Adelaide: Bride of Maryland (American Mail-Order Bride 7) Read online

  Adelaide: Bride of Maryland

  By

  Ciara Knight

  Adelaide: Bride of Maryland

  American Mail-Order Bride

  Copyright ©2015 by Ciara Knight

  All rights reserved.

  Kindle Edition

  First edition published November 2015

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover art ©2015 by Robin Ludwig

  Edited by Cora Artz

  Chapter One

  The train horn tooted in the distance, sending a jolt of excitement and fear through Adelaide Baker. She couldn’t help but scan the platform to make sure she had escaped. If Horst Chatgonwitz caught her at the train station…well, she wasn’t sure what his actions would be. “Tell me this is the right thing to do. Please, Mary. Tell me I haven’t lost my mind.”

  Her dearest friend clutched her hand tight. “I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do, but it’s the only choice you have if you wish to escape that horrible man.”

  “I know.” Adelaide watched the dark train chug around a bend in the track, slowing as it pulled into the Boston train station. The horn sounded once more, piercing her eardrums. Men bustled about, tugging large steamer trunks behind them. Women fanned themselves for relief from the unseasonably warm September weather. She released Mary’s hand and dabbed a cloth to her forehead and chin to rid it of moisture.

  She’d seen many friends off at the station to meet husbands in faraway places, but today it was her turn. Relief and excitement mixed with an equal amount of nervousness. What if her new husband didn’t accept her? Would she have to return to the match her stepfather had made for her? She knew Horst would forever torture her for the unseemly scars on her neck.

  Mary smacked Adelaide’s hand away from where she fingered the scar along her hairline on her neck. “Stop that. I promise you can’t even tell with your hair down.”

  Adelaide sighed. “I can’t help it. I feel like I should have a bandage over the scars, or wear a black veil. What if he turns me away? He doesn’t know about my deformity. That I’m damaged.”

  Mary tugged on her hand until Adelaide met her eyes. “You’re beautiful. Don't ever let someone tell you otherwise. You may not see it but every man turns their head when you pass. Besides, your hair is long and dark enough to cover the burn. But even if it didn't… Adelaide, you saved my life in that fire. If you hadn’t pulled me out of the factory… I’m so sorry. If you'd just left me—”

  “No, it wasn’t your fault.” As much as it broke her heart, Adelaide knew she had to leave Mary behind. Otherwise her friend would forever feel guilty. She deserved a life of her own with her husband and future children. “I will miss you dearly. Perhaps I could remain another few days.”

  “You can’t. You had a hard enough time avoiding Mr. Chargonowitz the last few days as it was. You know he ratted to your stepfather about your burns. The louse probably used it as a bargaining chip for a higher dowry. You’ll never escape your stepfather once he’s in Boston. He'll demand payment for your agreement to accept Mr. Chargonowitz as your fiancé in exchange for working in Boston. If you break your promise…” Mary shivered despite the stale, warm air on the platform. “This is your chance, Mr. Chargonowitz is distracted with your stepfather’s arrival, and after weeks of tending your wounds, the doctors have finally released you. You need to get as far from here as possible. We both know he’ll be a strong-handed husband, too strong-handed for any woman.” Mary smiled. “The missive said your new husband is gentle and of a good disposition. I’m sure he’s handsome, too, and strong. He'll make you wonderfully happy for the rest of your days.”

  Adelaide smiled at her friend’s optimism. “Perhaps, but still, it’s hard to leave you. You’re my dearest friend.”

  Mary cleared her throat. “And you’re mine, which is why you need to leave. You think I can watch you endure a marriage to that man? Mr. Chargonowitz already hit you once for a mere blemish on your face. Do you not realize what he will do if he sees…?” Mary caved to her grief once more. The woman cried more than Adelaide’s mother ever had, which didn’t seem possible. At least Mary cried for someone else’s grief, instead of her own. Adelaide needed to ease Mary’s guilt.

  “Listen, I’ll be fine. It’s time for my next adventure. This isn’t new to me. I left home to work at the factory despite my stepfather’s demands that I remain a respectable girl in Maryland. I would still be working, averting my wedding from Mr. Chargonowitz if it hadn’t been for the fire. Sometimes I even wonder if Horst could’ve had someone start it, but I remind myself he is a gentleman of society with wealth and power, why would he care to waste his time on me? He’ll be relieved when I’m no longer his betrothed.”

  She glanced around the crowded platform. People disembarked the train while others stood waiting to board. With no sign of Horst, her shoulders relaxed slightly. “I know this is the right decision. It’ll work out fine. The agency in Montana swears the men are of good moral character, and if for some reason things go south, there are other girls there. I can just find a job and live quietly, spending my days painting. You know I’ve never cared much for money and political power, so going to Montana feels right for me.” Adelaide smiled. “I will enjoy painting the landscapes there.”

  “I bet. You better send some to me once in a while. I love your paintings. I’d submit them to the galleries in town if only you’d let me.”

  “No, no one would want to buy my paintings. I only wish to live in peace. In that regard I’m more of my father’s child than my mother’s. A simple life with simple means, that’s all I ever wanted.” Adelaide sighed. “I miss him greatly, but I’m happy my mother has found joy with another man, and she’s well cared for by my stepfather. I only wish she wouldn’t be cross with me for fleeing my engagement. No matter how much I pleaded, she wouldn’t hear of going against my stepfather’s choice. She’s not going to take my deception and disobedience well. My stepfather won't either. He’ll never allow me to return to Maryland to see my mother again.” Her heart felt heavy, and she knew it would only get worse the further away the train carried her.

  Mary pulled her into a hug just as the conductor yelled, “All aboard!” All along the platform people clung to their loved ones to say their goodbyes before boarding the train bound for the west.

  “Why, oh why didn’t I do the mail order bride instead of marrying Samuel here in Boston?” Mary cried as she wrapped her arms around Adelaide’s neck.

  Adelaide dropped her bag to return the hug then took a step back, holding Mary at arm’s length. “Because you love him. You’re a lucky girl. It’s every woman’s dream to have a man who adores them as much as Samuel adores you." She gave her dear friend one last squeeze. "I promise we will see each other again some day. I’ll write you often, okay? This is not goodbye.

  Mary nodded, tears streaming down her face. Her loving eyes pleaded with Adelaide to stay, but her body remained rigid as though she was rooted to the spot.

  Samuel stepped out from the ticket office, his eyes fixed on Mary. The man thought of nothing, save Mary and her needs. The look on his face spoke of his concern for his wife’s tears, but there wasn't anything either of them could do to ease her pain. He picked up Adelaide's suitcase. “I’ll help you with that.”

  “Thank you, and thank you for allowing me to stay with you before I left. I hope it doesn’t cause you any trouble once I’m gone.�
��

  “Don’t worry about that, ma’am. You saved my Mary’s life. I will forever offer my assistance whenever needed.” He handed her bag to the attendant and took Mary in his arms. “I promise to take good care of Mary. Once you’re settled, perhaps we will find a way to travel out to visit you.”

  Adelaide knew that would be impossible. Samuel could never afford the cost of a ticket, let alone two. Not to mention his job on the docks didn’t allow him time away. And now that Mary was with child, she was in no condition to be traveling. Still, she smiled at his offer. “I look forward to it.”

  Mary launched into her arms once more, knocking her into a man behind her. He grunted and looked down his nose at them, the way Horst always did to everyone around him. She kissed Mary’s cheek then Samuel’s before taking the attendant’s hand and boarding the train, leaving her friend behind forever.

  Her future was waiting for her, somewhere near Glendive, Montana, in the form of a rancher who promised not to beat her when she made him cross.

  She settled into her seat and waved through the window to Mary and Samuel still standing on the platform. As the train pulled away, she opened her purse and pulled the small paper out to read it once more.

  A bachelor of 26, good appearance at over six feet and 180 pounds. Soft-handed and kind-hearted, yet possesses great strength and is of high moral character. Seeks wife of amenable appearance with a sweet disposition, yet possesses strength enough to embrace the adventure of living on a homestead.

  She formed an image in her head of a man six inches taller than her, broad-shouldered with tanned skin from hours of hard labor in the sun. A stark contrast to the stout, balding man with a short temper she was leaving behind in Boston. Yet, the appearance of her husband-to-be mattered little. Just so long as he was as gentle as the advertisement promised. A soft-handed and kind-hearted man like her father.

  She used to believe all men were that way. Even after living under the stern rule of her stepfather, she still thought men were gentle. But that all changed when he announced his plan to marry her to a German man in Boston. Not to mention he cut off all financial support when she began working in the factory. He wished to control her every decision, to force her into submission, but she wouldn’t. She would rather take a chance out west. Perhaps her husband would even allow her to paint, unlike her stepfather who felt it was a waste of time for a young woman to pursue such things. He insisted she learn proper household skills and attend social events.

  Dare she hope for a man who enjoyed spending quiet evenings by the fire instead of entertaining every night for political and societal gain? A man who craved a simpler life, just as she did?

  The train chugged down the tracks, faster and faster, leaving all she'd known behind. She remained frozen in her seat for several hours, half-expecting Horst to walk through the car's door and take her back to Boston. A few hours more and her heart finally settled. She’d successfully executed her escape.

  She watched fields and forests go by for the rest of the day in almost a sleepy state of dreaming. What would her new home be like?

  After changing trains in Chicago, she began to feel a large ball knot in her stomach, one of fear and doubt. She clutched the paper to her chest and prayed as the days rumbled by. Prayed the man at the end of the line was not a worse monster than the one she’d left behind in Boston.

  Chapter Two

  John Rivers stacked the final crate into the supply wagon and scanned the storefronts to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. A team of horses trotted past pulling a full wagon. Women at the saloon down the street paraded around to piano music on the front porch. His gut twisted with the image of his sister in the same alluring clothes and seductive movements. Had it really been five years since she died?

  “Hey, Billy. Your wife almost done in the mercantile? I’d like to get back to the homestead in time to repair the front gate. With all the barbed wire being installed along Salter’s border, I don’t want to take a chance of our cattle wandering into it.”

  Billy Morgan nodded. “Understood. But I’m afraid that’ll have to wait a bit.” He removed his hat and wiped his brow with that you’re-not-gonna-like-what-I’m-gonna-say look on his face.

  “Spill it.” John crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the back of the wagon, the hard wood creaking beneath his weight. “It’s Salter, isn’t it? What’s he done now?”

  “No. It’s not that.” Billy kicked the wagon wheel, knocking dust and dirt from his boot. “Best you sit down for a bit and let me explain.”

  John pushed from the wagon, ignoring the women outside the saloon winking at him. “What are you carrying on about? I’m starting to think you’re up to something. Something no good.”

  “Oh, he isn’t the only one up to something. I had a part in this plan as well.” Stella Morgan’s voice startled him from behind.

  He tipped his hat and took the parcels from her arms, tucking them between two crates. “I’m afraid I’m not following, ma’am.”

  “I told you not to call me ma’am. You’re like a son to me,” Stella chastised.

  Billy took his wife’s hand, and they turned to face him like a united front.

  “Listen, I don’t know what you two are up to, but I don’t have time for any of your mess. I need to get back to the homestead.”

  Billy shook his head, his oversized hat twisting a little with the movement. “Afraid you need to be staying here to wait for the train.”

  “The train? Are we expecting company? Please tell me you didn’t invite another family member here to meet me. We’ve been through this before. I’ll marry when I’m good and ready and not a day before. I don’t need any damn meddling no more, either. Pardon me, ma’am.” He tipped his hat once more out of habit.

  Stella huffed. “The damn you’ll ever marry without some meddlin’. Now, listen up and keep an open mind. There’s a woman arriving on that train and she's coming to marry you. The matchmaker in town helped us post a missive in the Grooms Gazette back east about you and she decided you were both a good fit.”

  “She’s mighty pretty from what I understand," Billy chimed in. "Has all her teeth, five foot six inches tall, come from a good family, never been married, and is twenty-one years old.”

  “Of all the addle-headed…” John sighed. “I don’t care if she’s the most beautiful woman in the world. You had no right. What woman would travel out here to marry a man she'd never even met before?”

  “Lots a women. There aren’t enough men in the east, so they’re marryin’ the men here. The service's been running ’while now. Lots a men in this area got their wives from it.” Billy tipped his chin high, his missing tooth showing as he grinned. The same grin he reserved for when he’d done something he was proud of, like wrangling with the mercantile for a good price, or hiring a good man…or ordering a wife.

  “Listen, I know you meant well, but I told you that until I’m set I don’t want a wife or kids. I won’t have them suffer the way my family did in Kansas.”

  “How much more you need? Homestead’s nice, business is good, and you're one of the richest men in Montana.” Stella placed her hand son her hips and stared him down.

  “Look, when I’m ready for a wife, I’ll let you two help me pick her out, ’kay?” That wasn’t gonna happen, but it would at least buy him some time. He'd come up with a better excuse to get Stella and Billy off his case when he didn't have so much else on his mind.

  John secured the load to the buckboard and turned his attention to the horses. Daylight was fading and he needed to get that gate repaired before nightfall.

  “You can’t just leave her at the station," Billy said. "Least you could do is give her a ticket home after you had her come all the way out her just to reject her. You wouldn’t leave some pretty girl at the station alone, would ya? Leave her with no choice but to take a job at the saloon like your baby sister—”

  “That’s low.” John fought the fire growing in his belly, the
same burning anger that used to land him in fights or the pokey.

  Stella smacked Billy in the back of the head. “You men are as gentle as a cow in a vegetable garden.”

  Satisfied with Stella’s reprimand, John climbed onto the wagon's seat. “C’mon, let’s get the girl back on a train home.” After all, it wasn't the girl's fault that his friends had posted a fake missive.

  With a disappointed nod, Billy helped Stella hop onto the buckboard then followed. John maneuvered the horses through the crowd of traders, gold miners, and merchants, pulling the team to a halt next to the Glendive Train Depot sign. “Let’s get this done so we can get back to the homestead.”

  “Fine, but you’re gonna break the girl’s heart. No skin off our noses,” Billy said.

  “What? I’m not the one who brought her here.”

  “Actually, you are. You paid her fare.” Stella shrugged then took Billy’s hand to help her down from the wagon.

  “You stole from me?” John shook his head. In the years he'd known her, the woman hadn’t misused a penny of his money. Heck, she wouldn’t even take money when she was sick because she said she didn’t do any work.

  “Nope. No stealing. It was a business expense.” Stella ran her palms down the front of her dress and tucked a stray tendril of hair into her bonnet.

  “How is paying for some strange woman to come here to marry me a business expense?”

  “Because a good woman would make you happy, which would make all of your ranch hands happy.” Stella held her head high and headed toward the door of the station.

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “I’m not trying to say anything. I’m telling you that you’re turning into some old hermit who’s impossible to be around. You’ve been barking at everyone these last few months.”

  John sighed. “It’s not ’cause I need a wife. Salter’s been putting up more of that devil wire and threatening to choke my land until I sell to him. Well, it ain’t going to happen.”