet you, Miss,” he said back. “I’m Thomas Jr., but you can call me Tom. Please do, to keep us straight.”

  With that, he gave her a perfect grin that showed off his pearly whites. Despite the dust from the road on his hat and pants, his face and teeth were remarkably clean. Overwhelmed by his handsomeness, Zelda bashfully looked away in the direction of the wagon. “I’d better leave you to your work,” she said at last. “I don’t want to be a distraction for you. I just thought I’d introduce myself and let you know that my family and I have a small farm up the road a ways.”

  Thomas Sr. nodded his head to her a bit, smiling. “Thank you, Miss. We’ll be in touch, I’m sure.”

  With that, Zelda returned back across the street to her mother and sister who gave her a puzzled look.

  “Newcomers?” Hattie asked her.

  Zelda nodded. “I suspect we’ll be seeing more of them. They’re quite friendly.”

  “Did you invite them over for some Christmas festivities?” her mother asked. Zelda thought she hadn’t been paying much attention to what was happening. She’d seemed so focused on her grains.

  “No,” Zelda said. “Should I have?” Curses, I didn’t think it would be that easy…

  “Christmastime is the perfect t
ime to spend time with new neighbors,” Mrs. Hughes replied calmly. “I’ll speak with your father about it when we get home.”

  The three Hughes ladies headed back to the farmhouse and Zelda paused briefly to look back and watch the new family watering their horses and unloading a few of their belongings. “I wonder where they plan to settle,” she said out loud to no one in particular.

  Chapter Four

  Ralph Hughes didn’t smile when his wife and daughters came home and informed him of their new neighbors. “I wonder where they’re going to settle,” was his response.

  “I didn’t ask,” Zelda confessed. “I didn’t want to get in their way. They stopped in at the saloon for some water for their horses, is all. I told them that we lived close by, though.”

  “Perhaps you ought to go over to their place and introduce yourself,” Mrs. Hughes suggested. “I thought we might invite them over for Christmas dinner to give them a real Ogden welcome.”

  “Did you now?” Mr. Hughes asked her. He didn’t exactly seem taken by the idea. “Well, while you were out getting friendly with this new family in town, I have it on good authority that the head of that household is working with the railway line.” He nodded as if he was affirming what he said, though no one had questioned him. “The tanner, Mr. Mason, says that Mr. Cooke is a manager of the line coming in from California.”

  Mrs. Hughes’s mouth fell open.

  Zelda let out a gasp that was more excited than was appropriate, given her father’s tone and disdain for the railroad.

  “Oh, I just knew there was something captivating about them,” she said dreamily. “Suppose they are really coming all the way from California!”

  “So, it’s true about the railroad?” Neil asked as he entered the living room and planted himself on the back of the sofa “Hattie said it was in the paper.”