Chapter 1

The sun rose only an hour earlier, yet it already shone upon the pines with an intensity that denoted the promise of yet another scorching day.  Squirrels and chipmunks scurried about to accomplish their tasks before they were forced to seek shelter from the harshness of the Indian Summer sun.

Elise bent down and carefully relieved her shoulders of the burdensome yoke balancing the water buckets she faithfully hauled from the nearby creek several times a day.  Her work-worn hands rested on her slender hips as she twisted and bent in different directions to help ease the tightness in her body that was the result of yet another fitful sleep. 

For what seemed like the millionth time, she lamented over blindly responding to the advertisement in the Matrimonial News for mail order brides in the west.  She was so eager to escape the mundane existence of the Boston Brahmin society that, when the advertisement crossed her path, she rushed to respond with little thought or investigation about who would be waiting for her on the opposite end of the correspondence, what she would be walking into, or what she was leaving behind.  She also never questioned just how a copy of the Matrimonial News made it into the Joselyn family parlor.

Now, finding herself alone, penniless, living in a shanty that would not even qualify for an outhouse at home, and ill-equipped for the months that lay ahead, she had plenty of time to ponder this fact; as well as her foolishness.

She understood her foolishness to some degree.  She was young; just barely seventeen.  Seventeen-year-old women of privilege were not worldly enough to truly understand the happenings beyond the social cocoon their parents kept them in.

She enjoyed a year of flirtation after her debutante ball before her father announced that she had an excellent offer for a match with Judd Turnham.  Judd was fifteen years her senior, barely reached her height when she wore flat-heeled slippers, and had a paunchy middle that spoke of the life of privilege he led.  Sure, he was part of the richest family in the Brahmin elite and was due to inherit it all when his ailing father passed, but the thought of his overly soft, stubby fingers touching her the way a man could touch a wife was more than she could tolerate.  It was bad enough when he stole a kiss while escorting her through the gardens.  She had to force back the bile that threatened to project up her esophagus. The memory of his acute halitosis and abundant nose hair would probably haunt her forever.  So, what if the cowboys of the west were notorious for their lack of social etiquette. She would rather have a tough, virile, and socially inept cowboy than stinky, paunchy Judd any day.

The photograph and description the matchmaker, Eliza Farnham, showed her of Douglas Meacham and the description of the life that awaited was so appealing, she made her decision to marry him by proxy that very afternoon.  It was done in secrecy, with only the witnesses provided by Eliza to validate its authenticity.

Douglas was a twenty-seven-year-old civil war veteran from Pennsylvania who went west to prospect for gold.  He mined long enough to accrue a small financial safety net and acquire a respectable piece of land to ranch in northern Texas.  He boasted a small herd of cattle, a solid barn that housed a hearty pig, a milking cow, some chickens, a robust garden, and the beginnings of a house that was strategically placed on the land to allow plenty of room to add on when the children arrived. It lacked only a wife to make it complete.

What started out as a dream adventure quickly turned into a nightmare.  Since she never had the occasion to ride in the public car of a train before, Elise was not prepared for the grueling, filthy accommodations that were kept hidden from those fortunate enough to warrant a private car.  What little funds she managed to squirrel away during her whirlwind departure were stolen from her reticule while she napped.  She had tucked some of her prize jewelry in her travel bag, which went missing somewhere in Oklahoma.  By the time she was ready to debark, she had only the clothes on her back and the jewelry on her person. She quickly sold the jewelry to pay for passage on the stagecoach that would take her to the Texas territory of Wichita Falls where Douglas was to meet her. 

She spent the entire time on the dusty, rut filled road to Wichita Falls fretting about the poor impression she would make to her new husband because of the unfortunate circumstances that occurred during her travels. She read about husbands having their marriages annulled due to false representation and wondered if the same would happen to her once Douglas took a look at her bedraggled person.  There was nothing she could do about it.  Her future was in the hands of fate.  She just hoped fate would be a little kinder than it had been so far.

That was not to be.

She squatted to reposition the yoke on her shoulders and slowly stood up, being careful not to spill the life-sustaining liquid in the interim.  Her thighs proved much stronger since she arrived three months earlier, making her movements look smooth and easy.

As she crossed what constituted as a small courtyard for the humble ranch, she spotted a horse and rider off in the distance.  She did not need to strain to see who it might be.  She knew it was Nellie Wilson performing her weekly check.

Elise did not know where she would be, had it not been for Nellie’s kindness.  They stumbled upon each other by chance at the station.  Elise was searching the streets for her husband, Douglas, and Nellie was scoping the travelers for her niece, Anna. 

Elise met Anna on the train during her trip west.  They were about the same age and from similar family backgrounds, but that was where it ended.  Anna’s father died the year before.  Her mother was sending her to live with her mother’s sister, Nellie, while she sought a replacement for her late husband. Not only did Anna think finding a husband would be a daunting task amongst the few who survived the war between the states, but she found the concept of being shoved out of the way for her mother to have a better advantage in snaring a man revolting.  She considered her mother far too old for such shenanigans.  Since they were financially well off, she could not comprehend her mother’s neediness.

Reluctant to leave the luxuries and advanced society of the east, Anna monitored her surroundings carefully as the train continued west.  By the time they reached Kansas, she saw enough to make her decide to take matters into her own hands.  She bid Elise goodbye, wished her well, and asked her to tell her Aunt Nellie that she was sorry, but she would not be joining her after all before she purchased a ticket to return east. 

Nellie reciprocated Elise’s disappointing news with some devastating news of her own.  Douglas was found dead on the road to town just that morning. Some said he fell from his horse and hit his head on a boulder while others say he was the victim of a robbery.  Nellie thought it might be both.

So far, Elise was married on paper only.  Now, the paper bride was a paper widow.

“Hello!” shouted Nellie as she reined her mare up next to the hitching post near the front porch.

“I made apple pie,” Elise said as she poured the contents of her buckets into a large barrel.  “It’s still warm.”

“What time did ya get up to fuss like that?”  Nellie asked with a shake of the head.

“I need better bedding,” Elise complained as she held the small of her back and motioned for Nellie to follow her inside.

“That Eliza Farnham should be shot for her deceit,” Nellie huffed as she scuffed the dirt from the soles of her boots on the edge of the roughhewn porch before following Elise into the tiny cabin.

“I’d settle for reimbursement of my money, so I could buy passage back home,” Elise sighed.  “I have been looking and looking for any money or gold Douglas might have hidden away with no luck.”

“Are ya sure he had any?” Nellie asked as she helped herself to a slice of pie.   “Ya were lied to about the state of this place. He could have lied about being a miner too.

“There’s water in the basin to wash your hands with,” Elise said in a flat tone.

“You’re such a dandy girl, ain’t ya?” Nellie chuckled as she made her way to the basin and immersed both weathered and gnarled hands into the shallow bowl.  Her head twisted and turned as if she was looking for something.  “I thought there was a spring out back.”

“He never got around to piping it into the house,” Elise said wistfully.

Nellie’s brows knit together as she said, “That would sure make life easier.”

“I make two trips a day to the creek,” Elise volunteered.  “Sometimes three.”

“Good heavens, gal,” Nellie gasped.  “Whatever do ya do with all that water?”

“Make tea, for one thing,” Elise said as she reached for the can she kept her tea leaves in and opened the lid. “I found this on the back of the top shelf,” she said as she pointed to a wooden shelf placed high enough on the wall over the stove to necessitate a stool to reach the things placed on it.  “Douglas had a decent supply of tea and coffee.  This one smells like home.”

“I ain’t never developed a taste for tea,” Nellie said as she wrinkled her nose and then popped a finger full of pie in her mouth.  “It won’t keep your belly full in the winter months,” Nellie scolded.  “What do ya plan on doing when the snow comes?”

“The garden is yielding a goodly number of crops,” Elise said as she continued to prepare the tea. “I have also collected a fair number of apples and nuts.  Do you want me to brew some coffee?”

“Do ya have a root cellar?” Nellie asked as she held up her hand and shook her head to indicate ‘no’ to Elise’s offer to make coffee for her.

“There is a large hole dug in the ground that is covered with wooden planks,” Elise said.  “I think that might be what Douglas used for a root cellar because I found some old potatoes, onions, and squash in there.”

“Any amount of snowfall on those planks and those skinny arms of yours won’t be able to lift them off to get to your food,” Nellie mused. “What about heat?  Have ya been able to handle the axe and cut yourself some wood for the winter?”

“The supply Douglas chopped is running low.  I need to find the means to leave here before I die,” Elise said as she poured hot water from the kettle she kept hot on the stove into the tin pot she used to brew tea in.

“Maybe ya should winter with me and Jake,” Nellie offered.

“What about the daily care of the animals?” Elise asked.

“I thought ya was going to sell them off and use the money as part of your passage home,” Nellie said.

“There is only a pig, a milking cow, and a few chickens.  I rode out to see the herd yesterday,” Elise said.  “It looks like it is shrinking.”

“Probably thieves,” Nellie offered.  “The word’s out that you’re alone.  If ya don’t sell those beasts soon, there’ll be nothing to round up come time.”

Elise pushed a stray lock of her thick, auburn hair behind her ear and said, “If I ever get back home, I will never complain about being bored again.”