Mail Order Bride: Bitter & Pregnant, An English Widow Heads Off to Her Cowboy Rancher In California (A Clean & Wholesome Historical Romance) (2 page)

Jeanne threw the door back open and forced a
smile.

"Well, look who it is," said Jeanne. "The
young man who killed my husband. I'm not sure I want you coming
along with me. I haven't even met the new one and I'd hate for you
to kill him, too."

"There's no call for that, Missus Harrow,"
said the young man. "I volunteered to come with you on your trip.
After all, your husband gave his life for mine. It's only right
that I make sure you and his little one are safe."

"All right," said Jeanne, and to the girl, "I
suppose you're here to keep me healthy?"

"I am," said the girl. "I've been training to
be a midwife for years, ever since I could do it without
fainting."

Jeanne asked warily, "How long has that
been?"

"Almost a month now," beamed the girl. "Oh!
Forgive me. My name is Francine O'Reilly."

"And I'm Horace Johnson," said the boy. "Now
that we're all properly introduced, what can we help you with?"

"You can help me by leaving me alone," said
Jeanne. "You know, you two could go off anywhere in the world. I'm
sure Thackery gave you some money. Just give me what I need and you
can be on your way."

"No can do," said Horace. "I promised the old
man that I'd keep you safe and keep him knowledgeable about how you
are and where you are."

"You could just lie," said Jeanne.

"I most certainly couldn’t," said Horace
staunchly. "I'm a good honest boy and I aim to keep it that way!
Also, I've heard things about California. Cowboys and miners and
ranchers are very intriguing."

"They are," said Francine. "If I'm able, I'll
be able to offer my services to all their wives, too. It's a new
life waiting for all of us in California!"

Jeanne sighed. There was obviously no
fighting this. At the very least, she could make the situation fun
for herself. "All right, you two, but you must promise me one
thing."

Horace and Francine asked, almost
simultaneously, "Yes?"

"There's to be no hanky-panky on this trip,"
said Jeanne. "You're both very handsome young people after all.
Why, I wouldn't be surprised if the two of you were to fall in love
before we even reached California!" The two young people looked at
each other and giggled nervously.

Francine blushed and Jeanne knew that the
seeds had been planted. She could watch this drama unfold over the
next several months and all it had taken was a few well-placed
words. She grinned at the pair and gestured to her trunks, adding,
"Well, then, you two can finishing packing for me. I'm feeling
fatigued."

"Right you are, ma'am," said Horace and he
and Francine got to work. Jeanne went off to take a nap. She was
already starting to like this situation far more than she should,
she felt, but it was all for a greater purpose.

She would get to California, these two would
keep busy and she could forget England and all its associated
terrors and shenanigans. She laid down dreamed of America,
wondering how quickly she could ditch her keepers. As she slept,
she started to dream of what may have happened to her husband. She
watched from the shore as her husband's boat crashed into some
unseen rocks.

Jeanne watched and saw Horace falling off the
boat, but her husband grabbed him by the arm and tossed him back
onto the rapidly sinking deck. It was all for naught and she
watched in horror as Horace grabbed her husband and held him down
so that he drifted beneath the waves, laughing all the while.

She awoke in a cold sweat and looked around
the room for something to calm her nerves. She was about to drink a
little wine when she recalled that it wasn't good for children and
the last thing she wanted to do was damage the only thing left of
her husband. Instead, she walked over to the window and opened it,
letting the cool air wash over her. After a few minutes, it became
far too cold for her and she was glad that she was going to
California.

It was supposed to be warm in California and
Jeanne was looking very forward to that.

Joseph walked out of his home and saw Henry
standing in front of his house with the oldest and most decrepit
horse Joseph had ever seen. He looked at the beaming young man and
Henry started to explain.

"I went out this morning and some old man was
trying to sell this beauty of a horse to the glue factory," said
Henry. "There's some fight left in this old nag and I'll train her
and feed her and make her the fastest race horse you've ever seen,
Mister Clauson!"

"I don't think there's enough food and
training in the world to make that horse do much more than sleep,"
said Joseph. "There's no way she could win a race."

"Not yet," agreed Henry. "I was hoping you'd
be able to keep her in your barn with the other horses. I promise
I'll come by every day to take care of her and pay for all her
feed. All I need is some time with her to make her the best she can
be!"

"All right," said Joseph, laughing. "You can
put her up in the barn, though I think selling her to the glue
factory might have been the right idea. You name her, yet?"

"She's Matilda," said Henry. "On account of
the fact that she can waltz. Watch this!"

Joseph looked on in shock and horror as the
horse stumbled around. What Henry had called a waltz was actually
an animal that was inherently unable to walk properly. There was no
way it could move with any kind of alacrity and definitely no way
it could run a race. After the horse was done, Henry was beaming
and Joseph couldn't help but bolster the young man's
confidence.

"She's a beaut," said Joseph. "You can keep
her in the barn. Any word from this mysterious suitor?"

"Oh, yes," said Henry, and he tied Matilda's
reins to a hitching post, even though Joseph was sure she wasn't
going anywhere. Henry handed him an envelope.

"Excellent," said Joseph. "Oh, it says here
she'll be arriving with two young people. I guess I'll need to make
rooms ready for them, too. It looks like I'll go from being alone
to being surrounded by people."

"That's a good thing, isn't it? It's what you
wanted," said Henry.

"I suppose," said Joseph, though the idea was
starting to turn his stomach. He had no idea if he was ready for
any of this, but he knew deep down that it was all he had ever
wanted. He smiled at Henry. "Well, get that old nag to the barn.
You need to help me with these rooms."

Jeanne had been assured that the ship was far
safer than it looked, but that didn't stop her from standing on the
docks and looking at the ship called the Sweet Mary and thinking
that it was a barely floating death-trap. It was once used for
expeditions to the tropics she had been told, and had gone around
the African coast dozens of times. In comparison, a trip across the
Atlantic was child's play.

"It'll be about two weeks' time, weather
permitting," said the captain, a man named Ralph Stevens. "We're
thinking it'll be clear this time of year. A good time for some
sailing to be honest, and the weather'll be good for your little
one. You ready to ship off?"

"I am," said Jeanne. Thackery was there to
see them off and she turned to him and said, "Thank you so much for
all of this. I'll write you when I get to California."

"I'm expecting a wedding invitation," said
Thackery. "It would do me good to see you happy again, Missus
Harrow."

"Of course," said Jeanne, maintaining a
straight face. She boarded the ship with Francine, who had proven a
likeable companion and they forced Horace to carry their entire
load of luggage up the gangplank. Due to space constraints, Jeanne
and Francine were sharing a cabin, while Horace had to make do with
some space in the galley.

Jeanne hoped it was very uncomfortable. As
the ship raised anchor and started sailing away from the English
harbor, Jeanne watched her birthplace as it seemed to sink into the
waves. It struck her that she may never again set foot in England
and never again breath the London air.

"Good riddance," she said and the wheels in
her head continued to turn. There was nothing that would stop her
from starting a new life in America and there was no way she was
actually going to allow herself to remarry. She had better things
to do with her life than marry some simpering farmer.

"Excuse me, but these came for you before we
left," said Horace. He was visibly exhausted and holding an
envelope and for a moment, Jeanne almost felt sorry for him. Then
she remembered that this was all basically his fault and she took
the letter and waved him away.

He walked away and she could tell he was
trying to remain positive but failing. She didn't care. She opened
the letter and found that it was from the Joseph Clauson she was
supposed to marry. She read the letter and it was a simple thing,
and reminded her of her husband's love letters to her before they
were married.

It had the same clumsy use of metaphor and
some blunt declarations and she wasn't sure if she was becoming
nauseous by the sweetness of the letter, the rocking of the ship,
or the baby in her womb. She decided that it didn't matter and
spent some time bent over the rail. It was not going to be a fun
trip.

Joseph was in town running some errands, when
he saw Henry sitting in the saloon. He looked as if he had seen
something terrible and Joseph sat next to him and ordered two
sarsaparillas.

"What's wrong? You look as if you saw coyotes
steal your mother," said Joseph.

"One of your horses was doing awful things to
ol' Matilda," said Henry. "Never have I seen such a thing, nor do I
wish to ever again."

Joseph laughed. "I guess it's that time of
year. Tell you what, would it make you feel better if I promised
you the foal if there's a foal to be had?"

"A little," said Henry. "Do you think I'd be
able to train it to race?"

"I don't see why not," said Joseph
diplomatically. "You're more than welcome to try, at least, just
know that it might be the wrong kind of horse. Might be a riding
horse or a work horse"

"I see," said Henry. "There's a lot of
different kinds of horses, aren't there?"

"I guess," said Joseph with a shrug. "You can
tell by the hooves. I have a riding horse in there, strong enough
to be a workhorse sometimes. Your nag looked like she was a work
horse too, so I wouldn't put much money in training any foal to
race."

"I'm going to train it to race," insisted
Henry. "There's nothing I want more than to race that horse, and by
God, I'm going to race it until it's the best racing horse
California had ever seen!"

"All right, I'll support you in this, but
don't come crying to me when the horse runs about ten miles an
hour. That's not very fast for a horse."

"More than fast enough for me. You'll see,
Mister Clauson. You'll see!"

Joseph chuckled and took a drink of the
sarsaparilla that had finally arrived. He hoped the nag wouldn't
foal.

The only place where Jeanne felt relatively
safe from the waves was locked inside her cabin, and even that was
a half-effort at best. She could still feel every sway, every
motion and the child inside of her wasn't making things any better.
She was lying on her bed with a blanket over her face and hoping
against hope that the trip would be over soon.

Once, she had looked outside but all she
could see was the sky and sea for miles in every direction. There
were no landmarks, there was no way of knowing where America was,
no telling where anything was.

It was all just sameness stacked upon
itself.

The door cracked open and Francine asked,
"Jeanne, are you all right?"

Jeanne moaned, "No." The part of her mind
that was still able to think wondered why Francine was suddenly
being so familiar with her but she let it slide. She had to worry
about keeping the terrible breakfast down.

She could also tell that Francine was closer
now and the girl asked, "Can I get you anything?"

"No," repeated Jeanne. "How long?"

"We've been sailing for five days," said
Francine. "The captain said that, if the seas are good, we should
be there within a few days, a week at most. You don't have to worry
for much longer!"

"Okay," said Jeanne and she rolled over and
fell asleep. She dreamed that she was no longer on the Sweet Mary,
but was on the boat that took her husband to his death. He was
sitting on the edge of his bed and he put his hand on Jeanne's knee
and mouthed something to Jeanne. Then the ship cracked in half and
he walked calmly into the sea.

Jeanne's half of the ship stayed afloat, but
then quickly started taking on water. She was unable to move, the
weight of the thing inside her keeping her stationary and she
started yelling for help but no words came out. As she panicked,
two people came to help her.

It was Horace and Francine and they helped
her to another ship that had mysteriously appeared. They tried to
help her onto it, but they were unable to, even though Thackery was
in a nearby lifeboat commanding them to. When it looked as if all
hope was lost, someone reached down from the new ship and easily
pulled Jeanne up.

She looked at him and didn't recognize him,
but he led her to another cabin. This one became stationary once
she was inside and as she laid in that bed, her baby was suddenly
in her arms and the new man sat on the edge of the bed and put his
hand on Jeanne's knee. She woke up after that; completely unaware
of what the dream meant, but it was the best rest she had gotten
since the trip began.

The next morning, Joseph was sitting on his
bed and musing on what his dream had meant. He dressed and went
outside to find Henry waiting for him, with another envelope. Jack
was there, too, and he was quietly demanding the mail. Henry,
despite being only half Jack's size, was steadfast in his refusal.
This did Joseph some good and as he got closer to Jack and Henry,
he could hear what they were arguing about. Neither one had seen
him approach.