Pioneer Love: Damaged Hearts Head West: Mail Order Bride 5 Bundle (26 page)

Chapter 2

It was only two days before Ruth was to leave for Louisiana. Elizabeth’s felt as if her errands were never going to end. She wanted to give everything to Ruth that she would need in her new life. Mr. Barnstable was a wealthy man and lived a high profile life. Therefore, Elizabeth wanted Ruth to be as comfortable as she could be with him. She was finishing off the last quilt when Georgia’s voice burst into her ears.

“Mother! Mother!” she ran down the stairs taking them two at a time. Martha was following her just as quickly.

“Slowly, girls, or you’ll end up breaking your necks,” she admonished them but Georgia’s excitement was so much that she barely listened.

“Mother, do you know what this is?” Georgia waved a paper in the air. Her breath was caught up, yet she couldn’t contain her smile and her excitement.

“What is it, Georgia?” Elizabeth pulled down her glasses and set the needle aside to center her attention on her relentless daughter.

“He is coming,” Martha exclaimed, earning a glare from Georgia.

“I wanted to tell her.”

“Who is coming?” Elizabeth asked.

“He is coming to take her,” Martha said again and this time Georgia didn’t falter but slapped her arm.

“Stop it girls and tell me what is it?”

“Joseph says he is going to sail down here and take me with him so that I do not have to travel alone,” Georgia told her proudly.

“Oh my dear, this is so lovely. He is such a gentleman,” Elizabeth embraced her daughter with a hug and tears welled up in her eyes. Joseph was the man she had been holding out hopes for. A rich man, from a wealthy family. This was a major boost for the families status. “ You are so lucky. I am so happy for you, my sweetheart,” Elizabeth said through tears.

“Yes, mother, Joseph is such a nice man and very rich. I am so glad that I wrote to him,” Georgia said dreamily.

“When is he coming?”

“He says he’ll leave on the twenty-fifth of next month, and it will take him three weeks to arrive.”

That meant it would only give them almost two months to prepare everything for his arrival. It must be perfect. This was a first. That someone was coming to collect his bride. Elizabeth knew how big this would be, not only for Georgia or her but for the entire village. Mail order brides weren’t anything unusual but having someone come and get his bride was definitely unusual. Elizabeth’s mind was already working steadily. She could see how much this would upgrade their status around the small town and she wanted to make the best out of it.

Martha and Ruth were all teasing Georgia, and Elizabeth could all but feel immensely happy for them. That’s when her eyes stopped at Lauren, who was polishing the stairs and watching them celebrate. Her heart missed a beat. What if Joseph saw her and decided to call off the wedding? She looked at her three beautiful, perfect, happy daughters and then at the ugly, scarred, sullen one. She couldn’t let Lauren’s bad shadow ruin her other daughters’ happiness. She had to get her out of the house before Joseph’s arrival - by hook or by crook she would get rid of this beast.

For the rest of the day, she thought hard, but couldn’t come up with any suitable plan. No one in this village would marry Lauren, knowing what happened to her, so that was out of the question. Maybe she could send her away. Perhaps someone would take her as a servant. The problem was no one had the resources to feed such a monstrous girl. No, she was stuck with her and would just have to make sure that she stayed in her room. But then her gaze fell on the newspaper. She picked it up to see the Matrimonial Advertisings section had been left open. She looked down at the messages and then up at her daughter as she cleaned the house. Lauren was a good cook and could clean and do the washing. In fact, she did all of the work around the house since they had to let the servants go. A plan began to form in her mind. She carefully folded the newspaper and took it inside her room. Lighting the lamp, she spread open the paper and began searching for the message that had the lowest expectations. There were quite a few, but one caught her eye.

Wanted woman to be my bride all I ask is that you are younger than 25 and able to work hard. Sincere husband waiting. I have all my teeth and a reasonable income. Come West and make me a happy man.

Henry Van Percy.

Taking her pen and paper, Elizabeth began to draft letters to as many adverts that she could find.

Lauren watched her sisters celebrated as she cleaned out the fireplace and polished the silverware. It was good to see their happiness and she smiled as they congratulated each other for finding their dream man.

“I don’t know when I’ll get mine,” Martha, the youngest one whined.

“Chin up, sister, you’ll get a good man,” Ruth said to her.

“But not as rich as yours, or as sweet as Georgia’s,” Martha made a face.

“Even if you don’t get one like ours, you’ll get one that is just fine. It isn’t like you have a monster face or anything,” Georgia said and all three of them fell into laughter.

Lauren’s heart ached at their words and she dropped her head to hide her face. They were right of course. Her ‘monster face’ had eaten up all her desires, dreams, and wishes. She had no hope left in her that anything good could ever happen. With a heart as heavy as the house, she discreetly made her way out to the backyard. In the shed behind the house, they had a milk cow and a few chickens. When things got too bad, she would come out here and talk to them. Grabbing a hand full of corn she threw it to the hens. Clucking excitedly they scratched in the dirt until they had found all the sweet morsels she had thrown. Then she watched as they walked back to a small bush and climbed on top. There they perched together like a happy family. Lauren longed for such friendship and she loved to spend time with the chickens. Listening to their excited clucks or watching them as they scratched about. There was something therapeutic about them and they were never cruel to her.

She looked down at her hands and saw her twisted and burnt right hand and it left her feeling so lonely. Two of her fingers were fused together. The rest of the hand was covered in raised skin, puckered and an angry red. That scar spread from her face down to her ankles. What man would ever be able to look at her with anything other than disgust? Tears threatened to fall, but she fought them back. She still had her faith and she said a quiet prayer. Giving thanks for all she had and asking for guidance for her future.

Chapter 3

Elizabeth had answered almost every message that she thought would accept Lauren. Now she had to sit back and wait. It was difficult and worrying as she waited with bated breath. Hoping and praying that she would get replies and be able to answer, then receive answers and re write? It was a troublesome time difficult but she had spread her net wide and was hoping the ones with the lowest requirements would be desperate and get back to her quickly. She had lied about everything. In her letters, she had shown Lauren as a beautiful young girl with charms and confidence and she had said that she was desperate to marry.  She told them of a copper-haired beauty with haunting green eyes that any man would love to behold. Then she mentioned that the marriage must be arranged quickly and that Lauren could leave at once. Now that all the letters were sent, she waited for the first acceptance. It was only a few weeks until Joseph’s arrival. She had very little time left to settle things with Lauren and look after the arrangements for Georgia’s engagement as well.

The good thing was that Ruth had sailed off to Louisiana. She was glad that one of her daughters had found her way out. Now that it was Georgia’s turn, she didn’t want to risk that Lauren’s presence would spoil things.

So each night she prayed and hoped that out of the many men she had written to on Lauren’s behalf, that one of them would agree to marry her instantly. That’s when the first response arrived.

Elizabeth almost jumped for joy when she found the letter addressed to Lauren. Quickly she hid it under her arm and then sneaked out and up to her room. Her heart was beating like a horse.
Please let it be an acceptance.
The letter was from Henry Van Percy. He was one of the first advertisements she had written to and for a second she was angry. Why should the monster get such a good husband? Then a smile crossed her face. Henry had few expectations in a wife and he would never marry Lauren, but at least she would be away from here and would no longer be able to poison the marriage prospects of her daughters. When she opened the letter and began to read, her eyes widened and a smile appeared on her face. It said:

Dear Lauren,

I read your letter. Thank you for responding to my matrimonial advertising message. I am sure you are as beautiful as you say in your letter and I cannot wait to see you. I can sense that you and I would be of great understanding. I agree with you and don’t see why we have to waste time in these customary letter exchanges. I am a man of straight words. I intend to marry you and that would be as soon as possible. Enclosed along with this letter is a train and stagecoach ticket to the Montana Territory for the twenty-fourth of this month. If you make the right decision, I will be waiting for you.

Love,

Henry

Elizabeth read the letter repeatedly to confirm that she understood it correct. Henry had not only accepted her proposal but had also sent Lauren the tickets. And those for the twenty-fourth. It was perfect as it was well before Joseph’s arrival. Things couldn’t have been more perfect. Elizabeth felt herself giddy with joy at her marvelous planning. She had found a way to get rid of the beast at last.

Lauren stared at her mother’s face in shock, not believing the words which came out of her mouth. She was sending her across the country to get married. Married?! And she didn’t even know the man.

“All you need to know, beast, is that this man wants to marry you and is gentlemanly enough to send you a ticket. Now don’t be a spoilsport and turn him down. I would expect you to be pleased. To make the best of this opportunity which you may never get again ever,” Elizabeth growled at her and Lauren flinched back.

“But mother, all I am saying is that it would have been nice if I would have written to him
myself… to
see if we …” she tried to say but was briskly cut off.

“You do not have to say. All you have to do is pack and leave!”

Lauren dared not say another word. She silently made her way back to her room and then sobbed. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to marry. Of course, she did but she wanted someone to select on her own, not someone who was imposed on her by her mother. By evening, she made another attempt to talk to Elizabeth. “Can’t this be delayed a little?” she asked in a small voice as she served them their meal.

“What do you mean delayed?” Elizabeth glared at her. “I mean, until Georgia’s engagement. It would be just a couple of days,” she said and her mother’s face turned red.

“You want to stay here and ruin my daughter’s relationship?”

“Mother, I don’t mean …”

“Of course you mean that. You don’t want your sisters to be happy, do you? You want to scare off their fiancés with your ugly face so that no one marries them, just like you! No, Lauren, I am not going to let that happen. I won’t risk Georgia or Martha’s future with your presence. You are going to Montana on the twenty-fourth and that is it! Now take your repulsive face away from my sight.”

Lauren never spoke a word about it again. She knew that the decision has been made on her behalf and there was no room for discussion.

The days passed quickly and the nearer the date came, the more uneasy her feelings became. One minute she was delighted, she was getting married and she felt like a young girl excited and nervous. The next minute she was terrified. As much as life was hard, it was what she knew and she loved her family. What if this was some trick? What if this man didn’t want her? There was something about all this that was unsettling for Lauren. Firstly she hadn’t seen any of the letters with Henry. This meant she had no idea what Elizabeth had told him. For all she knew, her mother could have lied to him about everything and Lauren would never lie to anyone, especially the person who trusted her written words to make her his bride. So she worried about his reaction. If he knew about her then it was a dream come true, but if he didn’t… As she had these thoughts, she felt dreadful. Surely her mother would never do anything so awful, so dishonest. She would never con someone into taking her. But maybe she would… to get her out of the house. It was that thought that filled her stomach with ice water. What would Henry’s reaction be when he saw her in person. The scars on her face were not a pretty sight for anyone. The more she thought of it, the more worried she became but there was no way she could say anything to her mother. Elizabeth was going beyond herself in preparation for Joseph’s arrival. This was another thing that upset Lauren. She wanted to be a part of Georgia’s happiness, because contrary to what her sisters believed, she loved all three of them dearly. But obviously, the sentiments were not returned.

So she stayed awake most nights wondering about Henry. Sometimes she dreamed and he was a lovely man. Not attractive but kind and loving and they had children and lived on a little farm. It was so wonderful she would wake with joyous tears in her eyes and a feeling of such love. Other nights he laughed when he met her and then chased her back onto the train. They chased her off and she was haunted by people mocking, shouting, and trying to hurt her. After these dreams, she woke with fearful tears in her eyes and a stone cold feeling in her heart.  If only she could write to him, talk to him but she couldn’t. By the time he would receive her letter, she would already be halfway there. So eventually she prayed that this would be her salvation and decided that she would walk with the wind and see where it would lead her.