Mail-Order Bride Ink: Dear Mr. Turner (15 page)

“He can give away the next one,” Sadie said as they exited the side door and into the bright sunshine.

Several townsfolk milling about took one look at Pleasant and began to ooh and ahh over her dress. Sadie shooed them away, and they hurried to the front of the church to go back in and reclaim their seats. The women waited a few moments, then followed.

Pleasant’s stomach flipped as her palms started to sweat. “I think I need some water,” she gasped.

“Good heavens,” Belle said. “You really are nervous.”

“I can’t help it – I feel like I’m about to step off a cliff.”

Sadie and Belle stopped in front of the church and looked at her. “You
do
want to marry Eli, don’t you?” Sadie asked.

“Of course I do! It’s just that this makes everything so …” She swallowed hard. “… final.”

“What do you mean by that?” Sadie asked, arching an eyebrow. “You aren’t running from anything, are you, Pleasant?”

“No! I mean, I’m not running from the law if that’s what you think. I may have left in a hurry, but –”

“Why did you leave in such a hurry?” Belle asked.

“It’s a long story. Well, it’s not, really … oh, never mind about all that. I’ll be all right – just give me a moment.”

Belle and Sadie exchanged a quick look before nodding in agreement. “We’ll let Jefferson know you’re ready,” Sadie said, grabbed Belle by the hand and dragged her into the church.

Pleasant stood and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. This was it! She was about to be married! She shut her eyes tight against the tears that threatened. On the one hand, she was ecstatic to be marrying Eli. Over the last three days the Cooke family had regaled her with tales about her future husband, which helped make up for not getting to see him. The more she heard, the more she liked him.

And who wouldn’t? He was kind, gentle, strong, handsome, and considered a hero by many in town. People respected him and admired his character. He was indeed a good man, and she couldn’t have made a better choice. Or rather, Mrs. Pettigrew couldn’t have.

How had the woman known? Because on the other hand, the last sort of man Pleasant would’ve pictured herself with was a poor one. Yet here she was, marrying a simple deputy who lived in a one-room cab-
cottage
with a few frilly curtains. It was nowhere near what she was used to, yet at this point it represented a tiny slice of Heaven.

For the first time in her life, Pleasant would have peace and solitude, and a chance to get to know someone she had yet to meet – herself.

She looked back on the person she’d been at Comfort Fields, and realized she didn’t like that little brat very much. She was spoiled, haughty and thought herself above the people around her, including many of her friends. Unfortunately, most of those friends thought the same thing about her and each other. What a bunch of snobs they were – and she the worst of the bunch. Though she hadn’t realized it until recently.

“Thank you, Mrs. Pettigrew,” she whispered to herself. “I’ll have to write you another letter and tell you all about this.” She lifted the skirt of her wedding dress and went up the church steps.

“
W
ell
, are ya ready, Missy?” Jefferson asked as he offered Pleasant his arm.

“I suppose so,” she said, a tremor in her voice.

“Don’t ya worry none – all brides are nervous,” he said softly.

“I … I wish my family could …” Pleasant stopped. Did she, really?

“Of course ya do,” Jefferson said. “What bride don’t want her family at her weddin’? I wish they could be here too – love to meet them.”

She wrapped her arm through his, glad she hadn’t said any more about her family. To do so might only raise a lot of questions, and she’d have to tell them what she’d done. She wasn’t ready to do that yet, or to think about writing her brothers and father to let them know she was all right and happily wed. She’d pen a letter to Mrs. Pettigrew before she did that. Before
that
, she wanted to get through the ceremony first.

The wedding march drifted through the open doors to where they stood. “That’s our cue, Missy,” Jefferson said with a smile. “Let’s get ya married!”

Pleasant swallowed hard and focused her mind on her intended. She hadn’t seen Eli for days, and hoped he liked what he saw when she walked down the aisle.

They entered the church and started the slow march. It was so dark after being out in the bright sunshine, and Pleasant had to squint to see Eli standing at the altar. The townspeople murmured about her dress as they passed, which bolstered her courage. If they liked how she looked, Eli certainly should.

When she reached the middle of the church she gasped. They stared at each other as she approached, and it was all she could do to keep from crying. He was resplendent in a dark grey evening suit with tails, a white shirt, pearl-gray tie and even a diamond tie pin! He must have borrowed all of that – it was the only explanation. No small-town lawman could afford such an extravagance. It had to belong to one of the Cooke brothers. They were the only ones she could think of in Clear Creek who would own such clothing.

Eli stood and waited as Jefferson guided her the last few steps. Jefferson stopped in front of Preacher Jo, a huge smile on his face, as the couple continued to gawk at each other. “Eli, you have a lovely bride,” Preacher Jo commented in a low voice.

Eli swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and squeaked, “I … I sure do.”

Preacher Jo gazed at the couple, looking proud as a peacock. “What say I marry these two?” he called to the church.

A cheer went up. Pleasant jumped at the sound and looked over her shoulder. Sadie and Belle weren’t kidding when they said the town loved weddings! She quickly locked eyes with Eli again.

“Ahem,” Preacher Jo said, and the congregation quickly quieted. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of God to join these two young people together in holy matrimony. Can I have an amen?”

“Amen!” the crowd called back with no shortage of smiles and laughter.

Pleasant’s mouth dropped open. The people in the pews were genuinely having a good time. She smiled as she faced front again, thoroughly enthralled. She’d never see this sort of thing back in Savannah.

“Who gives this woman?” Preacher Jo inquired.

“Ya don’t have to ask, Preacher Jo!” some wag called from the back of the church.

“Jefferson!” a few others yelled.

Preacher Jo did his best not to laugh, and failed. “Forgive me,” he told Eli and Pleasant. “But as you can see, everyone is in an exceptionally good mood today.”

“We see that,” Eli commented with a chuckle.

“Anyway,” Preacher Jo said, “now you all know that the bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation …”

Pleasant’s stomach picked that moment to growl so loud that Eli flinched beside her.

Preacher Jo stopped, looked at her with his eyebrows raised, smiled and went on. “… and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by His presence and first miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.”

Her stomach growled even louder this time. She knew she should have eaten something earlier, but she’d been too nervous.

Preacher Jo put a fist to his mouth and made a show of clearing his throat. He continued with the ceremony, and Pleasant thanked the Lord above that no one had started laughing. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if the preacher or Eli had, and suspected the whole church would have exploded in hysterics. Merciful heavens, she’d be mortified! A small snort escaped her as she pictured the scene, and she quickly put a hand to her mouth.

“… therefore marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.” Preacher Jo arched an eyebrow at her. “Are you all right?”

Pleasant, much to her horror, was doing everything
she
could not to burst into laughter! And here she’d pictured the townspeople doing so. She glanced at Eli, who was also looking oddly at her. She waved a hand in front of her. “I’m fine, really,” she managed. Maybe everything had suddenly caught up to her and she was going round the bend!

Preacher Jo took a deep breath and continued. “Well, ah …” A snort of laughter escaped him.

“Don’t!” she pleaded, a hand to her chest. She then put it over her mouth and shut her eyes tight.

“Land sakes, sweetie,” Eli said. “Ya look like yer about to bust a gut!”

His use of the expression only made it worse. “I’m fine, heh-heh, fine … continue, please …,” she said in a high-pitched whisper.

Now Eli snorted.

“Oh good grief,” Preacher Jo said and lost it.

That, of course, sent Pleasant over the edge. She began to cackle, which in turn pushed Eli into a belly laugh. Wilfred, who was sitting in the front pew, went next. Then the floodgates opened and the whole church followed.

Preacher Jo raised his arms and motioned for everyone to calm down, but it did no good – especially since he couldn’t even calm himself. Pleasant was bent double at this point, tears streaming down her face. The laughter felt good, and the stress from weeks of fleeing from her family fell away. Eli was guffawing, leaning back to rattle the rafters. There was a thud as Mary Mulligan fell out of a pew and onto the floor, which took the hysterics up a notch.

After several minutes, with Eli’s help, Pleasant straightened and grinned at Preacher Jo. The reverend managed to take a deep breath and wipe his eyes. “All right, calm down everyone!” he called. “Let’s continue!”

The church slowly quieted. Eli tugged on his jacket and pulled at his collar, obviously not used to wearing such clothing. “I’ll be hornswoggled – I didn’t know ya could laugh like that,” he whispered to Pleasant.

“Neither did I,” Pleasant admitted. She took a deep breath and they both nodded at Preacher Jo.

“Thank Heaven,” he replied. “All right, now that we’ve got that out of our systems, into this union Pleasant and Eli now come to be joined.”

Wilfred began to chuckle again in the front pew. Irene nudged him with her elbow, but a few others picked it up.

“Stop, or we’ll never get through this!” Preacher Jo demanded.

Unfortunately, a ripple of titters and giggles kept moving through the church. “Best just finish it, Preacher Jo!” Patrick Mulligan called.

Preacher Jo sighed, then said, “If any of you can show just cause why they may not be lawfully wed, speak now or else forever hold your peace!” He snorted, once, but managed to stop himself.

“I do!” a voice shouted from the back of the church.

* * *

T
hat started everyone laughing again
, and several people looked around to see who the joker was. Some, including Pleasant and Eli, laughed louder.

“I said, I OBJECT!”

Everyone quieted and turned. Standing in the doorway at the back of the church was a man. No, make that, men. Several of them.

Pleasant turned and gasped. “Oh no …”

One of the men strode halfway up the aisle and glared at her. “Surprised to see us, dear sister?”

“Major!” She looked past him. “Michael? Matt? Darcy?” Her knees buckled. Thankfully Eli was there to catch her.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Preacher Jo barked. “Who are you?”

Another man shoved his way past the first and marched to the front of the church. “I’ll tell you who I am,” he said in a thick Down East accent. “I’m Rupert Jerney, her betrothed!”

Pleasant took one look at him, screamed and, regaining her footing, hid behind Eli.

Rupert pulled out a gun and aimed it at him. “I’ll ask you, sir, to let go of my fiancée.”

“Yer fiancée?!” Eli said in shock. “What the Sam Hill are ya talkin’ ‘bout?”

Rupert quickly looked him up and down as the men behind him began to make their way down the aisle. “Why, you are nothing but a lowly country hick.”

A series of
clicks
followed the remark as every man in the church cocked his gun and aimed it at the newcomer. His companions looked at the good townspeople of Clear Creek in shock, and backed up a few steps.

“No one calls my brother names,” a voice said behind Rupert.

He turned, took one look at the sheriff’s star pinned to the man’s jacket and blanched. “She’s mine, Sheriff. If you know what’s good faw you, you’ll stay out of this.”

“Brother?” Major repeated. “She’s marrying a lawman?”

“Yes, a deputy,” Preacher Jo said. His gun was in his hand too, though no one had seen him draw it. He pointed it at Rupert. “Now, Mr. Rupert Jerney, I’d like to hear what Miss Comfort has to say about all this. I strongly suggest you keep your mouth shut while she does, or so help me, you’ll wish I’d let Sheriff Turner arrest you.”

“Arrest me?” Rupert sneered. “Faw what?”

“Disturbing the peace,” Tom Turner replied. “Threatenin’ folks with a deadly weapon.”

“Being a conceited, arrogant blowhard!” Pleasant yelled from her refuge behind Eli.

“What did you call me?” Rupert hissed.

“Rupert?” one of the men with him said. “Our sister doesn’t seem very glad to see you.”

“Major!” Pleasant squeaked. “What are you doing here?”

“Rupert said you were in grave danger. He feared you’d been kidnapped.”

“What?” she gasped.

“About sent our poor daddy to drinking,” another said.

“Are these yer relations?” Eli asked.

“My brothers,” she said. “All six of them.”

“Six?” Preacher Jo echoed as he looked them over. “Well. Everyone, please put those guns away so we can settle this.”

A shot was fired, then another. People dove for cover, then realized the reports were coming from outside.

“Tarnation!” Tom Turner looked at his brother. “The jail!”

No sooner had he said it than there was a loud BOOM!

“It’s a jailbreak!” Eli shouted. He turned to Preacher Jo and shoved Pleasant into his arms. “Take care of her!” Ignoring Rupert and company, he joined his brother Tom.

Colin and Harrison Cooke jumped to their feet, their pistols still trained on the newcomers. “We’ll handle things here,” Harrison told the Turners. “Go!”

Tom and Eli ran for the church doors as fast as they could, with Bran O’Hare right behind. They had over a dozen prisoners locked up, with only Henry Fig to guard them. To have them all loose at once could cause a lot of damage, not to mention the ones that done the loosing.

Other men began to follow, guns at the ready, as the realization of what could happen hit them. “We’ll help!” several cried as they followed the Turners and Bran outside.

Colin and Harrison took Pleasant from Preacher Jo and pushed her behind them. “Now let’s all calm down and settle this,” Colin suggested. “I do believe a posse is about to form, so I suggest you talk fast.”

More shots echoed outside, followed by the sound of galloping horses. Pleasant’s brothers glanced between Rupert and the church doors. “How many are escaping?” Major asked.

“There were at least a dozen outlaws locked up at the sheriff’s office,” Wilfred explained. “Could be more than twice that now what with their cohorts busting them out.”

“More than a dozen?!” Major glanced around the church. His eyes locked on Honoria for a moment before he faced the Cooke brothers. “Who knows what they’ll do? Are these all the women and children?”

“No, some folks left after church to go tend to things at home,” explained Preacher Jo. “They’d planned to come back to town for the wedding supper.”

“You mean the whole town is here?” Darcy asked.

“Yes,” Pleasant stifled a sob. “Because they care about each other here. They care about me. And you all had to come along and ruin everything!”

Her brothers stared at her a moment. “So it seems,” Major said. He glared a dagger at Rupert. “We’ll deal with you later.” He turned back to Colin and Harrison. “Sirs, three of us served in the Confederate Army during the war, and all of us are trained with firearms. If you’ll have us, we’d be glad to help.”

More shots, closer this time, followed by a woman’s shriek. “That sounded like Grandma!” Preacher Jo said, his features locked in panic.

“Grandma?” Pleasant came out from behind the Cooke brothers. “We’ve got to help her!”

“Grandma?” Rupert spat and tried to grab her arm. “I don’t care about some silly old bat in this hayseed town! You’re coming with me!”