Cora: Bride of South Dakota (American Mail-Order Bride 40) (4 page)

Lillibeth smiled. “I’m pleased you’re getting away from your father and brother. I’ll be sure to forward any correspondence from Mr. Franklin to this address. Good luck and take care.”

The two girls embraced before Cora made her way back to the stagecoach depot.

***

Rapid City, South Dakota

Two Weeks Later

“Letter for you John. All the way from Massachusetts. Looks like a females handwriting.” George, the Postmaster, thrust the letter into John’s hand and waited expectantly for him to open and read it.

John turned it over in his hands wondering who in Massachusetts, could have written to him. “I have no idea who it could be from.” He shrugged. “I’ll open it when I get home.”

The smile left George’s lips. Known as the town gossip, it was hard for him to accept that John was not sharing his news.

“Anything for Ma and Pa? I’m headed to the store to see them before I head back.”

George checked and handed John another four letters.

“Thanks, George.” John clapped his hat on his head and left the office. As he strode up the street to the General store owned by his parents, he continued turning the mysterious letter over in his hands. He was so engrossed with wondering who it was from, he almost bowled old Mr. Rivers over as he entered the store. He placed an arm around the man and steadied him. “I’m sorry, Mr. Rivers,” he apologized.

The old man grunted, “young whippersnappers never watch where they’re going. I swear, one of them will hurt a person one day.”

John held the door open for the old man to leave and chuckled once he was gone.

“He gets crankier every day,” his mother said as John hugged her and placed a kiss on her cheek.

“Son,” his Pa said. “I hear things are good out at the ranch. Sam tells me you’re lookin’ at buyin’ in more cattle.”

“Sam has a big mouth.” John glared at his best friend and foreman.

His mother watched the exchange. “When are you boys gonna find yourselves wives and give me some grandchildren?”

John and Sam groaned. Every time the boys paid a visit she asked the same thing. John’s three older sisters were married with children but it didn’t stop his mother from wanting the men to get hitched.

Sam had become like a second son to Sarah Franklin. His own mother had passed when he was thirteen years old. He’d been devastated and John’s mother had helped to guide him through his grief. She had been there for him whenever Sam needed a motherly touch. He had grown to love and adore her almost as much as his own mother. It was a very special relationship.

“Ma, you know there aren’t any women around here,” John protested.

“Yeah, Ma. We work too much for a wife anyway,” Sam said.

Sarah glanced up at John. “What about …..”

John interrupted. “You know things didn’t work out. She wanted the city. I want the peace and quiet of the country.”

“Leave ’em be, Sarah. They’ll marry when they’re good and ready.” Josiah Franklin, his father, said.

“Your parents are as bad as my pa, John. Every time he sees me he asks when I’m gonna settle down. I keep tellin’ him, it isn’t gonna happen,” Sam said.

They all laughed at Sam’s determination to remain single.

“You’ll get caught one day, son,” Josiah said. “All good men do.”

“Are you staying for supper?” Sarah asked.

“No, we have to get back, Ma. We’ve got a wagonload of supplies and chores to be done,” John said.

Sarah’s shoulders slumped with disappointment.

“Next time, Ma, I promise.” John handed his mother the mail, keeping his own letter clutched in his hand. He watched as his mothers’ eyes locked on it. She struggled with her curiosity and he saw the sparkle in her eyes as it finally got the better of her.

“Who’s your letter from? It looks like a woman’s handwriting,” she said.

John turned it over again as he glanced down. He suspected what it was about and nerves settled in his belly. He hadn’t mentioned the advertisement to anyone, he wanted to wait and see if he received any responses. “I don’t know who it’s from. It’s postmarked, Massachusetts.”

“Why would you get a letter from someone in Massachusetts, you don’t know anyone there?” his mother said.

“No, I don’t,” he conceded.

“Open it,” Sam said.

John hesitated, he suspected the letter would be private. “No, I’ll open it when I get back to the ranch.”

“Why?” his mother asked.

“I want to get my chores done and read it when I relax.” A feeble excuse, John thought but didn’t want his Ma and Pa to know what he was up to, well not yet anyway.

“But, I want to know who it’s from and what it says,” his mother insisted.

Josiah rested his hand on her arm, “Leave the boy alone, Sarah. He’ll read the letter when he’s ready and tell us about it in his own good time.”

“I’ll wonder about it until I know,” Sarah admitted. Her admission set them all to laughing.

“We have to get going.” John kissed his mother’s cheek and clapped his father on the back. Sam followed suit.

His parents watched from the door of their store as the boy swung themselves onto the seat of the loaded wagon.

“You be careful going home. There’s talk in town, the Sioux have been restless,” Sarah called.

“We’ll be fine,” Sam called back.

John flicked the reins and the horse trotted away.

Chapter Four

The journey back to the Mountainview Ranch was uneventful. The men unpacked the supplies and stored them, brushed, fed and watered the horses and checked the cattle. The ranch was bedded down for the night. Henry, their general hand, John and Sam strode to the house. They toed off their boots by the door and hung the coats on pegs in the hall. They were greeted with a crackling fire in the hearth as they passed by the living room. The aromas of beef stew and freshly baked cornbread competed for pride of place in their nostrils.

“We’ll be there as soon as we’ve washed up,” John shouted towards the kitchen as the three men made their way to the wash basin. They soaped and scrubbed their hands, “anything happen today we need to know about?” John asked Henry.

“We have another four Spring calves and Galloping Gopher was waiting at the base of the hills in the south east corner. He had three of his sons with him,” Henry said.

John frowned as he dried his hands. He’d heard talk that the Sioux were restless and becoming unpredictable but he didn’t think there was any threat to the ranch. “What did he want?”

“They wanted a couple of cows.”

“I’ve told them they can have them as thanks for leaving us in peace.” John had spoken to the Chief several times but they continued to ask.

Henry said, “I know and I told Gopher again. He said he also wanted us to know, the Sioux and the Army are arguing over land in the Black Hills. He said it’s gonna get ugly between
Sitting Bull
and the Army.”

“Are we in danger?” Sam asked.

“No, he said if war breaks out it’ll be many footsteps from us. He only wanted us to know, whatever happens won’t affect
Man with Jagged Cheek
. He said
Sitting Bull
has given his word, no harm will come to us.” Henry assured them.

John let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He’d put every dollar he’d managed to scrape together into buying his ranch when he was twenty years old. Now, at twenty six, he ran two thousand head of cattle on fifty thousand acres of prime land. Water was plentiful thanks to a mountain stream that had never run dry and his ultimate dream was to expand.

Although the largest part of the ranch belonged to John, his three lifetime friends, Sam, Henry and their cook – Frank, had contributed a great deal to its success. John had deeded the other three men two thousand acres and it was agreed, when they eventually wed, the men would band together and build each other a home. For now, none of them had any marriage plans and were content to share the main house.

They all took their places at the table after Frank placed a large pot of stew and a platter of cornbread in the center.

“This smells good,” Henry said as he ladled a helping of stew into his bowl and took a large portion of steaming cornbread.

“I’m sure glad you decided to join us instead of going off to be a cook in some fancy restaurant,” Sam said.

“Amen to that,” John agreed.

The meal passed with talk of plans for the following days’ chores. The men shared the cleaning up and retired to the parlor where John poured four whiskeys.

Sam and John sank into chairs while Henry and Frank positioned a table between them and set up a chess board.

“You gonna take a look at that letter now?” Sam asked John.

Henry spun around in his chair. “What letter?”

John watched as all three men fixed their gazes on him. He pulled the letter from his pocket and while he opened the envelope, the men’s stares never wavered. He removed a single sheet of white paper, the writing was obviously that of a woman. His eyes scanned the words before he dared to glance up at the others. He felt his face heat with embarrassment. How was he going to explain?

“Well?” Sam asked.

John sighed, sooner or later they would find out. “It’s a letter from a young lady in Massachusetts.”

“Who?” Henry asked.

“Why?” Frank asked.

John raised his hand indicating he wanted quiet. He swallowed a gulp of whiskey – liquid courage. “I placed an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune for a wife.”

‘WHAT!” The men all roared at once.

Again John held his hand up. “I’m sick and tired of being alone.” He noted the glares the men shot in his direction. “I mean, I want a woman in my bed. Someone to love, spoil, share things with and eventually, have children with. I’m twenty six years old and it’s time I settled down. It’s time we
all
settled down.”

His friends groaned.

“You all know as well as I do, ladies are hard to find around here so I decided to place the advertisement. Apparently it was printed in the
Grooms’ Gazette
and Cora has sent me this letter.”

“Cora?” Sam asked.

“The name of the gal who’s written.”

John handed the letter to Sam who read it and passed it on. When all three men had finished, John waited for the inevitable questions and comments. He didn’t have to wait long.

“She’s awful young, John,” Henry said.

John scrubbed his face with his fist. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing but she won’t be set in her ways. She might take to ranching better than someone older.”

“I don’t reckon age makes any difference if she turns out to be the one,” Frank said.

“I don’t know. It’s a long way for her to travel and how will a gal born and bred in the city cope out here? I know she says she likes the idea of the peace and quiet but what if she can’t settle?” Sam asked.

“At least it seems she’s willing to try. She answered my letter even though I told her about my scarred face and it was clear in my picture. I’m thinkin’ she mustn’t be too fussy.” John re-read the letter. Did that mean she was desperate?

The men stayed quiet for several minutes. Deep in thought.

“What are you gonna do?” Henry asked.

John eyed his friends. He didn’t miss the concern in their eyes. “I’m gonna reply and send her my references. If she’s still interested, I’ll make arrangements to bring her here. The way I see it, I’ve got nothing to lose. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll send her back.”

“I guess we better get started on building one of the other houses then,” Sam said. “The last thing she’ll want is to share a house with
four
men.”

They all laughed.

“Good point, Sam. It’s quiet at the moment with Winter coming on and most of the cattle sold. Henry, take the buckboard into town tomorrow with Sam and buy the lumber. Load up what you can and we’ll go back for the rest in a few days. We’ll get the house up on Sam’s land first. It’s the closest.”

“I’ll see if I can rope in a couple of extra men to help out,” Sam said.

“NO,” John hadn’t meant to snap. “If we ask any men to help out they’ll want to know what’s going on. I’m not ready to tell anyone yet. I haven’t even mentioned it to Ma and Pa.”

“What will we say if someone asks why we want so much lumber? We’re sure to get asked,” Sam said.

John dragged his fingers through his hair as he thought about it. “Tell them, with most of the cattle sold its quiet so we’ve decided to keep ourselves busy by building one of the houses we’d planned.”

‘What if they think there’s trouble or we’ve argued?” Sam asked.

“Let ‘em think whatever they want. I’m not prepared to have my personal life gossiped about all over town.” John rose. “I’m gonna go and write the letter so you can mail it when you’re in town.” He wished his friends goodnight and escaped to his room.

***

John sat at the desk in his bedroom wearing only his drawers. It was a warm night and he didn’t feel the need to wear anything else.
Cora would be embarrassed if she could see how I was dressed, or undressed, as I wrote her a letter
. He chuckled to himself at the thought of her blushing. His letter commenced:

Miss Ancelet

Thank you for responding to my advertisement. As you will see, I have enclosed a reference from my Banker and another from the owner of our town’s Post Office. Both will assure you of my good character. I hope these will suffice and help to set your mind at ease.

I have a large cattle ranch and three other men, lifelong friends, work and live here with me. I have discussed your letter at length with them as my bringing you here will also impact them.

I must be honest and admit, your young age is of great concern. We have agreed, however, this may be of benefit as you have not had the time to become set in your ways. You may adjust to my way of living more easily.

I was sorry to read of your loss of employment in such distressing circumstances and can only hope, no-one was injured.

I am puzzled by your decision to become a Mail Order Bride and travel to an area which is still very wild. My ranch is one hour by wagon from Rapid City, our nearest town and at least twenty minutes on horseback from our nearest neighbor. I must caution you, it will be very different from the city life you have been used to. I’m sure your reasons for making this decision will be made clear, if and when we meet, as will mine with regards to my advertisement for a wife.

I’m pleased you are not afraid of hard work as on the ranch, there is certainly plenty of it. I find myself extremely pleased that you are willing to learn to ride as there are many beautiful sites I would be eager to share with you and this can only be done on horseback.

I am anxious to receive your reply to this correspondence, both positively and promptly. If you remain willing to take up my offer, I will make the necessary travel arrangements and send the funds to cover your travel expenses.

Yours, in anticipation,

John Franklin

John read the letter through and once satisfied, sealed it and his references into an envelope. He had foreseen the necessity to provide proof of his character and had called on two of his best friends to provide him with the relevant documentation. He printed the address of the Mail Order Bride Agency on the front and his own address on the back. He then set it aside to give to Sam the next morning.

He felt good. Something deep down inside of him insisted he was making the right decision and he would have no regrets.

He doused the lamp, crawled into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

***

Cora was shocked to find Laurel and Eva in the waiting room when she returned to the stagecoach depot. She hurried over to them. “Laurel, Eva, it’s so nice to see you. Are you catching the stage?”

The girls stood and hugs were exchanged before they sat side by side.

“No, we’re here to meet a friend who is due to arrive,” Laurel explained.

“It appears you’re going somewhere. Have you already received a reply from a gentleman regarding your willingness to become a bride?” Eva was curious.

“No, I haven’t heard anything yet. I have written to a man in South Dakota and I’m very hopeful.” Cora explained. “I’m going to stay with a friend in Sioux City until I hear from Mr. Franklin.”

Laurel glanced at Eva. Cora watched eyebrows rise. “Mr. Franklin?” Laurel asked.

“That’s the gentleman’s name. Mr. John Franklin. He’s a rancher.” Cora answered.

“My goodness, it sounds so exciting.” Eva gushed.

“All aboard! Stage for Boston will depart in…..” The man in charge of the depot checked his pocket watch, “four minutes.”

“That’s me. Good luck, I hope everything works out for you both. I will keep you in my prayers and my thoughts.” Cora leaned forward and kissed each girl on the cheek.