Not Quite A Mail Order Bride (Mail Order Brides) (3 page)

As the wagon rolled on, Jed pointed out some of the land
marks. After two hours, he said, “That’s our land now on both sides of the road.”

“You don’t fence the cattle in?” asked Martha.

“No, we have open range, and then a roundup in the fall and another in the spring. The cattle are branded for identification. Luke’s property is next to ours and Rance Underwood is on the other side. At roundup time, we separate the brands, and in the fall, we drive a combined herd to the railhead for transport to Fort Laramie. All three of us have contracts with the army, so it’s not a complicated process. We are supplying some of Laramie’s needs.”

“It’s quite an operation isn’t it?” Martha asked.

“I guess so, but Luke’s is even bigger. We farm some, but Luke doesn’t, except for Clara’s garden. We supply a good bit of Laramie’s fresh vegetables.”

They turned off the main road. Jed said, “Our vegetables are off on the left side of the road. If you look way out there, you can see Papa of our herd, but most of the herd is on the other side of the house.”

“I’m impressed,” Martha said. “I had no idea your place was this big.”

“We have over 2500 acres now. I’m looking to add more, but just haven’t gotten to it. Our house is at the end of this road. Just over the next hill, you’ll be able to catch sight of it.”

When they pulled into the area between the house and barn, one of the ranch hands ambled over and asked, “Need any help, boss?”

“Yes, thank you, Cale. Help me get the trunk into the house and see to the horses would you, please?”

“Yes sir.”

Sarah, the children and Martha went into the house. “Your home is huge, and I love what you’ve done. It is beautiful.”

“Just after we had the idea, hoof and mouth disease got a good bit of our herd and things got tight. We almost didn’t build it, but then the copper came along and saved the day. We have no such worries anymore and Jedadiah tells me to do anything I want with the house. We’ve added on to it several times, but the biggest thing we did was to get water inside. I have a small garden nearby. We grow just about everything we need.”

“Sarah Catherine, why don’t you show Aunt Martha her room?”

Sarah Catherine took Martha’s hand and led her down the hall to what was going to be her room. “This is your room here, Aunt Martha. My room is there,” and she pointed across the hall. “Johnny’s room is there,” and pointed again. Jed and Cale had put Martha’s trunk in the corner of the large room.

Martha went back to the kitchen. “Sarah, I can’t get over this house. It’s larger than the one I was renting and Ma and Papa’s place combined. You really have it nice.”

Sarah smiled, “Yes, I do pretty much have it all. Jedadiah is a wonderful husband and provider. He started from nothing. After he gave up trying to find gold and started farming and ranching, his hard work paid off. The income from the copper leases provides more than we’ll ever need. Now he and Luke are forming a separate mining company too. We have been well and truly blessed.

I wasn’t kidding back at Grace’s. We’d really like for you to stay. You don’t have anything to hold you back in New York.

I have something to show you, you’ll get a kick out of this. She got her mother’s letters from the small desk in the other room and handed it to Martha.”

Martha read the letter, and began to laugh. “She doesn’t give up does she? Now that you’re fixed, she’s bound and determined to see me all married and everything. Daniel isn’t even cold in his grave and already she’s out prospecting and even trying to enlist you. If she weren’t my mother, I’d be angry, but that’s the way she is.”

Sarah laughed with her. “One thing I promise. I won’t try to make a match for you, though I do know this one man who…” She let her voice trail off.

Jed came into the kitchen. “Sarah, would you like to go with me tomorrow? I’m going to check up on Luke to see how he’s doing. Martha, you’re welcome to come with us, unless you’re too tired from your trip.”

“I’d like that and thank you for asking. Just being around you two is invigorating.”

“It’s only about three miles further down the road from where we turned off. When I first came here, Luke was my mentor. Still is as far as that goes. He taught me everything I know about ranching. He even sold me my first bulls and heifers. The copper seam that was discovered on our ranch extends onto his, so we’re sort of partners in that. We’re setting up our own company to do oil and mineral rights leasing. Luke’s only about three years older than I am but he was born on his ranch and has grown it. His operation is much larger than ours. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had over 10,000 acres.”

The next morning…

Jed rapped sharply on the door of the main ranch house. Hetty came to the door. When she saw who it was, she stepped out onto the porch. “Mr Jed, please talk to Mr Luke. He ain’t eating and he ain’t sleeping. He’s hardly spoken to the boys since they put Miss Clara in the ground. It’s just so sad, I don’t know what to do for him.”

“I’ll talk to him, Hetty. How are the boys?” Jed asked.

“Will is real sad. Jimmy keeps asking where his Mama is. They’ll be all right, but I’m worried plum sick about Mr Luke.”

“Where is he,” Jed asked.

“He’s up on the hill by Miss Clara’s grave. He ain’t hardly left it.”

“I’ll go up and talk to him.” He turned, “Sarah, I’m going up to the cemetery and talk to Luke.”

“Do you want me to come up?”

“No, you stay here. I’m going to be hard on him, just as he was on me.”

* * *

“Luke, what are you doing?” Jed asked.

Luke looked up. He hadn’t shaved in three days. His eyes were red and swollen from his crying. His hair was in wild disarray. “She’s gone, Jed. Clara’s gone. I can’t go on without her. I don’t want to go on without her.”

“You should see yourself the way I see you right now. Clara would be ashamed of you. This is no way to honor her life. There’s two little boys down there that lost their mother and now it’s beginning to look as if they might lose their father too. You are a pitiful example of yourself. Do you realize Clara is probably looking down right now and wondering what has happened to the man she loved. You’re stronger than this.”

Luke stood, his fists clenched and a with a wild eyed look, stepped toward Jed.

“Are you going to take a swing at me Luke? Go ahead if it will
make you feel better. It would be worth it. Luke, you’re my best friend and I love you. Go take a good look at yourself in the mirror and then tell me you like what you see.

We’re going home, Luke. Sarah, the kids, her sister and I came over to see if we could do anything for you, but I guess not. Goodbye, Luke.” Without another word, he turned and walked back to the house, gathered his family and went home.

“Once home, he said to Sarah, “John’s going to come out and see how he’s doing. Maybe he can help.”

The next morning, the Barnette family was sitting at the table having a late breakfast. They were planning to show Martha around the ranch today. There was a loud rap on the front door. “I’ll get it,” said Jed. He went to the door to find an abject Luke…

Luke had shaved and cleaned himself up to the point where he looked like himself instead of one of the panhandlers on Grand Street in Laramie. “Could we go somewhere and talk, please?”

“Come on in, we’re just sitting down for breakfast,” Jed said.

“I’d rather not,” Luke said. “I’m not ready to face Sarah.”

“Well, okay, let’s just take a walk,” replied Jed.

“I owe you an apology, Jed. There was no call for my behavior yesterday. I think I was going to take a swing at you. You’re right, if Clara was watching, she would have been embarrassed and ashamed of me.” He was walking, head down, his boots scuffling up the dirt as they walked. “Jed, I lost so much, when she died, my world stopped. I forgot about the boys, my responsibilities, my friends and everything else. Will you forgive me?”

“Luke, there’s nothing to forgive. That was your grief talking, it wasn’t you. I understood. You have my sympathy, but not my pity.” He extended his hand. Luke took it in his usual tight grip. They shook hands heartily. Jed pulled him into an embrace. “You told me once, “To have a friend, be a friend.” I’m your friend Luke. Whatever you need, I’m good for it. Now, I want you to do something for me. Come into the house with me. Sarah cares for you too, Luke. She lost her best friend. You don’t need to be embarrassed at facing her. Come on in.”

They went into the house and into the dining room. Sarah stood, then came around the table to embrace Luke. “It’s so good to see you. The boys are with Hetty? How are they doing?”

“Thanks to Hetty, they’re doing as well as can be expected. I guess having their Papa back might help. We can help each other. Thank you for the other day. Hetty told me all you did. I appreciate it.”

Sarah stepped back. “Luke, this is my sister, Martha. She just lost her husband and is going to be staying with us, I hope for a long time. Martha, this is Luke Hastings, our dear friend and neighbor. Luke wrote a letter of reference for Jed before we married.”

Martha stood, “It’s my pleasure to meet you Luke. I read your letter to Sarah and have heard nothing but good words about you from these two as well as from John and Grace.” She extended her hand.

When he looked at her, he saw the resemblance to Sarah, they had the same long black hair and blue eyes. Martha was a bit shorter than Sarah and he could see the sadness in her eyes from her recent loss. “I’m pleased to meet you Martha. Your sister is one of our favorite people. She’s both a good friend and a good neighbor. I think now, I’ve met the entire family because I had the pleasure of meeting your parents when they visited.”

“Actually, you haven’t met all of us yet. We have an older sister. Sarah and I were closer in age and closer to each other. It is nice to be able to put a face to all I’ve heard about you.”

“I guess your hands have things pretty well in check, don’t they?” Jed asked. “If you need my help, you just have to ask. By the way, John said he and Grace might drive out.”

“Everyone’s worried about the old man, huh?” Luke said with a hollow laugh.

“He’s your friend too.”

“I know, I need to thank him for the eulogy he gave. It was beautiful.”

They sat and chatted for a few minutes, then Luke said, “I need to get back to my boys. Nice to have met you, Martha. I’ll probably be seeing you again if you’re going to be here for any time. Jed, could I see you for a minute?”

On the porch, Luke said, “I assume you’re the one that got the coffin. I appreciate it. I wasn’t thinking about anything like that.”

“I did,” Jed said. “Don’t worry about it. I told John to pay the undertaker from the trust funds and we’d replace it next time we’re in town.” He laughed. “That man! He was worried about getting paid. I told him if he didn’t get it on our wagon immediately, he’d better pick one out for himself, because he was going to need it.”

Luke chuckled. “You shouldn’t have done that. That’s his way. Always afraid someone will cheat him. He did the same thing with me when Will was killed.” He chucked Jed on the back and said, “Thanks for yesterday. I needed it.” He mounted and nudged his horse with the heel of his boot and rode off cross country toward the Twin Bar H and his boys.

Back inside…

“That poor man, I know what he’s going through,” said Martha. “Sorrow is a heavy load and all too often, we try to carry it alone.”

“What about you, Martha? You lost your husband less than two months ago. How are you? Inside, I mean,” said Sarah.

“I’m doing okay,” she said. “With pneumonia, Daniel was sick first, and after the diagnosis, it wasn’t too long before he passed, so it wasn’t just all at once. I didn’t have all of the anger Luke has, since he wasn’t violently, and unjustly taken. Still, it’s not easy. I just wish we had children. It just wasn’t meant to be. I still have my library job. It doesn’t pay all that well, but it’s enough to live on, especially with me staying with our parents.”

“Martha, let’s talk about that,” Jed said. “We really would like for you to stay out here. If you don’t want to talk about it, just say so, but I wish you would consider it.”

“That’s very kind of you, Jed. Both of you. I can’t just live off you. I would have to work if I were to stay. I doubt there is much to be had in Laramie either. I’m a teacher, or a librarian, and there isn’t much demand for either.”

“I know this really nice man that would…” Sarah said with a laugh.

“Don’t even think about it, sis.”

Later, Jed said, “When we get our leasing company set up, we will need someone in the office, but I’m afraid she might look at it as charity if we offered it to her. Keep working her honey.”.

Three months later…

Jed and his family were getting to church about twice a month, Luke was doing about the same, with Hetty along to help with the boys. On this day, the Barnettes were in their usual pew. Luke stopped in the aisle and asked, “Mind if I sit with you? Hetty has the boys in the Sunday school class.”

“No, of course not.” Sarah said. They all slid down the bench seat and made room for him to sit… beside Martha.

“Well done, Honey,” Jed said.

“Why whatever do you mean Jedadiah. I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Two weeks later, the same thing happened.