Rocky Mountain Sister (2 page)

Both women nodded.

“Well I think maybe I may have asked Tori to marry me last night.” Christian said as he glanced back and forth from his sister to Rosa. “Don’t worry, you two are still my favorite, I won’t leave you out. I just, well, think it is time to carry on the Vandevier name.”

“Christian, do you think we would be upset with you?” Cassandra jumped up and ran around the table to hug her brother. “We love Tori, you know that.”

Rosa still hadn’t closed her mouth. She knew he had been running around with Victoria Hillman, but she never realized he wanted to marry the girl.

“Rosa, please, I know you are shocked, but I love this girl and I am going to marry her. After I get over this hangover of course.” Christian smiled at the housekeeper. He then looked up at his sister who was squeezing him very tight. “Cassandra, you can let go now, I can’t marry anyone if you smother me to death.”

“Oh Christian, I am so sorry, I am just so happy for you,” Cassandra let go and went back to her chair. All of a sudden she was happy, and very hungry. “You didn’t ask her while you were drunk, did you?”

“No, I was sober, I got drunk afterward with a few friends. Only they decided to really celebrate.” Christian got up to get another cup of coffee, kissing Rosa on the head as he passed.

After Rosa made breakfast for the siblings, they all sat at the table and talked of when the wedding might be, and of the strange wire Cassandra received, and about the possibility of her blood family. Christian offered to travel to Jefferson City and talk to Thomas Delaney about the wire after he checked in at the office.

Cassandra could hardly wait for Christian to return, she paced the parlor to where Rosa was ready to give her something to make her sleep. Rosa didn’t say anything though. Finding Cassandra’s family was what everyone wanted. Not only for Cassandra to know her roots and where she came from, but for the family who lost a little girl almost ten years ago.

Cassandra paced back and forth in front of the window. She was getting impatient waiting on her brother to return. She wanted know to something, anything about what Christian was learning.
Sometimes being a woman is aggravating, why do men have to do everything?

Cassandra knew that her brother wasn’t really keeping anything from her. Jefferson City was four miles away and she knew he wouldn’t be back before this evening. Still the wait was driving her crazy.

Cassandra tried to keep busy, but everything she did wouldn’t keep her mind off of her brother.

“Hello everyone,” Christian yelled as he walked through the back door. “I’m home”

“It’s about time,” thought Cassandra. Dinner had been over for an hour. Christian walked through the kitchen and down the hall to the parlor, both women were heading his direction when he reached the parlor door.

“Well Christian, don’t keep me waiting. What did Mr. Delaney say?” Cassandra couldn’t hide her excitement. “Did he mention that he found out where I am from?”

Christian looked at his sister and smile. “Alright, alright, sit down and I will tell you what he said. “Christian and Cassandra sat on the small couch. He took her hands into his.

“Cassandra, Delaney found a few families in Colorado that have missing children. Three in particular that have a child missing that would be around your age. He wants to head to Colorado next week and check it out. He can’t guarantee anything at this point.”

“Oh Christian, what exciting news! I may finally know where I came from. Where I was born.” Cassandra hugged her brother. “After all these years, finding my real name.”

“Cassandra, don’t get your hopes up, Delaney isn’t positive of anything, he just has leads. They could be completely wrong.” Christian wiped the tears from Cassandra cheeks. “We don’t know anything yet honey. I know it sounds good, but let him do his job.”

Cassandra looked at her brother with a look that said “
I am about to get into trouble”.
He knew her well. The next words out of her mouth about made him fall off the couch. She got up from the couch and stared him down.

“Christian, I think I should go to Colorado with Mr. Delaney, I just know this is real, I can just feel it.” Cassandra practically begged her brother to allow her to go west.

“Cassandra, we don’t know if any of these families are even your parents, you can’t go out making Delaney responsible for your care while he is trying to work.”

“Christian, I do not need him to babysit me; I have been to many places before.” Cassandra stood with new excited in her voice. “Yes, I think I should go with Delaney, I want to go. Christian, please say yes!”

“Cassandra, this is crazy, you can’t go running across the country trying to find them on your own. I want you to get this idea out of your head.” Christian walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Let Delaney do his job, as soon as he finds answers, he will send us a wire.”

CHAPTER THREE

The next morning Cassandra paced back and forth in her room. After lots of begging and pleading, Christian gave in to her request. Christian promised to talk to Delaney about Cassandra going West. Cassandra was nervous. For three days Cassandra didn’t know what to do with herself. On the third day after Christian agreed to let her travel west, Christian came home from the docks early with a wire saying Delaney agreed to let her go.

She had taken out so many clothes and put them back. Cassandra didn’t know what to take. After an afternoon of packing her suitcase and unpacking it, she finally had that done. Tomorrow they would leave for Jefferson City, spend the night and leave on the first train heading west Thursday morning.

Cassandra loved traveling, only this time she wasn’t sure if she was going to enjoy the trip. If for any reason that none of these families were her blood family, she knew she would be disappointed. She thought about staying home and waiting for Delaney’s wire, but then put the idea in the back of her head. She wanted to go, she needed to go. The feeling in her gut told her she would find answers in Colorado.

Cassandra didn’t sleep well at all. Visions of people ran through her mind all night. She wondered if she had brothers and sisters, if her parents were still alive, or grandparents to meet. When morning finally came, Cassandra didn’t think she slept at all. Lighting the small lamp on her table, she looked at the small clock that sat beside lamp. 5 a.m.

Another three hours before Christian would be taking her and Rosa to Jefferson City. Cassandra lay back down for a moment to say a pray. “
Dear Lord, please let me find the parents I never knew.
Let them be happy to see me if they are my family. Please Lord, let me handle this all in a lady like manner. Please keep
Rosa and me safe. I know you will answer my prayers Lord. Please take care of my brother while I am gone. Give him the strength to know that I will love him. Amen
”

She got up and looked out at the stables. Maybe she could go for a ride to keep herself busy. Horses had always been a passion of Cassandras. She didn’t know how she knew so much about horses, it just seemed to be in her being about how to ride and care for a horse.

No since in laying here any longer, I might as well get up and do something.
Thornton, the family’s care taker for the stables was still asleep.
I might as well start breakfast.
Cassandra thought to herself. She didn’t even get dressed, just slipped on her housecoat and slippers, headed down the stairs.

Cassandra was sitting at the kitchen table when Rosa came in the room.

“Well, aren’t we the early bird today?” Rosa said as she walked over and pulled a cup from out of the cabinet. She stirred in creamer and sugar, then walked to the table and sat down.

“You sure you want to take this trip? It is not too late to back out.” Rosa smiled at Cassandra, knowing she had her bags packed a week ago.

“Rosa, I have to go, something inside me tells me this is the right thing.” Cassandra took a drink of her coffee. “Even if things turn out not to be any useful information, we can always go see some of the sights. We will just have to make the best of it.”

“Alright child, I am praying that this trip is what you hope it to be.” Rosa got up and started frying bacon and poured more coffee in her cup.

Christian didn’t get up until six thirty, when he came into the kitchen. He took a long whiff of the biscuits and bacon. Though breakfast was already made and on the table it was still warm. He timed this morning just right. It was going to be a long day with the trip to Jefferson City and back and then to shipyard for the rest of day and most of the evening.

“What is that delicious smell?” Christian asked as he poured his coffee. “It smells so wonderful, I think I could eat everything you made.”

“Well Cassandra and I better get our plates ready then before you eat it all. Rosa said with a laugh. “I made plenty, some to take on the trip with us if you don’t eat it all.”

“Rosa, you know he has a bottomless pit in there,” laughed Cassandra.

Cassandra looked at scenery along the road to Jefferson City. Looking at the countryside was one of her favorite past time. Sometimes she would just go for a horse ride for hours and watch the animals or relax along the bank of the Missouri river.

Jefferson City came into view to quick. Soon they would be heading west to a new chapter in Cassandra’s life. Was she ready for all this, Cassandra didn’t know. This is her life though and she was going to make the best of it. Cassandra thought to herself,
Lord, if I have a family in Colorado, please let them like me.

CHAPTER FOUR

Thomas Delaney, Cassandra and Rosa got off the train in Denver. The place was buzzing with people everywhere. Cassandra looked around the train depot.

“Mr. Delaney, do you know where we will be staying?” Cassandra asked the detective.

“Yes, I wired ahead and made reservations at the best Hotel in Denver. The Rose Garden, you won’t find a nicer place or people. I reserved a suite for you and Rose with a small parlor and separate bedrooms. I will have a room next to your suite ladies.” Thomas told the women about the hotel as he whistled for a train boy to deliver their trunks to the Hotel.

The rest of the day Cassandra and Rosa went shopping. Things was much different than back East. The women even dressed different. Some of the women walked around town with pants on instead of dresses. Cassandra liked being here. She felt comfortable among these people even though she knew none of them.

They walked into a place called Millers Mercantile. The store was filled with a lot of things for the outdoors. There were rows of barrels with different tags on them describing what was inside. Shelves filled bolts of material, some of the material Cassandra had never seen before. It was heavy cloth. Cassandra saw the dresses hanging on the rack in the back of the store. They were different from what she was used to.

Cassandra thought that there was no way a person could get all the petty coats under the dress. They were so pretty though, she wanted to purchase one.

“Rosa, look at this dress, how does one wear it and fit all these underthings under it?” Cassandra talked to Rosa in a low voice so that the other customers didn’t hear her.

“Cassandra girl, women out here don’t wear all those crazy things. Women prefer to be comfortable over being all bundled up so that they can’t breathe. A lot of the women out West have to help work for a living. They help with all the chores and they wouldn’t be able to do a thing with all those layers of clothing.”

“How lucky they are, to be able to breathe. Hum, Rosa, I think I might try wearing one or two these while I am here. I like this one, what do you think Rosa. Would I look good in this one?”

Cassandra chose a light green dress, it was fitted at the top with a lower neck line than she had ever worn. The sleeves were long and the bottom was straight. No ruffles or lace, just a plain bottom large enough to walk comfortably. Next Cassandra picked out a new pair of boots. The woman who was helping her showed her the ways of the west and how women dressed.

Cassandra couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel room and try on her new outfit. She had planned on wearing it the following day. They paid for all their purchases and ask for them to be delivered to the Rose Garden Hotel. The woman assured her that they would be delivered within the hour.

The three met at the Rose Garden for dinner that evening. Rosa looked about the place. She had been many places with Cassandra, but the Rose Garden Hotel what absolutely beautiful. The patio was decorated with many different flowers. Most were Roses though. They chose to eat their dinner on the patio even though it was a bit chilly.

She travelled all over the East with Cassandra, even to Europe, but they had never travelled West. Denver was nothing of what they expected.

Delaney looked at Cassandra “Well my dear, I think that tomorrow I will be heading out to a little town called Forest Heights, a family there has been looking for a young lady who fits your description. She has been missing for ten years.”

“Oh Mr. Delaney, we will be ready a day light, Rosa and I haven’t even unpacked much. We have been out looking around town.” Cassandra told Delaney with much excitement.

“Not so fast young lady, we don’t know for sure, anyway, the accommodations are nothing like Rose Garden. The best we could stay at is a boarding house. I don’t think you would be comfortable at all. Let me go and check out my leads and then I can always send for you.”

Delaney wasn’t for sure he wanted the ladies traveling out in the middle of nowhere. The West wasn’t like the place Cassandra was used to visiting.

Cassandra gave him a big smile, “Mr. Delaney, we will be fine. I just have a good feeling that I must go with you. I don’t want to waste one moment if I am the girl they are looking for. You do understand, don’t you?”

“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you, it is rough country here and not like what you are used to.” Delaney smiled at the girl, he had to admit she had grit. Cassandra hadn’t complained one time the whole trip.

Cassandra was so excited about the news, she could barely eat her meal. Rosa had to remind her that they most likely wouldn’t get such fine food where they were going.