The Mistaken Mail Order Bride (5 page)

“But she’s got a caring heart,” Eric argued.
“A pretty face isn’t much good if you’re married to a harpy.”

Relieved he’d finally reached the front door
of Ida’s home, Eric pounded on it. He hadn’t intended to use so
much force, but it unnerved him the people were still hovered
around him. Why couldn’t they all just go home and mind their own
business?

Ida opened the door, and Eric was surprised
to see even more of the townsfolk gathered in her kitchen. “Sheriff
Johnson! Just the man we were talking about. I bet your ears are
burning.”

His gaze swept the kitchen, and he counted
seven ladies, who were all waiting for him to speak. “Would you
mind giving me a couple of clothes that would fit a seven-year-old
boy?”

“I heard the wrong woman came,” Ida said,
successfully dodging his question.

“Yes, but since the right one didn’t come,
we figured we might as well get married.”

“And she came with a child,” Ida said, her
eyebrows raised in interest. “Is it hers?”

After a moment, he decided he might as well
satisfy everyone’s curiosity. Word was going to spread through town
anyway. Might as well get it over with. “He’s an abandoned child
she found in Kansas. She brought him here so he could have a home.
Unfortunately, he has no other clothes than the ones he wore on the
stagecoach, and there’s not enough time for her to sew some. Do you
have any clothes you’re willing to spare?”

“Well, sure I do. Come on in, and I’ll get
them.”

Ida waved him in, though he didn’t know if
he could possibly squeeze in the small space. Yes, Ida and Mike had
a lot of children, but they were all crammed in together. It made
Eric wonder how the two could possibly manage to find the privacy
to conceive them all.

Finally, Eric said, “I’ll wait out
here.”

“Alright.” She squirmed past a couple of
women on her way out of the kitchen, leaving him all alone to
contend with the onlookers.

“There’s really nothing to it,” he told
them. “Caroline seems like a kind and decent woman. I think we’ll
get along just fine. I just hope the rest of you treat her with
respect.”

“Oh, we wouldn’t dream of being anything but
respectful,” one of the women sitting on a kitchen chair spoke
up.

Seeing the others nod, he reminded them,
“You weren’t exactly welcoming when Phoebe Durbin arrived.”

“That’s different,” one of the men, who’d
been standing behind him, called out. “Phoebe went to marry Abe.
Caroline’s your wife.”

Eric turned to face him. “It doesn’t matter
whose wife she is. The fact that she’s a human being should be
enough to give her respect.” Then, thinking of the stigma Abe faced
in town, he added, “The fact that Abe’s human should be enough to
give him respect, too.”

While a couple of people had the nerve to
look ashamed, some only stared at him as if they had no idea what
he was talking about. He didn’t know whether to be encouraged or
dismayed. Some were listening, and others refused to hear him.

“No one is saying Phoebe deserved what Enoch
tried to do to her,” Hank said, breaking the awkward silence that
had fallen around everyone. “What Enoch did was wrong, and yes,
I’ll be the first to admit Benny should have done something to stop
him. You were right to put them both in jail.”

“Right,” another man called out. “We don’t
like lawlessness of any kind. We want this to be a decent town with
decent folk.”

Taking that as his cue, Eric asked, “Then
why can’t we all get past our differences and take the time to
learn more about each other?”

“You can’t expect to change everyone
overnight,” Hank said. “It takes time.”

“Too bad it’s not your wife or husband who’s
different,” Eric replied. “Then everyone here might be able to
offer more compassion.”

Again, an awkward silence hovered over the
group. This time, Ida was the one who interrupted it by calling out
Eric’s name. He turned back to the doorway in time to see her
coming toward him with a couple of clean shirts and pants.

“If they don’t fit, Caroline is welcome to
alter them,” Ida told him. “I’ve done it a couple times already.
They’re durable clothes. I only sew with the best material.” She
glanced at the women in the kitchen and giggled. “You know how
children are. They are rough on all their clothes.”

The resulting laughter lightened the mood
around Eric, and he didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. He
didn’t like conflict any more than the next person, but sometimes
he thought some of the townsfolk could use a good shaking up.

Today, however, there was enough for him to
worry about. He had to get back to Caroline and help her with
Caleb. After that, they’d get something to eat. He thanked Ida.
Then, without another glance at the onlookers, he headed back to
his cabin.

Chapter Four

C
aroline hurried over to Caleb as soon as he stirred from his
slumber.

“Caleb, are you feeling better?” she asked,
checking his forehead to make sure he wasn’t hot. He hadn’t had a
fever so far, but she kept worrying the stress of the trip would
catch up to him and make him sick.

Caleb sat up and nodded.

Relieved, she smiled. “Good. The hard part
is over. We’re at our new home, and Eric Johnson will take good
care of us. Do you feel like you can stand?”

He got off the bed, the shirtwaist she’d
lent him reaching his ankles. It wasn’t ideal, but she had nothing
for a child, especially a boy. But she couldn’t have put him back
in his clothes until they were dry.

“Eric said he’d be coming back with some
clothes that will fit you,” she assured him. “You can put them on
when he gets back.” After a moment, she added, “You remember Eric,
don’t you? He’s the nice man who brought us here.”

Caleb didn’t answer. In fact, he stared at
the floor as if lost in his thoughts. Who could blame him? So much
had changed in such a short time. She’d been through a hard time,
but she had a feeling he’d been through much worse.

With a smile, she patted his shoulder. “You
have nothing to worry about anymore. You’re safe here.”

Still, he didn’t respond. He could hear, and
he understood what she told him. She knew that much because he had
taken the bath and put on the shirtwaist. He’d also stood up just
now. But he had shut himself off from the rest of the world.

“I just want you to know,” she began,
choosing her words carefully, “whatever happened to you is over.
This is a new beginning. I promise everything will be alright from
now on.”

He didn’t say anything, and she wasn’t sure
what else she could add to what she’d already said except for one
thing.

“When Eric returns and you put on your new
clothes, we’ll get something to eat.” She offered a smile. “I hope
you’ll feel up to eating. You barely had anything during the trip.”
And what little he had eaten, he hadn’t managed to keep down. “Even
if all you manage is a small portion and some water, it’ll be
better than nothing.”

This time, he nodded, and she felt much
better. He still wasn’t talking, but he had communicated something.
And something was better than nothing.

“Thank you,” she replied.

The door opened, and she hurried to the
bedroom doorway in time to see Eric enter the cabin with some
neatly folded clothes in his arms. Good. He’d found something for
Caleb to wear.

“As I thought, Ida had plenty of old clothes
on hand,” Eric said. He put them on the table and sorted through
them. “It looks like there are two pants, four shirts, four
drawers, and two pairs of socks. Oh, she also added a pair of
boots.” He glanced at Caroline. “I’m not sure how these will fit,
but she said you can mend anything that needs it.”

Mending? Caroline hadn’t considered that.
She wondered if it was much different from sewing part of a
quilt.

Eric went over to her and peered into the
bedroom. “Why don’t you pick out what you want to wear? Then you
can change in that room over there.” He pointed to the small
bedroom next to the one they were in.

Caleb looked up at her, and it touched her
that the boy wanted to know if she wanted him to do as Eric wished.
That meant Caleb trusted her, and since he did that, then he was
opening up to her.

She held out her hand to him, and after he
took it, she led him to the table. “Did Ida make these herself, or
did she buy them?” she asked Eric.

“Ida made them. All the women make clothes
for their families,” Eric said.

Trying not to give away her uncertainty as
Caleb touched the clothes, she asked Eric, “Are you telling me
there are no ladies who provide this service?”

“All of them are too busy,” he replied.
“From time to time, Lois might make something, but she prefers to
cook.”

Caroline offered a slow nod even as a
feeling of despair rose up within her. She’d warned Charles that
she wasn’t skilled in the running of the home. Sure, she could
throw the best dinner parties and decorate rooms so they were
pretty, but tasks like sewing and cooking weren’t a part of her
experience.

Caleb selected the clothes he wanted and
took them to the other bedroom.

She waited until he shut the door before
turning her attention to Eric. “There are some things I need to
tell you. I get the impression you were expecting a lady who knows
how to maintain a home. Allison Jones probably knows how to cook
and clean and sew. Am I right?”

“Actually, I hadn’t thought to ask,” Eric
replied, his eyebrows furrowed. “I just assumed all women know how
to do those things.”

“Most do.” At least she thought so. “But you
see, I grew up on a plantation. There were people who did those
tasks for my parents and me.” Before he regretted his decision to
stay married to her, she quickly added, “I don’t mind learning how
to do these things. Do you know who might be willing to help me
learn?”

“Phoebe Thomas. She lives a short ways out
of town. I’ll take you over to meet her in a day or two. You’ll
like her. She’s about your age. I think you two will get along just
fine.”

“I hope she won’t mind teaching me.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. I imagine she’ll be
happy to talk to someone her own age. All the other women are
either in their mid-thirties or older. In the meantime, I can help
you with the cooking. I’ve done plenty of it. The meals won’t be
anything fancy, but they’ll do the job.”

“I’m not picky. After the war, a lot of us
were just glad to have something to eat. We didn’t care what it was
as long as it was edible.”

“Well, that’s good because I mostly do
oatmeal and soup.”

The bedroom door opened, and Caleb stepped
out. The shirt reached a little past his wrists, and the pants
covered most of his boots. His vest was a perfect fit, though, and
he seemed to walk without any trouble, so she assumed the boots fit
alright.

Smiling, Caroline hurried over to him. “Why,
don’t you look dapper? You’re a handsome child.”

However could his parents leave him? Or
maybe they were dead. She’d witnessed some desperate men kill for
food and clothes. Perhaps something like that had happened to
Caleb’s parents, and maybe he ran off before they could kill him,
too.

She shook her head. It did her no good to
engage in such speculation. She’d just have to be patient and wait
for him to tell her. That was, if he ever told her. It was very
possible she’d never know.

“I bet you’re both hungry after the long day
you’ve had,” Eric spoke up. “Why don’t we go on down to the
restaurant before it closes?”

“That is a marvelous idea.” Caroline turned
to Caleb. “You won’t have to get in a stagecoach afterwards. We’ll
come right back here, so you shouldn’t get sick.”

Caleb didn’t reply, but he did make eye
contact with her.

With an encouraging smile, she held her hand
out to him. “You can eat whatever you want.”

“You sure can,” Eric agreed. “Lois makes
some good pies, but no one does them like Bertha. She puts cinnamon
and sugar on the crust before she bakes it, and it makes the pie
that much better.” Glancing at Caroline, he added, “Bertha and her
husband own the restaurant. Their oldest son runs the livery
stable.”

“What do you say?” Caroline asked Caleb, who
hadn’t taken her hand yet. “You want to try some pie?”

After a moment, Caleb offered a slight nod
and took her hand. She couldn’t help but notice how frail his grip
seemed. He was such a thin boy. Too thin for his age. She was in a
similar state, but it was easier to cover up how thin she was with
her layers of undergarments.

But it was no matter. Neither one would have
to deal with hunger ever again. All of that would be a memory. She
wasn’t only giving herself a new life. She was giving one to Caleb,
too. Gently squeezing his hand, she led him to the door, Eric
following close behind.