Not Quite A Mail Order Bride (Mail Order Brides) (5 page)

“I’ll get on this right away. When are you going to begin?” he asked.

“I would like to do it as soon as possible. While we are waiting for the books, we could be getting the classroom ready,” she said.

“You haven’t been there in the past couple of days. I think you’ll find most of the cleaning up has been taken care of. The fireplace has been cleaned and all of the surfaces scrubbed,” he said.

“I’ll come over tomorrow and if we can get the word out, we could hold our first class on Monday,” Martha said, “How many students do you think I’ll have?”

Luke answered Her question, “Counting Will, I think there will be eleven. I’ll make a list for you and give you the approximate ages. I’ve known all but one or two of them since they were born, so I can make a pretty good guess.”

“That’s good,” Martha said. “Now all we have to do is get started.”

“Will is really anxious to get started. This is going to be his first year and I want to get him off to a good start.”

“He’ll be all right, Luke. He’s a smart little boy. Hetty brought him over when Sarah and I were there the other day. You can be proud of him. He’s well mannered and polite,” she said.

“Well, I have to give Clara the credit for that. She was always telling him the proper thing to do.”

Martha noticed the fleeting sorrow flash across his face when he said his late wife’s name. “Am I wrong in not missing Daniel more,” she wondered guiltily. “No, I’m not,” she decided. “Daniel would have wanted me to get on with my life. I wonder if Luke will ever do that?”

* * *

Most of the children made their way to school the first day on horseback. The younger ones were brought in a wagon by one or both of the parents. Martha spent the first two hours getting acquainted with the children, where they lived, tried to guess what they remembered from their previous schooling. Two and one half hours into the day, there was a sharp knock on the door. When she answered, she saw a scraggly whiskered man about forty years old. He was wearing worn jeans, boots and a plaid shirt. With him was a boy about eleven, wearing denim overalls.

The man spoke. “Ma’am, my name is Jake Vintner and this is my boy, Clayton. Can he… I mean, would it be all right for him to come to school? He won’t give you no trouble or anything.”

Martha recognized the name from Luke’s recount of the meeting. “Of course, Mr Vintner. He’s more than welcome. Clayton, find yourself a seat with the other children your age and I’ll be in there is just a minute. Now, Mr Vintner, I’m happy you decided to bring Clayton to school today. We start promptly at eight each morning and we’ll finish at three. I expect each student to complete his assigned work prior to class. I was raised on a farm, so I know there are times when he won’t be able to make a class. I will give him the assignments he missed to complete. Do you have any questions?”

“Yes Ma’am. I’ll see to it he gets all of the work done. I appreciate you letting my boy in and all,” he said.

“Yes, now I had better get back to my class before they get unruly. Thank you for coming.” She turned and went back into the classroom.

Martha had obtained the paperwork for certification as a teacher, and completed it. “Jed, I’d like to go with you the next time you go to Laramie. I want to turn in these papers, and meet with the Laramie County Superintendent. Once I’m certified, they will furnish our books.”

“I need some things from the store, let’s go in tomorrow and get it done,” he said.

“Wonderful,” Martha said. “It should be easy enough. I have my New York Certification. They may just accept that.” The next day, on the visit to Laramie, she went to the office of the Laramie County School District. Upon meeting with the superintendent, he immediately signed her papers.

“You may now draw your books from the school repository,” he said. “All you will need to do is give them the names and ages of your students.” She had brought the list Luke had given her, with the name of Clayton Vintner added, bringing the total to twelve.

After Jed loaded them into the wagon, Martha said, “This is going to surprise Luke. He expected to be required to purchase the books from the list I gave him after I visited with the Laramie teachers.”

At the general store, Asa Thompson said, “I have mail for both of you.” Included were two letters for Martha.

“One is from Ma wanting to know when I’ll be coming home?

Sarah said, “I’ll bet mine is on the same subject telling me I shouldn’t be trying to talk you into staying here.” Martha didn’t tell Sarah about the other letter. That would be her own secret for now.

As they headed home, Martha said to Sarah. “The students are going to be excited about the books. I had told them we would have to wait at least three weeks before we got them. I can begin in earnest now.”

“I’m glad it’s working out for you, Sis. How are you and Luke getting along?”

“That man is one of the biggest puzzles I’ve seen,” Martha said. “The other day when he was rearranging some of the desks, his hand brushed mine. I felt a spark and evidently he did too. He apologized and moved away. I just wish he would wrap his arms around me and kiss me. He won’t do it though. Do you know he hasn’t moved a thing in the house since Clara died? He’s very active and loving with his boys, The two days we had school, he brought Will and we chatted a few minutes each time. If I’m to find a husband, I guess I’m going to have to look elsewhere.”

* * *

Taking in a view of the Front Range while driving the buggy to school, Martha thought, “I don’t remember seeing snow on those peaks before. I guess I missed it, but it sure is beautiful. Oh well, we’ll have plenty of snow before long.” She thought no more about it.

After getting a pail of water from the well, Martha was standing in the doorway, waiting for the rest of her students to arrive, she thought, “The wind is picking up too. It has a bite to it.”

One of the last students to arrive was Clayton Vintner, who had turned out to be one of the harder working students. As he came in he said, “Papa says it’s going to snow today.”

“Really,” she said. “Why does he think so?”

“When a storm is coming, the rheumatism in Papa’s back gets bad and he said it kept him awake last night.”

“Well, we’ll have to make sure we have plenty of wood for the fireplace,” Martha said. “Why don’t you check it out, Clayton?”

“Yes’m. I’ll make sure.” With the help of two other boys, they brought in an armload of wood each and piled it in the corner.

She started the older children on their geography lessons and another group on arithmetic while she worked with the young ones on penmanship. She switched the subjects later in the morning.

Since it was windy and chilly outside, they ate lunch in the classroom, with each student opening their lunch pails to see what their parent had packed for them that day. Martha had packed cold chicken and honey biscuits for her own lunch. Those that had the need, went to one of the outhouses in back of the school. As she came back in, one of the little girls said, “Miss Martha, it’s cold outside.”

“Why don’t you move closer to the fire and get warm, Mary?”

An hour after lunch, Martha heard the sound of boots outside the classroom. Luke walked in. “Martha, we’d better get the children over to the ranch house. It’s blowing pretty hard and starting to snow. We’ll keep them there and if their parents come, they’ll find them. They’ll know we took them in. I don’t think it’s a good idea for them to go out by themselves. You either for that matter. One of the hands will help them get the horses to the barn.”

“I’ll just finish up here and then I’ll go on home then,” she said.

“Martha, I don’t think that’s a good idea. It can get real nasty in a hurry,” he said.

“Luke, I’m an adult. I’ve been through snowstorms before. I’ll be all right.”

“Martha, this is Wyoming. You haven’t been through one of our storms. Now come on,” he said.

“Luke Hastings, stop ordering me around,” she said, little sparks shooting from her brown eyes.

“You are one stubborn woman,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulder, feeling an instant warmth when he touched her.

When he touched her shoulder, even through her sweater dress she felt a tingle. “What is that?” she wondered.

Luke hastily removed his hand. “I’m sorry, I’m only trying to help,” he said.

“I understand,” she said. “I’ll be all right.”

An hour later, she went outside. It was snowing pretty hard and the force of the wind had increased. The horse had been tied in the shelter of the school building. She took the reins and climbed in, brushing the snow from the buggy seat before sitting down. She flicked the reins and headed home. She was headed into the wind and it was cold. The visibility was becoming more limited and the wind seemed to go right through her clothing chilling her to the bone. Jed had told her horses would make their way home if turned loose, so she was not worried about becoming lost. The prospect of the unexpected was daunting and she decided this was a mistake and managed to turn the buggy around and headed back to Luke’s house. She pulled up between the barn and the house and went to the door.

She pounded on the door in order to be heard above the howling wind, she shivered as she waited. Luke came to the door. “I need your help, please. I made a mistake and should have left when you said.”

Luke put his arm around her shoulder. “This was the best decision could have made. You come in and get warm. I’ll get my coat and take care of your horse. I’m glad you didn’t try to go home. I was getting ready to come check on you. You go on inside. Some of your children are still here. “That is if you don’t mind me telling you what to do,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. Hetty will get you some hot tea.”

“Thank goodness he didn’t crow about being right or make fun of me for being stupid,” she thought. “Thank you.” She said. “I don’t want to be any trouble, but I do appreciate it.”

“Hetty, I’ll show the boys where they will sleep and you can show the girls and show Martha her room. Come with me, boys.” He led them down the wide hallway and stepped past an opened door. There was a fire in the fireplace, giving the room a warm and cozy room. It was a nicer room than any of the boys had at home. Opening the door, he said, “This is it. Hetty will make pallets for you. No roughhousing boys, and tomorrow we’ll see about getting you home. There’s a wash basin and towels where you can wash up before dinner, which will be in about an hour.”

As he walked away, he heard Clayton Vintner say, “Criminy, ain’t this nice?”

Hetty showed the girls to a room much the same as the boys. Then, “Miss Martha, your room is across the hall.” She opened the door to a room with yet another fireplace. There was a double bed with a feather bed mattress. It had a white comforter with colorful, embroidered flowers. There was a pitcher, a wash basin, soap and towels on the vanity. It was a beautiful room, a little older than her room at Jed and Sarah’s, but just as tastefully done.

He stopped in front of the room Hetty had made for Martha and knocked lightly on the door. Martha answered, and he asked, “Is everything all right? Do you need anything? If so, just let Hetty know.”

“Everything is fine,” she said. Impulsively, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. This is very kind and thoughtful to take all of us in.”

“You’ll find this is the way we do things in Wyoming. We look out for each other. Kind of a “love thy neighbor” thing.”

“It was still nice of you,” she said.

“Hetty tells me dinner will be in about an hour. Come on back to the living room whenever you want.” As he walked away, he rubbed the spot on his cheek where her soft lips had touched. He thought it still felt warm.

After a dinner of shepherd’s pie, cold milk topped with a dessert of apple pie, the children had gone with Hetty while she made pallets for them. Luke and Martha were sitting in the living room in old but comfortable chairs covered in red velveteen. “How is your class going?”

“Well, I find their degree of learning is all over the place. Some are much more advanced than others, but that is to be expected, depending on their parents. Clayton Vintner has really impressed me. He is a quick learner and works hard at it. I was surprised at his eagerness to learn.”

“That is surprising when you consider Jake,” said Luke. “I guess that isn’t very Christian of me, but we’ve never really taken a shine to each other.”

Martha said, “Jake is okay. I think he covers his lack of material things with a bluster and swagger. He was very polite when he asked me to let Clayton join the class. I think I may have taken him aback when I told him my grandfather had been killed by the Rebels at Gettysburg and the war was long over and time to let it end was passed,”

Luke asked, “Was he? Your grandfather killed at Gettysburg?”

“Yes, he was,” Martha said softly. She looked at Luke, at the reflection of the fire in his eyes. “This is a troubled man,” she thought to herself. “I think I’ll go to my room. I saw a book there I’d like to read, if you don’t mind.”

“No, help yourself,” he said. She turned and started out of the room.

“Martha,” he called. She turned… right into his arms. He tilted his head and kissed her, full on the lips, feeling the searing heat from them burn his/ She kissed him back. Her lips moving against his lips, roughened from many days in the sun and wind.

“I’d better go to my room,” she said, her voice throaty and low.

“Martha, I’m…”

“Luke Hastings, if you apologize for that I will hit you. Hard.” She left the room.

Luke stood there wondering at the tenderness of the kiss. It had hit him hard. He didn’t realize he was kissing her until he felt her lips. “Well, don’t that just beat all,” he said aloud.

* * *

It was still dark when
Martha awakened. She ran her fingers through her bed hair. Yawning, she walked to the window and looked out. Snow covered the ground like a downy white comforter. The trees had been decorated with puffy white balls of snow. There was a full moon and it lent an almost ethereal look to the pristine unmarked snow. It was as pretty a picture as she had ever seen. She washed her face in what was now cold water, and dried it on one of the soft towels. She brushed her teeth with her finger. Remembering the kiss from the evening before, she felt her nipples become nubby. She laughed. It was probably the cold air in the room that was causing it. Still, the kiss had been as nice as it had been unexpected and welcome. Dressed, she went across the hall to check on the girls who had also been forced to stay overnight by the storm. They were all still asleep, so she left them and went downstairs.

Hetty was in the kitchen with Jimmy, Luke’s youngest. “Good morning, Hetty. Did you recover from your full evening? What can I help you do this morning. I’m handy in the kitchen.”

“If you don’t mind, would you
make the coffee? Mr Luke likes a cup of steaming coffee as soon as he comes down, which should be any minute. You’ll find the makings in the cabinet.”